Author: freakishlemon

EPISODE 12: THE FORCE REKINDLED

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Life Stuff

  • STAR WARS
  • Christmas
  • New Year’s
  • Resolutions
  • Read/listen to 24 books this year
  • Monthly step goals on Fitbit – January – 5000 steps per day, will reevaluate each month depending on what my numbers were
  • Yarn Diet/Stash busting – will not buy yarn from Feb 16 – Sept 16, excepting CT Fiber Festival and Stitches Midwest
  • Podcast Goals
    • Streamline my process
    • Dropping the pop up segment titles – I tend to listen right through while editing and then have to find where I said them again, so it’s taking up too much time when you add them all together
    • Currently dropping closed captioning – if anyone has a quick and easy way to do it or is willing to write up transcripts of my episodes, I’ll bring it back but right now it just takes too much time
    • Craft room tour video
    • Video about how I make a podcast episode
    • Reevaluate in June for possibly moving to biweekly schedule

 

Knitting Stuff

Frogged –

FOs –

  • Gift Knitting Montage

WIPs –

 

Crochet Stuff

WIPs –

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm

 

Fiber Stuff

FOs –

  • Hedgehog – needle felting
  • Gnome Wizard – needle felting
  • Loop Bump
  • Phoenix Fiber Club June – Turtle Made Turkish spindle
  • Supercoil Art Yarns – Fondant Fiber Fuzzlings
  • Test Spin Autumn
  • Green/White/Gold rolags

WIPs –

  • 3 ply BFL/Merino – Highland Handmades BFL in “The Rom”, Merino Top Green
  • My mystery bag o’ wool – combing progress and second set of samples spun

Sewing Stuff

FOs –

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
  • Star Wars Project Bag

WIPs –       

  • Hawkeye^2 Quilt – #sewfor20

 

New Stuff

  • Jumbo Flyer kit and Bobbins
  • Blackfoot Spindle
  • Fiber Project bag from Gabby
  • Lights for core spinning from Gabby
  • Rolags from Gabby
  • Buffalo Wool Company mini-skeins
  • Needle Felting supplies
  • Roving for needle felting
  • Package from Andi/AndreSueKnits Podcast
  • Package from Mary/ The Yarnaceuticals Podcast
  • Lion Brand Scarfie
  • Perfection by Kraemer Yarns – 30% Domestic Merino, 70% Acrylic in “Fieldstone”

 

Etsy Stuff

  • Progress keepers and snagless stitch marker sets should be up
  • Snagless Stitch Markers
  • Pony bead stitch markers

     

Other Stuff

Start Something New 2016 KAL

Start something new! There are two threads on Ravelry for this KAL – a chatter thread and an entry thread. You don’t have to finish the item, but you have to show the project in progress, at least. This can be knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, or any other fiber craft that you’ve wanted to try. You can post multiple entries, but only one entry per project, even if you’re doing multiple new things with that project.

This KAL will run from January 1st to March 31st and I will draw for the winner during my April episode.

If you’re posting to instagram, you can use #lemon2016KAL so we can all see your projects.

We have a KAL sponsor! RsislandCrafts is supplying a project bag as a prize for this KAL and have a coupon code of LEMON15 from now until the end of March for 15% total purchase – https://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/home/rsislandcrafts

 

Stuff I’m Watching – Doctor Who, Murder She Wrote, STAR WARS, Elementary

Stuff I’m Reading – Necronomicon (audiobook), Planet of Twilight by Barbara Hambly, Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber (auidobook), The Force Awakens by Alan Dean Foster (audiobook)

Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes

Podcasts – Ewe University Live by Dr. Kelly (Halcyarn on Etsy) – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr1bI6qOoR95A1xDFxeUAiA

 

Come join the Freakish Lemon Video Podcast group on Ravelry

Follow me as freakishlemon Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Ravelry

Check out my shop at freakishlemon.etsy.com     

 

     

EPISODE 11: UPGRADES AND HIDDEN KNITTING

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Stuff on Sticks

WIPs –

Stuff on Hooks

WIPs –

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

FOs –

WIPs –

  • Phoenix Fiber Club June – Turtle Made Turkish spindle
  • My mystery bag o’ wool – combing with lanolin in, combing without, working on a sample spun with the lanolin in
  • Loop Bump

 

Stuff with Thread

WIPs –      

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
  • Hawkeye^2 Quilt – #sewfor20

 

New Stuff

  • Mac Mini
  • Apocalypse Friday Kickstarter Rewards
  • “Soft Teal” Merino – Done Roving Yarn Frolicking Feet
  • Classy Squid Fiber Co – Washed Leicester Longwool Locks and Washed Cotswold Locks
  • Undyed Wool Roving from FashionTouchSupplies on Etsy
    • Corriedale
    • Shetland
    • Merino Silver

 

Stuff for Etsy

  • Coupon code SNOWFLAKE for 15% a purchase of $30.00 or more until the end of 2015
  • Edited the photos for the stitch markers and progress keepers, so those should be up in the shop soon.

