Sporadic Creativity

Kj | she/her | 30s | knitter, reader, baker | Slowly reading everything for my favorite fandoms | I aspire to paint clouds like Turner

[purplbear]

Apparently I speak turkey.

[beggars-opera]

The 17th century slang dictionary is worse than the 18th century one. WHY

[beggars-opera]

Please let us bring back "What boots it?" instead of "What's up?"

[beggars-opera]

Why does this book have so much animal sex in it. I do not want to know what sound a rabbit makes when it's mating. That doesn't need a word attached to it

[beggars-opera]

Glad to see that my favorite is in here

[beggars-opera]

The Drip 1699

[beggars-opera]

Ouch

[purplbear]

17th century urban dictionary

[owlspinningyarns]

100 grams of purple mulberry silk, 2 ply, 2480 yards/2267 meters. singles spun over three months, plying took 14 hours, winding yarn onto a niddy noddy took 4 hours....

i've given up on getting an accurate color in photos, the true color is a rich royal purple. the yarn has won, i'm tired but also proud of what i've made

there will be more silk in my future but i need a couple months to recharge first. i'm feeling a little feral, and i kind of want to shove this skein at people and yell look at my yarn i made!

okay everyone can yell at me now

[purplbear]

I am looking at this yarn you made and WOWOWOWOWOW!!! I am stunned and impressed and covet it so hard. I just want to hold it and love it and put it on a shelf on a beautiful platter to show it off to everyone! Awesome job.

[deeplenpeeple]

someone do something i’m bored

[defectivegembrain]

*attempts to do a backflip and falls over*

[somethingmissingthiswaycomes]

*attempts to help you up but slips on a puddle and does a backflip*

[purplbear]

Tries to walk over and help but slips on a mango peel (fresh out of bananas only have mangos)

[knitsandnonsense]

How do y'all track your rows? I'm all about a coloured pen! Makes it way easier to make my socks exactly the same.

[purplbear]

I haven’t used this method for socks yet (don’t knit a lot of socks) but I use clippy markers to indicate every decrease/increase, 10th row or colorwork section start/finish when knitting sweater sleeves. That way it’s easy to count.

[midnights-dragon]

In case anyone is having a bad night

(The best of this post and its reblogs, but with links that work)

Here is a website where you can scroll down to all the different levels of the ocean 

Here is a website where you can see the future of the universe

Here is a website where you can press a ‘make everything okay’ button, over and over, until things really are okay

Here is a website that you can read if you feel like a burden

Here is a website where you can look at strobe illusions (TW strobe/flashing)

Here is a website where you can cut stuff up (TW blood/sh)

Here and here are websites where you can play with sand

Here is a website where you can draw with macaroni and other fun foods

Here is a website where you can paint someone’s nails

Here is a website where you can grow a garden with emojis

Here is a website with hundreds of videos of people hugging you (rightfully dubbed ‘the nicest place on the internet’ because it really is, y’all, it made me cry)

Here is a website that will take you to other useless websites

Here is a website where you can make a tiny cat play bongo drums (and other instruments!)

Here is a website to help give you gentle reminders <3

Here is a website where you can grow a tiny farm

Here is a website where you can take a bunch of scientific personality tests

Here is a website of calm rain noise

Take a breath. It’s going to be okay, I promise.

[littlebirdinagarden]

Remember in October 2024 when we were all doing the ‘steal something from my room’ poll trend? God that was fun, I miss that.

[purplbear]

Steal something from my desk:

Incomplete Lego of Apollo 11 lunar module

Ceramic pen cup that looks like ribbon

49 acrylic paint markers

Mini rubber chicken on keychain (wards off evil tech spirits)

Custom fit wrist stabilizer

Hemp hand cream

Left handed ergonomic mouse (called a hand shoe mouse)

Green paper clip

Three 24” tall paper wizard towers for D&D

Blue foam yoga block

Lego pirate ship (complete)

Voting ended onMar 30

[rederiswrites]

This is a stupid non-existent problem, but I keep seeing ads for really pretty window clings, the kind meant to let light through but make a visual barrier, and I have nowhere I would use them. They make them with flowers and stained glass designs and prisms, and they're so pretty! But the whole point is to like, block the bathroom window from passers-by, or make the best of a view out an alleyway. And like. First world problems or whatever, but we have no alleyways and no passers-by and our views are lovely, and also I need to be able to see when Reginald the drake is violating the neighbor's porch.

Somebody buy these and use them so I can live vicariously.

The company is Fancyfix.

[purplbear]

When I moved into my current house I immediately bought these lovely kind of window clings. The bathroom. The window is right next to the toilet.

Right outside that window - deck. Backyard. The box that holds the outdoor chair cushions. Upon which husband likes to sit and bask in the sunshine.

Meaning husband is sometimes sitting right on the other side of the window by the toilet. AWKWARD.

But we only put clings on the bottom half cause the trees are pretty.

[intrepidheroine]

Hey knitters! Has anyone ever entered a state or county fair? How did it go? What was it like?

