Episode 26- Its All About Etsy!

~ Intro/ Welcome/ Thank You!
 Check out the new banner!  Thanks Kristine!  Buttons coming soon!
~ Sponsor: 
Trickle Creek Farm and Fiber is donating some of their wonderful goat's milk soap and some bubblin' bath salts!  They also have angora fiber for spinning!  Check them out!
~ Contest:
Come play with us in le Tour de Sheep! Post progress photos on the Ravelry page and be entered to win!
~ Knitting/ Spinning: 

Still working on the "Top down- Toe Up socks" and I LOVE IT!  This might be the new standard for sock knitting for me.  I ripped out the Brandywine that I started last week and restarted it with some yarn that is behaving much better.  I'm also working on a SUPER SECRET project for someone who listens to this podcast.  As for spinning, I've finished all the polwarth and its awesome!  Little bits of barber poleyness, and some bits of solid colors!  I think it will make something super squishy and nice!  I've got 3 bobbins full of 2 ply, but no clue on the yardage yet!  I think this will make me very happy to knit with come wintery cold time!  I also started spinning some cormo that I got from SpinPygora at Black Sheep!  CORMO IS THE BEST!  It is spinning up so fine and nice!  I think I'm going for a 3 ply sock weight!  We'll see what happens!

~Free Entertainment: I've been watching a lot of free Pokemon.  Don't make fun.

~Sales!!

 -NeoTigress on Etsy has undyed corriedale top and MEGA CUTE stitch markers for sale in her shop!  If you use the coupon code "KnitCents" in the checkout message box, she will give you free shipping on your first order!  Also, after you've bought 4 pounds of fiber from her, she will send you your 5th pound free!  Awesome deals, especially if you like dyeing your own fiber!

-Old Sheep on Etsy is having a Buy 3 get 1 free sale in their shop!  They have lovely handdyed batts for sale, and everything is included in the sale! Check it out!

- AJoyfulGirlHandmade on Etsy sells SUPER RAD market bags and knitting project bags!  She's got several knitting project bags on sale in her shop right now for less than $6!  That is an awesome deal!  (this is Shilo from the Spin Control Podcast's shop- if you don't already listen to her show you should!)

~Tip of the Week:

Listen to lots of podcasts! I learn so much from listening to people talk all week!  The reason we podcast is because we have a lot to say, and most of it is pretty smart! (I'm of course talking about other people, we all know my rambling isn't always the smartest thing) Haha!  Anyways, I think that the global knowledge pool is growing every day because of awesome podcasters!

~How I Saved the Week:

I took short lunches all week instead of using up my paid time off for my Drs appt, and I taught my parents how to use PayPal in exchange for some fiber! Yay!

~Review:

The Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman

$7.95 (less if you get it used!)

Elizabeth Zimmerman is a genius.  I think I raved about her a couple episodes ago, but when I bought this book, I read it from cover to cover because she is such a genius.  Her logical way of thinking about knitting really shines in this book, and because the book is small and portable, you can take her genius in your knitting bag all year long! Overall: WORTH IT!

~Contact Info

Email Me!

Ravelry: Roue

Twitter: Roue0824

If you are enjoying the show, please leave a review on iTunes or click that fancy button!

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Episode 25- Chickens and Chocolate

~Welcome/ Intro/ Thank yous!
~ Sponsor:
Trickle Creek Farm and Fiber is donating a bar of their soothing goat's milk soap and some of their bubblin' bath salts!  So wonderful!
~Contest: 
Come play with us in le Tour de Sheep!  Post photos in the Ravelry Group so help inspire us to spin and knit from our stash!
~Knitting/ Spinning:

Its been super hot so the Simple Knitted Bodice has been put on hold for a while.  I did finish my Vanilla Regia Socks  which turned out pretty awesome!  I also started a pair of toe up socks using some Pico Accuardi Sock that was gifted to me (thank you!) and they are going super fast!  I'm really enjoying how the colors are pooling!

I just started that sock last night and did all the toe increases.  The rest has been knitted in the car on the way back and forth to Seattle and while I was at the Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon!  I didn't think there was such a thing as too much chocolate, but I was proven wrong.  But it was so much fun!  I also got asked questions about my knitting while I was taking a chocolate break!  Yay for KIPing!  

Finally, last night I started knitting the Brandywine Shawl by Rosemary Hill!  I'm knitting it out of KnitPicks Shadow Laceweight (which runs $2.99 for 440 yards!  Awesome!)  I've knitted the first 30 rows and I really like that the pattern is charted and written line by line.  I think it will help me improve my lace skills.

