Episode 7: Should be Swatching

Natalie and Lish welcome back listeners as well as talk about where they have been.

(1:28) Natalie shares some exciting news about a new local yarn shop in St. Pete,  Stash a place for Yarn. She also shares some of the yarns the shop will carry.

Master Status:(4:47)

Natalie and Lish have confess they have not completed swatch #7 and #8.

They also reviewed Cast On Magazine published from The Knitting Guild Association.

Master Plan:(17:10)

Natalie and Lish are going to work on the decrease swatches 7 and 8 and block swatches 1-6.

In our hands:(17:45)

Alicia is keeping things simple while she tries to find her knitting mojo. She is working on a Basic Hat by Jennifer Jackson with Knit Picks Shine Worsted in an Ice Blue colorway.

Natalie is working on Toddler Tube socks using Lorna Laces Sport in the Cubs colorway. She continues to work on Kenny’s stocking using Cascade 220 Sport in yellow and blue usingA NEW Family Portrait - A Collection of Three Christmas Stockingsby Dorene Delaney Giordano.

Dropped stitches:(22:05)

Natalie realized after knitting 6 inches and 3/4ths that she was supposed to start increasing at 6 inches.  She decided she just didn’t care enough to rip back and let his be longer.

Master Pieces:(23:42)

Alicia finished up a purple basic hat using Vanna’s Choice acrylic yarn.

Natalie finished up a  Sockhead Hatby Kelly McClure in The Unique Sheep Verve base in the Inspecta gradiance colorway.

Natalie’s family make great knitwear models!

Future Stitches:(27:49)

Natalie plans to knit  Pomme de Pin Cardigan by Amy Christoffers for SPAKAL. She shares her friend, NaturallyKnitty’s Pomme de Pin Cardigan and Effortless Cardigan.

She bound off where she was for her Moonfleetby Janine Le Cras. She plans to knit Haruni shawl by Emily Ross for my Summer of Lace and Beads with the remaining yarn.  The yarn is the Barknknit gradiance colorway in Eos base from The Unique Sheep.

Alicia plans on knitting a shawl using Bohemia Fibers Sock Yarn in the “I got the right to sing the blues colorway.” A yarn inspired by Eric Northman from True Blood.

Simply Selfie: (29:35)

Alicia has survived the end of the year, her students’ graduation and went shopping for a mother of the bride dress. Her mom knows to break for yarn shops. Summer is here and she has been going to her nephew’s tball games.

Natalie had her birthday but has been sick. She discussed her adventures with her mother in law, cousins, brother, and dad visiting. She celebrated her dad’s 80th birthday.

Lish and Natalie discussed how they spent their Father’s Day.

Happy Tails: (48:13)

The Story of How Hugo became a Humphrey.

 

 

To submit your own story, please go towww.masteringtheknits.com and fill out a form.  We will read your animals rescue story on future podcasts.

Comfort Zone:(53:04)

Alicia is loving all of her surprises from Natalie including the wedding shawl and gifties. She has been having tea parties with her friends. It is the last last week of work and she is excited for the endless possibilities of summer.

Natalie explains the #100happydays. Natalie started blogging again!

Thank you for joining us for episode 7 of Mastering the Knits. You can find shownotes at masteringtheknits.com or on our ravelry group Mastering the Knits Podcast.   You can email us at masteringtheknits@gmail.com. Alicia is knottyknitter17 on Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram,  Natalie can be found on twitter, Instagram, plurk, everlapse, and ravelry as barknknit.

Episode 6: It's a Choking Hazard

Master Status (2:21):

Alicia is all caught up. She knit swatches 1-6. Natalie finished swatch 6. Alicia and Natalie

Master Plan:(4:52)

Natalie and Lish are going to work on the decrease swatches 7 and 8 and block swatches 1-6. The girls discuss their favorite wool soaks. They plan on beginning their research for the blocking report.

