#a very simple pattern i found on ravelry

[saturnvs]

suddenly know how to knit .. i am making a hat :)

[freshstitches]

Remember my post about warp knitting last week?

I made a point to mention that warp knitting is most commonly made on specialized machines. When done by hand, it is easiest with a loom or a specialized frame. I've found a few examples of people hand making small swatches by hand and posting the results online with instructions, but the process is just not well suited for full size projects.

If you're feeling curious and want to try something similar to this technique, the Color Warp Cowl is a hybrid stitch that falls somewhere between traditional hand knitting and warp knitting. In warp knit fabric, there's one yarn for each stitch, in my cowl pattern, there's one yarn for every 3 stitches. Each yarn makes a color stripe, zigging and zagging its way to the bottom of the cowl. The method is simple, only using knits and purls to create the zig zag effect. I know that it can be intimidating to see a project with a lot of bobbins, but the pieces are relatively short and easy to untangle. I kept my project in a bowl to keep things organized and had very few issues.

The 20g pieces of yarn are a great way to use your scraps and it’s best to use at least five colors for this project.

Finished Size: 24.5” (62 cm) in circumference and 18” (41 cm) tall.Needles: #7, 8, 9, 10 (4.5, 5, 5.5, 6 mm) circular needles with a 16” (40 cm) cord.

Gauge: 18 sts x 36 rows = 4 x 4” (10 x 10 cm) square in garter stitch on smallest needle.

Materials: Stitch marker, tapestry needle, and a scale accurate to the gram.

Pattern available on Ravelry and on my website.

[lonelywanderingflower]

Oversized Seasons Cardigan by Ozetta

This was an enjoyable project to make because of the process and construction. After seeing a lot of fisherman's rib style cardigans in stores, I wanted to make one and this pattern caught my eye on Ravelry.

Aside from how it looks, what intrigued me the most was the process in making it. With this pattern, you start with the button band, and then you pick up stitches for the body. Then you work the button band along with the body, which means you don't have to go back to pick up stitches.

Since the button band is worked on different size needles, it does kinda get a bit fiddly at first. I can see why some people found that a little hard to work with because it does take some getting used to. I didn't have too much trouble with it luckily and I liked how it turned out.

Since most of my projects have been plain stockinette, I found the half fisherman's rib a nice change in pace. Since it involves knitting stitches on the row below, the fabric doesn't grow as much compared to stockinette - basically, if you do 10 rows of half fisherman's, when you count the knit stitches, it looks like 5 - which some people find tedious.

For me though, I think because this pattern was different than anything I've done before, I didn't feel that way. Especially with the body, which can get a bit monotonous at times, but I think with the half fisherman's rib and the button band, it was simple enough for me to knit mindlessly while interesting enough that I didn't feel bored with it.

Overall, I'm very proud of this cardigan. I mainly chose this pattern because I knew it'll be a staple in my wardrobe when the weather gets colder.

[bismutharts]

i've been knitting again!

i learnt how to double knit (kind of already knew how to do it, i could make double stockinette, but double knitting with two colours is new. and very different)

this is my first test swatch!

it's got a really simple chart because i didn't want to do something too complex for my first time

the sides are a MESS because that selvedge Norman NimbleNeedles recommended is Not It for me, i can hardly knit through the back loop

then for my second attempt i DID want to do a Picture, and i choose fishes

i made the chart in inkscape because it allowed me to make a grid of 1 pixel by 0.7 pixel, closer to my gauge, and therefore my chart looked more like my result

(i'll probably give i've given these fishies their own post that's basically just the pictures)

i was about halfway along, when i posted some pictures of the neater selvedge in my server and someone went "is it me or does the edge look kinda.. loose? are you crossing your yarns at the starts?"

i was Not. so the lower half of these fishies is a bit unattached at the sides

also! spot the differences! there's 2 spots where the stitch colours aren't exactly a reverse. this is here because of a mistake, but in my traversing the double knitting tag on ravelry i found out that it's possible to make an irregular double knitting pattern by doing this on purpose.

so that's what i'm doing now!

the following is currently only comprehensible to people who know about double knitting, and even then it's dicey, i can attempt to explain more for people with less prior knowledge but curiosity in a reblog

i've got 2 charts overlaid basically (one would have to be mirrored if it wasn't symmetrical), and where they overlap it's business as usual, and where i need a foreground stitch on the side with the green background, but also a background stitch on the side with the purple background, i need to stitch the whole stitch pair in purple

so my chart looks like this!

i've got a project i'm pretty excited about planned with this irregular double knitting technique, but I figured an easy chart is good to get a feel for it

[rachreads]

y’all remember that adult job i said i was getting? well, i got it so the bruhl shrine has received a massive upgrade. >:)

more pics and artist links below ;)))

The shelf itself is an IKEA Milsbow with four Mittled LED cabinet lights on the underside of every shelf to give it some light. I did have to drill a hole in the bottom self to feed some cords though, but other than that it was pretty simple to put together! :D

The framed The King's Man (2021) poster on the left was a freebie that I got for attending the opening night showing of the movie! I was the only person in the theater with my friend, so we nabbed about seven of 'em and handed them out to fellow Bruhl and Kingsman appreciators in our friend grounp.

