Honoring Margaret Wise Brown’s 1947 bedtime story Goodnight Moon, artists Emilie Odeile & Ken Chapin used nearly 152 miles of yarn to create the iconic Great Green Room scene and bring the book's characters to life.
So, in my recent months of searching for decor and accessories for my new place, I came across a picture on Pinterest, showing an Eames-style chair with this gorgeous knitted slipcover. Of course, it being Pinterest, there was no pattern attached 😑
I scoured the internet, trying to find one, but was completely unsuccessful. The original photo was featured in an interior design magazine, so it was never geared toward knitters. So, being the kind of hard-headed person I am, I decided to make up my own pattern! This is the chair I started with -
I measured every dimension of the chair, found the yarn I wanted to use, knitted gauge swatches, and designed the colorwork I wanted to use. I finished the piece last night, and blocked it on the chair after washing -
I essentially knitted it like a sock with two toes. I began at the top, using Judy’s Magic Cast On as if was making a toe-up sock. Then I added ribbing after the curve of the seat, to ensure a close fit -
At that point, I knitted flat, to accommodate the legs, then cast back on to rejoin in the round. I finished it like the toe of a cuff-down sock, with symmetrical decreases and a kitchener stitch to close the seam -
I tried to use ribbing and precisely placed increases and decreases to minimize the need for additional ties or fasteners to hold it in place, but I still ended up threading a drawstring around the perimeter under the seat, just to make it more secure. It may have worked without it, but it also might have slid around any time I sat down, so I decided to play it safe.
I did have some trouble with the colorwork, making it match up with the increases and decreases, and it’s a bit wonky in a few places -
But overall, I think it turned out well. This is the first custom-tailored piece I’ve made, completely from scratch with no original pattern to use as a jumping off point.
I used Plymouth Encore worsted, held double, one skein of each color. Colorways are #1415 and #555. The whole thing was knit on US 10 circular needles.
This was a really fun and challenging project. I’ve really been into knitted home decor and housewares lately, and this is just one of the projects I have planned. I think my next adventure will be throw pillows!
I am having fun (shockingly). Current dropped (and recovered) stitch count is at 1, and number of painstakingly tinked rows is also at 1. The lace motive is pretty easy to remember, still have to remind myself at the beginning of each row but I think I'll get there soon, and I can already detect if I've gone wrong mid way through a row and get back on track without counting from the beginning of the row. All in lovely pattern so far.
The yarn is divine! I think I'd enjoy using it instead of a mohair (held with something else), its smooth to work with but develops a lovely subtle halo as you handle it, but it isn't itchy like mohair or alpaca can sometimes be and so far doesn't shed in the same way such fuzzy yarns do. (West Yorkshire spinners exquisite lace in the colour truffle)
I am kinda obsessed with this pattern (if you can't guess). I've joined in the round for the body and done a bunch of the pattern repeats, but I've been itching to put the collar on it so it has a bit more shape and feels more like a jumper: I love it even more honestly!
The collar is a little ruffled at the moment but I'm gonna trust the process and hope it all stretches out with blocking and lies nicely when it's finished.
I think from here I'm gonna do the sleeves and get everything else done before I go back to the body. It does mean working from the outside of my yarn cake while the centre pull is attached to the body but I don't really want to cut the yarn any more than I have to cause the ends are a pain to weave in lol
I'm still doing well as far as having to tink back rows. I've made a few errors but it's mostly dropped yarn overs and I've just added stitches where they are missing to make it as unnoticeable as possible. I have for the first time ever in a knitting project added strategic lifelines: currently they have not been necessary but only time will tell 🤣
It is done (Well it's currently blocking at the mo, but like cast off and the ends have been woven in)
I am so hype to wear this it feels so light and airy it's gonna be perfect for spring and summer.
The pattern was very clear and worked up crazy fast, I suppose even though it's lace weight it's still on 5mm needles and a very stretchy fabric. I did add lifelines but thankfully did not need to make use of them. There are a few mistakes but I don't care and probably won't be able to find them again once I'm wearing it. Overall incredible project; lovely yarn, well written pattern, and fantastic finished object!
So you can avoid them stealing things from you, the artist/writer, etc.
