Episode 59: Forgot the Fanfic

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Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials
  • Podcast Show Format
    • Nixing the “New Stuff” segment from the normal episodes of this podcast. At this point in my making, I’m trying to work through older stash and exploring new forms of making. Any new yarn coming is, in general, there to supplement what I already have. I’ll be talking about any new equipment pretty quickly after I get it, since I want to play with all the things. I don’t think the “New Stuff” segment is currently adding anything to the podcast.
    • I’ll resurrect “New Stuff” for event hauls, like Rhinebeck and Yarn Crawls, since there’s value is showing what is available at events like this for folks who might be thinking of attending in the future.
    • Also nixing “Life Stuff” as a routine segment. If I have things to talk about from my life, I’ll just talk about them throughout the podcast as it becomes relevant.

FOs

  • Plain Weave Rectangular Pillow – 10” Schacht Cricket Loom – 12 dent heddle – warped at 108” – 2 seamed panels per side
  • Shawl Scarf – Lion Brand Scarfie leftovers – st st rectangle on the LK150 – “killed” the acrylic with a hot iron and a wet pressing cloth
  • ½ & ½ Machine Knit Shawl – Brother KH836e – dial tension 10, loose mast tension – Fresh From the Cauldron “Painting the Roses Red” graduated skein and
    Cloudborn Fibers Highland Superwash Sock Twist in Black
  • Lamp shade weaving – plain weave, 12 dent heddle, Cricket 10” loom – Knit Picks Stroll Hand-Painted “Train Station” tonal
  • Lanyard out of wool tablet weaving – tried sewing it together, which worked, but the ends were uneven and it was really bothering me. I cut that bit off and needle felted the join, which feels and looks much better.
  • Practice free motion quilting squares – done with all my practice squares. While my machine quilting is not the best, I definitely have a better handle on the free motion quilting foot and what designs I can get started with to build up those skills on actual quilts.

WIPs

  • Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy/Attic24 – Size G/4.25mm hook marling Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Black with a magic ball of Legacy Fiber Artz minis
  • Marled Magic Shawl by Stephen West – US 6/4.0 mm – scrap yarns and old handspun
  • Watermelon from Skirted Fleece Mill – Ashford Kiwi – 3 ply fractal spin
  • Yardage for sewing project – plain weave, 12 dent heddle, Ashford 24” loom – a whole slew of grey and black yarns, Andre Sue Knits “Freakish Lemon” – See my Ravelry page for the full list of yarns
  • Tablet weaving band from a chart in Card Weaving by Candace Crockett – Nazli Gelin Garden 3 in black, red, yellow, and white – on a tablet weaving loom from chuckjones on Etsy, which doesn’t appear to be a shop on that platform anymore
  • Half Square Triangle Quilt – part of the HST QAL – I added the two borders to the quilt, cut out the batting, and sewed the backing piece. Nothing’s been basted together yet, but I’m hoping to get that sorted today.
  • Slytherin Scarf – LK 150 dial tension 3, tension rod 5 – adapted from the scarf measurements and stripe repeats from Harry Potter Hogwarts House Scarf by Dovile Petra – Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in Aurora Heather and Dove Heather – stockinette stitch double width to fold and seam instead of ribbing – I had to stop because I ran out of green, so I scrapped it off rather than leaving it on the floor while I wait for more yarn to come in.

Swatches

  • Fingering weight sweater blank sweater – KH836e – I’ve done all the calculations for this sweater, so I should be starting it soon and then I’m going to move on from this pattern for a while.

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Missing & Murdered – Nonfiction podcast about investigating missing and murdered indigenous people
  • Breakdances with Wolves – Nonfiction current events and discussion from Native Americans’ perspectives
  • Lake Clarity – Fiction horror podcast about a “haunted” summer camp
  • The Lost Cat – FIction horror podcast about a man looking for his cat
  • A Scottish Podcast – Fiction humor/horror podcast about a former radio host starting a paranormal investigative podcast
  • Aftershocks – Fiction horror podcast about a girl who has hallucinations as part of her schizoaffective disorder and is also being visited by ghosts
  • A New Winter – Fiction horror podcast about a series of weird murders in a small British village
  • Crossing Wires – Fiction podcast about people after the apocalypse told through snippets of radio signals
  • The Deep Vault – Fiction horror podcast about a secret bunker and the horrifying experiments performed within. This is by the folks who put on Archive 81, so warnings for graphic audio body horror
  • Jim Robbie and the Wanderers – Fiction, post apocalyptic podcast about the tales of two travelling musicians and a junk robot

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi: A Tangled Web by Jude Watson

 

 

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Episode 58: Shop Hop and Other Tales

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Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! It begins!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials

Life Stuff

  • I-91 Shop Hop – 11 store yarn crawl in CT, MA, and VT
  • Hand Update – Saw a hand surgeon/specialist after not getting answers from the general ortho doctor. I have double jointed wrists which means that my carpals stretch more than the average. The carpals are loose and in certain positions (like hands flat out for typing), the carpals won’t stay precisely in place and will touch the nerve, causing irritation and inflammation. The doc said that if I didn’t work an office job and I had a job with more hand movement, I probably wouldn’t have exhibited symptoms.

FOs

  • Tuck Stitch Hat – LK 150 – Once Upon a Corgi “Snow Scout” held double – used mock rib at the same tension as the main body (dial 6) – Fits well, but still a smidge snug
  • Tuck Stitch Hat – LK 150 – Once Upon a Corgi “You Are In Fact In the Dark” held double – hung hem at the same tension as the main body (st st is narrower than tuck stitch) – best fitting out of the 3 hats I’ve made with this tuck stitch pattern
  • Ace Shawl – machine knitting shawl shapes project – Brother KH 836e –
    Zealana Performa KIWI Lace “Blue” – 3 balls
  • Scrap yarn dryer balls – Addi Express Professional – 20-24 rows, cinched at each end, stuffed with cut off yarn ends
  • Quilted dust covers for my knitting machines – scrap denim back, jelly roll tops
  • Last Son of Krypton scarf – 12 dent heddle, warped with fingering weight yarns with vertical stripes, weft is handspun that I called The Last Son of Krypton. Plain weave.
  • Scarfie Sweater Blank by Renee Callahan – Lion Brand Scarfie – LK150 tension 7 dial 8 – the size Large with the Medium sized neck size. – I really like the fit. I added 2” to the back for a high-low hem. Hung hem for the waist and cuffs, rolled hem for the neck. I tried this on and I really like how this fits. I’m definitely going to do one more of these in fingering weight.

