Thanks to my guest, Kim Werker, former editor of Interweave Crochet and founder of CrochetMe. Read the inspirational blog post that made me think,here.
Yarnmarket.com and The Knitters Guild Association have announced the launch of the 2009 Design Contest. This competition for knitters will award prizes in several categories, with the grand prize pattern winning a $1,000 gift certificate for Yarnmarket.com. Rules, information and entry forms are available in this pdf download.
If you’ve ever wanted to participate in a group fiber arts project on a grand scale, 2009 is the year for you. The latest project from the International Fiber Collaborative is hoping to re-create a full-sized tree for display in April 2009 at Big Springs International Park in Huntsville, Alabama. Knit a leaf, get involved; you’ll find all the information you need to participate at the International Fiber Collective.
How does knitting work to reduce stress? Find out, in the BBC program, All In The Mind.
Thank you for the music, knitsibs, and Happy New Year!
KniTunes were provided by and used with the permission of:
- We, the Living -London Rain
- Christine Kane – Right Outta Nowhere
- Jo Hamilton – There It Is
- Abba (Not podsafe but, artistically, necessary.) – Thank You For the Music
Additional music by All India Radio.
Fry with the sinners or knit with the saints in Brother Amos' Hellfire Lace Socks. Now available for purchase on 
"Bring the car around, Jeeves." Driving Miss Daisy finglerless glove pattern, in teal, black or white, available exclusively through 
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Brenda, I am so happy you have decided keep doing Caston. I came to listening to Podcasts about a year ago (never knew they existed before that). Since I am a knitter I looked for knitting podcasts and found yours – I loved it and download all of them. Started listening to them in order, one a day. Was caught up when you started having your medical problems, so missed the weekly podcasts but certainly understood the reason why you couldn’t continue. I have no idea of how podcasting works (that is the expense involved and how it is covered) but being a person with a progressive disease in which I get out less and less I really enjoy listening to a variety of podcasts.
I love it when you are a guest on QN doing the quizes. They are so funny sometimes I am laughing out loud along with you guys.
So, just to let you know the work you put into Podcasting is appreciated and I am glad you have decided to continue. Susieq in California
Thank you Brenda for a brilliant show, I love the podcast keep it up! and Have a great year ahead
your knitterly
nessaknits xxx
Thank you so much for this podcast. It came on a day when I was dealing with a few home truths about myself and my life. What a wonder to hear from both you and Kim that I am on the right road. And I am so glad you are going to continue to podcast. I love your voice and your stories and your honesty. I know you touch many people with every one.
Hi Brenda,
Thank you for each and every one of your podcasts. Life is not easy for us creative people who live differently and support ourselves through our craft. As for how you feel about your podcast and continuing in a different vein whatever that is, I would like to say anytime we do a creative thing we must first do it for ourselves. And then if our vision is good or good enough and if you are true to yourself the money, listeners, sponsors etc do come. So plz keep on keeping on.
And it is so much easier to live this way.
Rae
Hi Brenda,
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the last podcast and to wish you a (belated) happy new year!
Best wishes
Liz
Brenda,
I have been listening to you for what feels like forever. I feel as though we are such close friends. You sat with me during my husbands chemo and I listened to your stories while my grandson was being born. I share my ride on my horse with you and you encourage me to knit one more row when I must stay awake to hear the end of the podcast and knitting helps me do so. Thank you most of all for your stories. I lost my mom this past year and still have ‘things’ of hers that I ’smell’. Your chanel story brought a tear to my eye.
Your Jean made me think of my Jean and the knitting group of teachers held in my house weekly for years.
Tell stories!! You are creative and brilliant and your words spin a story by knitting together words and the end result is …. A Thing of Beauty!
hello brenda-
i love your podcast!
not related to knitting, but i thought that you might like this article since it mentions canned pumpkins:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/the-11-best-foods-you-arent-eating/
happy new year,
marie
Lovely episode, thank you. I played the bit about alchemy to my husband who made a decision today to give up an old dream in order to pursue a new career. He’s always been interested in alchemy, so hearing your words resonated strongly with him.
And for some bizarre reason, the ABBA song at the end made me blub.
Regarding your quivut: what if you wove with it? I recall that you had an Ashford knitters’ loom at some point. I don’t know what dent heddle that comes with, but you could double the quivut as necessary for a balanced tabby. As just weft, you would probably have enough for a scarf, and you could pair it with cashmere or silk warp. You could still send her mother a scarf, with a piece of you included as well. Also, it might be less painful to weave than to knit with it. I look forward to all your future storytelling efforts.
Hi Brenda!
Thanks for another amazing episode… this one had me rushing off (okay, debating for a day, THEN rushing) to send Kim Werker an email with a proposition: hooping lessons in exchange for fibre-world-domination coaching. It was great to hear thoughts on life changingness – I’ve been working on it for the past few years, and slow progress is happening – and on making podcasting enjoyable – I’m planning to come back to recording ChristaKnits, and am working on content and format concepts that will bring me joy, and remove some of the editing work that didn’t. … and my mouth is watering for pumpkin pie!
