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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!

Hive13's next 2nd-Tuesday of the month guest speaker(s) this coming Tuesday, November 9 at 7:30pm, will be the dynamic duo of Hive13 member Kate Cook, and her mother, Robin.  Together they will demonstrate and share tales of the storied art of spinning fiber.  They will demonstrate technique on both spinning wheels and drop spindles, working primarily with wool. Discussion will range from the basic mechanics of the wheels, the selection process and preparation of fibers for spinning and the finishing of spun fibers.

So what is a 'Spinning Jenny' you ask?  The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame.  It was one of the key developments that sparked the industrialization of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764 or 1765 by James Hargreaves in England.  It is one of history's most significant Maker Machines.  If you own a sheep, you can get wool.  But how do you spin that wool (and other materials) into 'spun fibers' (thread) that then is woven into fabric to cloth all the people around the world?  Well, you start with a Spinning Jenny in England, and follow the production trail around the world to the water powered textile mills of Lowell, MA, then post-Civil War Greenville, SC and now China and the many countries of Southeast Asia.

Members, guests, first-time-walk-ins, and all those interested to learn more are welcome to attend our hybrid (live/virtual) meeting to hear their talk.  Come early to see our space, meet folks, and check things out (wearing your mask).

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