Pro GenAI websites/Programs:
Facebook
Instagram
X/Twitter (Remember, Grok gives people cancer)
Threads
Pro Writing Aid
Grammarly
Duolingo
Google Docs
Microsoft Word/all Microsoft products Takes from and will feed their machine.
Youtube (taking advantage of people who are hearing impaired. ==;;)
Adobe Products. All of them. If you HAVE to use them (Some businesses require it), save offline because there is a film of at least some privacy protections there, so if you have to sue, you can say it violates US privacy law. Remember, contracts do not circumvent US law.
Corel won't feed the machines, but still uses AI stolen from other artists. Which sucks since Corel Draw is the second best overall for vector programs. (Plus I love Painter, but I bought the offline version to avoid AI). (Canadian company)
Canva Takes and feeds their machine.
Deviant Art Not only supports AI, but put a tool in and said they are going to steal your work if you like it or not for their machine.
Sketchup went Pro-GenAI. The thing is that you can do the same thing in Blender these days with precise measurements.
Autodesk has stated they are Pro-Gen AI here. It is not clear if they will use your models to feed their machine. But be on guard. They make Maya and 3Dmax. You can replace it with Blender.
Neutral ground:
Tumblr (there is a way to opt out [Link] and they don't have an active AI machine.) https://www.tumblr.com/dookins/743519550598987776/heres-how-to-disable-third-parties-like-ai
Etsy allows GenAI, but still has some (minor) restrictions. I'd still be cautious. (Also be cautious of drop shippers). Complaints about too much AI and AI images+patterns made by Ai still exist on the website. They lean slightly more pro-AI, but still won't let it run completely amok, say like Facebook. They won't feed your work into a machine, but also don't ban it through robots.txt.
Bluesky They don't use an AI algorithm except for in the "Discover" section of their website, but while they are anti-GenAI strongly, they don't seem to block the Gen AI bots from entry, so you'd still have to use Nightshade or Glaze (links below). There is no opt-out because they don't need an opt out. (Leaning towards strong position on AI, but I wish they would block GenAI bots).
Searxng- If you super want to screw over Google, in general, and have some tech savvy, you can set up your own search engine through searxng. It's easier on Windows and Linux than it is on a Mac. (Mac you need Docker), but if you're determined on privacy, Searxng adds a layer of privacy. Some of it sometimes uses bits of AI, but most of it doesn't and you can fuss with the settings so it doesn't spit out AI results. At sheer minimum Google will stop spitting out weird videos on Youtube at you because in your private browsing, you searched for the origin of ball bearings while not logged in for a book and Google likes to break privacy laws.
Strong positions against AI:
Scrivener (Creator vowed against AI) Writing program. There is an active forum, and versions for Mac, Linux and PC. It is paid, but at ~60 USD, it's cheaper than most programs. There is usually a holiday sale around Christmas. It has a learning curve, but with an active forum with the programmer of it there to ask obscure questions it's not a dead zone. They often take suggestions and implement them over time. (Especially if you rank the importance, applications, etc) US company.
LibreOffice Open source and free Spreadsheet and Word processor program that can replace Microsoft Word. Some people might have seen older versions where it was called Neo Office (now extinct) and Open Office. LibreOffice is still populated, plus the forums are super helpful if you get stuck. The UX is pretty intuitive if you've used Microsoft Word. Scrivener, BTW, supports exporting to odt (the native file) as well as .doc, and this can open both. The slight thing is that sometimes it doesn't export to .doc smoothly. And I DO wish more magazines, and agent (big clue here) supported .odt files since it is free. Part of the reason .odt isn't as supported is because Microsoft and Adobe have a deal with the devil with each other, so Adobe's Book formatting program InDesign doesn't support ODT. (BTW, if you have a good open source replacement for InDesign that supports ODT, let me know.)
Dabble (as suggested by SF stories, see reblog) is a writing program. Similar to Scrivener. Has vowed against AI and to resist it. 108 dollars a year for Basic. It is almost twice the price of Scrivener who lets you update for fairly cheap. 29 dollars a month, v. 59 dollars for the whole program (Scrivener) for the same features of Premium. You choose.
yWriter is a free Writing program and like Scrivener, and has vowed against AI Last I looked it had some UX issues, but some people swear by it. The learning curve is higher than Scrivener which is saying something.
