Start A Knit/Crochet Podcast

Posted by
Kelly Gilliam
May 26, 2006

I love the idea of podcasting, and how podcasting has brought together, quite literally, a world of knitters, crocheters and fibre artists. I've thought of recording my own podcast, but until the point where I actually feel comfortable doing it (if indeed the time ever does come) I've instead been just as happy listening to other people.

While I like to think myself as fairly technologically proficient, the thought of a podcast sort of frightens me. Not the actual act of recording and audio editing as much as the idea of making it usable on the web.

To make this prospect a little less frightening to others who wish to start their own knitting, crochet, or fibre arts podcasts, I've discussed the idea of starting up your own with three knitting podcasters: Brenda Dayne, Pixie, and Lisa Akers. Here's what they had to say.

The site which seemed most highly recommended was Podcast411.com. The site has excellent information, however I find the design of the site hampers in finding the information that you're looking for. I suggest using the handy search feature located at the top of the web page. Another web page that I happened upon was PodcastExpert.com. It's a directory of free articles containing information on just about every subject you could want information on in regards to podcasting.

As for equipment, one of the spectacular things about podcasting is that you don't need the state of the art equipment in order to have a good sounding show. Equipment used by the podcasters I talked to ranged from a Eurorack analog mixer to a simple headset microphone bought at an electronics shop. The basics you need however to make your own fibre arts podcast is a computer, a microphone, and some software.

All the podcasters I talked with suggested using Audacity and Castblaster. Audacity is a free program that allows you to edit and encode your audio files to a range of sound formats. Castblaster is a podcasting suite, which records and integrates different audio sounds. Castblaster is around $50 US, but you can download a free trial copy that allows you to record up to 10 minutes.

Last but not least, a few tips from the podcasters themselves, things to think about when recording your shows to get the best quality possible.

"The most important thing for anyone is to remember that when you put yourself out for public review, you will get as much criticism as you do praise. Don't take it personally. The critics sometimes have something that will make your podcast better. Sometimes, they just want to be mean. It's not you they are criticizing. It's the podcast, or maybe

it's the topic. I try to keep in mind that life is hard for everyone. Some just show it more than others. It's hard to hear someone saying they don't like what you do, but it's good for us to hear other viewpoints. Take what you can from it, and move on." - Lisa Akers from Musings of a Peaceful Knitter

"When you record, put your self in a very silent room, close the door and turn off any printers or machines that make any sort of hum, turn off everything but lights! You

don't want the microphone too close as your breathing may come across, but it is good to be about 8 or so inches away. Also, try saving out your audio files at different bit rates [...] I save my files out at the bit rate of 32kbps and set to mono." - Pixie from Pixie Purls Podcast