The All the King's Men poster underneath isn't Bruhl related, but it was a gift from another friend who knows how much I like the Kingsman movie series. I also have a Kingsman shrine in my living room (and a Talking Heads shrine, and a Re-Animator shrine, and a Vladmir Nobokov shrine.... i am so completely normal).

Everything below reads left to right, I'll try to include links to artists where I can!

Comic books in the back are issues 2-4 of Thunderbolts presents Zemo: Born Better (which isn't canon to the MCU, and honestly is not my favorite, but the cover art looks cool lol) and the first collected volume of the original Thunderbolts run.

The black picture frames on the left are a sticker set from @injureddreams on their Etsy store and can be found here! The keychain in the golden frame on the right is also from their store, and is sadly sold out :(, but the store page is here.

Speaking of keychains, I have two on order from Noble Demons that are currently getting bounced around in my campus mail system that will go in those empty spots in the frame. Those two can be found here and here.

The funko pop on the left is the limited edition dancing Zemo from the Collector Corps subscription box (although you can find them resold on Amazon and the like for ~20 bucks), and the funko pop on the right is the regular Zemo pop from the FATWS line from 2021. These are also on sale for around ~10 bucks on Amazon.

The figpin in the very middle is the MCU Zemo pin from the FATWS line that was released in 2021.

The plush in the very middle was actually made by me :D. You can find the pattern on Etsy here, but if you're curious about the specific yarns used, you can check out my ravelry posts about it here.

And finally, the enamel pins in the golden frame on the right are from ChingonPinz on Etsy, but unfortunately are not sold anymore.

The DVD/Bluray collection on the left has German imports of Schule (2000) and Lessons of a Dream (2011), as well as American DVDs/Blurays of Deeply, The Edukators, Lila Lila, Inglourious Basterds, and The Cloverfield Paradox. Civil War bluray on the right is also a US release.

Special attention called to the Good Bye Lenin DVD on the left, which is the US Special Edition that has director's and actor's commentary tracks, including one with Daniel on it! Geez, if only someone were to rip those tracks and upload them to the internet. Maybe in a masterlist on a pinned post. Maybe at the top of their blog. That would be crazy hahahahahaha.

The magazine in the back is the European version of Issue 46 of The Rake, which contains the amazing and wonderful photoshoot that can be seen in this post here. (pinkie promise i did not spend $200 on that, I got it on eBay for like 20$)

The art board print in the middle is from rindelamater on Redbubble and can be found here.

The Good Bye Lenin Blu-Ray that is laying on the bottom of the shelf is an import from South Korea, and is actually the only region A blu-ray of GBL in existence since there has been no re-release in the US. I imported mine from eBay, although I think I have seen a few floating around on other sites.

Good Bye Lenin and Inglourious Basterds CD scores are pretty common, I don't think I need to explain those.

The plushie of Zeems on the right is from RedCapStore on etsy and can be found here. This was actually a gift from a friend and I hold it very dear to my heart. :)

The Laszlo Brainrot begins.

Angel of Darkness and Surrender, New York on the left are US mass market paperbacks. Super easy to find. :)

The framed art print in the very middle is my very favorite drawing from @pannypunkpanda's 365 day art challenge from last year! You can find this specific one on their RedBubble shop here.

The rest of the items on this shelf (including the custom Leuchtturm1917 Journal on the left *drool*) are from a PR box that was released for TNT's version of The Alienist: Angel of Darkness in 2020. In anticipation for the season, an online murder mystery party was held and journalists recieved a box of props that acted as clues for the mystery. There's an article covering the online event linked here for those curious. I managed to snag a box from a reseller on eBay for around 60 bucks, although that was the first and only time I have ever seen it available. :(

The box on the very bottom right is the mailing box that the murder mystery props from the shelf above all came in.

The board game on the left is a custom box and game that was only given out to the cast and crew of the first or second season of the Alienist iirc and is not easily available on the market. I, again, picked mine up from a reseller on eBay, but it's pretty hard to find.

The book in the middle is the tie-in edition of The Alienist by Caleb Carr, which is completely annotated and highlighted to shit by your's truly. :)

The picture frame on the right again has stickers from @pannypunkpanda's RedBubble shop linked here, and another sticker in the very middle from Elizabeth Ryan Shepard's RedBubble shop linked here.