In our hands: (9:42)

Alicia cast on an American Girl Doll Empire Waist Dress by Elaine Phillips with Patons Beehive Baby Sport. Natalie cast on a Sockhead hat byKelly McClurein Unique Sheep Verve in the Insecta Gradiance colorway. She Cast on 8 more stitches than the pattern calls for to make it a bit bigger.

Dropped stitches:(17:57)

Natalie literally dropped a stitch when working on her 50 rows shawlette and had to used a crochet needle to pick it up.  

Master Pieces:(18:58)

Alicia finally finished herBlank CanvasbyYsolda Teaguewith Malabrigo Arroyo in a Prussia Blue colorway. She discusses having difficulty picking up the stitches from the bind off.  She also finished a basic hat using up some of her Vanna’s Choice acrylic stash.

Natalie finishedLala’s Simple Shawlby Laura Linneman aka Lala of the Knitgirlls video podcast in some of her older handspun from Romeldale pin drafted roving from Ozark Carding Mill, LLC.  

She knit three simple preemie hats used well marinated stash yarn, Lorna Laces Sport in the Cubs colorway.  She used this yarn for thesocksshe knit during the week of her wedding. She knit these hats for the charity drive for the Rays Stitch n Pitch which is on June 8th.  They are donating them toAll Children’s Hospital in St. Pete. She also finished the  50 Rows Shawlette by Susan B Anderson in Ella Rae Lace Merino Worsted in purple colorway and then a pink/red colorway. The girls also decided a choking characteristic is not something they want in their hand knits. She also finished spinning Bellatrix yarn from the SW Merino in a red and black coloryway by Abstract Fiber Arts and will be gifting for Jessie TinyAnt.

Future Stitches (40:58):

Natalie wants to knit the swatches of the spinning swatches she completed from the black corriedale fleece she bought at SAFF in 2010.  This is for the SPAKAL with the knitmore girls and also Tour de Fleece withTeam Sasquatch. Natalie  explainsTour de Fleece.

Alicia decided she is going to knit the Swivel Pullover by Kerri Blumer published in Interweave Knits Winter 2014. She is going to knit it withDebbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Emerald Green.

She also discusses an important friendship and offered to knit theChocolate Passion- Jacket with Cables in Alaskaby DROPS design for one of her first friends from Bowling Green, Kelly.

On the Road:(49:2)

Alicia will be knitting withJanfrom theTwinset Designs Podcaston Thursday June 5, from 6-9 atNatural Stitchesin Pittsburgh, PA. Natalie will be knitting at the Tampa Bay Rays Stitch n Pitch on June 8th at Tropicana Field in St. Pete.

Simply Selfie:(52:00)

Alicia met a big deadline and it’s been a huge sigh of relief. Alicia and Jeremy are in the process of moving their shop, Main Street Gallery. Her mom is giving her some wedding planning pressure and kicked the planning into high gear. She also has been enjoying her nephew’s T-Ball games. Natalie talks about her trip with Kenny to Sebring! She had a lovely mother’s day weekend.  She had a trip to Joann’s, the beach,  and a steak dinner. She took the girls to Disney on ice and she is preparing for the onslaught of people coming next week.

Raise your Hand: (1:07:30)

This week we the girls answer the question: Are you a product or a process knitter?

Comfort zone:(1:17:40)

Alicia is so happy to have met her deadline! She talks about new energy at the new shop site.

Natalie is happy when she takes a moment to enjoy morning time with the girls. She is also loving knitting time while the girls swim.

To submit your own story, please go towww.masteringtheknits.com  and fill out a form.  We will read your animals rescue story on future podcasts.

To continue the conversation join our ravelry group Mastering the Knits Podcast.   You can email us at masteringtheknits@gmail.com. Alicia is knottyknitter17 on Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram,  Natalie can be found on twitter, Instagram, plurk, everlapse, and ravelry as barknknit.

Check out this episode!

