HTS! Podcasts: Nightvale and Never Not Knitting

Throughout the web there are infinite ways to consume media. Photos, videos, music, and photos are abundant. Now I'm not a fan of NPR and have trouble focusing on audio books but podcast are a different beast.

A podcast can be hosted anywhere but I choose ones off iTunes. They are all free. They can be just audio or videos. I've really been enjoying audio only podcasts. Since I have an iPhone I can download new ones right on my phone. Rather than using the iTunes app, it has it's own app simply called Podcasts.

Most podcasts are like talk radio but about a very specific thing. Night vale is described as: "Twice-monthly community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. Turn on your radio and hide. Welcome to Night Vale." 

It's obviously not a real place, but it's interesting to hear a story via a radio show. It keeps it vague but pretty interesting. The weather is replaced with a song from unknown bands (different every time.)


Another podcast I've tilted my ear to is: Never Not Knitting. It's nice just to hear a knitter talk. Her blog has podcast notes where you can see the projects and products she is talking about. She writes her own patterns. 

Both of these evoke my imagination while I'm doing housework or while I was winding up yarn for my pegboard.

Do you listen/ watch podcasts? Which ones?

DIY: Yarn Board

For a long time I've drug a box of yarn with me. It traveled with me through college, to LA, through every apartment or house I've lived in. It didn't matter if I had a project planned or just needed to keep my brain and fingers busy while watching TV. My box of yarn has always been there. I've made hats, scarves, one sweater, mittens, and other oddities.






I recently saw this photo. Maybe it was on pintrest but I can't be sure. There are severally people who have copied this idea, but this image came from this blog.


Now I'm a visual person. I kind of forget about things that aren't staring me in the face. After I moved into my new apartment  I knew I had to try this.

I bought a peg board and and had a wall that was 2 and a half feet wide.



















I had this odd nook between rooms and knew I wanted to put some sort of art there.

My yarn box had gotten quite unruly and I knew that putting my yarn on a pegboard would keep this knotting from happening.

I went to every crafting store and NONE of them had a yarn ball winder. I eventually decided to order this one off of amazon.com and it works great. While I waited for it to arrive I went ahead and put some yarn up.

As soon as it arrived I started rolling yarn. It was really fun to go through my yarn stash and remember where I bought the yarn and other projects I had used it for. Some of it was my great grandmothers. She often started a ball of yarn by wrapping it around the original paper, that told you what brand the yarn was and had other useful information.

I ran out of hooks before I ran out of yarn, but look at all of this. It's very beautiful just by it's self. It makes me think of balloons or bubbles. I've been daydreaming about projects since I started this piece. Now I really can't wait to grab some needles and get back to knitting. 

Get Real: Everyday Wonders

There are a lot of things in life that I enjoy. I thought I would list a few of my everyday simple pleasures.

1) The feel of yarn between your fingers as it becomes more than just a strand alone.
2) The smell of something baking.
3) Emptying a packing box. (I've been experiencing this thrill a lot lately.)
4) Pouring tea out of my teapot. I get nearly giddy every time.
5) Finishing a book that made you laugh and cry.

Bonus: Joking with a barista as they make something I haven't had before. (Twix latte! Whaaaaat!)

What 5 simple everyday things make your heart smile?