TwinSet Designs

In which we celebrate the milestone that is episode 50, discuss NYC trips, trip ups with deer, podcaster visits and prank calls, Wilson's continuing mastery of the chess world, precision dancing viewed at Radio City Music Hall with Jenny and light up swizzle sticks (!), pulling it together when your gauge is all over the place and a special outtake for your holiday merriment...oh, and turbogal.

Direct download: Episode_50_--_turbogal_AKA_Lisa.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

In which we discuss filling up our bellies at Thanksgiving, podcast endings and podcaster beginnings, cabbages and kings (well, not kings), fine dining in NYC and nights on the town in DC, visitors and the proper pie ratio, new members of the farm family and a bit of farm animal photography!

Direct download: Episode_49_--_Full_Bellies.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 1:51pm EDT

In which we offer condolences to the "Car Talk family", start a new contest for a Boston Jen design, congratulate Wilson for his "Top 100" chess status, Marie's debut in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade*, Gale Woods Farm, Jan's new job, Buddhist housekeeping, NYC visits to daughter's restaurants (well, restaurants at which daughters play key roles) knitting retreats that bring healing, new playwrites and playing in parks, Dr. Yarn's anger management techniques, Spinzilla and designing for flow, and try to catch up on many other aspects of life!

*Update!  Marie will not be a Christmas tree -- instead she will be a pirate, a treasure chest or a shark devouring a person as one of the wire walkers for the "Pirate's Booty" balloon.  She hopes she gets to be a shark!

Direct download: Episode_48_--_Catch_Me_Up_If_You_Can.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 2:34pm EDT

In which many things are now out of date.  Oops.  Sorry about that.  

 

Key words: knitting spinning designing alpaca sheep

Direct download: Episode_47_--_Melancholy_Bunny.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 9:48pm EDT

In which we discuss trips to the ball game, trips to Sweden, trips to France, trips to the state fair, trips up north and trips to DC and we get plenty tripped up trying to explain an improvement on last episode's slick trick.  Much other merriment ensues.

Direct download: Episode_46_--_They_Say_Were_Crazy.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 7:46pm EDT

In which we struggle with our pronunciations, sip coffee from drip free mugs, observing wild life at work and at home, avoidance of camnesia, home grown peaches, traveling for business, tech editing for nice designers, overdone bike rides, learning along, mouse melons aka cucamelons aka Mexican Sour gherkins, pickling pots of pickled peppers, projects cleaned off the needles, managing to avoid being bitten by our knittin', discuss the value of discipline and accurate measurements, enjoy a visit from Dr. Yarn, practical fractals, and some other fun stuff!

Direct download: Episode_45_--_You_Say_Potato.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 1:08pm EDT

In which we thank our camp supporters, have a great time chatting about the success that was TwinSet Summer Camp, discuss making play out of work on the Snake River, being surprised by San Antonio yarn shops, shared birthdays and harmonious gifts, taking daughters to birthday dinners, welcoming Heidi back from the trail, various knitting bites (including a real doozy for Ellen and the recurring theme of ignoring pattern instructions), spinning many yards of yarn and using many wheel ratios, inspiration from Abby Franquemont, the Lost Geek Challenge Along and some other stuff.  

 

Yes, it's a LONG episode -- enough for 3 half hour runs or for Louise to clean all the toilets in Mey.

Direct download: Episode_44_--_Back_at_It_Final.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 5:56pm EDT

In which we discuss the kindness of Susan B. Anderson, the TwinSet Dolls World Tour, quiet Independence Days, an abundance and a dearth of cherries, biting off more than one should chew, a new to Dale sailboat, drinking rum punch (possibly to excess), the arrival on the farm of Hedy, Ada, Grete and Grace, and Ellen's compulsion to calculate.

Direct download: Episode_43_--_We_Can_Haz_Math_Skillz.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 8:46am EDT

In which we discuss pre-summer vacation (for some of us), 3 blind mice sightings, multiple LYS visits to include the wall of Cascade (Natural Stitches in Pittsburgh, PA and Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA), the PA Women Veterans Symposium, family gatherings, nature hikes wherein all appendages are retained, achieving apprentice grader and sorcerer status, losing one's car keys and the kindness of strangers who are now true friends and our living dolls.

Direct download: Episode_42_--_Cleaning_Off_the_Needles.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 12:46pm EDT

In which we mention many other podcasters, and in which we discuss squirrel kings, sailboats, shorn alpaca and sheep, getting our hackles up, visits by fast knitting friends, not buying a fleece and then buying one after all, a daughter-in-law hiking the Appalachian trail, sealing up our fine fiber and TwinSet Summer Camp!

Direct download: Episode_41_--_Podcaster_Shout_Out.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 9:41pm EDT

In which we evidently discuss everything whether it relates to the planned content or not.

