Leslie
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50000stitches.bsky.social
Leslie
@50000stitches.bsky.social
1K followers 380 following 300 posts
Mostly knitting and sci-fi, but also cats, science, data science, mountains, crochet, and tea.
http://www.ravelry.com/people/50000stitches
http://www.librarything.com/profile/leslie.emery
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50000stitches.bsky.social
For #WIPwednesday, here’s the #crossStitch project I’ve been working on since August 2024.
A partially completed cross stitch project next to the kit photo. The finished project will be a river running between evergreen trees with mountains in the background and a starry sky. In my project, the river is complete and the trees are just started.
November 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Preparing for my next knitting project, the Eye Dazzler sweater by Jennifer Berg.

* Unblocked swatch
* Measuring the blocked swatch
* Hanging the swatch with binder clips to simulate the weight of the sweater (per Amy Snell)
* Checking for color fastness

🧶 #knitSky #knitting
A tall knitted swatch in hot pink with stockinette at the bottom and a stranded colorwork design of blue zigzag lines at the top. The unblocked swatch is a bit lumpy. The same swatch, now blocked and smoothed out, on a counter with rulers and an iPad showing notes on the measured gauge. The same pink and blue colorwork swatch hanging from two clips on a hanger with 3 black binder clips clipped at the bottom. A short length of the blue yarn and the hot pink yarn, each soaking in a small white bowl. It looks like that the pink yarn has bled a bit, but it’s just the reflection in the shiny white porcelain. Both yarns are color fast.
November 25, 2025 at 3:47 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
My current active knitting projects:
* plain socks in Regia Arne&Carlos yarn
* Starry starry night socks by Suzanne Byran in Polka Dot Sheep yarn
* Secession shawl by Kristina Vilimaite in Magliamaina Bellini yarn
* Deschain top by Leila Raven in Quince&Co Kestrel

🧶 #knitting #knitSky #WIPwednesday
A photo of 3 knitting projects in progress including 2 pairs of socks and a shawl. Plain toe-up heel flap socks made of purple/white/lavender self patterning yarn, 1.5 socks completed. Stranded colorwork cuff down socks in white with blue starbursts and an arch-shaped sole, 1.1 socks completed. A dark teal green triangular shaw starting from one point with a leafy border and a line of beads down the horizontal center. Photo of the front and back panels of a shirt knit flat. The front panel has a large feather-and-fan lace motif down the center and is spread out fully.
November 13, 2025 at 3:35 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
A knitting horror story for this week’s #showMeYourKnits: in August 2011 I knit these self-designed cabled gloves. Then I lost them 2 months later on Halloween night. The fell out of my coat pocket and I couldn’t find them the next day. I made them from the fingers up, so I lost 10 magic cast ons!
Navy blue cabled wool gloves. Looking down at the back of the hands to see intertwined knots on the hands and cables running down each finger. Navy blue cabled wool gloves from the side in a casual pose. Navy blue cabled wool gloves. Hands clasped together to show cables running down each thumb.
October 29, 2025 at 3:00 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
I’m just home from the Northwest Tea Festival, which I’ve wanted to go to for years. I tasted so many teas!!! Here’s what I came home with - mostly oolongs and Japanese green tea.
Photo of everything I came home with from the yea festival. Red reusable bag, branded porcelain tasting cup, and 8 different teas: rou gui, charcoal roasted black, apple hojicha, gaba oolong, heartwood hong-shui, kukicha, genmaicha sample, and coconut oolong.
September 28, 2025 at 1:49 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Took a photo for #WIPwednesday and I think it’s a bit out of hand? I need to finish some projects!

Neat ripple afghan (service project), Otra yoke cardigan in need of buttons & finishing, Starry starry night sock, Deschain top, and Secession shawl.

