Episodes 217
Avg. Duration 41m
Activity Moderate
Apple Rating 4.7 (455)
Since Oct 2005
Latest Episode Apr 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Monthly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
89%
Hosting
api.substack.com

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

Cast On began on Monday, 31 October, 2005, founded on nothing more than the desire to talk about knitting to people who get it. Since then, the podcast has evolved to focus on finding inspiration in the ordinary, using it to kick start the process of making stuff, and finding ways to carve out the creative time and space that allows you to work your ass off on the projects that matter most to you. Like knitting a sweater. Or saving the world.

brendadayne.substack.com

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Recent Episodes

S21E211 211 Grace Notes

Apr 09, 2026 21m

Ghost in the Orchard. Four inches from done. I’d stare at the cable chart and the tiny squares would dance. Close my eyes. Open them. Over and over. The hands that made those cables could not…

S21E210 210 Two Bowls

Apr 02, 2026 19m

Tears in the kitchen. Three bananas on the counter and a recipe I know by heart but cannot, for the life of me, turn into a sequence of actions. Seven ingredients. Too many decisions. My brain could…

209 Desire Paths

Mar 28, 2026 19m

An Eye for an Eye - would the animals we eat, eat us? Impossible Hats. Box Hill Picnic, from Jane Austen’s Emma. Dangerous Questions, where the danger is yours, not your opponent’s. This is what…

S21E208 208 Nighthawk

Mar 20, 2026 19m

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, Nighthawk n. a recurring thought that only strikes you late at night. Mine struck every night for eight weeks.Zopiclone is a sledgehammer. Daridorexant is a…

S21E207 207 Too Much World

Mar 13, 2026 18m

Trimethoprim for a UTI. Seven days. By day three, everything was hysterically funny. By day five, I could hear things that weren’t there. By week two, I couldn’t track yarn overs in garter stitch.…

S20E206 206 Quality

Dec 10, 2025 40m

Zabava Shorties disasters. The signs were there. Sometimes, you need to break up with a sock pattern. “It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t like you anymore.” Meanwhile, the Peppermint Pocket Skirt…

205 Big love and secret pajamas

Jul 05, 2025 31m

It's been a week of finishes and new beginnings. Off the needles, I've completed a Malabrigo hat and love the color pooling. You don’t hear me say that very often.I've finally finished my Amande…

S20E204 204 Cart before the workhorse

May 17, 2025 31m

Finishing socks, saving the yarn, new projects from old, planning the perfect colourwork sweater, plus a bit of theoretical physics to prove what knitters already know: knitting is magic.Links and…

203 Looking in

May 03, 2025 32m

We travel from Iron Age fire-pits to mid-century homemaking manuals, consider the joys of stash organisation, and muse on the performative aspects of home decorating. There’s a deep dive into the…

202 A gentle pastime

Apr 05, 2025 29m

Replenishing the sock drawer with Priory Socks (project page).My Secret Circles, below.Porthos (project page), below.I moved my decreases to the back of the heel, and the result is similar to Basic…

Cast On Classic: A Snow Day

Nov 28, 2024 7m

In which an American Thanksgiving is celebrated in the UK, albeit a day late and a pumpkin pie short.One of the first pieces of writing I recorded for Cast On in 2005, this has become one of my most…

201 Knitting through sorrow

Oct 27, 2024 33m

It’s autumn. Time for finishing projects, knitting socks and celebrating the impending winter by taking the sweaters out of storage. This one is all knitting, and I make no apologies.I'm channelling…

200 Work as written

Aug 18, 2024 32m

Off the needles and on; Tour de Fleece wrap up; notes from the production line; a new bag; a new spindle; good materials; and Bennet’s Boiled Potatoes.Compared to some, mine was a paltry Tour de…

199 The system

Jul 21, 2024 30m

Knitting the slowest sock in the history of sock knitting. Tour de Fleece. The merits of taking small steps vaguely in the direction a goal. I’m thinking about style again, and looking for…

198 Picking up the threads

Jun 23, 2024 32m

House projects have broken me; the summer of socks continues; the red that bled; Tour de Fleece; and a return to Clifford Byway. My new obsession for shorties led me to Zabava Socks. They fit very…

197 Gradual Stiffening

May 26, 2024 27m

The weather. Men in shorts. The run down. Ta Da moments. And the moments just before a plan comes together.The Red Edge is complete!The chart for Red Edge was designed by Anna-Lisa Mannheimer…

196 A wide variety of displacement activities

Feb 10, 2024 32m

In this episode: The party dress; picking up threads; a project round up; and the big idea, spoken aloud.The High School Art Teacher Dress by Vogue…

195 You can't keep everything

Dec 16, 2023 35m

In this episode: Stash enhancement; hat boxes of joy; the rug of sorrow; knitting memory lane, letting it go. Repeat after me: It is okay to rest.Thank you, past Brenda, for setting up…

194 What I did last summer

Oct 21, 2023 38m

In this episode: Undone by Cosmo/Cosmo undone; colour blocking that didn’t stitck; a summer romance; a bounty of beautiful sock yarn; packing projects for a journey with no end date; and the view…

193 The waiting phase

Jul 13, 2023 38m

In this episode: I have more projects on the needles at one time than ever before, and I talk about all of them. Also, we're buying a cottage, and trying very hard to remain detached until the…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Cast On have?

Cast On has published 217 episodes since October 2005, covering topics in Crafts, Leisure.

Is Cast On still active?

Cast On is currently moderate with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 41m.

How do I contact Cast On for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Cast On, including email and social media links.

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