Craft Month: Podcasts for the Knitter, Crocheter, Quilter, Woodworker, Beader, Jeweler... | Blogging, WordPress, Social Media, Web Publishing

Craft Month: Podcasts for the Knitter, Crocheter, Quilter, Woodworker, Beader, Jeweler…

By WordCast Team on 3 March 20111 Comment »

In working on my new ebook, Social Media for Crafters, I spent months searching for crafting podcasts. There are a lot of craft podcasts. While only a few last past the first year, there are some treasures to be found in their valuable archives.

The ones that last, some getting close to their 200th episode soon, are delightful and often have huge communities of fans. Their enthusiasm explodes across the audio and video waves as they share their passion for their craft.

CraftyPod with Sister Diane, aka Diane Gilleland, just released episode 126, Planning Your Holiday Season, with My Mom!. The Savvy Girls Knitting Podcast with knitting sisters Melanie and Deborah is delightful and entertaining. Their latest is By Force of Habit. The Knitmore Girls Podcast is up to episode 141 with Cardboard cutout.

Some of the podcasts have a theme beyond the craft such as parenting, recycling, and saving money. It's a Purl, Man is a podcast about “a guy from Boston with yarn issues,” a fun and lively show. CogKNITive calls itself “a Knitting + Psychology Podcast.” Quilts ‘n Kids combines kids and quilting. Math4Knitters is unique as it is published regularly in the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and focuses on knitting patterns and craft projects that focus on the specific techniques involved. Splintered Board Podcast is a podcast dedicated to woodworking as a newcomer to the hobby, teaching fans how not to do as he has done. Ravelry’s Torah Threads is a combination podcast Torah study group for fiber artists hosted by a female rabbi and fiber enthusiast who spins, knits, cooks, and farms and shares her passions with those of like mind.

If you are a knitter, crocheter and yarn lover, you can get lost for days in the list of podcasts featured on Ravelry. Some are podcasts themselves where the discussion is hosted on Ravelry, and others are hosted offsite with a Ravelry community discussion page. I’ve included many of these in the list below.

I found podcasts on quilting, sewing, woodworking, stitching and embroidery, crochet, scrapbooking, and a lot of general crafting podcasts. Most are audio, but there are a lot of video podcasts and video channels on YouTube and other video hosting services. Video is great for showing tips and techniques. While a few are professionally presented with photographers and videoographers, like Alex Anderson Quilts Podcast and ThreadBanger D.I.Y Fashion & Style, most are fun and informal and still of great value even if the audio and video quality might be lacking a bit.

A trip through YouTube opens a world of learning. I wish YouTube had been around when I was struggling to learn how to tat from my 83 year old grandmother-in-law!

Many crafters release video and audio content on their site randomly. These don’t qualify as podcasts in the strictest sense. I tend to think of them as “specials” compared to podcasts which are regularly scheduled programs. Podcasts are a multimedia form of publishing, creating audio or video tutorials and episodes.

Podcasts are another way of building a strong online community and audience. Crafters are highly visual people, so video podcasts are extremely popular, and, if done right, are excellent to help guide the viewer through a particular process.

List of Crafty Podcasts

The following are video and audio podcast samples from around the crafting industry. Some of these are popular and updated regularly. Others were stopped for a variety of reasons, but they still hold valuable interviews, tips, and techniques.

Instructions on how to subscribe to a specific podcast are found on their websites. If you wish to interact with the podcasters and their community, pay close attention to their recommendations on how to proceed. Some host their own sites with open comments. Others host their podcasts on libsyn, PodBean, and others, and the conversation happens on their Facebook, Ravelry, BurdaStyle, or other social networking community.
podcast

Quilting Podcasts

Knitting, Crochet, and Yarn Lusting Podcasts

Ravelry Podcasts and Podcast Communities for Fiber Lovers

Scrapbooking Podcasts

Beading and Jewelry Podcasts

Sewing and Stitching Podcasts

Woodworking, Woodcrafts, and Workshop Work Podcasts

Crafts in General Podcasts

This is just a sampling of the many ingenius crafting podcasts out there. I’m sure I missed a few. Do you have a favorite?

Post your thoughts in the comments below, or on Facebook and Twitter!

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The WordCast Team brings you the news, guides, and tips on web publishing, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, and more through our news blog, WordCast Podcast, WordCast Conversations, Plugin Picks, and Copyright 2.0 podcasts.

One Comment

Jesse says:

March 7, 2011 at 11:11 pm

The amount of media available for crafters is actually… very surprising. I didn’t expect this one at all. At least the crafters will never be short on options.

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