Direct download: Episode_40_--_But_We_Digress.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 4:57pm EDT

Episode 39 -- The Wolf Closest to the Sleigh

In which we discuss the craziness that has been our lives in the last month, fiber classes, fiber judging, birdies at our feeders, finally seeing signs of spring in Minnesota, Yarnover and Fiber Fest, visiting family and friends, healthy animals, paying taxes, wearing jelly beans and harvesting golf balls.

Direct download: Episode_39_--_The_Wolf_Closest_to_the_Sleigh.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 7:46pm EDT

Episode 38 -- Marco Polo!!

In which we discuss ongoing winter, the first signs of spring, a broody hen, a great knitting class with Candace Eisner Strick, insane activity in Jan's life (that ended up preventing her from getting this episode edited for THREE weeks...yes, that's right, three weeks), the languishing effort to get the Fair Winds Farm etsy shop open, our knitting and some tunisian crochet, the availability of the Paving Mitts pattern from Ellen, choosing yarn colors for a multiple yarn project like those mitts, the Living Doll KAL, a trick, an embellishment and some more information about a possible summer camp this July.

Direct download: Episode_38_--_Marco_Polo.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 12:45pm EDT

In which we discuss the ever continuing winter (in the frigid north), being inspired by new spinners at Gale Wood Farm, bringing home ribbons from the AOA show, the danger of loose dogs, chess party animals, putting the best edge on a garter stitch baby blanket, swatching for socks, colors to dye for, and getting gauge in the worst possible way.

Direct download: Episode_37_--_Teaser.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 2:46pm EDT

In which we discuss the continuing cold weather, alpaca escapades, animal visitors, renewed work on UFOs, extreme knitting repair, four and a half miles of singles, improving the likelihood that a yarn substitution will be successful, the wonderful designs of Aurélie Coras, stick on pockets, Iditaknitting, and in which we enjoy a visit from Dr. Yarn.

Direct download: Ep_36_--_Spring_Forward.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 5:04pm EDT

Episode 35 -- Show Notes to Follow

In which we discuss business trips with drive by yarn shop stops, discover we are both connected to an Indie dyer, alpaca barn parties, yet more snow, class with Abby Franquemont, cranking and spinning, cabled yarns, spinning wheel maintenance, a bit of outside work for Jan and a trip to the MN Closed Chess Championship for Wilson.  (Congrats, Wilson!)

Direct download: Episode_35_--_Show_Notes_to_Follow.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 10:07pm EDT

Episode 34 -- Of Buns and Birds

In which we discuss buns of the bunny variety, birds of the painted variety, quick trips to Mexico and the Sunshine State, Spin Off judging, ice storms, back spasms, cast-ons and cast-offs, marking hanks of handspun and Russian Joins in honor of the event taking place in Sochi.

Direct download: Episode_34_--_Of_Buns_and_Birds.mp3
Category:Hobbies -- posted at: 5:11pm EDT

In which we discuss our recent experiences at retreats (Ellen at the Knitajourney Mid-Winter Retreat in Duluth, MN and Jan at Tina's Fiber Retreat in York, PA), farm medical procedures from which several of the animals would have like to retreat, the dangers of knitting lace after the drams, the value of The Knitting Guild of America Master Knitter classes, the whimsical and classic designs of Ann Kelly, plying yards and yards of Corriedale Cross a slick trick and some other stuff -- to include a new spinner!

Direct download: Episode_33_--_Retreat.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 1:46pm EDT

In which for some unknown reason we sound muffled. (I did have a stuffy nose and sinuses, but Ellen was healthy so that's not the reason and I processed the file in the same manner, so that's not the reason.  Urgh! Sometimes this podcasting stuff is hard!  Well, you can still understand us, so you're getting it as it is.)  And in which we discuss the cold (maybe that's it, we were wrapped in scarves and mufflers?), haunted barns (maybe a ghost is choking us?), idea weekends with ideas that Ellen can't share or she'd have to kill us (maybe she was smothering us with pillows?, but why would she smother herself?), a trip to DC with a stop at a new to me yarn shop (maybe I'm buried in yarn and fiber?), spinning and handling alpaca at the PA Farm Show (maybe an alpaca is sitting on us?), grilled cheese and tomato soup (maybe our mouths are full?), and Susan B. Anderson's new e-book, "Mary, Millie and Morgan" (that's it, those dolls are so cute you want to gobble them up...our mouths ARE full!).

Direct download: Episode_32_--_A_Living_Doll_Final.mp3
Category:Knitting, Spinning, Designing -- posted at: 12:47pm EDT

In which we discuss our good fortune at Christmastime and in the opening days of 2014, Valor the Ram, a strategy for giving, the great alpaca drop of 2014, getting back to work on some big knitting projects, our review of 2013 and our goals for 2014, how to take stock and why you should eat more beans.

(Be sure to listen to the outtakes if you want to understand the title!)

Direct download: Episode_31_--_Bitten_by_Our_Kittens.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:50pm EDT

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