Then, Deborah travels to Ottawa, where she meets up with listener Sparkleecat and her husband, and visits Wool ‘n Things and Knit-Knackers Yarn Warehouse.
She held back, but did walk away with some Jeager Luxury Tweed, Fleece Artist, Nyoni, Sublime Angora Merino, and Drops Lin.

After Ottawa, Deborah finishes her move to Colombia!
She starts to plan her craft room, scopes out the local yarn options, and gets easily distracted by a huge variety of tropical fruit:
In addition to Papaya, Mango, Banana, and Passionfruit (aka Grenadilla), she falls in love with Dragon Fruit (aka Yellow Pitaya). They’re not all winners, however: she tries Tree Tomatoes and doesn’t like them as much.

Meanwhile, Melanie’s summer is saved by knitting!
She shares a scene from Europe: A Savvy Girl’s Guide, the Musical, one of the two highly successful shows she put on at the recent Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival — and she couldn’t have done it without the help of the knitting community!
Joining Melanie is Trish Van Doornum, Marsha Amanova, and Erin Craig.

Speaking of other knitters… as fate would have it, Melanie’s new NYC roommate, Pablo, is the very same knitter that she interviewed back in Episode 8!

SavvyDad makes his second appearance on the show; this time, he answers questions from our listeners (submitted via Ravelry). Thanks for the advice SavvyDad!

Deborah talks about choosing sweater patterns most flattering to your body shape. See below for some suggestions.

We’ve gotten a great response to the knitting etiquette contest, so we are extending the deadline for entries until September 30th!

This week, Deborah celebrates her birthday!
It’s a big one, so naturally the family… goes berry picking…?
A milestone like this is a good time to take stock of your accomplishments. How do you fare on the checklist?

The girls talk about their trip to Uruguay; they pop in at the Malabrigo factory (and watch the workers get patriotic), they visit Punta Yarns, and they have some adventures on an estancia (ranch).

Melanie reads more of The Silver Llama. Missed the first part of Yama’s story? Listen to Episode 27 to get caught up.

Then, Deborah runs through some of the announcements from Podcast-a-palooza.
Melanie’s knitting-themed CD is now available for download through our swag store! It should be up on iTunes (et al.) soon.

Music in this episode:
Lesley Gore – It’s My Party
Sandy Posey – A Single Girl
The Seekers – Georgy Girl
The Corrs – Everybody Hurts
John Philip Sousa – You’ll Miss Lots of Fun When You’re Married
Kate Rusby – Broken-Hearted
Mama Said – The Shirelles – Mama Said – The Shirelles

The Savvy Girls celebrate a (belated) first anniversary with some special guests, great stories, and a ton of news.

Melanie tells of her misadventures at a recent neighbourhood block party.
Deborah leaves Argentina and has a rather tearful goodbye. She tries to live without her stash, but fails miserably.

This episode is jam-packed with exciting announcements.  It’s more fun to listen, but if you’d rather spoil the surprise, read on…

• Check out our new logo!
• Deborah has released her first knitting pattern, The World’s End Fingerless Gloves. You can download for free here or find it on Ravelry.
• It’s time for a new contest! Help us put together a list of knitting-related etiquette. Submit your ideas for guidelines that knitters and non-knitters should follow.
  Enter the contest by August 31st by leaving a comment on this post, sending us an e-mail (podcast@savvygirls.ca) or leaving a comment on our Ravelry Group.
  Thank you to Green Mountain Knitting Bags for generously donating the grand prize!
• Help us to keep the show great — support your Savvy Girls with a small donation.
  In exchange for your generosity, we will send you a package of Savvy Girls Swag as a thank you — Find out more here.
  If you don’t want one of our (super-sweet) swag packages, you can donate any amount you can, here.
• Deborah and Melanie have written a book! Listen to an excerpt and tell us what you think.
• We’ll be adding more information about Melanie’s knitting-themed CD very soon.  Keep checking back.

Some of the music used in this episode:

• Kool & The Gang – Celebration
• Vengaboys – We like to Party
• The Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
• Bobby Darin – Beyond The Sea
• The Corrs – Breathless

This week, the girls take you along on their trip to The End of the World!

