Episode 229: 10 Years Later!

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 229 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • From the Armchair
  • Some Years Later
  • Crafty Adventures
  • Knitting in Passing
  • KAL News
  • Life in Focus
  • Ask Me Anything
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Thank you to this episode’s sponsor: The Yarn Sellar. Check out their Fiber Marketplace on Saturday 4/9/22 in York Beach Maine!

Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Kris’ Dance Shoe Legwarmers

  • Pattern: Dance Shoe Legwarmers by Sherry Katherine Vernon (free knitting pattern)
  • Yarn: Charming Ewe Suki Sock in the Mystic Topaz  Colorway
  • Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) & US 2 (2.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • If you’d like a good afterthought heel pattern, consider Susan B. Anderson’s Smooth Operator Heel pattern (Ravelry Link) For a video tutorial, check out this video from the EarthtonesGirl YouTube Channel

Blue Kamakaze Socks

  • Yarn: ThreadHeadKnits Co. Plump Sock (100% Superwash Merino 4 ply- 438 yards/100g) in the Blue Kamakaze Colorway.
  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams $5 on Ravelry.
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins


A’s Scrappy Dance Shoe Legwarmers

  • Pattern: Dance Shoe Legwarmers by Sherry Katherine Vernon (free knitting pattern)
  • Yarn: Various Fingering Weight leftovers including Knit Picks Felici
  • Needles: US 1 5(2.5 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Eme’s Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi

  • Pattern: Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi free crochet pattern by Anitha Domacin available on their website.
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and various other colors. Small bit of silver metallic yarn from Stash
  • Hook: C (2.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Pumpkin Patch Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock in the Pumpkin Patch colorway (October Yarnable Subscription Box Colorway). Click here for my YouTube Unboxing Video.
  • Curious about Yarnable? Consider checking out my Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link. Use Coupon Code BOSTONJEN for $5 off your first box.

Sagamore Flyover Cowl

  • Pattern: in draft
  • Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Sugarbush Dawson in the Graphite Gray Colorway- 50% Llama/50% Merino 100 grams, 151 meters
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Ribbing, mistake rib used in my Sagamore Flyover Hat pattern.

Kim’s Christmas Stocking

From the Armchair

Some Years Later

March 11. 2022 was our 10 year podcast anniversary! THANK YOU to everyone who has listened, told a friend, left a review, purchased a pattern, joined my Patreon group, participated in a KAL. THANK YOU! I’m so appreciative.

Crafty Adventures

I helped Millie (age 10) with a craft kit: Mini Garden Unicorn- Amazon Affiliate Link

Knitting in Passing

  • I was gifted yarn from Megg in Ireland: Hedgehog Fibres– Sock Yarn (90% Merino, 10% nylon) in the Crush colorway. Pinks from light to magenta with yellows, oranges and royal blues.
  • My niece Millie received yarn from the nurse at her school whose daughter had taken up knitting and then given it up.
  • I ordered needles for Millie and cast on a cowl she wants to knit with the skein of yarn from A Hundred Ravens at Russell’s Garden Center Farm Fiber Days at the beginning of March.

KAL News

  • Splash Pad Party ’22 Call for Sponsors!
  • Sponsor Call: Deadline 4/25/22
  • Want to sign up (after you read the details)? Please fill out this Google Form
  • Info Page for Sponsors on my Website- click here
  • Kick Off Date- Monday 5/30- Memorial Day. Virtual Events.Sign ups for Participants coming soon

Life in Focus

  • Thanks to Nikki for telling us about the Hiking Project App (available for Apple & Android)
  • I shared an update on my plan to incorporate 20 min of movement/4 times per week into my life and a check in on my word for the year PAUSE.

Ask Me Anything

  • Tune in to hear more about killing acrylic. Check out this blog post from Sew Homey who found using a hair dryer to flatten acrylic worked best.

On a Happy Note

  • Something Rotten Musical
  • Garret’s birthday sleepover
  • St. Patrick’s Day with my cousins
  • Tom visiting from Ireland
  • A weeknight sleepover with Riley, Garret & Millie. Snuggles and reading Ply magazine from Suzanne during the kids’ reading time before bed.
  • Oscar party
  • Dress shopping with Mom
  • Immersive Frida Exhibit in Boston with Melissa

Quote of the Week

Poet May Sarton on the importance of rest:
“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal. A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged, damaging day, a sinful day. Not so! The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.”

