Cast On

Trimethoprim for a UTI. Seven days. By day three, everything was hysterically funny. By day five, I could hear things that weren’t there. By week two, I couldn’t track yarn overs in garter stitch. Garter stitch.

The projects on my needles when my brain broke Bradford Road, Dark Days, Ghost in the Orchard were beyond me for the next four months. The only thing that still worked was drop spindling. Hands remembered what the brain forgot. So I made yarn.

The weird pantry. Lexical-gustatory synaesthesia from folate antagonism - undocumented, as far as I can tell. There might be a paper in it. Hit me up if you want to write it. I documented everything.

This is the first episode of Your Brain on Knitting - five short episodes, designed to be listened to back to back. One broken brain. Four neurotransmitters. And the knitting woven through it all.

Music: Hannah Parrott, The Feeling; Waveshaper, Our Time (Instrumental)

If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can do so via Ko-fi or Patreon, or by spreading the word to a fellow knitter.

Zabava Shorties disasters. The signs were there. Sometimes, you need to break up with a sock pattern. “It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t like you anymore.” Meanwhile, the Peppermint Pocket Skirt delivers enormous pockets perfect for sock projects, and Ruth Collins’ Top Down Centre Out method might revolutionize trouser fitting.

The Bradford Road wrap progresses through garter rectangles. Big Love Cardigan waits for cooler weather. But sewing succeeded where knitting failed—the Peppermint Pocket Skirt (free collaboration between Peppermint Magazine and Paper Theory) paired beautifully with the Block Tee, with right angle sewing tutorial making construction straightforward.

The revelation: Ruth Collins’ Top Down Centre Out trouser fitting method. Begin with fitted waistband, construct single-leg toile, achieve proper fit without body-shaming adjustments. Demonstrated through Stacey Taylor’s free YouTube series at The Crooked Hem.

Beyond practical successes and failures: Robert Pirsig’s concept of Quality from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Through memories of 4-H sewing club and Claire Schaeffer’s couture techniques, we consider how sustained attention gets woven into handmade items’ structure. What happens when we show up fully present—whether adjusting carburetors or setting sleeves.

Music: Jim Fidler, Merrigan’s Reel; The Wilder Road, The Light the Heat; The National Parks, Who Knows

It's been a week of finishes and new beginnings. Off the needles, I've completed a Malabrigo hat and love the color pooling. You don’t hear me say that very often.

I've finally finished my Amande socks—though I must say I rather hated working both the nupps and wrapped stitches techniques. Sometimes you have to try things to understand what you decidedly do not enjoy.

My new obsession is Big Love by ANKESTRIK, a top-down cardigan with fascinating construction that I'm knitting in gorgeous Gilliat yarn. The pattern begins with a provisional cast-on at the shawl collar, and I minimised the inevitable ribbing alignment issues by using a Turkish cast-on and knitting across the first row rather than working the ribbing pattern.

For the shoulders, I chose Chinese Waitress cast-on, which creates a lovely firm yet stretchy edge perfect for shoulder seams. The Ravelry community provided essential modifications—working the fronts two inches longer than the back prevents the sleeves from rotating forward due to the unusual construction.

Many knitters went up a size or two for the sleeves, so I did my own spot-checking for sleeve pickup. Remember: Your measurement x gauge (stitches per inch) = Number of stitches you need for your desired size.

This sweater connects to larger work I'm doing on a capsule collection based on my Changing Clothes manifesto. I've been thinking more intentionally about getting dressed—not for others' gazes but for my own comfort in what I call "Secret Pyjamas." The goal is creating sustainable, perfectly fitting garments made by hand, including finally tackling my Everest of well-fitted trousers.

Behind the scenes, I've moved podcast hosting to Substack after twenty years with Libsyn. Yes indeed, I’ve been podcasting since 2005. Where has the time gone?

Music: "Who Knows" by The National Parks

If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can do so via Ko-fi or Patreon, or by spreading the word to a fellow knitter.

Finishing socks, saving the yarn, new projects from old, planning the perfect colourwork sweater, plus a bit of theoretical physics to prove what knitters already know: knitting is magic.

Links and references:

* Admiral Hanf yarn by Schoppel Wolle

* Lang Jawoll sock yarn

* Chessmaster, by Christian Mattausch

* Amande, by Josephine and the Seeds

* Sophie Shawl by PetiteKnit

* Bradford Road Wrap, by Kristen Kapur

* Fox Paws, by Xandy Peters

* Soft Spot sweater by Elina Maaria

* ke21’s Soft Spot on Ravelry is one of the good ones

* Knitogami: Mechanics of knitted fabric as a curved surface (PNAS, April 2024)

* Dynamic Folding Knits: An exploration into self-folding and self-forming textiles, by Victoria Salmon

* Characterizing and predicting the self-folding behavior of weft-knit fabrics

* Handmade Lampshades, by Natalia Price-Cabrera

Music in this episode:

* Merrigan’s Reel – Jim Fidler

* That Thing That You Do – Cody Fry

If you’d like to help support the podcast, you can do so via Ko-fi or Patreon, or by spreading the word to a fellow knitter.

We travel from Iron Age fire-pits to mid-century homemaking manuals, consider the joys of stash organisation, and muse on the performative aspects of home decorating. There’s a deep dive into the ancient tradition of human-centred design through textiles, from spindle whorls to soft furnishings, a detour through the joys of vacuum bags and organza, a nod to Swedish Death Cleaning, and a look inside the Granny Cranny.

