A swear. . .

. . . I'm not a Luddite, but I've been struggling with the whole podcasting thing.  In fact. I just listened to my first Cast On podcast.  Very fun and good to work by.  (Time to make the patterns. . . I feel like the Dunkin' Donuts guy.  BTW, did you know that he just died?)

Anyway, back to my surprising bout of technophobia.  I did listen to the first couple episodes of KnitCast back when they premiered, enjoyed them very much, thought I subscribed to them and then promptly forgot about them.  Well, my "subscription" must have failed because I was never notified of another one. 

I re-discovered the whole podcast thing after Pete got his iPod and he started listening to podcasts.  I once again tried to subscribe to several, this time through Bloglines.  Again -- never notified of new episodes (are they called episodes? posts? casts?)

So, last night I went straight to the source -- the Apple Music Store.  Now you get there through iTunes, so I'm not sure how to give you a link (I am *so* a luddite), but I was able to subscribe there and I was also able to download a bunch of the past programs for both Cast On and KnitCast.  They are now safely on my computer and I can listen whenever I see fit.  Whew.

I did see some other knitting themed podcasts out there -- Knitting News Cast, Secret Knitting, Crafty Chica Podcast -- any recommendations on these?  Any recommendations on any others?

Comments

[Lauren]

Technophobia isn't the same as anti-technology!

[Rebekkah]

Cast On is definitely my favorite.

I actually listen to all of the others you listed, and I think the best of the three, by far, is Crafty Chica. I don't really know you, but I get the impression from your blog and interests that you'd really enjoy her. Even though it's not knitting, it's entertaining and well produced. The most recent episode wasn't that great, though. (It was a phone interview, and the sound quality was pretty bad, unfortunately.)

I just started listening to Secret Knitting. I have to admit it's only for her accent. I'm a sucker for really interesting accents. Maybe one day I'll actually knit along with her podcast projects, but for now I have enough projects keeping me busy.

I'm not a fan of Knitting News, and call me mean, but most of the reason I still subscribe is to hear the trainwreck. I think the main problem is that the news is all old news, and the reviews are usually descriptions, not reviews. I think it's improved a tiny bit from the first episode to the most recent one, but It's nowhere near the level of Cast On, Knit Cast, or Crafty Chica. Brenda and Marie have set really high standards, and I'm spoiled by them. :-)

[Imbrium]

Think you're a Luddite? Not only do I not own an iPod, but the one and only podcast I have ever listened to was Knitcast's interview of Harlot.

[Chris]

Ok, I'm slightly a techno geek and I had the exact same initial interest in a few episodes of KnitCast and then promptly forgot all about it... until I started to work on the Not-So-Red Scarf, which was just lacy enough that I couldn't read while I knit. No books on tape at hand, I put all of the Cast Ons on my ipod and listened to them on the stereo. It was like listening to a blog... Since I obviously adore reading blogs... :D

[Chris]

Oh yeah, you so can't be a Luddite if you have a blog. Just sayin'. They'd kick you out of the Luddite Club for sure.

[jillian]

I love the iTunes podcast directory. It makes it so easy. Just last weekend I typed "knit" and did a search and was amazed at the number of new kitting related podcasts. I had been listening to KnitCast from the get-go. I signed up for all of them but haven't had a chance to listen much, but the one I did listen to (and now forget the name) I didn't feather to. I could tell that podcasts were going to be like blogs, not all will be good. Listening to someone in a monotone who doesn't get to a point is painful, even when it's about knitting!

[sarah b.]

I like Cast On, too, even though I haven't listened to many of the podcasts I've downloaded. So many interesting things, so little time.

[--Deb]

Podcasts are about the only reason I've considered buying an MP3 player . . . haven't yet, but I think it's coming!

[Teresa]

Nice article on knitting podcasts in the new Vogue Knitting (Winter)...features Marie and Brenda.

[janna]

Once or twice a week, I spend my lunch hour in my office, knitting and listening to Cast On or Knit Cast. It's gotten to be such a habit that I can't imagine listening to a knitting podcast in the car, because, y'know, it's so hard to shift gears while knitting!

[Dena]

Check out FiberCast and CraftyPod too. Let me know if you have problems finding the links to these.

[Becca]

I think the other Rebekkah said it the best - Cast-on is great, KnitCast is great and Crafty Chica is pretty good (if you ignore the sound quality of the phone call) - I don't know if it's the equipment or just their voices, but I enjoy those the most. I gave knittingnewscast two tries and the last was better than the first, but it's just not the same - I don't find it enjoyable or particularly helpful...

I have found some new favorite music through CastOn too, always a plus!

[Niki]

This isn't knit related, and I am not sure if you watch "Project Runway", but Tim Dunn (one of the hosts of the show)does a great Podcast after every episode airs. They are very entertaining!

[Christine]

I am a techno geek person, with gadgets galore. I owned a TiVo back when no one had heard of them yet. I've owned 3 iPods. Laptops are my friend. Yet podcasts? It took me a year to get into listening to them. Now I'm catching up on all the knitting ones - and considering launching my own!