I'm Drea. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And I'm Jess. And
this is Pardon My Stash. Welcome to Pardon My
Stash, a podcast about crafting fiber arts and
how awesome it is. Yeah! Woo! Before we dive
in today, let's talk about what we're working
on, Drea. I am working on a happy turtle. A happy
little turtle. I think I see a happy little bunny
over there too. Yes, I finished a bunny. That's
real cute. Since we last got together. This is
the, it's a jelly cat style bunny crochet by
Poffik Stitchoff. You know what's so funny? I
was looking at that bunny and I'm like something
familiar about that. But our daughter's favorite
toy is a jelly cat bunny. and i just realized
yeah it looks just like like bunny like bunny
yeah he looks like bunny very cute yes i made
this for my friend who just had a baby yeah that's
super cute i have not given it to her yet but
i will but tell us about the turtle because the
turtle is the project i am very excited about
the turtle like look at his little oh he's got
really good eyes he does have good eyes look
at that very cute legit this is the happy turtle
pattern Oh, I thought you just meant he was happy.
Like I didn't realize it was a happy turtle pattern.
It's called the happy turtle. That's so cute.
It's the happy turtle pattern by Happy Turtle
Crochet. I love it. I do too. And bunny, turtle,
all things crochet for me. Big twist, baby bear.
Now, is this the same turtle that you've been
making lots of or is this a new turtle? This
is a new turtle. This is a new turtle. Okay.
As you can see, look at his cute little flippers.
these are really cute little flippers they're
really chunky little flippers i love they are
like little half moons i love them instead they're
so squishy yeah instead of like little round
nubbins so i am advancing my crochet skills love
it noise fantastic i am learning new a plus yes
thank you did you finish the banana source Oh,
yes. I finished the banana source. I was going
to say there's no banana source here. All right.
He is done. Cool. He is currently hanging out
in my car because I'm waiting to send it somewhere
because I am too lazy to get down to the post
office before it closes. Fair. But it will go
somewhere. Off to its new home. Off to a new
home. Very good. I'm not telling them that they're
getting it. It's going to be a surprise. Yep.
He's going to open it and he's going to be like,
oh. Andrea got me. Andrea made me this. Love
it. Please don't ever call me that, though. I'm
sorry. That was a slip on my part. You played
yourself. Do not full name me. Tina? I, as you
may recall, I finished my Franken -Coco -Beanie
thing last episode. On the air. On the air, you
did. I did. And while I was in... Portugal I
was working actually on the uh that spider shawl
that we were supposed to oh yeah oh yeah oh congratulations
um so I'm actually a lot farther on that but
I can't do that while talking no so that's fair
that's a complicated I brought back the beanie
that I forgot about when I saw the cocoa franken
beanie and that one is the northward beanie oh
that's a tin can knits isn't it it is by tin
can knits and this one is made with the yarn
is by sugar makeable fibers in the colorway sugar
maple and it's a single ply bulky it's beautiful
it's a very pretty orange yeah it looks like
fall you know i'm ready i'm ready guys ready
i am also ready for fall i am ready for it to
at least not be this humid i am ready for that
But I'm not ready for fall. I don't like walking
outside into soup. No, ma 'am. I am enjoying
the break from like kid activities in general.
Because like right now their schedule is like
pretty much nothing, which is awesome. So I'm
not chauffeuring as much. Yeah, fair. But yeah,
man, a crisp fall morning would be really nice
right now. I'm going to be the lone voice of
dissent. I am not ready yet. I would love some
cool air, but I'm not enough to want to rush
it. Maybe we'll have like a cold spell. A cold
snap instead of all these heat waves. Jess, what
we got? I'm still working on the catnip pullover
because I'm awful this year. But hey, I got like
three more rows done. Yep, you did. And you're
almost done with the cats. I'm almost done with
the cats. I don't know if that's going to make
it better or worse. I'm still. uh plugging along
on that and when i'm working on it it's going
pretty fast but it's also summer and my hands
are sweaty and it's hard isn't it though i did
start a crochet fish um you did i did where was
i where is it next to my chair somewhere i dropped
it and i haven't i haven't dug it out i found
an old um I think it was worsted weight and I
think it might have been in old school Copper
Dragon. I don't know. I found all this yarn next
to my chair and I had my crochet hook. I can't
remember why I had the crochet hook. So I started
it. Then I realized that the eyes that I have
are smaller than I want them to be. No. no it's
gonna happen no i do mine are too small i want
them bigger oh my god which is why i also now
have a box of eyes see when you lost them three
or four times then i will ask frank if he understands
my pain But yeah, we will. Time will tell if
that will happen. If you keep losing the box
of eyes. Yeah. How many times have you lost the
box of eyes? Oh, I don't know. They're lost right
now because I can't remember where I put them.
So how do you know you don't have the right size?
You don't know. Yes, I do. Because I found them
when I started the fish and then I put them back
where I found them. But now I can't remember
where I found them. I can't do this anymore.
They're in the basement somewhere. I can't do
this anymore. There were noses too. I forgot.
I do remember that. I got cat noses. Oh, can
I have a nose? Yeah. I have a hot tip. When I
find them, I will get you a nose. Maybe we put
the eyes in the same place. Every single time.
Holy crap. I should do that. I know that's hard
with ADHD because I can't do that either sometimes.
Can you just give me the eyes and I will put
them away? Give it a house. Give it a little
house where it lives. Oh, I can get a special
box for them. Oh, great. Because you don't have
enough special boxes. Maybe I already have a
box. She will remember the box. I might have
an empty box. You can put them in your jewelry
box, dude. That you don't use for jewelry. But
it's a cool jewelry box. For eyes. For eyes.
