About Sticks & String and me
G’day all. I’m David Reidy, an Australian bloke who lives in the Blue Mountains two hours west of Sydney, and knits and podcasts about knitting. Away from the sticks and string, I’m an astrophysicist who now teaches high school. In my knitting and podcasting endeavours I am assisted by my two Burmese cats, Tikka and Tiger.
The Sticks and String podcast appears weekly, so look for a new show each weekend.
If you’d like to keep up-to-date with what’s going on in this blog, you can subscribe to the feed here (don’t worry, it’s free)
If you’d like to automatically receive each new podcast as it is released, you can use iTunes, or put this feed in your podcatcher.
Upcoming shows: Series 7 currently has extended interview with knitters, designers and other interesting people.
Season 6 is now complete, it contained interviews from Australian Country Spinners and other places.
(Dates and themes are subject to change, of course)
If you’d like some Sticks & String merchandise, it’s here .
This is the RSS feed for the blog.
This is the RSS feed for the podcast.
I totally just stumbled on your podcast this evening and must tell you how much I enjoyed it — the bloke’s perspective on Montse Stanley was great, and your take on knitting community is spot on. I’m married to a physicist, so I know the voice of reason when I hear it. : ) Oh, and don’t give up on mohair yet — there are some lovely silky varieties out there that bear no resemblance to the long-haired stiff stuff.
Hi!
I’d like to know how you chose the name for your website/podcast. I listened to Brenda Dayne’s podcast this week and heard about your podcast, so I’m listening to it now with a subscription through iTunes.
I’d also like to know what you’re using to create your podcasts - hardware and software.
Thanks for the review of Knitter’s Handbook. There are so many books out there to use as a reference for knitting that it’s overwhelming, and I already own more than I use. However, I like to have them at my fingertips
Hi David, I just wanted you to know that I heard you announce your show on Cast-On. I currently subscribe to three podcasts: Cast-On, Lime & Violet and Knitty D and the City and I’m in the middle of adding you to that list. I am looking very forward to listening to your show. I love listening to stories about sticks and strings from other people who are as obsessed about it as I am.
Love your podcast; I’ve been knitting about a year (after a 35 year break, too) and listening to knitting podcasts a little more than a year. Keep up the good work!
cd
I just wanted you to know, I LOVE YOUR PODCAST. Keep on ‘casting!
Love the podcast!! And the accent, of course! I subscribe to Lime N Violet and Stl Brenda, of course - and you have made a wonderful addition to my regulars. I look forward to each new show and love hearing about knitting in Australia. I, too, commute, but must drive so the best I can do is listen about knitting, as I fear I’d be in the slammer if I tried to drive and knit - although I do get caught at the occasional stoplight!!
Looking forward to more from the Blue Mountains.
Namaste,
Twisted Sister Kristie
Hi- I just listened to all of your podcasts today. I enjoyed them very much!
Hi David,
Just discovered your podcast after hearing about it on Cast On. Kudos on doing a great job, you sound very professional and I love the perspective you offer. I’ll be subscribing on Itunes and looking forward to future podcasts.
Keep up the good work and best wishes to Tiger & Tikka.
Thank you for a great podcast! I really enjoy listening to your perspective…the music is wonderful and …Love the accent as well! Have a great week!
hey! just wanted to say that i really enjoy your podcast! it’s so relaxing to listen to and very informative. looking forward to the next one!
Dear Uncle Dave,
Thank you so much for my gorgeous pumpkin hat. I look totally cute in it!
I also want to thank you for my booties that you made me when I was very small & still in hospital. They kept my tootsies warm and fit me perfectly.
My Mummy, Daddy, nanalee & I are huge fans of your show.
It’s our Sunday night entertainment during dinner!
When I grow up I would like you to teach me to knit.
Love from Bella-angel x
Ah! I’m in heaven! I love listening to audio books and podcasts while in my studio throwing pots, and now, unbelievable but true, I can throw pots AND listen to a podcast by a man about knitting! Pottery and knitting - two of my passions.
