Episode 3: Encourage Better Podcast
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Today’s knitting podcast is short and sweet and welcomes in The Knitting Season: AUTUMN!
Our time together will go by so fast, almost as quickly as the time it takes to knit this free knitting pattern I am sharing with you!
Want the free pattern?
Below is the podcast transcript:
Aloha, friend, and welcome to encourage better knitting adventures in Alaska podcast. You may be wondering, am I in the right place? Is this kind of podcast for me? If knitting is your go-to creative refuge, the place you craft your best self, but some days stitching solo on the sofa feels a bit empty and lackluster: Keep this podcast going! Encourage Better takes you to Kodiak Island, Alaska, THE knitting adventure capital of the world. Okay, well, that's just my take on it and not 100% official, but it's still completely accurate! Trek up mountain peaks, stand along the shore, and romp among the forest of spruce trees all through your earbuds. Knitting tips, tricks, and tales every episode, Encourage Better is the must listen to podcasts to kickstart your knitting mojo and broaden your smile. So welcome and enjoy today's episode.
Well, aloha again from Kodiak Island, my friend. Thanks for choosing to spend these next few minutes with me. Today's episode, I'll share a little info on Kodiak, the nature of what life is like, generally speaking on this massive Island...you know, Kodiak is second only to Big Island of Hawaii and the 79th or 80th-- I can't remember one of those two-- largest islands in the world. And there are a ton of islands! I think there's over 2000 islands in the world. So we are a good size. We're actually bigger than Puerto Rico, if you've ever been there and Cypress too. Our Island is small in number if you are counting humans, but our wildlife, on the other hand is abundant! I'm really proud and awed by where I'm currently calling home and you all send lots of questions to me. So I'll try to share a bit about Kodiak sometimes in the episodes.
It really does feel like fall today here in Kodiak. My fireplace is crackling and popping, but I snuck into a quieter spot to record this. And I'm kind of wishing I was back by the fireplace. I just didn't know how you'd feel about those noisy pops and crackles. Ah, fall is a peak knitting season! Don't you find that so many knitters are feeling the cooler air and crispness turns on the full-throttle knitting lever? Now, for me, it's slightly different because where I live now, highly contrasting to the tropical islands of my past, is a temperate area. Some folks actually think that it's like a temperate rain forest or zone, but I've lived in Sitka, Alaska Baranoff and Japonski Islands, and that my friend is an actual temperate rainforest! But temperate, where we are, is simply meaning the climate or area doesn't get really big temperature swings, none like my crazy Chuchi Wanda's mood swings kind, if you're thinking about swings! And in the summer, we may have some sweltering days of, you know, unbelievable 65 degrees further amazement of 70 degrees. For my Celcius friends, I'm being slightly sarcastic with those Fahrenheit temperatures. Those actually translate to about 18 to 21 degrees Celsius. So no 98 degree temperatures by the pool, like in St. Thomas, for sure, but the temperature doesn't plummet the other way either. So if you're thinking igloos and polar bears for where I am, I should adjust that thermostat setting a bit for you. Now in winter, we do get snow. Our mountains are beautifully adorned with blankets of white and even here by the ocean, we will get it too. But average winter temperatures are 35 to 40 degrees. So all that to say, I'm not only in the mood to knit sweaters and wooly gear year-round, I am wearing them year-round too! But this time of year really does tug at those needles. And because of that, I'd like to share with you now a piece that I wrote recently, I hope you enjoy it.
Summer slipped to Autumn gently. And Autumn has glowed in her most beautiful way, giving golden moments of joy, but also stealing minutes and hours of our light. Mornings I used to wake seeing sun streaming in my back yard windows, and afternoons where the brilliant strong beams made you squint- - - INDOORS- - - have changed. The sun now waits until the kids open the door to head to school before making an appearance. And seems to be tired earlier in the evening, needing to tuck in sooner, too fatigued from a summer of late night settings. The feeling of crisp air has me happily humming by the fireplace, even now as I write to you, but also furrows my brow as I look at the calendar, trying to plot how many more open ocean kayaking adventures I have left before the seas embrace their season of whitecaps and wind chops. The Farmer’s Market will have different produce soon. The lovely beefsteak tomatoes I ate with abandon for breakfast, lunch and dinner…and snacks in between!…will soon be replaced by gourds and pumpkins. Just last week I purchased the first local apples, small and sweet and tart! I look forward to seeing the pumpkins, like old friends reminding me of cosy times curled up on the couch reading under a blanket while the afternoon sky over the water grows dark.
Pumpkins mean tucking in together, soups and pies, friendship and slow moments inside thinking of late evening hikes to the peak of any and all mountains available. Penning snail mail at the breakfast nook table looking over my shoulder to check if another log needs to be added to keep the house warm like the summer just gone. Pumpkins mean together under the same roof talking softly and laughing loudly, wondering if I should knit mittens or socks, and pulled back to a well read book and oddly feeling the need to deep-clean a room- - -and scratching my head wondering if I wasn’t just here in the spring doing the same thing… Pumpkins mean sharing, having enough to brighten someone else’s day, but not enough to waste. Little orange and gold reminders of good stewardship and hard work, and luck and blessings, and Thank God the weather never got too hot or too cold too early or too late. Pumpkins mean an opportunity to give to you. And so I shall. And then I am off to enjoy the last beefsteak tomato and savor the taste of summer one bite longer...
You can see the images of the pumpkin's as well as me hiking with them, or rather a pitstop pose at the waterfall with one on my website. And you can get the free pattern to make some for yourself or to give to friends and neighbors. The link is in the show notes or can be found at encouragebetter.com/blog/givingpumpkins.
Well, I've kept you long enough. I appreciate this time with you. I really do. If you have a moment when I'm done chatting, and if you were enjoying this podcast, would you leave a review? And a rating of five stars is always my goal. So if you can't leave that kind of rating, why not email me first? You may be on to some way that I could improve this podcast that I've not considered. I know I keep this simple, there's no fancy musical intro or outro. That's just my style. See, I can't imagine this podcast as anything other than a simple stolen moment to connect as friends, you and I, as if we're meeting up for some romp in the woods in real life. And I seriously doubt there'd be any musical fanfare announcing my arrival on the scene or trumpeting my stage exit. I love that--I absolutely love that--in other podcasts, but for me right now, I'm just about simplicity. But definitely give me constructive encouragement for improving. If you have none and love this, consider subscribing too! It'd be such a boost to my creative energy, knowing that you look forward to this podcast's weekly update. So until next time, remember you, my friend were created to create, and whether you choose to make something today or you wish you could, it doesn't change your value. You are incredibly valuable simply by taking the breath you just did. So keep that in mind. You're not a robot here to produce things. You are amazing! And I'm so glad you're here with me now. So until next time... Talk again soon.
