life in projects

a collection of knitting, reading, and engineering posts peppered with comics and cute things | twitch.tv/miikarin for game and craft streams

[miikarin]

you know that thing where if you can't open the lid of something and so you lightly tap the lid to help it along?

well, I may have hit it a bit too hard on the kitchen counter because my jar completely cracked

on the plus side, the jar is now open!

[miikarin]

currently on a call with my internet service provider and the agent keeps saying 'fantabulous'

I have a good feeling about this

[miikarin]

my internet is now faster, has unlimited data, and is $50 cheaper per month and I have a credit of $150 for the months in between when my last contract expired and I finally called them to renew

[miikarin]

currently on a call with my internet service provider and the agent keeps saying 'fantabulous'

I have a good feeling about this

[andremichaux]

ONE DAY AT A TIME (2017 - 2020) *gifs do not do this scene justice, so here’s the video posted by @sunflowersrain

[youhavethewrong]

Perhaps this is an obnoxious take on my part, but video games should, above all things, prioritize the ability of being paused. At any point. Regardless of whether it's during a cutscene, a special animation, or a time-based puzzle. You never know when you're gonna get a phone call, or someone will need you in another room, or you get a sudden urge to go to the bathroom, or you hear your cat licking plastic, or whatever. Other entertainment mediums like books, movies, and music can be paused whenever you want. Why do some games not give you the same luxury??

[miikarin]

this is definitely not an obnoxious take and should be the standard for all games

I want to highlight specifically the cutscene one since a lot of games that allow pausing regularly will still only allow you to 'skip cutscene' instead of pause and that is literally what I would not want to do if I were wanting to pause a cutscene

in addition, cutscenes should be rewatchable anyways along with a dialogue history but I'll take pausing on cutscenes first

[miikarin]

as an adult that generally drives herself but has had to ride many Lyfts in the last few weeks, I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I am, in fact, terrible at fastening a backseat seatbelt

[spinejackel]

I recently found my “gold” hammer after misplacing it. It’s my favorite tool ever because it looks like a regular hammer trying to be fancy,

but then you twist both halves and unscrew it to find a flat-head screwdriver in the middle.

BUT, if you twist the very end and unscrew that

you find a phillips screwdriver.

BUT DON’T THINK THAT’S ALL THERE IS! THERE’S MORE!! unscrew the very end again to find a smaller flat-head screwdriver!

BUT THAT’S STILL NOT THE END!!

unscrew the end of this screwdriver to find a final, teeny tiny, flat-head screwdriver

look at how cute it is!

it’s like a matryoshka doll of tools.

[xeno-lalia]

I have one of these and I keep it in my IT toolkit because that teeny little screwdriver is the right side for laptop casings, but because it lives inside a large object it’s harder to misplace than a standard tiny screwdriver. Also because the look on a client’s face when you bring out a brass hammer to fix their laptop is absolutely wild.

[dappermouth]

i can understand the trials but were the tribulations really necessary

[miikarin]

years ago, young me being told that handmade gifts are special because a piece of yourself goes into the making of your gift: oh, how sweet

me, today, accidentally sewing my own hair into my knitting: ah

[miikarin]

I played a few game demos in the month of June (both for next fest and some I had even before next fest) and a quick sorting I did for them is here:

more details on the Instabuy and Planning to Get games under the cut

also some of the games in Likely Not are there because I thought the demo needed more work and development, but some of the games there had fairly polished demos that I may have had fun playing but ultimately I may not see myself playing the full game

Instabuy

Milki Delivery: I have mentioned this above already but it's such a delightful game with vibrant and cheery art. I think the gameplay loop is gentle and fun and I know I will enjoy the experience

Hoa 2: this is a sequel of a game that I adored and I had a feeling I would like this one as well and I was not wrong. The artstyle just makes me feel so peaceful and even with the switch to 3d, the game keeps its adorable charm

Well Dweller: I did indeed decide to play a bit of this demo and I confirmed that I would probably love this game - the premise of dark fairytale and the absolute adorable birb we're playing as has sold me even more

GrassChopper: I also mentioned this above but there is something about this game that just makes me want to continue cutting grass, which is not a statement I thought I'd ever say.

Helix: Descent N Ascent: this is a visually striking game in black and white, and the way you explore to figure out the puzzles has intrigued me. It seems like a game that rewards people who examine it closely and I want to spend more time in it to figure it out

Truckful: this is a game where you drive a truck to deliver packages and people from place to place. I found myself really invested in trying not to lose my packages and not hitting sheep (I did not hit any sheep! I'm not actually sure the game lets you). There's also a slightly sinister undercurrent to this vibrant game that I am fascinated with

Cat Isle: (forgot this in the graphic) there are adorable cats that are your customers and you try and satisfy their food demands. you also try and make the place more cozy for them and then you can pet them:

Planning to Get

Glide: cat! puzzles! not only is the game cute but the puzzle platforming is interesting

HAE Stack: lovingly referred to as 'that work-ptsd game' based on our time with the demo on stream, it is both a game but also a chilling look at corporate surveillance

Ambroise Niflette and the Gleaned Bell: charming art and a mystery to solve with what looks to be a good notebook system for keeping track of statements and interrogating suspects

Fourleaf Fields: extremely adorable farming sim where you are shrunk down to just a little bigger than a blueberry.