See, look at that. I solved the problem. Oh,
I can, because they're the safety eyes. So they
can go in the ring section in the little like
ring hole. perfect we have solved the problem
sweet i'm gonna buy some eyes no we have not
solved the problem I still need bigger eyes.
I really love that we've been doing this for
four years and this is just an ongoing theme
of the show is Jess can't find the eyes. The
marital problems between you two involving eyes.
There's no marital problems. It's just more of
the like, it's the ongoing spat. I have black
bear noses and pink cat noses, but I'll have
to check and I will let you see them. You know
what the marital problem was? The day she dropped
all the beads on the kitchen floor. That was
the marital problem. I'm still finding some.
She's still finding them. I thought I vacuumed
them all up. This floor has been vacuumed. It's
been swept. That was the marital problem. First
thing that you're arguing about is eyes and beads
on the floor. It's true. You're doing pretty
good. It's true. We're doing all right. It's
doing pretty good. We're doing okay. I'm just
saying. The beads are forever. It's like glitter.
It's literally like glitter. Like you think you
got them all. You didn't get them all. You did
not. You didn't. You can think that all you want.
Meg, what you doing? So I am about halfway through
the yoke on my Sayuri sweater. I have stopped.
um because the pattern is really confusing and
i have i've read it about three times and i cannot
figure out the next step and jess has promised
to take a look at it at me and she has promised
me no less than four days this week that she
would look at that pattern and then we keep doing
other things um yeah exactly so um it is sitting
in a bag until we take a look at it together
and we figure because honestly guys i'll be honest
with you my brain does not work that way sometimes
like especially not on summer vacation not on
summer vacation but this is my knitting time
though this is when i do the fun stuff um so
right now last couple days i've been working
uh back to winter light by meg gadsby um i started
this back in march um i'm determined to finish
this it's not a hard project it's actually a
really good one for watching tv and kind of zoning
out because it's four repeats um and they're
very they're pretty simple And I am knitting
it out of fiber optic yarns gradient in Texas
blue bonnets. And I am like in the blue now,
which is super exciting. I'm not just hanging
out in the. The blue is my favorite part of the
skein. And it's going to get to this really gorgeous,
like, deep blue. That was a good project for
that yarn. I'm getting there. No, it is. I mean,
this is not a yarn that needs a fancy project.
It really just needs a simple project to really
show it off. So that's where I'm at right now.
So I'm determined to finish at least one project
this year, please. This has not been my year
for knitting. It really has not been. um me neither
you know what it's it's you gotta you gotta just
go with it when it when it comes gotta make those
turtles sometimes you know I I've tried crocheting
this year and I I it's not really my thing either
so the turtles are so cute and I love admiring
them but I don't I don't know as much as I I
look at that and I'm like oh god I want to do
that I want to crochet I just every time I do
it I'm like I'm not enjoying myself with this
so I love watching other people crochet though
it's beautiful and I love the way it looks knit
up I love or not knit up obviously crocheted
up but I love seeing the differences like when
when um oh you compare yarns yeah well compare
like a knit project and a crochet project with
the same yarn especially if it's a um like a
speckle or a variegated um it's amazing how differently
those those yarns look yeah because knit versus
crochet one yarn could be beautiful for knitting
and but yeah and it just doesn't it doesn't work
or it pools funny and then you do a crochet pattern
and it comes out totally different or it looks
good both ways but different yeah good and good
in different ways. So be sure to check out our
website, pardonmystache .com for more pictures,
patterns, and yarns. So before we start today,
we have a small announcement. As some of you
may already be aware, we have had a sponsorship
with Jimmy Beans Wool for a while now. The company
was recently brought out by a private equity
firm. And the decision was made for us to end
our partnership and amicably end it. So we are
parting ways. And we'd like to thank Jimmy Beans
Wolf for sponsoring us the past, I believe it's
a year and a half. I'm going forward. What we
would like to do on the podcast is give a special
shout out to the people who have been donating
to our podcast and helping to keep us afloat.
So for the month of June, we would like to give
a shout out to Sharon. elizabeth and kara thank
you guys so much for um continuing to support
us in all of our endeavors and your contributions
mean a lot to us thank you they really do no
they do so for tonight's episode um we are going
to talk about propaganda that we will not be
buying This is an Instagram trend that maybe
you guys have seen where somebody picks a topic
and they say, this is the propaganda about this
topic that we are not buying. That might sound
political. It is not. Because today we are going
to be talking about crafting propaganda that
we are not buying. None of it. Not today. As
we always say on episodes like this, these are
our unvarnished opinions. They do not have to
be your opinions. You do not need to agree with
us. We probably won't even all agree with each
other. That is certain. There may be some things,
but that is and it should in no way impact your
own personal beliefs. We do not claim to be experts
in any craft and, you know, take our opinions
with a grain of salt. This is how we feel as
your own research. As crafters, this is how we
feel. So what is. I open the floor. What is some
propaganda about crafting that we are not buying?
That you have to block. That's a good one. like
that's a really good one would you care to elaborate
I would love to elaborate all right because a
lot of times when you're hearing from you okay
well blocking super important and it's a really
important step and it's the final step and if
you don't do it like your thing sucks and blah
blah blah well I have to say sometimes blocking
is not important sometimes blocking doesn't actually
make any sense for the project that you're working
on, it does make sense for a lot of projects.
