Episode 10 will be delayed until after Christmas. We seem to be having a little trouble keeping up with all the holiday crafting, gifting and family gatherings. We would like to wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday. 

 

Stephanie & Ginna

Its time for a GIveaway.

Hello everyone. I am super excited about the Quilt-Along that I talked about in the last episode. I can't wait to get started on my Feathers quilt.  In fact, I have been trying to get everything ready so that I can start on January 1st. BUT the really exciting news is that I have found myself with an extra copy of the pattern thanks to Alison Glass, the very creative designer of the pattern.  She has very kindly given me permission to give a copy away to a lucky person. If you would like to win this pattern and participate in the Quilt-Along please leave a comment on this post along with some way for me to contact you. (If you're on Ravelry your Ravelry name will work.)

Here is a wonderful picture of the quilt from Alison's blog. The information for the Quilt-Along can be found here. You can also see what people are planning on instagram by using #feathersqal.
So if you would like to win a copy of this pattern just leave a comment on this post with some way for me to contact you if you win. We will be drawing on December 27th so that I can get this pattern to the lucky winner before the 1st. 

Episode #9

Episode # 9 BRRRR its cold outside

                                                                  In which we feel "cold"

Knitting: 

I finished my Ramona Cardigan and wore it grocery shopping even though it was way too cold for a cotton sweater. Now I can work on the Sprig cardigan by Alana Dakos again. It would be great to finish it this year but I do have Christmas presents to take care of. I am continuing to work on the Vivid blanket squares. Nothing like cold weather to motivate you to knit on a blanket.

Sewing and an adventure:

This week I had the opportunity to visit Birch fabrics. It was so much fun. This store is bright and cheerful and full of inspiration. I purchased some Charlie Harper fabrics to make large project bags and a quilt. I didn't plan on buying fabric or a pattern for quilting but this was such a cool pattern I couldn't resist.  I  later found out from Instagram that there is a QAL for this pattern that starts on January 1st. Here is a link for more information. . Its the feather pattern by Alison Glass. After finding her and the QAL on instagram I was led on a internet adventure full of inspiration and new sewing blogs to read and new people to follow. It was such a fun adventure.

 I made two nice big bags to hold a sweaters worth of yarn or a sweater wip.

 So far these are the fabrics I have picked for the feathers quilt.

For now I have to finish my brothers quilt before I get too excited about this new pattern.

Running:

we talked a little about what motivates us to run when we don't want to. Ginna talked about how food choices keep her running.  I talked about how having a training program set keeps me on track and having the encouragement of others.

Drawing:

 With finals coming up I have little free time for art, but I'm trying to get some in anyway. If the photoshop fairies can fix my disaster, then I will share the results with you. Until then...ugh...
I plan to work on a comic over the winter break, because I've been putting it off all semester! 
My biggest project is going to be researching ceramic techniques, because I'd like to set up a kiln in the backyard. I mentioned the video "Daughters of the Anasazi" ,which I watched in my ceramics class, as being my inspiration. It centers around the ceramicist Lucy Lewis, and I encourage you all to check out her work! I also talked a bit about the Raku process we used in class, which produces some really amazing effects.  

Episode #8

                                                                   

  Inspiration overload, or "Help I've lost my desk!"

  Knitting 

Current project : In an attempt to actually get something finished I have been focusing my efforts on just a few projects. This week I spend a great amount of time avoiding knitting the 2nd sleeve on my Ramona Cardigan Its a great pattern and I feel like it would be a good choice for a first sweater. I am just not fond of knitting sleeves.   I started the Dogwood blanket by Tin Can knits for a coworker. I am using Berrocco comfort. Working on this reminded me that I should work some more on my Vivid blanket also be Tin Can knits. I now have 11 squares done.  My car knitting is the sugar high cowl by Megan Williams of the Stockinette Zombies.  

I went on a search for patterns that would use up small amounts of handspun of left over yarn and found several that I really like. 

Chevzam and  the Zam hat by Alexandra Tinsley I love these two patterns and I think they would be great for my Gourmet stash handspun. 

The coloring book collection by Lee meredith is so much fun. 