Books & Patterns

* Bojagi: Design and Techniques in Korean Textile Art by Sara CookA richly illustrated exploration of Korean wrapping cloths (bojagi), covering both traditional and contemporary piecing techniques used to create these beautifully translucent textiles.

* Knitting Fabric Rugs by Karen TiedeA practical guide to turning old clothing and fabric into sturdy, beautiful knitted rugs.

* Döstädning: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta MagnussonA wise and witty guide to decluttering, legacy, and letting go.

* Sophie Shawl by PetitKnitA minimalist garter stitch wrap that’s elegant, meditative, and endlessly wearable.

* Bradford Road Wrap by Louise TilbrookA cozy rectangular colour block shawl.

* Homerun Hat by Jonathon SuttonA clever design knit from the reclaimed yarn of a single baseball.

Check out Suzygirl’s Homerun Hat Huge thanks to her for allowing me to use her images.

Elsewhere

* Flash your stash in the comments, or tag me on BlueSky

* Granny Cranny Thread on Reddit

Replenishing the sock drawer with Priory Socks (project page).

My Secret Circles, below.

Porthos (project page), below.

I moved my decreases to the back of the heel, and the result is similar to Basic Biarritz and the Kite Heel, yet is uniquely mine and oh, is it ever sexy. The joy of a well-fitting heel cannot be overstated.

The short row method used in Zabava Shorties is still, hands down, the best method I have found for toes. You'll find the method for Jeny's Square Peg Heel here.

Cat Bordhi's gusset lessons may be found in her book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

You can read my notes on Kiba Light on my project page.

Knit to The Dress Diary of Miss Ann Sykes, by Kate Strasdin (Bsky)

Music in this podcast:

* Merrigan's Reel, Jim Fidler

* Coming Home, Dalton Day

In which an American Thanksgiving is celebrated in the UK, albeit a day late and a pumpkin pie short.

One of the first pieces of writing I recorded for Cast On in 2005, this has become one of my most popular podcasts. This particular version was rerecorded in 2011 for A Knitter’s Manifesto, and features sound design by artist, Felicity Ford.

It’s autumn. Time for finishing projects, knitting socks and celebrating the impending winter by taking the sweaters out of storage. This one is all knitting, and I make no apologies.

I'm channelling my grief in the time-honoured tradition: by knitting all the things.

I am filling the sock drawer starting with a riff on Winter's Gift, by Amy Snell, using Autumn Leaves and Tarmac colours and a traditional Scandinavian motif. Followed by Follow the Fleet, by Don Yarmon; and Priory Socks, by Louise Tilbrook.

Riff Socks, by Lise Brackbill and Toe-up Socks with Fleegle Heel, by Nitro Knitters, are waiting in the wings. Yes, that's a lot of socks on the go, but they're all necessary.

It's time to add twin stitch and triple stitch to your bag of knitting tricks. (The method is also known as Shadow Wrap Short rows.) Here's how you make twin stitches on the knit side and on the purl side.

There is still time this year to knit your own Clapotis '24 and participate in the massive ClapotisFest Contest (which I somehow forgot to mention while recording). I'm knitting my latest in handspun Shetland yarn made from Fellview Fibres gradient rolags.

My Kiba Waistcoat is on the back burner while I hunt for another skein of the discontinued yarn or choose an alternative in which to work the side panels. Do check out the project gallery. I wasn't kidding when I said this garment looks great on everybody.

Lastly, my new main project is Ghost in the Orchard by Thea Colman. I used Tillybuddy cast on for this one, and I'll have much to say about that in the next podcast. Once it became my main project, I worked this vest to the underarms in about a week. The yarn is Donegal Tweed, which was many other things before it became this vest.

Music in this podcast:

Jim Fidler, Merrigan’s Reel

Layup, Who You Share it With

Off the needles and on; Tour de Fleece wrap up; notes from the production line; a new bag; a new spindle; good materials; and Bennet’s Boiled Potatoes.

Compared to some, mine was a paltry Tour de fleece output, still... I made time for fibre, and it did kickstart my spinning, which had been dormant since the move. I talked about Fellview Fibre rolags and my new spalted Beech drop spindle from Raven's Flight UK (the shop is empty at present, but the seller is worth a follow); rolags and batts from Etsy seller ReaderArts (currently on holiday); a half a bobbin's worth of Llanwenog; Cheers! You'll find Scintillation and Christmas Lights on Ravelry.

Noodlehead bags are awesome. I'm using the Making Backpack pattern, but they're all good, according to my sister, Pam. And Pam knows.

When I'm done with the backpack, I get to paint my kitchen in Farrow and Ball Dorset Cream. I'm looking forward to it.

Get your own Bennet Family Excellent Boiled Potatoes Tote

Music in this podcast by:

Jim Fidler, Merrigan's Reel

Sofia, Good Times

Knitting the slowest sock in the history of sock knitting. Tour de Fleece. The merits of taking small steps vaguely in the direction a goal. I’m thinking about style again, and looking for systems.

David Kibbe’s Metamorphosis: Discover Your Image Identity and Dazzle as Only You Can is one of the worst titles ever. And, yes, the price of this book is insane. Fortunately, there’s not long to wait until his book comes out. The publication date is 7 January 2025.

If you can’t wait to start your style journey, you can download a scanned copy of Metamorphasis here.

Obstinate, headstrong girls can get their Tees from The Spark Company

Music in this podcast:

Merrigan’s Reel, Jim Fidler

Right Where I Belong, Atlantic Runway