Thank you for tuning in!
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Episode 228: What’s Old is New Again

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 228 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • Brainstorming
  • From the Armchair
  • Some Years Later
  • Crafty Adventures
  • Knitting in Passing
  • In my Travels
  • Life in Focus
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Megg’s 40th Birthday Socks

  • Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn in Raspberry Cream Colorway (from my Yarnable February 2022 Subscription Box). Check out my YouTube Unboxing Video here. 

Unicorn for Millie’s 10th Birthday

  • Pattern: Unicorn Amigurumi by Amy Faulkner 4.90 Euros. About $5.50 crochet pattern (US & UK terms) Available on Etsy.
  • Hook: C (2.75 mm)
  • Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver (white). Knit Picks Brava Worsted Minis (tail & mane)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Head, body, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 ears, 1 horn. 

Bunny fix

  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Pattern: Best Bunny by Tamie Oldridge. Free crochet pattern from Lion Brand. Available as a PDF directly- click here.
  • Hook: C (2.75 mm)
  • Yarn: Berrocco Vintage in purple. Repaired with Knit Picks Brava Worsted 
  • Knit in October 2016

Milly Doll Makeover

  • Pattern: Mary, Millie & Morgan by Susan B. Anderson
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Knit in 2015. 
  • 7 years later she’s getting a makeover.

Garret’s Nana Blanket

  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Hook: I (5.5. mm)
  • Yarn: likely Red Heart Super Saver
  • Fixing Garret’s Nana blanket. I shared more on a blog post on my Down Cellar Studio Patreon!
  • Recreated one panel with the Crumpled Griddle stitch which I believe is what my Nana used. 

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Blue Kamakaze Socks

  • Yarn: ThreadHeadKnits Co. Plump Sock (100% Superwash Merino 4 ply- 438 yards/100g) in the Blue Kamakaze Colorway. 
  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams $5 on Ravelry. 
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Dance Shoe Legwarmers

  • Pattern: Dance Shoe Legwarmers by Sherry Katherine Vernon (free knitting pattern)
  • Yarn: Charming Ewe Suki Sock in the Mystic Topaz  Colorway
  • Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) & US 2 (2.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • If you’d like a good afterthought heel pattern, consider Susan B. Anderson’s Smooth Operator Heel pattern (Ravelry Link) For a video tutorial, check out this video from the EarthtonesGirl YouTube Channel

Pumpkin Patch Socks

  • Pattern: TBD
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock in the Pumpkin Patch colorway
  • Ravelry Project Page

Kim’s Christmas Stocking

  • Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I’ve also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! You can find that PDF here. 
  • Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White
  • Hook: G (4.00 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • green piece and red piece done. iron. 

2022 Fun with Fiber

  • Kingdom Fleece & Fiber Works 100% Tunis Pete’s Fleece (light blues, dark blues and whites). Check them out on Facebook
  • Check out my Ravelry Project Page
  • Mom’s tried on Jessica’s Shift Cowl- pattern, The Shift by Andrea Mowry available for $7 on Ravelry

Brainstorming

Inspired by PliedYarnCo’s Instagram post- this Log Cabin Pillow. Check out this free pattern “Little Log Cabins Recipe” on their website.

From the Armchair

Love is Blind Season 1 on Netflix

Some Years Later

  • Mezzo Cardigan by Alexis Winslow. $9 US Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry or directly from their website.
  • Knit in March/April 2018
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Can’t really wear it with a coat but I do wear it several times a season in fall/winter/early spring. Add some fun jewelry, leggings, heels. great for a date night. Great for chilly winter day when you just want to be wrapped up in many layers!
  • Caesious by Hunter Hammersen
  • Curls: Versatile, Wearable Wraps to Knit at Any Gauge- book details on the Pantsville Press website.
  • Knit Feb-April 2015
  • My project notes do not say, but think I used close to/all of fingering weight skein and yet it wasn’t big enough to wrap around my neck and stay put.
  • In the end, I frogged it to use the yarn for something else.

Knitting in Passing

Stephanie @farmsteadknits on Instagram sent mom a very special car package including a pair of handknit socks & a shawl. Shawl pattern: Around Every Corner by Stephanie Lotven (tellybeanknits). Check out Stephanie’s Ravelry Project Page for full details. Yarn: Sea Panda Yarn- click here for their website. Looks like their Blue Lagoon Mini Set.

