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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

Jo Milmine

The podcast for those who like their knitting, yarn and comedy in equally large measures. Hosted by UK knitter Jo Milmine, there are regular interviews with all your favourite designers and dyers. Get the latest knitting news, yarn and pattern book reviews, show updates along with local yarn shop visits and knitting related travel. Business minded? Enjoy the interviews with knitting and yarn entrepreneurs for top tips and inspiration on making it in the industry. Enjoy the finest funny knitting pattern 'picks' that Ravelry has to offer.
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Top 10 The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Episode 82: Commit

Episode 82: Commit

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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02/23/16 • 40 min

This week has news, reviews and the potential theft of a bottle of IPA. Yes, it's still a knitting podcast, but we do enjoy a real ale on a regular basis.

First up you can now join me on Anchor and Snapchat as @Shinybees. Prep is ongoing for the #RewindKAL - you can join in over on Ravelry in the Shinybees Podcast group. I also reveal my word for the year. I've never done this before but I feel it's in the spirit of the word to do so. I'd love to hear yours!

Edinburgh Yarn Festival is taking place 17-20 March 2016. I will be offering a session in the Podcast Lounge on how to build a content calendar for your blog or podcast on the Friday afternoon and an informal Q&A on anything business or podcasting related on Saturday afternoon after the Podcaster Meetup, which will be taking place 12.30-2 both days. For those that come, I'll be offering a free power hour consultation to one lucky draw winner.

If you can't make it, never fear: I'm going to repeat the sessions via webinar in the two weeks after EYF. TI'll also make the replays from these available for download. To sign up for these (completely free!) go to http://eepurl.com/bRAWz1

Enablers' Corner warns you at going to www.countessablaze.com and looking at the clubs (closing 1 Mar) and The Rt Honourable Ronaldsay is highly likely to result in a stash based indiscretion. You probably won't escape without buying the lovelies and these yarns are rebels which refuse to be tamed!

To wrap up, I have a first look at Blacker Yarns Tamar.

Show notes available at www.shinybees.com

Music from Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'. Pass that IPA...

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Episode 28: Hogmanay and a Review of Yokes by Kate Davies

Episode 28: Hogmanay and a Review of Yokes by Kate Davies

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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12/31/14 • 32 min

It's the last day of 2014 and the last podcast of 2014. I simply couldn't allow you all to fall into the cold, harsh light of January without a comedy knitting and yarn podcast episode to cheer you along. Excuse my lemsip induced dulcet tones and slightly dulled reactions during this quick-step instalment of the podcast.

The giveaway for WTF Knits by Gabrielle Grillo and Lucy Sweet is ongoing. To enter the draw, leave a comment on the blog post for episode 27.

Wippin' Piccadilly

It's been a finishing palooza over here at Shiny Heights! Off The needles we have the Cardamom Rose cowl by Thea Colman. Also off the needles and onto the head is the Hipster Hat by Tin Can Knits.

Still ongoing is the Quadratic Shawl by David O' Kelly for Eden Cottage Yarns. Also new on the needles is the Kunye shawl by Clare Devine, which is a pattern that was designed to celebrate a year of The Golden Skein. The KAL is ongoing and there will be prizes. Hashtag is #tgsonekal and the details are over here on Ravelry. Anyone is welcome; if you have 400m of fingering weight yarn and 4mm circular needles, get yourself over there!

Review of Yokes by Kate Davies

My copy of the latest book by Kate Davies arrived a few weeks ago, and I am now sufficiently familiar with it to give you my informed opinion. It's a collection of 11 designs along with essays that covers all kinds of yokes from countries all around the North Atlantic as well as interviews on the subject. RRP is £19.99 and it is available now from Kate Davies or a variety of local and online knitting emporiums.

That's all of this episode and for 2014. A big thank you to you all for listening this year; I hope you've enjoyed the direction the podcast has gone in and will join us for 2015. There are lots of big plans ahead for the year of the sheep!