Welcome back, Brenda! I love the sound of your voice so much that I would listen to you reading the milk carton, but it is the stories that make the podcast. I can’t wait to hear about the next theme (and I want to know more about the two guys and the dog…)
Signed,
Once again happy to be a subscriber.
Hi Brenda!
I’m so glad you’re keeping the podcasts going! I live in beautiful Somerset and have only just discovered you! Love listening! At the moment I am catching up on all your past casts as well as doenloading the most recent.
2008 wasn’t such a good year for me either, I lost a work colegue and a grandchild.
Like you I am looking forward to 2009 with optimism and excitment.
Keep up the great work
Caro
Brenda:
I finally got a chance to listen to your last 2 podcasts today and, as usual, you made me laugh and you made me cry (my idea of a good podcast AND a good movie!).
As you began describing your latest journey, I kept saying, “She can’t quit, she’s too good a storyteller!” Then you said the same thing. Yes, you ARE a storyteller — one of the best!
I like the idea of themes….used them all of the time when I planned parties for hospital personnel! Your podcasts would be great in themes and go for what YOU want! Usually you’re on the mark with me, but if not, that’s okay, too. That’s why we people are all different!
Well, need to run, but I wanted to let you know how important your podcast is in my life. Thank you so much!
Cindy from Southern Indiana
My sister has been in Finland for two years and found her favorite food not available. Oddly enough, Finns don’t seem to stock chocolate chips, or refried beans. They also haven’t accepted our love of dryer sheets.
As for Jean’s yarn… may I suggest you make a swatch from her pattern notes, just something big enough for a good sampling, then frame both the swatch and the notes? I am sure that her mother would be just as proud to have a bit of her daughters handwriting and a swatch of her patterning as she would to have something to wear. For the rest of the ball, if you don’t make an art piece for yourself, put it in a pretty glass apothecary jar, or even a canning jar, so that you may protect it from flying buggers and knots. You can then remove the lid occasionally for a pet and sniff. And please, whatever you do, label this precious yarn so your grandchildren don’t throw it away, thinking that granny has completly lost her marbles for saving it.
Kristan
Brenda,
Why not knit your friend’s scarf in the same lace pattern that she used? If you don’t have enough yarn to do that maybe knit a lace pattern swatch and frame it for her mother.
Hi Brenda,
How lovely to hear your voice!
I was sooo disappointed for you when Jean’s scarf did not happen. I was glad Jean got the maximum enjoyment out of the quiviut before she passed on. She petted it, she spent the glorious time knitting it and she actually got to wear it.
I too have lost a friend recently. My good friend Kim died unexpectedly this past November, leaving her wide circle of friends gasping in grief and disbelief. The past few months have been very difficult for us all. Though, not nearly as bad as for her family, of course.
My friend was not what one might call a knitter. She didn’t have the patience to do anything she called ‘fiddly’ work. She did however knit on special occasions, like the birth of her first grandchild. She felt it was her duty as grandmother to have something ready for the baby when it arrived and I was delighted and overjoyed to be the one to help her through the fiddly bits! It wasn’t unusual for me to get to the office only to have her knitting thrust in my face, needles and all, with the instruction to ‘fix it’! She produced a lovely little sweater for her granddaughter and then immediately started in on socks for her youngest daughter. Two years later I think she gave up on the first sock.
When Kim became ill this Fall, I visited with her one day and she shared with me the progress on her project for her next grandchild, due in February. She had me ‘Fix It’ (it turned out to be a dropped stitch, no big deal) and we had a lovely visit. I saw my friend one more time after that at her daughter’s baby shower and a week later she was gone.
After a lot of ” I shoulda, woulda, coulda’s”, grieving the time missed with my friend, I remembered the baby project. With trepidation I phoned the family home and spoke with her daughter who was pregnant with the second grandchild. They had come across their mother’s knitting (that she had hid from them in case she didn’t get it done by the time the baby came) and she had wondered who she could get to finish it. Yay! I hadn’t been sure she would want anyone to finish what her mom had started but I jumped right in and offered my services. She seemed very grateful.
However eager I was to do this for my friend and her family, I couldn’t touch the knitting for months. I had my own Christmas knitting to finish and I had ’til the end of February after all! But it didn’t get done, I kept putting it off until one day I got strict with myself and created a whole afternoon to sit and concentrate on this item, no other knitting allowed until it was done. I realized as soon as I opened the bag containing the knitting what the problem was. It was fear. I personally have little fear when it comes to knitting, I can pick up the pointy sticks and cast on for any project, surf the web to learn new techniques and rip back rows with impunity. But this wasn’t MY knitting. This was the last remaining creative tie these people had with their dearly departed Mother and Wife. What if I messed it up?! The weight of the responsibility was crushingly enormous. No wonder I was doing the procrastination dance. Finally, I did persevere and got the little bunting bag done as well as the matching hat that goes with it.