Like if you're working on a shawl or you're working
on whatever. Or like a sweater. Yeah. And it
also depends on the type of fiber you're working
with. Like if I'm making a shawl out of acrylic,
I am not blocking it. Well, you know, that's
fair. I could block it. Wet the plastic. Yeah,
like. I iron blocked an acrylic scarf once. Well,
good for you. No. No. It melts it. I was going
to say, that sounds like a bad plan. That was
my early days. I was going to ask, did you have
to buy a new iron? No, because I did it on really
low heat. It actually didn't melt it that much.
What it did was it actually just flattened it.
It just flattened it. And I was like, good enough.
And I moved on with my life. Congratulations.
I know. I have never heard that story. That's
a good one. I saved it for now. Yeah, I had made
a, I think it was the French can can shawl. I
made that for my cousin. I love that shawl. It's
not blocked? It's made in acrylic. I did not
block that. I would never have known. Meanwhile,
I also made a French can can. which was not acrylic
and that definitely needed to be blocked. It
did. Yeah. But the acrylic, it's kind of like
it was already in place. Like it didn't really
need to be shaped because it held its shape.
But that's the thing. Looking at your French
can can and not knowing that it's acrylic, it
looks so nice and even I wouldn't have known
that you'd block it. I'm just that good. No,
it's just that like acrylic is one of those things
that just kind of like where you set it is where
it's going to be. It's not going to move. It's
not going to bloom. It's not going anywhere.
so yeah that's i won't be buying into that propaganda
not all the time solid start like i've made blankets
and i put them through the wash in the dryer
which is scary but but it covered in cat hair
right yeah i wouldn't consider that blocking
i'm just no are you pinning it no then we're
good No. Yeah. I feel like it depends if you
like the look. I mean, if you're worried about
the look and you think it looks weird, try blocking
it. But if you're not worried about the look
and you think it looks... Dude, I don't think
I've blocked a hat. That's not true. I blocked
one hat. So the other thing, too, with if you
have a super wash garment and you wash it, you
may be having to block it every single time.
Like, I noticed that with the wedding shawl that
you made me. because that is made out of superwash
and when you first blocked it it held this big
beautiful block but it has gradually shrunk yeah
over time and I haven't washed it it's squeezed
back but over time it kind of sprung back to
where it was because I was looking at it smaller
now when we moved it and then I was looking at
pictures I'm like no this definitely like shrank
like no it did it did it kind of like squeezed
back into itself so that's a little weird usually
things stretch out yeah you think well I don't
wear it that often I think I've only worn it
twice I wore it to our wedding and I wore it
to Rhinebeck and I'm pretty sure that's it so
it's been folded up and in a and in a box um
but yeah when I've taken it out I'm like man
I remember this being a whole lot bigger like
it used to come down past my butt it doesn't
do that anymore it's it's it shrank yeah it's
weird um but again as with all knitting your
mileage may vary yeah Yeah, with that frankincoco
beanie, I almost purposely made it too small
because I was going to use blocking to make it
the right size. And it's Rios. And now it's perfect.
And Rios is perfect fit. But yeah, I've definitely
made hats where I'm like, no. The original cocoa
bean I made in the less traveled, I didn't block
that. And it's still too big. I didn't block
mine either because I forget, did you block yours
and it stretched? Cause we all made it with the
same yarn. I did block mine, but I knit much
tighter than you do. Right. And when I blocked
mine, yes, it grew, but it grew to a perfect
size. I remember you saying this, this yarn really
stretches. And when you said that, I was like,
this hat fits me perfectly. I'm not going to
block it. Well, we're both very loosey -goosey.
So if Dre is knitting tight. Learned the lesson.
And I was not about to block it at that point.
Mine was actually already a little bit loose
on my head. I did not block it. It was so big
on my head. And I have a big head. It is what
it is, man. Sometimes I throw it in the dryer
just to shrink it back down. Honestly. You gotta.
And it does. It'll bring it back down. And then
I'll wear it, I don't know, 20 times. And then
all of a sudden it starts going. Other propaganda
we are not buying. You can only do cool projects
with nice yarns. Yeah. Yeah. That is incorrect.
Yeah. If you like a yarn, do whatever you want
with that. I have jellyfish on a really nice
yarn. I love those jellyfish. I actually really
want to know what pattern he used because I want
to mix them. I'm pretty sure it's from Crafty
Intentions and you just look up Crafty Intentions
jellyfish and it'll pop up. But honestly, just
an extension of that thought that any yarn is
supposed to only do a thing. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Right. Or that you need to save your best yarns
for really good projects. But here's the thing.
If you save your yarn until you find the most
epic project for that specific yarn, you are
never going to get it. You're never going to
use it. Because you're going to psych yourself
out. You are. You will never find the right project.
And you got it. Dude, my first my first scarves,
my first like garter stitch scarves were made
out of hand dyed yarn from my friend Joy. I loved
her yarn. I bought her yarn and I supported her
small business and I loved it. And they're garter
stitch scarves and they are the most garbage
knit ever. But you know what? They are gorgeous
because the yarn makes the scarf. And I don't
feel bad about that. oh man i knitted with some
nice stuff and i knitted you know like i got
a really nice fade set from fiber optics that
i made my kid a dragon for yeah she did congratulations
like and and that's the thing is that you'll
get people that'll say like oh no that's that's
a dumb thing to do like don't don't make like
such a simple project with such a expensive yarn
nah man do whatever you want or on this by the
same token don't make that crazy gorgeous sweater
out of cheap yarn no Make it out of what you
want. I mean, just make sure you like it. I would
just like to preface that the blue ribbon that
I won for my daughter's sweater is all acrylic.
