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/
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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
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
“Dunedin” BFL from Frabjous Fibers – chain plying – Ashford Kiwi 2 – 4 oz – Haven’t measured the length or yarn weight yet
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
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
Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure – Patons Kroy Socks 4 Ply “Blue Striped Ragg”, Patons Kroy Socks “Grey Brown Marl”, and Premier Yarns Serenity Sock Weight “Black” – US 1 /2.25 mm 16” circular clover bamboo needles – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sockhead-hat
Lace Weight Triangle Shawl – Plymouth Yarn Revel (85% alpaca, 15% merino) in “Grape Mist” – US 5/3.75 mm aluminum circulars – Originally was going to be a F568 Revel Modular Kerchief by Vanessa Ewing, but I liked the color progression as it is and didn’t want to break it up
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
Key Card Cozies – Lion Brand Bon Bons (Acrylic) – US 3/ 3.25 mm aluminum DPNs
Stuff on Hooks
FOs –
Round Floor Poof – improvised pattern – thick black acrylic mystery yarn – J/6.00 mm
WIPs –
Granny Square Odds and Ends – Based off of a square seen on Attic24 – misc acrylic worsted weight yarn – H/5.00 mm
Phoenix Fiber April Club Spin – 2 rolags for each skein – Ashford Kiwi 2
Chunky – 7 WPI – 21.5 yds – 30 g
Worsted Weight – 10 WPI – 35 yds – 26 g
Sandpiper – Greenwood Fiberworks Merino mini braid – single on raw elm drop spindle, plied on the gear drop spindle – chain ply – 12 WPI – DK weight – 39 yds – 16 g
Rivendell – Greenwood Fiberworks Merino mini brain – single on raw elm drop spindle, plied on the gear drop spindle – chain ply – 14 WPI – DK weight – 43 yds – 15 g
WIPs –
Giant Ball of wool handspun 2 ply fractal spinning – Spinners Hill (blend of Corriedale, Finnish Landrace, Rambouillet) Autumn leaf colors – Ashford Kiwi 2
If you watched my Youtube video/podcast/whatever episode, you’ve already seen these finished objects. But I have somehow managed to completely miss posting them onto the blog! So here’s fixing that.
Pattern: This is one that I improvised. I cast on a bunch of stitches and knit 1×1 rib of each color until I ran out.
Needles: US 5 – 3.75 mm
Yarn: Buffalo Wool Company – Splash of Color mini-skeins
I’m pretty sure I cast this one on during one of my snow days in January/February. I remember I was working from home and my work-at-home was moving very slowly. I would spend a minute or two waiting for pages to load or processed to complete, so I just picked up the left over Buffalo Wool Company mini-skeins left over from my linen stitch cowl and started knitting. It was just something quick and simple to put my hands to use and I really like how it turned out.
I’m not sure if I will end up keeping this one. I’ve started a bin for things to gift or sell at a future date. I have a ton of things in my Ravelry queue that I want to make that I won’t use, so I figure I ought to save those things up so that other people will enjoy them.
Pattern: I improvised this one, too. I just cast on a fewer stitches than the ribbed cowl, knit 1×1 rib for a bit, then stockinette until it looked like I was going to start running out within the next few rows. I did a couple of decrease rows alternated with straight knit rows until I ran out of yarn, then pulled the end through and gathered up the stitches.
Needles: US 5 – 3.75 mm
Yarn: This is actually the very first handspun I ever bought, which was at a little knit stand at the New York Renaissance Faire about a decade ago. I lost the tag a long time ago, so I’m not sure the fiber content, but the white is super fluffy and the navy blue is more sleek.
This was another stash busting project. I’ve had this yarn for about a decade and it had become several things, but there was never really enough of it for the things that I really wanted to make. I know this sounds crazy, but I just started getting into making and wearing hats. There wasn’t really enough yarn for other things, but there was definitely just enough to make a cozy hat!