Thankfully they were able to stay warm with the help of some knitting.

And, join our hero as our original radio drama, The Case Of The Ivory Needles, continues.

Projects and patterns mentioned in this show:
Fingerless gloves
Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret
Malabrigo Hat
Traveling Woman scarf
DebInAtlanta’s gloves
Boneyard Shawl

Music from this episode:
Great Big Sea – End Of The World
Solveig’s Song from Peer Gynt
John Williams – Mazurka Appassionata
John Williams – Las Abejas
Great Big Sea – Donkey Riding

Deborah is knitting the Boneyard Shawl, but stops long enough to feature another yarn from her stash: Bouclé.
She talks about what it’s like to work with, and shares her tips and tricks.

Melanie reads from her new favourite book, The Silver Llama.

The commercial that Melanie talked about filming for Microsoft back in Episode 20 is now out. Watch it here!

Some of the music from this episode:
- I Bought Me A Cat – Aaron Copeland – sung by Frederica von Stade
- Giuditta – Lehar
- Sheep Song – Acis and Galatea

Melanie is in Vermont to sing with the Opera Company of Middlebury.
How many States are there in the USA? Deborah finds the answer on Wikipedia. The internet knows everything.

Need help organizing your crafts?
Either visit Ikea or tune in to this episode for other great ideas.

Congratulations to our Craft Room Ideas contest winner, Arielluria, from Texas. Check out her great idea for DPN storage!

Melanie interviews listener Martha who is the creative mind behind Green Mountain Knitting Bags. Her work is beautiful! Check it out!

SavvyGirlMom (and SavvyGirlDad) join Melanie for today’s Knit-Lit; Mrs. Isabella Beeton’s Book of Household Management tells us everything we need to know about running a home.

Does anyone knit while they cook? How about a dumpling cozy?

Deborah and Melanie talk about how to repurpose everyday items to assist with your knitting.

Finally, join us for part two of the original radio drama, The Case Of The Ivory Needles.

Episode 25 is another packed show!

Enjoy an interview with Alisa from Passion Knit and Fibre Lab in Toronto.

Deborah is working on the pattern Icarus Shawl from the Interweave Knits back-issue CDs.

Deborah also gets dirty with fleeces in her hotel room.

We present part one of a Savvy Girls original radio drama, The Case Of The Ivory Needles.

New Contest!! The Savvy Girls need your help!
Deborah has amassed a… sizable… stash. We want to hear your suggestions on how she could organize her yarn.
Send in your pictures, links, drawings, descriptions, videos, audio recordings, etc.
Email your submission to podcast@savvygirls.ca, leave it in a comment below, or post it on our Ravelry discussion group.

Melanie shares her recording of Padam, Padam, a song from her Edith Piaf CD La Nuit en Rose.

Friday June 30, 2010
Melanie travels to Nashua, New Hampshire from New York City Deborah drives from Ottawa, Ontario to Nashua, New Hampshire

Saturday May 1, 2010
Melanie and Deborah enjoy the New England Gerbil Show. They skip out a little early and make the long journey from Nashua, NH to Maryland. After a visit with Jasmine and Gigi (from the Knitmore Girls Podcast) they have a little trouble finding a hotel, but they finally manage to rest their weary selves.

Sunday May 2, 2010
It’s the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! The day is full of friends, farmers and fibre. Deborah develops a serious case of Fibre Fever. Melanie and Deborah prove that they are very low maintenance.

Special guests on this show include:

• Diane (aka: GerbilGal)
• Donna Lawson with Dancing Deer Alpacas
• DebinAtlanta and Kiki
• Sparkleecat, nordicgdss1, and Juliann
• Lynn with the Columbia Sip ‘n Stitch and the Knitting Behind Bars project

Products mentioned in this show include:

• Bugga sock yarn
• Pheelya’s Funky Fiber Bags
• Cedar Tree Farm sheep soap
• Wullenstudio Superwash Merino Sock Yarn
• Knitting note cards from Jojo’s Craft Shop
• Yarn and fibre from A Touch of Twist
• Fibre from Little Barn
• Bullens Wullens
• Strauch Fiber Equipment
• Fibre from Hallelujah Farms
• Food from Panera Bread

Melanie and Deborah plan a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Yay!