I also really like the monster cowl pattern that I have seen several people knitting on instagram. I might use my freshly spun Hobbledehoy fall battlings and make one. 

I also talk about Rosemary Hills new collection. The Great Oddments knitdown

We have a family spinning night. I was excited to see my loved ones trying to spin. 

Here is a picture of my Hobbledehoy

Painting and Future Plans

I discussed a recently finished painting of the Celtic god Cernunnos, done with acrylic on cardboard rather then canvas. It's dirt cheap and absorbed moisture well, which makes it quick to dry but it helps to keep your brushes and paint wet. Here is the final result:

 Here is the finished portrait done for my Photoshop class that I've discussed, of Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. (The real Khan, of course!)

I also talked about my plans to make a cat bed from paper mache or similar materials. My plan is sort of inspired by Rodger Dean's designs for these virtual reality pods which were being designed back in the early 90's, but didn't make it past the initial production. I couldn't find any good pictures online unfortunately, though I've seen the designs in his book Dragon's Dream. 

Other Crafts

I did some sewing this week. I have started a quilt for my little brother using my stash of Batik fabrics. He wanted a grey and blue quilt so I have picked fabrics that are predominantly in those two colors. I am using a pattern that I have been making for many years that is quick and easy.  Here is a brief description. 
I have two blocks. Block A is a 8 1/2 inch cut square and block B is made up of 16  2 1/2 inch cut squares. The A and B blocks will be alternated on the quilt top. I have cut my fabric into 2 1/2 inch wide strips and will sew them together lengthwise and then cut them into sections. I will post pictures once I get that far. 

Running

We talk about our tradition of running on the Holidays. 
Why? 
So you can eat both kinds of pie.Actually we find that after a hard run we crave healthy foods so we are more likely to make good choices. (mostly)
To get rid of post party stress.


Come join our Ravelry group at Knitdrawrun podcast

We would also like to wish everyone a Happy November. 

 

Episode # 7 Grasshopper knitting and Birthday wishes. *updated!*

                        Happy almost Birthday to Ginna.

Painting and other Art goodness:

   Sorry for the delay, I was having to much fun celebrating my B-day by eating cake and watching Dr. Strangelove! As my comic illustrates, I was attempting to write an art history paper, but wound up getting too inspired to continue! (Also, if you're curious the paintings I photoshopped into the comic are Rubens' Raising of the Cross and Caravaggio's Bacchus.)  The Friday before this podcast I spent the afternoon jumping between three different acrylic paintings, and the Saturday before I bought new brush cleaning supplies.
Other then that I have a project in my photoshop class to do a realistic painting-style portrait that I hopefully will be able to show you in our next show notes, along with my recently finished painting.
  This is the previous class project which I have mentioned in other podcasts:
          

(I think I could have done better on a few things, but I still got an A- on it!)

Knitting: 

Stephanie talks about Grasshopper knitting because she spent the weekend jumping from project to project. ( Had a great time doing it too)
Of the needles: Noodle has limbs.
On the needles: The above picture shows all the projects I worked on this weekend.
The Ramona Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith, Sprig by Alana Dakos , Sugar High Cowl by Megan Williams, Arm warmers using Dancing Dog Dyeworks Yarn and Felfs by Cat Bordhi.

Knit slippers and fight cancer.
The art of Felfs book can be found on Ravelry or at  the Cat Bordhi  website
She is donating all the money from the sale of this book to a Cancer research fund. Please go check it out.  You can find the Knitmore girls episode # 255 and  a review of the book here.
You can find an interview with Cat on the Twinset designs podcast episode # 26 here .

Spinning: 

Stephanie clears off her bobbins and finishes 4 hanks of yarn. Here is a picture of the wet yarn hanging up to dry.  The wheel has Friend in fiber falkland on it. Next up is the Bag of Hobbledehoy fall battlings. ( there is a picture of these in the last podcast post)

Get your run on :

We talk about how to deal with the time change and running in the dark.
Stay in well lit residential areas. Avoid dark areas and uneven terrain.
Wear things that are highly visible like Glow bracelets and reflective clothing. Glow in the dark shoes.
Layer for the change in weather that comes when the sun sets. 
Have everything ready for your run ahead of time. 