🧶 #knitting #knitSky
Photo of several partially completed knit or crochet projects. A pale gray-blue cardigan with a dark purple stranded yoke, folded and all done except finishing. A stranded colorwork sock in white with dark blue flowers or starbursts. A dark gray stockinette panel with an old shale lace pattern down the middle. A petrol green asymmetric triangular shawl with garter on the left and lines of twisted knits ending in leaves at the shawl edge, with turquoise beads on. A blue, red, and white striped ripple crochet afghan. A closer view of the the start of the Secession shawl. A petrol green asymmetric triangular shawl. A line of twisted stitches runs vertically down the center of the triangle with garter stitch on the left. The right side has lines of twisted knits ending in leaves at the shawl edge, with turquoise beads on.
September 25, 2025 at 4:34 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Next I just have to do the button bands.

Pattern: otra yoke cardigan by Skeindeer Knits
Yarn: Harrisville flyWHEEL in Nelson and Birch bark

🧶 #knitSky #knitting
Photo of a pale blue gray handknit sweater with a dark purple stranded circular yoke pattern on a hanger on a white door. A steek with crochet reinforcement in dark purple runs down the center. A photo of the same pale blue gray stranded yoke handknit sweater, but this time the steek has been cut open to make it into a cardigan.
September 2, 2025 at 7:19 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Yes, I did have a nice holiday weekend, thank you for asking.

This is the third steeked project I’ve done and it’s still a little terrifying.

🧶 #knitSky #knitting
September 2, 2025 at 7:19 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
This has been a great sweater for traveling and it’s gone with me for winter in Michigan, beach walking in Cape Breton, NS, and hiking in Leavenworth, WA.

🧶 #knitSky
Photo of me standing on a beach on an autumn evening watching the sunset while I’m wearing the Na Craga sweater. A rocky bit of land is in the distance behind me and the sky is a soft blue gray with clouds in front of a pink sunset. Photo of me smiling and posing for the camera while wearing the Na Craga sweater on a rocky beach with a large wave crashing against rocks behind me. The sky is a bright and sunny blue. I’m wearing a sun hat, sunglasses, and a camera strapped over one shoulder. Photo of me wearing the Na Craga sweater on a hike. I’m smiling and wearing a sun hat with sunglasses perched on top of it, a bright turquoise hand knit cowl, a backpack, and a camera strapped across one shoulder. A rocky river stretches out behind me, with a bridge trestle showing.
August 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
My favorite knit sweater, for #showMeYourKnits sweater week. One of my first extremely successful sweater knits, and I’m so proud of the seaming. Made in 2022.

Pattern: Na Craga by Alice Starmore
Yarn: Hebridean 3 ply in “selkie”

🧶 #knitSky
Photo of me outside in autumn wearing a navy blue all-over cabled drop-shoulder sweater with a funnel neck. Angled photo of the navy all-over cabled sweater laid flat so you can see the cable details (many vertical panels of honeycomb, braids, twists, and horseshoes) and the depth of color in the yarn (navy with undertones of red, gold, and bright blue).
August 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Here’s my current knitting project (late for #WIPwednesday), a summer top with lace panels on the sleeves. Started in April and it’s taking FOREVER. I finished ~3 inches during Worldcon panels and Hugo awards ceremony.

Pattern: Linnea tee by Asita Krebs
Yarn: Purl Soho Cattail Silk in Cerulean
A partially completed cerulean blue, fine-gauge, handknit raglan tee on a hanger. Lace panels are at the top of each sleeve. The sleeves are on stitch keeper cords and the body is a few inches long. A closer view of the lace panel on top of one sleeve. It’s a recognizable lace motif, but I don’t know its name. Photo of knitting this tee during the Hugo awards ceremony. Partially knit tee on a chair with the Hugo Awards Ceremony program on top.
August 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Final #Worldcon air quality report: Sun Aug 17

The most crowded room (animals, AI, and aliens) had the highest levels, but sifting through history was also high even though the room wasn’t full.
Plot showing CO2 concentration over time on the 5th and final day of Worldcon, annotated with the rooms/events I was in. 1300 ppm on the light rail; 450 ppm at Piroshky Piroshky without a long line; slow climb to 900 ppm in room 345-346 for Building a Better Book Club; 1400 ppm in room 433-434 for Sifting Through History; 1400 ppm in room 420-422 for Animals, AI, & Animals; finally, 1200 ppm on the light rail home.
August 18, 2025 at 6:01 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
#Worldcon air quality report: Sat Aug 16