WIPs

  • Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy/Attic24 – I’ve done a little bit of crocheting! Size G/4.25mm hook marling Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Black with a magic ball of Legacy Fiber Artz minis
  • Marled Magic Shawl by Stephen West – US 6/4.0 mm – scrap yarns and old handspun
  • Plain Weave Rectangular Pillow – 10” Schacht Cricket Loom – 12 dent heddle – warped at 108” – 2 seamed panels per side
  • Alpaca Obsession – Light Brown – drop spindle and Turkish spindle – Some had already been spun, but I don’t remember when I worked on this before
  • Brown Cormo Sweater Spin – a little bit of spinning here and there on Ashford Kiwi – finished a bobbin
  • Classy Squid Fiber Co – Star Fishing batt – long draw spinning on Ashford Kiwi – finished half a batt

Swatches

  • Brother KH 836e
    • Manual with hold button – short rows, slip, tuck, yo lace
    • Punch Card no 2 – slip and tuck
    • Punch Card no 2 – 2 color slip and tuck
    • Punch Card no 3d – fair isle and long fair isle
    • KR 850 ribber test swatch – rib, circular, u-shaped, english rib, and fisherman’s rib
    • Sport weight ribbing – A little too big for dial tension 8, which is the largest the ribber goes to. Ended up having to force the carriage
  • LK 150
    • New swatches for the handspun sweater

New Stuff

  • I-91 Shop Hop – 11 store yarn crawl in CT, MA, and VT
    • Shop hop bag and patterns
    • Village Wool – Glastonbury, CT
      • Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk Wool – 2 skeins black, 3 skeins grey
    • WEBS – Northampton, MA
      • Small boat shuttle
      • Harrisville Designs sport weight – 2 cones
    • Sheep & Shawl – South Deerfield, MA
      • Nazli Galen Garden 3 – 4 balls
      • 5 Year Celebration – stitch marker and tote bag
    • Green Mountain Spinnery – Putney, VT
      • Sock Art Lana – 2 skeins “Noche 8955”
    • Marji’s Yarncrafts
      • Wooden tag
  • Suzuki standard gauge garter bar for the Brother KH 836e
  • Bench for machine knitting

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Our Fair City – Our Fair City is an online Audio Play/Podcast set in a future dystopian version of Hartford, CT. Following a climate-change-related disaster, humanity is now confined to subterranean cities. HartLife, an insurance company, now runs the lives of all “policies” in the city. Lightning rigs high above the city gather energy from thunderstorms, mad scientists walk the earth, and adorably monstrous Molepeople dig tunnels deep underground to expand the city’s habitable space. Framed as “true dramatizations of our city’s glorious history,” Our Fair City is equal parts camp, sci-fi horror, and folk tale. So listen, and remember. (TVtropes.org summary)
  • Freed – Freed is a radio-drama podcast detailing the ramifications a worldwide pandemic has on people and the world as a whole, told through bi-weekly updates from the cozy yet abandoned mountain town of Freed. Learn more about the town’s history, the fall of humanity, and how to help rebuild society. In the meantime, be safe. Be strong. Be alive.
  • Subject: Found – Subject: Found is a bi-weekly audio drama. Each new season will feature a new subject, a new story, a new monster. In Season 2, Janis Herring pursues the monster terrorizing Memphis, Tennessee, and the story will make her a legend.
  • The Walk – A thriller in which you, the listener, are the hero. The Walk begins in Inverness station, Scotland. Through a case of mistaken identity, you, “the walker,” are given a vital package that must be couriered to Edinburgh. But as you’re about to board the train, terrorists blow it up and set off an electromagnetic pulse! None of the cars or trains are working – you’ll have to walk – but now the terrorists are on your trail because they want the device you’re carrying, and the police are after you as a suspect in the bombing. To survive, you’ll have to join up with other escapees from the city – but how many of them can you trust, and are they really who they say they are?
  • Tunnels – The Tunnels is a serialized audiodrama about the mysterious tunnels that can be found underneath a small town in Georgia. What are they? What is their history? What are those mysterious sounds heard within them? Find out what’s just below the surface of the town, because if you look underneath, there is so much more.
  • Station to Station – A handful of fading memories, the remains of a research project, and a garbled tape recorder are all Dr Miranda Quan has to her name when her research partner goes missing on the eve of a 10-week ocean expedition. Now, she must try to find closure in the midst of a rapidly-unraveling conspiracy, surrounded by a handful of unlikely allies, several likely threats, and the icy waters of the North Pacific. Something sinister lurks in the heart of the research ship Astrid, and Miranda must rely on her wits to piece together an answer. Station to Station is an scifi-horror audio drama about loss, memory, morality, and what gets left behind.

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages by Saundra Mitchell
    • Take a journey through time and genres to discover stories where queer teens live, love and shape the world around them.Seventeen young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens.

      From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier, to two girls falling in love while mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, forbidden love in a sixteenth-century Spanish convent or an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, All Out tells a diverse range of stories across cultures, time periods and identities, shedding light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.

  • The Library of Elvish Lore by evansentranced
    • Harry is an elf. No, he’s not a bloody house elf. He lived in a place where they had got him confused with a house elf for nearly six years. They had him doing all the chores and he slept in a cupboard. Not a particularly cheerful cupboard, either. But he’s not a house elf. He’s a regular elf, thank you. Come on, people. It’s like you’re not wizards or something. PreHogwarts, NOT a creature fic. Character study.
    • There are 3 parts to this fic, pre Hogwarts, Hogwarts, and another fic during Hogwarts and it has the best kind of in-universe kid-logic I’ve ever seen in a fic featuring young Harry
  • Running on Air by eleventy7
    • Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.
    • Sort of a finding himself while searching for someone else fic.
  • Hermione Granger’s Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi
    • ‘You’re a wizard, Harry’ is easier to hear from a half-giant when you’re eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you’re seventeen and late for work.
    • An excellent alternate Year 7 where Harry never attended Hogwarts and learns about the magical world while dodging Death Eaters with some of the DA crew and Draco Malfoy while teaching these witches and wizards street smarts in the Muggle world

 

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Episode 57: Learning Experiences

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Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! It begins!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials
  • Podcast Schedule – The past few episodes have been monthly, so I’m going to switch to a monthly schedule instead of a fortnightly schedule for a while. That puts less pressure on me to have content to talk about, especially since the crafting I am doing right now involves more planning that the crafting I was doing before my hand injuries.

 

Life Stuff

  • Hand Update – I’ve started occupational therapy for my hands, which right now is mostly nerve stretches and hand strengthening exercises. It has helped slow down the pain and has allowed me to do a little more hand-activity, but I’m still feeling pain in general. I’m meeting with my orthopedic doctor again this week, but if that doesn’t amount to anything, I’ll be setting up an appointment with a hand surgeon/specialist at the recommendation of my occupational therapist.