Thanks for your efforts!
I just discovered your podcast via Cast-On. Love it, love it, love it! You’ve got a great show David! I’m never at a loss for what to listen to whilst knitting anymore
Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks so much for such a great podcast. I love it! I taught myself to knit a few years ago, but have pretty much stuck to easy patterns. Thanks for giving me the confidence to try anything. I am also a teacher with two cats, (both of whom are trying to type right now), so I especially love hearing your non-knitting asides and kitty noises in the background. Can’t wait to hear more.
Hi! Just a quick note from Winchester, Virginia, in the beautiful lower Shenandoah Valley. Thank you so much for sending out such a thoughtful and enjoyable podcast. I’m a long time knitter and really appreciate your addition to “knitting radio” — something I can enjoy while my hands are busy!
I think on your last episode of this series you announced that the upcoming series would be about knitting history. I have a particular interest in one aspect of that.
I have an extensive collection of knitting tools and patterns from war times, particularly World War II and from the US perspective. I know there were Red Cross patterns from UK countries but my collection is all US. They are public domain, so if you have any interest in selecting any patterns to offer your listeners, that would be fine. I’ll also send you some of the original red white and blue knitting needles for your collection as a “thank you” for your podcast.
I can give you loads of information on this stuff, but I’m not really an essayist, so I can’t really offer much from that standpoint, but I can definitely hook you up.
As an aside, I’ve also enjoyed knitting for different charities and have related some of it to war-time knitting in that one can, I think, view AIDS, homelessness, child welfare, etc. to “wars” of their own, so the patterns and the mentality of knitting to benefit soldiers is pretty easily transferred to knitting for others in need.
Let me know if any of this interests you, and again, thanks for all your work.
Cheers,
Witt
Hi Dave,
I just listened to your first podcast yesterday. I live in Dubai U.A.E. and really enjoyed it. I am an old knitter but left it for a good 12 years and have recently gotten back into it. I like to here a males perspective on it and I like the well roundedness of the topics you discuss. I look forward to future podcasts.
P.S. The music is enjoyable as well LOL
Hi David,
I have been enjoying your podcast. I’ve listened to them all over the last week or so.
I’m an assistant editor at Yarn Magazine and I also write a column and design a pattern for every issue. Mine is the Yarn on a Shoestring Column and I designed all the small gifts in the summer issue (thanks for the praise of Yarn in your last cast by the way!)
Would you mind if I quote you in an upcoming article that I am writing? It is an article about knitting for charity and I will be discussing why giving handmade items is just as good or better than giving money. Paragraph 8 of your Set It Free essay sums up what I’m trying to say.
The article will be published in the Autumn 2007 issue which comes out in March.
Hope to hear from you soon. I’m eagerly looking forward to your next cast.
Sarah Golder
I just listened to your podcast number 1 tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it! Am glad there are several more to listen to. I thought you were articulate, funny without having to be profane, very nice music…excellent - I listen to several podcasts and I think yours will be one of my favorites.
Thanks again for helping me see the other point of view in our knitting world - the bloke’s.
Wow! I myself am a former astrophysicist who also knits. Small world!
Greetings from sunny Tampa, Florida, USA. Love the podcast! I’m still catching up on them and you’re in my ears as I type. You made me laugh a couple of times, especially at one essay…and I often grin sypathetically at your knitting adventures. We all need more humor in our lives, so thank you for sharing your wry sense of it!
And yes, I actually DO like the cat noises every so often, not too often ! It gives your podcast even more atmosphere. Thanks for describing the views from your window and giving us a sense of where you live and how!
You’re interesting, erudite, have a nice voice, play nice music and, thank g-d, a sense of humor and I’m really looking forward to listening to more of your podcasts.
You’re, IMHO, second only to Brenda Dayne in the knitting podcast world and that’s high high praise, she’s first in my book!
