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YouTube Ten

I never got much into YouTube until 2019, when I started looking for therapeutic music. Weird, yes. Along with my hearing impairment I have moderately severe tinnitus (made worse by taking statins) and read about a potential audio therapy treatment. The treatment didn't work for me, but in the process of hunting down some music I found other YouTube channels that interested me, and still do.

To share the wealth, here are

Ten Channels I Subscribe to on YouTube

Arne & Carlos: In the knitting world, these two Norwegian designers are rockstars. I like them because of their gentle banter with each other, their interesting projects, wonderful use of color, and the beautiful spot where they live in Norway. They also do a bit of crazy quilting.

Bernadette Banner: A NYC costume designer and period garment expert who has historical sewing adventures, and is something of a displaced time traveler. She's definitely quirky but always fun.

Cathy Hay I found this British historical garment maker via Bernadette Banner's channel; they're good friends who visit each other and go on adventures. Cathy is determined to recreate Worth's peacock dress, which I find admirable and awesome. She's also an interesting motivational speaker.

李子柒 Liziqi: A channel entirely in Chinese, which has been frequently slammed as government propaganda. It's mostly a long-running, rather improbable fantasy about a girl in the country who takes care of her grandmother, grows everything, cooks amazing food, makes amazing garments, and has the cutest collection of puppies that never seem to grow older. I just like watching her cook. There is some late-stage animal processing in the videos, so be aware.

Living Traditions Homestead: Kevin and Sarah gave up corporate jobs, the big house and all the benefits of modern life to move to the Ozarks and start a homestead. They grow almost all of their own food, and just got their first cow, who is now pregnant. I like seeing how they cope with the many obstables they face. Warning, they are religious, and don't try to hide it, but they're not preachy. They also have videos that (tastefully) show how they process their food animals.

My Self-Reliance: Canadian outdoorsman Shawn James moved into the woods two years ago and by himself built a log cabin using mostly hand tools. He lives there year-round now, hunting and fishing and still building basically everything by hand. I started watching his channel for research purposes and then got hooked.

Pick Up Limes: I found Sadia's channel when I changed to a vegan diet and was hunting recipes. She's simply amazing.

Rafi Was Here Studios: When Etsy made the move to free shipping I found the only decent explanation of why, and how it impacts sellers, on this channel. I stayed to watch the motivational videos, which are about art and yet apply to just about every creative endeavor.

Soothing Relaxation: Norwegian composer/musician Peder B. Helland has plenty of beautiful instrumental music to listen to on his channel.

The Sorry Girls: I'm not sure how I found this channel, hosted by two young Canadian designers who specialize in easy garment and decor projects (I have a thing for Canadians in general.) Anyway, they're fun and light-hearted, and many of the things they make are eco-friendly and/or use upcycled/thrifted materials. I like their dorm room makeovers best.

Do you subscribe to any channels on Youtube? Let me know in comments.

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Comments

Maria Zannini said…
I watched a little of Li Ziqi when one of her videos surfaced on Facebook. I was a little put off by her glam style of self reliance. I've no doubt she has the skills and knowledge but the way she displays it seems disingenuous. I know how much work goes into some of the things she does and trust me there's no point in wearing lipstick and donning a Red Riding Hood cape for those jobs. It's beautifully edited, that's the best I can say.
February 7, 2020 at 6:58 AM
nightsmusic said…
I'm not a big YouTuber. I prefer to read my research if I can, though I have watched videos when necessary. I just cannot watch anything to do with food animals. I can't. I can write about that subject if I have to, but I've seen some things in my life I will never be able to scrub from my mind and those images pop up at the oddest times. So no.
February 7, 2020 at 2:52 PM
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