Why I listen to British podcasts

...more than I listen to US made podcasts:
1. I love love the accent
2. I like the dry sense of humor
3. they are more interesting
4. they are more professionally made

For example: I was listening to this American mom who knits. First, I found her funny and witty and her experiences, similar to mine. Then, her child started crying and talking in the background. Okay, I can handle that. I have 3 kids and they were once young. Mommy picks up her cup of coffee and sips. The sniffles came next.

You know, runny nose and all (mom's, not the kids). She swipes are her nose with her hands and sniffles some more. That is where she lost me.

Example number 2: Two knitter girls talk about knitting. Girl #1's voice is okay. Girl #2's voice is tinny and whinny. argghh. Then, she proceeds to speak with this Valley girl Cindy Lauper accent which I cannot stand at all.
One minute into the podcast and I'm gone.

Now wait a minute. The Cast-on podcast is made by an American! I love her voice. Low, well modulated, soothing. Perfect for radio. And she is funny. She lives with her partner, Tonia, in Wales. And she wants to build her own house. That one episode where she talks about her dream of building her own house was very poignant because it doesn't seem like she'll be able to fulfill her dream. But then, she's keeping the faith that one day, it will happen.

And she doesn't have a British accent. whaddya know.

This creamy goodness is the cormo/silk blend I bought at Lambtown years ago and never spun. Thanks to this Spindlicity spin-along, I am getting lots spun up. I got 3 skeins of chunky yarn from this fiber.

These 3 skeins are the English wool I bought from Ashland Bay. Finally spun up too. Now, what will I knit with these yarns??

Two more podcasts I found via the Hoxton Handmade website. One is Cast-on. The podcaster is an American knitter who now lives in Wales. funny stuff.

This second one is simply amazing. This American Life is hosted by guys, non-knitter guys. I'm a fairly new listener so I still can't tell who's who. One of the podcasts is about this chimpanzee Lucy who was raised by humans and then let go to live in the wilds. That's all I will say. You have to listen and form your own opinion. There's a podcast about the secret Coca-cola recipe; there's one about JFK and Marilyn Monroe; another about a British submarine and a sealed letter. I am completely hooked. I listen and I knit and I get a lot done.

Spring is almost here but I'm not ready to let winter go.

I can't get over this podcast thing. I love listening to audio books while I'm knitting. The local library has a ton of downloadable books for FREE. Amazing!

But one day, I came over this podcast via Vera's blog. It's British-made and very funny: the Electric Sheep. I've always admired British dry humor coupled with the lovely British accent. I figured if I listened to this podcast long enough, I may develop same accent. Who knows? A funny sounding Filipino-British accent. Who would have thought?

Joel took the day off last Friday and we were able to go to San Francisco and visit the Exploratorium. Now, we go to San Francisco quite often and are familiar with the streets. We know where the Exploratorium is located since we've been there before but once again, we got lost getting there.

We ended up heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We immediately took the last exit before the bridge, took an immediate right turn and found ourselves in the Presidio. Ok, perfect field trip moment. I run off some history about the Presidio (we homeschool, you know, so I never miss moments like these). Then on the way down the hill, we see the beach (super perfect view , mind you). Then it hits me: I haven't seen this view before! Well, maybe I have but just forgot?? I lived in the Bay Area for almost 14 years before we moved to Sacramento. We hung out in San Francisco, Daly City, etc, but why have I not seen this beach view before?

Then, we see on the right Baker Beach. Aha! yes, I've been there before, once. The kids wanted to see Baker Beach and Joel and I yelled NO! If we remember correctly, it's a favorite haunt for nudists. And no, we didn't participate (ha,ha). It was in the late 90s and we didn't stay long after the initial shock.

We made it to the Exploratorium after me telling Joel that we needed to get there before the 5 pm closing. It was 2 pm afterall.

The kids and Joel had a blast. I walked with my Dad, saw some exhibits, tried some, visited the gift shop and sat down near a wi-fi area and played with my iPod.

yeah, yeah, I was planning on doing my homeschool/fieldtrip/teacher gig but decided to let the kids just experience all of it for themselves. Besides, they knew how to manipulate the gadgets more than I did anyway. Now, take me to a Stitches West convention and I can last for hours on end like the Energizer bunny.

So, here's a pic of Emily beside a vortex/whirlpool thingie. To her right (my left) is this huge glass tank filled with water. If you peer closely, you will see the whirlpool.

I am knitting another Thermis cowl, a very addicting pattern. Once in a while, you get those kinds of patterns, once knitted, you want more. Normally for me, once a knit a pattern, I don't want to do it again. There is another one called the Eternity Scarf. Here's a picture of the scarf. This scarf I've knitted 7 times and promptly gave them all away, except for one. That was for me.