Hi David,
I just discovered podcasts and in particular knitting podcasts and you are the greatest! I went on a long drive this weekend(1000 miles) and first I listened to all of yours straight through and then I started on Cast On from the beginning. I can’t wait for the 1st of the new series from you. This is so exciting to me to find this venue and not having known it was there I am wondering what planet I am on. I have returned to knitting with a vengeance after a 40 year hiatus and am literally hooked. I am a Bowen Therapist by day and a knitter by night. The quality and content of your show is fantastic. I can just imagine sitting around the kitchen table with you having a cup of Bushell’s and knitting and that is way cool. We need a picture of you on your website so we can see who is talking to us. Anyway, loads of luck and I will help spread the word here in my area.
Thanks for your time
Debra DuBois
hey! I really didn’t expect a reply. You are such a busy man. I am now listening to the new one and yep, I am still mesmerized.
DD
G’day! Just finished listening to your Show 11. I found you through iTunes and womanfully downloaded the episode on a dead-slow connection so I could have the pleasure of listening to your Aussie accent. Good fun. I think I need to go catch up with your other episodes now.
And I *love* hearing your cats in the background.
Just wanted to say that I love your podcasts. I have just finished Podcast #3, so am behind. Around Christmas time, I was told about your podcast by a fellow knitter in the guild I belong to - Knitters of the North in Anchorage, Alaska.
I commend you for spending $4,000 on your cat Tiger. That tells a lot about you. My husband and I spent $3200 on our cat Mystery in December. He had FUS and ended up having to have surgery which basically made him into a girl. But he doesn’t know that and he is alive and healthy now. He was a stray that we had only had 10 months, but we could not let him die. Strays with problems seem to be able to find the pathway to my door. We usually have 3 cats at a time, though we did have 4 at one time.
Anyway, I love your podcast - your enthusiasm is rubbing off on me. I used to knit sweaters in high school. Well, that was 40 years ago and I have just gotten back into knitting in the last two years. I love knitting socks and have knit several pair of mittens and am now working on a baby sweater. I’ve also made scarves and a hat. I do love knitting socks though and will probably stick with that for awhile - though your podcasts may get me to try other things. Thank you. Karolynn Cechowski, Anchorage, Alaska
I just started listening to your podcast, and really love it. I believe I am up to Episode 3 or 4 and felt I had to write, for two reasons. One is encouragement. Your podcast is a breath of fresh air. I feel as if I’m listening to an old friend … and it’s terrific. Second reason, I just heard you state that you just finished “a” sleeve for a jumper you are knitting. I’ve learned (after 125 years of knitting … give or take a year or two) that if you do the sleeves first — AND if you do the sleeve together at the same time, those boring appendages will be finished, out of the way, and exactly the same number of rows, etc. with no effort at all.
I just wanted to share this with you. I knit, bead (needle weaving) and crochet, but my love for these hobbies is in that order. I just finished the Via Diagonale purse (I believe from Knitty) but am hooked on making socks. I prefer making these two-at-a-time on a 40″ needle (don’t know metric conversion) so I don’t suffer from second sock syndrome — and again — they are exactly the same. I also prefer toe-up — so the socks can be longer or shorter, depending on the amount of yarn I have.
Keep up the good work.
Alice
PS I believe I learned about you through Guido of “It’s a purl, man” … and am a member of the Long Island Knitting & Crochet Guild, an organization which you mentioned in one of your November podcasts.
Just listened to your pod cast today-Truly enjoy it! Hearing the cats in the background reminds me of what my cats have done to my yarn when I’m not around. Hope they don’t begin to torment your stash too!
Living in Tennessee I don’t get the opportunity to knit with heavy wools so I am constantly interested as to what others knit that don’t have much cold weather. Sounds like the sleeveless cardigan you are knitting for your mom is a good idea for me also.
Thank you for making your podcasts so interesting- I especially enjoyed the yarn factory episode- You felt as if you were right there with all of the machinery when you listened to it. Thank you and keep knitting! Melissa in Hendersonville Tennessee
David,
I’m a big fan of your show! I would love it if you would check out my new website….
http://www.yarnoverlounge.com
I don’t currently have any male sweater patterns available, but those are coming in the near future.
