Craft & Thrift Podcast

Craft & Thrift Podcast season 2

According to my substack, my last podcast was released on June 30th, 2025. That was almost 6 months ago, and corresponds almost exactly with when life got busy and stressful with the renovation of my house. Want to know more about my newsletter and podcast plans? Sign up here! I’d always planned to come back to podcasting, I love a good yackety-yack and apparently have no end of thoughts and opinions to share with you all. In the meantime, I’ve learned some light editing skills, so hopefully in this season (I’m calling it a season to make it sound like the 6 month hiatus was due to something glamorous and official, like a writers’ strike, or actor diary conflicts, rather than overwhelm and lack of mental bandwidth) you’ll hear an upturn in quality. Except apparently in this episode, because I realised too late you can’t edit away wind noise. I’ll be buying a microphone for future episodes I think. In this episode I’m chatting about my plans for the newsletter and podcast for the next few months. I’m considering turning on paid subscriptions when I reach 1000 subscribers, which incredibly isn’t that far away now. For paid subscribers, I’m thinking of offering an additional weekly newsletter and a monthly podcast episode. I’ve been banking additional content, as a way to mitigate future periods of overwhelm. I feel strongly that I want paid subscribers to feel they get good value for money and my main concern would be that life gets busy and stressful, and the quality or frequency of my content drops off. Having a source of pre-written newsletter material to draw from, would give me peace of mind to know I could keep up with the frequency without too much stress. 12 Week Year by Brian P Morgan [https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/12-week-year-book-brian-p-moran-9781118509234?gad_campaignid=17416830390&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADZzAICKnQQFPCWo8-5LAFVWDg24H&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhOfLBhCCARIsAJPiopMmSORQaYjFF0ZoNrC6iawAfgUGKnr3VgvVtifk_onuFU2Oz23F2ZoaAlHdEALw_wcB&sku=GOR009172434] I hope you enjoy this short and sweet introduction to season 2 of the Craft & Thrift Podcast. Enjoy the ASMR ice noise Rosie and I generate for you at the end, you can see in the photo above how sodden and frozen the ground was on this walk. Speak to you soon! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit craftandthrift.substack.com [https://craftandthrift.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

I've finally been knitting!

Life has been pretty busy recently with DIY projects - filling holes left behind by the electrician, sanding walls ready for decorating, researching & planning a new kitchen and bathroom. I love learning a new skill, so on the whole I’m enjoying renovating the house, but it hasn’t left much bandwidth for actual creative work. I treated myself recently to a Woolly Mammoth Fibre Company [https://www.woollymammothfibrecompany.com/] Patreon membership [https://www.patreon.com/c/WoollyMammothFibreCompany/posts], I found myself craving something restful and chill at the end of a long day of DIY. Emma is a natural dye yarn artist from Northern Ireland (apologies to Emma, I stumble over whereabouts in Ireland she was from in this episode!). It’s been the perfect accompaniment to knitting on the sofa in the evening and I’m finally making some headway on some longstanding projects. If you like knitting, sewing, gardening and renovation, then Craft & Thrift is for you! Here are some links and pictures to accompany this episode: My Sophie Shawl [https://www.petiteknit.com/en/products/sophie-shawl] for my Mum (assuming the pink isn’t too hot for her!), made using Black Elephant yarn [https://blackelephant.uk/] Rhubarb & ginger jam - made using this BBC Good Food recipe [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/rhubarb-ginger-jam] Trying on a toddler-sized cowl, to make sure it goes over the head. Made using this vintage pattern from Etsy [https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/254749856/womens-hat-snood-scarf-knitting-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_2&sts=1&logging_key=6013fccd418618e749f2063699879a92805d48b6%3A254749856] Home made pesto, made with home grown basil. Eaten in front of Woolly Mammoth Fibre Company on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU2h_M7ffMYdwGUgfspQEyw] Learning to fill the holes left behind by the rewire Badger & Daisy are unimpressed with the state of affairs in the house at the moment Grape jelly, made with grapes grown by a family friend. Made using this BBC Good Food recipe [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/grape-jelly] I tried to find a photo of my over sized Grandad sweater. You can get an impression in this picture of how this would have been the perfect indoors sweater, but how it was really too big and long to easily wear under coats. I still feel a lot of sadness and shame, that I cut it up and botched it, so I lost this sentimental piece of my Grandad’s wardrobe. It will live on in my Hobbit Robe and I’m planning on knitting Sweater No 18 by My Favourite Things knitwear [https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sweater-no-18] as a more wearable substitute. Wherever you are in the world, I hope June has treated you well. Happy Solstice and welcome to the second half of the year! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit craftandthrift.substack.com [https://craftandthrift.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