Ellipsus is an online writing program and vowed against AI. The main feature I like (which Scrivener doesn't have) is the ability to change spellcheck based on region/language. It is a requested feature of Scrivener, but lower priority. So if you have a Brit, you can get the spelling for the character. They are a British-based company.
Cara.app (The creator of the website sued GenAI there is no chance they'll convert) is an artist website. Cara is trying to institute an auto Glaze/Nightshade into the website if given enough funds. People see it as a soft replacement for deviant art. (which went fully AI) If you believe in human art, please donate if you can. Zhang Jingna, the Creator,is Chinese-Singporean. She lives in Singapore.
Clip Studio Paint added AI, but saw the light and decided to protect artists instead because of protest and removed it. There are tutorials and a good forum if you get super stuck. Based in Japan, so the UI and UX is really clean.
Davinci Resolve Pro is a film editing software that's super good. There is a free version and a paid version. The forums are responsive. The programmers aren't always present. There is a healthy group of tutorials. US company. Clean UX. It does take a little bit of time to remember the shortcuts.
Tahoma2D is anti-AI and open source animation program. Takes a little getting used to, but is good for animations and doesn't crash as often as Animate. Programmers are in the forums and some bugs are fixed within hours. The forums are super responsive and helpful.
Krita open source and free, no AI. I'd rank it secondary to Clip Studio Paint (which is paid) I haven't tried the forums, but it's pretty intuitive and can stand for a lower level replacement for Painter, and do a lot of the basics of Photoshop. It's usually ranked higher than the equally open source Gimp.
Writer P AKA Writer+ (app for when you're on the go) is a simple word processor app for your phone that doesn't use AI. The original programmer stopped updating, so Writer+ person took over and isn't out to make a profit since it's free in the spirit of the original app. It has subfolders you can use. Since it was programmed before GenAI it doesn't have AI. Intuitive, easy to use. Fairly easy to upload the files through three dots->share. The files can save to your card or phone with some settings fussing. Simple word processor.
Inkscape is a free vector program and no AI. It is harder to use than illustrator and has less features. But if you're doing smaller vectors for one-offs with less complexity, it'll do you after some learning curve. Best of the lot. I hate Affinity Designer which is the same thing, only paid. (Neither Affinity program was worth the money paid)
Affinity (Designer, etc) swore to be AI-free and does Vector and Photos. The UX is messy, I dislike the program and regret paying for it. Inkscape and Krita are better UX and do the same thing. The forums aren't as friendly since there has been an onslaught of people seeing it's supposed to be a replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator, but the programmers aren't present. The people on the forums are often on edge about this assertion. And the capabilities of the program don't outshine basically Krita or Inkscape capabilities (both free). What is usually intuitive is not. UK company. If you're going to pay for a program, go for Clip Studio Paint which rivals Corel Painter.
Blender is a 3D art program and does not use GenAI. It can do 2D animation, but Tahoma is easier to use in this regard. It's open source and free. Plus there are plenty of tutorials. The forums can be touch and go sometimes, but there are plenty of sub Blender communities that might be responsive. It can also do animation.
Handmade vowed against AI and promised to never sell itself for stock prices to prevent AI (as a replacement for Etsy.)
Discover a world of creativity and craftsmanship through Handmade, an innovative platform connecting passionate artisans with discerning buy
Proton (to replace Google Suite) as suggested by SF Stories (see reblog) Vowed against AI. They are missing a spreadsheet, but have online and offline capabilities, plus a built-in VPN.
But you need a pro website...
Look up robots.txt and AI bots: https://www.cyberciti.biz/web-developer/block-openai-bard-bing-ai-crawler-bots-using-robots-txt-file/
Use cloudflare:
Use Nightshade:
https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/whatis.html
which will poison the algorithm
Use Glaze:
Take Away:
The thing is you think you doing it alone will do nothing, but the more AI feeds on itself, AI images, the worse they become, and the less detailed so, denying it the images, adding poison or not being able to read the human text is eventually going to lead to an AI collapse.
Analysis shows that indiscriminately training generative artificial intelligence on real and generated content, usually done by scrapi
And why not help that along?
I don't want to give cancer to poor people [Link] or make the planet burn faster [Link]. So GenAI collapse is everything I dream of. GenAI apocalypse is not.