Hi David,
An Aussie knitting podcast! I love it!
Being in Perth myself it’s great to have an Australian perspective amongst all the international voices and exciting to hear you will be discussing events a little closer to home (I always feel so left out when there is mention of ‘knit outs’ and other events in the US on other podcasts).
I’ve just listened to your first episode which I really enjoyed - you have a great voice & ‘podcast presence’. I’m saving the next few for later.
Thanks so much & keep up the great work,
pen & purl.
http://penandpurl.wordpress.com
Hi David,
Love your show! Great to have an Australian voice out there amongst the international crowd. Living in Perth myself, I appreciate the info you provide about events and products a bit closer to home.
Keep up the great work & thanks so much for your time & efforts.
pen & purl
http://penandpurl.wordpress.com
I listen to your podcasts while making the journey to Adelaide once a fortnight. It’s made driving in Adelaide traffic bearable! Thank you so much for the time and effort you put into your show. It has had me in tears a few times as I remember how I first started to knit. My dad taught me when I was five and my mum had lost patience. Mum taught dad and Dad taught me. It’s one of the beautiful memories I have of childhood. My dad is now battling lung and renal cancer and I sit beside him often with my needles clicking it helps take my mind off the pain of knowing I am losing him and watching him in pain. May I suggest a show on Knitting through the hard times and the comfort it brings?
TYhanks again for your brilliant show.
(Sorry for the two comments above! I posted the first, but thought I’d inadvertently deleted it!)
Great job! As a recent knitter, it’s nice to know that other guys are out there doing the same. Thanks for the ideas, support, and all that. Started my own podcast this last winter from my library with my students on book reviews. I know the fun - and frustration - that comes with that. Good luck!
Hi David, I am very glad you podcast. As I am trying to finish my knitting, your stories and knitting experiences keep me interested and on target. I podcast as well, so I know how hard it is to jugle it all sometimes. But, with the encouragement of your listeners it is all worthwhile. I wanted to let you know that the time you spend preparing and recording your wonderful podcast is very well appreciated. It’s easy to take it for granted…cause it’s free for the listener. That’s why your page on how you podcast gives the endeavor context and lets people know how committed you are. Keep it coming - I for one, am very grateful for your podcast. I am looking forward to your upcoming series. Happy Knitting!
I have been listneing since Christmas and really enjoy your podcast. I love your music choices. Let me just say “I missed you!”
Hi from Alaska! I love your podcast!
hi David, have enjoyed your blog site. I am hosting an exhibition focussing on knitters who blog at the Craft ACT gallery in Canberra in July. if you check my blog site you can find out more and if interested email me. I hope to hear from you…
David,
I’ve really enjoyed your podcasts. I’m still catching up on past episodes, but look forward to listening to the next one on my commute home from my artist residency studio. I’m planning a trip to Australia in May, so I’ll be stalking fiber places once I know my itinerary.
Thanks so much for putting the time into a knitting podcast for the rest of us to enjoy!
Jan Smiley
http://www.jansmiley.blogspot.com
Greetings from Magnolia, DE, USA! Congratulations on a wonderful podcast each and every week. I am a knitter and a spinner, plus various other fiber arts like latchhooking and weaving. Thank you for the book and supply reviews. I had been considering the Knit Picks Options needle kit and ordered it after hearing your glowing review. Keep up the good work!
Tammy Garland, fiber artist
Tightly Wound By Tammy, LTD
Magnolia, DE, USA
WOW!!! Luv your pod cast! I drive anywhere from 1500 miles to 6,000 when I go out to sell at Knit & Sewing trade shows across America, so on my last trip I downloaded 8 of your shows, lisened to them all in a row, I wanted to hear more!!! Super job!
Would like to know about any Knit Shows in AU, that might be good to vend at?
Good Cheers!
Gita
Mr. Reidy,
You have provoked a thread on Knittinghelp.com regarding the implement with a crochet hook at one end and a knitting needle on the other.
-It has been posted that a “crohook” has a crochet hook at BOTH ends.