 

FOs

  • Sample Tablet Weaving Band from Card Weaving by Candace Crockett – 2 smooth yarns (Nothbound Knitting “Lichen” and Gnome Acres “Milk”) and 1 grippy yarn (Knit Picks Pallette Black)
  • Tramontane Sweater by Amy Herzog – handspun and Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk Wool – Silver Reed LK 150 – Done! But…
  • Cowl neck poncho from schematics by Bren Boone (snerbyarn) – Leftover DK weight yarns from my 2017 Western CT Yarn Crawl Sweater plus Dyenamixx Yarns “The Peculiar Miss Peregrine” – tension rod 7, dial 5 – all stockinette and seamed on the machine
  • Tuck Stitch Hat – LK150 tension 7 dial 6 – A Hundred Ravens Epona “Draco”
  • ½ & ½ Triangle Shawl – LK 150 Dial 8, tension rod 7 – Worsted Weight – Knitologie “Groovy” and Plymouth Galway Worsted in Black – part of the shawl shapes design project

 

WIPs

  • Last Son of Krypton scarf – 12 dent heddle, warped with fingering weight yarns with vertical stripes, weft is handspun that I called The Last Son of Krypton. Plain weave.
  • Quilted scrap strips – Leftover bits of batting and short strips sewn together
  • Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy/Attic24 – I’ve done a little bit of crocheting! Size G/4.25mm hook marling Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Black with a magic ball of Legacy Fiber Artz minis
  • Scarfie Sweater Blank by Renee Callahan – Lion Brand Scarfie – LK150 tension 7 dial 8 – swatched for gauge and am nearly done with the math to put this together. Doing the size Large with the Medium sized neck size.
  • Quilted dust covers for my knitting machines
    • Project inspiration from about 6 tote bags that I’d made years ago that have been sitting in the trunk of my car for years. I’d made them out of scrap denim and t-shirts, but since tote bags are the easiest thing to come by, these ones haven’t been used in a very long time. I cut them apart and recovered the denim to use as a backing for the dust covers. The denim is hardwearing and since all the pieces are from worn out jeans, it’s a great fabric to hold up to use and possibly get stained by any oils or lubricants I will use on these machines.
    • Used the “jelly roll race quilt” technique for the top, which is to sew strips together, fold the super long strip in half, seam, and repeat. Only did this 2 or 3 times to get the right size, depending on the strip width.
    • Quilted top onto scrap batting using walking foot.
  • Star Wars Aurebesh Sampler Pattern by Adleones
  • Free motion quilting practice squares

 

Swatches

  • Preliminary swatch for the Brother KH 836e
  • Fabric swatches from Fabric.com

 

New Stuff

  • Tilt stand for the Brother machine!
  • Must Stash Yarn – The Last Jedi and Lando

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • Jessica Jones – Season 2
  • Deadpool 2
  • Solo

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Dark Force Rising (Book 2 of the Thrawn Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn narr by Marc Thompson
  • The Last Command (Book 3 of the Thrawn Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn narr by Marc Thompson
  • Tanis – In the first episode of Tanis, our host, Nic Silver, wonders if the Internet age might contain one last great mystery, an ancient myth known as “Tanis.” His exploration into the enigmatic Tanis begins by asking the seemingly simple question, what is it? The answers, he soon discovers, are far more complicated.
  • The Last Movie – Tanis podcast host Nic Silver and regular contributor MK, explore the possible existence of “The Last Movie,” an infamous underground feature film, reputed to drive you insane. Legend has it that every screening of this film was surrounded by bloodshed and controversy: one reviewer actually described slipping on blood in the aisle, as he ran through dozens of people trying to tear him apart.
  • Rabbits – When Carly Parker’s friend Yumiko goes missing under very mysterious circumstances, Carly’s search for her friend leads her headfirst into a ancient mysterious game known only as Rabbits. Soon Carly begins to suspect that Rabbits is much more than just a game, and that the key to understanding Rabbits, might be the key to the survival of our species, and the Universe, as we know it.
  • Mars Corp – MarsCorp is a 12-part scripted comedy podcast about Station Supervisor E.L. Hob’s first year at MarsCorp, a terraforming colony established on the red planet in 2070.
  • Girl in Space – Abandoned on a dying ship in the farthest reaches of known space, a young scientist fights for survival (and patience with the on-board A.I.). Who is she? No one knows. But a lot of dangerous entities really want to find out.Listen biweekly as the story unfolds for science, guns, trust, anti-matter, truth, beauty, inner turmoil, and delicious cheeses.It’s all here. In space.
  • Marsfall – Marsfall follows some of the earliest colonists to settle on Mars in the year 2047, and each episode continues the story from a different character’s perspective. Led by their fearless commander Jacki O’Rania, and assisted by the colonial artificial intelligence unit ANDI, they strive to make a home on the Red Planet while exploring its deeper mysteries. Balancing tension and humor, this sci-fi audio drama reinvents the radio play for the twenty-first century.

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • Humans Wanted ed. Vivian Caethe
    • Humans are tough. Humans can last days without food. Humans heal so quickly, they pierce holes in themselves or inject ink under their epidermis for fun. Humans will walk for days on broken bones in order to make it to safety. Humans will literally cut off bits of themselves if trapped by a disaster. You would be amazed what humans will do to survive. Or to ensure the survival of others they feel responsible for. That’s the other thing. Humans pack-bond, and they spill their pack-bonding instincts everywhere. Sure it’s weird when they talk sympathetically to broken spaceships or try to pet every lifeform that scans as non-toxic. It’s even a little weird that just existing in the same place as them for long enough seems to make them care about you. But if you’re hurt, if you’re trapped, if you need someone to fetch help? You really want a human. Twelve authors provide their perspectives on human ingenuity and usefulness as we try to find our place among the stars. From battletested to brokenhearted, humans are capable of amazing things. Humans Wanted shows not only what we are, but how awesome we can be.
  • Ashlesha by Jer Keene (reread)
  • From Ashes by Caedes12
    • When Draco comes back for eighth year, he starts an unexpected friendship with Hermione Granger. Between his new friendship and his parents kicking him out of the house, Draco’s life starts down a new path.
  • Secrets by Vorabiza (Biza)
    • Beginning with Draco’s unexpected arrival at the Dursleys, Harry’s summer after sixth year becomes filled with activity and many secrets. As his summer progresses, Harry generates several unexpected allies as he finds himself actively becoming the leader of the Light side. H/D post-HBP ~~Complete~~

 

 

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Episode 56: FOs and Nearly FOs

/ freakishlemon / 1 Comment

 

Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! It begins!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials

 

Life Stuff

  • Temporary Boss – I had about a week and a half of no energy to do crafty stuff after work because my supervisor was on vacation and, despite the fact that I am not in the Team Lead position, they make me play backup for when she’s out. I don’t mind it for a few days, but there’s always stuff that builds up in stress and intensity as people try to pile things on before she gets back.
  • The Wadsworth Atheneum – Gabby, her friend Margaret, and I skipped over to the Wadsworth Atheneum (4/15/18) to check out Gorey’s World – an Edward Gorey exhibit – before it left Hartford. We joined a tour of some other artwork when we got there, missed the beginning so I don’t know the theme, but we saw and discussed 3 pieces of art – 1 sculpture and 2 paintings. We then took a wander through the Cabinet of Art and Curiosity, which is a really neat room to poke around in. Then we went upstairs to the Gorey’s World exhibit, which was really cool. There were pieces of his artwork, some animation of his playing on a screen, art that Gorey collected, and these really cool posed fur coats that Gorey owned that were suspended at the start and end of the exhibit.
  • CT Sheep and Wool – This is a brilliant little show. There aren’t many booths, but every booth is quality. I didn’t buy any yarn, but I did collect a couple of business cards to investigate later.
    • Twist of Fate Spinnery – A local CT mill. I was interested in some of their yarns, but I need to finish some sweaters before making a purchase from them. I also may inquire if I can buy coned yarn from them instead of skeins, which would be brilliant for the knitting machine.
    • Prado de Lana Sheep Farm – Definitely interested in buying a sweater’s quantity from this farm, but that will be an investment. They’re a farm in Vermont and their booth was really well set up. They had cubbies and each cubby was labeled with information about the single sheep that the yarn came from. The yarn in each cubby came from a single sheep, which is brilliant if you’re aiming to buy something like a sweater quantity.
    • Flatland Alpacas – I think they had more than one booth, but the only purchase I made was from their indigo dyed shibori booth. I bought a set of napkins, but everything in that booth was stunning.
  • International Tabletop Day – Went to a tabletop party with friends and played board games.
    • Codenames – team game, getting your partner to guess the right cards on the board with word association
    • Joking Hazard – NSFW card game from Cyanide and Happiness, players take turns being the judge, complete a 3 panel comic with cards from your hand
    • Red Flag – card game, players take turns as a single person and all the other players have to create a date for the single person with good cards from their hand and sabotage the player next to them with red flag cards
    • Wits and Wagers – trivia game, a question is asked with a numerical answer, each player writes down a guess and then players bet on which guess is closest to the actual answer

