Knit to This
Dear Sugars
Dear Ann,
I love an advice column. I know you do, too: why else would we have Dear Clara here on MDK, not to mention our own stint as the venerable Problem Ladies of Twist Collective.
For me, this love of public advice goes back to childhood. I didn’t much like the Omaha World-Herald, but I loved Ann Landers, and read every column, often with wide eyes. I didn’t always agree with “Ann’s” advice, which I suppose was the stirrings of knowing my own mind. She taught me about some of the darker, messier things that grownups got up to. My favorite type of column was when “Ann” would really smack somebody down, especially if it was a judgy relative.
Recently, my friend with the Reattached Retina had another audio recommendation for me: Dear Sugars, a podcast in which authors Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond answer reader letters seeking advice. It’s a classic of the agony-aunt (and -uncle) genre, updated for the mores of our times. So far I’ve listened to two episodes: When Friendships End, and Rapid Fire: Should I Stay or Should I Go? I vastly preferred the Rapid Fire format, which Cheryl described as less “squishy” than the typical Dear Sugars episode. One letter after another, boom boom boom, with surprisingly bright-line answers to most of the questions that were causing genuine perplexity in the questioners’ lives.
So, I’m going to listen to all the Rapid Fire episodes first, and then dive selectively into the others. It’s perfect knittertainment, and once in a while a specific situation does resonate for me for real.
If you like your knittertainment to be more knitcentric, I hope you know that Tell Me About Your Rhinebeck Sweater 2017 just dropped on the Kristy Glass Knits YouTube channel. It’s a giddy wonderland of handmade beauty and maker pride.
Love,
Kay
Dear Sugar is also a lovely book of Cheryl’s collected works from her days of doing it on the web (pre-podcast dark days). Worth a look-see or even a hear-see in audiobook format. She’s a treasure.
Whether requests for household cleaning tips, or stories so personal they could only be told in a syndicated column, I have been a lifelong fan of the QandA columns. I remember the details of some that I read decades ago! That’s touching a nerve, that is. I’ll certainly check out the podcast. Thanks.
AND the Rhinebeck sweaters, of course. That probably went without saying 🙂
Kristi, tell me about your Rhinebeck lip color! So pretty.
Dear Sugars is one of my favorite podcasts! Maybe because I usually agree with them. I also love Gastropod, which is not advice, but fascinating.
I am missing new York so much I cannot wait to move back to enjoy knitting again
Dear Sugar is so lovely, I love the often tender way they handle those who contact them about the messy and dark parts of their lives. Her books are wonderful too!
Sooooo lovely to see you with Rosanne Cash and the rest of your knitting circle in New York magazine!