In this episode, I announce a giveaway graciously donated by new show and blog supporter, Patricia’s Yarns in Hoboken, NJ, talk about what I have on and off the needles, review Pints and Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter by Karida Collins and Libby Bruce, provide another comparison of 3 books (much less weighty than the 1Q84 literary analysis in Podcast #8), and review a TV show I’ve just discovered.  In response to a request from listener and music contributor to the podcast, Jacob Haller, I recommend some of my favorite Star Trek episodes since you can now stream the series on Neflix.  I’ve added that segment and will include it for at least the next few podcasts.

The Scintilla Project is a great blogging initiative can be found here.

The “Exploring Stripes Bag” by Holly Webb can be found on ravelry here.

My Sky Scarf is 3 months old!

Books I mention:

Soft Target by Stephen Hunter

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Also check out Sons of Anarchy on Netflix if you want to continue the crime theme of these books.

Finally, the Giveaway! Courtesy of Patricia’s Yarn in Hoboken, NJ, this giveaway includes her book Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater, a tote from her store, and enough yarn to make Ellen’s cowl (pattern included in the book).  In order to enter, you may do any or all of the following:

1.  Comment on the blog post for this podcast (1 entry).

2.  Kindly write an iTunes review for this podcast (3 entries).

3.  Follow me on twitter and post a comment here when you do (1 entry).

4.  Pin the blog post for this giveaway on Pinterest using the image Patricia provided then leave the link in a comment on the blog post (2 entries).

5.  Join the ravelry group (1 entry).

6.  Sign up for CaithnessCraft’s bookmark swap and leave a comment on the blog post that you did for another entry.

You may enter in as many ways as you’d like, and I will announce a winner on the blog on May 5^th as well as on the next podcast.  Here’s a look at what you can win:

Music used in the podcast includes:

Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith (courtesy of Music Alley)

Kitten Knitting Blues by Jacob Haller (courtesy of Music Alley)

Circumstantial Evidence by Jacob Haller (courtesy of Music Alley)

Drinkin’ 40s on the Subway by the Beer Drinking Fools (courtesy of Music Alley)

John the Revelator by Curtis Stigers and the Forest Rangers from the Sons of Anarchy Soundtrack CD

Music includes:

#9 Dream by John Lennon

Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith (courtesy of Music Alley)

Cooking at Home by The Gas House Gorillas (courtesey of Music Alley)

Dreams by The Cranberries

My Ground Zero post can be found here.

The Blog Like It’s the End of the World ravelry lunch table can be found here.

Here’s a link to The Godfather Scene from You’ve Got Mail (my favorite movie – yes, if I write it here, it must be true!).  Sadly, embedding was disabled on that clip.

Enjoy!

The podcast begins with my recent knitting adventures.  I finished what we refer to now as the Caiti hat – below is a picture of Caiti herself in her hat and some other woman who might be me:

Sarah’s home for spring break so I was finally able to give her the Toadstool Slouch hat from the spring issue of KnitScene:

I mention the Sally Hat I’m knitting in my blatant ripoff “When Knitting Attacks”:

Robin Ulrich’s amazing FrostLight scarf pattern and the story behind it can be found on her website.

I go into an overly detailed analysis of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, 1984 by George Orwell, and In Search of Lost Time (also known as Remembrance of Things Past) by Marcel Proust.  The first was published last year, the second in 1949, and the final, a novel in 7 volumes, published between 1909 and 1922.  Almost a century of literature in one single podcast!  I do note that Proust’s work is the longest novel written; further research shows that it is the fourth longest novel ever written.  Poor Proust was deprived of the title by a Frenchman, a French brother and sister, and some wily Croatian.  I strongly recommend all three books although at least in the US, most high school students read Orwell’s classic before graduation.  I taught it at the eighth grade level back in the late 1980s and if I ever teach English again, I’m certainly going to assign 1Q84 to my unsuspecting students!

@inkbison suggested The Market Vegan as the title of my cooking ebook – thank you!

Music in the podcast comes from Music Alley and includes:

Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith

Froggy Bottom by Johnny Nicholas

Cookin’ at Home by The Gas House Gorillas

Paper Moon by Ella Fitzgerald and the Delta Rhythm Boys

… and finally, my favorite song by Jacob Haller, included for no other reason than I love it, The Ballad of Anne Hutchinson.

I mention two additional podcasts, so after you listen to mine, go check Amanda and her CraftLife podcast out, along with Sister Diane’s Craftypod podcast (more about Craftypod below).

Falling to Pieces, the Zombie Romantic Comedy filmed for the Project21 Film Festival Summer 2010 will have it’s New Jersey Premiere at the Garden State Film Festival in March.  I’ll update this blog post when I know the date and location of the showing, but the entire Festival is located in Asbury Park, NJ. Bipolar Girl by No Wine for Kittens features prominently in the film – it’s the song played in it’s entirety at the end of this episode.

