Smart Podcast, Trashy Books Podcast

255. Finding Community in the Things You Love: Elyse Interviews Super Karen from the Knit One, Geek Two Podcast

Elyse and Sarah interview Super Karen, librarian, knitter, romance reader, and co-host of the Knit One, Geek Two Podcast. We talk about childhood fandoms, and the fandoms we love currently, like geek culture, knitting, and romance. We discuss gate keeping, internal snobbery, and the welcoming joy of finding people who love what you love, and are eager to talk with you about it. We also talk about Rhinebeck, and there’s some mild geeking out about knitting, knitting things that are geeky, and geeky knitting. Plus, we learn what Rhinebeck sweaters and cosplay might have in common. Bonus: you’ll hear Elyse’s embarrassing comic book shopping story.

Warning: mention of baby vomit and poo.

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Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

Knitters, take cover, because here come links!

And! The RWA Signing! July 29, 2017, from 3:00 – 5:00pm! 

Hundreds of romance authors in one place, and all proceeds of book sales go to literacy organizations. Some of your favorite authors are likely to be there, like Alyssa Cole, Tessa Dare, Courtney Milan, Julie James, Cecilia Tan, Beverly Jenkins, and Jill Shalvis. And, for the first time, I’ll be signing, too – yay!

The signing is at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort in Pacific Hall. Saturday, July 29th from 3-5pm. And if you come and find me (I’m in the Ws and we have all the A/C) and mention the podcast, I have a special sticker for you – if you’d like one.

Get all the details at:  https://www.rwa.org/literacy.

 

 

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This Episode's Music

Our music is provided each week by Sassy Outwater, whom you can find on Twitter @SassyOutwater.

This is from Caravan Palace, and the track is called “Dramophone.”

You can find their two album set with Caravan Palace and Panic on Amazon and iTunes.

And you can learn more about Caravan Palace on Facebook, and on their website.

Transcript

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This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks.

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  1. KtB says:

    This podcast hit all my catnips, geek/knitting/romance. I have a serious lady-crush on y’all.
    But I just must point out my favorite moment . . .

    “Angel pubes”

    You guys rock my world. I appreciate the yarn culture discussion, but I admit with pride that I am an acrylic yarn girl. It’s mostly because I am one of those unfortunate people that gets a rash from wool. Like Leonard on the “Big Bang Theory” itchy rash. Which means even if I knit with it, my fingers hurt! All those pretty yarns, out of reach . . . .

  2. Demi says:

    OMG. There is Doctor Who themed yarn. OMG. OMG. I need a budget specifically for yarn.

  3. Christa says:

    I had a very bad start with knitting, as My family moved when I was 9 and we had not started on handcrafts yet at my old school in the big city. My new fellow pupils were already knitting mittens… So for me knitting (and nearly any other handcraft) is linked to memories of degradation, horrible grades, sweat and hurting hands. My grandmother and mother tried to help by forcing me to knot in the summer vacations – but it never took.

    Listening to your podcast was maybe the first time that I had a tiny spark of interest in maybe doing it again. Which is pretty close to a miracle.

    I have a good friend and fellow romance reader who after an accident could – for a whole – no longer read – and switched to knitting. Now she does both.

    I love me some good amnesia stories. Here come my two favorite male heroes with amnesia. Both are not romances – but I still like them, and want to share.

    First is the The Black Stallion Revolts, book 9 in the Black Srallion series. After a plane crash hero Alex has amnesia and believes he is a fugitive from the law. And the amnesia gives him the chance TO FALL IN LOVE WITH AND TAME THE BLACK STALLION AGAIN. So maybe it IS a romance, after all. This is probably my favorite volume of the series, I have read it many times, and I am the proud owner of the graphic novel.

    When I was at the commercial college we had to do a presentation in French on a dramatic writer, and had to chose a name from a list. I had the great luck to chose Jean Anouilh, and went on to read most of his oeuvre. And my favorite play by him was Le Voyageur Sans Bagage (Traveller Without Luggage). It is the story of a man who lost his memory in the war and is reunited with his family after years of absence. He realizes that he does not at all like the young man he used to be (and does not remember) and after a while feels that he starts to be like that again, because of his being with his terrible family again. Luckily for him, and not all that typical for a play by Anouilh, he is able to flee and be again the gentle person he was after the war.

  4. Christa says:

    I wish there was a correction button 🙁 Writing long comments on the smartphone is not a good idea. Sorry for the typos.