Death at Fleming Manor: deduction game where you are the coroner, trying to determine what happened to write in your report based on the clues on the scene as well as what the injuries on the body tells you

Inching Along: a platforming game where you're a tiny worm that uses its body to try and get even further. has pretty good checkpoints and I found myself enjoying the demo

Songs of Glimmerwick: okay so, you play as a witch, and it is a life sim where you are attending an academy and studying.

The Mesage from Deep Space: I talked about this above, but a game where you are translating signals that aliens are sending and it starts rooted in math and science concepts.

Dupery: A Game of Solo Deduction a game where you use the clues from the characters in the scenario to arrest the criminals based off of social deduction games

Tape Man: a level-based puzzle platformer, where progression is based on using your tape measure to measure a length in the level that is the same length as the gate

Nimbit Frontier: a creature collecting game where the goal is to breed species to release them back into the wild and repopulate the species. it also has an absolutely adorable corgi

Duppy Detective Tashia: looks like a fun mystery to solve and a basis in Carribean folklore

Lost in Art: this is a game based on a real-life art gallery in England. it is a survival horror, so not my normal fare, but they do a good job at the setting and I think the puzzles are interesting

Sojourn Past: a very neat bullet-hell type metroidvania with some good combat and movement

Life's Too Short: you play as a ghost that has been asked to mediate between some vampires and it is a cute little game with puzzle elements

[wreegis]

there was an incident at work today

[ottisbuns]

Did you know

If you perform action Harmlessly Bother Cat you can receive Sounds

[ottisbuns]

If you perform action Ignore Cat you can also receive Sounds, with a percentage chance that they will be Noises instead

[tricia868]

Tropical Rainbow Starflower Parasol

It's come to my attention that I never posted the parasol I made for Pride LAST spring! (which also came home with a blue ribbon from a local fair last fall.) I'm much more into bright rainbows with fuchsia pink than the traditional red rainbows, so I fell deeply in love with this yarn immediately.

Pattern is Starflower Parasol by Jenny Amos/bythebeachcrochet, with additional inspiration taken from Marcus Miller/chiaroscurity_designs, who also made the cute rainbow umbrella earrings I'm wearing in this picture of me.

Yarn is Scheepjes Whirl 792 Rainbow Popsicle. It didn't take a whole cake of yarn, so I separated it into mini balls of yarn to be sure I got through all the colors.

Crystals were added using jump rings, and the parasol frame came from Umbrella Joan; it's the 10-spoke Georgia Parasol Frame.

This project brings me SUCH joy, I'm really hoping to finish a matching dress eventually. Perhaps for next year's Pride?

[basuralindo]

So I just simultaneously did, and possibly didn't lose my job today :)

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

I don't know what else to say aside from I've been laughing all day and I'm gonna have a hell of a time explaining Schrodinger's Unemployment to the benefits office.

[basuralindo]

Update that is not an update because I'm basically certain this isn't what actually happened:

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

(also shout out to the person who proposed Carmen Sandiego)

[basuralindo]

ACTUAL (partial) UPDATE:

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

So now I'm officially out of a job. Because my workplace was literally stolen in the night.

[basuralindo]

Actually fuck it let's share some photos cause I wouldn't be inclined to believe this myself. It's not like anyone can stalk me at my job now and I'm not gonna have to see any coworkers that might find my tumblr.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

The last remains of a once Very Much Solid And Immobile Workplace

[basuralindo]

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

via @kagaminilen

[mysteryteacup]

[cut to a kiosk on legs, sipping a boba, while wandering into the nearest forest on chicken legs]

[ardanelvilyafeanturi]

Here you go @a-bit-too-dyscrasic

[miikarin]

it's done! 144 squares crocheted all in a two-colour variation of a granny square and then seamed together in a baby blanket.

I had a lot of fun with this project and I also learned a lot along the way. Looking at the finished blanket, I can see how different my tension was for squares by how much they puff up after the seaming! This picture is after washing and drying, because first off, a blanket made over a year and a bit probably has a bunch of dirt on it and second, I don't want there to be any surprises if I tell the parents to toss it in the washer and dryer. I also lightly ironed but that didn't really stop the puffing.

I am extremely pleased with the design I chose for this - there were many variations in the running (and I had a little poll for it as well, here and on my discord) and in the end I went with a fun asymmetrical pattern that still had a lot of orderly lines to make me happy.

Also cannot believe that the colour lines could turn out this crisp - like I am shocked at the effect when they're arranged like this.

And now that I've made this, I do want to make something else with half square triangle crochet but not with cotton again because this was a pain to seam and it definitely has less stretch than wool would. Before this, I had bought yarn to make a cardigan from half square triangles and maybe I make that or I try for something else. We'll see.

This is what the backside looks like! the squares are joined with a slip stitch join through the back loops of the squares. It also worked out that there were 11 seams horizontally and vertically and I used 11 colours on this so I just used a different colour per seam and then did a final slip stitch edge all the way around.

And I finished it before the baby was born turned one year old! Look, it's fine, it's still much bigger than her. Finished dimensions are approximately 30"x30".

[stella-draws-things]

[miikarin]

it truly is a commentary of my times that I remembered to pay my property taxes because I was watching a streamer play Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion