The Hills are Alive ... Part 1 - Golden Oldies

As Maria famously sang in, what is one of my all time favourite films (who doesn't love a film where the heroine makes clothes out of the curtains?) the hills are alive with the sound of music!  In today's case, they are alive with the sounds of those wonderfully brave people who choose to make the fabulous crafty podcasts which I could not craft without.  It has crossed my mind on more than one occasion to start a podcast but a few things prevent me from doing this:

1 - My accent is very, very, very broad and northern and I'm pretty sure people outside of the North of England would struggle to understand me
2 - The thought of battling with sound recording equipment scares me to death
3 - I hate listening to the sound of myself recorded and therefore would be unable to edit myself

Luckily, however, there are many,many brilliant podcasts well worth downloading and to suit everybodies choice of crafty chit chat.  I have no less than 10 different podcasts on my phone and so I have decided to share these with you - hopefully there will be something out there for you!

NB:  Due to the rather large number I have to recommend,this blog post I am going to keep the reviews short and sweet and this post will come in 2 sections - Golden Oldies (this is no reflection on the age of the presenter) and New Kids on the Block (relatively new podcasts).

iMake
iMake is the first podcast I ever listened to after being recommended by a friend.  The lovely Martine from Guernsey presents a very professional show covering all aspects of craft from soap making to baking and, the main topic of converstaion, knitting.  I love listening to her and have learnt lots about Guernsey, a place I am now very keen to visit!

Electric Sheep
Electric Sheep is also a fabulous podcast all about knitting.  When I first listened to this podcast I wasn't a knitter at all but I absolutley loved it and downloaded all of the back issues immediatley.  Hoxton Handmade is the easy to listen to presenter and The Sheep often crops up in his own adventures (usually involving gin and cake!) 

Caithness Craft Collective
Caithness Craft Collective is one of my favourite podcasts ever!  The lovely Louise from Caithness in Scotland presents a beautifully rounded podcasts covering knitting, crochet, sewing and spinning amongst many other crafts.  Her Scottish accent is rather relaxing to listen to and the Daisy laugh makes me chuckle every time.  Sandy introduces segments wonderfully and even her husband gets in on the act in 'The Drams Section' which, as you might of guessed, is all about whisky!  She has a very active group on Ravelry where you can join in knitalongs and swaps.

A Playful Day
A Playful Day podcast by Green Triangle Girl is a British podcast all about knitting.  Again, it is easy to listen to and full of interesting information.  Her recent features on designers and other crafty folk where fabuklous to listen to.  Well worth a listen!

The Knitmore Girls
American mother and daughter GiGi and Jasmine (and now there's even a grandaughter who no doubt will be a future presenter), present the Knitmore Girls podcast all about knitting with a bit of crochet, spinning and sewing thrown in for good measure.  They even have their own smartphone app where you can stream episodes straight to your phone.


Miss Elle Knits
Miss Elle is a rather funky chick based in the south of England.  She has a rather cute voice that I love listening to and she chats about her love of knitting and crafting and helping out in a yarn shop (super jealous!) I think I saw her at Wonderwool but I was too scared to go and ask if it was her (incase it wasn't and said random person thought I was a bit strange)

Yarns from the Plain
Finally, for this section, we have Yarns from the Plain.  This Cheshire based podcast is friendly and easy to listen to.  Covering many aspects of knitting, crochet, spinning and other textile based craft, we find out about our presenters wonderfully woolly escapades.  She has, most recently, been involved in Woolsack, the project to make cushions for all the athletes at this years spectacular Olympic and Paralympic Games.

That's it for 'The Golden Oldies' of the crafty podcast world (no offence intended).  All of these podcasts can be downloaded from iTunes and the subheadings link directly to their blog, website or podbean site.  They can all be found on Ravelry and have their own very active groups to share ideas, projects, knitalongs and swaps!

Don't forget to keep checking for the second part, 'New Kids on the Block'!

Keeping the troops warm!