-It has been posted that what you describe is a “croneedle”.
-From what vendor have you ordered the thing?
I enjoy your podcast.
Joni Davis
Asheville, North Carolina
Hi David!
I’ve just discovered knitting podcasts and am presently working my way through all of yours. Since it is one of my favorites, I dole it out in small portions so that it will last awhile–like fine chocolate!
I’ve been knitting since I was a small girl and actually, I’ve never known any male knitters so, I especially enjoy your perspective on a knitting life. Your observations have given me much to think about–even on such mundane subjects as the search for a knitting bag. Who knew?
I also enjoy the little bits of side noise that are a part of your podcasts–that is, the cat sounds. I prefer to own dogs but, having lived with cats, I can appreciate how you must be content to reside in their world. I’m looking forward to the “Cat Spit Felting” show.
Thanks for being such an entertaining knitting companion!
Trish
A Maryland Knitter
ps. Your fair isle is amazing! The color choices are extremely handsome so, please, no more self deprecating chatter about your sense of color.
Hi Dave, I’m an old knitter from way back knitting since I was 5. Born and raised in the UK and living now in beautiful Wisconsin USA. I have to say that HANDS DOWN !! you have the very best knitting podcast on the www and I’ve listened to countless podcasts. Many thanks for your comprehensive approach, the music , the essays, the knitting news, book reviews, tips…..just everything. I’m very inspired with your Henry project and your handiwork is brilliant. My cat Sangha perks up when he hears kitty sounds coming from the speakers…welove to hear all your background goings on and most of all the companionship of your friendly voice. The Blue Mountains sound beautiful, please post some photos of your surroundings.Again, many thanks for a fantastic podcast…
Vivienne Rayner
Delafield, Wisconsin
David,
I have been knitting about 10 months, listening rabidly to podcasts for about 4 months and enjoying your lovely voice for 3 months. Your podcast is the perfect combination of chatting with a friend and being guided by a teacher. I love your essays and look forward to Monday when I can hear about your week, Henry and the cats. Thank you!
David:
I’m preparing to order an Addi Turbo Cro-hook. Please let me know if you still need a Cro-hook. I’d like to send it to you as a thank-you gift for the fine work you do in your podcast.
Thanks,
Leah
Mesa, Arizona
Hi David,
I found you through a number of knitting blogs. Hope you don’t mind me contacting you.
I am a Melbourne artist, and I’m creating an installation for an art exhibition for the 2008 Midsumma Festival.
I’m looking for Melbourne based knitters who would like to collaborate on this project with me and my artist partner Justine Wallace.
In a nutshell, I am creating a satirical political installation that involves 50cm high models of world recognisable architectural structures, such as Big Ben, Empire State Building, Dubai Clock Tower, Taj Mahal, etc and I need clothing knitted for these structures, such as jumpers, beanies, scarves, ear muffs, etc. As I’m not a knitter, I’d love to work with queer folk that would like to create these gems.
Would you be able to help me source people (preferably in Melbourne) that may be interested in participating in this project.
Please email me if you can, names of Melbourne based GLBT knitting groups that you know of. Or, if anyone else is reading this on the blog, please contact me.
I look forward to hearing from you.
cheers
Danielle Karalus
0402218073
danielle@madman.com.au
Hi David,
I’ve been listening to you for awhile and love the pleasant, friendly at home feel of your podcast. I imagine I am sitting on the couch behind you while you podcast with the cats on either side of me sleeping while I knit.
You and Brenda (Dayne)have given me a cozy happy home with everything in place, a garden, sometimes raining and cold outside, hot tea in the pot and if I am lucky freshly baked scones on the side. Thank you for this cozy place where I feel at home.
I was wondering are you considering attending Stitches West 2008 in Santa Clara, California?