And that's it! I may make another list with my holy grail items that I'm still on the lookout for but honestly I might just like to gatekeep those. It might make my chances of finding them better oops.

[ancelineonline]

Some knitting projects I’m really pedantic about getting exactly right, and if something is off I tear it out and start all over. Other projects I just fully roll with it and don’t care. I’m not entirely sure why.

I’m working on this one shawl where I totally did something off so one panel is moss stitch and the other panel is broken rib (because both have a knit only row and then a knit,purl row and I got my knit,purl rows mixed up somehow) and rather than tearing it out and doing that section again I went “eh it’s fine” and kept going. I think it’s partly because this shawl is for me not a gift, and partly because it’s more of a meditative exercise than it is about Creating A Thing. Like I am very much creating a thing and invested in having that thing when I’m done too, but the process of this one is a lot more important to me than usual. It is a fairly simple pattern, so there’s a lot of “knit a row, purl a row” and the rhythm is so peaceful to me. I like it.

Here’s the bit I messed up, you can see how the texture of the grey band is different on the two panels.

I like it though. I decided to keep it.

It’s a great pattern this is the whole shawl so far:

It’s going to be extremely cozy and blankety when it’s finished. I’m using Briggs&Little Sport in Mulberry, Smoke, and Seafoam. (Seafoam is a wild choice to name that last colour since it is not even remotely close to any of the pastel green shades that normally get called seafoam. It’s dark blue with grey tones. I’d call it slate more than seafoam. Although unlike most seafoam greens, it does look like the oceans and large lakes that I’m familiar with.)

I’m using the Marzanna Shawl pattern by Nat Raedwulf, Wolf and Faun Knits. It’s a paid pattern on found on Ravelry.

[professorpski]

Interweave Knits, summer 2022

This issue offers two themes that are bad design in my eye. One is optical art, the kind of art that was a trend in the 1960s, but before that was considered bad idea because it seemed to wiggle or crawl, both disconcerting in a fabric. You can see an untroubling example in the cowl on the cover: Qualyn Stark’s Vasarely Cowl in a caramel and black in Rowan Cotton Wool, a DK weight yarn. The little squares grow and shrink as they revolve around the cowl, but cowls tend to rumple up, few people will sense the movement in the pattern. Laid flat, it does indeed wiggle weirdly.

The Morellet Top in blue and gray by Lana Jois does have some effect of movement on the eye. Its center also lies somewhere on the right side of the waistline which is not usually where we hope people to be focusing. It is done up in Brooklyn Tweed Dapple which is a DK weight yarn of wool and cotton and is a 3 out of 4 for difficulty. Retinal Tee is another novelty design by Blazenka Simic-Boro done in Lana Grosso Ecopuna, another DK weight yarn blending cotton, wool and alpaca, and a 2 out of 4 for difficulty. If you don’t like the way the stripes cut up the design, it would be easy enough to choose the narrow or the broad and carry them across what is a simple rectangle tee.

The more successful examples in the optical art section are the shawls which include the yellow Visual Tempo Shawl in Anzula Luxury Fibers Croquet. Here the undulating pattern resembles the natural movement of waves and the yarn is a merino silk blend in a DK weight.

The other theme is sweaters that are more interesting in the front than the back. I suspect the idea is that way you can wear a lace pattern and not feel immodest as people can only get a peak at your bra straps, but why would you want everyone finding you more interesting from behind? You see here Giverny Top in a very pale blue by Donna Estin in BC Garn Bio Balance, a fingering yarn which blends organic wool and cotton. The lacing is only for show and only extends up a few inches in the back. It is 3 out of 4 for difficulty. Then in a taupe color called Walnut, you see the Morisot Tee by Susanna Ic done in the lace weight yarn Purl Soho Seagrass which blends cotton and alpaca. It is a simple rectangle and a 2 out of 4. 

In addition, there are two articles. One is on makers and the problems they encounter in running a small business--labor and materials are not the only thing to calculate--by Ashli Ree. And a technical article on parallel versus rotating floats in stranded knitting by Roxanne Richardson which offers a nice combination of photos and sketches to clarify.

In total, there are 3 shawl patterns, 1 socks, 1 cowl, and 7 sweaters, most of them sleeveless of cap sleeves. But as I know from checking out patterns on Ravelry.com, an online community that needs only a simple registration, yarn workers take patterns and do as they like: re-size, re-shape, etc. Although I can’t see myself making most of these patterns, I can see taking certain stitch patterns and shapes and doing something with them. That is the pleasure of creating.

You can find this issue at your Local Yarn Store, or here online: https://www.interweave.com/product/interweave-knits-summer-2022-print-edition/

Ravelry can be found here:  https://www.ravelry.com/

[magnus-and-the-dragon]

have spent much of the day in bed browsing ravelry since migraine has me out of commission

A few of the projects I want to work on...

