A contest! But not my own Post 200!!!

Let's Knit 2 Gether is having a contest. Anyone who's been reading me for a while knows that this is one of my favorite podcasts (back when I actually posted about podcasts haha) so please, go check it out. Cat shows many awesome techniques, and gets to go to awesome places, and they are looking for suggestions of what to do next. Their most recent video is a tour of the Lion Brand studios and Knit 1 magazine!

Also, if you watch the video you will notice they put out very high quality video. They are hoping to raise money to purchase a better editing system so that it does't take quite so long to get out new episodes. So please, if you enjoy the videos think about donating a few dollars.

I couldn't think of a contest to do for myself, but I also still can't believe this is my 200th post!!


Well, here's a few cat pictures, and my shawl progress so far... this is the end of Clue #1 and clue # 2 will be out on Monday! So I will hopefully be able to finish my hat today and then I can show that off too :) I opened the back blinds to get all the natural light I could, and the cats loved it :)




Oh and yes, the ring is back :) And it fits without the help of Socks that rock.


And last but definitely not least, Happy Birthday Thomas!!!!


May all your birthday wishes come true

Two great tastes that taste great together

Every once in a while an awesome combination comes along. Chocolate and peanut butter. French fries and milk shakes. Mayonaise and toast. Ok maybe those last 2 are just me (at least it doesn't involve bologna).
Anyways.
Cat, from Let's Knit Together + Gary from Wine Library TV = EPIC AWESOME WIN WIN WIN!!!!

Though I am a little jealous because I had ordered yarn to try a wine bottle cozy a while ago and she beat me to the punch ;) Oh well!

I almost forgot!

The Podcast awards have been going on for a few days. While I initially planned to do a podcast review a lot more frequently than I have been, I still listen to podcasts, and I know several of you do too. So make sure to go vote for your favorites.


http://www.podcastawards.com/

Home sweet home

(durnit, now I have Motley Crue stuck in my head)
We're back!
Friday we drove down to beautiful NC to visit my folks. Sam was kind enough to offer free technical assistance, which was VERY MUCH Appreciated by my parents.
Mom and I watched copious amounts of Law & Order while Sam worked on Dad's computer. We also played with my new sisters:
Tucker and Taffy!



Saturday morning, mom and I departed for our Yarn Crawl to Charlotte. I mapped out how to get to Charlotte Yarn where Fairieknits and Turtlegirl work. Unfortunately, neither mom or I were aware that Virginia Tech and East Carolina were playing in Charlotte, and that the exit we planned to take was the same one for the huge stadium... once we got past that though traffic wasn't bad.
Fairieknits was not there because she went to Dragoncon the lucky duck!!! But I did get to meet Turtlegirl who was very nice :) She was so nice that she gave us directions to our next stop, Rainy Day
Mom and I bought some yarn at each store, and I also bought a niddy noddy which will help me in my goals of dyeing yarn.

We decided to stop ONE LAST PLACE which turned out to be a fun store, but didn't buy anything there. It was quite a bit of what some people might call artfibers, and wasn't quite our thing.
Unfortunately, when we got back on the highway there was an accident several miles up and traffic was at a standstill. 45 minutes, 3 miles, and the next exit we took to take the back roads.
Old school drive-in restaurant. I didn't see anyone on roller skates though.

Sunday morning we all went to church, and then more knitting and computer fixing. I started a new pair of socks.
This is actually yarn that I got from Turtlegirl when she was doing a destash, and its knitting up so pretty. The camera doesn't quite capture the colors, but you get the idea :)


Now that we're home, Kitty can set down his house-guarding duties and finally get some rest.


I'll get some pictures of my new haul tomorrow maybe. I've been having some computer problems, so getting pictures off of the sd card isn't going so well.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day weekend for those who celebrate it, and a safe weekend and Monday for those who don't.
ALSO! Big congrats to Roz Savage who has finished the first 1/3rd of her row across the Pacific when she made landfall in Hawaii earlier today. I'm so excited for her :) You can read her blog at that address, or download the podcasts she did with Leo Laporte on Itunes. I'm still behind on the podcast but its very enjoyable and a fun listen.

Woohoo awesome announcement time!

I have two awesome announcements that I'm very excited about.
First, I had purchased some yarn and dyes. Last night, Idiotboy was kind enough to tempt Sam out of the house with the promise of some super fun nerdy time, so I was able to dye the yarn!
I don't want to share any pictures yet. For one thing, its still kind of damp, and for another, my camera simply won't do it justice.
But soon!