As always, feedback and comments are always appreciated. Happy Hogmanay!

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Episode 105: Knitting As More Than Just Craft

Episode 105: Knitting As More Than Just Craft

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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01/20/17 • 32 min

Knitting: Is it *just* knitting? Or is it more than that? That's what we are going to be exploring today and in future episodes is how knitting transcends just being handiwork and becomes something much bigger. Today that's going to be using the Pussy Hat Project as an example. This is not a political rant episode, it's about using this case study (yes, I am a Geographer) to understand how knitting can spark change and allow people to be heard on a wider level. In community news, I'm inviting you to join the new Facebook group - Shinybees Podcast Community. There's loads of chat going on in there about podcast stuff and knitting, Use the Facebook Groups App to avoid having the rest of the Facebook guff making your phone go.

Big goal for this year is 1,000,000 downloads for the podcast. I hope you'll all join me in reaching this target and I'll have lots of info for you about how to make that happen. Lastly a shoutout for 5647rhats45 for a lovely iTunes review. Knitting as more than craft is the topic of the chat this week and I'm pulling apart the Pussy Hat Project from a technical/case study perspective. I am staying well away from passing political comment as to my own personal views, so if you are sick of hearing about it, I hope you will still find this useful. There are lessons to be learned around the idea of knitting as more than craft and how we achieve change through the medium of knitting. For those not aware, the Pussy Hat Project aims to provide the people of the Women's March on Washington DC a means to make a unique collective visual statement, which will help activists be better heard. It also aims to provide people who cannot physically be on the National Mall a way to represent themselves and support women's rights.

Whether or not you agree with the politics of this project, there are lessons: power of a community gathered around a common aim; ability to inspire and motivate people to take part; accessibility to new crafters; creation of new connections within the project; the sheer logistical effort involved in managing a project to create and distribute 1.2 million pink hats.

In Enablers' Corner, I enable you to the Not Seen Before MKAL which starts on 31st January 2017. This is part of the Sight is Life project (and collection) which raises funds to support a facility in the DRC who conduct sight saving and restoring operations. Show notes are at shinybees.com Music for this episode is Adam and the Walter Boys with 'I Need a Drink'.

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Episode 65 - National Knitting Week

Episode 65 - National Knitting Week

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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10/07/15 • 54 min

National Knitting Week is upon us: what's on your needles? This week's episode has some podcast and knitty news to kick off proceedings, followed by a chat about Yarndale 2015 and a round up of current and finished knitting.

In parish notices for the podcast, I will be moving house back to The Money Pit in the very near future. The podcast is planned to remain on schedule throughout this geographical disruption. Also, I have set up a newsletter for the podcast, which you can join at http://eepurl.com/bBMENL and will include all the latest podcast news along with some dogs in comedy knitwear.

Also, there's a listener survey for you to take part in. I'd love to hear your opinions, and will be offering a yarny giveaway incentive. Look out for this on the blog and social media for the link.

In woolly news, it's Wool Week in the UK between 5-11 Oct, with most of the activity being focused around London (typical!). The UK Hand Knitting Association is promoting the Commit To Knit charity knitting project as part of National Knitting Week. The Knit A Square charity is in dire need of financial donations to support their operations in South Africa.

The Highland Wool and Textile Fair is happening in Inverness on 17th October 2015.

Yarndale is reviewed with my top tips being Rachel Coopey, Town End Alpaca and Laura's Loom.

Wippin Piccadilly has a finished Owls jumper by Kate Davies and Out Of Darkness shawl by Boo Knits. Ongoing is a Lush by Tin Can Knits.

Shownotes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com

Music for this episode is provided via Music Alley courtesy of Adam and the Walter Boys, with 'I Need A Drink'

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Episode 4 - Close Encounters

Episode 4 - Close Encounters

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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10/07/12 • 31 min

This week we have a close encounter of the rhinoceroidal kind. There is a podcast news update and we are joined by Justus for the South Africa section to make some Malva Pudding before we wrap up. You will definitely need a cup of tea to wash that down! Pull up a chair and enjoy.