   

Other Stuff

Winter Holiday Giveaway!

What is your favourite winter holiday story?

 

I have a lot of winter holiday stories rattling around in my brain, but I’ll tell you a Real Life Story that my family likes to tell.

 

We love Christmas and we decorate everything. When I was little, we used to do just the one tree in the living room. We had this sort of fake in-law suite/den type room that was just storage until my dad decided to redo the room to make it into a family room. Once we had a family room, my parents quickly realized that we could double the Christmas tree action in our house.

 

Our town is one of those nebulous little places that’s somewhere between suburb and rural. This means that we have Christmas tree farms around every corner. December rolls around and you’ve got cardboard signs on every telephone pole indicating where you can cut down your own Christmas tree. There’s this one Christmas tree farm down the street that we used to go to all the time as kids with acres and acres of trees. We would go explore other tree farms every couple of years, but this one was a favourite.

 

One year, we were going through these trees at this farm that we love and we found a good tree for our living room. Those aren’t hard. That’s a 7 foot ceiling, so a lot of trees are grown specifically to be cut down at around that height out here. But our family room? It’s a 9 foot ceiling, I think. It’s tall. We need a taller tree.

 

So we were walking around and there was this perfect tree. Just perfect. Perfect shape, perfect height, nice and full branches, needles that weren’t prickly…. It was the dream family room tree.

 

But it was tagged as reserved, which means we couldn’t just up and take it. We were disappointed, but we kept looking. But we couldn’t find any trees that could live up to that tree. We were just about getting ready to leave, just lingering near the tree, and my dad noticed that the tag was kind of old. He said that maybe if it was an old tag that’s been forgotten about, we could talk to the tree sellers about buying it. He reaches up, flips the tag over, and his name is written on the tag.

 

We had tagged that tree three years earlier.

 

And the winner is…

 

lsimon1!

 

New Year’s Resolution KAL

 

I’m holding a knit-along! Start something new! Use a new technique, a new fiber, a new designer’s pattern that you’ve really wanted to use before… I will open two threads on Ravelry for this KAL. There will be a Chatter thread and an entry thread. You don’t have to finish the item, but you have to show the project in progress, at least. This can be knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, or any other craft that you’ve wanted to try. You can post multiple entries, but only one entry per project, even if you’re doing multiple new things with that project.

 

This KAL will run from January 1st to March 31st and I will draw for the winner during my April episode.

 

If you’re posting to instagram, you can use #lemon2016KAL so we can all see your projects.

 

Stuff I’m Watching – Doctor Who, Murder She Wrote, Agents of SHIELD, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Jessica Jones

Stuff I’m Reading – Necronomicon audiobook

Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes

Podcasts – Gabby hosting Once Upon a Corgi – https://onceuponacorgi.wordpress.com/, Spicy Homemaker podcast hosted by Melissa – http://www.spicyhomemaker.com/

.

EPISODE 10 : MAJOR HAUL

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Stuff on Sticks 

Frogged – 

  • Lace Weight Triangle Shawl – Plymouth Yarn Revel (85% alpaca, 15% merino) in “Grape Mist” – US 5/3.75 mm aluminum circulars – improvised pattern

FOs – 

WIPs –

Important knitting lesson learned! How I wrap my yarn affects the twist of the stitch!

Stuff on Hooks

WIPs – 

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

WIPs – 

  • Giant Ball of wool handspun 2 ply fractal spinning – Spinners Hill (blend of Corriedale, Finnish Landrace, Rambouillet) Autumn leaf colors – Ashford Kiwi 2 – for the Maple Leaf Knit Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maple-leaf-knit-shawl  
  • Phoenix Fiber Club June – Turtle Made Turkish spindle
  • My mystery bag o’ wool – combing with lanolin in, combing without, working on a sample spun with the lanolin in

For a good podcast resource on fleece processing, check out episode 27b: Fiber Myth Busting Bonus Episode of the Two Ewes Podcast at twoewesdyeing.blogspot.com

For a good tutorial on combing wool, check out this video from Susan MacFarland – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGbhEuqyTGo

 

Stuff with Thread

FOs –

WIPs –       

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
  • Hawkeye^2 Quilt – #sewfor20

New Stuff

 

