05 Jul 2012

Episode 118: The Road

In this episode: The road picks me up, carries me along for a while and then spits me out with as much ceremony as a baggage handler at Heathrow. I am home, darlings. The summer season of Cast On begins with a journey of a thousand airports. Or something.

Nevertheless, tales will be told and audio shared; philosophising will, no doubt, occur as I attempt to integrate all the people I met, and the places I visited during seven weeks of travel across North America.

Here are some things I learned:

Tom Bihn make excellent bags. I carried the Aeronaut. And then let the airlines do that for me when it got to be a little too much for me. The bouncy strap is worth the money. Their little wallets come in really handy. The Swift is the best knitting bag in the world.

Color Affection makes a damed fined travel project. Ravelled here.

(Lack of Color Affection pics entirely due to issues with the new Mac that necessitated a complete reinstall of the system one week after I arrived home. Let us not speak of it. My Apple Rage is only just beginning to fade.)

Did I talk about something and forget to link to it here? I know I can count on you to point those out. Thank you!

It’s good to be back.

During my travels I listened to Treasure Island. You can too. click the enormous audible logo below. 

I do the Facebooks. Also the g+ and, of course, I’m still doing the twitter. Come find me!

Music by Bill Kahler, Longest Road in the World. Find his music on Amazon.com

37 Comments

  1. Maddy wrote:

    Welcome home… We have missed you… Can’t wait to listen…

    Posted on 7.5.12 ·
  2. Thanks, Maddy, for being reassuringly fast. 🙂

    Posted on 7.5.12 ·
  3. Anna wrote:

    Yay! You’re back! I hardly ever comment, but I MISSED you!

    Posted on 7.5.12 ·
  4. So great to hear your voice again, and to hear what went on after I left you in Massachusetts , week 2. It’s like a truelife cliffhanger! Looking forward to ep 119.

    Posted on 7.5.12 ·
  5. Wyn Jones wrote:

    Welcome home! It was great to meet you. (Nice bike in the photo – oh, wait, it’s mine…)

    I finished by Tintern Abbey socks (it is on my Ravelry page), and am nearly done with a second pair using the Sherman toe and heel. This pair use the ribbing from Tintern, which then spirals up the leg. I am working them two-at-a-time and making the spirals mirrored.

    Having a ‘travel’ project is vital! I knit three washcloths while waiting in lines for roller coasters last week. I didn’t see anyone else knitting at the amusement park. Don’t they realize how much they could create while just standing there? 🙂

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  6. Kristi wrote:

    Yay! Your home safe! I’m so sad that I did not get to see you while you were less than 5 hours away from me, but alas… I was short on both cash & time :/ But the bitter is made sweet – your home & podcasting!!! I have something to look forward to after work. I see knitting & listening in my future tonight. Thanks Brenda! Can’t wait to hear about your trip, and the shawl you posted on ravelry looks amazing!

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  7. LoriAngela wrote:

    Awesome show. I was laughing and singing along like an idiot on my dog walk today. You are one of the few “friends” from whom I will take advice and I have to say I love the Aeronaut. Bought one for me and my D for our safari. I didn’t mind living out of one suitcase (except I could have used a sweater). The ups and downs of our road were mainly in the back seat of a 4×4 on unpaved roads in the National Parks of Zimbabwe. Already love the swift (thank you knitty.com).
    I’m tempted to allow you to usurp my knitting queue, because good advice is hard to come by, and I’m crushing on Colour Affection.
    Glad you’re home and missed it as much as we did.

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  8. Clara-yarna wrote:

    I’m so glad you’re back – I missed you!! <3

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  9. Amanda W. aka DragonTamerBrat wrote:

    I was so excited to see a new episode in my iTunes feed! Welcome home, and I’m shopping for yarn for a Color Affection as I type….

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  10. Holly wrote:

    Yay! So glad you’re back. I looked forlornly at my iPod queue hoping for an update from the road over the last few weeks. Your voice always inspires me when I’m stalled with a black hole knitting project. Ah, the troubles of technology, I relate to it well. Sorry to hear of the lost shawl, but it was fun to hear about the new shawl. Looking forward to the any upcoming additions to Welsh for Rainbow!

    Posted on 7.6.12 ·
  11. Kristi wrote:

    Brenda, I’m in the middle of the podcast now and you have SOLD me on Treasure Island 🙂 pirates & islands being my thing & all. So! That being said, which version did you get? Who narrated the one you listened to? There’s three versions. And we all know the voice matters 😉

    Thanks! Loving the podcast so far!