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Ep 118 - British Wool, Labelling and Sourcing with Joy McMillan of The Knitting Goddess
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08/17/18 • 56 min

Joy McMillan of The Knitting Goddess joins the show today to talk about how her business has moved towards sourcing solely British and some very local yarns. Topics discussed include the difference between British and British Overseas Territory when it comes to yarn, mislabelling of yarns, wanton misrepresentation of yarns as British and what you need to think about when doing a custom blend yarn.

History of The Knitting Goddess The Knitting Goddess started around 13 years ago, and having originally been a stockist of yarns from across the world, has steadily moved to all British yarn offering. By this, Joy means mainland Britain specifically, and she works hard with UK based mills to source yarn as locally as possible even within the UK. This includes having her own, custom yarn spun, One Farm Yarn, with a total mileage from sheep to yarn of just 72 miles. Overseas Territories Joy and I discussed the difference between British and British Overseas Territories when it comes to wool: specifically here, the Falkland Islands. Whilst I am a huge fan of Falklands Merino because it is great quality and the sheep are not dipped as there are no pests, and there is no pollution, Joy is less keen. This is not because it isn’t excellent quality, but because it has to travel so far to be processed, which is inefficient. We discussed the relative merit of opening a scouring plant in the Falklands and how, if fleece has travelled so far, then why not use Merino from Australia of New Zealand instead. Whilst Joy is very keen to stay as local as possible, I am more liberal in my yarn tastes, but I like to know where it is from and as much of the story as possible, so I can make a good buying decision. This brought us on to marketing and labelling of yarn. Misleading Marketing This was a big focus of our discussion, probably because it is a huge bugbear for a lot of people. Whilst it’s ok to make informed choices to buy yarn from further afield, it’s not ok for companies to try and pass off yarn as being from a certain place, when it isn’t. Don’t give a yarn British branding when it is spun in Peru, then be coy about it. That is not cool and devalues the British cachet. How Do You Find Out If A Yarn Is British (or Local?) It can be hard to know where to go to look for information on where a yarn is produced, from fleece source, to spinning and dyeing . It is definitely not a habit of yarn companies to show this sort of information, although consumers are becoming increasingly aware of it and are asking the question, thanks in no small part to people like Louise Scollay of Knit British and Felix Ford of Knitsonik and their clear labelling campaign. Joy recommends asking the mills who produce the yarn as a first stop, but also that dyers and sellers need to make it their business to find out where yarns are produced, if they don’t know already.

Joy has a personal preference to buy from as close to home as possible, but advocates buying Falklands Merino (or anything else that is clearly labelled) as long as you actually get what you are buying. You know where it has come from and you have an awareness of the level of treatment of the animals and labour conditions in the supply chain, which allows informed choice. Basically, if you’re buying something super cheap from the other side of the world, somebody will have paid for it somewhere down the line.

British Yarn Has Value

The number of dishonest brands trying to piggyback the British yarn label indicates clearly that British yarn has value and that these brands need to be called out on their mislabelling. Simply putting a label on in the UK does not make it British yarn.

Support Local

Joy is such a fan of supporting local as there is a rich history of wool production in Yorkshire, which continues to this day. Although she is based in the affluent area of Harrogate, she is right next to West Yorkshire, which has a high unemployment rate and associated issues which come from that. Joy believes in making a difference to local business through her business, and this ambition dictates a lot of her business decisions, even down to moving spinning of her yarns to Yorkshire-based Laxton’s.

How to Design a Custom Spun Yarn

Joy has a number of custom and small run yarns under her belt, and it’s an interesting subject to discuss. A lot of hand dyers buy blank yarn that is already mass-spun and has specific qualities designed for a more mass appeal product. J Joy worked very closely with Laxton’s to develop her One Farm Yarn. Creating a custom yarn is mildly terrifying because you don’t actually know what you are going to get until the yarn comes back, at which point, it’s too late to change it. She put a lot of trust in Laxton’s to help her make the right decisions, and as the company has incredibly experienced staff, which have worked in a variety of places in the wool industry, they were perfectly placed to advise and ens...