They also have a visit with listener DebInAtlanta. Deb’s daughter, The Diva, puts us all to shame with a lesson on politeness. Then, we bring back the word Cupidity.

Deborah visits with the yarn company Manos Del Uruguay at their head office in Montevideo and in the small town Fraile Muerto. Deborah also completes two Saroyan.

Music in this episode:
Delovely from Anything Goes
Watermelon Weather by Bing Crosby
Music also by Cecilia Bartoli

Deborah has to work during the week, but the rest of the time is for having adventures!
They visit the desert oasis of San Pedro de Atacama, where there is adventure, alpaca wool, and vicuna – roaming temptingly in the desert mountains.  They float in the salty sea, search for flamingos in the desolate plains of the Altiplano, and play in a field of volcanic geysers.  There is so much to do that there isn’t even time for knitting! (*gasp!*)

Next, it’s back to Santiago for food, culture, and an orgy of wool-buying… the Savvy Girls discover Cuenta Puntos and Araunacia yarn.

Nobody makes friends like the Savvy Girls; and their new pals, Alejandra and Winnie, invite them to Vina del Mar for the weekend.  Deborah is thrilled to find another avid knitter, and Melanie is happy to have more adventures!

Music in this episode:
Rap Das Armas (Parapapapa) – Cidinho & Doca
Arriba La Vida – Ensayo Croni-K

Try to Remember…Malabrigo

All I Squeak of You

My Favorite Squeaks

Wide Open Gerbils

The Gerbils bring you this original performance…inspired by their love for all things Malabrigo

It’s Malabrigo That we Love so Much

This week…

Deborah interviews Mariana from the Malabrigo Factory.
(Listen to the interview from her last visit, in Episode 9.)

The girls announce the winners of our confession contest, and read a few of their favourite submissions. Thanks to everyone that participated!

And, the gerbils drop in to share some original songs.

Enjoy!

It’s the 2010 Ravelympics, and the Savvy Girls are off and knitting….

Deborah knits almost every second of every day to ensure victory for Team Canada, whilst Melanie toils away on her socks of evil.

Deborah’s competing with the February Fitted Pullover, and so many dishcloths…
Melanie’s projects follow more of a theme (can you figure it out?): Squeaky Socks, Squeaky Sweater, and Guccsqueaki Purse.

Also, Deborah’s got some BIG news! What is it? Listen to find out!

Introducing Ask A Savvy Girl:
Do you have any questions about anything?
…Why is the sky blue?… Why does the dryer monster eat socks?…
Whatever the pressing inquiry, the Savvy Girls can help!  Ask away in the comments, or on the Ravelry discussion board.

Then, both Melanie and Deborah record their innermost thoughts and feelings in their Ravelympics Yarn Diary. Deborah (of course) talks about more knitting, while Melanie tells all about the commercial shoot she starred in… in her own apartment.

Music from the episode:
Victory – The Pirate Movie
Pumpin’ and Blowin’ – The Pirate Movie
Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady – Iolanthe
2010 Olympic Theme

Deborah’s friend Corrine drops in to talk about some of her first knitting projects, including the Clapotis scarf, the Sunny Baby Blanket, Angela’s Fabulous Felted Bag, and Thrummed Mittens.

Our Confessions Contest is still open for just 2 more weeks. Leave your confession in the comments, or on Ravelry.

Melanie’s Knit-Lit this week is the book Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler’s War and Stalin’s Peace.

Melanie’s Ravelympics project will be the French Press Felted Slippers, and Deborah’s making the February Fitted Pullover.
Are you competing in the Ravelympics? Share your projects in the comments, or join us in our active Ravelry group.

As Deborah attempt to coordinate her knee-socks, Melanie’s neighbourhood gets to know her a bit more than she intended.

Deborah describes her experience test-knitting the Linda Butterfly Socks, and takes on some New Years resolutions with her “Emerald” hand-spun sweater.