    Posted on 7.7.12 ·
  12. Theresa wrote:

    Welcome home Brenda! It was great to listen to you. Thank you for the road trip stories. I have been traveling like a mad woman, but able to drop by home to do laundry. On the road, while in planes, I worked on a blanket, which kept me warm on the long flights. Sounds crazy, but I made it work. Lot’s of movies and lots of stitches. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

    Posted on 7.7.12 ·
  13. Sylvia wrote:

    Welcome back! I was less afflicted by your extended absence than many, only because I first learned of your podcast in April at the KnitCircus spring retreat, and spent the last several months listening from the beginning. I finished episode 117 just last week, and so had begun to panic for want of news about your journey only recently. Love the show.

    Posted on 7.7.12 ·
  14. Janet wrote:

    It’s wonderful to get to listen to a new podcast. I loved taking class from you in CA. I’ve been working on my sweater…some. Not enough to have finished it. I got distracted by the Cedar Leaf Shawlette I’m making out of the Verb for Keeping Warm Floating I bought that day. It’s for a good friend’s birthday, so I’ve got that deadline. I’m excited to get back to the sweater next week while on vacation at Lake Tahoe. (My favorite place ever.)
    I bet it’s great to be home after living out of a suitcase for so many weeks. Enjoy the rest of the summer, and thanks for all you do for us knitters!

    Posted on 7.7.12 ·
  15. Maddy wrote:

    Have now listened… Loved your stories, can’t wait for the next installment of your adventures. Soooooo glad you are doing another series! Yeah! Ps: couldn’t resist downloaded colour affection just now – now there’s no excuse not to buy more yarn!

    Posted on 7.8.12 ·
  16. Andy Baker wrote:

    So happy to see a podcast. It was great. I loved the bit about the Absolute Shoulder Strap. I have a bag that is begging for a new one. (Actually it’s my shoulder doing the begging.) AND Treasure Island, which I never read as a boy. I was a child raised on TV. Welcome back. Looking forward to hearing more.

    Posted on 7.8.12 ·
  17. Esther McDonald wrote:

    I loved hearing your podcast once again! You were missed. But Brenda, you said that thousands of knitters knit the Color Affection shawl just because The Yarn Harlot made one. Knitters aren’t such followers as all that–we don’t only copy what popular famous people do. Lots of people made that shawl before she did.

    Posted on 7.8.12 ·
  18. Vivian wrote:

    Great podcast. So good to hear your voice again. I’m loving your color addiction and have added it to my queue!

    Posted on 7.8.12 ·
  19. I have been looking forward to your podcast for weeks! I am really contemplating sleeping or staying up to listen and knit. With 6 tiny kittens at my side and a belly full of oolong tea at 4:49am EDT, I believe I am going get out my pointy sticks…it’s time to Cast-On!

    Posted on 7.9.12 ·
  20. Geknitics wrote:

    So lovely to hear your voice again, Brenda. Sorry about the Damson, I lost my 100% alpaca Clapotis in the last few months. It had survived a trip to Scotland (the reason I made it in 2007), and a trip across country, but was lost somewhere in after our move.

    Posted on 7.10.12 ·
  21. Karen wrote:

    When you talked about casting on the shawl I think you said garter tab. Is that what you said? May I have an instructions link or an explanation please for what you did? Thanks.

    Posted on 7.10.12 ·
  22. Elizabeth wrote:

    Just found you! I think yarn stores are actually candy stores for grown ups. It’s absolutly wonderful to listen to your knitting/life and I am one “who get’s it”! I grew up in a suburb of Portland, married, moved to the Columbia River Gorge then Central Oregon where I learned to knit, and now am back in the mid-Willamette Valley a stones throw from Corvallis AND, I JUST FOUND YOU AND YOU WERE JUST HERE!? (Was that too long of a sentence? Emotions can do that, plus that’s the best I can do to summarize 20+ years) Well, here’s to more of Cast-on! So glad to be here.

    Posted on 7.11.12 ·
  23. teresa C wrote:

    I missed you! Welcome back and thank you for another podcast. Thanks for sharing your road project, it is gorgeous and I want to cast one myself!

    Posted on 7.11.12 ·
  24. Erin R. wrote:

    I’m glad your back. I missed you.
    Great podcast! I love it when you talk through the whole thing ( and when you don’t).

    Posted on 7.12.12 ·
  25. Jane Adair wrote:

    So excited about a hardcover book!!