Loop in Philadelphia is my new fiber resource.  If you’re ever in the Center City area of Philly, definitely check them out.  Here’s a pic I took of their button selection:

On the needles, I currently have the Thick & Quick Slouchy Beret, the Toadstool Slouch from Knitscene Spring 2012, Cocoknits Everyday Wrap and of course the Sky Scarf.  If you’d like to knit a sky scarf along with me, please join the Blog Like It’s the End of the World group on Ravelry!

I also mentioned Roman Hills yarn when flipping through Knitscene. They’re located in Brooklyn, and I can’t wait to order some of the Downton Abbey yarn once my “yarn fast” is over!

Proceeds from the vegan ebook I hope to write and publish (tentatively titled “The Supermarket Vegan”) will benefit the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, NJ.  I’m working through Sister Diane’s Write, Publish, and Sell Your Crafty eBook. Once I finish, I’ll start putting together the cookbook from recipes published on this blog along with a few new ones including the final version of vegan lulu paste!

Music provided by Music Alley:

Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith

Prisoner by Smoke Ring Days

Mistreating Yarn Blues by Jacob Haller

Fridge Full of Food by the Nancy Drews

Stupid Valentine by Tom Smith

Finally, here’s the picture from the Dallas Morning News of my father and sister recreating Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run album cover:

I found my true love at Stitchuary and purchased some lovely wool at Green Mountain Spinnery.  YarnPop‘s project bags are on my list of items to order once my bank account recovers, and Long Island Livestock Company‘s alpaca covered soap may be an inspiration for a collaborative effort between myself and Michele at Funkychunks.

Knittingpodcast.blogspot.com kindly linked to my podcast, and you can find an extensive list of both audio and video podcasts on that site.  Also a shout out to Green Triangle Girl over at the aplayfulday podcast – if you don’t listen to her, you should!

While in New York, I stayed at the Amsterdam Court Hotel and dined at Natsumi, a sushi bar & restaurant I highly recommend.

The vegan tomato soup crockpot recipe I mention can be found here.

Music from music alley by:

rachel kann If I Could Be Your

Jacom Haller Kitten Knitting Blues

… and if you are brave, after listening to the podcast, go check out pinterest.

Music by Neema Ntalel provided by Music Alley.  Her EP was financed by AfricaUnsigned, a Kickstarter type site for musicians.  I played Let’s Talk About Love and Into the Dawn.  I also played Ichiro NAKAGAWA’s In Kamakkura as an interlude along with a few Star Trek sound effects because they just seemed appropriate!

Sadly, no lulu paste recipe yet but stay tuned! I’ll be testing this recipe in a vegan version again before the end of the month.

Leah Redmond’s conceptual knitting sky scarf idea can be found here.

Peace Fleece can be found here – remember, I bought 5 of their mini skeins for my own sky scarf.

Below is a picture of the hybrid mittens I made for Sarah from Christmas – this pair was made with gray Caron Simply Soft and Rowan Aura Rasberry:

Here’s a version I made for myself, this one complete with buttons made in Patons Classic Wool:

Please comment on this post or contact me if you are going to be at Vogue Knitting Live next weekend.  I’d love to meet up with podcast listeners and blog readers while I’m there.  I am learning to spin so I can create some (hopefully) wonderful yarn from the fleece of the sheep belonging to my my friend and former stepfatherinlaw (he really does look like Captain Picard).

Also, if you get confused during this podcast, I started recording on Tuesday, January 3rd (my birthday) when it was all of 24 degrees F, then completed on Saturday, January 7th when it was in the 60s at the Jersey Shore.  Bring on global warming!!

In this podcast, I do a taste test with two of my students, Emily and Caiti.  Caiti is the phenomenal photographer whose work appears on my blog and lot of other places on the internet – you can find her photos at caitiborruso.com.  Emily is one of her many subjects, a vegetarian, and another one of my students. The recipe we test is 10 Minute Brownes from Students Go Vegan Cookbook by Carole Raymond.  Here’s the recipe:

1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup sugar or natural sweetener
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 6 x 9-inch baking pan and set aside. (I used an 11 x 7-inch pan which worked out fine.)

 

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the oil and chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

 

In a large bowl, add the applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Blend well. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Whip and blend well. Add the flour, baking powder, and walnuts, and mix just to combine. Spoon the batter into the baking pan.

 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Be careful not to overbake the brownies or they will be dry. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in a covered, airtight container in the refrigerator. They’ll last for about a week.

I also review Feed  by Mira Grant which I’m listening to in the audio version but recommend to anyone who likes stories about zombies, bloggers, or just futuristic adventures.