  • Craftsy Class – Spinning Art Yarn with Jacey Boggs-Faulkner
  • Creations Christine on Etsy- Art Batts and Angelina
  • Voolenvine Yarns – Myth
  • Ashford Blending Board
  • Handspun tags PDF from elisadallomo on Etsy
  • Darning foot for my sewing machine for free motion quilting
  • Gnome Acres – Milk and Cookies Doopleganger set, Ron Swanson’s Bacon and Eggs Minis

Fiber Festival of New England Haul

  • Spinner’s Hill – BFL
  • A Wrinkle in Time Farms – Curly Locks (Cotswald)
  • Bitsy Knits – Gradient Carded Roving
  • Marsh Mallo Farm – Cormo
  • Mad Color Fiber Arts – Life is Short and You Are Hot 
  • June Pryce Fiber Arts – Mawata Silk Hankie
  • A Hundred Ravens – Iachos base – Captain Jack Harkness

Absurd and Wonderful Package from JazzyJava – SuAnn

Stuff for Etsy

 

  • Still editing the photos for the progress keeper and stitch markers
  • Coupon code SNOWFLAKE for 15% a purchase of $30.00 or more until the end of 2015

      

Other Stuff

Winter Holiday Giveaway! 
I will open a thread in the Ravelry group and to enter into the drawing, you must answer this question:

What is your favourite winter holiday story?

This can be a book, a poem, and old story your grandma tells at dinner every year a New Year’s… just a good story that you love for this time of year. Tell me about it! I will draw for the winner during my December episode.

Stuff I’m Watching – The Great British Bake Show, Doctor Who, Murder She Wrote, Agents of SHIELD, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl
Stuff I’m Reading – Necronomicon audiobook, The Walls of the Castle by Tom Piccirilli
Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes
Podcasts – Tiny Paper Foxes hosted by Jennie (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe_6j3qTtKazHzT2_iFFyzA), Pretend I’m Dumb About Star Wars hosted by Tom Merritt (http://www.tommerritt.com/category/shows/pidasw/)

 

      

August Dye Experiment

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I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this yet. Where have I been all summer?

This post is about the Great Dye Experiment that The Gabbers and I had at the end of August. I’ve talked about it on my podcast, but it just feels weird not to have also blogged about it.

So back in August, The Gabbers was playing around with dyeing. She had bought some naked, undyed yarn and some acid dyes and was playing around with both natural and acid dyeing. She invited me down to come play with the dyes to see what we could make, since she knew I had grabbed some undyed fiber from the GnomeAcres fiber stock sale over the summer. I had taken a Friday off to play with Penny (the adorable corgi) because both of my parents were on vacation and she had some separation anxiety over their leaving, so we figured I’d bring my fiber and the dog down to my sister’s apartment. The dogs would wrestle all day and we would dye yarn and fiber.

We actually started out with some yarn and not the fiber we’d been talking about. We’d looped our fiber in the recommended fashion (I’m not sure what book we were using) and were soaking it in vinegar to hold the dye later. She had already soaked the naked yarn she had ordered, so it was ready to go.

The first yarn we dyed was very experimental. We weren’t sure the concentration of dye and how saturated those colors would be, so the first skein was really for us to find our feet. We started out by hand painting the yarn to see how the colors would work. I decided to drip the dye onto my first skein to mimic the speckled yarns that are popular right now.

 

I think both of us were surprised at how low the saturation was when we dyed the yarn this way. I like the result, but it had looked much more saturated before we set the color. We then tried some more hand painting and ended up with a much more saturated yarn.

 

 

 

 Since I’m not intending to replicate this yarn for sale, I’ll explain how I did the color. I arranged my skein on the plastic into a square (ish) shape. I started adding color to the corner sections, then to either side of each corner, and then filled in the straight sides. I have no idea how this will knit up, but I’m excited to see what kind of variegation that created.

Then the fiber was ready to play with. We started out trying hand painting the fiber, since that’s what we had been doing with the yarn. That was kind of a mess. The fiber just drank the dye and stuck to brushes, even when only dabbing straight up and down. I ended up just pouring dye into the fiber and squishing it down to distribute the dye in that section. Luckily, I wanted most of the color to blend well instead of clear color changes in this fiber and I think it worked out pretty well for my pumpkin fiber.

 

By this time, it was getting late and we knew we needed to speed things up if I was going to go home that night, which was my preference since I hadn’t brought anything with my but the dog and some fiber. So then we started working on some immersion dyeing stuff.