What is it that Meg says? Find your joy. no it
is it's and it is it's a it's a ridiculous idea
that you you shouldn't make heirloom things out
of cheap yarn you see a really nice yarn you
finally want to buy it but then it's like oh
i don't know what project because i maybe you
don't do sweaters you don't do shawls maybe all
you do is like you know make a bananasaurus we'll
make that bananasaurus out of silk okay that's
awesome that's gonna be a shiny bananasaurus
i am not going to do that but i mean but you
do that you know it's it's silly to have that
notion especially because there are so many older
generations um that made heirloom garments out
of what was available and especially in you know
70s 80s like acrylic was popular oh yeah yeah
and you could wash it i have beautiful beautiful
blankets and afghans from Literally, like, my
husband's great -great -grandmother out of acrylic,
but guess what? I'm keeping it. No. And it's
an heirloom. And it's, yeah, I find it's still
beautiful to me. I have two Afghans that my grandmother
knitted, and she exclusively knit with Red Heart
because, in her opinion, why spend more money
when this was perfectly good and washable and
cheap and readily available everywhere? And,
you know, I treasure those. I treasure those
Afghans. Yeah. Especially with, like, a blanket,
though. Like, you're not going to make, like,
you can. You can. Sure. You can make a blanket
out of $32 skein Superwash Merino. Like, go live
your best life. But reasonably speaking, like
that's kind of unrealistic for a lot of people's
budgets. So, yeah, you're going to go with something
that's a little bit more durable, a little bit
cheaper, you know. And I feel the same way about
kid sweaters. I will never make a nice kid sweater.
Absolutely not. Like nice yarn kid sweater is
what I mean. Well, they're going to grow out
of it or they're not going to take care of it.
Well, Jo already grew out of the sweater I got
the thing for. And she like wears it. She does.
And it's worn. Well, you want yarn that's going
to be able to take a beating. Right. And it is.
It's like you don't want to put a sweater on
a child and say like, okay, don't move. This
is my child. Like I want you to play in it. I
want you to like wearing it. Yeah. Yeah. In other
senses, you know what? Like it has some really
good hedgehog yarns that are like speckled and
amazing and awesome. And I can't think of a garment
I want with it, but it looks awesome as a beta
fish. Yeah. Right. And maybe that yarn wants
to be a beta fish. Maybe it does. Maybe it wants
something fishy made from it. Maybe it had fish
dreams. You don't know. Yeah. I had fiber optic
yarn that someone asked me for a commission for,
and I knew that the yarn was perfect for what
she was looking for. She was asking me for a
specific type of like color mix. And I was like,
I have that. And it's in a fiber octave, like
$32 skein of yarn. And I was just like, nah,
I'll do it. And I made it and I sold it to her.
And it was a basic like ear warmer. But guess
what? She loves that ear warmer. Right. Handmade
gifts are always appreciated. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Where's the barf button? That is wrong. That
is propaganda we're not buying. No. like there
is nothing more disappointing than spending a
lot of time on something and then giving it to
somebody thinking that they're going to love
it and then they don't and they're like oh well
thank you anyway yeah and I think there's also
like I know I know I did it when I first started
crafting um you get newbies like myself that
are like oh my god i'm gonna save so much money
on christmas gifts and it's like so you start
knitting scarves for people that don't wear scarves
um i have learned over time for example that
it doesn't matter what i knit for jess she's
not gonna wear it like i have she'll treasure
it she'll put it aside she will love it but she's
not gonna wear it so i'm not gonna knit for her
and that's not me being mad or stalking off or
like pouting that oh you don't like what i make
you it's just She's not going to use it. So,
you know, also assuming when you get into the
craft that everyone's going to love what you're
making. You know, if you're knitting a hat for
somebody that you have never seen wear a hat
in their life. Yeah. You know, it's. You're excited
and that's great. Also, you may not be. You do
have a lot of people that really don't understand
the difference between the blanket you gave them
and the blanket they got at like Walmart for
five dollars. Yeah, that was going to be like
my thought process after what you said was basically
like the idea that people appreciate the time
and effort that you put into. Right. Because.
Though, you know, like you said, Jess, like people
are just like, well, I could buy the same blanket
at Walmart for $8. And I'm like, go live your
best life and go buy that. Go buy that blanket
for $8. Because this blanket in materials alone
is going to be $210. And of course you have the
people that do understand or maybe don't understand,
but still love the fact that you made them something.
But it's like, but don't expect that to be. Everybody.
That's not true. It is not everybody. Right.
And especially if that person's not any sort
of crafter themselves and they don't understand,
like, this is my time, my love, my effort, my
money that I've put in for you. Not to say that
only crafters would appreciate a handmade gift,
but you are more likely to have a crafter appreciate
a handmade gift. And, yeah. And you're kind of
setting the stage for disappointment on both
sides. their side because they don't know how
to respond or maybe they don't know how to respond
and they don't care that their response is hurting
your feelings um or and in yourself for i was
so pumped to give you this gift and that was
a lukewarm response and i am sad now now i feel
like garbage and it is it's tough The idea that
you have to knit multiple different categories
of items to become a prolific knitter. Wrong.
Same with crochet. Same with crochet. Wrong.
Propaganda we're not buying. No. Listen, I know
people who make fantastic one item things. That's
the only thing they make. I mean, your sister's
one of them. Oh, her one by one ribs. And they're
very nice and even and long and thick and warm.