Other music on this podcast courtesy of MusicAlley include:

Christmas with the Zombies by Jesse Smith

A Fist Full of We Three Kings by the High Balls

Lambchop Mustache Dream by Vinyl Wine

Call of Duty Christmas by The Energy Commission

… and of course, congrats to Tessa, the winner of my first podcast giveaway from funkychunks!  @soylady’s fantastic soy candles can be found at Things That Make Scents in Manasquan, NJ.

Apology to @HoxtonHandmade: 

• Rogue’s Spruce Gin
• Gin with a Scent of Christmas – review from The New York TImes

Books (and a Play):

• Top Girls Wikipedia page
• Pope Joan the book
• Pope Joan the miniseries
• Mama Nina’s, Bethlehem, PA

Knitting n00b:

• Hybrid Mittens
• Kinky Boots
• Monmouth Hat pattern (I added 10 extra stitches to the CO because I like my hats loose and that addition made it perfect!)
• Monmouth Hat history with an alternative pattern
• My Monmouth Hat:

• Hattitude  by Cathy Carron
• Yarngasm Podcast

And here’s a pic of Amanda with her amazing knitting piece of art:

Giveaway!

Comment on this blog post and enter to win a holiday gift package from Funkychunks!  Michele kindly donated 4 of her surf soaps: Good Earth, Jersey Girl, Surf Wax, and Suntan (all smell amazing as I sit here typing these show notes).  If you tweet a link to this giveaway with the hashtag #funkychunks, you get an extra chance to win! In order to get this to the winner by Christmas, I will only count comments until 6:00 a.m. on December 18, 2011 and you MUST send me your mailing information by Tuesday morning once I contact you in order for me to ship ASAP.  If you are outside of the US, sorry, doubt it will make it in time but you can celebrate the new year smelling fabulous!  Here’s a pic of what’s included as well as the gift box:

#reverb11

• @geekinhard’s list of #reverb11 prompts as well as many additional lists of inspiration
• #relish11
• #resound11
• Finding Vegan

Music as always by Music Alley

• Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith
• 80s Girl by Jodi Jett
• There’s a Spy in My Martini by David Parker
• Drive In by Darryl Gregory
• New Year’s Resolution by Bill deRome

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanks for listening, and here’s all the info I promised in the show notes:

Apology to HoxtonHandmade: I offer up Kate’s mustache themed website portal as this episode’s apology to @hoxtonhandmade.  Make sure you roll over each logo as well as the heading at the top to see the facial hair and nifty mustache font.  As a bonus apology, check out the hot dude with long hair from Leverage.

Books: You can visit my entire reading list for 2011 here which contains a link to The Night Eternal. Kim Harrison and all her vampiric and witchy wonder can be found on her website.  If they ever make this series into a movie, Johnny Depp has to play Algaliarept!  Check out the video diary from Gorefest 2010 in my backyard here. (At about a 1:46 you can see my son and myself as zombies.)

Knitting n00b:  Please visit Brooklyn General – what an amazing store staffed by great people!  Thanks to Subway Knits for turning me on to this LYS (it may be almost 2 hours away by train, but that’s still my LYS from now on).  Feel free to find me on ravelry under lgesin.  Here’s a photo of the scrumptious Blue Sky Alpaca I bought for my zelda cloche along with bonus Rowan Aura rasberry that’ll be the cuff on the mittens I’m knitting for my daughter over the next week.

I’m also working on the Nerina scarf. I plan to wear this around my neck like a scarf (which is shown in the book but I don’t think on ravelry).  It looks like an Elizabethan ruff and will be perfect for the Christmas season!

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Vegan: If you buy one cookbook this holiday season, by The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

The artwork for this post comes from Aleksandra Marchocka; you can see her work at Behance.

Music in this episode courtesy of Music Alley:

Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith

I’m Sorry by Big George Jackson Blues Band

Vampire by Serpentone

Vegan Cheesepuff by Slog

(and the theme music from Leverage…)

Thanks for listening!

The song Blog Like It’s the End of the World by Tom Smith and Vegan Cheesecake by Slog can be found on Music Alley.

The podcasts I mention can be found at the links below:

Fluffy Fibers

iMake

Electric Sheep

APlayfulDay

CaithnessCraft

Frayed Knits

They can also be found on iTunes.

I mention in the podcast that my house was built by the government.  The satellite dish I talk about that’s at the back of my neighborhood is now the image for the podcast – rather apropos I thought.  Here’s a picture of the top of the original Marconi tower that broadcast from this area way back when.

Vegan Cookbook Review: Great Chefs Cook Vegan by Linda Long

No, I’m not linking to that fiasco but here’s a photo:

This is the green mess the David Burke recipe produced (remember that green baby poo?).  If this were Top Chef, I’d be packin’ my knives and goin’ home!

I mention my blog post about Veganomicon, the best vegan cookbook by far which can be found here.

Thanks for listening – I hope to do another one of these next month!