Podcasts

I don't have a tv and don't listen to the radio as I don't like the Finnish radio style. Or at least I didn't when I used to listen to it. I'm really glad I found podcasts. I don't remember how though, or what the first one was that I listened to. I still look for new ones and now I'm trying out a few quilting podcasts but so far they aren't ones that I'll keep listening to.

Most of ones that I download are about knitting but I would like to find more sewing ones. The only professional one I listen to is Car Talk. I don't have a car or a driver's license, and at my age, I doubt that I'll every want to get one, but I find the program relaxing.

I usually prefer podcasts that don't just talk about their main topic but include the podcaster's life too. I would like to find more non-American podcasts but I must admit that I haven't looked too hard!

One podcast that I enjoy from New Zealand is Crafternoon Tea with Granny G. Until recently her podcast was one of the longest on my list. She has now divided each episode into two sections and airs them at different times. One part is an interview and she has had quite a variety of interesting people on her list.

The other part is a combination of what crafts (knitting, sewing, etc.) she has been working on and usually what she has been baking. I always feel lazy when I listen to her talking about what is in her tin that week as I don't bake that often. Now and again Granny G has a guest to talk about what's in the tins. It's interesting to hear what are New Zealand baking traditions and what baked goods have been imported. In a recent podcast she talked about making bagels. I'm tempted to try making them again as she made them sound easy to make. If you enjoy crafty podcasts, I recommend giving her a listen.

Where's the Sun/Summer?

It's the middle of June already and it still doesn't feel like summer. Of course we're not wearing our winter clothes but it isn't all that warm.

Carla has sent her cookbook Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale (Amazon link to pre-order) off to the publisher and that's the end of the testing for that book. The last recipe I tested was this Spicy Corn Biscotti which was really good. Despite having to have the time to bake biscotti twice and have it cool in between, I like that it can be munched on whenever.


Carla has started coming up with recipes for a new cook book. I've only made one recipe so far. This Lentil "Spag Bol" Sauce was really good. I'm trying to use things up from the freezer to make room for strawberries when they come. I'd also like to make up a batch of this sauce and freeze it in individual portions now that I'm an empty-nester and find making food just for myself a bit of a nuisance!


I started the second ball of wool for my Vortex shawl. Not wanting to bother with putting the live stitches on a piece of string, I just measured half of it. It's now about 48 cm across. I don't have this size circular needles (and I don't know if they sell them long enough) so I'm going to try to use dpns. At the moment I'm using 7 needles. Hopefully I can find 1-3 more around the apartment. I don't know if they were 4 or 5 needle packs or if I've picked up some somewhere. I'm at 336 stitches.


Only working on one project was getting a bit boring so I restarted a wool hat for my son. I wanted to do a top-down hat so I wouldn't have to keep undoing it like the last one when it would be too long, too short, too long again! The first one I tried seemed to leave gaps between the stitches and that wouldn't be warm enough here. So I'm trying a different pattern. It looks good but making increases every row is taking forever. It would be so much faster to do decreases! II need to take my glasses off to do such close work with this colour. Good thing I like listening to podcasts because I wouldn't be able to watch anything without my glasses.

I just went to look for the name of the pattern and I can't find the pattern! and I didn't bookmark it in anyway! or write down the name of the pattern! or write down the pattern past row 9, where I am up to! Guess what I'm going to be doing now. Hope I've just missed it (twice) and it hasn't been taken down. Sigh.

Winnings

I've won two prizes recently. One was this lavender filled matryoshka sachet from Amy over at Chick Chick Sewing during the May 17, 2010 Giveaway Day.


The other prize was this book. What fun. I have to take the train to get to the library and so winning a book is great. Jan from Prytz Family often has book giveaways so it's worth visiting her blog if you like to read.

I'm really thankful that people are willing to send to Finland.