But that doesn't mean that's all she wants to
do. And that's OK. Yep. She doesn't have to make
a sweater and a cowl and a shawl and a like if
she doesn't want to. No, it's fine. No, it doesn't
make her any less skilled of a knitter. No. And
the thing is, it's the other thing, too, is like
she could there have been she's made hats. She's
made a cowl. She doesn't like to do that because
she can't just sit down and watch TV while she
does it. She has to actually focus and pay attention
to a pattern. And she doesn't want to do that.
And that is also fine. Like, you should be crafting
in a way that serves you because this is a hobby.
And we're not winning any races here. We are
literally supposed to be enjoying ourselves.
And if your hobby is making you miserable, don't
do your hobby. Guys, if you're crafting, you're
doing it. That's it. Congratulations. Congratulations.
You did a knit stitch. You're a knitter. There
you go. Congrats. High five. You did it. There's
really no other requirement. No. No. Like, is
there levels? Sure. Is there skill levels? Sure.
Like, in terms of like, you know, oh, this person
knows how to do ABC stitch. Guys, your knitting
can be all works in progress. Yeah. But you're
actually doing the part. That makes you a knitter.
Listen, I feel that in my soul as someone with
15 works in progress. Listen, I have two and
I feel the same way. I got one. You always have
one though. No, but like if it was based on like
finished objects I just have laying around, I'm
not a knitter because I have nothing. And I think
that's another propaganda we're not buying is
that quantity does not. automatically make you
a better knitter yeah neither does like a um
like being well you just kind of said like the
the quality or the the skill of your knitwear
doesn't make you a better knitter but neither
does the i cranked out 30 garments this year
i'm i'm king of the knitters like that's not
a thing we're not we're not working towards the
title here Well, I am. Well, here you go. You
can have it. Wait, can we get achievements in
this game? No. Because I... Oh, man, I want achievements.
I want to grind for the achievements. This is
not... Is the old lady level grinding coming
back up? You know what? I feel like on a subsequent
episode, we should come up with an achievement
system. Okay? No, no, no. That's just for fun.
No, if you have more than 15 works in process,
you become a whip master. Oh, we should have,
like, badges? Like Girl Scouts. Girl Scout badges.
Yeah. I want to be a whipmaster. Well, girl,
you are the whipmaster. The original whipmaster.
Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. I'm going
to make a lot of money off of unsuspecting gentlemen.
Okay. Wow. Do you want to see a picture of my
whips and then send them bags? They'll be like,
hi, I hear you have many whips. I'm like, I do.
Would you like to see them? Here they are. Thank
you for your time. Five dollars, I'll show you.
And thank you for the $500. I don't know what
you're expecting, but here are pictures of my
whips. Oh my God. I'm down for the merit badges,
though. Yes. But the point still stands. There
is no, like, you're never going to reach the
pinnacle of knitting. You're not going to be
the best knitter in the world if you accomplish
X, Y, and Z. yeah this isn't a race or a competition
even like i know that there's ways that you can
get um through i'm not gonna i can't remember
the name off the top of my head but there's a
way to get like almost like a certification that
you're like a master knitter yeah yeah those
exist yeah but what people don't understand is
like there's no like single body of like who
is the master knitter guild of the universe right
yeah so like when you go yeah when you go and
you want to like get one of those certifications
it's through that particular entity that's offering
them like it's not necessarily like a universal
yeah it's not like oh well you know in the united
states we have the the master knitter award that
comes you have to go through the u .s secretary
of state office that doesn't exist yeah it's
almost it's like different traditions different
crafts different whatever like yeah you are a
master in this um like i almost thinking of it
like um like different degree certifications
yeah like in different programs like according
to these regulations you are a master but maybe
if you go to this school you don't meet the criteria
like You got to do a whole other thing. Yeah.
Like certain schools are weighed heavier because
they're more. Right. Or they have a focus on
something else. Right. Things like that. So,
yeah. But there is not like. I feel like the
only reason that the master knitter certification
is only necessary if you're going to like make
a business out of teaching other people and you
want like that kind of. yeah i have actually
like well it gives you the credentials yes yeah
it gives you if you're going to need credentials
for i'm not the only one saying i'm awesome other
people also concede that i am well and i and
this isn't just me walking in and saying i know
xyz and this is good and this is not like yeah
can in that theory though if everybody every
entity could make a master knitter crocheter
certification why can't we have our own probably
parted my stash master crafter i am not running
that workshop okay no no no no no you're you're
not there's no workshop you literally just put
in your email and i send you a certificate with
your name on it you win you're a knitter yay
you are a knitter congratulations as far as i'm
concerned i don't need somebody else to tell
me that i'm good at my hobby yeah well right
and if it is a hobby it's not a business but
the but that's another thing too is like if you're
going to be trying if you're going to be striving
to improve you should be striving to improve
for your own purposes whatever those purposes
may be not because you're going to be the best
because there is no best there never will be
so do what you want don't torture yourself making
garments or working with yarns that you hate
I want to be the very best is catching them all
catching all different gotta craft them all gotta
craft them all oh yeah i don't want to do that
because i feel like i'm gonna have to like make
a lace weight project and that's make some noops
no absolutely not no you can make it it's just
called a noop and it's a pokemon type thing but
it's like a noop it's just a nope it's just a
nope pitch it to poke it's a ghost type it's
oh and one of its moves is astonish because yes
you go oh no guys that's a legit move i also
use confusion it was super effective i i've been
playing pokemon violet lately so Oh, that makes
sense. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of Pokemon terms
going through my head right now. That makes sense.