A really precious mushroom beanie that would be perfect for mom

Mittens for my grandma to match the alpaca wool hat I got her for Christmas

A little blanket for my cat’s bed

A sweater for my dog 😌

These delightful lemon socks

And to learn crochet... a little strawberry menstrual cup pouch

Also, about a billion sweaters that I am nowhere near skilled enough to work yet!

I really want to do something where I can learn colorwork next, and want to at least try cable knit here soon.

I also found out that there is a small local yarn store in my nearest city! So jazzed to check that out. There’s also a neat little store there run by some people who own an alpaca farm; they have a lot of beautiful finished pieces, but I think they also have locally made yarn that I’m excited to check out! A lot of the pieces I really liked (especially sweaters and socks) had very simple patterns, but were worked with really beautiful yarn, so I’m excited to start exploring my local options for unique yarn.

[ravenofsilver]

You know what! I’m in a mood to show off today. I’m also working on this blanket for my grandma. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift that turned into a birthday gift (whoops).

Unfortunately I’ve got very few wip pics of it, this one of my cat stealing it for a nap being the best lol.

I’ve been using Lion Brand’s homespun line for it, the color way Beachside Stripes. It’s just a simple sampler-style throw (I found the pattern on ravelry but can’t find it now, will link when I find it again) but I’m pleased with how it’s looking.

Will post a better wip pic when I’m able to lay it out later. :)

[roboticonography]

It’s a beautiful day to go pattern shopping

Unsurprisingly, Trump supporters are reacting to Ravelry’s content policy change by making “boycott lists” of individuals and companies who support or will continue to sell on Ravelry. Which is all well and good; everyone is welcome to not buy from a business that doesn’t espouse their ideals.

Except that, for some, these boycott lists have turned into harassment lists.

I have friends who sell on Ravelry, whose businesses appear on these lists, and who have had nasty comments on their personal Facebook pages from Trump supporters.

I’m not going to link to any of the boycott groups - you can find them via a simple Google search. Please don’t go and attack them in return; all that does is encourage them to feel justified in continuing to bother Ravelry sellers.

Instead, let’s take some positive action.

Under the cut is a copy of the most comprehensive list I’ve found. It’s a mix of big businesses and individual sellers. Not all of these sell on Ravelry, but many do; quite a few also offer patterns for free download. I’ve bought patterns and yarn from many of the folks on here, and they were all fantastic. If you’re on Ravelry, please go and show these talented people some love.

P.S. I apologize if there are spelling errors or duplicates - I corrected the ones I knew of.

Knitty Magazine

Cast Away Yarn Shop

Goosey Fibers

Demelzadelights

Joy To The Wool

Tumbleweed Yarn

Itinerant Knitter

The Happy Little Sheep

Craftivist

Malojos

Army of Knitters

Anzula

Oink Pigments

Otterly Adorable Knits

Yarnover Truck

Dragonfly Fibers

Poise & Envy

Madelinetosh

Lorna’s Laces

thecrazskeinco

Crafty Flutterby Creations

Tin Can Knits

The Yarnicorn

Hipstrings

Carol Feller

Casapinka

Abby Franquemont

Bloom Handmade studio

Knitten

Ukeeknits

Debbiebhandmade

Life In The Long Grass

Ysolda

Mary Jane Mucklestone

Making magazine

Tuft woolens

Anzula Luxury Fibers

Bohoknits

Bohofiberchick

Helene Magnusson

Dankfiber

Joji

Nomadic yarns

Andrea Mowry

Gudrun Johnson

Havirland

Woolenboon

Curious Handmade

Romi Hill

Woolly Thistle

Franklin Habit

Melanie Berg

Hypnotic Yarn

Anticraft

Brooklyn Tweed

Chemknits

Groovy Hues Fibers

The Fat Squirrel

Knitterly Things

Shipwrecked Sheep

So Very Shannon

Yarn People- UK

Martina Behm-Strickmich

Mary Arrinella

Desert Vista Dyeworks

Tannae Casey

Knit and Bolt

Blue Bee Studio

Laura Nelkin

FiberNymphDyeworks

Veera Valimaki

Julia Farwell Clay

Tania Gray

HattonKnits

Yarn Cafe Creations

The Fibre Company

Voolenvine

Tatterblue Library

Patty Lyons

Woolly Wormhead

Teeny Button Studios

Very Pink Knits

Mason-Dixon

Knitted Bliss

Up North Yarns

Cocoknits

Gamercrafting

Hummingbird Moon

HeyJay Yarn

Brew City Yarn

Maliha Designs

Tottoppers

Boyland Knits

Lolabean Yarn Co

Poise & Envy

Hedgehog Fibers

Swift Yarns

Kismet Knits

Homestead Hobbyist

Knitted Bliss

Tin Can Knits

Acidveil Dyeworks

Jules and Mia

Cool Cat Fiberworks

Beach Bum Fiber Co

Urban Girl Yarns

Pip and Pin

Inked Sheep

Bumblebee Acres

Gauge Dyeworks

Louise Tilbrook

Sunflower Knits

Rachel Newlin

Mary Beth Temple

Amy Detjen

Shannon Okey

Skacel

Huckleberry Knits

The Wooly Thistle

[orlissa]

