Episode 17: Quality Time

Mastering the Knits podcast

Natalie enjoying knitting on Crackerjack at the Rays Stitch n Pitch

This episode is sponsored by Main Street Gallery. Main Street gallery is a local art and craft studio and offers a variety of services for individuals and businesses including custom screen printing, vinyl decals, graphic design, t shirts, custom art work, murals and much more. Main Street Gallery carries products from local artists and crafters including hand knitted items and cigar box guitars.

This week’s segments include Master Status, Master Plan, In our Hands, Masterpieces, Spread the Love, Simply Selfie, Raise your hand, On the Road, and Comfort Zone.

How are you organizing your program?

Master Status (1:48):

Alicia knit swatch 9. She also has a reminder when you are working SSK.

Natalie worked on her binder and organized it. She snagged an idea from Lish when she was visiting Ohio. Hint** Place your swatch in zip lock bags and label them. Then there is no chance of forgetting which swatch is which. She is going to get some help from her friend Mara to identify some of her mystery swatches. Alicia reminded Natalie of some of the resources she used to identify her mystery swatches. Arenda Holladay and Knitting Help.

Master Plan (8:04):

Natalie plans to Re-knit the swatches and make sure to put them in the ziploc bags so they are ORGANIZED!! She plans to update more of the notes and start the questions. She is going to meet up with my friend Maureen to get some advice on her swatches. Maureen is currently finishing up her Level 3. Look forward to an interview on her journey!

Alicia is planning to move forward on swatch 10, 11, and 12. She would like to block and start questions.

Against the Grain KAL (9:41):

**REMINDER: Be sure to participate in our ongoing knit along. Be sure to post your pictures on all social media with #AgainstTheGrainKAL

The goal of the knit-a-long is to go contrary to the natural inclination of your craft or technique. We aren’t limiting the KAL to just those who want to learn a different style of knitting but crafting anything that is opposite of what you normally do.

In our hands (10:12):

Alicia is coming towards the end of her Harvest Cardigan by Tin Can Knits with Cascade 220 Superwash Quatro in Fiji. She also cast on

Natalie cast on Haruni by Emily Ross using The Unique Sheep Eos a 50/50 silk/wool blend in the barknknit colorway. She is still plugging away on Crackerjack by Stacey Simpson Duke using Knitpicks Swish DK in White, Honey, Dusk, Twilight. Finally, she cast on another Luuk by Annis Jones using some leftover Knit Witch Celestial in the Sagitarius colorway. She used Swirl Hat by Mandie Harrington to assist with adjusting the numbers for size.

(17:30) Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup: Lish and Natalie are struggling with their house cup mojo. Anyone else?

Master Pieces (20:29):

Alicia has been occupied with Harvest and does not have anything this week!

Natalie finished Headband (child/adult) by Rachel Bishop using the yarn the same yarn as she is using for Crackerjack cowl.

Spread the Love (22:25):

Our current giveaway is a lovely skein of 400 yards of 80% superwash merino/20% nylon sock yarn from Bohemia Fibers! Amy, the dyer behind Bohemia Fibers, and specialize in custom colors and inspirational photo replication.

To enter this episode’s giveaway, we ask that you visit Bohemiafibers.com and pick one of their many colorways that inspires you and share your favorite with us in a comment on the shownotes page. There will also be several other ways to enter this giveaway! Check outwww.masteringtheknitspodcast.com to see all the ways you can win. Closing for entries will be August 7, 2015.

Some of Lish’s favorite moments from Simply Selfie

Simply Selfie (23:44):

Alicia reports her wedding duties are over. She had a wonderful opportunity to make her friend Taylor a cathedral length veil. She and her husband had a lovely cookout. She is looking forward to a quick Myrtle Beach trip with her friend Sierra. Let her know of any local yarn shops in the south Myrtle area!

Natalie has been organizing more and more! She still has plans to organize stash but started the culling process. She attended the Rays Stitch n Pitch. She hung out with friends new and old. She met a lot of her knitting guild and hopes to attend more often. If you are local, you should check out the Bay Area Knitting Guild! She reconnected with a LONG time listener Mara. It was great to talk to a listener and get encouragement to keep going.

Raise your Hand? (31:54):

This week we ask: As we prepare to head into the fall and start planning out gift knits, how do you pick who and what to knit people?

Natalie struggles with this one. She notes she has a very large family and it can quickly become overwhelming. She LOVES giving things to people but she says her follow through is rotten. She plans to knit gifts this year but wants to get organized.

Alicia finds herself over gift knitting. She shares her spread sheet method on how to stay organized with her gift knitting. She also tries to stick to one pattern for multiple people with just changing it up with color options. She also notes that her brother in law, Josh, is one of her more knitworthy gift recipients.

On the Road: (40:27)

Natalie is heading to her first ever retreat! Into the Wool Retreat Sept 3-6th in Crossville, TN hosted by Dana of Unwind Yarn company and Just One More Row podcast, Daniela and Allie of the Caffeinated Knitting podcast , Fru from the Sassypantsknitter Podcast.

Comfort zone (41:44):

Alicia is excited about new eager students. New friends wanting to learn to knit at work. She is also excited about that just finished feeling of a new sweater.

Natalie is enjoying lace knitting. Since she have been out of wine she is trying to stay away from lots of sweets. Lace has been her stress reliever because it’s working with silk and it’s oh so satisfying.

Thank you for joining us for episode 17 of Mastering the Knits. We’d like to thank our sponsor Main Street Gallery and Bohemia Fibers for donating the prize. You can find shownotes at masteringtheknitspodcast.com or on our ravelry group Mastering the Knits Podcast. You can email us at [e-mail] us on Twitter @MtKnits. Alicia is knottyknitter17 on Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram. Natalie can be found on twitter, Instagram, and ravelry as barknknit.