 

FOs

  • Scrap yarn pillow covers – Plain weave on the 10” cricket rigid heddle loom with a 12 dent reed – fingering weight yarns.
    • Two rectangular panels sewn together, the seam pressed open, and stitched down. Traced a circle from the pillow form on each panel and then out of backing fabric – blue dyed plaid.
    • I was going to put a zipper in the pillow cover so that it could be removed, but that didn’t work out, so the pillow covers are sewn shut.
    • Had to unstuff the pillow forms a bit. I’m pretty sure I overstuffed them for a previous project. I used the extra stuffing and two square panels of the blue plaid fabric to create a third pillow.
  • Winter Wall quilt from The Weekend Quilter- pieced with scrap clothing fabric and quilting cotton, border is an old fitted sheet from my old bed, back is two pieces of the black destash cotton seamed up the middle, quilt sandwich basted with both spray baste and pins, tied with 3 strands of embroidery floss, flanged binding with the black cotton and some of the blue fabric I dyed

 

WIPs

  • Tramontane Sweater by Amy Herzog – handspun and Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk Wool – Silver Reed LK 150 – Finished the second sleeve, seamed the shoulder seams, neckband is done, just need to seam the arms and body
  • Last Son of Krypton scarf – 12 dent heddle, warped with fingering weight yarns with vertical stripes, weft is handspun that I called The Last Son of Krypton. Plain weave.

 

Swatches

  • Multi Swatch – hung hem, alternating tuck stitch pattern, tuck rib, slip stitch pattern on one side for possible roll control (which is not great), slip stitch patterns, knit on border every other row, knit on border every row
  • Knit Weave Swatch
  • Swatching for next sweater – 3 swatches – Lion Brand Scarfie

 

New Stuff

  • KR 850e ribber assembly for my Brother KH 836e knitting machine – there are two pretty important pieces missing, but I contacted the seller and they found replacements and are sending them to me

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Playing:

  • Daymare Town series – point and click game (kind of escape the town?) and the game is completely done in line drawings. I bought the whole collection for $14.00, which is eight games. They’re pretty brilliantly creepy.

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • Pacific Rim Uprising – awesome
  • Avengers: Infinity Wars – shocking, don’t think I’ll know how I feel about the results until a few more movies into the Marvel universe
  • Season 2 of Jessica Jones on Netflix

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Heir to the Empire (Book 1 of the Thrawn Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn narr by Marc Thompson
  • The White Vault – Explore the far reaches of the world’s horrors in the audio drama podcast The White Vault. Follow the collected records of a repair team sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of the Arctic Circle and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below.

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Red Past by Toruviel
    • Hanging below the Cloud City, in shock and pain, abandoned by friends dead and alive alike, Luke Skywalker knew better than to ask for help for the third time. He begged for understanding instead.The Force heard.
    • It’s a very compelling fic. This is Luke at his most hurt and angry thrust into the days of the Republic at the height of its corruption and hypocrisy before the war. Anakin’s a young teenager at this time and they haven’t had much interaction yet, but Outer Rim farmer turned Rebel!Luke spends a lot of time criticizing the Jedi Order and the Jedi Council in particular for their lack of compassion and their willingness to turn a blind eye to suffering on the whim of the Senate.
  • Identity series by madame_alexandra
    • A distress signal reaches Coruscant after the Empire’s demise, claiming to be the beacon of Bail Organa. what would the reappearance of Leia’s adoptive father mean for her life in a post ROTJ context. What would he think of Han Solo, and what could he tell her about the dark shadow of her heritage?
    • AU where a ship from Alderaan is trapped in a weird space-time field caused by Alderaan’s destruction, which included Bail Organa, Winter Celchu (Leia’s sister), and one of Leia’s aunts. Leia’s just coming to terms with what her life might mean now that a Republic is forming after the Empire and suddenly she has to come to terms with this influx of Alderaanian survivors and deal with several familial relationships that she was in the process of grieving.
    • Just a warning, the last fic in this series mainly centers around a pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage. It’s not necessary to read that fic, if that’s something that you avoid in fiction.
  • Dominoes by meridianpony
    • “So. We died.” Hevy’s voice is flat.
      “Yes, we died,” Fives confirms. Even though his hands are steady on Echo’s shoulders, his voice trembles. “We all… remember?”
      Everyone nods. Droidbait shudders, and shuffles closer to Cutup.
      “How is that possible?” he mutters. “We’re not Jedi. We can’t… see the kriffing future, or whatever it was. We can’t—it’s just not possible. How could we all have had the same dream?”Domino squad wakes up to find themselves back on Kamino, hours from taking their final test… except they remember passing the final test, and they each remember dying afterwards.
    • This is brilliant and I’m really looking forward to more. I mean, Star Wars time travel is my jam, but this particular squad going back in time is really fascinating, since three of them died very early on in their deployment.

 

 

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Episode 55: It’s been a bit…

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Filmed on April 1, 2018

Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! It begins!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials

 

Life Stuff

  • Daylight Saving Time – We’re hit that time of year where many states in the US change the clocks forward an hour to preserve daylight and it’s kicking my ass.
  • Rearranged the craft room… again
  • Stitches United – Mom and I went on the Sunday for some poking around and shopping. It still seems small to me for a Stitches event, but they did pad out the marketplace floor with more quilt displays, which were really cool to check out.