It’s not silly at all :)

(I hope it’s okay I’m putting this here)

Okay, so I started about a year ago, and this is what I remember:

Forget books. I mean, don’t even try to to learn the stitches from books, they’ll just, most likely, confuse you. Go to YouTube, where you can actually see people doing the stitches. It’s gonna be so much easier to copy if you see the whole movement, not just stages of it.

Start with chain stitch and single crochet stitch. Just make a chain then start crocheting from there, making a square. You can undo it later (so not to waste the yarn), but it’ll help you get the hang of it, especially yarn/stitch tension--how to wrap the yarn around your finger so it won’t unravel, but won’t cut your circulation either. When it just easily slides down as you go, you’re there.

Next stop: the magic ring and going in rounds. Once again, just practice (single crochet, increase, decrease, invisible decrease) until you get the hang of it. Once you have a nice little ball/half a ball, great, you’ve mastered it as well!

(Amigurumi usually works in 6s--you start with 6 stitches in the magic ring, 12 in the next round, 18 in the next, etc., but when’re just practicing, try out how it looks if you only increase 1 stitch every round, if you double the stitches each round, etc. After a while you’ll just see how the different shapes come to be).

At this point I started doing little objects like this heart and this flower. They’re good for practicing different stitches (double crochet, treble crochet, half-double crochet), bur are done quickly.

Once you’re confident enough, you can get started on actual figurines :) The octopus is a good point to start--it’s easy and logical enough, you don’t even need a pattern for it once you have a basic understanding of the form.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t take too long! Here’s a pic of my very first octopus and another one I did about 3 months later:

Once you got this, you can move onto more complicated ones :) I know they can be intimidating at the first glance, but the thing with amigurumi is that it basically works with very simple shapes and then stitches them together.

The tools you’ll need:

Crochet hooks. I actually ordered my set from Ebay--it was like 5 bucks, came in a hand zipper case, and has 22 hooks, from 0,6 mm to 6,5 mm

Stitch markers--you can buy some, but paper clips work perfectly. I keep about half a dozen colored ones in an old candy box.

Bobby pins--to hold the different pieces together while you sew them together. I hold about 20 of them in my stitch marker box.

Darning needles--to sew the pieces together

Most patterns call for safety eyes, which I actually don’t like XD I go for needle felt eyes most of the time. For that, you’ll need some combed wool (I bought like 10 inches of assorted colors, and it’s gonna last me forever), but if you need a certain shades for a piece (like the Sylveon on my previous pic), you can just comb out some yarn. The best for that is those pet brushes, but a fine tooth comb will do the job as well. Also, if you wanna needle felt, you’ll need a special needle for that too.

Finally, patterns--there are a bunch of free patterns on the internet. Pinterest and Ravelry are good places to start, but some people have their own sites with free patterns as well. It’s fun to find those places. On my previous pic, all the pieces were made based on free patterns I found (I can provide links if you want), except for the otter (like creature). That was behind a pay wall, so i just copied it after the picture :D

I hope I could help :)

[mjsknits]

Pattern: Carbeth by Kate Davies Yarn: 2 skeins of MarLen mill ends (approximately 500 yds) Needles: US 10.5 and 11 Time: December 7-15, 2018 Ravelry link

Whew, what a busy couple of months it’s been! New jobs and big changes have meant I’ve neglected blog upkeep, so the next couple of posts will be playing catch-up with a couple of unblogged knits from 2018 :)

One major goal with my knitting for the last several years has to been to stashbust effectively. Yes, I know, it’s been SEVERAL years and I’m still working on it, but part of that process has been to reevaluate yarns and projects I’ve made but no longer wear or want, and see what can be done with them. If you’ve been here a good while, you may recognize this yarn from this project:

Now at the time, this was a fun project; I got to try out huge needles, make something out of two mill ends yarn from a very cool shop in Prague (where I was living for a study abroad program), and knit from a Japanese pattern chart for the first time! But I don’t know what I was thinking, because I hate vests, I didn’t own any others aside from this one and never buy them, because I never wear them!! This ultra-thick vest also brushed on my neck, and with a lot of random wool and mohair bits in this yarn blends, it was too far itchy to wear with any of my shirts unless they had high collars. A fun project, but effectively a useless garment.