Epsode #6 Bad movies and Crafting

Click here to download the mp3 file for this episode

                                 Manos: The Hands of Fate, also known as Mangos: Cans of Fruit

  We discussed bad movies such as "Santa Claus": a confusing Mexican Christmas movie about nothing, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death, Attack of the Killer Tomatos, and of course, Manos: The Hands of Fate, which really just defies any manner of explanation.

Drawing: 

I talked about my current project in Photoshop which is meant to depict a surreal version of an experience. My plan is to include an old picture of me reading in a fantasy landscape. I've taken lots of reference pictures, used older photographs, and integrated watercolorings. I complained a bit about the pen tool on Photoshop and mentioned  my Wacom tablet that I use here at home. Here are some examples of a Wacom tablet  
I will post the project in the next show notes once it's finished.  

Knitting: 

I finished socks for Don, Brickless and didn't knit on Noodle at all. Poor Noodle. 
I started socks from the Little skien kit. I also started the Ramona cardigan out of Mirasol Hopi.
There was lots of rambling about new sweater patterns and my struggle with picking one. 

Spinning: 

I love Hobblede hoy fiber I finished two sets of battlings on my Turkish spindle and I'm ready to start two more sets on my wheel. The November fiber for the Rockin whorl club came today and is fantastic. 

A picture of the next batch of Hobbledhoy batllings. 

Get your run on: 

Tips and thoughts on starting back up

• The first run won't go great, but that isn't bad
•  Shorter distance is best
• No such thing as too slow
• Listen to your body and take extra care with problem areas
• Find a good recovery formula

Come join our Ravelry group! it needs members. 

Episode 5: Hamburgers and pie

Click here to download the mp3 file for this episode

Running : We talk about the half marathon we did last Sunday and the tradition of eating a hamburger after every half and full marathon we complete. After all, you should be able to eat whatever you want after running that far , which is what we did for the entire week.

 Shenanigans :

We went to the local pumpkin patch and apple farm. We are very curious about the mayonnaise on corn idea?

I totally wanted to pet this guy but decided it wasn't the best idea.

 Ginna's Art Project 

 I did a 3-D style pumpkin sculpt based off of Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind album. Eddie has been lobotomized for his nutritious seeds, and scraped clean with a large woodcutting tool.  Below are the tools I used on him.

 (From left to right) The serrated cutter was used to cut through and remove the very top of his head, the scraper helped me get the seeds out, the big loop thing was to scrape away the largest areas like his cheeks and forehead, the ribbon tool got into smaller places like his eyes and mouth, the needle tool was for planning and getting small places like between the teeth, and the wooden thing was for making softer indentations.
Not pictured: The big woodcutting thing for scraping and the saw I used to cut the stem off.

Knitting :

 Noodle is still waiting for his limbs to be knit. He has been knit using some "yucky" random yarn from the stash. I am using size 1 needles. Look how cute he is. 

Brickless is so close to being done. This is a great knit but I'm ready to be able to wear this and work on something else.

Socks for Don. This is not a very good picture but you can still see hoe the yarn makes a lightning bolt of a water ripple look. The yarn is great but I'm disappointing in the holes I have at the heel leg join.

Spinning:

Not super happy with my  spinning this week but I continue to learn something new with every fiber I try. This week I spun a loop bullseye bump. I found it to be a challenge. The finished yarn is ok but not great. I have decided to not try this fiber again until I have more experience.  I also received my Hobbledehoy battlings in the mail and now I am hurrying to finish the ones I have on my turkish drop spindle.

 We are also defiantly maybe hell yeah possibly going to be at Stitches West next February


Come join our group on Ravelry. We are trying to get more members so we can have a giveaway.  
You can also find Stephanie on instagram as stephaniesews.

Episode 4 Sniffle sneeze cough

Click here to download the mp3 file for this episode

Episode #4 Sniffle sneeze cough
Ginna is getting over a really bad cold so we apologize for all the sick sounds.