Every event I went to had solidly moderate air quality. Of course, the smaller rooms with well attended panels had the highest CO2 levels. The ballroom wasn’t too bad, even being almost full for the Hugos.
Plot showing CO2 concentration over time on the 4th day of Worldcon, annotated with the rooms/events I was in. 1200 ppm in the exhibit hall; 1400 ppm in room 320 for discussing Hugo novel finalists; 700 ppm in line at Piroshky Piroshky and in Ballroom 2 for R. U. R.; 1100 ppm in room 320 for new and emerging voices in SF; 1050 ppm in room 427 for table talks; 1300 ppm in room 435-436 for Joanna Russ panel; 700 ppm at Din Tai Fung for dinner; and a steady climb to 1300 ppm in the ballroom for the Hugo awards ceremony.
August 17, 2025 at 5:51 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
I found them!
A stack of Speculative Insight books at the Worldcon freebies booth, amidst stacks of other books.
August 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
#Worldcon air quality report: Fri Aug 15
Even worse for the Martha Wells crowd in Terrace Suites today, but pretty good in small panel room and at dinner.
Plot showing CO2 concentration over time on the 3rd night of Worldcon, annotated with the rooms/events I was in. Peak of 2100 ppm in the Terrace Suite for the Ink to Film podcast with Martha Wells. Around 1000 ppm in room 320 for Alternate Histories of Space Travel. Less than 1000 ppm at the restaurant in the conference center, Bomba. Another peak as I was in my car driving home.
August 16, 2025 at 7:13 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
#Worldcon air quality report: Thu Aug 14
Ok, I didn’t really go to Worldcon this day, but I did go to the Seattle Town Hall Writers with Drinks event hosted by Charlie Jane Anders, along with many other Worldcon attendees.
Town Hall has really great ventilation!
Plot showing CO2 concentration over time on the 2nd night of Worldcon, annotated with the offsite events I was in. Peak of 990 ppm in the Seattle Town Hall Writers with Drinks event. ~1400 ppm for the light rail and ~1800 in my car on the way home.
August 15, 2025 at 4:39 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
#Worldcon air quality report: Wed Aug 13. Bad in the Terrace Suite/Martha Wells crowd, moderate in room 431-432, and great in the front row of the Ballroom during opening ceremonies. Also bad in my own car on the way home.
Plot showing CO2 concentration over time on the first night of Worldcon, annotated with the 3 rooms/events I was in. Peak of 1856 ppm in the Terrace Suite for the Martha Wells Q&A. Around 1200 ppm in room 431-432 for Ecology of Worldbuilding. A slow climb to 800 ppm in the Ballroom during opening ceremonies. Around 1500 ppm on the light rail and then in my car on the way home.
August 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
For this week’s #showMeYourKnits BLANKET theme, I have 3 baby blankets (1 knit and 2 crochet).

* Garter rib baby blanket from Orange flower yarn, in KnitPicks Comfy
* Neat ripple from Attic24 in Wool & the gang cotton
* Neat ripple (again) in KnitPicks Brava