So three years later, I frogged it. I soaked the yarn to let out the kinks, wound it, and let it sit in my stash a while. I tried another sweater pattern and again found the result not something I’d actually wear, and frogged quite early into the process. I let the yarn sit some more. And then Kate Davies published her brilliant “Carbeth” pattern, I checked the yardage requirements, looked over at my stash and thought, “I bet I could make it work.”

“Carbeth” is a simple but brilliant pattern, written neatly and simply with the PDF being easy to read and lovely to look at without being spread over too many pages. The principle of the sweater is essentially a bottom-up raglan, but instead of the traditional 8 decreases every 2nd round on body and sleeves, “Carbeth” decreases 4 stitches every round to create a neat edge in the yoke where body meets sleeves. Because of my aforementioned itchy yarn, I opted for a simple crew neckband instead of the turtleneck, which helped me stretch the sleeves as far as they could go--which landed on being pretty perfectly 3/4 sleeves. My only major pattern mod was to add 4 short rows on the back neck in order to help the crew stay lower in the front and not ride up against my throat. Most satisfying: there was not a single end left to waste at the end of this. Stashbusting!!!

A lot of people--both knitters and not--can be pretty horrified when I rip apart my old projects. Projects that, save for being unworn, are perfectly good knits. But I’ve always felt that I’d rather put that yarn to use in something that I actually enjoy picking up and putting on, or something that I know will be a great fit for a friend or loved one. Don’t be afraid to frog, people, no matter how many years have gone by!!! Or give away something whole to a better home, as the case may be. My stashbusting has taken quite a while, yes, but it’s brought me more in touch with the clothes I like to wear and the things I like to make--as well as made me think about quality of supplies what I’m spending my money on.

[theshmaylor]

Okay folks, we need to talk about this post of mine and the responses it has gotten.

As to be expected for any post that talks positively about AO3 and gets over 100 notes, the antis (aka the people who scream that you’re a pedophile if you support AO3) found it and descended upon it. And like, motherfuckers this post isn’t even about you. This post was directed towards the people who always think that the donation drive is some kind of scam and that someone at AO3 is stealing and pocketing the money.

The antis pulled out their same, exhausting, vitriolic nonsense. All I did was block them, because I don’t have the time to respond to that bullshit. (Though I was tempted to respond to the person who said that Ravelry forbids certain content and doesn’t have donation drives, so AO3 should be able to do the same. Jesus christ did they even read the fucking post? Ravelry has ads and charges fees for pattern designers to sell through their site). Other people did feel like it was worth responding though, and I support you in your endeavors.

But.

For those that choose to argue back, you really need to think about what you’re saying, and ask yourself “is my insistence that everything is perfect as-is alienating to others in fandom who are generally on my side?”

Specifically, I’m talking to fellow white people. Because fandom and AO3 aren’t perfect as-is. Racism is very much alive and well in both. And some of the responses I’ve seen on this post enforce that status quo, even if you don’t think you’re doing so.

And let me be clear, I agree that purity culture is bullshit and that what you want to read in fiction is not equal to what you support in real life. But distilling your response down to “free speech” and walking away tells fans of color that you’re not going to listen when they talk about racism in fandom and in fanworks.

Saying that coming across content that’s objectionable to you is your own fault for not using the “exclude” button isn’t correct. Sure, that totally works for underage, non-con, and tagged kinks. All the things the antis are against. But that doesn’t fucking work for a fic unconsciously full of racial stereotypes. That isn’t filterable through a tag. And I know folks who are saying “it’s your own fault” weren’t thinking about racist content. But that’s the point of this post I’m making right now. You have to start thinking about it. Because otherwise you’re pushing fans of color out and telling them that they don’t matter.

Arguing against certain features just because the antis are the people who brought it up is hostile to fans of color who have been asking for these changes too. 

“AO3 doesn’t need a block button.” Well why the hell not? If a particular author always writes a racist characterization of someone’s favorite character, why shouldn’t that person just be able to block the author so they don’t accidentally encounter a fic from them later? Sure, there are various browser scripts that can be used to do that, but those can be tricky to set-up if you’re unfamiliar and don’t automatically apply across all your devices. Why shouldn’t it be a simple, official site feature instead? (And maybe the answer to that question is “it’s difficult”, but that doesn’t mean you should advocate against it, wtf)

And what if there’s someone constantly being racist in the comments on your fanworks? You can delete or moderate comments, but that still means you have to see those comments in the first place. Sure, you can report it, but AO3 is volunteers, the queue for complaints to get reviewed is long. And oh yeah, remember that bit about how fandom reflects the racism of society at large? That applies to members of the AO3 Abuse committee too. There’s no guarantee that there will be any action taken, and I’m sure it’s fucking exhausting for fans of color to bring things up and then be ignored.  The ability to block individual users from commenting on your stuff is a good thing.