My second announcement, is that last Friday I took part in the newest episode of the Langaming.net's Lancast. I've reviewed the show before, it features several friends and covers topics all about gaming.
I'll warn you, as it shows you in Itunes and on the site the podcast is "explicit." (We cuss. A lot). But we had a blast and I can't wait to do it again.

Metalcast

I discovered a new podcast earlier this week. Metalcast is a weekly podcast full of awesome metal tunes. Each episode is between 45 minutes to an hour long, and features some of my favorite songs, and great new songs I'd never heard before. Many of the episodes have a theme, for example songs from soundtracks, or bands with female lead singers.
The most recent episode, 69 is of course all about sex. After listening to it I looked at their back catalog and discovered episode 31. All about Tolkien!! Songs inspired by his books, or by bands who's names were inspired by his writing. So my fellow metalheads, definitely check this one out :)

Nerd it up Monday!

I'm going to start calling Monday "Nerd it up Monday."
A lot of my weekly podcasts update between Thursday and the weekend, so I watch/listen to them all on Monday to get me through the day.
Diggnation
Ifanboy's weekly podcast
Langaming.net's Lancast (biweekly)
Smodcast.

Do you find any similar trends in your podcasts?
*crossposting to pownce without links*

also, today I got my pen that I mentioned last Wednesday.
Is very pretty! And according to the note included I can refil it easily.
Woot!
THANK YOU CRAFTINA!!!!

Podcast Pimpage!

I've got two podcasts I wanted to mention today.
In yesterday's episode of Project Shadow Informant (episode 137) the hosts go on and on and on and on ;) about some GORGEOUS pictures over on The Lewis Show.. So check out the pictures and the podcast :) Its also very entertaining, and they talk about a lot of different topics.
I just can't quite keep up with an hour long daily podcast, but I'll stay subscribed and pick up the highlights ;)

Also, wanted to mention another Pownce friend of mine, has a new episode out. The Buster Friendly show features topics and discussions received through Pownce.
So, if you're on Pownce make sure to friend Them up and keep your eye out for topics.

Sending a Wave

So I discovered another Serenity/ Firefly podcast, called Sending A Wave. This one comes to us from across the pond, in England! Which means in addition to fun Firefly facts, bonus accents!

Their most recent episode, featured an excellent interview with Nathan Fillion (see image below). To be honest, I only paid a little attention to what was said, because I was amused by the fact that it sounded like the interview took place in what I can only imagine is the most awesome Bowling Alley ever. In the background I could hear the distinctive sounds of balls rolling down the aisles, pins falling over, and a wonderful selection of music. At one point I heard Cake's cover of I will Survive.

So, if you're a fellow Browncoat itching for more information and stories, then check it out!

Coverville!

YAY! Finally a podcast review!
On Ravelry, in one of the many podcast groups I'm in, someone mentioned Coverville.
Sadly, I can't remember who :(
But, being a huge fan of covers and parodies I checked it out.
I will say, the first 2 episodes that I listened to weren't quite my cup of tea. However, the podcaster performs his listeners an awesome service, that I wish more people did. He inserts stop/start points so that you can skip through tracks you don't like!!
Because of this, I downloaded a few more episodes, and really enjoyed the Parody episode from April 1 (aside from the Rick Roll, bastard), and March 16th's episode, which featured a Jazzy/Bluegrassy rendition of Collective Soul's Shine.
The track list is given in the shownotes and on the website, so you can see at a glance if its an episode you'll be interested in or not.
Definitely worth checking out.

Wooo I feel like a RockStar!

Last weekend, I participated on a Live Recording episode of Its a Purl Man.
Well, for her most recent episode, Cat of Lets Knit 2Gether featured her recording of the chatroom!
Check it out! You can see me dancing to the theme song, work on my shawl, and cuddle with Kitty :)
You can watch it right there on her website, or subscribe through Itunes.

I also wanted to share today's feature of the Kitty Knits Blog tour. Anyone who names their cat Greedo is OK in my book. Purl This took a new spin on the interview, and has HILARIOUS reaction shots from her cats.

Its a Purl man, Live!

Tonight, Guido from Its a Purl, man hosted a live recording through Yahoo Live. It was lots of fun! Cat from Lets Knit2gether was also there, as well as David Ready from Sticks & String, which I had subscribed to but hadn't had a chance to check out yet.
The episode should be available for download tomorrow night!