I started out with a braid of fiber in some hot water and just dumping some red mixed dye into the water and letting that cook in. When the fiber had absorbed that, I pulled out that fiber and tied some big, loose knots in it. I dumped it back into the water and poured some blue dye in. When that was absorbed, I pulled it out again and tied the whole thing into one loopy knot, put it back in the water, and poured some darker purpley blue dye into the pot. The goal was the same principle as tie-dye. The first layer of dye would be covered in the knots, so other parts of the fiber would have the blue over-dye. Then both those sections would be covered in the big knot and the purple-blue dye would over-dye only part of the fiber. And this was the result:

 

I like the way the colors played, but I don’t think I’ll do that with fiber again. The fiber was so sticky when it was wet and I had to be super careful when I untied those knots. I didn’t want to pull the length of fiber apart and I know I partially drafted parts of it when I was pulling the knots out. Luckily, it fluffed up when it dried, so it’s not that noticeable. 

The I did some more immersion dyeing with my last bit of fiber. This one I mostly just played with the amounts of dye in the pot. I had some of the blue and then some of the purple-blue and I actually got a pretty cool effect due to the fiber being too fluffy for the dye pot. Some of the color really concentrated where the fiber touched the pot and the pot strainer and the parts that weren’t touching the pot or pot-strainer has a much softer color dye.

 

 

 

Then I rushed through dying the last bit of yarn, which actually turned out really nice. I threw some yellow into the dye pot, but there was still a little bit of the purple-blue in the pot, so it ended up a light, soft yellow-green. I tied the yarn in a few knots and tossed in some green, tied it into another big knot, and threw in another shade of green. It ended up being this nice sort of light, tonal green that I really like.

 

And that was my part of the yarn dyeing experiment! Will I do it again? With the space, time, and some money to get started? Sure! It was fun and I liked the yarns I ended up with. I’d love to play with the color dyes more and how they mix with each other, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it again any time soon. Because of where I live, I cannot block off the kitchen to dye and I do not have the dedicated space for the actual dyeing or the drying. If this is something that I’m really interested in pursuing while I live here, I may pick it back up in the spring and summer and see about using the burner on the grill outside to do the heat setting and the clothesline for the drying.

The only thing I can really see myself doing anytime soon would be natural dyeing with foods. I know onion skins, cabbage, and black beans are among the food items that can dye yarn and I’m sure there are other things that I’m not thinking about right now. I’m definitely interested in doing some more research for that. 

Until then, I’ll just have to enjoy the products of my experiment.

.

EPISODE 9: RHINEBECK

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Stuff on Sticks

FOs – 

  • Pumpkin Socks – Handpsun SW Merino/Merino/Silk and Patons Silk Bamboo in Black – US 2/ 2.75 mm aluminum DPNs
  • Mini Pumpkin Trio from the Fiber, Friends, and Fun Yarn Crawl booklet – Pumpkin handspun SW Merino/Merino/Nylon – US 2/2.75 mm dpns
  • Andromaque by Marie Adeline Boyer – Frolicking Feet “Pumpkin” and Canon Hand Dyes Charles Sock base (80% Merino, 20% Nylon) in “Black Box” – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/andromaque

WIPs –

Stuff on Hooks

FOs – 

 

WIPs – 

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

WIPs – 

  • Giant Ball of wool handspun 2 ply fractal spinning – Spinners Hill (blend of Corriedale, Finnish Landrace, Rambouillet) Autumn leaf colors – Ashford Kiwi 2 – for the Maple Leaf Knit Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maple-leaf-knit-shawl  
  • Phoenix Fiber Club June – Turtle Made Turkish spindle

 

Stuff with Thread

WIPs –       

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

New Stuff

 

  • $10 Mystery Bag of Fleece (Bleu du Maine?)
  • Alpaca Cowl Kit won from In Sheep’s Clothing in Torrington, CT
  • Fondant Fiber Fuzzlings
  • Tabletop swift/winder
  • Patons Kroy Socks – 166 yds/50g – 75% washable wool, 25% nylon – Spring Leaf Stripes and Gentry Grey
  • Project Bag from MinaMakes – minamakes.etsy.com, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx__O_6VbDNlrHB1hmfCVhw
  • Mini Skeins from @gabigails – unpoacorgi.etsy.com
  • Rhinebeck 2015 Haul
    • Loop – batt – Electus Parrot – 4 oz Merino/Bamboo/Tussah Silk
    • Seaport Yarns – Aussie Soxie – 400 yds/100g hand dyed – 90% Merino, 10% nylon
    • Solitude Wool – Cotswold dyed locks – 4 oz
    • Into the Whirled – Polwarth – Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey
    • Into the Whirled – Heirloom Ornamental kettle dyed on Pakokku Sock – 460 yds/100 g – 4 ply 75% SW Merino, 25% Nylon

 

Stuff for Etsy

 

  • Stitch marker packs

      

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching – Wonder Woman, Witches of East End, The Martian
Stuff I’m Reading – Tales of Witchcraft edited by Richard Darby, Necronomicon audiobook
Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes
Podcasts – AndreSueKnits – http://andresueknits.com/ , Dancing Geek – http://www.dancinggeek.co.uk/

 

   

Come join the Freakish Lemon Video Podcast group on Ravelry
Follow me as freakishlemon Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Ravelry
Check out my shop at freakishlemon.etsy.com     

 

.      
      