On the needles:
Brickless by Martina Behm
Quaker yarn stretcher by Susan Ashcroft
Noodle by Susan Claudino

Operation Sock Drawer with Cuteknitter from the Knitmoregirls podcast
I talk about how I am trying to rescue all the single socks that have been waiting for me to knit the mate.
Finished knits:
I used my favorite Tour De Fleece handspun to knit myself a hat. I was encouraged by the Fat squirrel speaks KAL to not "squirrel it away" any longer. I used the Cocoon pattern by La Maison Rililie.
I am knitting Halos of hope hats for Team knitmore.


 Books
Ginna warns people to not read.  Finnegans Wake but really enjoyed reading The last days of Pompeii you can probably get these on google books.

We give a review on Unique feet but get distracted and talk about bad movies.

Spinning

I'm in love with Woolgatherings Camel, silk, merino blend and I'm making everyone in the family feel it.
I was going to spin a In to the whirled braid. Now I am going to spin my loop bullseye bump.

Come join us on Instagram and in out Ravelry group

Get your Run on: 
We will be running our next event on Sunday Oct 13th.  We give a quick over view on how Ginna will tackle the course and talk a little about the taper week.

Wow ! What happened to Summer? I think I missed it. I had so many plans, to finish so many things. Ginna and I did have a good summer though and we are now getting back into a "normal" routine so we hope to be podcasting ever other weekend.
In this podcast we talk about 
Knitting: 
The Shawl collared Cowl by Alana Dakos
The Quaker Yarn Stretcher by Stitchnerd Designs
Cowl using Gourmet Stash Punis
Pullover using  Custom fit by Amy Herzog
Westknits new MKAL
Martina Behm KAL with the Knitmore girls

Drawing :
Ginna talks about using pastels in comics.


Get Your Run on:
This weeks tip is "there is no such thing as running too slow on your regular training runs.


Other good stuff
Spinning:  The new to you SAl with the yarnraising podcast.
My new fiber is from pigeon roof studios, merino bamboo and nylon
My new tool is a turkish spindle from Knitmehappy and I'm using Hobbledehoy battlings
My new technique is undecided but might be core spinning

New Craft or being sucked in by other podcasters
The Halloween sampler from the frosted pumpkin

Thank You to the Prairie Girls Knit and Spin
They are awesome, go listen to them

The socks are coming along pretty quickly. I am just about ready to turn the heels. That is my favorite part of sock knitting. Its like magic.

I love knitting blankets and so my Cascade 220 stash has been pulled out again so that I can start the Vivid blanket by Tincan knits. It will be a fantastic summer of stash project. If I can finish this one and the Missoni Inspired blanket be winter we will be a cozy family.

Tour de Fleece is almost here !!! I love watching the Tour de France and am super excited to do some spinning while I watch this year. My goal is to finish these two fibers before then. They are both 2012 stash. You can see I have already divided them up to make them easier to spin and to hopefully fill my bobbins evenly.

A few notes from the episode.

 Spinning: woolgatherings 24 fiber sampler pack I started with the Corriedale.  I have also  finished half the SAL fiber for the KNITABULLS SAL.

Knitting: In June I hope to finish the Dorica Hoodie and the Aislinn cardigan by Amy Herzog.

This very old sock yarn is working its way into a pair of socks. Ginna has decided they might be for her.

Here we are, finally.

Click here to download the mp3 file for this episode

Blog episode 1

I took this picture last week of all the active projects I have sitting on my desk. Scary isn't it? So this week I have been trying to focus on just the rainbow hat and the quay sweater. I did do a few rows on the cascade 200 blanket and I did stay on top of the Game of Thrones mystery KAL. My goal is to have that hat done before the podcast goes up. Here is a picture of the mask Ginna has been working on. We will talk about this on the next podcast. You can also here all about our Half and Full Marathon adventure!!

Here is your comic for Episode #2.

On our test episode we talked about my new favorite book Botanical Knits 'I'm working on the Entangled Vines cardigan. My hat for the Uili project. Isn't it great when your project matches your bag? I talked about my love of cascade 220 and the blanket I started with my giant stash. Here is a picture of a tiny part of it. Ginna talked about her magic peanut butter medallions. ( de la Rosa marzapn candy) You can find them on Amazon we bout them at the local grocery store.

Test Episode

where is the podcast?

We have recorded Episode 1 and hope to get it posted soon. Ginna is working on a banner and a comic to make this blog more stylish.