Well, I had a lot of time on vacation to sit
and actually play my video games. So that was
nice. I know I'm like, I think I'm like three
years behind because I think that thing came
out like a long time ago, but I'm catching them
all right now. Yeah, I got catching. I'm proud
of you. Thank you. Neither knitting nor crochet
is actually harder. oh you just learned the other
one first yeah yeah i think there is so much
back and forth over which is harder which is
more complicated and i really do believe it just
boils down to whatever you started with yep you
will initially be more comfortable with you know
just like everything else in life and you may
get to the point where you're more comfortable
with the other or you're equally comfortable
But I feel like so much of the like moving into
the bicraftual territory gets like shut down
by I couldn't do that. That's so much harder.
I'm not going to lie. I have actively been crocheting
for several months now. And I still will sit
here and be like, oh, crochet. That's such a
cool pattern. I don't know how to do that. Yeah,
it is. But you do. But I do. You do. and I'm
doing it pretty good but it's hard it's it's
it's like it's hard to kind of break that mentality
because when you first look at whichever one
you start with like you start with crochet and
you look at knitting you're like I could never
do two needles I I work with one hook or on the
flip side I look at crochet or I did like now
I I again I know the rough way to crochet um
but I'm still like I look at a crochet pattern
I'm like okay no okay to be fair pattern wise
crochet can be ridiculous looking if you're just
looking at a like a chart a chart I am only looking
at crochet patterns that are written out because
I am not right now but you will probably graduate
eventually to the chart listen the charts let's
not get ahead of ourselves they're hieroglyphics
they look it here's the thing though too my um
the blanket that I'm working on quote unquote
um That I took a break on. So they have it written
and charted. And for some of the things, the
chart actually goes a little faster for me because
I could just look at it and I know exactly where
I am. And the written, I keep forgetting what
line I'm on. And then there are parts where I'm
like, I don't know what they're telling me to
do in this thing. Like, I see... I think I know,
but then I'll read the directions. I'm like,
no, I read that wrong. Like I have, I have no
idea. So I like both. Both is good. That's how
I feel about knitting patterns too. So maybe,
maybe I'll get to charts. We're not, we're not
going to get ahead of ourselves, but I remember
a time in 2008 when the words left your mouth,
the immortal words of, I think I'm just going
to be a scarf knitter. oh yeah I remember that
day and it was garter stitch all the way oh yeah
for like a year I was real happy doing that exactly
yeah and then when you decided that you wanted
to try something else you got comfortable doing
other stuff I believe you will get to charts
I think you will I think it's just a matter of
getting comfortable and being ready to do it
do we think we're going to get to the point where
I can say that I know how to crochet You know
how to crochet now. I know, but I don't believe
that. Well, I think you will get there. I think
you're gaslighting yourself. Absolutely. I think
you are falling for some propaganda that you
need to somehow reach some pinnacle of crochet
before you can say that you crochet. But I've
seen the turtles. You can crochet. I do like
the turtles. You've made a lot of turtles. You
made that bunny. You made a bananasaurus. I think
you're at a point. I think the minute that you
started making something, you were crocheting.
i think you can say you can crochet but i'll
work my opinion it's not you know you gotta be
you you gotta do you i'll work on that i do talk
to my therapist tomorrow so well maybe that's
also propaganda we're not falling for therapy
no never no um again i love my therapy no the
idea that again that there is a level we have
to reach before we can say I'm good enough to
call myself this. Yeah, you brought that back
around. I did. I did bring that back around.
That's true. Look at that. Magic. I think I have
an unpopular one. All right, fire away. Fiber
festivals are worth it. Why would you think it's
unpopular? Oh, I'm getting so thrown off. Well,
because the propaganda is. So you say they're
not worth it. I don't think they're worth it
for everybody. That's fair. That's very fair.
And there's times where I'm like, especially
recently when we've gone to Rhinebeck and I've
gone, there's nothing for me here. Yeah. Because
I've seen the same vendors. I don't want to buy
any more yarn because I'm at a point where I'm
not trying to buy any. i'm not a huge socializing
person so i'm not going it's a lot of people
it's a lot of people yeah um i like it when we
meet up with our folks yes um but like outside
of that i'm just like get me out of this crowd
yeah well we also went on saturday last year
and that was yeah that's right yeah but i think
i think there's something to say for like um
i've heard people say like if you haven't gone
to like a fiber fest you're like missing out
and i don't think that's necessarily true no
i don't think that's true well if this is what
i'll say it gives you in -person access to vendors
that you otherwise might only see online right
so that's nice but if i also think that it gives
you in -person access to people that you have
only met online. Correct. And you know, it has,
if you want to do workshops and all that kind
of stuff. Awesome. Yeah. But every single one
of those things can be done outside of a fiber.
Yep. You can meet up with people that you've
met online and set up a private meet. You can
go see some of these vendors if they have a pop
-up at a store or if they have their own store
or whatever. And you also, you know, in terms
of workshops and stuff, plenty of local yarn
stores provide that. Right. So I don't, it's
not. I don't think it's any... If you want to
go to one, I think that's fine. But I don't think
there's necessarily a rite of passage of what
you have to do it or that anybody's missing out
in doing so. Well, I also think if you want to
go to one, that's awesome. Find one you want
to go to. And you know what? You aren't required
to go to one every year or every time it pops
up. That's true. You can go to that one, that
one time that you've always wanted to go with
and make a... big deal of it and then you don't
have to go again and and again if none of that
appeals to you if you're you're fine you can
just go get yarn wherever you get yarn and have
fun with your local knitting circle or like it's
not for everyone and that is fair it doesn't
make you less of a fiber person I was having
a conversation yesterday with a mom of one of
my kids friends when they were having a play
date and we were talking about going to New York
to Broadway And talking about the fact that like
we in the Northeast sometimes don't realize like
how privileged we are to live so close that people
across the country or across the world may go
see one Broadway show their whole lives. Whereas
if you live in Connecticut, you are maybe 30
minutes from the train station, two hour drive
into New York and you can go for a day trip.