Our Bringing It Back words are shenanigans and tomfoolery.  See if you can use them in a conversation this week.

Melanie gets a little incentive to finish her socks. But will she do it? Listen to her Yarn Diary entries to find out.

Deborah talks about the yarn she used to make Melanie’s Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret, and interviews with Montevideo-based 100 Pure Wool.

Melanie reads some knit-lit: a selection from Little Mittens for The Little Darlings by Frances “Aunt Fanny” Elizabeth Barrow

Don’t forget to enter our contest! Leave your confession in the comments, or on Ravelry.

Listener Bowerbird, along with many other knitters, are donating some or all of the proceeds from their pattern sales to the earthquake relief effort in Haiti. Bowerbird (Rebekkah) will donate all of the net profits from sales of her patterns, through the end of this month.

Music in this episode:
Nancy Wilson – Knitting Class
Ella Fitzgerald sings Irving Berlin
Dufay

So the show might be a few days late.

Sorry!

It’s a birthday party, and everyone’s invited!

Melanie gets ready to celebrate her special day. She delivers a piggy sweater to Big Red at Katie’s Critters. The gerbils make a special present, and even New York City Transit gets involved when Melanie attempts to knit.
Deborah plays with her friend Corinne in Buenos Aires, and they learn some other unpleasant facts about guinea piggies.  If you want to see a picture of the Peruvian delicacy, click here.

Thank you to Gerbilgal for the wonderful interview!
Check out her Etsy shop, and read her gerbil Digger’s Journal. (It is brilliant. If you read it, you will cry. I am almost crying even thinking of it… *sniff*)

Don’t forget to enter our contest! Leave your confession in the comments, or on Ravelry.

Music from this episode:
Birthday Song from Zorba the Greek
Incidental Music by Handel and Purcell
Our Little Secret from Promises, Promises

Deborah buys a llama (almost), and spins up a storm, while Melanie attempts to knit a piggy sweater for her favourite guinea pig, Big Red.

Have the girls managed to keep up their new year resolutions? If so, Deborah has a lot of knitting to do, and Melanie needs to keep away from open flames…

Special guests on this episode are young knitting expert Regan (aka frecklegirl726), all the way from sunny Texas; and Deborah and Melanie’s Mom, who drops in to read them a story… a fiber-related story, of course!

To enter our contest, post a confession as a comment below, or on the discussion board of our Ravelry group – look for the thread titled Confessions
(Note: Ravelry requires a quick, free registration; but it’s totally worth it.)

Should you wish to make a donation to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières to help with the Haiti relief effort, we highly encourage you to visit the Yarn Harlot’s blog and read her Knitters Without Borders project information.

Patterns mentioned include:
BIG Shawl Collar Pullover by Boy Meets Purl
The Linda Butterfly Socks by Mindy Vasil
Upside-Down Socks by Patons

And the featured yarn from Deborah’s stash this episode is Patons Stretch Socks.

Tunes include:
Bis Melodrame from Offenbach’s Perichole
Sao Joao de Ra Rao sung by Bidu Sayao
Air from Abdelazer by Henry Purcell
Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver

A big thank you to our contest sponsors:
100 Pure Wool
Malabrigo
Manos Del Uruguay

We really appreciate your patience, and hope that this hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience for you.

Thanks for sticking with us!

Update: Looks like it’s all fixed now!!!

It’s a New Year’s party, and everyone’s here!

The next podcast is already filling up, with proper interviews, literature, and knitting talk… but is it vacation time, so this one is just a lot of fun!

This week, Melanie is podcasting from Alberta, Canada; and Deborah is in Argentina.  It is a mini-cast, so the busy listeners will still have time to go out and enjoy New Year’s Eve.

Melanie and Deborah swap New Year’s resolutions (and yes, those yoga pants are already in Argentina by now!)

The gerbils squeak hello from Summer Camp, and even Deborah’s dog Kefira gets to sing!

Big Red

Deborah and Kefira

If you are looking for your own crazy gerbil, or are interested in giving Big Red a piggy sweater and a new and loving home, consider adopting a friend from Katie’s Critters.