      

 

EPISODE 8: QUESTIONS AND CARS

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Questions
from mijejo in the Ravelry thread

What do mean that you use male pronouns?

The simple answer to this question is that I am clarifying that, when you talk about me, you should use the words “he” “him” “his” etc.

The more complicated answer has two parts.

One part is that once I point it out that I use male pronouns, it seems obvious. Yeah, obviously this dude should be called “him.” If I don’t clarify, not everyone guesses right, especially if I’m speaking. My voice isn’t that deep or masculine. My face isn’t super masculine. If you see me in person, I’m on the short side and I have wide hips. And “Adrian” doesn’t necessarily indicate masculine or feminine, as there are both versions of the name. And it really does not feel good when people guess wrong.

And that’s because of the second part. I have a complicated relationship with gender and sexuality. It’s been something that I’ve tried to clarify for myself for more than half of my life now. I don’t have a firm grasp on the specifics and I’m not comfortable sharing everything here on the podcast, but it’s been something I’ve been actively thinking about and educating myself on for a long time. If you’ve never questioned your gender or sexuality, you might not get that, but I want to be sure that it’s clear which gendered pronouns I prefer when I can because it’s something I’ve had to work at.

Also, if you regularly post or interact with a group of people who are trans, who don’t identify as binary male or female, or who are questioning, it’s polite to indicate your pronoun preference in your profile or as a part of your introduction. I know that each episode could be someone’s first time watching, so I keep it as part of my introduction.

Is there a backstory to the name Freakish Lemon?

Back in the seventh grade (2000 – 2001 school year), AOL Instant Messenger was becoming popular among my friend group. I cycled through a whole host of screen names trying to figure out which one suited me. I started out with ones based on book characters and weird combinations of words. I don’t remember a lot of them, but I remember using names like “Ketchup Avenger” for a while. I started using The Almighty Lemon after an assignment in History & Geography where we created trivia board games about India and played each other’s games. One of the games used little plastic fruits as pieces and I played as the lemon. After a while, The Almighty Lemon sounded too boastful, I guess, so I changed it to Freakish Lemon. I was one of the weird kids in school, so “freakish” seemed like a more appropriate descriptor.

It also made me laugh because of common fanfic terminology that was in use at the time. I hadn’t thought about it when I registered for the AIM screen name or anything, but I used to write fanfic at the time and it made me laugh so hard when I got a review on some tame and terrible introspective fic saying that this person was never reading my stuff again because my screen name lead them to believe that my fic would be very different.

Tell us more about the Renaissance Fairs you attend. What parts do you like? What would you recommend to someone who has never gone to one, but aspires to remedy that?

I’ve been to a few Ren Faires and I love going. My family started going to the NY Ren Faire when I was 13. I’m 27 now and the NY Ren Faire is a yearly tradition. We also used to go to the fall CT Ren Faire most years until some changes put us off. It’s in a new location this year, so we might check it out. We’ve also been to the PA Ren Faire multiple times for vacations and I’ve been to the MD Ren Faire once on a trip with my friends.

I like lots of things about Ren Faires, but I’ll try to nail down a few concrete ones. I love making and wearing costumes, which is encouraged at the faires. I love the welcoming environment of most faires. I like checking out the craftsmanship at the faires. You see lots of metal work, sculpture, glass work, leather work, and sewing work that you really don’t see all together anywhere else. I love the music. I love the jousting. I love faire food.

For someone who has never gone –

– Try not to feel self conscious about how you’re dressed. Dress up or don’t. There will be plenty of both. You won’t stick out.

– Find out if you can bring water or if there will be free water there. Lots of faires are in the summer and you need to stay hydrated, especially if you’re dressed up in layers. MD had free water stations when I went and PA has a water fountain near one of the bathrooms, but NY doesn’t have water fountains or free water stations. If there isn’t free water, find out if you can bring your own. Water bottles at NY are $3 each, so that can be a hefty chunk of your budget if you’re not prepared for it.