 

FOs

  • Color block weaving project – Assembled! Plain weave using a 12 dent heddle on my 10” cricket loom.
  • Dwarven Mittens by Ginger Monkey Knits – US 3/3.25 mm Nova Cubics – Plymouth Yarn Homestead Tweed

 

WIPs

  • Fabric Dye Experiment
    • Ended up having to rewash all the fabrics because when I went to soak the blue to re-dye, they bled like crazy. Ended up doing two hot-hot water baths in tubs and then rinsing in hot water in the sink until the water ran clear.
    • Re-dyed the blue plaid and the brown/purple flowers with grey wash
  • Winter Wall quilt from The Weekend Quilter- rows are assembled and trimmed, think this needs a border to finish off the top
  • Half square triangle quilt – squares pieced and cut to form half square triangles, trimmed uneven edges and dog ears, chain pieced rows
  • Tramontane Sweater by Amy Herzog – handspun and Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk Wool – Silver Reed LK 150 – finished sleeve
  • Granny Log Cabin blanket – I don’t have the crochet hook information for these scrap squares, but it’s all worsted weight acrylic scraps – Log Cabin garter stitch borders are on the Silver Reed LK150 with the dial set to 5
  • Scrap yarn pillow covers – Plain weave on the 10” cricket rigid heddle loom with a 12 dent reed – fingering weight yarns
  • Sample tablet weaving from the Card Weaving by Candace Crockett book – Northbound Knitting “Lichen”, scrap white yarn, Knit Picks Palette black
  • Intergalactic spinning kit from Classy Squid Fiber Co – finished spinning the galaxy batt singles

 

Swatches

  • Fingering held double vs plating
    • Second swatch because I didn’t write down the dial settings
  • Tuck stitch vs single color brioche
  • Cables instead of rib + cable edging
  • 3 stitch icord seam
  • 2 stitch icord seam

 

New Stuff

  • Destash black cotton fabric – approximately 9 yards
  • Brother Ameno KH 836E – used on ebay, currently working on getting it operational
  • Stitches United haul
  • Muddled Colors Studio – fingering weight merino in Halloween

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • A Stitch in Time (BBC show about historical garment recreation)
  • Selling Houses with Sarah Beeny (BBC show about selling properties and home improvement)
  • Angela Clayton on YouTube – historical clothing and costume – She came up in my feed with her 18th Century Striped Redingote, which is AMAZING.
  • Talisa Tossell on YouTube – She talks about and demonstrates the properties of play slimes (the kind you make with glue), which I knew had become popular, but I didn’t know that it was popular enough to have Instagram fads and community
  • Meghan Tonjes on YouTube – She’s a singer that I’ve talked about on here before, but she’s really putting her energy back into her music right now and just put up a whole bunch of cover songs on her channel.
  • Rusty Lake – Rusty Lake is an independent video game company that has a series of escape-the-room surreal horror games. I started out playing some of their earlier games, but I wasn’t very good at them. They do have a YouTube channel with walkthroughs on their games, so I ended up watching a whole bunch of those.

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • From a Certain Point of View anthology (audiobook)

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • Knitting Pattern Essentials: Adapting and Drafting Knitting Patterns for Great Knitwear by Sally Melville
  • Fanfic~~~
    • Reread the Jedi Shmi AU by MirandaTam
    • Reread Back From the Future: Episode VI The Clone Wars by Ariel -Sojourner – Luke and Vader time travel sometime during RotJ back to the Clone Wars
    • Heart of Kyber by esama – Jedi High Council forbids Anakin’s training – so Anakin makes his own.
      • Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t exist in this universe until Anakin steals a holocron from the Jedi Temple and builds an android to access the data
    • All That I Have Seen by Felilla
      • She died in the Temple, staring into the face of a man that she once looked up to, a man that she once thought to be a great Jedi.She awoke in the Temple, years before that event took place. Years before everything went wrong. And she decided to make it right.
      • This one is really interesting because it’s from the point of view of a Jedi that’s an original character and she’s a fantastic character.

 

 

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Episode 54: Dyeing and Shawl Shapes

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Filmed on Saturday March 3, 2018

Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! It begins!
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jaclyn/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials

Life Stuff

  • Weather – It’s been weird. Alternating between super warm and seasonably cold. Yesterday we had a nor’easter, which usually results in pretty good snowfall, but it’s been too warm so it was just really heavy winds and rain.
  • Slow Down – I’ve mentioned it before on this podcast that I’m trying to slow down so as not to over-exert my hands. I’ve always been the type of person to overdo things, which is why I hurt my hands last year in the first place. So I’ve been making a conscious effort to just slow down a bit – with making, with work, wherever I can.
    • Spread out the crafting. Put feelers out into new types of craft or new aspects of crafts I already dabble in. I’m further developing an interest in weaving and sewing. I’m doing a lot of planning and exploring with machine knitting.
    • Read more. Write more. I’m always thinking to myself, I wish I did more reading. I grew up doing a lot of reading and writing. I’ve been doing a little more of both while trying to spread out the crafting a bit.
    • Sleep more. I’m tired of being tired all time.
      • Avoid using overhead lights after dinner
      • Read for 15-ish minutes before bed (book or Kindle)
      • Aim to be ready for bed at about 9 pm
        • Note: I do find myself waking up for a bit in the middle of the night, but it’s super easy for me to fall back asleep.

FOs

  • Woven Sample Scarf – warped black and white with stripes on the ends (Cloudborn fingering weight in black and “Milk” from GnomeAcres Milk and Cookies skein set) – woven with approx 8” color blocks of Once Upon a Corgi yarns – twisted fringe

WIPs

  • Winter Wall quilt from The Weekend Quilter- started assembling the rows
  • Tramontane Sweater by Amy Herzog – handspun and Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk Wool
  • Color block weaving project – sewing the panels together

Dye Adventures

  • Dharma Trading Co Procion Dyes – for plant based materials, like cotton, linen
  • Bought primary colors and black
  • Fabric To Dye For: Create 72 Hand-Dyed Colors for Your Stash, 5 Fused Quilt Projects by Frieda Anderson
  • Overdyed cotton/cotton blend fabrics from my stash, many of them from my grandma that somehow made their way into my stash

WIP Round Up

  • Rice Fields by Elzbieta Torenc – Legacy Fiber Artz Hocus Pocus colorways and Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light for Black – Frog to use for my machine knit shawl shapes design project – 3 wedge shape shawl
  • Marled Magic Shawl by Stephen West – Scrap yarns – Frog to use for my machine knit shawl shapes design project – short row wedge semi-circle
  • Akiko by Regina Moessmer – Lion Brand Scarfie – Not sure what I’m doing with this yet, but having it on the needles is stressing me out, so what I’ll likely do (once I have some free time on the machine) is frog it and do a real simple drop shoulder pullover with rolled hems on the sleeves and neck, maybe an applied border and a split hem on the bottom. This is project was meant to be a simple, comfy sweater and it doesn’t need to wait on my hands to become that
  • Jyn Erso Vanilla Socks – Must Stash Yarns self striping – Leaving them for now, but I’m pretty sure once I cave into my brain and buy a CSM and practice, this will be frogged, washed, and machine knit. It’s just a vanilla sock and it’s not stressing me out, but I want to play with a CSM so much and I love self -striping vanilla socks, so it’s just a likely outcome once I shell out the dollars for the machine.
  • Dwarven Mittens by Ginger Monkey Knits – Plymouth Homestead Tweed – these only need thumbs, so I’m probably just going to make Gabby finish these for me next time she’s up here because it’ll take her 10 minutes
  • Granny Stripes by Lucy of Attic24 – I’m gonna let this one sit. I’m used to leaving crochet projects for ages. If it turns out I want to use these scraps for other things, I’ll just grab them.
  • memory blanket by Georgie Nicolson – I’m also going to let this one sit. I want the finished object, but just having the giant tote of minis in here is stressing me out, so I’m going to move the blanket and associated tools to a smaller bag to tuck away and take that tote of minis to do a Pinwheel Scrap Blanket by Mina Philipp, which I think can be easily adapted to the machine as a stockinette project instead of garter
  • Scrap Acrylic Granny Squares – I counted them up and I have enough of them to make a rectangle with a pleasing ratio, but it rectangle itself is not big enough. So, I’m going to get some practice in with my garter bars and do garter log cabin borders on these granny squares