Episode 5: Surprise!

Natalie and Alicia thank masteringtheknitsfan for their iTunes review. We also thank MaryEliz for her blog comments and directed listeners to check out her fair isle knee highs!

Master Status (2:56):

Natalie completed swatches 1, 2, 3 and plans to reknit 3. She used the ribbing technique talked about last week to make sure to tighten yarn between stitches in the moss stitch swatch. She started working on the swatch sheets to put in the binder. Alicia worked on swatch #1. She noticed she still needs work on selvedge ends as well as practice tighten second stitch.

Master Plan (6:36):

Our plans is to complete swatches 4, 5, and 6 and Alicia will play catch up. We should consider blocking soon!

In our hands (8:10):

Alicia is still working on Blank Canvas by Ysolda and shares atipfor joining the sleeves.

Natalie continues to knit away on an ankle sock usingONline Supersocke Cotton Beach Colorcolor #941 improvised pattern and using fish lips kiss heel.  She also spent some time planning her SPAKAL.  She plyed old singles left on Leclerc bobbins blue singles from a batt she carded a long time ago.  Then 2 plyed some cormo singles and some left over brown and cormo together.  She flicked some locks and spun from fold 3 little bobbins and carded some and spun from rolags -2 little bobbins. She also flicked locks and spun from end of lock -one big bobbin. It’s very thin and would be nice for a lace weight.

Dropped stitches (25:02):

Natalie picked up an extra stitch somewhere along her lace chart.

Master Pieces (26:30):

Alicia knit a baby hat for baby Camden and shares a story of finishing in a store! Natalie finished Alicia's wedding shawl! Aphrodite by Sivia Harding usingJuniper Moon Farm Findleyin Atmosphere, a lovely pale blue. She used a size 12 crochet hook that was handed down to her by her Aunt . She used size 8 clear crystal beads ordered from beadwrangler beads, kits, & supplies found at 7beads.com. Here is a link to a video showing you how to add beads to your knitting with a crochet hook!

Future stitches (29:04):

The new term is starting starting  for theHarry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup. GO GRYFFINDOR!  Natalie is spinning a 2 ply dkish weight from some Superwash Merino roving in a black and red colorway from Abstract Fibers and that will represent Bellatrix Lestrange.

She is planning on knittingLaLa’s Simple Shawlby Laura Linnemanfrom theKnitgirllls video podcastfame in some handspun Romaldale she spun from fiber she bought atSAFFin 2010!  This is representingNarcissa MalfoyShe is also planning on knitting 50 row Shawletteby Susan B Anderson, who also has a video podcast through herblog. She is using some silk yarn that was bought for her from a friend on her trip to Barcelona, Spain! Her classes are going to be socks, swatches both knitting for level 1 and spinning, and a premie hat.

Alicia plans on knitting Jeremy the Emilien hoodie by Ariane Caron-Lacostefor her 3 month long project. She’d like to knit the French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi, and the Swivel Pullover by Kerri Blumer.

Simply Selfie (47:50):

Alicia has been busy busy busy with end of the year craziness that the school year brings. She also helped with her nephew’s 5th Lego Party.

Natalie had game night with friends and family. Her friends are pregnant and gave them their baby stuff. She and her family had an Easter egg hunt, lunch with family, green thumb festival, dance recital, and has been prepping for a weekend getaway with her husband.

Happy Tails (1:03:48):

Jennie Kaderabek

I don’t have a traditional pet adoption story. My first dog adopted us. My two older sisters and I were outside playing. I was around 1, my sisters were 4 1/2 and 5 1/2. They ran into the house and told mom “there is a bear outside”. Of course, she asked where I was! Yep, they left me outside with the “bear”. We adopted the bear, named him Snoopy and he was the BEST dog ever. We suspect he was a black lab mix. We lived on a farm when he found us, so he full adapted to the country living. My grandma would share how she watched us following dad around the farm. The line of people would be dad, my oldest sister, next sister, next sister, a space………..me, followed by Snoopy.