Join Melanie as she recounts the tale of her socks.

Deborah talks about what she is working on, including:

• Mud Season short-sleeved sweater by Elizabeth Smith (Ravelry link)
• Ishbel shawl
• 198 Yards Of Heaven (Ravelry link)

Inspired by Sophie Kinsella’s book Can You Keep a Secret?, the girls confess some of their deepest, darkest secrets! (OK maybe not, but at least some of the funnier ones.)

Deborah features a yarn from her favourite Argentinian shop: Yanabey pure wool.

Music used in this episode:
A Chorus Line – I Hope I Get It
Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
Baker Sisters

This week, the girls chat about what they’ve been up to, and take you along with them on the New York City Yarn Crawl (better late than never!).

Interviews in this episode:
Berta Karapetyan, Author of Runway Knits
Jayson Kerr, Melanie’s fellow singer in Babes in Toyland

Join us in our new Ravelry Group!

The Yarn Crawl takes them to:
Yarntopia
Knitty City
Knit-A-Way
Brooklyn General Store
Stitch Therapy
Seaport Yarn
Habu Textiles
School Products
Lion Brand Yarn Studio
Downtown Yarns
Purl Soho
String
Annie & Co

Music this week includes:
The Killers – Human
I Want To Be An Actor Lady – Cincinatti University Singers
Antonia Laura – Variations on a Venezualian Children’s Song
Toyland Theme – Victor Herbert

You can sign up for free and join the conversation at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/the-savvy-girls-podcast.

If you would like to see us on other social networks (like Twitter or Facebook); or if you have any other suggestions for the show, please let us know in the comments below.

Deborah gives some tips on planning your holiday gifts, and she talks about her favourite knitting books, including:
ColorSense: Creative Color Combinations for Crafters
Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting
Manos del Uruguay – Geometry
Manos del Uruguay – Shadows & Reflections
and cookbooks by Norene Gilletz

Deborah reviews Space Bags as a way to control her yarn stash, and touches on some natural ways to keep your yarn bug-free.

Music this week includes:
Chopin – Nocturne
Barbara Bonney – If Music be the Food of Love (by Purcell)
Mary Schneider – Yodeling the Classics

Special thanks to Nava Lightstone and Karen G for their vocal talents.

Melanie and Deborah are, alas… apart once again, and they assuage their loneliness by… podcasting!

Deborah updates us on the Aran Afghan (from episode 2), and describes the Modern Log Cabin Blanket and the Mud Season Sweater that she’s working on.

She also discusses White Buffalo Unspun yarn, and the controversy surrounding the Cowichan Olympic sweaters.

Meanwhile, Melanie attempts to knit a sock.  It doesn’t end well.

Melanie talks about her upcoming singing gig, in the opera And The Rat Laughed with Opera York.
An interview with Melanie can be read here.

Not to be outdone, Deborah records a special wool-themed song, just for you!

The girls bring back the word “matey”.  Use it in a sentence, aye darrrrr yah!

Songs this week include:
Don’t Tamper With My Sister from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Music from Handel’s Giulio Cesare
Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea
Musical Clips from And the Rat Laughed by Ella Milch-Sheriff.

Mel and Deborah celebrate their tenth episode with a visit to Rhinebeck for the NY Sheep & Wool Festival.

The knitters (and hippies) come out in force! Mel thinks that everyone is crazy.
(Seriously…that auctioneer isn’t using words.  Is that what it sounds like when someone speaks in tongues?)
Rhinebeck seems to be the ultimate pick-up joint, for a bargain!
Melanie would rather be hooking…and would prefer to be warm.  Maybe both at the same time.

Interviews With:
Claudia from Eastport Yarns (eastportyarns.com)
Truffles, the surrey alpaca
Margaret from Green Mountain Spinneries
Joe from the Oasis Yarn Company
Devon, Michelle, Kate, and Katie – kindred spirits with excellent tastes in wool!
Carolyn, Heather, and Sarah – all enthusiastic Ravelers!
Pat from Times Remembered
Sarah and Elise – an articulate and entertaining daughter-mother team (sorry New Jersey!)
Lyla, Bluebee, and their friend Lydia – happy new bunny owners!