Listening to your pod cast this morning galvanized me into action and I wrapped and delivered it before I sat down to write my story. Thank you
As for the Quiviut, this is recycling at its best. Jean would be very proud of you. It couldn’t have been easy to make the decision. I like the idea for a cowl or smoke ring, for yourself. If you have need for more yardage you could always use up some bits of leftover lace weight and make a truly unique combination, a piece that would always remind you of your friend. The yarn is no longer Jean’s work and not likely to have meaning for Jean’s Mom. I like the idea of the framed lace sample going to her Mom.
Thanks for the podcasting. As for content… as long as it’s your voice and creative content of some sort, I’m happy.
Your knit sib,
CreativeWhimsy
As usual, a moving, thought provoking, and beautiful podcast. I hope you know just how much your insights and honesty mean to us, your listeners. Amazing, thank you.
What a brilliant podcast, Brenda. Absolutely brilliant. It brought tears to my eyes and brought back memories of past holidays, past family gatherings, and times that will never come again. I loved Kim Werker’s comments on moving on, which were clearly excitement-laded, juxtaposed against your own nostalgia. Between the two of you, you illustrate all that’s great and scary about change. Man, Brenda, you completely rock!
Loved hearing about pumpkin pie, especially the cultural differences. Maybe “culture” could be one of your themes. Or “change”, like how knitting has changed, how you have been changed by knitting, how knitting can bring about change, how things have changed but aspects of knitting have not.
Brenda — as for the yarn, I had a thought, but did not read through all 70 comments, so if someone else thought of this as well, please ignore (unfortunately I am a little behind in my listening). I think that if you had been able to give Jean’s mother the completed scarf, that would have been so very special, but since that was not possible, I don’t think that your knitting something out of Jean’s yarn is what you’re looking for. From what you have said, Jean would want you to enjoy the yarn — you understand the significance of it. So what if you DESIGN something for the yarn, name it after Jean, sell the pattern and donate the proceeds to a charity in Jean’s name, and send Jean’s mother a note explaining all of this. (I did read far enough to see that several people suggested a cowl/smoke ring, and I thought something along those lines would be lovely as well).
That way, you are honoring Jean, giving her mother a part of her, and Jean has given you the yarn.
Happy New Year Brenda (albeit a little late)!
I am always thankful when I see there is a new episode of Cast-on. It was nice to hear that you will be focusing on storytelling and themes in future episodes. Some of my favorite series of Cast-on were the series on the Muses and Cast-on goes to Camp. You are a fabulous storyteller and your podcasts are always assembled so beautifully. It truly is an art. I can’t wait to hear what is to come in 2009. Well wishes in the upcoming year and Happy Knitting.
~Rhiannon (aka. rae)
Hi Brenda,
I wanted to suggest a use for your quivut yarn. How about a knitted lace choker? I perfer them to smoke rings because they’re so cozy, and this yarn would definitely be soft enough.
I’m new to your podcasts and I savor them already. Thank you. I recently began teaching a non-art course at an art college… I did not consider myself to be an artist until I learned that one could major in knitting. After my first class with my new students I knew I was in a place that I belonged at last. My love of knitting has been stimulated again and your podcasts and website have been fulfilling. I especially wanted to share my thoughts on what to do with the Quiviut yarn. I would make a square or rectangle of a pattern that truly showed the beauty of the yarn, then use it as the front panel of a pillow that I would keep on my bed or near my favorite chair so that when I touched or looked upon it, warm memories of my friend would arise and for a moment she’d be there with me. ( For me, it is a book that reminds me of my dearest friend who lives too far away. Even if it is only on the shelf, I know that she’s close whenever it catches my eye.) I hope you find a way to honor your friend, the yarn, and your fondness of both. Thank you again for sharing your stories on the podcasts.
Hi Brenda,
Lovely podcast – I’m catching up! Glad you are Back! I love your story-telling. And your knitting inspirations.
I think that you should keep the Qiviut yarn as several people have suggested. I especially love the suggestion made by Tracie in #74 for a square in a pillow. Make something to remind you of Jean and keep it! The book Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas is all about Qiviut!
Thank you for wonderful moments of inspiration and reflection.
i just finally had time to listen to this, and wanted to thank you. i needed to be reminded that my restlessness is not necessarily a lack of drive or a lack of focus. i, like kim, love to be a part of the bigger picture. i prefer to work with others, and i would rather do my own thing than be bored by a “within the box project”. so often, i don’t start at all because i fear what others will say… that i am flighty… or unwilling to settle… i wait for the right thing to come along, and i search my soul for what will bring me joy rather than what will fill my time. it means that for now, i stay at home with my daughter and teach her instead of working a sad and depressing job. and it means that sometimes, in the search of joy, i live for a minute in boredom rather than be stuck in it forever. it was good to hear of someone else seeking her hearts passion!!
blessings… and thank you. you settle my heart, and quiet my soul. you help me find peace. i am terribly grateful for what you do here at cast-on!!
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