On our last visit to San Francisco, we got some Kara's Cupcakes. A day later, they were all gone. The chocolates were for Matthew, Emily and Danielle got the vanillas, I got the Javas, Dad got vanilla/choc, and Joel got carrot. Yumm.

What am I knitting now?

A neckwarmer called Thermis! Neckwarmers, sometimes called Cowls, are those thingies that go over your head and rest on your neck like a scarf. Except, there are no tails to flap around. Picture a turtleneck, detachable, and less choking. I'm using Misti Alpaca in fuschia (although it looks red in the pic). Beside it is a book I'm currently reading. Love Mary Higgins Clark.

This is a view from our bedroom window. Notice the bright sunlight outside. I am almost guilty posting this with all the blizzard and snow in the East Coast. We've been experiencing 60 degree weather here in Sacramento.

You might see some more lace shawls in the coming days. I've finished this Little Shells shawl last year and just now took photos.

I finished this scarf weeks ago. Fun and easy to knit. The yarn was one of Debra Norville's acrylics which doesn't feel like acrylic at all. There's none of the stickiness or scrunchiness that characterizes acrylic yarns. It's called the Unscrunchable scarf.

This one is the Thorpe hat. Again, the yarn is 100% acrylic called Marble yarn, chunky, and super soft.

You can see a pattern here. This shrug was also knitted with acrylic yarn, from Patons, a baby chunky yarn and again, super soft. What's funny is that these yarns were manufactured in Turkey for these yarn companies. How come they can make their yarns super soft and the US can't? hmm?

Ok, so this shrug is Shawl collared Shrug by SweaterBabe. I like her patterns and the fact that she uses mostly chunky yarns. I say mostly because she has patterns for worsted weight too.

Below is the handspun black and white Jacob wool, spun chunky. I must admit I get bored spinning tiny laceweight yarn. Spinning chunky is now more my style. It goes by fast.

This one totally contradicts what I just said. Extreme manual spinning using a drop spindle. This one takes forever but for some reason, it relaxes me. And it's so portable. I finished handspinning this batt in a few days. I took it with me, wherever I went.

The result: shiny purple yarn! The kid mohair really pops.

11 months from the day my mom passed away, her one and only brother succumbed to cancer as well. Uncle Estoy passed away Jan 20th, in the Philippines. I got the sad news via email from my cousins back home.

One of the reasons I went home to the islands last June 2010 was to see my mom's sisters and brother, because they couldn't be here for the funeral. I got to see and spend time with all of them. We knew my uncle was sick. He had prostate cancer. It was in the final stages. We got to see him and talk to him but it was sad. We couldn't even talk about my mom or how he was feeling. He was so weak and thin and couldn't even walk anymore.

I remember as a young child how in awe we all were of this uncle. He was bigger than life, strong, quiet, and so very intimidating. His kids, all the cousins, and even his 3 sisters were intimidated, even my mom. But he and my mom, they had a special bond. I had this feeling all my life that he loved my mom the most, of all his sisters.

When my mom passed, he was deeply affected, his little sister dying before him. He already knew he had cancer but I think he thought he would go first.

Last night, I couldn't stop crying. Part sadness, part happiness. My mom has her brother with her now.

okay, so I am spinning again. Here's what I plan to spin this month:




My purple handcarded batt, a mix of some unknown superwash wool and kid mohair.



This one is Jacob wool from a local farmer.

And these are what I'm using to spin them with. Impressive, huh?

For those of you non-spinners, these are drop spindles (because you drop them on the floor no matter how experienced a spinner you are). And it takes forever to spin wool with these. Manual labor, you know? I also have a wheel which I'll probably use just to hurry it all up.

that's my plan for this month. I'm joining a spin-along at the Spindlicity website. The goal is to spin whatever you have in your stash, for the whole year.

This is where we can test how good I am at following through, he, he.

The new year is what we make of it. I can say that 2010 sucked for me. We lost our mom and mom-in-law. But what do I know? Everything happens for a purpose. Had my mom lived, she would be suffering from the cancer. Had my mom-in-law lived, she would still be carrying all her childrens' problems.

This coming year is so unknown it's scary. Look at it another way: it's a clean slate, a fresh start, and whatever is in store, God will be there by our side. That's all I cling to.

I'm looking forward to more knitting, more yarn, more quilting, more sewing, more homeschooling. The worrisome and scary stuff, I will leave in God's hands.

Happy New year, one and all. Here's to prosperity!