Big thanks to all of our guests!

Songs:
Ordinary Day (Great Big Sea)
State Fair (State Fair)
I Hate to get up in the Morning (Berlin)
Jovial Farmer Boy
Cold Feet (The Drowsy Chaperone)
Dainty June and her Farmboys (Gypsy)
How you Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm (Edens/Garland)
Uncle Sam is Rich Enough to Give us all a Farm
Songs of Innocence
The Farmer and the Ploughman (Oklahoma!)
A Little Pretty Bonny Lass (Farmer/King’s Singers)
Endless Pleasure (Semele)
My friend, I went to the market
The Little Horses (Copland)

Goodnight all – Sweet dreams!

Clear your iPods, this is a long one!

Today the Savvy Girls go wild – traveling to the ends of the earth (or at least to Uruguay) for interesting knitting tidbits.

Melanie buys some companionship (no, it’s not what you think!); and Deborah professes her love for all things Malabrigo.

We are going to The Rhinebeck Festival on October 17.
If you are in the New York area and want to rideshare with us, contact us ASAP.

Interesting links from today’s episode include:
- Katie’s Critters
- Joji’s website
- Malabrigo!!!

You wear them, so why not bring it back?
Dungarees (AKA Jeans)

Deborah is knitting:
Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson

Support your favourite Savvy Girls! Check out our Amazon Store.

Steppin’ to the beat of:
Romance Anonimo (by Adventures Of Leonid)
If That’s Your Idea of a Wonderful Time (by Irving Berlin, sung by Melanie Gall)
Malabrigo Song (Written and performed by MediaWorkZone)
Malabrigo Galore (performed by Lykkefanten)
Sisters (performed by Peggy Lee)
and, as always,
Ordinary Day (performed by Great Big Sea)
Doozer Knitting Song (from Fraggle Rock)

Photo courtesy of Bruno Engel

Melanie has a grumpy day, moves to NYC, works on her music, and takes some creative jobs in order to pay off the student loans.
Deborah finally cooks herself something to eat and visits with her knitting group.

Today we interview:
- Melanie’s new friend Pablo… who turns out to be a knitter!
- Matilde from Finca Piedra

For fun, check out BariHunks.

The Rhinebeck Festival is coming up on October 17 in New York.

Deborah knits:
- The Sophisticated Rustic Jacket by Pam Allen
- Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson

Music:
Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea
Spanglish – Seesaw
The Hostess With The Mostest – Call Me Madam
Doozer Knitting Song – Fraggle Rock

This week Melanie prepares to move to New York City, while Deborah packs for a weekend of yarn-hunting in Uruguay.

The Savvy Girls have their first podcast-fight … almost. It would behoove them both to get along, at least while they are podcasting.

Deborah goes on and on (and on) about more yarns in her stash, while Melanie spins a yarn (ha ha, get it?) about knitting.

Deborah’s yarns come from Moussa and Mullingar.

Songs:
Gretchan am Spinnerade by Schubert
Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea
Theme from The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror
Theme from Sierra’s Gold Rush!
Knit You A Jumper by Love, Sage

Or, if you are in the Toronto area in November, come see her sing in the opera The Rat Laughed.

Melanie also discusses her involvement in this bollywood music video.

Deborah’s yarn this week comes from Lanas La Oveja Negra.

Deborah is still knitting the afghan for her soon-to-be-married friend.
You can find it in the book Manos del Uruguay – Shadows & Reflections – Throws.
She has also made a little progress on her Sophisticated-Rustic Jacket.

Melanie, of all people, got paid to knit.  And she complained about it afterwards.  Life is completely unfair.

Deborah discusses a new way to use an old expression, and shares a few quotations that caught her fancy.

Boogie down to:

Is yarn really all that important in Uruguay? Just ask the government!

