Podcastorama

The window guy is here right now fixing all the blinds in the apartment. Apparently when the previous tenants moved out, they hung up all the vertical blinds they had taken down while they lived here and didn't do a very good job. There are 16 (!) windows in this place, which means a lot of blinds. There were 21 blades missing, blades put in backwards, not enough screws installed to hold the blinds up, etc. So the guy is here fixing all their mistakes, even though we'll probably take the blinds down too, and put up our own curtains. I really wish I knew how to sew because then I could get exactly what we wanted, instead of being at the mercy of the sizes and fabrics offered at IKEA and Target. *sigh* Oh well. I'll live.

A few months ago, I traveled home to Minneapolis to visit the fam for the weekend. I decided to put my iPhone to good use and load up some knitting podcasts for the trip. Since I didn't know anything about what might be good, I loaded up the Knit Picks podcast, since they always have links at the bottom of their promotional emails. Let me warn you about this if you're not already a podcast listener: starting on one is like a gateway drug. It will lead you down a dangerous path if you're not careful.

I liked the Knit Picks podcast well enough. Kelley Petkin, the host, is very friendly and organized and I think she's a great interviewer for her guests because she is very conversational and energetic. Well, that podcast led to other podcasts and, just like with blogs, I find myself adding new ones to my list all the time. The only problem is that I am so anal that if I find a good podcast, I have to go back and listen to ALL the episodes, starting from the first one. This takes a good bit of time so I don't have all that many on my list...yet.

In addition to the Knit Picks podcast, I also listen to Stash and Burn (my favorite!), Cast On (with Brenda Dayne...excellent), Y Knit (infectiously fun), Sticks & String (very melodic and soothing), and Shifting Channels (which is a TV podcast by one of the girls from Stash & Burn, and since I'm an entertainment media junkie I find it interesting). If you have any others to recommend, let me know!

These are nice to load up on my iPhone and listen to while I'm knitting. Since I'm still on the job hunt, I have more knitting time than maybe I would like, but I'm making good use of it. :) I've been listening to so many podcasts lately that I bought a set of speakers this weekend at Target. They're not the cutest things ever, but they work well and they were cheap...just what I needed!

My brother is in town this week on a trip with a friend of his, and I'm excited to see him! I haven't seen him in about a year, and I figured that if I can nab him away from his friend for a few hours it would be a good time to explore some of the local yarn shops that I haven't been to yet. I'll keep you posted. :)