– It’s a fair, so food and drinks are expensive. It varies depending on the faire, but expect to pay up to $12 for a meal’s worth of food and drink.
– Scope out the bathrooms. Find out where they are and what type they are. NY has one set of normal, running water bathrooms and a bunch of groupings those blue portable toilets (we call them porta-potties here). PA has all normal, running water bathrooms. For us, knowing where they are and what type we’ll have to use alleviates a lot of stress.

– If you have mobility concerns (strollers, wheelchairs, canes, walkers, etc), bring someone who can help you. The faires I’ve been to have been handicap accessible, but often the walkways are dirt or gravel, uneven, and going up and down hill. The shops and tents also tend to be small, so if you use a wheelchair or walker especially, it’s probably best to have someone to help you in tight spaces.

 

Stuff on Sticks

FOs –

  • Del Norte by Danielle Morgan – Ella Rae Lace Merino (100% extra fine merino) in “Green/11” and Berroco Cosma (60% Alpaca, 30% Merino, 10% Silk) in “2442” – US 4 / 3.5 mm Boye aluminum circular interchangeables – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/del-norte

WIPs –

  • Cozy Memories Blanket using the Memories Blanket tutorial by Georgie Hallam – sock scraps – US 2/2.75 mm interchangeable circulars – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/memory-blanket
  • Lace Weight Triangle Shawl – Plymouth Yarn Revel (85% alpaca, 15% merino) in “Grape Mist” – US 5/3.75 mm aluminum circulars – improvised pattern
  • Redford Sweater by Julie Hoover – Yarn Place Basic Fingering (wool) in Grey (ebay yarn) – swatching for needle size – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/redford
  • Gift Knitting

Stuff on Hooks

WIPs –

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm
  • Weekender Blanket by Sandra Paul – Lion Brand Wool Ease and Vanna’s Choice Yarns leftover from Doctor Who scarves in worsted and light aran weight – US I/ 5.5 mm- http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weekender-blanket

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

FOs –

  • Pumpkin Yarn – hand dyed SW Merino/Merino/Silk – 4 oz – 231 yds – 15 wpi sport – Ashford Kiwi 2
  • Swan Hollow Studio Fiber – Bought at Stitches East in 2014 – Camel/Tussah silk/Sheltland – 4 oz – 91.5 yds – 12 wpi DK – Ashford Kiwi 2

WIPs –

  • Giant Ball of wool handspun 2 ply fractal spinning – Spinners Hill (blend of Corriedale, Finnish Landrace, Rambouillet) Autumn leaf colors – Ashford Kiwi 2 – for the Maple Leaf Knit Shawl by Natalia @ Elfmoda – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maple-leaf-knit-shawl
  • Phoenix Fiber Club June – Turtle Made Turkish spindle

Stuff with Thread

FOs –

WIPs –

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

New Stuff

  • Bryson Stainless Steel Sock Blockers
  • Knitter’s Pride Knit Blockers
  • Bee Linen bag from KnitterBag.Etsy.Com

Stuff for Etsy

  • Moleskines
  • Sparkly handspun
  • New business cards
  • Stitch Markers R&D

Other Stuff
          

Stuff I’m Watching – Agents of SHIELD, Wonder Woman, House Hunters, Hindenburg: The Untold Story, Doctor Who
 Stuff I’m Reading – Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin, Tales of Witchcraft edited by Richard Darby
Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes, DuoLingo
Podcasts – Herbstblatt Regina on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/cre8iveregy

Events
 

Fiber, Friends, and Fun Yarn Crawl by the Western CT Yarn Council – Sept. 25th – 27th

  • New England Yarn and Spindle in Bristol
  • Knit & Pearls in Avon
  • In Sheep’s Clothing in Torrington
  • Black Sheep Yarns in Kent
  • A Stitch in Time in Bethel
  • Nancy O in Ridgefield
  • Westport Yarns in Westport

Coventry Farmer’s Market – Fiber Twist & Bead Bash – Sept 27th

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Canyon and Handspun Socks

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Another older FO post! Let’s get this party started. Today, it’s socks!

Canyon Socks

Pattern: vanilla sock
Yarn: Loops & Threads Luxury Sock in “Canyon”
Needles: US 1 – 2.25 mm

 

I tried a couple of new things with these socks. Nothing major, but some tweaks that I hadn’t done in combination. I cast these on with 64 stitches. Lots of folks with similarly sized or smaller feet use 64 stitches for their basic socks, so I thought I’d give it a go. These are a teeny bit loose on me, but that’s not unexpected. I have a loose gauge and it was good to know. I also used the Fish Lips Kiss Heel on top down socks for the first time. It worked out well and is a good option for self-striping socks, I think. They look nice and even with matching heels, since I started the heel at the same color change.