  5. Patricia says:

    Speaking of amnesia, Julia Quinn’s latest book (The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband) features a hero who’s missing the last several months of his memory. He also has other side effects of head trauma like fatigue and splitting headaches but not enough to make him, you know, unsexy. And it’s mostly set in British-controlled New York during the Revolutionary War, which I loved since I’ve been listening to the Hamilton soundtrack quite a lot lately.

  6. Ellen says:

    Okay so hero amnesia
    Miranda Neville’s The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton has one. She finds him and lies about who he is because she feels like he ruined her season.
    Mary Jo Putney’s Loving a Lost Lord has a duke with amnesia helping a genteelly poor woman by lending to be her fiance and sheepherding as he tries to work out who he is.

  7. Crystal says:

    I’m not a knitter (tried, never got the knack), but I am an avid cross-stitch geek. The viewpoint of how inclusive and friendly the crafting community tends to be is spot-on. I was actually in a craft store today and had an experience that exemplified it. I got up to the line with the supplies for my newest project and an older lady that was in front of me offered to let me go on since she was waiting for her ride to pick her up. I confirmed with her that she was serious, and thanked her for her consideration, and then she offered me her phone, since she had a 25% off coupon on there and was offering it for me to use. I thanked her yet again, declared her the patron saint of discount aida and embroidery floss, and gleefully got $5 off. As I turned to her to give her her phone back, another lady that she had let scooch on ahead took the phone to use the coupon as well. So it was that this nice lady had her phone basically passed down the line, to the amusement of the lady working the register. And so discounts and perfectly lovely social interactions were shared by all.

    Also, I can’t speak for geeky knitting, but the geek cross-stitch game is STRONG. Among my other projects, I’ve done a stabby unicorn quote ( “I Wish I Were A Unicorn So That I Could Stab Stupid People With My Head”, gave it to my mom for Christmas a few years back), a Hey Girl Ryan Gosling (my sister’s Christmas present one year), Audrey Hepburn (I’m suddenly realizing that my sister gets some good cross-stitches for Christmas), a Firefly Quote (“I Swear By My Pretty Flowered Bonnet I Will End You”), and I just finished a seriously adorable Baby Groot.

  8. Stefanie Magura says:

    Heroes with Amnesia must include the hero from Random Harvest who gets Amnesia from PTSD after serving in World War I and after regaining his memory can’t remember his experiences during Amnesia which including falling in love, getting married, and rebuilding his life. I have only seen the movie and several times at that, but it is also a book written by the author of Goodbye Mr. Chips, both of which I have yet to read. I have however also seen the 1930’s version of Chips. I’m half afraid I will read Random Harvest and not enjoy it half as much as I do the movie. Incidentally, you might get a cnance to watch it this month on TCM since Ronald Colman and his dreamy voice are starring this month. TCM always has a star every month except August when each day has a star.

  9. Stefanie Magura says:

    On topic, I have a friend who I think knits or crochets or cross stiches. It shows my lack of crafty things that I’m not even sure what she does. Lol. Anyway, I’m not sure how she does it if it is the first thing, because she is losing her sight. I can’t even thread a needle, and every independent living class for the blind seems to want to teach me. So while this podcast in interesting, I really don’t think I could do anything crafty like that.

  10. sandy l says:

    I am an avid knitter. After knitting with wool and wool/lace blends, it is hard for me to knit with acrylic. However, acrylic is great for softies and baby items. And it is perfect for prayer shawls which may need to be washed in hot water, depending on the environment. I also discovered that Red Heart, although scratchy to knit, softens incredibly in the washer and is perfect for those in hospitals.

    Although Rhinebeck is a major fiber fest, Md Sheep & Wool is also a good fiber fest. And the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest, a much smaller venue, is also great.

    Thanks for interviewing Karen. I enjoyed listening to her.

  11. YotaArmai says:

    When you were talking about gate keeping vs inclusiveness I imagined two competing kids treehouses. One with the ladder pulled up and a “No girls” sign. The other with open doors and windows and lots of people all geeking out over their favorite stuff. Eventually all the no girls people realize they are bored and come over for the excellent snacks at the inclusive treehouse.