On being a beginner gardener

Andrew took this photo for me, I love how the early evening sunlight catches the chives It’s been a little minute since I published a podcast, but join me in my greenhouse to listen to the rain and talk about how the garden is growing. I find it so hard to be a beginner at anything, there’s a lag between the vision in my head and the skills I need to achieve the vision, but I’m trying really hard to just enjoy the process and the journey with my plants. If you like knitting, sewing, thrifting & gardening, then Craft & Thrift is for you! In this episode I talk about my raised beds (inside and outside the greenhouse, plus the mega raised bed from the podcast episode below), my birthday blueberry bushes, starting a stumpery from the remains of a plum tree, and sourcing plants. I bought a selection of plants from a charity plant sale at the local botanical gardens, you can see my selection below. Mental note: write down the names next time, I can’t remember half of what I bought. Everything appears to be thriving though, for which I’m very grateful. I love the marigolds and salvia in particular. One of my favourite places for a snack, a cuppa and a book - in my greenhouse It’s probably obvious, given I’m talking about the Chelsea Flower Show at one point, that I recorded this several weeks ago! We’ve been so busy with our house renovation that I haven’t had the creative bandwidth to edit and upload this podcast until now. I have been playing around with editing software though, so hopefully you enjoy the changes (mostly editing out an excessive amount of ‘umm’ noises). The audio quality sounds a bit fuzzy in the first few minutes but it’s actually rain in the background. I thought it would be a nice idea to record in the greenhouse in the rain, which makes for some lovely background noises at various points, but also makes it sound like there’s an issue with the audio in the first few minutes. I’m still a beginner at podcasting, as well as gardening…! My winter gourds are flowering! If you listened to the end, thank you as ever for your support of my little corner of the internet. I’ve got several draft posts waiting to be finished and published, so hopefully I’ll be dropping into your inbox sooner rather than later. In the meantime, may your sage flower and your strawberries be plentiful. Mine are getting munched by the slugs, but I don’t overly begrudge them, I’m just happy my strawbs are happy. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit craftandthrift.substack.com [https://craftandthrift.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Spring reads & committing to writing

A little departure from the norm today, as I chat about my current reads-in-progress. I’m trying to prioritise reading, as a way to spend less time on my phone. It’s as simple as taking my book downstairs in the morning, so it’s more to hand throughout the day when I want to sit for 5 minutes. It stops me reaching for my phone on autopilot. If you like sewing, knitting, gardening and other sustainable, handmade content, Craft & Thrift is for you! I’m pretty good these days at not mindlessly scrolling social media, I have a 30 minute timer set for Instagram and very rarely go over it. I just don’t find Instagram anywhere near as inspiring and joyful as I used to, which is naturally limiting how much time I want to spend on it anyway. I have far less motivation to post any more, especially since deciding to focus more on improving my writing. The Bare Minimum Artist’s Way has helped me recognise that I want to be a writer, not a content creator. I’ve definitely conflated the two in my head in the recent past. The problem with using social media to build a following, is you’re learning and practicing a lot of skills and techniques that aren’t necessarily then applicable to your ultimate goal. Of course there are transferrable skills, but there are also a lot of potentially time-wasting rabbit holes to provide distraction. Making reels is not quick! In the end, my aim isn’t to build a huge following on Instagram and then sell them stuff, as is the business model for so many influencers. I would like to earn some kind of living from writing, in whatever form that may take. It’s fun to make and watch reels, don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate the creativity of others. But posting on social media is ultimately not serving my longer term goal of becoming a better writer, then being paid for that skill. I’ve read that having a large following on social media can help you when it comes time to finding a publisher for your work. It makes sense that having an online presence can help with discoverability. I’m not sure how to square that circle yet to be honest, do I need to maintain some kind of presence on Instagram or is it enough to be posting regularly on Substack? I don’t use Twitter, Facebook, Threads or any other form of social media, so will Instagram really make that much difference? Surely authors are published who have no or minimal presence on social media? These questions feel like I’m getting ahead of myself, you have to walk before you can run after all. The only way to become a better writer is to write, not to create video content. Back to the original topic of this podcast - my current reads. Another way to become a better writer is to read widely, and that’s something I can definitely prioritise right now. * Want by Gillian Anderson [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207006355-want] * A Court of Thorns and Roses series [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50659467-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses] - currently reading A Court of Frost and Starlight [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50659471-a-court-of-frost-and-starlight] * Persuasion by Jane Austen [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2156.Persuasion] - reading alongside listening to Pod & Prejudice [https://www.podandprejudice.com/] I have a lot of thoughts on the fantasy smut genre (if that’s what it’s called) but I need to come back to that topic, once I’ve worked out some more coherent thoughts! In the meantime, enjoy your reading wherever you are. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit craftandthrift.substack.com [https://craftandthrift.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Mithering over a plum tree