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Ep 115 - Phone Down, Knitting Up

Ep 115 - Phone Down, Knitting Up

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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07/06/18 • 32 min

Where do you lose knitting time and how can you go about carving out more time to do it? In this week's episode, I talk about the idea of cutting out mindless phone scrolling time to increase your knitting time, and the associated benefits of doing so. Also we have a news round up for the start of the month, including information about the #titsoutcollective run by Countess Ablaze (along with her new YouTube channel), the Great London Yarn Crawl from Yarn In The City, the Indie Burgh Craft Crawl in Edinburgh and Fibre East. Full show notes and links for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/115

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Ep 110 - An Interview with Jane Murison of Yarnison

Ep 110 - An Interview with Jane Murison of Yarnison

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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05/04/18 • 55 min

Jane Murison of Yarnison joins the show this week, talking about knitwear design, fish and chips and the urban landscape as an inspiration. Jane began designing a couple of years ago, and has several knitting patterns now, that are a homage to the post industrial landscape of Manchester, that she sees every day on her walk to work. A UX designer by profession, Jane enjoys bringing together design inspiration, techniques and the user (knitter) experience in her designs. Not one for 'quiet' yarns, she enjoys working with bold colours and neons to create striking pieces. Her approach to design is to make things that she herself likes to wear, but struggles to find in the mainstream pattern world. This results in quite quirky and recognisable pieces that can be made as bold or as quiet as one desires, depending upon the colours chosen to make the pattern. One of my favourite of her patterns is the Urban Hero shawl, which was inspired by the neon yellow flashes of hi-vis vests on the builders working all over the city. There is almost constant construction work, and these vests pepper the (often grey, it's Manchester) landscape with pinpricks of colour. We discussed the juxtaposition of chevron lace, hi-vis and Batman's cape in this pattern and Jane explained how her approach has ben reflected in other designs, such as Boomtown Beanie. Builders came up again when discussing how the domestic arts and quite traditionally male construction roles are actually very similar skills when you break them down. Plastering is, in fact, exactly the same thing as buttercream icing. We also discussed the traditional Friday meal that is fish and chips. Eye-opening. Jane's favourite yarnies to work with are Countess Ablaze, The Knitting Goddess, Five Moons, Riverknits and Rainbow Heirloom. In terms of tips for embracing the crazy bright and variegated, Jane recommends pairing with a semi-solid or solid, and avoiding too much detail in the stitches, if you want the detail to be seen. Texture can sometimes work well if you are wanting to play with the colour and create unexpected pops, as she does with her Manhole Cover sock pattern. In terms of designers that make good patterns that are suitable for pairing with variegated yarns, Jane recommends Curious Handmade's Helen Stewart and Martina Behm (Strickmich). From her own designs, Urban Festival was specifically created to work with the variegated yarns. You can find everything about Jane's patterns over on Ravelry and she is @Yarnison on Instagram. Full show notes, images and links for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/110

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Ep109 - Hidden Heels with Mitch of Surfing Ducks

Ep109 - Hidden Heels with Mitch of Surfing Ducks

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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04/27/18 • 42 min