 As for spinning, I've been working on some 50/50 baby camel/ tussah silk on my Akha spindle, some merino/bamboo/silk blend on another spindle and some Polwarth on my wheel!  Yay for le Tour de Sheep!

~Free Entertainment:

Crooked Row: by Kim, an awesome new podcast about knitting and gardening!  Kim is going to be a huge asset to the knitting and gardening community!

Knitting Pipeline by Paula: Paula is a knitter and a bagpiper and she talks about how those 2 things affect her life!  Her voice is soothing and her music is really lovely!  Check out both of these shows on iTunes!

~Garden Update:

The garden is doing super well, and I thought I'd share a little about my chickens!

I have 2, a Barred Plymouth Rock (the black and white one) and a Gold Laced Wyandotte (the gold and black one).  They are super fun!  They live in my backyard and they have an indoor and an outdoor coop that is connected by the little trap door you can see in the above photo.  The outdoor coop is where they hang out during the day (if we aren't home) so they can roll around in the dirt and be cool. The outdoor coop is connected to the indoor coop by a sweet trapdoor.  The 

indoor coop is actually my childhood playhouse that we converted into a coop!  Inside there is a nest for their eggs, and their perch that they sleep on.  The trapdoor closes to keep any predators out!  The usually wander in there when it gets dark and go to sleep!

They are super adorable and fun, and fresh eggs are so delicious!  The are super inexpensive to keep, about $15 every 3 months.  A 50lb bag of feed is around $10 and lasts about 3 months, and a bag of the pine shavings on the floor of the inside coop lasts about 3 months and is around $5.  Sometimes we trade the eggs for other produce and the chickens eat the bugs out of the garden!  The only downside is that the poo attracts flies (even when Aaron is awesome and cleans it up every day) so we have to be sure to wash everything in the garden super well!  But we'd probably do that anyway, so we love having our chickens around to make us breakfast!  I know a lot about chickens, so if you guys have any questions about keeping them in your yard or anything like that, I'd love to answer them!  I think everyone should have chickens because they are rad!

~Sales: (/ Tip of the Week/ How I Saved the Week!)

- WEBS is having an awesome sale on silk laceweight cones!  Only $37.49 for 2450 yards! That's a lot of shawls!

- Amazon has a Polaroid 10Mp digital camera for $70 because it is orange.  The silver one (that is exactly the same) is $150!  I bought my mom the orange one for her birthday because she wanted a new camera and this one was a great price!

Tip: Be open minded about colors as long as it won't affect the performance!  Sometimes things cost less just because the color isn't popular!  

How I Saved: I got my mom an awesome gift for a little bit of money because I used my KnitCents!

~Worth It!

The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting by Nicki Trench

I picked this up at JoAnn for $5, but Amazon has it for $.99!!  The patterns aren't great, there are probably only 2 that I would actually knit, but the techniques pages are really well done!  The pictures are really well done and the descriptions make a lot of sense.  The book is aimed at young girls (like teenagers) and while I probably wouldn't wear a lot of things from the book now, I would have worn everything in this book (at the same time) when I was about 15!  If you have a young lady in your life that is interested in learning to knit, for $.99-$5, this book is TOTALLY WORTH IT!

~Contact Info

Email me!

Ravelry: Roue

Twitter: Roue0824

Please leave a review on iTunes or click that fancypants button below!

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Episode 24- Le Tour de Sheep

Hey everyone!  I want to get the shownotes for ep 25 done, and ep 24 wasn't that awesome anyway (sorry) so I'm just going to post important links!
Sponsor: Trickle Creek Rabbittry is donating a bar of their goat's milk soap and some of their bubblin' bath salts!  Check out their site, then email them at tricklecreek(at)comcast(dot)net!
Contest:  Play with us in the Tour de Fleece (or Tour de Sheep, as Aaron keeps calling it!) Then post pictures in the Rav group!
Free Entertainment: Check out me being interviewed by Susan in the latest episode of Knitajourney Podcast!
Sales: Four Seasons Knitting is closing so everything is on sale!
Check out the Ravelry Group: Yarn Sales!
Borders Marketplace has tons of new and used books up to 90% off!
Tip of the Week:  Keep track of your shopping trip while you are shopping with the use of paper and calculator or a sweet iPhone app!  You'll know exactly how much you owe when you get to the counter and it'll be easier to stick to your budget!
How I Saved the Week:
I bought the wedding planning books I've been wanting for super cheap on Amazon!  Yay!
Worth It!
Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman.
This woman was a complete genius.  Every knitter should be required to read this book because it will make you a better knitter.  Enough Said.
WORTH IT!