1. The song Breakable.
2. The Secret Life of Stitches essay It really made me think the first time I heard it. This is the knitting legacy that we were left with. The knitting grandmas kept the craft alive in their acrylic yarns and tacky projects so that someday, we could knit just to knit. They are our knitting pioneers and we should honor them and be proud of the grandmotherly knitting past that we have.

… see also this nice travel article…

I want to knit brown angora baby booties…I just read Watership down. A book by Richard Adams. I think that Brown angora baby booties would remind me of Big Wig. I think I’d put a darker chocolate rim on the booties. Because bigwig is brown with a dark brown spot on his head that looks like a little wig.

for my big wig
I cast on big wig’s booties.

I appreciate your comments about artists and funding. I found them very diplomatic. Truly. I have a small fiber/ textile based business. Sometimes, I compare my spinning and dyeing to others on the internet i.e. etsy and I notice how little is charged for such beautiful yarn/ roving. Spinning and dyeing fiber is truly a form of art and a specialized craft that deserves financial recognition. There is such an enormous amount of time and care put into making such products. In my own product, the cost charged does not truly cover the acutal amount of time and energy I spend on creating the product because I must stay competitive with the current marketplace online while also trying to make a buck in the wholesale/ brick and mortar marketplace. I write off the unaccounted time spent to the passion for fiber account. Granted that much of the above information and working to balance such trials and tribulations are part of the art of being a business woman, my request of artists who post their goods on etsy and online/ blog shops, let’s respect ourselves, try to truly post a monetary amount that reflects our work and talent. That way we can all eat and continue to grow our companies.

As far as funding podcasts goes…I appreciate the internet for the DIY community it has spawned. Before the internet, I have to imagine that it would have been nearly impossible for someone to have started a small yarn business and compete with the large yarn companies. Moreover, before the internet, or itunes for that matter, the platform for free speech radio and podcasts was non-existant. I love podcasts. I think it offers an entire different element to the blog world. I appreciate the amount of information you are giving us. You are helping to build a global community and you deserve to be paid. I think that it is great that you have a donate button on your site.

Series 5 sounds like a kick. I was a Brownie (Girl Scouts) and we always thought that the Bluebirds (Campfire Girls) were the “wilder … looser” crowd. I still have my girl scout sash with all my earned badges. When Brownies became certified Scouts, we walked over a bridge. What did Campfire girls do? Guess I’ll have to stay tuned!

Happy Birthday! I wish you a year filled with joy!