Spinsterhood

My knitting this week comes from:

• Shadows and Reflections, Canyon Throw by Judith Shangold
• Sophisticated-Rustic Jacket by Pam Allen
• Samus by Brynne Sutton

Tapping our feet to the rhythms of:

• Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea
• Dentist – Oscar B from Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
• Bachelor – Scrunter
• Spinster – Lovey

With clips from the movies:

• Harry Potter
• Bridget Jones’ Diary

Deborah goes shopping for presents for herself, Melanie sends her a present, and Deborah hosts a birthday knitting party.

What do YOU think about when you are in bed falling asleep?

Melanie tells of her encounter with “a big black woolly beast-monster“.

Patterns we discuss include:

• Ciara’s wedding afghan comes from this book.
• Sophisticated-Rustic Jacket from Interweave knits.
• The hat pattern comes from the company Mary Maxim.

No Bringing It Back word today, but we do make use of the terms yarn-spree and yarn-gasm. Is that good enough?

And Three Little Kittens totally trash some lovely hand-knit mittens. What a bunch of animals!
(On The Tree Top, by Clara Doty Bates and Others, 1881. Courtesy of the Gutenburg Project.)

Music used in this episode:

• Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea (with thanks to the Podsafe Music Network)
• The Knitting Song – “I want to knit myself a sweater” – Sophie Madeleine
• Doozer Knitting Song – Fraggle Rock, episode “The Great Radish Famine”

Hats off to the 3rd sibling in our family, Andrew, for all his behind-the-scenes work on the podcast.

Deborah learns to spin, and makes a tortured decision about buying a wheel.

Melanie talks about margarine.  Yes.  She really does.  Is it related to knitting?  Not really, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Deborah picks another yarn from her stash.  Hopefully these past weeks will have been the last time she has to see this stuff!   Find the knitty.com French Market Bag here.

Our Bringing It Back word is lots of fun!
Use this one is a sentence.  I DARE you!
References:

• Five Little Peppers Midway – Margaret Sydney
• English Synonyms and Antonyms – James Champlin Fernald
• G. K. Chesterton, A Critical Study – Julius West
• In the Tail of the Peacock – Isabel Savory
• Scottish Ghost Stories – Elliott O Donnell
• The Lost City – Joseph E. Badger

Music used in this episode:

• Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea (with thanks to the Podsafe Music Network)
• The Warmth Of Wool-Knit Clothing – The Modlins
• Pardon me, I didn’t knit that for you – Sung by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne of Mason Dixon Knitting
• The Knitting Song – “I want to knit myself a sweater” – Sophie Madeleine
• I like knitting – I’m a Little Wrong Note – Sung by Arthur Askey

Thanks for listening!

Deborah blabs about her knitting projects:
- My brother’s afghan (Desert)
- Clapotis
- Aran Afghan – From the Canadian Living Magazine

Use the following words in a sentence and join the movement to bring them back!
- Wack
- Aught

Knitting can be a very patriotic act. In honour of Canada Day and Independence day, Melanie explores this theme.

Melanie’s info sources include:
- The New York Times
- The Christian Science Monitor
- The BBC
- Life Magazine
- The WW2 Encyclopedia

Knitting is even pervasive in music. Enjoy these tunes:

• Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea (with thanks to the Podsafe Music Network)
• Pardon me, I didn’t knit that for you – Sung by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne of Mason Dixon Knitting
• The Knitting Song – “I want to knit myself a sweater” – Sophie Madeleine
• Jump – Kriss Kross
• Allegro, il Penseroso ed il – Moderato by Handel
• Knit One, Purl Two – The Glenn Miller Band
• Doozer Knitting Song – Fraggle Rock, episode “The Great Radish Famine”

We are looking forward to the Olds College Fibre Week 2009 (in Alberta, Canada), and the upcoming re-release of Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle Knitting.

Knitting is even pervasive in music. Enjoy these tunes:
Ordinary Day – Great Big Sea (with thanks to the Podsafe Music Network)
Doozer Knitting Song – Fraggle Rock, episode “The Great Radish Famine”
The Knitting Song – “I’m going to knit myself a sweater” – Sophie Madeleine
Allegro, il Penseroso ed il – Moderato by Handel
Air Vif – Written by Poulenc, sung by Melanie Gall
Pardon me, I didn’t knit that for you – Sung by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne of Mason Dixon Knitting