#63 - 2KCBWDAY7: WHEN I KNIT

I can't believe that the second Knit & Crochet Blog Week is already at an end. It has been great to discover lots of new blogs this time around, and I hope you continue to stop by and share your thoughts and feedback with me. For today's final post, we're talking about crafting routines:

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Usually, I can be found cozy in an armchair every evening with my knitting at hand and an audiobook or podcasts playing... and I'm most productive when listening to something that's knitting-related. I could play Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off on repeat for the rest of my knitting life and probably be a happy camper. I think she resonates with me, along with so many others, by making crafters feel less alone in the utter joy, the occasional obsession, and the hours of pleasure we gain from simply spending time with needles or hooks and yarn. She makes me feel a little less crazy about my overgrown stash, my confusion over knitting black holes (you know, when you knit and knit and knit but your knitting doesn't get any bigger), and the sheer excitement I feel when walking into a new yarn shop for the first time. At a time when I wasn't hanging out with many (read: any) knitters, she made me feel less alone.

But there are also loads of podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis while I'm getting my knit on. Some of my favorites include (in no particular order): It's a Purl, Man; The Knitmore Girls; Electric Sheep; Subway Knits; Yarngasm; Knit Knit Cafe; The Knit Wits; and The Knitajourney Podcast. What podcasts are you into? I'm always on the hunt for something new.

Sure, I knit while listening to other podcasts or music, watching syndicated sitcoms, on the metro, at friend's houses, in cafes, at the breakfast table... the list goes on. But my favorite crafting time allows me to be all-consumed by my knitterly thoughts. You're most likely to find me smiling and giggling quietly at a moment like this, when I'm being a pure yarnophile and feeling most like myself. And that's why I knit in the first place.