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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

"Knit & Crochet Today"

I hate to sound snarky - okay, I really don't, but I was trying to be nice there for a few minutes.
This show, "Knit and Crochet Today" on PBS seems a little lame. The first one I chalked up to it being brand new and finding the footing. Plus it was about felting and I'm not that enthusiastic about that particular craft.
http://www.knitandcrochettoday.com/
Also, it has knitting stuff but the knitting didn't capture my attention the way it does on Vickie Howell's "Knitty Gritty". Plus generally M's Howell stuck to one technique and one project, so that may make a lot of difference in the presentation.
http://www.vickiehowell.com/tv.html

I did, however, figure out my problem (for once). It's like the worst teacher in school. He tells you what he's going to teach you, teaches you and then tells you what you have already learned. It seems to be for a newbie in either knit or crochet. There's nothing wrong with that, but the makers of the show should (in my not so humble opinion) toss in stuff for us "oldbies";)

The hostess, Kassie Depaiva, knows how to crochet - she sells her "Happy Hats" to benefit the hard of hearing,
http://www.kassiedepaiva.com/3batch_1.html
But she seems to act as a complete newbie to both knit and crochet. I'm not sure if she's scripted to act that way (she is on "One Life to Live", so she does know how to act) or whether it was some sort of management decision. She seems a little shy in front of the camera. She's in almost all of the show, pointing out what is being done by the guests. The end of the show, they have somebody else come on and explain what has already been explained. That part seems pointless to me. I think the end of it would be served better by saying "this pattern is on our website, the yarn used was Coats and Clarks' whatever yarn".

I know I shouldn't complain. I have never been responsible for putting a tv show together and I imagine it's a lot of hard work. Knit and crochet shows are hard to come by and this is a brand new one. I will give "Knit & Crochet Today" some more time and see how the show develops. Maybe it should be longer so they can actually do a more complicated project. As it is, the time is divided between the knit and crochet projects, and it's only 30 minutes long, so you really can't go to any great depth in any project. Maybe they should alternate projects, one week knit, one week crochet. I'd still watch the knit ones along with the crochet ones.

But that's just my opinion and your mileage may vary

3 comments:

knitphomaniac said...

I think it's hard to create anything that's hip and trendy and contemporary, at the risk of sounding lame. Some people have their finger on it, some people miss the mark entirely.

Yarnsnob said...

I finally got a HD converter box so now I get the Create channel that they show is on, and I agree with every word. Holy Crap that show is lame and very redundant. They should take one subject and show different levels of skill to be applied toward it, not everyone is a newbie. For the record I only caught Knitty Gritty at a friends house and didn't care for that one either.

Anonymous said...

I agree. While the layout of the program seems to be finding its footing and kind of obnoxious, the host is anxiety-causing! Her constant flirting with the camera seems to make the demo guests nervous, and the regular touching and grabbing of the guests freaks me out. Clearly a need for this kind of show, and lots of room for improvement, which could start with getting rid of her. I'm sure she's talented. This just doesn't seem to be a gig that fits.