Shawl Shapes Design

  • Asymmetrical Shawl – (like the Halloween one) maybe with a cable – Zealana Performa KIWI Lace
  • Half & Half Triangle Shawl – (triangular shawl made by seaming two pieces together)
    • Fresh From the Cauldron – Painting the Roses Red and Valyrian
    • Knitologie – Groovy
  • End to End Triangle Shawl
    • Fresh From the Cauldron – Radioactive & Knit Picks Palette Fingering Black (intarsia)
    • Tentatively – some brown Cascade Eco wool I have
  • Three Piece Shawl
    • JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 – Blue for the 3 pieces and grey for the knit on border
    • Legacy Fiber Artz and Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light Black
  • Semi-Circle Wedge Shawl
    • Scrap fingering-ish weight held double for marling
    • ???

New Stuff

  • Strauch Jumbo Ball Winder
  • Card Weaving by Candace Crockett
  • Small weaving shuttle from WindhavenFiberTools
  • (coming) Card weaving cards from FolkTalesPI
  • Knitting Pattern Essentials (with Bonus Material): Adapting and Drafting Knitting Patterns for Great Knitwear by Sally Melville

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • Black Panther
  • Frontier

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Relistened to Star Wars Clone Wars: Wild Space by Karen Miller narr by Jeff Gurner

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi #5 – The Tangled Web by Jude Watson
  • Dreams from the Witch House short story collection
  • Fanfic~~~
    • Home We’ll Go by appalachian_fireflies
      • “I can’t, I don’t know how,” Remus stuttered as Molly dropped the infant into his arms, who immediately ceased crying and stared up at him with wide eyes.”Nonsense,” Molly said. “Be a dear and keep him from falling while I feed Ginny.”

        “Ba!” Ron giggled, and slapped Remus in the face.

        Molly is the emergency contact for the Order when those listed can no longer be reached. Remus’ life finds a different path.

      • Awesome look at Remus’ life after the Potters’ deaths, the Weasleys being amazing, and Molly’s intervention in Remus’ self-destruct spiral causes events to go differently.
    • Simple by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
      • Obi-Wan Kenobi saved Qui-Gon that day in the Theed Generator Complex—But it came at a terrible price.
      • Obi-Wan Kenobi used Force Healing on Qui-Gon, but he’s not a Healer and it was beyond his skill. He ended up causing himself irreparable brain damage while doing so. He can speak short sentences, dress himself, still commune with the force, can still perform physical tasks well, but his brain can’t always make the connections in complex ways. He can’t always make eye contact with you. He can’t always be around people who are feeling strong negative emotions because he no longer has the capacity to shield that part of his mind.
      • This is an incredible fic. It deals with Obi-Wan’s coping with his injury, Qui-Gon’s inability to accept the changes in his former apprentice, Anakin’s steadfast defence of a friend that people don’t understand, and how other characters in the Temple help Obi-Wan when he needs it.
      • WARNING: This fic has a sad ending. While changes happen to the Star Wars universe because of Obi-Wan’s injury, Palpatine’s plotting is still in place and similar events to the movies still unfold.
    • Who Are You? By I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
      • Obi-Wan insists he knows what the hell is going on. The only problem is… none of it matches.And Anakin’s just as sure he’s wrong. Nope. More sure.
      • Amnesia-fic. Something happens to Obi-Wan and he loses his memories of growing up. He thinks he’s thirteen and he’s scared – of the Clone Wars, of Anakin, of what is happening to the Jedi. There’s a bittersweet ending to this fic, but it slots neatly into the established story-line, so it’s not really an AU.
    • Declarations by Nny11, White_Ithiliel
      • A series exploring Obi-Wan and Ahsoka’s relationship as Grandmaster and Grandpadawan.
      • Does what it says on the tin. Gen-fic. We don’t get to see much interaction in Jedi student-teacher lineages, so this is really nice. Ongoing.
    • A Brother Is Born For Adversity by tb_ll57
      • A series following Remus Lupin over four phases and relationships: spying on Fenrir Greyback and the werewolves in the first war against Voldemort’s forces; a chance reunion with Severus Snape in Paris five years after the war, where all is not as it seems; learning how to like each other again with Sirius after teaching Harry’s third year at Hogwarts; and back again to werewolves, this time with Bill Weasley hostage to Voldemort’s agenda. Features the origins of the Order of the Phoenix, hitting rock bottom repeatedly and still trudging into work the next day, ambigious mentoring from Albus Dumbledore, and learning to live with the monster inside.
      • The last part of this series is unfinished, but there’s a lot of great writing here to really get into.

 

 

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Episode 53: Swatch Talk

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Filmed on Sunday February 11, 2018

Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! There’s been some interest in having a quilt along, so I wanted to throw some more ideas out there to get people thinking about it.
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jacqueline/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials

 

Life Stuff

  • Work – Past couple of weeks have been crazy with system crashes and the phones being down
  • Weather – Ice and flurries. The flurries are nice, but the ice is crazy. Hopefully most of it will melt today so we’re not sliding around all over.

 

FOs

  • Laundry Tube Socks – Addi Express Pro – woolen spun mystery fleece – a little tight on my feet, so I probably won’t be making any other house socks or slippers for me on this until I can manage short rows without dropping stitches

 

WIPs

  • Weaving Project – Strip 6 with hand-dyed yarn by me for the warp and Once Upon a Corgi “Murderer Attempts to Murder Murderer” as the weft
  • Woven Sample Scarf – warped black and white with stripes on the ends (Cloudborn fingering weight in black and “Milk” from GnomeAcres Milk and Cookies skein set) – woven with approx 8” color blocks of Once Upon a Corgi yarns — mentioned Little Elephant Yarn
  • Handspun striped sweater – Silver Reed LK 150 – Tramontane by Amy Herzog using her custom fit site – Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk wool and my own handspun out of a corriedale/finn/rambouillet wool from Spinners Hill – finished the front piece
  • Free motion quilting practice squares using concepts from Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion with Christina Cameli on Craftsy
  • Winter Wall quilt from The Weekend Quilter- started assembling the strips
  • Cormo Sweater Spin – Ashford Kiwi 2 – worsted spin
  • Classy Squid Fiber Co – All the Mirrors of the World – Hitchhiker wheel – woolen spun (long draw)
  • Classy Squid Fiber Co – – Hitchhiker wheel – woolen spun (long draw and short forward draw)
  • Pillow covers – scrap weaving – trimmed and interfaced my double weaving experiment
  • Machine knit swatches –
    • Fingering weight on smallest gauge “R” – really nice gauge for fingering weight – might do a swatch in my Green Mountain Spinnery for my sweater plans for that yarn
    • Stripe swatch for the Slytherin scarf project – icord edges with the every other needle gauge – This doesn’t quite work as the row gauge for the edges and the center are different after blocking. What I think I’m going to do, which I saw on a machine knitting block post somewhere, is follow the stripe count in the pattern I found for the ribbed scarf and maybe add a few stitches to the cast on numbers and seam the edges together and block it flat.
    • Semi-circle shawl swatches – changed up what I was doing with the short rows, equal short rows on either end of the wedge instead of making them directional. First swatch is a little wonky, second swatch looks really good.