I’m nearing the end of the list, finally. Five coworkers commissioned 1 or 2 things each all at the same time before Christmas and it’s been nuts trying to get them done. I only have 2 definite projects left, with a tentative idea for a cowl that may end up on the needles, but the end of the coworker list is in site.
In the mean time, here’s a few things I have managed to finish.
I had to modify this pattern a bit because the yarn used to match the hood scarf I made this coworker was discontinued and I had very little of it left to work with, but I think they turned out pretty good. I’ve made enough fingerless gloves by now that I can fiddle with them and the chunky yarn is pretty forgiving to work with.
Yarn: The Ugly Room in Mermaid Tails and Lion Brand Pound of Love White
I really like the Graham hat pattern. It’s a pretty simple pattern that looks great in a hat. Also, hats are quick and I love this yarn, so it was nice.
Mulberry Hood Scarf
Pattern: My own pattern
Needles: US 8 – 5.0 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunk in Mulberry
Another hood scarf! There’s really not much else to say at this point about these, except that I am working on getting the pattern written out to put up on Ravelry.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it. I may have in the Christmas ornament round up in January, but one of my goals this year is to bust stash. There’s a lot of stuff in my stash that has been there since I started yarn crafting over a decade ago. So I’m resolved to use up some stuff before the fall when I buy new stuff from yarn events.
Yarn: Holiday Yarns Grab Bag scraps, Merry Little Lamb handspun scraps
Needles: US 0 – 2.00 mm
I was actually intending to use these yarns for more Christmas ornaments. That was the plan. But I went down a pattern rabbit hole on Ravelry and stumbled upon this pattern for a humpback whale, which I found fascinating. I must have gone back to the pattern page half a dozen times to look at Bec Brittain’s Hazel. I knew I didn’t have enough black or dark grey to pull off this pattern, but I thought a scrap striped whale would be charming.
And she is! She lives on my printer when the paper feed is closed, so I can just look over and see her when I’m sorting things out on my laptop.
Also, can I just say that I love her beady little eyes? During college, I had an amigurumi phase and bought a whole bunch of safety eyes and I went through a couple of them to see how they would look on Hazel. I ended up using the smallest ones that were plain black, but they pop out nicely out of the green.
She’s about 2 ft long from nose to tail, which is only a little smaller than the pattern says will be produced in DK weight yarn, but I also have a loose knitting gauge, so that was not unexpected.
The pattern could be a little bit confusing at times. There are updates and corrections listed on the pattern page, but I didn’t end up looking at them. I just fudged any differences until I got the right numbers. I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal on a whale. Organic creatures are not exactly symmetrical and any irregularities from my knitting would look normal on a whale.
Also, this is a tricky pattern to keep track of. If you’re a beginning knitter or a knitter without plush-knitting experience, be prepared to keep notes or a notebook on you. There are very few repeating rows in the body of this whale. There’s a bit around the middle where there are a few knit rows in a row, but mostly there increases or decreases in every row. There isn’t a set sequence of rows that you can expect to follow due to the shape of the humpback whale.
The fins are also finicky. The first front fin gave me a little trouble because it was hard to see how the shape was created until I nearly reached the end, which is why there is one front fin and one tail fin that is smaller than the other one. I kept the tension tighter in my confusion over some of the increases and decreases, so the second one knit much more smoothly and a little larger.
If you tackle this pattern, I’d recommend whip stitching the ends of the fins closed and blocking them out before sewing them to the body. My fins were pretty scrunched up from being in my hands, which made the ends wavy. I whip stitched them shut, soaked them in water, squeezed out the excess water, stuck them into a folded towel, and lightly pressed them with an iron so that the edges of the fins were nice and defined. Then I unfolded the towel and let them finish drying naturally.
Ribbed brim beanie My own pattern – First handspun I ever bought probably a decade ago at the NY Ren Faire (white and navy blue barber pole) – US 5/3.75 mm
Ribbed Cowl – My own pattern – Buffalo Wool Co – Splash of Color Buffalo Skies Mini-skeins – US 5/3.75 mm – http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/buffalo-linen-stitch-cowl
Freakish Lemon 