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