So I am going to put the blame about my watching the Grocery Girls squarely on my oldest son and his wife or better yet, their dogs. Here's how it happened.
There aren't many things I can do to help either of my sons or their respective wives because they are all quite self-sufficient. But dog sitting is something I am asked to do from time to time for my oldest and his wife; in fact, I spent two occasions watching their beagles this summer. The girl dogs, Sticky and Gussy, have been rescued from puppy mills because they had grown too old to breed. These two are now something like 9 or 10 years old, meaning they really don't require much. If I feed them twice daily and let them out in the morning and walk them in the evening, and give them some attention during the day, they are very happy. This means I am not very busy as I dog-sit.
This son does own a television set, but it has no antenna, making getting any signal difficult at best and generally, impossible. He and his wife, if and when they do watch TV, use Netflix or YouTube to get content. So when I am there I am left to do the same.
That is how I was driven to find something of interest to me. While noodling around I found the Grocery Girls knitting podcast. The Grocery Girls are sisters, Jodi and Tracie, who work by day in the family IGA grocery store located in Edmonton, Alberta, and knit, crochet and sew by night. Both are busy moms of teenagers and young adult children. I found them in August when Craftsy sent me a Facebook message about these two doing a podcast for Craftsy called Off the Needles. I watched a couple of those podcasts and then started looking into the duo to learn more about them.
Grocery Girls works because Jodi and Tracie are so comfortable with each others, as one would expect from sisters. Tracie, the older of the two, is the more experienced knitter. She loves gray and pink colours and uses a lot of cashmere blend yarns in whatever she is knitting. Jodi, the younger, came to knitting in the last couple of years, but has really taken to it. Splatter or speckled print yarns and anything that sparkles gets her attention. She also displays items she has crocheted like baskets or slippers as well as knitting totes she sews. Her Etsy shop, Mrs. Brown Bags, can give you a sense of her sewing skills.
For me their podcasts feels like a knit night with friends. These two will talk about basically anything, at times getting downright X-rated (Pam, Tena, Dana, Susan and I have never gone that far.) But their humour is what sucked me in; they are constantly cracking up one another. Craftsy has tamped down much of that in Off the Needles, Craftsy also holds the sisters to a 30 minute time frame. On Grocery Girls the podcasts can run as long as two hours but are generally somewhere between an hour to an hour and one-half long. That makes them perfect for knitting.
Tracie and Jodi talk about Canadian designers, but they also have introduced me to Canadian wool, and Canadian yarny events. In fact, they will be at Knit City (a local yarn event in Vancouver) September 30 and October 1 at the PNE). I plan to stop by and who knows, I might show up in their next podcast!
Check out this blog post by Rena Kilganon where she talks how the GG podcasts have impacted her knitting in eight ways. I find the podcasts have caused a similar if not quite so profound reaction for me. Jodi and Tracie do inspire me and have introduced me to some new things in knitting. But as Rena says, their enthusiasm about the knitting process is so infectious one can't help but get excited again.
If you are nuts about all things woolly, check out the Grocery Girls on Youtube. They posted their 46th episode last week. If you too get addicted to them, blame it on the dogs or the lack of proper TV; these excuses have worked for me. Just don't hold me responsible because you have been warned, these podcasts are habit forming.
There aren't many things I can do to help either of my sons or their respective wives because they are all quite self-sufficient. But dog sitting is something I am asked to do from time to time for my oldest and his wife; in fact, I spent two occasions watching their beagles this summer. The girl dogs, Sticky and Gussy, have been rescued from puppy mills because they had grown too old to breed. These two are now something like 9 or 10 years old, meaning they really don't require much. If I feed them twice daily and let them out in the morning and walk them in the evening, and give them some attention during the day, they are very happy. This means I am not very busy as I dog-sit.
 |
| My on-again off-again wards in their usual mode. Sticky is on the left, Gussy, the right. |
This son does own a television set, but it has no antenna, making getting any signal difficult at best and generally, impossible. He and his wife, if and when they do watch TV, use Netflix or YouTube to get content. So when I am there I am left to do the same.
That is how I was driven to find something of interest to me. While noodling around I found the Grocery Girls knitting podcast. The Grocery Girls are sisters, Jodi and Tracie, who work by day in the family IGA grocery store located in Edmonton, Alberta, and knit, crochet and sew by night. Both are busy moms of teenagers and young adult children. I found them in August when Craftsy sent me a Facebook message about these two doing a podcast for Craftsy called Off the Needles. I watched a couple of those podcasts and then started looking into the duo to learn more about them.
 |
| The Grocery Girls, Jodi on the left and Tracie on the right. (photo from GG FB page) |
For me their podcasts feels like a knit night with friends. These two will talk about basically anything, at times getting downright X-rated (Pam, Tena, Dana, Susan and I have never gone that far.) But their humour is what sucked me in; they are constantly cracking up one another. Craftsy has tamped down much of that in Off the Needles, Craftsy also holds the sisters to a 30 minute time frame. On Grocery Girls the podcasts can run as long as two hours but are generally somewhere between an hour to an hour and one-half long. That makes them perfect for knitting.
 |
| Yes, they tape in Tracie's kitchen and sometimes show up in their pink or gray pajamas. (Photo from GG FB page) |
Tracie and Jodi talk about Canadian designers, but they also have introduced me to Canadian wool, and Canadian yarny events. In fact, they will be at Knit City (a local yarn event in Vancouver) September 30 and October 1 at the PNE). I plan to stop by and who knows, I might show up in their next podcast!
Check out this blog post by Rena Kilganon where she talks how the GG podcasts have impacted her knitting in eight ways. I find the podcasts have caused a similar if not quite so profound reaction for me. Jodi and Tracie do inspire me and have introduced me to some new things in knitting. But as Rena says, their enthusiasm about the knitting process is so infectious one can't help but get excited again.
If you are nuts about all things woolly, check out the Grocery Girls on Youtube. They posted their 46th episode last week. If you too get addicted to them, blame it on the dogs or the lack of proper TV; these excuses have worked for me. Just don't hold me responsible because you have been warned, these podcasts are habit forming.
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