Progress and Podcasts

***UGH I cannot seem to format this correctly- I apologize for my lack of HTML skills***

January's been a great month for progress so far... just this last weekend I devoted the entire time to knitting and not only did if feel FANTASTIC- but I really made progress.

Exhibit 1) Baby Hat #2 (You must pardon the fuzzy/crappy pictures, light in my condo is not exactly "ideal".)

Exhibit 2) Wicked- which is ALMOST. DONE. (And whew, I have enough yarn... so worried that I wasn't going to, but am relaxing a fair bit now that I know what's left.) I'm hoping to finish it before the weekend, but we'll have to see what kind of progress is actually made.

Exhibit 3) Baby Blanket- which I started! (With ACTUAL STASH YARN-- bonus!) I have two babies due in March, so hopefully this one will speed along quite quickly!

I managed to plug along so well thanks to my new found interests... podcasts. My parents gave me an Ipod Nano for Christmas, (did NOT see that coming... but love it!) and I decided that I could finally foray into the podcast world. After trying a few out I've found that there are three specifically I'm really enjoying. Knit bloggers are all going "this is sooooooo old news"- sorry guys I'm a little late to the game, but I'm trying to catch up.

1) Lime N Violet. I'm kind of in love with this podcast. It's a bit racy in places, (knitters are every bit as raunchy as non-knitters) but it cracks me up- and listening to them talk, my fellow yarn obsessed, it feels like hanging out with a bunch of good friends. I'm slowly downloading all of their episodes and catching up. I haven't even listened to their latest, only because I want to hear all the background stuff first. (I'm anal this way.) I spent almost my entire day Saturday listening to them and knitting! I didn't even turn on the TV, just episode after episode of LnV! These ladies talk about everything-- and a lot of the times veer off the topic of yarn- but they do crack me up a lot.

2) Stash and Burn. Stash and Burn, in my opinion is the exact opposite of LnV. Lime N Violet kind of jump around all over the place, without really sticking to the theme, (not hating ladies... LOVE YOU... love that you're different), but Stash and Burn sticks more to a weekly theme where they have a well planned discussion on a particular knitting topic. Nicole and Jenny are sweet and funny, but very PG, (LnV more PG-13) in style. Where Lime N Violet are fun to hang out with, Stash and Burn has a lot of great tips and probably more individuals I'd fit in with.

3) Craft. Rock. Love with Vickie Howell. I miss Knitty Gritty, I used to watch it alot in my US days. Vickie's is a more structured show, but seems to focus on the grand scheme of knitting as a craft and less on specific topics like techniques, projects and yarns. Her podcast is interesting because it kind of fills the "Knitty Gritty" void- although, to be honest, I'm not as attached just yet.

I've heard other knitters talk about "Cast On" and "It's A Purl Man"- which I'm curious to try out too. (Although right now, want to catch up on LnV and SaB before hooking up with anyone else.) But just having this whole new world in knitting open up to me has been interesting- and it's so nice to sit and listen to individuals who feel as passionate about knitting as I do. (Plus it seems to make me knit faster!)