All in all, a satisfying knit. They fit well enough and I learned some handy things to know about my gauge, foot size, and heel construction.

 

Handspun Socks

Pattern: vanilla sock
Yarn: Handspun out of 4 oz Frabjous Fibers BFL in “Dunedin” – chain plied and spun on my Ashford Kiwi 2
Needles: US 1 – 2.25 mm

 

Oh boy. These were an adventure. I made these for the Yarngasm Podcast’s Sock Spin and Knit Along. The goal was to spin your yarn and knit it into a pair of socks. I had a great time spinning the BFL I chose, but looking back on it, I think I needed to spin it a little finer to get more length out of it. The finished yarn was thicker than a fingering weight, so the yardage was a little short for my feet. In fact, if I hadn’t noticed, I would have run out of yarn part way through the toe decreases. Or I should have spun a little of another fiber to do contrasting heels and toes. I would have had plenty of the BFL for the socks if I had done that.

But alas, I had not and I played an epic game of yarn chicken. I skipped a bunch of plain knit rows in the toe and increased the decreases. By the end of it, I was knitting from both ends of the last bit of yarn and had to stop when I had a foot between them because I had to kitchener about 20 stitches for each sock. 

With a commercial yarn, there’s no way these socks would have fit me. Lying flat, even after blocking, they’re almost an inch shorter than my foot. But, because the yarn is thicker than a fingering weight and it was chain plied, there’s a lot of stretch to the knitted fabric I ended up with, so they actually fit my feet fine when I put them on.

I have two other 4 oz braids upstairs that I think would make nice socks like these. When I spin up those, I’m definitely going to be spinning up that other bit of fiber for contrasting heels and/or toes. That was a scary game of chicken and I’m not keen on doing it again, even if the socks turned out alright.

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Episode 7: Dye Experiments

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Dyed Stuff

My sister, who you can find as @gabigails on Instagram, invited me down to play with the acid dyes she ordered. She’s been experimenting a bit with dyeing yarns, so we decided to make a day of dyeing some yarn stock she had and the fiber bunches we both ordered from Gnome Acres’ fiber stock sale.

Merino/nylon blends (unsure exact percentages), 100g, 463 yds

  • Speckled Yarn
  • Handpainted
  • Immersion dye

Fiber

  • SW Merino/Merino/Silk – Carrot fiber – hand painted
  • SW Merino/Bamboo/Nylon – Immersion dye
  • Falkland – Immersion dye
  • Onion Skin dye

I didn’t do any of the dying myself for that, but my sister did do a couple of skeins in an onion skin dye and gave me a mini skein for my blanket

Stuff on Sticks

FOs –

  • Flying North by Maria Montzka (Stitched in Sweden) – Sensations Truly (55% wool, 30% nylon, 15% rayon from bamboo) “Turquoise” – US 1 /2.25 mm aluminum dpns – http://www.ravlery.com/patterns/library/flying-north-2
  • Basic Socks – Loops & Threads Luxury Sock (60% merino, 30% nylon, 10% cashmere) “Canyon” – US 1/2.25 mm aluminum dpns
  • Handspun Socks – “Dunedin” BFL from Frabjous Fibers hand spun – vanilla sock – US ½.25 mm aluminum DPNs
  • Mini Sweater Ornaments – Mini Sweater Ornament with Cables by Emily5446 – Merry Little Lamb (100% Wool) in “Green” and Loops & Threads Luxury Sock (60% merino, 30% nylon, 10% cashmere) “Canyon” – US 2/2.75 mm aluminum DPNs – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-sweater-ornament-with-cables

WIPs –

  • Cozy Memories Blanket using the Memories Blanket tutorial by Georgie Hallam – sock scraps – US 2/2.75 mm interchangeable circulars – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/memory-blanket
  • Lace Weight Triangle Shawl – Plymouth Yarn Revel (85% alpaca, 15% merino) in “Grape Mist” – US 5/3.75 mm aluminum circulars – improvised pattern
  • Del Norte by Danielle Morgan – Ella Rae Lace Merino (100% extra fine merino) in “Green/11” – US 4 / 3.5 mm Boye aluminum circular interchangeables – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/del-norte
  • Gift Knitting – I’m not going to show things that I’m intending for gifts for Christmas because I don’t know who watches the podcast. You might catch pieces on Instagram, but I will do a full blog post about the items I’m made for Christmas after everything’s handed out.