Like this is no big deal. So it's really, privileged
and kind of you know insensitive and mean to
treat people like oh you you've never had that
experience like that's not an experience that's
open to everybody so to kind of be like you've
never been to Rhinebeck like we're a day trip
to Rhinebeck we can go anytime but we wouldn't
be there if we were in California no we would
never have gone and that kind of privilege is
of location is not open to everybody and so they
kind of um it's it's snobby to be like well you
know you haven't had this experience and that
somehow makes you less you're lacking in your
crafting life or in general going to any of the
major ones because there's a lot now there's
a lot more options now there's a lot of west
coast ones that are out there um that will probably
never i probably won't ever go to unless for
some reason i have a friend that lives out there
and i happen to be there the week right but like
it's not um Yeah. You're not flying out there
for it. No. No. It's not a bucket list. No. And
it's not. And again, it's not because I think
those things I'm not saying naysaying them. I'm
just saying that if if you enjoy the extroverted
social aspect of being at a festival in general.
So like if you like. you know, a lot of crowds
and seeing in -person things like workshops and
like people spinning and like you want to meet
your vendors face to face. Like, yeah. Yeah,
it's a good time. I think of it too is like.
Maybe I'm embarrassing myself by bringing this
up, but in the pro wrestling community, there's
an opportunity to go to Fanatics Fest where you
can go and meet all your wrestlers. And it's
real close to us. I will never go to that. Absolutely
not. Absolutely not. I would love to meet some
people, but not like that. but yeah it sounds
overwhelming and exhausting and i just know it's
a it's a lot of people it's in new york i think
it is yeah it's not that far it's not i had toyed
with the notion of going to meet the ms and ask
him if he remembered my brother oh my god It's
a cool story. I will share it if you would like
it. You can DM me anytime. But then I said, I
don't want to go for like a joke notion. Right.
That is way too much stimulation for me to do
for like a little bit of joy. It's a lot of it's
a lot of input. for very little. That's how I
feel about every single live music experience
at this point in my life. I'm not going to have
fun. Like I may be excited for it and I'm going
to get there and be like, I have regrets. I don't
want to be here anymore. I made a decision. Frank
asked if we could go to Coachella and I'm like,
whoa. Wow. Whoa, that escalated quickly. He has
been to Coachella with his sister. He has. I
could see that. I could see Frank at Coachella.
Will you be allowed to be in a room with no noise
with headphones and a blanket? I will go to the
area and I will do my thing. Yeah. Like I'll
chill in the hotel. He can go do that. So related
to that one time when we were in North Carolina,
we had, there was, I really liked the band bad
wolves are yeah. Bad wolves. And like, they were
playing as like an opener for somebody else.
Like, I can't remember who the other band. was
but somebody who is a lot more famous than them
I want to it was some kind of 2000s alternative
band I can't remember at the top of my head that's
how much I didn't care about the headliner and
and I said to Pat I was like you know what the
tickets are really cheap can we just go and just
see bad wolves and then I'm gonna like we can
leave and he's like oh yeah that sounds great
so like we went we like we had great seats we
were like right up towards like maybe fifth row
or something like that on the side We saw Bad
Wolves play. Their set lasted about 45 minutes.
And like the whole show was like three hours
long. And then as soon as they were done, we
were like, OK. And so we started walking out
and the security people are looking at us like,
wait, like there's still show. And we're like,
oh, no, we saw who we wanted to see. We're good.
Yeah. And we just continue. They look so dumbfounded.
I was like, hey, we're trying to beat the traffic.
Yeah, we're good. We're good. We just wanted
to see bad wolves. We're good. I just but yeah,
because like at the end of the day, I just I
that's what you want to do only because the tickets
were reasonable. They were like 30 bucks a person
like it was so reasonable. So what we're really
trying to say is. the level of participation
that you want to have is acceptable. Right. And
it doesn't make you any better than anybody else.
If you've gone, it doesn't make you any better.
If you haven't gone, like we're not talking about
like reverse hipsterism of, well, I would never
be so uncool as to go to a fiber festival. Nobody's
saying that. No, they are fun. They are a lot
of fun. Well, they can be. They can be a lot
of fun. And if it's not your cup of tea, then
it's not a lot of fun and you don't need to go.
Like, it's really, it is totally up to you. Or
if you want to stick with, like, a local fiber
festival that's a little bit smaller. Like, I
know our Connecticut one's way smaller and it's
a lot more reasonable if you're looking for,
like, kind of a similar experience but in a toned
down fashion. Yeah, find your local ones. I love
the local ones. Yeah. I mean, the big ones, yes.
Are they... an experience yes or is it an experience
that you will incredibly miss if you don't do
it no you'll be okay yeah it'll be okay yeah
it doesn't make you morally superior if you go
crafting your own wardrobe will save you money
it will not it will not if anyone believes that
they're so misguided people who believe that
are not crafters I mean, making your own wardrobe.