Cheers,
Patricia
Hi David,
I’ve been listening to your podcast for a few months last year, and being a fellow Aussie knitter, I must say it’s so nice to listen to another Aussie accent. So many of the resources I access are from overseas and I sometimes feel that there aren’t any others like me around in these parts!!! I’ve had troubles with i-Tunes for over 2 months (arrggghhh), and I’m looking forward to downloading and listening to what I’ve missed. Your podcast was the first thing I searched for and subscribed to when I got up and running again!!! Keep it up, your podcast is wonderful!!!
Bec
Hi David, so glad to find your podcast. I live in San Francisco, CA in the USA. I travel to the Blue Mtns every year to teach dance classes. I stay at a friends house in Hazelbrook and I must say that it is my favorite place on Earth! I’m so happy to hear you talk about local places and events there. makes me feel like I’m visiting.
I have a simple question: I’ve started listening to the podcasts from the beginning and I’m wondering if there is an archive of links and notes for the earlier casts? I’ve looked around the site but don’t seem to be able to find it.
Many thanks!
Carolena
Hi, David,
I’m sitting in Roswell, Georgia, USA, checking out your bogs page, and wondering when your next podcast will appear, as it seems you’ve been away from us for awhile. I’ve been listening to you for a few months now, and love your podcasts, and I may be in withdrawls. I hope that all is well over there in AU. Enjoyed watching the tennis Open last week.
Hope to hear from you soon ;-),
Ellie
Hi David,
This is my first year teaching and second year knitting. Your podcasts have been my therapy! I’ve been listening to you for about the past year. I look forward to listening to your relaxing podcast each Saturday afternoon to get away from thinking about teaching so much. Thanks for creating 30-40 minutes of peace in my hectic life! I’m in Washington State (in the same town where Knit Picks is located, actually!) Any advice to a young, first year teacher and knitter?
Hello! I just came across your podcast this week and have really been enjoying listening to all the back episodes. It’s been so cold here (in London, Ontario) this week that really, the only thing to do besides homework is hide inside with podcasts, tea, and knitting. Thanks for some great audio entertainment! =D
Hey sir
nice site
Hello David. I just caught up to the current episode of your podcast. It is wonderful! I have enjoyed each one. I have been knitting for years but mainly knit with lace or texture not color. Your pictures of Henry have inspired me to add some fair isle to my queue. I am knittingkrazy on ravelry.
Jennifer
Haymarket, VA
Hi Readers,
I have not listened to the podcasts, I have just read the posts you have all made and the comments you have made on his ability to articulate and his friendly voice.
I was a student of Davids and he was my favourite teacher. I probably never showed the respect I had for him though, I was never a good student, and that is a major understatement. I thoroughly enjoyed his classes, but I made things extremely difficult for him.
Well I’ll get to the point. I just wanted you all to know that all your comments about him are true, he is truly friendly and highly intellectual. And I just wanted him to know that I respect him in the utmost.
Cheers for putting up with me for all those years.
I wanted to leave you a brief note to let you know how much I have enjoyed listening to your podcast. My work requires quite a bit of travel every month, and I usually save up the editions from each week and listed on the plane. However, I have become so addicted that I struggle to longer wait for my monthly trips. Thanks…..and I look forward to more!
Just found your podcast today and have already listened to the first 3. I will be subscribing for sure. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put into your shows. Hope you get lots of time for your own knitting.
Cheers, Susie (Kent, England)
Hi David:
I discovered your podcast on ITunes a few months ago, and subscribed and started downloading current and archived podcasts. I listened to a new one and then the first few and now I am skipping around according to what seems interesting.
I particularly like your podcast because the pace is relaxing and at the same time varied, which is what I am looking for as I make my way through dishes or chores, or when I sit and knit. The music is nicely interspersed so that you don’t feel it goes on for too long and I appreciate your music choices. The pace in general gives enough time for each feature, but changes at just the right time to avoid boredom. And I like to hear the cats’ activities in the background, making their own music.
I also really like to hear about the garden and the creatures in the yard, and life in Australia. I love travel, real and armchair, and it’s great to do some armchair traveling to a part of the world I haven’t been able to visit yet.
I look forward to working my way through both the current and the older podcasts.
Cheers,
Kathleen
Burlington, Vermont, USA