Plugging

I know I've mentioned Craftlit here before, and undoubtedly my husband and my penpals are getting tired of my saying, "Heather says . . . Heather Ordover of Craftlit, I mean, you know that podcast that I'm always listening to . . ."  And I am always listening to it - it makes my commute bearable, it makes cleaning the kitchen bearable, it makes my breaks at work so much more interesting, though lately I have been taking a step down from my normal supercilious taciturnity and actually trying to take an interest in my coworker's small talk once or twice a week.  Heather says that Craftlit People are just better, by which she means friendlier, more open-hearted, more creative, more open-minded.  As I can't claim to be even adequate by those terms, I guess I'm not really a Craftlit Person, I'm just someone who hangs around the fringes and gleans what I can in sincere adoration.

The concept of the podcast is brilliant - when I re-earthed my iPod from its hiding place earlier this year, this was exactly the kind of podcast I started hunting for.  Heather Ordover serializes public domain audiobooks, and adds in some crafty chat and talks about her day and her experiences and interesting stuff on the web, usually related to knitting or some other craft, or to the book or classic literature in general.  She's an English teacher, so she also gives a little lesson of sorts with each episode, putting the book into context, explaining any archaic terms that occur, giving background on the author, and letting the listeners know what to look out for to get a deeper understanding of the text.  This is absolutely my cup of tea.

On a side note, another brilliant podcast with a similar setup is Forgotten Classics, which I will have to devote a separate entry to when I've had more time to listen to it.  Check it out!

Craftlit has a mascot named Cheddar, who is seriously in need of more attention.  I am smitten by this idea, and I don't know why he isn't all over the website's homepage.  He's so cute!  I'm working on one now, in between my son's Christmas stocking (which is turning out enormous . . . I'm going to have to figure out a way to fill it without creating an expectation of lots o' stuff, because that's not what Christmas is about, yo).  Here's the mousie's nose.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Michiness/cheddar-the-craftlit-critter

I'm actually 80% done with the body now, I just haven't been in a picture-taking mood of late.  Isn't that just an adorable nose, though?  It's all shaped with short-rows.  I'm using a little skein of local Iowa yarn (Morning Sun BF) that I bought at the 2013 Iowa Sheep and Wool festival, expressly for Cheddar.  I wanted him to be a natural mouse color.  When he's finished I want to design him a little weskit and set him up in a mouse-sized library, but one thing at a time.