To submit your own story, please go towww.masteringtheknits.comand fill out a form.  We will read your animals rescue story on future podcasts.

Comfort Zone (1:05:22):

Alicia finally got to connect with her knitting group. She won 1st place in a  6 week boot camp challenge at her gym and her yard is beginning to look like summer!

Natalie enjoys playing games with family.

To continue the conversation join our ravelry group Mastering the Knits Podcast.   You can email us at masteringtheknits@gmail.com. Alicia is knottyknitter17 on Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram,  Natalie can be found on twitter, Instagram, plurk, everlapse, and ravelry as barknknit.

Episode 4: Sink into our Brains

Episode 4 : Sink into our Brains

Natalie and Lish thank CrazyKnittingFool for their very first iTunes review. Also, Thank you to Arlin from the The Lost Geek Podcastfor mentioning us in her latest episode.

Master Status:(4:06)

Natalie and Lish started their program binder. They have started swatch 1, which they cast on together on the SAME day via FaceTime. Natalie teaches Lish the long tail cast on. Lish discusses her strategy to work on swatches. Lish wants the skills to sink into our brains!

Natalie has had to cast on 3 times and discusses what she observed in her knitting. She found a

trick to tighten 2nd knit stitch,Ugly Ribbing videoby Arenda Holladay. She also used Bar Increases in Ribbingby Arenda Holladay to know which increase to use.Tension Problemin Selvedges by Arenda Holladay to try to work out edge stitch. Natalie also found a helpful website to figure out how to increase evenly.

Master Plan: (16:22)

Lish and Natalie will knit swatches 2, 3, and 4 for the next round to catch up. They are going to look at blocking research.

In our hands:(17:39)

Alicia picked up her YsoldaBlank Canvas. She knitted the second sleeve. She also cast on a Basic New Born Hat, byJennifer Jacksonwith Plymouth Yarn, Sweet Caroline 100% cotton. Alicia mentions a knit shop, The Knitter’s Edge in Bethlehem, PA.

Natalie is working on Alicia's wedding shawlAphroditeby Sivia Harding usingJuniper Moon Farm Findleyin Atmosphere, a lovely pale blue. She cast on an ankle sock using ONline Supersocke Cotton Beach Color color #941 improvised pattern and using fish lips kiss heel.

Dropped stitches:(31:06)

Natalie had to drop down a couple times in the shawl to fix missed stitches. She also discusses every knitters nightmare!

Lish needs to take time to count.

Master Pieces:(34:11)

Alicia beat her deadline! She completed Traveling WomanShawl #6.

Simply Selfie:(28:50)

Natalie survived conference but it was extremely exhausting!  She discussed the value of getting to meet customers face to face! Just like we hope to go to festivals and do meet n greets!  Maria sleeping through night mostly. Carmen plays teacher.

Alicia shares her bridal shower and bachelorette Party. She talks about her friends joining together from different parts of her life.

Raise your Hand?:(1:01)

Natalie and Alicia discuss how they adjust their knitting for warmer seasons.

On the Road: (1:07)

Natalie will be knitting at the Bench on Sunday April 13th from 3-5pm at The Green Bench Brewing Co.in St. Pete.

Happy Tails: (1:09)

Ellen Melcher shares Gus’ adoption story.

To submit your own story, please go to www.masteringtheknits.com and fill out a form.  We will read your animals rescue story on future podcasts.

Comfort zone:(1:10)

Natalie has been enjoying Parenthood and Game of Thrones.Lish has is thankful for friendship and homemade pecan rolls.

To continue the conversation join our ravelry group Mastering the Knits Podcast.   You can email us at masteringtheknits@gmail.com. Alicia is knottyknitter17 on Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram,  Natalie can be found on twitter, Instagram, plurk, everlapse, and ravelry as barknknit.