I mean, it's nice to be able to custom make your
own sweaters. That's fantastic. But it's not
saving you money. So the other side of the expenses
is your time, right? It is your time. And are
you willing to dedicate the amount of time that
goes into creating a knit? And if you do, like,
great. I couldn't find the dress that I wanted
to wear to my graduation. So Jess and I made
the exact one that I wanted when I graduated
with my MA. I love that dress. I still have it.
I'm so proud of it. It's got a ton of mistakes
that I made. But they're yours. But you know
what? You know, it was so funny as I was walking
out of graduation. Somebody asked me where I
got it. And I said that we made it. And she was
like, do you sell it? And I laughed so hard.
I was like, if you could see the inside of this
dress, you would know. I did. I said, you are
so sweet. But if you could see this. seams on
this thing you would know why i would never do
that oh yeah it had lining did it oh yeah it's
very pretty um but yeah like it definitely did
not save me money and it certainly did not save
me time it took us two months to make that dress
so yeah you're you're putting in a lot paid patterns
are better than freed patterns oh yeah no yeah
not yeah that's and that's a tough one Because
that's the thing. I've had paid patterns that
I'm like, you did not vet this. You did not have
this checked. I always think about those gloves
that you made, Jess. Oh, my God. Yeah. The fact
that you paid money for that angers me so hard.
If I knew it was just that, I'm like, dude, I
could have made this myself. It was just the
chart, right? Yeah, it was just the chart. It
was just the chart and they charged you like
a lot. It was an expensive pattern. Yeah, it
was pretty up there. Yeah. And I was. It wasn't
the full glove. No, it was just the color work.
It was the color work. And they had a note in
there of where you would put the thumb gusset.
Wow. But it was not generous. But they also weren't
advertising it as like, you know, warning. This
is just a chart for color work. I have no problem.
Like if you say this is just a chart, you can
whack this on like a hat or mittens or whatever
the heck you want. But yeah, no, she really got.
I mean, that's okay. But yeah, they didn't have
anything about the cuff. They didn't have anything.
They didn't even tell you how many stitches to
cast on. They told you nothing. Like, again,
the mitten started. So you could guess from that.
But most of those start with a ribbed cuff, which
has a larger stitch count. And then you do a
decrease row. And then you get into, like, the
color work. And it didn't say if you did that
or if you didn't do that. Or it didn't give you
a cuff at all. It literally started at the mitten.
And I was like, I... okay like that's not how
mittens go but that's okay i added my own spin
to it and they came out great but i was like
okay this is gonna take me longer now because
i have to adjust this right and nobody should
assume that like if i'm gonna pay for a pattern
like i i expect to be told you know what i need
to do please give me instructions i mean i like
the instructions and i expect those instructions
to be correct If I've paid for it. Or clear.
Clear, correct. I expect that there's been some
effort put into putting this pattern together
and it is correct. I don't mind if there's mistakes
as long as it's rectified. Yeah. Right. Is there
a rata? If I paid it and then I say, hey, there's
an issue here. I can't resolve it. And the designer
comes back and says, oh my God, my B. Here you
go. Here's the fix. Right. I'm still fine. oh
yeah if you don't provide any errata and you're
not doing anything at all like oh forget that
forget that no get that yeah so and yeah and
sometimes free patterns i'm like oh my god why
is this free yeah like you put so much work into
this same note you don't necessarily have to
sell your patterns for money that yeah nope some
people do just like putting them up and sharing
and you know what awesome to you guys like community
effort guys those uh octopus stuffies that i've
been making those free pattern yeah my little
dragon keychains are were free pattern love it
and honestly sometimes like not i i know we we
talk about like know your worth charge your worth
all that but especially when you are starting
out I know when I started knitting I wasn't about
to buy any patterns because I didn't know if
I could actually do it I wanted to see the pattern
before I started knitting it yeah and that is
a great way also to kind of get people to knit
and and also it's like if they knit a pattern
and they like it they'll probably go back to
you again and and be more inclined to purchase
your paid patterns because they know you they
like your stuff they know you you give do good
work yeah i like to do a mix i have some free
and some paid and the ones that are paid are
the ones that were a pain in me but but it's
scary to buy a pattern when you don't know you're
not sure what you're doing like it's or yeah
guys sorry too like i don't trust any patterns
without at least one picture oh yeah like i want
i want to see the what yeah some patterns don't
have pictures yeah how do you know what you're
making you don't I mean, it might say in the
specs. It'll say in the specs what it is. Surprise
pattern. What a mystery. It's a mystery make
-along, which makes sense. But yeah, if it's
just a... But also, you should have at least
one that you knit or crocheted. You should have
done something. You should have something. There
should be something. And I've seen sweaters with
half a sleeve done. Sure. fine like you have
you have knit enough of this to show me that
i can see what the pattern is going to look like
but if there's nothing and i don't even see what
that you've done it i'm gonna be a little bit
skeptical i did that with my scarf you knit enough
scarf enough scarf that you could see what and
that's the thing with a scarf is it's the same
yeah yeah you did multiple pattern repeats you
can see and that's that is i i would think perfectly
acceptable you can see what it is yeah um and
you also had test knitters that finished it i
did um but but throwing a pattern out there where
there's nothing there's no picture there's no
unless it's the mystery thing like you were saying
yeah yeah and a lot of people aren't buying mystery
patterns from new designers that have never put
anything out before that yeah they're doing mystery
patterns from people that they know and they
like And that is all the time we have for this
episode. For additional content and opportunities
to connect with the cast, be sure to check out
our website, pardonmystache .com. And be sure
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fiber at Pardon My Stache.