Christina and Emily taken at the Christmas tree in Disneyland. We got a chance to pick up Christina from her dorm and take her around with us in LA/Anaheim. Poor girl hasn't eaten "real" food since she moved to LA. She's been living on Ramen and junk food. With no car to use, she walks everywhere.



Sunset view at Huntington Beach, the snobbiest and most unfriendly beach in CA. With nowhere to park, we had to park in between apartment houses near the beach. One guy stared us down as we trekked towards the water. Hey man, it's a public beach, ya know? I'll take the San Francisco beaches anytime.


Obligatory family picture in front of Disneyland. It was packed that day. We got to ride a whopping total of 6 rides. Spent most of the time lining up.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone. May God bless you with His abundant blessing this coming year.

Tomorrow, I start knitting for next Christmas. I love to procrastinate and believe me, starting Christmas knitting in October never works. I never make it.

I will start with Christmas ornaments. woo hooo!

I realized that these past Christmases, I spent the few days before Christmas stressing out. Shopping for presents and stressing out over gift wrapping, cooking, baking, and running from one gathering to the next.

This is our first Christmas without my mom and it seems that I stopped caring about all the stress. I bought gifts only for the important people in my life. And this Christmas, I'm spending the day with my family and my dad. We don't have to rush off to go to the in-laws' party. My mother-in-law is gone too. Some of in in-laws will understand why we're not there. Others won't and will probably talk about it but... I simply don't care anymore.

I will spend time with the people I love.

4 days before Christmas and I still haven't gone shopping. I live on the edge.

I am completely addicted to Angry Birds. On the other hand, I quit playing Facebook games. I now have more time to knit. That is, if I'm not playing Angry Birds.

I've finished several shawls, scarves, and cowls (the new rage) but no pictures to show. Some of the cowls were given away as gifts, as soon as they're finished and off the needle.

must. upload. pictures.

It's Christmastime, my favorite time of the year. I wish you a Merry Christmas. It's Christmas-- not Happy Holidays. Of course, Christmas is a holiday, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, that's too bad. It's my holiday, a Christian holiday and I will greet you a Merry Christmas. I refuse to be politically correct and if my Christmas offends you, there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Like I said, it's my holiday. 'nuff said.

If you celebrate Hanukkah, Happy Hanukkah to you. If you celebrate Kwanzaa, Happy Kwanzaa!

Sorry but those are the only other holidays I know.

Back to knitting.

$278 darn dollars for my allegedly speeding ticket and I never got a courtesy notice in the mail either. I had to go online and research it myself. What if I didn't research it? Then I'd have to pay the fine plus an added on penalty. And the State makes money off of me.

15 more days 'til Christmas! Usually, I have the chance of enjoying the few months, weeks, before Christmas but not this year. It's coming too fast and I'm not ready for it.

Today, 16 years ago, Joel and I got married. I woke up this morning to a dozen roses, a box of 2 dozen See's chocolates, and 3 potted indoor plants. He knows me really well even though I keep telling him not to waste money on roses that will wilt in a few days. But man, I love roses, and plants. I still have the plants he's given me through the years. I have a green thumb just like my mom. And Joel? I love him.

Dec 12th would have been my mom and dad's 51st wedding anniversary. We will celebrate too.

Dec 13th is my oldest daughter's 21st birthday. We're celebrating Danielle's bday with a party tomorrow, combined with the anniversaries.

On the knitting front, I'm knitting Stefanie Japel's Alexandra ballet sweater from the book Fitted Knits. There were some errors and I was able to dodge them. But, I'm making adjustments and some changes. Just like a knitter.

Thanksgiving has come and passed. The family has become smaller. Our first Thanksgiving without mom. Christina did not make it home. She decided to stay in LA for the 4-day weekend. But, we know she'll be home during the Christmas holidays.

My sister and her husband also decided to go on vacation to Mexico during the Thanksgiving holiday.' nuff said.

My oldest daughter, Danielle, was here though. She got to spend some time with my dad, watching football on the big 3-D tv my dad bought. Have I said that he loves 3-D movies?

I cooked a smaller turkey this time, well, actually, it was just huge turkey breasts. Everything else gets thrown away anyway. No one here eats red turkey meat.

My husband got to spend a few Thanksgiving hours with his family. He really wasn't motivated to go with all the strife going on but I told him that his mom wouldn't want the family to break apart. It wasn't the same though, without my mom-in-law there. I'm glad he went. While he relayed some news about the goings-on with his family, I found myself asking , "So, what did mom say?" not realizing that she wasn't there. That just made me sad.

Up 'til now, I still question God as to why he took both our moms on the same day. I may never know the answer.