I’ve been talking a lot about raised beds recently, and you’ll be pleased to learn I think that period is nearly over! I built my last raised bed, the one in the greenhouse, last week, so now I’m focusing on filling and painting them. I’m sure I’ll mention them again in a future post, since I’ll be proudly showing off their new paint job (Cuprinol Garden Shades in ‘Urban Slate’ is our choice), plus the plants I choose, but in the short term it’s nice to have another big garden project mostly complete. I lifted the uneven slabs in the greenhouse, they made the greenhouse look unkempt. In so doing, I disturbed an ants’ nest, so I gave them time to disperse before I needed into that area to finish screwing the raised bed together. Turns out, if you kneel in a disturbed ants’ nest, even one that looks empty, they will get into your clothes and bite you. Luckily their bites were small and barely noticeable, but I still feel bad for them. And me. They’ve survived though, and taken up residence inside the raised bed, which is currently filled with a base layer of moss and straw. I hope they don’t mind when I fill the remaining couple of inches with compost. This is the blossom from the plum tree I talk about in this episode. It’s quite old I think, and doesn’t have a lot of blossom relative to the size of the tree, but I can still see it’s going to be an issue in the autumn trying to keep the dogs from eating the dropped plums. It’s also slowly bringing down the back fence, so unfortunately, once it’s bloomed we’re going to take it down and replace it with climbing plants instead. My daffodils are so pretty, and I’m very much enjoying bringing cut flowers into the house. I’m meeting a friend tonight and I’m going to take a bunch for her as well. It’s so lovely to be able to give flowers away, I definitely want to grow cut flowers this year and in the future. I’ve got yarrow seedlings in the greenhouse, borage in the raised bed, and cosmos in some of the garden beds, so we’ll see who survives and thrives. I’m also planning to plant marigolds in May. My Jazzy Rose [https://www.jazzyroseflowers.com/] sweet peas are coming along nicely, another week or two and I’ll be planting them out in the garden I think. I planted some nasturtium seeds in the long raised bed alongside the greenhouse, mixed in with leftover last year’s onion sets. The pigeons keep pulling the onions out, which is annoying, so I’ve mulched them with straw to help keep them hidden until they establish themselves. I have visions of the nasturtiums tumbling over the side of the raised bed later in the summer, I hope that comes to fruition! Basil, tomatoes, chillis, parsley and coriander are all doing well in the greenhouse. Once the raised bed in the greenhouse is filled with compost, I’ll be planting these little seedlings out. I’ve got an oregano in the external raised bed that is struggling, so I think I’ll move it into the greenhouse too. I’ll report back on their progress over the coming growing season! Another couple of links from this episode: * East Coast Organics [https://www.eastcoastorganics.co.uk/] * Vital Seeds [https://vitalseeds.co.uk/] * Jazzy Rose Flowers [https://www.jazzyroseflowers.com/] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit craftandthrift.substack.com [https://craftandthrift.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]