Mon, 28 September 2009
Episode 1: Schoolhouse Socks! (28:46)  There's a million crafters in Fiber City and we've all got a yarn to spin. Welcome new listeners and old! I'm so pleased you've joined me on the Fiber Beat. Sock Summit was THE fiber event of our generation and it was thanks to the incredible work of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Tina Newton. I was fortunate enough to attend as a vendor with the Verb posse, but I was also a student and reporter for Fiber Beat. For my first episode, I spoke with Meg Swansen and Amy Detjen from Schoolhouse Press. The following people, places and things were mentioned:
Our very first Fiber Beat CONTEST I have the pattern for the Moccasin Sock by Elizabeth Zimmermann PLUS two skeins of Québécoise in navy blue & forest green to give away. All you need to do is tell us what what you have learned from Schoolhouse Press. To enter, please leave a comment below OR on the Fiber Beat Ravelry forum. The winner will be randomly selected from all the entries. DEADLINE FOR ENTERING IS OCTOBER 30, 2009. I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say! A GINORMOUS thank you to everyone who downloaded and listened to the first episode of Fiber Beat. Let me know what you think and leave a review on iTunes! Special thanks to Miss Priss: Adrienne Rodriguez and Editor/Musician extraordinaire: Anthony Bonet. We used snippets of the songs below in this episode. If you like the music, please support the artists (links provided for your convenience):
My name is WonderMike and I'll see YOU on the Fiber Beat. Comments[30]
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- EZ & Meg continue to be the resources I go to when I want to create something new. EZ gave me the inspiration & know-how to make my own creations. Knitters Almanac is always with me on my travels since it\'s small enough to tuck into my handbag, chock full of patterns, techniques & is written in EZ\'s plain, witty prose. I\'ve read many SHP publications and own 4 of them & 1DVD - it\'s a collection I\'ll never part with!
- How nice to have WonderMike back on the air! Thank you for podcasting again.
From Schoolhouse Press... what transformed my knitting the most: the Paired M1 Increases from Elizabeth Zimmerman\'s Knitting Workshop. I\'m hopelessly addicted to knitting socks toe-up, but the lifted increases all caused some gathering at the lines of increases at the toe and gusset - the increases inevitably tightening the stitches in the row below. When I switched to increasing by basically casting on a stitch, the gathering effect went away. Like Meg\'s new lifted increase, there can be a small hole, but it disappears into the work after blocking and wear. - Fabulous podcast and video.
Regarding Schoolhouse Press: I\'ve learned the basics. I\'ve been filling in gaps in my knitting knowledge for years with the help of EZ and Co. And I often say, \"It\'s just knitting,\" which is something I believe I picked up from her. - When I learned to knit in 1981, the local library's knitting section consisted of many bound back issues of Vogue Knitting, the Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries, and EZ's Knitting Without Tears. I read it till the covers fell off, then ordered two copies -- one for the library and one for me. I couldn't begin to list all I've learned from EZ and Meg, but the most important was probably to stop, look, and read my knitting. You can head off a lot of problems beofre they start that way.
- Great job Mike, nice to hear your voice again and I\'m looking forward to upcoming episodes.
Let\'s see, what can I single out? I don\'t think I need to mention BSJ, but I will. ;) BSJ opened my eyes to alternate construction of sweaters. It\'s like industrial engineering for garments, you know? Another thing I learned from EZ is her sewn bind-off. I dug my heels in and stayed with a tubular bind-off forever until I saw EZ demonstrate her technique in a video, and now it\'s my go-to bind-off for all toe-up socks that don\'t end with a 1x1 rib. - From Schoolhouse Press I have learned to treat knitting as an adventure, how to tuck in short ends, how to knit a pi shawl, how to knit a ribwarmer, how to knit a Christmas Stocking, how to knit a sweater with the EZ percentage system, how to make i-cord and apply it, how to laugh at knitting videos, and to be amazed by all things haveing been filtered by EZ\'s mind.
- The thing I\'ve learned from Schoolhouse Press is to simply be fearless in my knitting. Every pattern I\'ve tried of EZ\'s has been a challenge to my knitting skills, and I love her running commentary on the old newsletters. She truly was a pioneer of knitting, and I love how she inspires me to just knit.
- I LOVED the episode! It was so great to hear you again!! I have missed your fun podcasts. Your interview was terrific - Really, just so must fun, I\'m so glad that you\'re back!!
For the contest - I have REALLY gotten a lot out of the Barbara Walker treasury. I love swatching the different patterns to see how they look. It is a great way to lose yourself for a little while!! - EPS is the number one innovation Schoolhouse Press has brought to my knitting and my crochet work. There is nothing more satisfying to know that I can create custom fit garments with such an easy system to follow. It truly added a higher sense of professionalism to my work and joy to my craft.
- Great podcast, i look forward to listening to more. Loved your interview and thoughtful questions. Knitting without Tears is one of my all time favorite knitting books. The EPS sweater has been a huge influence on me. I love being able to use EZ\'s principles to create the sweater I want.
- I wish I could say I learned something earth-shattering from SchoolHousePress but the truth is that as a knitter in the electronic age, I don\'t own anything from SchoolHouse. The newsletter is before my time, and none of EZ\'s patterns have called to me. I\'ve picked up some of the books from the library and flipped through them, and have knit a \"February Lady Sweater\" which is heavily inspired by the \"February Baby Sweater\". But as a very linear thinker, the brilliance of EZ\'s patterns doesn\'t quite click with the way I operate.
I\'m so glad for EZ and SchoolHousePress being instrumental in the resurgence of knitting\'s popularity because I benefit from that every day. I know it has influenced me through the people around me, experienced knitters that bring their expertise to our group meetings every week. I can\'t help but appreciate them for their friendship and knowledge. - Hi, really really enjoyed your pod cast it was both informative and entertaining, had me laughing quite a bit. Glad you posted an announcement over on Ravelry at Zimmermaniacs. And very fabulous that you got to interview The Meg Swansen and The Amy Detjen.
On to your contest!! I\'ve learned alot from EZ\'s books and more recently began exploring Megs. But to pick one thing I would say learning to do stranding technique. Any \"Fair Isle\" I have done has been based on EZ patterns such as her Very Warm Hat, the Norwegian mittens, and of course one of her EPS sweaters. I\'m a hopeless right hand thrower but for EZ and her books I have learned to accomplish a passable picking of the yarn with my left...as long as I don\'t have to purl.
I\'m book marking your page and look forward to other fun Podcasts.
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