Pod Casts
I’m a huge and long time fan of listening to audio books while knitting or spinning (or doing the dishes or cooking) and have recently started to get into listening to PodCasts as well. It is sort of like talk radio but targeted to your specific interestes which is great! Yesterday was this week’s cheesemaking day and DH was also trying to finish reading a novel, so I turned to my Nano and knitting for entertainment that didn’t get in his way or cause distraction for his reading.
I had been sucked into an audio book and fallen behind on the podcast episodes, but I thought I would mention which PodCasts I’ve been enjoying and perhaps highlight a little something I picked up from the episode I most recently listened to for those of you who are perhaps not up on the PodCasting phenomenon but are interested in checking it out. Now, it seems most of my weekly PodCast subscriptions update on Fridays so I think I’m a week behind on several of these, but if you’re new to PodCasting it is worth while to go back and listen to past episodes (at least a few episodes back).
One of my favoristes is pretty new, but it is a little broader in scope than just knitting. It’s FiberCast and includes spinning and weaving. It is a relatively new PodCast, but I’m finding it quite informational. In Episode 4 she spoke with Michael Cook of Wormspit.com and asked him all about raising your own silk worms and reeling silk. I found it totally fascinating (and even asked DH if we could raise silk worms - hehe). I couldn’t believe that it took a couple thousands silk worms to get 4 oz silk! It makes the price of silk a bit more understandable when you know how it is raised. She also has many more links to learn more beyond the interview with Michael Cook. I haven’t listened to the most recent yet…
KnitCast is probably my next favorite of kniting-centric PodCasts. This is a UK based PodCast so those who aren’t BBCAmerica junkies like my DH turned me into may have a little difficulty understanding the host at first. But, this one consists mostly of interviews of designers and other knitting related business people. I find it quite interesting. Most recently, Kerrie Allman, founder of MagKnits was interviewed. Check out the left hand column for a list of some future guests! I know I’m personally looking forward to several of those! And, KnitCast will be having a birthday soon and they are taking questions to ask of other knitting pod casters so get those sent in soon if you are wondering what it takes to create your own PodCast!
Cast-On is recorded in Wales by an American, Brenda Dayne, so it’s a bit easier to understand if you aren’t accustomed to accents but it still has some cultural interest and information on sources and such for those across the pond. This one isn’t quite as knitting or fiber-centric as the previous two, but it is more casual and and bit more like many blogs - with more personal details and tangents and the like. Brenda Dayne is also a writer so she shares an essay each episode along. Each episode she also shares a sweater she has knit including info about the yarns she used, the pattern, any changes she made to said pattern etc. She also includes 4-6 songs each week which makes it much more like listening to radio - it’s talk and music and I’ve found all of her music selections to be quite interesting and enjoyable. In Episode 6 I just loved C’est La Fucking Vie by Ginny Clee.
I also enjoy a few other non-knitting related ones such as many of the NPR selections available (All Songs Considered, NPR: Movies, NPR: Books, etc.). I also adore the idea of CD Babel, a music-related PodCast that reviews 3 or 4 artists found on CD Baby in each episode, however, it seems they aren’t into much of a rhythm as new episodes have been *very* sporadic. But, if you use iTunes or other aggregators it doesn’t hurt anything to subscribe and listen to it whenever they get around to posting a new episode.
If you are into other crafty pursuits that include paper arts, I recommend ScrapCast (not always exciting for me as I don’t really scrapbook, but often it’s more about general paper arts) and Crafty Chica.
I want to thank all those who delurked over the weekend! I’ll be getting to your comments as soon as I return from water torture aerobics!
If you have any favorite PodCasts that I didn’t mention (knitting or otherwise) please pass them along! If you are new to PodCasts and have questions, please feel free to ask them, I’m more than happy to answer what I can!
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