A VERY Beginner's Guide to Knitting PodCasts

I was teaching a Ravelry 101 class last week and we got on the subject of PodCasts and how listening to them is a great way to hear interesting people from all over discuss various topics on yarn, knitting, fiber, crochet, designers, etc. and it’s a great way to multitask while driving, cleaning, or even knitting!

Since I still consider myself to be a PodCast novice, I'm finding I have a LOT to learn about them.  For instance, what is an RSS feed and what do I do with it?  How do I find more PodCasts and how do I determine which ones are worth a listen and how to access them?  There's that little radio volume looking thingy next to some of them and others require an app, but they don't all require the same app.  Ugh!  Where’s a teenager when you need one?

To start, I've just been listening on my computer because it's easy to find them there.  So far my favorite is The Knitmore Girls. They are a mother (Gigi) and daughter (Jasmin) team who provide a wonderful variety of information with topics like ‘On the Needles,’ ‘In Stitches,’ ‘Mother Knows Best’ and ‘When Knitting Attacks!’ (my favorite). They also sometimes sponsor contests and always review a product or two as well as promote their sponsors.  They're very interesting to listen to and I love the way they truly respect one another's views and opinions. The podcast is also complimented with an exceptional website (or is it the other way around?) that supports the audio with links to that day's podcast patterns, yarn, events, products, etc. with lots of photos!

But the flow of the podcast is what I love the most.  You feel as if you are sitting at the kitchen table with them sipping tea and just chatting about what's new and exciting in the world of fiber.  They are truly a delightful listen and I enjoy them immensely!

I find that most all podcasters have a website from which you can obtain links to the patterns or products they discuss.  Some of them are also videos, which I'm told are sometimes called vlogs, like Yarngasm by Voolenvine who lives in New York City or Skeindeer Knits by Ellie (who is absolutely adorable and introduces herself as a Norwegian living in London).  Many times they include interviews and perspectives based on areas of expertise. For instance, The Sweet Georgia Show is hosted by Felicia Lo, owner of Sweet Georgia Yarn and designer Alana Dakos brings us Never Not Knitting. And some are international like Savvy Girls (out of Montreal) or Knit British (location is self-explanatory).

 

The Yarniacs, Gale & Sharlene, are friends who have lively discussions that revolve around their favorite patterns and just celebrated 6 years together and Very Pink not only has a podcast but also a blog and a website with an amazing library of videos!

I could go on and on and on, but the bottom line is, while Ravelry is an amazing resource for those of us who live in Yarntopia, there are so many other ways to gain knowledge of our craft and it’s so much fun to explore all of the everything else that’s out there!  Am I missing out on one of your favorites?  Please let me know!  And if you have any idea what the RSS/radio thingy is, I could sure use some help with it.