  12. Teee says:

    Another book on amnesia in a hero – Fade to Black by Amanda Stevens. Doesn’t remember the past five years and now has a kid and he is an ex-special agent that is kidnapped…

  13. ShellyE says:

    Loved the geek culture and gate-keeper mentality part of the discussion. A friend (and neighbor when growing up) and I had this discussion a few years ago. He and his two brothers were into all the boy stuff, GI Joes, transformers and had all the action figures. I had all the ‘girl’ stuff. The two younger brothers and I would get together and swap stuff and play like crazy. The older brother (who was my age) had the gate-keeper mentality about all the things, including comic books, but also GI Joe. He didn’t want me to play with them because I was a ‘girl’ and didn’t know everything. When my friend and I were talking about it, we had the exact same discussion about insecurity and not being comfortable with oneself enough to encourage others and share and how that relates to success in life. Tom was always so willing to explain all the stuff to me and vice versa with the Barbie and She-Ra stuff. I think the insecurity thing nailed it. All three brothers were incredibly artistically talented, Tom and older brother at drawing. Older brother was too insecure and never did anything with his abilities, even though he had offers from Disney at age 17 to work for them! Tom, being very smart, went on to school to learning computer drawing (I know there’s a technical term probably, but I’m not remembering it) and has been a gamer animator for years. He started off animating on the Jimmy Neutron and Ice Age movies and went on to be an animator on the HALO and Destiny games. Their lives are drastically different, and I think it’s all in the attitude of being open to share with others vs insecurity. I don’t know if it’s true for all gate-keepers, but I like to think those that are willing to share their geekery are more successful, i.e. Smart Bitches 😉

  14. Teee says:

    Here is another guy amnesia story – The Groom Forgets by Liz Ireland, American Romance #683. Workaholic finance breaks off engagement and then has a car accident. The heroine helps him and doesn’t want to upset him, but he had broke it off and now she knows she is pregnant…

  15. Hayley says:

    That is a really good idea to make a crafter assassin. I’ve never tried knitting but I do know someone I went to school with that crochets and does a lot of crafts that involve the fiber arts so I do know a little bit about fiber arts. I do write for fun however. I think it would be a good book to have a craft assassin in it as well as a bit of romance in there.

  16. Emily A says:

    Loved this episode! Don’t knit, but loved listening! I so want the Hedwig wool, just because I love Hedwig!
    I also agreee with historicals “suddenly” being appealing happening to me.

  17. Teee says:

    Another hero amnesia book from my keeper pile – Remember Me by Danice Allen – a regency romance from Avon where the heroine’s carriage hits the hero and she nurses him back and he is afraid his returning memory will interfere with their developing relationship…

  18. Katie C. says:

    Shout out from a cozy mystery lover here! Sarah you forgot the other hallmark of a cozy mystery – pets!!!! In fact I have one to recommend – Murder, She Barked by Krista Davis, the first in her Paws and Claws series. It takes place in an entire town that converted itself to be pet friendly everywhere to make it a vacation destination – B & B’s designed for owners and pets, great walking areas, and restaurants where pet meals are cooked to order! I would love to visit a place like that.

    And I understand Elyse’s comments on cozy mysteries – they are sweet and wholesome and, well, cozy, but someone gets murdered! It really doesn’t make sense but I still really enjoy them. Maybe because in cozy mystery world you know nothing bad will happen to the main characters so it safe to get attached to them whereas in other mysteries bad things can happen to the MCs??? One thing I am not a big fan of in cozy mysteries is what feels like the obligatory love triangle.

  19. Christine says:

    I’ve had lots of interactions with dickish, gatekeeper knitters, but I do think it’s somewhat a generational thing (including my own generation of women in their forties, unfortunately). Younger, hipper, internetty knitters seem much more welcoming on the whole. Also, I have adorable rainbow sock yarn that I will never use because socks are beyond me, but it’s my favorite and makes me happy every time I sort through my stash and see it. I didn’t realize other people also had a thing for sock and finger-weight yarn, so now I don’t feel so bad about keeping it but not using it!

  20. M says:

    In terms of equipment being used for mayhem, there is a NCIS episode where Tony and Ziva are escorting a witness from Paris to DC and an air marshal gets murdered by a Susan Bates No 8 or 10 and stuffed in the bathroom. The assassin wanted his gun.

  21. chacha1 says:

    Really enjoyed reading this. 🙂 If y’all do The Craft Assassin please make all the victims mansplainers.

  22. Mari says:

    Listening to you talk about Gatekeeping and Geek culture; wanting to share your passion with your peers, and then having to prove yourself. Having lived this several times over in elementary and middle school, I stopped sharing my geeky interests by high school (when I first started reading Romance…which didn’t help) – I didn’t want anyone to s**t all over my passions.

    I now have a great group of friends to share all these things with – and it was the Internet (powerful force that it is), that led me to them. This podcast is one of them 🙂

  23. JayneH says:

    Recent Contemporary Hero Amnesia Story: Muscle Memory by Stylo Fantome. I love all her work.

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