Mitch of Surfing Ducks is my guest on the podcast this week, where we discuss a plethora of things that spiral slightly out of control and end somewhere around knitted, transferable 'tramp stamps.' Yes... Mitch designs sock patterns with a particular twist; every heel flap is adorned with a quirky design. This led to the brand developing into an almost secret society under the #HiddenHeels theme. The idea is you can have these socks on, and have a heel that is usually hidden from view, but then is brought out on show at exactly the right moment. this moment may well be to secure access to some underground speakeasy with a gin urn. Mitch is several patterns in now (more have been added since this interview was recorded a few months ago) and each time a new one is released, there is a badge to go along with it. Be one of the first to finish and share pictures of your #HiddenHeels design and collect your limited edition badge. I don't know about you, but I want all those badges. We also discuss how Mitch balances her design work against her demanding day job. She began her foray back into socks a couple of years ago after previously finding them difficult. A chance meeting with the lovely Christine Perry of Winwick Mum at Sirdar led to her catching the bug again, thanks to Christine's infectious enthusiasm for the medium of socks. Mitch had also worked in customer support for a large online retailer and was the pattern support specialist. Through the experience, she was able to gather lots of knowledge and learn exactly what sort of thing trip knitters up when knitting a pattern, and has been able to bring all that to her design work. Her aim is to make knitting easy, and each of her designs adds one new technique, to ease the knitter into developing their skills in an easy feeling way. Although her patterns look complicated, only the small heel canvas contains the colour changing. Because it is so small, it can be a great way to introduce techniques without it feeling too overwhelming. Brand new sock knitters have knit several of her patterns and had success, so if you are even a little bit intrigued, chances are you will be able to do them. For her design work, Mitch uses Stitchmastery and Stitch Fiddler (snigger) although she also advocates Excel as useful for charts. All of her patterns are available via Ravelry, and there are plans to produce ebooks of the collections at a later stage. Mitch is already teaching socks knitting and would love to do more of this as her business expands. You can find Mitch at www.surfingducks.com. Links and full show notes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/109

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The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast - Ep 114 - Yarn Snob

Ep 114 - Yarn Snob

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast

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06/23/18 • 29 min

Yarn Snob. For some it's worn as a badge of honour and for others, it's the worst thing in the world, but what exactly is a yarn snob?

There was (unsurprisingly) no dictionary definition for yarn snob, so I looked up both words individually to arrive at the following: Yarn Snob noun - A person who believes that their tastes in spun thread used for knitting, weaving or sewing are superior to those of other people. I looked far and wide to come up with 6, gusting 7 different types of yarn snob, and I'm looking for your help to get that up to a solid ten types. In no particular order... 1) Acrylic Yarn Snob. Would rather be found face down in a pool of their own urine than knit with acrylic. 2) Novelty Yarn Snob. May or may not embrace the acrylic but would definitely not se seen working with eyelash yarn, tinsel yarn, fun fur, pom pom yarn or any other novelty type yarn. (These people are missing out on a major joy of life - tinsel yarn. Ed.) 3) Indie/Hand Dyed Snob. If a real person they know hasn't sweated on or broken their back over it, they don't want to know. Machine dyed yarn is the work of satan himself. 4) Luxury Fibre Snob. They won't even knit with a 75/25 Merino/Nylon if it is hand dyed - it's cashmere, alpaca, baby camel and silk all the way here. 5) The Trendy Name Snob. This is the artist formerly known as Wollmeise circa 2012, when people would full up brawl to get their hands on it. Back then, it was the yarn to have (current comparable: La Bien Aimee). They won't use anything that has had its jour. 6) Price Snob. Don't care what it's made from as long as it's stupidly expensive. 7)* The Confused Yarn Snob/ Yarn Swinger. Likes your luxury and hand dyed but also vocal about love for tinsel yarn. Swings all ways when it comes to yarn; doesn't like to save the love for one subset. Do you identify with any of these? Any more you'd like to offer to get us to ten? Full show notes for this episode are at www.shinybees.com/114

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast have?

The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast currently has 179 episodes available.

What topics does The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast cover?

The podcast is about Leisure, Hobbies, Craft, Comedy, Podcasts, Business, Crafts and Knitting.

What is the most popular episode on The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast?

The episode title 'Ep 172 - Great Yarns For Baby and Kids Knits' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast?

The average episode length on The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast is 41 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast released?

Episodes of The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast are typically released every 9 days, 1 hour.

When was the first episode of The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast?

The first episode of The Shinybees Knitting and Yarn Podcast was released on Jul 24, 2012.

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