 

New Stuff

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Maul: Lockdown by Joe Schreiber (audio) narr by Jonathan Davis

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi #5 – The Tangled Web by Jude Watson
  • Dreams from the Witch House

 

 

 

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Episode 52: A Sampling of WIPs

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Filmed on Sunday, January 28th 2018

Podcast Stuff

  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets.
  • Quilt Along! There’s been some interest in having a quilt along, so I wanted to throw some more ideas out there to get people thinking about it.
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jacqueline/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials
  • New Year Giveaway – Winner is… Post #19 MgoBlue – Paula from Indiana!

 

Life Stuff

  • New Bed! Full sized bed with a ridiculously fat mattress that’s hard as a rock and supremely comfortable. Ended up getting a great deal with a New Year’s sale and getting a friends and family discount because the sales guy was in the year below me in high school and we were both in band.

 

 

FOs

 

WIPs

  • Weaving Project – Finished strip 5 with hand-dyed yarn from the NYRF warp and Once Upon a Corgi “S.O.R.E.” as the weft – Started strip 6 with hand-dyed yarn by me for the warp and Once Upon a Corgi “Murderer Attempts to Murder Murderer” as the weft
  • Handspun striped sweater – Silver Reed LK 150 – Tramontane by Amy Herzog using her custom fit site – Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk wool and my own handspun out of a corriedale/finn/rambouillet wool from Spinners Hill
  • Free motion quilting practice squares using concepts from Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion with Christina Cameli on Craftsy
  • Winter Wall quilt from The Weekend Quilter- all pieces cut!
  • Mystery fleece spin – singles complete!
  • Aurrabesh Sampler from AdLeones on Etsy

 

New Stuff

  • Once Upon a Corgi Isaac DK “Narnia”
  • Once Upon a Corgi scraps for weaving samples for Gabby’s booth
  • Jo-Ann Fabrics clearance – stag heads, polka dots, Rebels fabric
  • The Quilted Ewe
    • Moda 5” Hope’s Journey 1830-1860 2 charm packs
    • Moda 2.5” Modern Background Ink, Compositions, and Spooky Delight

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • The Birch
  • The Greatest Showman
  • The Crown – season 2
  • Rebels

Stuff I’m Listening To:

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi #4 – Death on Naboo by Jude Watson
  • The Last of the Jedi #5 – The Tangled Web by Jude Watson
  • Dreams from the Witch House
  • Masquerade by Harpalyce
    • A redeemed Vader strives to reconcile his past actions while trying to save Luke from the Emperor’s grasp, and helping the Rebel Alliance… And struggles to simply survive. Post-RotJ AU.
    • While the second Death Star is destroyed, Sidious escapes with Luke in custody, who is drugged into compliance and receptive to mind control, and Vader is captured by a faction of rebels, detoxed, prosthetics repaired/improved, healed as much as possible, and let free to make his own choices.
  • Fic Catch Up
    • I Guess I’ll Know When I Get There by Eisoj5
      • AU where the Rogue One crew is integrated into the original trilogy and Bodhi Rook and Luke Skywalker fall in love. The latest chapter has gotten to the end of The Empire Strikes Back and we’re on the cusp of Luke telling Bodhi that he learned that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker and it’s so good.
    • Witness Me series by SLWalker
      • AU where Darth Maul is captured instead of escaping and Obi-Wan and Maul’s tumultuous, strange understanding and developing romantic feelings. The latest pieces of this series are in the Clone Wars now with Maul being assigned the leader of elite commandos called the Blackbirds and it’s pretty fantastic.
    • For the Right Price by ShaeTiann
      • AU where in order to save Qui-Gon from dying in TPM, Obi-Wan uses the Dark Side and is cast out from the Temple. Self-exploration/learning the universe story, now with Obi-Wan uncovering more of what’s going on behind the scenes than he had expected and now with sarcastic droid friend, Deesix!
    • The Dangers of Foresight by DAsObiQuiet
      • After his death, Darth Vader is thrown back in time to make better choices and has to deal with growing up all over again. We’re getting into some major plotting against Sidious now and the longer Anakin tries to hide who he is, the more people find out that he’s a time travelling former-Sith, which is super exciting.

 

 

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Episode 51: 2018

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Podcast Stuff

  • Blanket MAL 2017 – It’s over!
    • Prize winners–
      • $10 Ravelry Pattern from RoMillet – post 378 – filipamc – Filipa
      • Prize Package 1: A Hundred Ravens Yarn Poppers, Araucanía Huasco yarn, and DPN holder – post 76 – AuntyNanaNz – Megan
      • Prize Package 2: Handmade blanket project duffle and Once Upon a Corgi Series of Unfortunate Events minis – post 563 – mariberu35 – Maribel
  • 2018 Blanket MAL! There was a lot of encouragement and progress made in the Rav group and I think we should keep it going! There’s a thread up on Rav for photos and discussion, so please join us there as you work on blankets. There are no plans for prizes at this point this year, but I think we can all use a little encouragement for those long projects.
  • Quilt Along! There’s been some interest in having a quilt along, so I wanted to throw some more ideas out there to get people thinking about it.
    • Time Frame: March 2018 – September 2018 – 6 months
    • Quilt size: smallest side 3 ft/36”/92 cm
    • Quilt top pattern: Half Square Triangles – The entire quilt does not have to be half square triangles, but half square triangles should be a feature. I created a Pinterest board with some cool ideas.
    • Quilting: No rules about the actual quilting! Long arm, machine, by hand, or tie quilting is all welcome.
    • Link HERE to Jacqueline/Brooklyn Knitfolk’s quilt along tutorials
  • New Year Giveaway – I’ll open up a thread in the Ravelry group with the prompt, what do you want to accomplish is 2018? Resolutions? Trips planned? Projects planned?

 

Life Stuff

  • Christmas – Good Christmas. Gabby, Jake, and the pups came up for the day and we all had a good time.
  • New Year’s – We had a lazy New Year’s this year. My parents put out a sort of buffet that we like to do so that we can just graze instead of sitting down to a meal, but we didn’t have anyone over or anything. I fell asleep and only woke up for midnight because the fireworks down the street sent the pups into a frenzy.
  • Declutter/Organization – I’ve been itching to reorganize and declutter for the past couple weeks, which has been interesting for a couple of reasons.
    • 1 – I paid off my student loans, which has opened up a huge chunk of my paychecks and means I can seriously look at potential job searches and/or make serious considerations into moving out of my parents’ house
    • 2 – Because of my hand injuries, I’ve really had to look at how I craft, what I craft, what I can remove from my crafting, and what I potentially want to add to my crafting
    • There’s also been a trend of living simply, living slowly, and minimalism in the knitting community, so I went looking for some other sources outside of this community to see what other perspectives are out there. Lots of videos about the KonMari method (from the Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo)

 

FOs

  • Sewing machine extension table – I’ve been sort of on and off looking for an extension table for my sewing machine since getting into quilting, but I haven’t been able to find any ready-made ones. I would have had to pay over $100 to have one custom made for my machine, but there were plenty of DIY tutorials on Pinterest for inexpensive ones. The foam tutorials looked like the route to go, since I’m pretty sure that I’ll save up and invest in a quilting-oriented sewing machine (wider neck, comes with an extension table, etc) in the next few years. I used precut 15”x17” pieces of 2” foam, 1” foam, and a couple pieces of foam poster board that measured about ¼” thick to get to the 3 ½” height of my sewing machine. I also found a cut of vinyl in the remnants section of Joann’s for less than $3, so I’ve covered the foam platform so that fabric will slide right over. There’s also some overlap onto the bed of my machine that I secure with masking tape so that the edge of the extension table and my machine bed don’t create a speedbump.