    Sounds like the big trip was inspiring, motivating, and energizing for you. I’m so happy. You must do it again, but land in Austin, Texas next time. You are welcome to stay at my home and borrow my car.

    Posted on 7.12.12 ·
  26. Vickie wrote:

    Would love to see pix of the memory bags! I loved your Memorable Yarn talk.

    Posted on 7.16.12 ·
  27. Marisa wrote:

    Welcome back! So glad to see a new podcast and am just about to listen! I hope you had fun, I loved your class in Waterloo and you are every bit as lovely in person as on the podcast. I also hope you enjoyed the jam from this nerdy little fan. 🙂

    Posted on 7.17.12 ·
  28. Martha wrote:

    Just had to comment that I just recently started listening to your podcast. Today I got to episode 43, Granny’s Book. You mentioned how there was too much attention given to Tom Cruise’s wedding. My what a difference a couple of years makes 😉

    Posted on 7.20.12 ·
  29. Katarina wrote:

    Brenda, I so happy and excited to here that there will be a new Cast On series! I’m a long time fan and have listened ever since the very first episode came out. What would life be like without you? I can’t imagine.

    Posted on 7.21.12 ·
  30. Chris E wrote:

    Welcome home! It was great to see you in Northampton, and I’m so glad to hear you’ve picked up Treasure Island. I have a related book recommendation: the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer, available on Audible. The reader is Katherine Kellgren, and she’s terrific. I’m only in the first book, but so far, the primary character is sort of a female Jim Hawkins, and the story is well-written and has definitely captured my interest.

    Posted on 7.23.12 ·
  31. Julia wrote:

    Just a thought that occurred to me today, what happened to the Lane splitter skirt?
    Did it die a death or are you still knitting it?
    Would love to know!
    Greetings from hot and stormy Spain

    Posted on 7.26.12 ·
  32. Valerie wrote:

    Now I understand why we didn’t have your podcasts from the road. I missed you!

    As to the J. Jill travel dress disaster, you might consider returning it. They probably have great customer service.

    Ooh. The Swift. I just put it on my wish list! It looks fabulous!

    Posted on 8.2.12 ·
  33. Suzanne wrote:

    Hello, Brenda. It was great to listen to your podcast for the first time (I believe). I really enjoyed your reflections about your trip and the packing tips. I’m traveling overnight and you have helped me scale way back. 🙂 I’m looking forward to subscribing to your podcast and perhaps going back in the archives for much, much more of your wit and wisdom.

    Posted on 8.2.12 ·
  34. So glad to hear your voice. I’ve missed you. Bummer about the mini-projector and your Macintosh woes. I know you’ll figure out the bumps on your apple road.

    A missing Damson. Horror!! I hope the knitting goddesses will hear your podcast and will help to locate the Damson. Your Damson mods inspired my Damson shawl–actually, the shawl isn’t mine, I gave it to my wonderful Mama.

    What have I been doing this summer? Why knitting the Color Affection, of course. I was bit by the CA bug and was lucky enough to purchase some Verdant Gryphon skinny bugga at Maryland Sheep and Wool. CA liked to have murdered my wrists. But oh, how I loved knitting on my new (insert sound effect) Addi Turbos. I think I’m a Turbo convert.

    Posted on 8.7.12 ·
  35. Swiggles wrote:

    You’re back!!
    I’m so relieved! My podcast app didn’t show any new updates so I thought I’ d better look for myself. It was like a friend going away for abveryvlong time (without Skype). I’m the quirky gal who met you at Shall We Knit in Waterloo, and got a picture taken of us together – only to lose the contact info of the photographer. She was with one of your friends who was there also. Not much to go on, eh? By the way, unravelling your sweater made me much bolder in frogging some of my own UFO’s, so thank you.

    Posted on 8.7.12 ·
  36. solosailor wrote:

    Thank you so much for bringing me back to Treasure Island! It was my favourite childhood book. So much so that for a long time when asked what i wanted to be when grown….a pirate was the reply. I had forgotten what joy that book gave me. Such fancies long ago quashed I now go out sailing in my little dinghy but from time to time that strange roaring little girl I was can be remembered and that makes me smile.

    Posted on 8.8.12 ·
  37. Hi Brenda,

    I really enjoyed your class in Minneapolis, and am very happy to hear your new podcasts. You have kept me company throughout the last year and a half, and I have to tell you that I love (LUF!) every single reference to the Princess Bride. I’ve heard many, here and there, and they always make me laugh out loud.

    Posted on 8.11.12 ·

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