Episode 2: Now With Less Lens Flare (Or Jen Can't Blink Her Ears)

KnottyGirls Knitcast

This episode is sponsored by Dizzy Blonde Studios. "For beautifully hand-dyed yarns and inspired knit design."

Catching Up: (0:45) Laura lost her dog Sabre. She is trying to keep busy, but it's been really hard.

Jen's Stitch and Beach Group had a yarn swap. She got some different novelty yarn to play with (it will probably become charity scarves for Interval House). She also got some pretty purple laceweight yarn.

Laura mentions the Cogknitive Fiber Retreat yarn swap. We talk about how useful yarn swaps are, both to give yarns you may not use a good home with people who really love them and to get yarns that you aren't used to working with (different colors and fibers) to break out of your comfort zone. We both both bought things out of our comfort zones on the Yarn Crawl.

In the Knitting Bag (5:45)

Jen cast on the Mysterious Shawl Knit-a-long by Romi Hill out of A Verb for Keeping Warm Floating in the colors Au Lait and Transnational Fury.

Laura is still working on her Clapotis (or, as she calls it, her Sassy-tis, because the yarn was dyed to match her cat, Sassy).

Laura is also working on a beaded choker design and trying to chart it and make the directions make sense and make it the correct size. Progress was a little sidelined by Sabre's passing, but now the pattern is off to the test knitter.

Jen also worked on an easy scarf out of Lion Brand Homespun while watching the new Star Trek movie. She named the scarf "Chekov put on a Red Shirt" because she thinks Chekov is adorable.

Jen mentions her knitting guilds: the El Segundo Slipt Stitchers and the Chocolate Martini Lace Knitters Guild.

We mention designers Marnie Maclean and Janine le Cras, who does the patterns for the Unique Sheep.

We digress about Chekov and Sulu in the original series and the animated series of Star Trek.

Frog Pond: (15:56)

Jen has had to rip back some of the bind off in the center section of her Madroña shawl because it was too tight. (Jen has issues with tight bind-offs and crocheting too tightly). Laura recommends wine to relax. Jen is hoping that beer and a marathon of Vikings with her friend will do the trick.

Laura tried to substitute yarn on the Nine Dwindling Cables Beret by Yarn Owl. But math was not her friend. She's going to rip and re-knit a modified version.

On Deck: (19:35)

Jen is going to do a lace shawl for Camp Loopy out of Fleece Artist Saldanha Two in Vermillion color. She hasn't yet picked a project. She thinks the red color is wrong for Rock Island, so she will probably knit a pattern by BooKnits or the Romi Hill pattern Fire Bird (which she mistakenly calls "Firebrand").

Laura is going to handpaint some yarn to match Sabre and work on a scarf and fingerless mitts for her husband. This is her dissertation for Nerd Wars.

Book Review: (23:58)

We review 50 Sunlowers to Knit, Crochet, and Felt by Kristin Nicholas. (Full disclosure: Laura won this book in a contest from Vogue Knitting).

Movie Reviews: (31:53)

We give spoiler-free reviews of both Iron Man 3 and Star Trek: Into Darkness.

TV Talk: (39:05)

Jen talks a bit about the season finale of Doctor Who and the companions (no spoilers!).

We digress into less geeky shows. Laura talks about the season ends of Grey's Anatomy, Castle, and Scandal. (All spoiler-free).

We also discuss How I Met Your Mother. And then we get into the Big Bang Theory and being a geek.

Also, we wish Tim Curry (star of Clue, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Oscar) a speedy recovery!

We also mention the films Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Singin' in the Rain.

Events: (49:22)

The Knotty Girls are hosting a World Wide Knit in Public Day Event at the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa on June 15, 2013 from 1 to 3pm. No entrance to the park is required, and parking at Downtown Disney is free for up to three hours (five with validation from a restaurant or the movie theatre in Downtown Disney). There will be SWAG!

Bring:

1. Your Knitting (or whatever else you want to work on)

2. Money for snacks and/or drinks

3. Any FOs you want to show off

4. A scarf for Interval House.

Details: The scarf can be any yarn, any weight and may be knit, crochet, or woven. (Great for stash-busting if you want to do stripes!). The only guideline is that it be at least 4” wide and 60” long. A more open work scarf is preferred (i.e. not a heavy dense fabric) as this is for women in Southern California, but really, that can just mean using really big needles. I tend to do mine either in garter stitch or a simple rib or broken rib on big needles. Please bring the scarf in a ziplock or some other bag (the bag does not have to seal) with a paper saying your name, the yarn the scarf is made of (if you know it, if you don’t that’s okay), and any care instructions. Also please provide contact info (email and/or phone number). The contact info is just for us to get in touch with you if you win the drawing; we will not sell, trade, lend, borrow, fold, spindle, or mutilate your contact info and it will not be provided to my guild or to Interval House, I promise you. Multiple scarves = multiple entries in the drawing!

KnitDizzney will be Sunday, September 8th, 2013. More details to come, but we'd love to spend a day at the Disneyland park with you!