The Premier Cincinnati Hackerspace

Greetings Hivemind! Konstantinos (they/them) here to clarify some confusion about what is going on (or not going on) at Hive13 at this time. As we announced on social media, we have been doing virtual meetings with all classes canceled due to the Omicron surge. The safety and wellbeing of our members is paramount to us. Does that mean we're not making or doing tours? Of course not! The Hive is still open to all members and tours are now made by appointment. We ask that you wear a mask, distance yourself, and stay home if you are unwell or have been exposed.

Want a tour? Please call 513-909-4483 or email us at leadership@hive13.org with your name and how best to reach you. We will contact you to best fit your schedule.

We hope to open our doors to visitors soon for our Tuesday meetings but in the meantime we ask you to wear a mask, stay safe, and make!

Greetings Hivemind! Konstantinos here to bring a Fiber Friday post from Lisa.

Pattern: Horace the Stegosaurus by Irene Strang
Inspiration: u/PeterCarpet on Reddit
Crocheted by: Lisa Crump

One day, when I was scrolling through posts on Reddit, I saw the most awesome taco dinosaur and new I had to make it for my favorite 5-year-old for Christmas. I was happy to find the name of the pattern and designer in the comments. After purchasing the pattern, I had a fun time creating this adorable creature. Pretty easy pattern for the most part but use stitch markers to help with counting on the body section and look at the stitch diagram for the spikes and where they should sit. The only other thing I had was my own fault. By changing the body to a single color where the pattern calls for some lovely rainbow stripes, made me double take when I had to put the legs on as the pattern calls for two different colors and to put one of each on that stripe in the front and back. After looking at the pattern and more pictures, I realized that it just meant to have one leg slightly in front of the other so you can see all four from the side. I can’t wait to see how much joy this brings when the present is opened.

Hey Hivemind, Konstantinos (they/them) here. Pardon my delay, I was searching for how to go about this Fiber Friday because I must confess to you, I made a mistake. Before I tell you about my grave error, let me give you some background on this pattern.

I crocheted the Cow Print Beanie which I bought from Tzings on Etsy. A special thank you to Tessa Herra who designed the pattern. The pattern was easy to read and only required a crochet hook, two colors of yarn, a stitch marker (my trusty bobbypin), and a dream. So I dared to dream.

A general tip for all beginner fiber artists, read the pattern before you start making it. This will help you prevent missing important things like foundational rows. And missing like 10 stitches. And messing up the entire pattern. It was fixable but it didn't have the exact beanie shape that I was looking for.

In all, it was a very easy to read pattern, I'm just a dingus and should have read the pattern better prior to starting it. I will be doing a 2.0 version where I actually follow the pattern. My mistake was in no part a fault of the pattern, but definitely a fault of my eagerness to complete said pattern during a stressful few weeks.

Have you ever royally screwed up a pattern? Let us know! This is a safe space for fiber shenanigans.

Greetings Hivemind! Konstantinos (they/them) here to share a Fiber Fridays review! This week, Lisa Crump (she/her) stitched a tapestry from Amber of Divine Debris called Cool Tree Wall-Hanging. Here is her writeup of the experience of making said tapestry.

This is a beautiful pattern written by Amber of Divine Debris and can be found as a grid for free on her blog or you can pay for the full pattern on Ravelry. I used the grid version which I copied into Inkscape to increase the size and mark which rows I had completed. Definitely a forgiving pattern, I may have miscounted at some point so a couple of my branches are thicker than originally designed.

This was my first time making a tapestry; it doesn’t use tapestry crochet techniques but uses multiple balls, one per section of the same color. Having a definitive front and back took some getting used to for someone who is used to reversible pieces and I had to remember to always bring the working end to the backside of the piece when changing colors.  As the tapestry is worked using only single crochet, one of the simplest of stitches, the complexity is in keeping track of the pattern and attempting to keep the multiple balls untangled. I had a lot of fun making this piece and while I did not finish by my original deadline of Halloween, I am excited to display this in my home when it becomes spooky season once more.

Greetings Hivemind! Konstantinos (they/them) back again to post about another wonderful Tuesday talk .

Our speakers this week were Kate (she/her) and Robin (she/her), Kate being a member of Hive13. We were absolutely thrilled to have them in to talk to us about the artistry, skill, and frustrations of spinning.

The night kicked off semi-promptly after the Tuesday night meeting for experiential learning. Robin and Kate set up by the arcade cabinet with two wheels, lots of fibers, and drop spindles galore! Kate explained to beginners and curious eyes alike that spinning is an ancient tradition for textile arts as Robin demonstrated on a stunning spinning wheel. For those of us who don't have the room, money, or technical know how to have a full spinning wheel, we were shown how to use a drop spindle with gloriously colored fiber.

When asked about how she felt the session went, Kate said she had a lot of fun.

For Hive members, we now have drop spindles and some fiber at the Hive! Spin till your heart is dizzy!

That's all, Hivemind. Go forth and spin!