(I’m not saying that the the white members of Abuse committee are terrible people or something. I’m saying that shit is ingrained in our society, and as white people we’re taught to think that accusations of racism are over-exaggerated or “blown out of proportion”)

...This whole post got very long and meandered horribly but I’m not a skilled writer, so at this point it is what it is. I hope it’s also clear that I’m a white person and I’m not at all an authority on this, and you should definitely be listening to fans of color more than you listen to me.

The key takeaway:  Fellow white people, in your fervor to pushback against bullshit from the antis, make sure you’re not making fandom a more racist space.

alright so it's annual donation drive time over on AO3, and I've already seen the usual "this is ridiculous/this is shady/what are they doing with all that money” so here's your yearly reminder:

servers are fucking expensive

there are no fees or ads and they're not selling your information anywhere, so the only money comes from donations

the budget is always public and the 2019 update is here if you want to see for yourself exactly where the money is going

[knitcrate]

Easter Themed Knitted Gifts

With Easter just around the corner, you might be thinking of enhancing your home decor with some Easter-themed items. Or maybe you're thinking about brightening up someone's Easter basket with a special toy for next year. Fortunately, there are lots of great options for knitted Easter-themed gifts.

Rabbit, by Susan B. Anderson

One of the first things I think of related to Easter is bunnies. And when I think of toy knitting, I immediately think of Susan B. Anderson. Susan has designed a lot of bunny patterns. Not only are her patterns fun to knit, they produce wonderful finished objects. One of my favorite bunny patterns is called "Rabbit." This cute bunny is knitted in worsted weight yarn, and has the unique property of having a body that is stuffed with a tennis ball! The tennis ball provides a perfect solid body for the toy, and actually gives the bunny a little bounce when it is dropped. I knitted this for my now 5-year-old daughter when she was a baby, and she still loves playing it.

Mini Bunny Loves, by Susan B. Anderson

Another great bunny pattern from Susan is "Mini-Bunny Loves." This is a pattern for fingering weight yarn (grab your leftover sock yarn!) and is knit seamlessly from the bottom to the ears, and then the feet are picked up and knitted separately. Stuffed with Poly-Fil, you finish the pattern off with a cute pompom and a sweet embroidered face, and the bunny is ready for some snuggles.

Mini Sock Yarn Bunny, by Susan B. Anderson

The other bunny toy I've knitted is Susan's "Mini Sock Yarn Bunny." It's also knitted with fingering yarn and is bit more detailed than the Mini-Bunny Loves: an embroidered face and safety eyes gives it a lot of character. The bunny is knit seamlessly -- all of the appendages are picked up directly on the body and knitted in place. This bunny is a perfect Easter basket companion. If you want to knit a larger version, be sure to check out its older sibling: the "Opal Sock Yarn Bunny."

While my experience with bunny knitting is limited to Susan's patterns, there are over 1,000 bunny patterns in the "toys and hobbies" category on Ravelry, so you can browse through all the options and find the perfect bunny for your Easter knitting.

Primrose Lamb, by Alan Dart

If I'm not thinking about Susan B. Anderson when I think of knitted toys, I'm thinking of Alan Dart. I was looking through Alan's patterns and found his really cute "Chick & Egg" pattern -- it's two half eggshells, with a chick that fits inside of it. Alan also includes a great tip for using hair spray to help everything hold its shape after you finish knitting. Alan's "Primrose Lamb" and "Little Bo Sheep" patterns would also fit right at home in an Easter basket.

Easter Eggs, by Emily Kintigh

Finally, let's talk about Easter eggs. A search for "Easter Egg" in the "Toys and Hobbies" category on Ravelry returns almost 100 results. I was particularly stuck by the "Easter Eggs" pattern by Emily Kintigh. This free pattern uses worsted weight yarn and includes instructions for either solid or striped eggs. It would also be a great pattern to customize with simple fair isle motifs. A pattern like this offers endless opportunities. Since it will knit up quickly, you can easily make a basket full of eggs. They would also be perfect for indoor egg hunts. Another fun -- and quick -- egg pattern is "Easter Eggs" by Cheryl Beckerich. These lacy eggs are knitted in DK or worsted weight yarn, and "stuffed" with a 3.5 inch plastic Easter egg. It's a great way to add some character to your plastic egg collection, and they also knit up very quickly.

With thousands of bunny, chick, lamb, and egg patterns out there, I've barely scratched the surface on great knitted toys for Easter gifts, but I've definitely given you a good starting point. Have you done any special Easter knitting in the past? Are you planning to cast on something this year? Let me know in the comments -- I'd love to see what you put on your needles for Easter.

Keep on knitting for the ones you love!

Greg Cohoon has been knitting since 2012, when his daughter, who was born prematurely, received a few preemie hats while she was in the NICU. He is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, Instagram, and Twitter and is the host of the Unraveling Podcast. Greg lives in Greensboro, North Carolina and has a special fondness for baseball, bacon, and blueberries.