Mahalo Daily!

It just occured to me that I never went back and did a full review of Mahalo Daily!
(Warning friends with dial-up... that link takes you to their site which automatically loads the most recent episode)

This daily (duh) Video podcast has quickly become one of my favorites. I now watch it every morning right after Wine Library TV.
Mahalo Daily covers some pretty random, but always useful topics. How to tie a tie would have been REALLY useful about 2 months before it came out, when Sam had to look that up on youtube ;)
Ms. Belmont and friends also cover award shows, Tech & Game conventions, and even interviewed that guy who sang Chocolate Rain (no, no links here, I'll get it stuck in my head. Evil song).
So definitely check it out, its one of those rare podcasts that covers enough interests to satisfy just about everyone!

Free Audio books!

So my new Pownce friend Joey N linked to this site which offers links to free Audio books! Most of them are on itunes... and for some reason I couldn't get any of the Edgar Allen Poe ones to work *sniffle*
But I still thought it was pretty neat! Woo Ann of Green Gables! I've been listening to music on my short drives to and from work because YAY I got an FM Transmitter!

I don't really have any good reviews for you yet still... I've mostly been working on catching up on my old favorites. I did download Mahalo Daily from Mikey's suggestion. Pretty informative and cool :)
I will post a full review once I've watched a few more. Also checking out Stuck in the 80's from a recommendation from a Ravelry friend.
I'm now up to almost 400 podcast episodes!!! That's mostly from downloading back episodes of ones that I like. :)

Also, I've rearranged my side bar *waves arms ala Vanna White*
I think what I'm going to start doing is listen to a podcast before bed, with a notebook and pen to keep track of my thoughts. *nod nod*
Oh, and some knitting. Here is the beginnings of my super secret special project that some people know about. Hehe nice and vague isn't it?

Laters!

More History!

As I've said before, I'm a bit of a history nerd :)
Which is why I was so excited to discover Colonial Williamsburg Podcasts.
The episodes aren't numbered, so I'm not sure how many there are so far. They began May 5, 2005 and it is still a weekly updated podcast. Its too early on a saturday to do the math ;)
Each week, the host interviews another employee of the historical city. I've loved every topic covered in what I've listened to so far. I'm only up to September of 05 :)
He's interviewed the interpreter of Patrick Henry, an interpreter of a wife of a wealthy landowner, the cooper, and my favorite so far, one of the costumers.

Each episode is between about 10-15 minutes long, which I think is just about perfect. Its not so short that you feel like you're constantly having to start something new, but its also not too long.
Very nice!
:)
Hope everyone has a happy and safe weekend if I don't post more later.

Remembering Mike Wieringo

The guys over at iFanboy, along with one of CBR's staff members have posted an episode with a video about Mike Wieringo. For those of you who aren't familiar with the comic book industry, Mike was taken from us WAY too soon earlier this year.
In addition to being a super talented artist, he was also one of the nicest pro's I've ever met. Plus he was a local! (Born and raised not far from here, then moved to NC). Also, Sam and I saw him at the two Heroescons we've attended together, and he was always polite, respectful, and happy to talk to any fan who came up and struck up a conversation.
So please, go check it out and find out what an awesome guy he was.
(I've been following his brother's blog ever since).

Some podcast notes. Yaaarrrn

Today at work, I listened to two knitting podcasts I wanted to talk about. One, Vickie Howell's CRL talked about the Business side of knitting. This was very interesting to me, as it relates to my after New Year's plans :) One thing her guest Jennifer Perkins talked about was the ability to market yourself. I bring this up, because this is a skill which I've developed working my current job. We write our own reviews, and then our team leaders comment on them. So I'm glad to see this practice will come in handy. YAY!

I also listened to Lion Brand's Yarn Craft podcast. I really like that while this podcast is produced by a yarn company, you rarely hear them distastefully pimp their own products. This particular episode was so AWESOME because their featured guest was one of my favorite Bloggers! The Yarn Harlot is so very funny and personable! It was also great to finally hear a voice that I could put to the words I read (as often as they're updated).

She had a very interesting point I'd like to get some input on. I fear I'll completely muck this up, but to paraphrase, she said that Knitters, are an enormously diverse group. However, we don't discriminate against each other by outward appearance, race, religion, creed, orientation, preferences, other hobbies & interests etc. I've never seen another group of people who can instantly be comfortable talking to each other, even though one is a 60 year old grandmother and the other is a 25 year old transsexual (I've seen it!).