Sometime in October I answered the crafty call of Louise from Caithness Craft Collective (check out her fabulous podcast if you haven't already done so) to put my crochet to good use; making hats for the troops in Afghanistan.  This project had been born by a lovely lady on the Isle of Man, who, if I have my information right, is related to someone currently serving out in Afghanistan. 

So I got out my hook and my yarn and began to make my hat.  I posted it to the Isle of Man and, feeling rather pleased with my efforts and with a slightly more shiny halo than usual, forgot about it!  I had done my bit.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago now and the arrival of a bluey (a letter used by the armed forces to send mail overseas) through my door.  Mr Bunny was at home that day and text me, rather worriedly I think, to say this bluey had arrived.  I spent most of the day wondering who it could be from.  Once I got home I discovered that this particular letter was from one of the soldiers who has received our hats thanking us for making them. 

How lovely is that?  I didn't expect anything but to receive anything but to know that our efforts are appreciated is amazing.  It reminded me of the importance of saying thank you when someone does something for you and, if a soldier serving out in Afghanistan can say thank you then I definitley can!

Put that record on!

This morning, as I was sewing away in my pyjamas, I started to think about what I listened to whilst I craft.  Whilst in my craft half-a-room, I have iPod playing, either music or podcasts, and if I am crafting downstairs then it is usually the televisiion that accompanies my work ( I have to have background noise!!)  So, you may be thinking, what do I listen to?  Lets take a look!

MUSIC

My iPod is packed full of music and it is an eclectic mix to say the least.  There is my rather large indie playlist full of everything from Oasis to the Stereophonics to The Smiths and some Arctic Monkeys thrown in for good measure!  There is also a Pop playlist with more poppy tracks in, a retro playlist with 60's and 70's hits (yes there is some Abba in there!) and the bellydance playlist for when I feel in a more ethnic mood!  Any of these playlists may be chosen to accompany the hum of my sewing machine.  However, when I am journaling I turn to my relaxation playlist which has much more calming music - some Enya, Loreena McKennit and more calm modern music to help me think. 

PODCASTS

These are rather a recent discovery of mine.  There are currently 3 podcasts that I follow and download regularly. 



Image courtesy of YIP Podcast

 The first is Yip!  This is an American tribal bellydance podcast produced by Mary and Tammy.  It is a great podcast to listen to if you like tribal bellydance and they cover so much in each episode including music reviews and interviews.  They have a very relaxed approach to podcasting and you feel like you are sat with them having a chat over a cup of coffee. 





Image courtesy of iMake

 The second podcast I listen to is iMake.  It was my friend, Shinybees, who put me on to this podcast!  It is produced by a lovely lady called Martine from Guernsey and is a general crafty podcast.  It covers her crafty exploits (which are varied and interesting) and includes a great segment all about Guernsey( I must say I am now desperate to visit Guernsey and have learnt so much about it!) Again, iMake is presented in a very relaxed style, is well organised and easy to listen to.  A great accompaniment to crafting!





Image courtesy of Electric Sheep

 The third and final podcast I enjoy downloading is Electric Sheep.  I found this through the iMake podcast and it is more of a knitting podcast.  It is presented by Hoxton Handmade who is a London based knitter.  Now then, I am not a knitter and, before listening to this podcast, I was not a crocheter.  However, the episodes include segments on knitting but also an essay section about something completley non-knitting related and some very entertaining bits about patterns and yarn and blogs.  It is another relaxed and easy podcast to listen to.

TELEVISION AND FILMS

So as not to appear too unsociable in my home, I do try to spend some time downstairs with my husband.  I like to be busy and find it very difficult to sit still (I even crocheted in the car on the way to Yorkshire last night!)  So, I need crafts that I can bring downstairs and do on the couch.  Art Journaling is not so good for this as there are lots of bits and mess involved!  Crochet, on the other hand, is fantastic for this and so this is my couch/TV/Film craft of choice. 

I would love to hear what you listen to when you craft and would appreciate any recommendations of podcasts I can add to my collection!