When you learn how to crochet/ knit or really any type of fiber arts, there will be a voice in your head that tells you that you should make something for everyone for the holidays.
Crafty? Try making Christmas presents this year instead of buying! Crafting supplies have gotten so expensive that you'll be spending more than if you bought something pre-made and, BONUS: no one will appreciate the amount of work that went into their gifts!
Girl help the fibercrafters who live in my phone are calling out to me like the sirens of legend, entreating me to dash myself upon the rocks of Having A Yarn Stash
fibe Crafts perfec t hobby for give tumblr user s\omething to do! yarn and fabric very Soft and Comfort tumblr user touch tumblr user do Fibre Craft. Tumblr User Do Fibre Craft. no problems ever with fibre ccraft because very Entertaining and Practical for tumblr user weak of things to do. Afibre Craft yes a place for tumblr user do fibre craft can trust fibre craft for pleasantly occupying tumblr user. friend fibre
Finally felt ready to try out my first pair of socks!
Pattern: togara socks, Helene Magnusson (Icelandic Handknits book)
Yarn: Darnie by Studio Donegal
Of course I'm working with a pattern for a completely different yarn and gauge, so an converting every stage to fit my gauge. Nothing like making it easy for myself 😅
Any tips for getting the fit right? I'm worried they'll stretch out too much when they're finished.
This monster is begonia Hallow’s Eve. It isn’t even in a very big pot. It just loves life. Have to bring it in tonight but I want to get a picture of it with the orange flowering begonia on the porch before Halloween.
My Nonna Gianna would have turned 99 today. Alas, she is no longer with us. So in honour of her being awesome and fighting fascism* I bring you her authentic Spaghetti Carbonara recipe!**
The recipe can be scaled up depending on the number of people needing to be fed.
A word of warning: This dish is RICH. Pure carbs and fat. It makes my poor fragile IBS gut weep after two mere mouthfuls. It makes grown men lie down for epic naps. It will also make vegans cry, but this recipe is not for them, sorry.***
Per person you‘ll need:
- 1 chicken egg, very fresh
- 100ml heavy cream
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 small onion, finely minced
- 1 generous dash of dry white wine (optional, but enhances the flavour so I suggest to include it)
- 50gr bacon cubes. If you can find Guanciale, go for it!! otherwise regular bacon is okay
- 70-100gr of grated parmesan/pecorino/grana padano (in a pinch you could use other „extra hard italian cheese“ or whatever cheap parmesan copy you find around but original is defo better)
- 100gr spaghetti
1. boil plenty of water for spaghetti and add salt
2. in a small bowl or a measuring cup, mix egg and cream very well- it needs to be homogenous. Add 3/4 of the grated parmesan, a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Mix well and set aside.
3. Heat a Tbsp of olive oil (canola or similar will work in a pinch) in a large frying pan, then gently fry bacon, onion and garlic on medium heat, until golden. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Add dash of white wine and reduce completely. Turn heat down to low.
4. Finish cooking spaghetti. Drain and add them to the frying pan. Toss with the bacon and onion.
NOW COMES THE IMPORTANT PART:
5. Add the cream/egg mixture to the warm pan. Mix everything gently, stirring continuously, until the sauce thickens to a thin custardy consistency and starts sticking to the spaghetti. This may take a couple minutes.
NOW: If it doesn’t thicken, you may increase the heat on your stove a little. Do NOT try and crank the heat up to max or the eggs will curdle!! Scrambled Egg Carbonara is NOT tasty! Medium heat maximum. Keep stirring continuously until thickened, then take pan off the heat immediately.
6. Taste, and add a little more salt if needed. Serve with the rest of the parmesan and some freshly cracked black pepper.
Buon Appetito, and remember to use your newfound energy to punch a fascist in the face.
* Nonna Gianna smuggled weapons for the Italian Partisans during WW2 by carrying them in her mom‘s shopping bag. She also spied on the nazis. Anyone who thinks that is not awesome, get off this blog NOW.
** listen there are a lot of different types of Carbonara recipes around. This might not be the "original" one but who cares, it is tasty!
*** for a vegetarian version, you can sub finely cubed smoked tofu for the bacon, 1:1. It is also possible to add some cooked peas or finely diced broccoli florets right before tossing everything together but ya know.... Carbonara is not supposed to be healthy. This is soul food.
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