Knitting Scouts

One treasure I have found during my trawl of the uncomprehensively huge world of cyberknitting is podcasts. I am currently at various points in catching up with the backlog of episodes in Lixie Knits It, Sticks and String and Socks in the City, whilst whiling away the time until BritKnitCast starts again. However, I just love Cast On, which may not have been the first knitting podcast but is surely one of the best. Feeling very Radio 4-ish in style, with a wide range of indie music and thought-provoking essays, Cast On is a joy to listen to. Sometimes I knit when I listen to it, more often I'm actually cleaning the kitchen, but Brenda always has something interesting o say about knitting and its place in the world. This series is based around the ideas of an American organisation called the Campfire Girls which I've never heard of before, but appears to share many common ideals with Guiding, which I am a great supporter of. I wasn't that good at Guides, since the idea was supposed to turn out well-rounded individuals and the only 5 badges I earned during my three year stint were service badges along the First Aid/firefighter vein, but I was a damn good Brown Owl!

That may well have surprised some people who've known me for many years. Or maybe it didn't, I don't know. nyway, I have been a Brown Owl and a Ranger Guider in the past, but currently have no links to guiding.

But I digress. During this series of Cast-On, Brenda is discussing the different themes of the Campfire Girls and the Honor Bead system and encouragin those who want to to enter into the spirit and earn themselves some. If that doesn't float your boat, then you can stick your toungue firly in your cheek and earn some Knitting Scout badges. Some just make me laugh, but I'm childishly pleased to think that I qualify for some, so here goes:

First up, the "Talking Knitting" badge. I think I've earned it for talking incessently about knitting to my class and other random children whilst knitting in public. I hope Brenda thinks that ensuring a class of 7 year olds think knitting socks is cool is in the true spirit of improving Public Knitting Literacy.


Secondly, I think I have also earned the "MacGyver" badge (Level 1) for demonstrating "clever use of a non-knitting tool in a knitting-related scenario". Whilst away working on Clapotis, I have improvised stitch markers out of both a watch and my diamond solitaire ring. Ha!

I look forward to the time when I can earn something really heady, such as the "Knitting Whilst Under The Influence" or “Knitting Has Forced Me to Seek Medical Attention” Badges...