Stuff on Hooks

WIPs –

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm
  • Weekender Blanket by Sandra Paul – Lion Brand Wool Ease and Vanna’s Choice Yarns leftover from Doctor Who scarves in worsted and light aran weight – US I/ 5.5 mm- http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weekender-blanket

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

FOs –

  • Phoenix Fiber Club May – Andean 2 ply – raw elm drop spindle

WIPs –

Stuff with Thread

FOs –

  • Renaissance Faire Pants

WIPs –

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
  • Quilt top from Bento Bag Scraps

New Stuff

  • Spun Fiber Co – “Luna” Local Merino – Kickstarter Reward
  • KnitCircus – Greatest of Ease 80% SW Merino, 20% Nylon “Grand Canyon” – Kickstarter Reward
  • Turkish and Bottom Whorl Spindles from Turtle Made on Etsy
  • Christmas Gift Yarns

 

Stuff for Etsy

  • Phoenix Fiber Handspun
  • Ordered new business cards

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching – Agents of SHIELD, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Stuff I’m Reading – Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin

Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Marvel Superheroes

Podcasts – Black Girls Talking – http://www.blackgirlstalking.com/

 www.freakishlemon.com

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/the-freakish-lemon-video-podcast

Follow me as freakishlemon Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Ravelry

Check out my shop at freakishlemon.etsy.com!

 

Transcription

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Episode 6: New Corner

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Stuff on Sticks

FOs –

WIPs –

  • Basic Socks – Loops & Threads Luxury Sock (60% merino, 30% nylon, 10% cashmere) “Canyon” – US 1/2.25 mm aluminum dpns
  • Cozy Memories Blanket using the Memories Blanket tutorial by Georgie Hallam – sock scraps – US 2/2.75 mm interchangeable circulars – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/memory-blanket
  • Lace Weight Triangle Shawl – Plymouth Yarn Revel (85% alpaca, 15% merino) in “Grape Mist” – US 5/3.75 mm aluminum circulars – improvised pattern
  • Flying North by Maria Montzka (Stitched in Sweden) – Sensations Truly (55% wool, 30% nylon, 15% rayon from bamboo) “Turquoise” – US 1 /2.25 mm aluminum dpns – http://www.ravlery.com/patterns/library/flying-north-2
  • Del Norte by Danielle Morgan – Ella Rae Lace Merino 9100% extrafine merino) in “Green/11” – US 4 / 3.5 mm Boye aluminum circular interchangeables – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/del-norte

Stuff on Hooks

WIPs –

  • Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm
  • Weekender Blanket by Sandra Paul – Lion Brand Wool Ease and Vanna’s Choice Yarns leftover from Doctor Who scarves in worsted and light aran weight – US I/ 5.5 mm- http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/weekender-blanket

Stuff on Spindles and Wheels

FOs –

  • “Dunedin” BFL from Frabjous Fibers – chain plying – Ashford Kiwi 2 – 4 oz – Haven’t measured the length or yarn weight yet

WIPs –

Stuff with Thread

FOs –

  • Cupcake Project Bag
  • DPN holder cozies
  • mug rug
  • coasters

WIPs –

  • Christmas Cross Stitch – The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery
  • Quilt top from Bento Bag Scraps

New Stuff

  • ChiaoGoo Red Lace US 1 / 2.25 mm circular needles
  • Skeinminder Kickstarter Rewards
  • GnomeAcres undyed fiber sale
  • Boye interchangeable needle cables 21”
  • Purple hand-dyed yarn from Peggy May Yarns that I won in the May-along drawing
  • Some minis from Diane/Peggy May Yarns
  • Owl Tape Measure from Chosen Sisters
  • Sheep Tape Measure from Mimi’s Needle Basket
  • Cast On Bind Off 54 Step by Step Methods by Leslie Ann Bestor
  • Phoenix Fiber Club rolags for June

 

Stuff for Etsy

  • Cupcake project bag
  • DPN holder cozies

 

Other Stuff

Stuff I’m Watching – Orange is the New Black, Boys, Five Dances

Stuff I’m Reading – Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin

Stuff I’m Playing – Lego Lord of the Rings, Lego Marvel Superheroes

Podcast Recommendation – Changing this segment. I recently wrote a long post on my website about all the podcasts, audio and video, that I am currently subscribed to. I think I’ll only update this with new podcasts I’ve found. https://freakishlemon.com/theoddorchard/2015/7/5/podcasts

 

 

Come join the Freakish Lemon Video Podcast group on Ravelry – http://www.ravelry.com/groups/the-freakish-lemon-video-podcast

Follow me as “freakishlemon” on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Ravelry

Check out my shop at freakishlemon.etsy.com

 

Transcription

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