In My Travels

Russell’s Garden Center- March 2022 Farm Fiber Days Event

  • Part of Millie’s 10th birthday sleepover
  • Dirty Water Dyeworks- Stephanie
  • Ann Weaver from Plied Yarn
  • Ryan, Lisa, Melissa
  • Purchases- 
    • Friends in Fiber on Etsy
      • Fibery Jewels Teal Speckle Sock Yarn
      • 4 oz of Falkland Fiber Jewels Spots 
    • 2 skeins of Lillian from Dirty Water Dyeworks– in Mediterranean and Sea Breeze
    • Subito Farms yarn for Millie- pink yarn gradient set- 35 yards each pf the pinks and 90 yards natural- 100% cormo raised in Montana, dyed in MA
    • A Hundred Ravens for Millie- Vanir 100% merino DK in the Fantasia Colorway
  • Lunch across the street at The Local afterwards

Visited The Goodwill Bins location in Hudson, NH.

Life in Focus

  • Checked off another item on my 22 for 2022 list- check out new trail. I’ve also done yoga several times in March- to get towards doing yoga every month. 

On a Happy Note

  • Garret had a scare with appendicitis but didn’t need emergency surgery 
  • Booked basics of our trip to Ireland, Scotland and Barcelona
  • Millie’s Birthday Weekend.
  • Dinner in an igloo with a tiki theme
  • Decorated for Easter 

Quote of the Week

People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply: by the lives they lead.

–James Baldwin

Episode 227: Unicorns, Sunshine & PRIZES

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 227 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • Brainstorming
  • From the Armchair
  • Knitting in Passing
  • In my Travels
  • KAL News
  • Ask Me Anything
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Off the Needles

Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi

  • Pattern: Unicorn Macaron Amigurumi free crochet pattern by Anitha Domacin available on their website.
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and various other colors. Small bit of silver metallic yarn from Stash
  • Hook: C (2.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Blue Kamakaze Socks

  • Yarn: ThreadHeadKnits Co. Plump Sock (100% Superwash Merino 4 ply- 438 yards/100g) in the Blue Kamakaze Colorway. 
  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams $5 on Ravelry. 
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Mr. Fezziwig Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Corriedale Sock in the Mr. Fezziwig Colorway
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Click here for Wiki page on Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol

Kim’s Christmas Stocking

  • Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I’ve also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! You can find that PDF here. 
  • Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White
  • Hook: G (4.00 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Brainstorming

Check out this Granny Square Chain. It’s a free Crochet pattern from Homemade@MyPlace

From the Armchair

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Knitting in Passing

  • I met my cousin Chris’ fiancee’s grandmother who will soon be 98 years old. She told me she used to knit and crochet.
  • I found some lovely handkerchiefs at my Mom’s. I think some of the edges were trimmed by my grandmother and my great-aunt Rachel.

In My Travels

KAL News

Pigskin Party ’21: is officially over! WOW!

Pigskin '21 Final Stats

278 Players on Roster this Season

  • 135 people earned 1-25 entries
  • 66 people earned 26-50 entries
  • 58 people got between 51-100 entries
  • 14 of you earned more than 100 entries or more entries towards grand prizes. 
  • Only 5 did not post any points. 

Pigskin ’21 Teams & Conferences

  • Our Teams were Part of 2 Conferences this year- Alpaca Conference (Commissioner: Wendy) & Llama Conference (Commissioner: Jen)
  • Llama Conference won- 508,420 points
  • Alpaca Conference had a strong showing with 456,414 points
  • Highest scoring Team was also in the Llama conference- Team 2- Llamaste- 62,849
  • 2nd Place goes to : Team 10- International Llamas- 50,896
  • In 3rd Place from the Alpaca Conference is: Team 24 Suri Longnecks- 50,721!

Congrats to all of our players and teams! Tune in to hear if you won a participation prize or one of our 10 GRAND PRIZES!

Ask Me Anything

How do you knit for Massachusetts winters (Elisa.knits)

  • Layers!
  • Worsted weight hats and shawls.
  • Make fingerless mitts or mittens. Purchase gloves if you prefer those and the idea of making them doesn’t sound appealing.

Which fiber did you spin with when you began to spin (kmac0107)

  • Corriedale. Highly recommend!

What do you want to hear “my name winning a prize? Smile- Mom updates that you are willing to share” (javajennie) & related question “How’s Mom doing? Sending good vibes her way “(bayoumamaLA)

On a Happy Note

  • Random dance parties during Ski weekend.
  • I only fell once skiing in two days!
  • Sharing IPAs with my brother.
  • So much fun with Snapchat filters. Millie made everyone participate.
  • I got to see my friend Laura’s new apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
  • My cousin’s fiancee’s bridal shower. 
  • Visiting with my former boss & totally losing track of time. 

Quote of the Week

“You don’t have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt with. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the ones you’re holding and my dear one, you and I have been granted a mighty generous one.”-Cheryl Strayed

Thank you for tuning in!