 

WIPs

  • Weaving Project – Finished strip 4 with Sincere Sheep Tenacious 100% SW Merino in the “Up and Down Button” colorway and some very old handspun by me, started strip 5 with hand-dyed yarn from the NYRF warp and Once Upon a Corgi S.O.R.E. as the weft
  • Dwarven Mittens by Ginger Monkey Knits – Plymouth Homestead Tweed in grey – US 3/3.25 mm needles
  • Halloween Squares Quilt – “Finished” WIP
  • Halloween Candy Stripe Quilt – assembled, pending border ideas
  • Quick strip quilt – assembled, pending border ideas – Video I watched for this is HERE
  • Handspun striped sweater – Silver Reed LK 150 – Tramontane by Amy Herzog using her custom fit site – Classic Elite Yarns Mohawk wool and my own handspun out of a corriedale/finn/rambouillet wool from Spinners Hill
  • Free motion quilting practice squares using concepts from Quilting the Grid: Structured Free Motion with Christina Cameli on Craftsy
  • Swatches for future projects on the knitting machine

 

New Stuff

  • Addi Express Professional circular knitting machine
    • Did some swatches on the machine to get a feel for it
    • Bought some Patons Classic Wool Bulky to try making a pair of mittens
  • Hand Knits by Machine by Susan Guagliumi
  • More Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn narr by Jonathan Davis
  • The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan narr by Suzy Jackson
  • Been catching up on my audio podcasts over the past couple of days, mostly Mabel, Wolf 359, and the Magnus Archives

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi #3 – Underworld by Jude Watson
  • The Last of the Jedi #4 – Death on Naboo by Jude Watson
  • Of a Linear Circle by flamethrower – catch up
  • Reprise by elfpen – reread
  • How We Throw Our Shadows Down by anonymous (for fic collection challenge, I think) — Draco has finally found the perfect, rare piece to complete his collection. The only problem is that the item belongs to Harry Potter, the last wizard on earth Draco wants to ask another favour from.
  • Things Worth Knowing by anonymous (again, for a fic collection challenge, I think) — After the Battle, Harry thinks he’s left Hogwarts for good, but Minerva insists that all students return for an Eighth Year if they wish to sit for NEWTs in the spring, and Harry needs those NEWTs to go into the Aurors. Draco’s just grateful not to be in Azkaban. Or the Manor. He’s hoping he can steer clear of Potter this year and grapple with his own problems. Unfortunately for him, Potter appears to be one of those problems. And that’s not even addressing the fact that Potter’s got serious issues of his own, which Draco realises as he’s forced to share an Eighth Year dormitory room and several classes with the Gryffindor Git. If only they can make it through the year without killing each other, it should be all right, shouldn’t it?

 

 

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Episode 50: Back At It

/ freakishlemon / Leave a comment

 

Filmed on Tuesday, December 19th

Podcast Stuff

  • Blanket MAL 2017 – Make along throughout 2017 for making blankets. Check out the thread on Ravelry for details!

Life Stuff

  • Office Move – OK with the new building now that I’ve been there a few times and I’ve found my spots to take breaks and eat lunch. Still a little stressed about parking because it’s monthly and the payment system from work was just set up, so I need to check with the parking folks next week when I need to pick up the January window card. Bleh.
  • Hands – Good news! My EMG came back negative, so there’s no nerve damage in my hands. I still have to rest them a lot, but I’ve been given the green light to do a little knitting. My hands do get tired easily, so I’m making myself listen to my body and when I need to put the knitting down so that I don’t hurt myself again.

FOs

  • St. Nicholas needle felt from Going Gnome kit
  • Alpaca Obsession – natural black – part of my alpaca shawl spin project
  • Simple shawl design for knitting machine – Asymmetrical shawl – Blue Ridge Yarns Kaleidescope in the Halloween colors and some Plymouth Galway Worsted in Black

WIPs

  • Mystery Fleece Spin – Hitchhiker wheel
  • Weaving Project – Finished strip 3 with hand dyed yarn by me and Once Upon a Corgi “Frosted Cranberries”, started strip 4 with Sincere Sheep Tenacious 100% SW Merino in the “Up and Down Button” colorway and some very old handspun by me
  • Dwarven Mittens by Ginger Monkey Knits – Plymouth Homestead Tweed in grey – US 3/3.25 mm needles
  • Granny Stripe Blanket (NEW) with fingering scraps held double with black – size G/4.25 mm

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching:

  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi – no spoilers, I enjoyed myself in the theater, I think some things could be more polished and some of the writing is not my favourite, but it’s an okay movie. I do need to see it again in order to really dig into it. If you want to tell me what you thought of it, please comment below but no spoilers so that we don’t accidentally spoil anyone else. If you want a spoilery chat about it, send me a PM on Rav or Instagram and we’ll chat there.
  • Star Wars: Rebels season 4 – Finally remembered to buy the new season of Rebels and I’ve started in on that. I love that show.
  • The Midnight Quilt Show – a 15-ish minute quilting show on YouTube put on by Craftsy. It’s a funny show with some great simple-to-make-impressive-looking-quilts and Angela Walters is a fantastic host.

Stuff I’m Listening To:

  • Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn narr by Jonathan Davis
  • Iron Fist (Netflix with the descriptive audio turned on)
  • The Defenders (Netflix with the description audio turned on)
  • The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan narr by Suzy Jackson

Stuff I’m Reading:

  • The Last of the Jedi: Dark Warning by Jude Watson
  • And the Next by ienablu – Jyn looks to the disappearing horizon and thinks, The Force is with me, I am one with the Force. The Force is with me, I am one with the Force. The Force is strong with me, I am –Jyn wakes up in her Wobani prison cell, panting and a scream dying in her throat.
  • Here Comes Another One by croatoanmary – Teenage Sirius Black in Cornwall in the UK texts the wrong number and connects with Canadian teen Remus Lupin. It’s super cute and hilarious.
  • Leo Inter Serpentes by Aeternum – Finally got around to catching up with Year 6 of this fic — it’s one of those Harry-gets-sorted-into-Slytherin fics where Snape ends up adopting him. It’s one of the first ones I’d read and kind of started me down the obsession with reading all those types of fics.

 

 

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