Interweave’s Knitting Daily TV has finally arrived! WEBS is thrilled to be one of the major sponsors of this exciting new PBS show!

The website is now live and full of information about each episode. Interweave purchased the rights to Shay Pendray’s Needlearts Studio and completely revamped the show. Hosted by Eunny Jang, Kim Werker, Liz Gipson and Shay Pendray, KDTV covers a wide variety of fiber crafts, although knitting is certainly the main focus. They all did such an amazing job!

There are thirteen total episodes in this first season and cover topics from “The Sweater”, “Knitting Lace”, “Cables” and so much more. Each show features segments that are geared towards the show’s topic and include things like “Getting Started” or a “You Made It” where the host and a guest discuss and highlight a single project made and interpreted by different people. There’s also the “Progressive Project” in which a project is covered step by step from start to finish. There are lots of great tips and tricks and general information.

As I’ve blogged about previously, I had the opportunity to tape several segments of the show. I have a set of the DVDs sitting here at my house and I have to be perfectly honest – I haven’t had the courage to watch them yet!

I know, I am being ridiculous. The first time we recorded the podcast it was torture listening to myself back. Now, it’s not big deal and I can honestly assess when I’ve done a reasonable job or where things could have been done better. I have no doubt that will be the case with these shows, but it’s still intimidating!

For those of you right here in Western Mass (actually, Massachusetts in general) neither of the PBS stations (Boston & Springfield) are carrying the show. Although there is a wee little piece of me that is just an itty, bitty bit relieved, the reality is the shows are super and deserve air time. It’s important to note that PBS programming is not within Interweave’s control. Each PBS station can independently decide if they are going to carry the show. If you want the show in your area, now is the time to write a letter, send and email or make a phone call. Here is the contact information for Springfield and Boston. You can get more information on this at the Knitting Daily TV website.

Also on the website you will find many of the patterns that are demonstrated and discussed on the show, along with some show clips, etc. Be sure to check it out!
The highlight of the day today was an impromptu visit from Marianne Adams, owner of The Yarn Boutique in Lafayette, CA. She and her husband Bob are on an East Coast Adventure and made time to stop by for a visit. Marianne & I have been friends for awhile now and although we chat on email and such, we only see each other at tradeshows, which is far from conducive for socializing in any meaningful way. This was such a nice treat and the first time I’ve been able to meet her husband. I only wish my day hadn’t been so hectic, but it was great to catch up, if even for only a little bit. I’ve never had the chance to visit her store, but if any of you find yourself in her area, be sure to check it out!
I also owe a shout out to Katkoe on Ravelry. She has a great avatar featuring stitch markers she crafted herself. I commented to her that I loved them and she was nice enough to send me a pair! I was so touched! There is nothing better than surprise gifts:

These so epitomize my knitting, it’s almost NOT funny! It is a good reminder for me that is only yarn and it is only knitting and it is NOT the end of the world (even if sometimes it feels that way). Thanks Katkoe!!!

Kathy

P.S. For any of you who have Facebook pages, I have finally set-up my own page and would love to add some more friends!

Steve and I are just back from a quick road trip to Cleveland. What’s in Cleveland you ask? Well, besides one of the easiest airports I’ve ever navigated, good food and nice spring weather, there is Beachwood Studios. What is Beachwood Studios? It’s a major production facility for PBS. Why, you may ask, were we there? A few years earlier and my boys’ would have asked if we were visiting Clifford The Big Red Dog or going to Dragonland with Max and Emmie. This trip was all fiber related – we were there for the inaugural taping of Interweave Press’ new show – Knitting Daily TV. Knitting Daily TV is the new incarnation of Shay Pendray’s Needlearts Studio, which has been on the air for several years. Interweave has taken over production of the show and is evolving it into KDTV. WEBS is one of the underwriters and we were asked to participate in several segments. So with lots of work in advance and some crazy last minute knitting (thanks Kirsten, thanks Melissa), Steve and I ventured off to Cleveland.

It was a blast (I can say that now) but it was also very stressful. Steve refused to participate in any on-air segments, so I was on my own. Fortunately, each segment included a host – I got to work with Liz Gipson, editor of Handwoven Magazine and Shay Pendray herself. I participated in 7 different segments within the 13 episodes that were being taped this week. I had lots of props and such, which all had to be set-up in advance in the “green room” (it really is green – look at the walls in the background).

I have to also say a big, huge thanks to Mary, who packed up everything I needed for the show, in bags, labeled with which segment they were for and what she had included. I had everything I needed and it was really, really, REALLY easy to set-up my segments. Mary rocks!

I also had to have seven different outfits – one for each segment – which would not normally be an issue since I’m a bit of a clothes horse, but PBS has rules – rules that basically excluded my entire wardrobe (no black or white allowed). Also, no big prints, polka dots or skinny stripes. . .no red, preferably no pastels, nothing too warm as the set can be hot, but no short sleeves or sleeveless because they can be “unnattractive”. Plus, whatever I wore had to be able to have a microphone attached to it. I did figure it out and did not have to appear naked (I’m sure that would’ve broken another PBS rule, although it was not clearly stated).

Knitting Daily TV will air this July. If you previously were able to get Shay’s show in your area, there’s a very good chance you will get KDTV. If you didn’t, now may be the time to get all of your fiber (and non-fiber friends for that matter) to contact your local PBS affiliate and encourage them to pick up the show. Interweave has done a great job of restructuring the show, hosts include not only Liz and Shay, but also Eunny Yang and Kim Werker. They have all sorts of fun topics and interesting guests (if I do say so myself). I”ll pass more information along as it becomes available and if you aren’t a regular subscriber to knittingdaily.com, go there now and sign-up!

This was an incredibly nerve-wracking experience, but I am so glad we did it. If you don’t challenge yourself, you’ll never know what you are capable of (or so they say). What really reassured me that this was the right thing to do, was this sign on the inside of the door to the elevator at our hotel:



Seriously, where have you ever seen a sheep sign on the inside of an elevator door before? Steve and I were both a bit stunned and tickled at the same time, to say the least.

Kathy

P.S. Don’t forget – Louisa Harding at WEBS tomorrow starting at 5:00pm! Don’t worry if you can’t be there right at 5 – pop in when you can. I saw Louisa in Cleveland and she’s really looking forward to her visit with us!

P.P.S. Be sure to listen to this week’s Ready, Set, Knit! radio show/podcast on Saturday. Before Steve and I left we interviewed the Yarn Harlot and Melissa filled in for Pixie! It was a fun show – enjoy!