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Woman’s Crochet ‘nest’ Has Kept Hornets Away For Years

Four years ago, Sandy Kendall Dennis had a major pest problem at her house. She would walk out of her front door and see a huge hornet’s nest hanging in one of the corners of her porch. No matter how many times she got rid of it, eventually, the pesky insects would start the rebuilding process. Trying to get rid of wasps or hornets can be a challenge. Sure, you can call in an exterminator. That can be expensive, though. Also, not everyone is a fan of using chemicals as a form of pest control. Dennis knew she needed to find a permanent solution to a recurring problem without resorting to spraying poisons on her home. After some research, she found a crafty way to wipe out the wasps and hornets. What was this mighty weapon? A crochet hook and some yarn! She used these two simple things to make her own hornet’s nest! Dennis shared her home-crafted hornet’s nest on Facebook. It might sound crazy to actually crochet a hornet’s nest to sit on your front porch. But, there seems to be some science behind the stitched hive. A number of hornet and wasp species live in colonies, and they can be very territorial. In fact, many do not like to build a new paper nest if there is another colony within 200 feet. That’s when Dennis got busy as a bee and crocheted a decoy hornets’ nest. Since putting it outside her home four years ago, she has not had any new hornet colonies taking up residence nearby. Her Facebook post recently grabbed a lot of attention, especially since the spring weather is starting to bring out all the things that buzz. The post has had more than 18,000 likes, 116,000 shares, and 10,000 comments. Dennis updated the original post to express her thanks to the overwhelming response. Adobe She has also received many inquiries about sharing her pattern or crocheting these decoy nests for sale to others. “Thank you for all the private messages, over 3,000!” she wrote. “And I am trying to answer them all, so please be patient as I work my way through them.” However, you should know that researchers are skeptical about this tactic. Canada’s Science World reports that while there are anecdotal success stories about decoy nests, not everyone can expect the same outcome. That’s because there are so many kinds of wasps and hornets with different behaviors and isolation preferences (and it’s not always easy to tell species apart!). In fact, some similar insects, such as yellow jackets, live underground, so decoys like the above might not affect them at all. Variables such as weather and food availability influence success as well. Still, with such results, others have followed Dennis’ lead and are posting their efforts on social media. @crochetrochelle’s is testing the effectiveness of hers, for example. View this post on Instagram Prototype in place. Now to study the effectiveness. #crochetwaspnest #crochetrochelle A post shared by Tia Rochelle (@crochetrochelle) on Apr 25, 2020 at 4:21pm PDT And @susko.0 made this one last year but no word yet on whether it’s worked. View this post on Instagram Some believe it works, some don't, but I have to try! Last summer there was an unauthorized building project going on at my balcony. 🐝⛔ #fakewaspnest #crochetwaspnest #summeriscoming #crochet #crochetnest #vihaanamppareita #pelkäänamppareita #kesätulee #valeampiaispesä #virkkaus #vilkastavirkkausta A post shared by Susku Ö (@susku.o) on Apr 23, 2019 at 10:19am PDT When we searched for how to make these, we found a variety of patterns on sites like ThiftyFun.com and Ravelry. If you’re not exactly the crafty type, you can visit Etsy for a variety of ready-made faux hornets’ nests! Will you try one of these to take the sting out of spring? #InsectControl #Nature,Weather&Space #Animals #Crochet #No-chemicalHornetRemover

Arplis - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arplis-News/~3/bsO5cfcX71c/woman-s-crochet-nest-has-kept-hornets-away-for-years

[xxsparksxx]

Another two days done 😀

Yesterday I got this yarn, which for the life of me I have not been able to photograph well. It’s greener than it looks – a beautiful rich green. And so of course I made a little Christmas tree with it. The pattern is ‘DIY Crochet Tree‘ by Asa Bautovic, another free pattern. I’ve linked to the Ravelry page, rather than her blog, because the pattern is in Dutch. There’s a translation (a rough translation!) in the comments on Ravelry. It’s not tricky to figure out, though. Once it was done, I sewed on some little gold beads as decorations. It looks really lovely. And, as I say, a lot more green than the pictures show!

Today I unwrapped my parcel and discovered this goooorgeous orange and black tiger-striped yarn. I couldn’t think what to do with it at first, though. Then I found a lovely little pattern for a bauble – ‘Christmas Ornament‘ by Cathy Ren. Again, it’s free, and very simple. All you need to know is how to single crochet 😀 worked up like this, it makes me think of glowing embers in a fire. It’s a tiny little bauble, but very funky. (Once again, I’ve been too impatient, and have photographed it in artificial light. Ah well).

Advent – days 3 & 4 Another two days done 😀 Yesterday I got this yarn, which for the life of me I have not been able to photograph well.