For example: When I was getting my car fixed the other day, I walked in to pay for the repairs, and saw an older woman sitting and knitting. I immediately walked over, and chatted her up. I"M SHY!!! I'd never normally walk up to a perfect stranger, much less one probably twice my age and start talking to her.
In contrast: That PSP commercial, where the guy's on an elevator and another guy is commenting all about it. The other guy is considered a weirdo for coming up and being excited about a shared hobby.
Knitters unite! We love to show each other our projects. Whenever I knit at work, people come up and ask me what I'm working on, and will say they know how to knit, or crochet etc. Its just a neat thing that this one craft unites so many people, who normally would never meet, much less get along :)

Additionally, I'd like to say a big thank you to my neighbor (who I doubt reads this but whatever) who once again, rescued Kitty from the outdoors, because our front door FLIES OPEN when the wind blows.
Luckily, this time she put him back in our house, and shut the front door back. I'm amazed he didn't run for the road, she said he just sat in the little front grassy area and chased some leaves. When he saw her he ran over and she picked him up.
We'll be filing a complaint with our landlord tomorrow to fix the frickin door.

National Geographic Videos

So, last night after realizing I was pretty much out of podcasts to review other than knitting ones, I realized I'd better get hopping on finding more! So to Digg I returned. There I found National Geographic Videos! I always used to like looking at the magazines when I was a kid, being a bit of an archeology/history/tornado/animal nerd. So I downloaded a few videos. It looks like there's about an average of two a week. They're also very short which is good if you're low on space like I am :)
I watched one very interesting episode about people living in a cemetery in Manila. My favorite though, has to be the one on Fainting Goats. I've put a similar video below. I was laughing so hard I had to show my 2 co-workers who were still there because they heard me.



Oh, a quick little note. If you view my blog from a feed, please occasionally come visit the page. I randomly update the 2 pictures on the sidebar, or add/remove links etc. So to get the full Jadielady experience, come on over and sit a spell :)

Stash and Burn

Stash and Burn is a very fun knitting podcast hosted by Jenny and Nicole. They talk about knitting from a different point of view. Stash management!
Their episodes are always funny, especially their Halloween episode with two knitting horror stories (the danger of super sharp double ended needles, and OMG what did her mother in law do with that scarf?!). Also, they're huge Battlestar fans and love Buffy!
I've really enjoyed listening to them and getting caught up on their episodes. I've actually had to limit myself to listening to one episode per day because otherwise I will get caught up and be sad to only get one episode per week.
I've been inspired to get better organized with my own stash. I purchased an organizer, and was dismayed to find that not all of my yarn fit in it!


To the right I have the basket Sam gave me for Christmas last year, which is holding all the yarn for current projects, or projects that are for Christmas presents. To the left is my brand new backpack I purchased for myself to carry 2 more portable projects around.

And here is a picture of my current projects. Barely visible is a scarf for a friend of mine at work. Its very pretty lime green, baby blue and pink fun fur with a baby blue fuzzy yarn. Also, I've made some more progress on my scarf and a VT Scarf for another co-worker. On the knifty knitter is a creation I'm making up as I go for my friend's daughter.
The backpack makes another appearance because the yarn for my scarf is still in it ;)

*edit* YAY Finished object! This I think will look very cute over a black dress, or with a tanktop and jeans (and of course on someone a little bit smaller than I am) Luckily, the recipient is 13.

History According to Bob

As promised, another podcast review! History according to Bob is a DAILY 10-15 minute podcast. Its great for history nerds like me :)
Over the last month or so that I've been listening, he has talked about everything from several First Ladies, the Mastersons, and several episodes about WWI which he's now wrapping up. If you want, you can even order CD's of his older shows, which he's been doing for at least 2 years by the looks of it.

Also readers, as some of you may have noticed I have a nifty map in my side menu. I check every morning and am THRILLED when I see new dots, and other dots getting bigger :)
I'd love to know who some of you are (though I have guesses for a few of you;))
Please feel free to leave a shout-out in the comments field. I'm also working on making some kind of box to where you can submit a podcast to be reviewed.
I can be reached when I'm home at MaraJade97 on AIM, GLSWOMAN on Yahoo. Hope to hear from you all soon :)