🧶 #knitting #crochet
Close view of a knitted baby blanket spread on an office floor. The blanket is pale gray with dark gray and purple stripes and a dark gray border. The body is 3x3 garter rib and the border is garter. Top down view of the same knitted baby blanket laid flat on an office floor. The blanket is pale gray with dark gray and purple stripes and a dark gray border. The body is 3x3 garter rib and the border is garter. A sunshine yellow crocheted ripple baby blanket folded into thirds and displayed artfully. A crocheted ripple baby blanket hanging from two hangers against an off-white wall. The blanket is a 5 color fade from aqua to teal to blue to dark purple to violet, with 3 rows of alternating stripes making the transition from one color to the next.
June 3, 2025 at 5:38 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
I finished the plain stockinette body on my Otra Yoke cardigan and thought I’d start on the ribbing tonight, but it’s too long 😞
It’s going in time out for a few days before I rip it back 2 inches. I hate ripping back, but sometimes it’s the only way.
🧶 #knitting
A partially knit sweater with a yellow yard stick measuring at about 22.5 inches long at the shoulder. 22.5 inches is the desired final length, but 2 inches of ribbing is still needed. The sweater is a top-down steeked cardigan with a stranded colorwork yoke in dark purple. There are still no sleeves.
May 16, 2025 at 5:01 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Terrible morning traffic today, but at least I’m knitting (as a passenger). Nearing the end of the body of my Otra Yoke cardigan.
🧶 #knitting
A sweater in progress on my lap as I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the car. The sweater is top down and has a stranded colorwork yoke in dark purple on a very pale blue background.
May 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Morning plans: matcha latte and sock knitting.
🧶 #knitSky #knitting #sockKnitting
A half-knit sock (toe-up magic loop) with its project bag sitting on a kitchen counter with a large matcha green tea latte in a glass mug. An espresso machine is in the background.
May 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
I’ve been working on this sock for the past 9 days while I’m on a road trip in the southwest. Progress is slow while there’s so much beautiful scenery to see.
🧶 #knitting #sockKnitting
A partially knit sock and ball of yarn on my lap in the car. The toe-up sock is just past the completed toe. The self-patterning yarn makes stripes of purple with gray, pink, and lavender. Yarn is Regia Lofoten Color Arne and Carlos design line. Red rock canyon walls with scrub land in front. 4 big horn sheep are grazing in the mid distance. This is at Valley of Fire state park in Nevada.
April 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
Good daylight and fresh laundry have finally aligned for me to get a photo of all my hand knit socks and, um, I think I might have enough now 😅

🧶 #knitting #knitSky #sockKnitting
30 pairs of hand knit socks laid out flat on the carpet next to one another, arranged vertically in rough color order (brown, gray, green, blue, purple, pink). Closer view of the first 16 pairs of hand knit socks. Ranging from brown to gray to green to blue. Closer view of the last 17 pairs of hand knit socks, ranging from blue to purple to pink to red (rainbow stripes).
March 15, 2025 at 7:48 PM
50000stitches.bsky.social
I finished this cardigan from 14-year-old stash in just 24 days. It turned out well, but it would have done me more good 10 years ago when I didn’t have many sweaters yet.

* Leaflet from @knitty.com by Cecily Glowik MacDonald
* Mission Falls 1824 wool in “surf”

🧶 #knitting #knitSky #FOFriday
Photo of me from the back right wearing a newly finished knitted cardigan. The fitted raglan cardigan is marled soft blue and soft green and has 3 large leaf-shaped lace motifs down the back. A close in photo of me with the front of of the cardigan featured. It’s open front plain stockinette with a wide 2x2 rib edging held closed with a metal shawl pin. Photo of me wearing the cardigan from the front and turned slightly away. The cardigan front is open over a tee shirt of closely coordinating dark teal. Photo of the back of the cardigan to better feature the 3 lace motifs straight on. The shape of each leaf is outlined by yarn overs with a stem of centered double decreases and veins of slanted 1x1 rib.
March 15, 2025 at 4:28 AM
50000stitches.bsky.social
#WIPwednesday projects:

- Soccer mitts - Hedgehog Fibers sock yarn
- Socks - Northwoods Fiber hemlock DK
- Otra yoke cardigan - Harrisville flyWHEEL (very pale blue with dark purple contrast, despite bad photo colors)
- Rosebud cardigan - KnitPicks wool of the Andes #crochet

🧶 #knitting #knitSky
3 partially completed knitting projects. 1. The yoke of a 2-color stranded sweater with dark purple on a very, very pale blue background on circular needles. 2. A few inches of a toe-up sock in 3x2 rib in pale gray with speckles and a deep teal contrast toe on DPNs. 3. One completed fingerless mitt and the first few inches of another on circular needles in magic loop, both gray with bright speckles. A gray crocheted cardigan on a hanger in front of a cream wall. The cardigan is drop shoulder in shape and has single crochet cuffs and wide single crochet collar. Stitch markers and loose ends of yarn are all over. The yoke of a stranded colorwork sweater laid flat on a table (since I happened to have half of if off the needles). The background is a very very pale blue and the contrast color is dark purple, but the poor lighting of this photo makes it look like black on cream.
March 12, 2025 at 3:32 AM