I should actually be able to attend our county fair this year for scheduling reasons, and I think I might like to enter some knitting. It is of course also an excuse to knit my husband yet another absurdly cabled sweater.

[purplbear]

I love entering state/county fairs! I try to enter an item each year - it’s fun to see it on display. And I enjoy the judges comments/critiques. The ones for my state fair have given me very helpful feedback (gaps in the underarm, too thin stitches from not catching whole strand, etc)

[purplbear]

I found a judging sheet! Thought it might be helpful to see the kinds of comments and the categories. The sweater is pictured next to it, and was entered in the limited colorwork cardigan category.

Categories: general appearance, color and design, construction/workmanship, level of difficulty, choice and handling of finishing.

Comments: “should be entered in the plain cardigan - stripes are considered plain knitting not colorwork”, “beautiful work, cute design in back”, and “small hole in weak spot at back.”

So things I learned, stripes are plain knitting 🤣🤣🤣

Always hold your knitwear up to the light to see if there are any holes or spots you didn’t pick up all the fibers when knitting (there was a spot with just one strand picked up instead of 3 for 3ply yarn)

[cyclicalaberration]

I entered the state fiber festival last year (I don't think we have a state fair). I got 3rd in my division, which was SUPER exciting for me because I was incredibly nervous about it. The judges do give really good feedback, and its so much fun to see everything everyone else knit. Unfortunately I have no photographs of the sweater, but it's such a good experience and I highly recommend it.

[intrepidheroine]

@purplbear and @cyclicalaberration, did your fairs/festivals judge on fiber choice at all, or was it strictly technique?

[purplbear]

They have before, years ago I entered a sweater that was hand spun yarn. I adored the slightly rustic look of the yarn with the variations in weight between light and regular fingering.The judge did not like the yarn choice with the pattern.

Judge didn’t like the yarn but did like the turned hem and picot edging. Eh - sometimes your taste and the judges don’t align.

[intrepidheroine]

Hey knitters! Has anyone ever entered a state or county fair? How did it go? What was it like?

I should actually be able to attend our county fair this year for scheduling reasons, and I think I might like to enter some knitting. It is of course also an excuse to knit my husband yet another absurdly cabled sweater.

[purplbear]

I love entering state/county fairs! I try to enter an item each year - it’s fun to see it on display. And I enjoy the judges comments/critiques. The ones for my state fair have given me very helpful feedback (gaps in the underarm, too thin stitches from not catching whole strand, etc)

[purplbear]

I found a judging sheet! Thought it might be helpful to see the kinds of comments and the categories. The sweater is pictured next to it, and was entered in the limited colorwork cardigan category.

Categories: general appearance, color and design, construction/workmanship, level of difficulty, choice and handling of finishing.

Comments: “should be entered in the plain cardigan - stripes are considered plain knitting not colorwork”, “beautiful work, cute design in back”, and “small hole in weak spot at back.”

So things I learned, stripes are plain knitting 🤣🤣🤣

Always hold your knitwear up to the light to see if there are any holes or spots you didn’t pick up all the fibers when knitting (there was a spot with just one strand picked up instead of 3 for 3ply yarn)

[intrepidheroine]

Hey knitters! Has anyone ever entered a state or county fair? How did it go? What was it like?

I should actually be able to attend our county fair this year for scheduling reasons, and I think I might like to enter some knitting. It is of course also an excuse to knit my husband yet another absurdly cabled sweater.

[purplbear]

I love entering state/county fairs! I try to enter an item each year - it’s fun to see it on display. And I enjoy the judges comments/critiques. The ones for my state fair have given me very helpful feedback (gaps in the underarm, too thin stitches from not catching whole strand, etc)

[countthelions]

My beautiful gradient cardigan has a button band :D!!

[purplbear]

This is gorgeous!!

[unraveledandfrayed]

New cast on with a unique shoulder construction that I've never tried before

[stuffaboutminneapolis]

[purplbear]

This week, my house morphed into Cthulhu. So far things have blinked, banged, dripped and been soggy (in the worst way). In order of appearance:

- the kitchen ceiling light started blinking when we dimmed it this week. After trying to replace the bulb we saw that the entire fixture was starting to detach from the ceiling.

- the next morning we heard a loud bang and assumed a branch fell on the roof (we live by the woods). Turns out one of the giant springs that help tension the garage door snapped and so the garage door could not reliably open and close.

- luckily had the car outside the garage at the time, but we very quickly realized that we would no longer be able to enter or exit the house.

BECAUSE

- the front door was taped shut with weather-proofing tape and towels taped over the tape because it leaks and allows the -20F air INSIDE our house. Which is bad. So with the front door taped shut all entry and exit was thru the garage. Cue ba-dum-chsaaaaaaa.

- to enter the house we thought to use the gate that allows entry to the backyard and then entry to our back door (which was not locked at the time).

- BUT it is winter here and the ground is covered in layers of snow and ice. So we had to chisel a small gap in the snow/ice ground to allow the gate to move. Then squeeze thru. And enter the back door.

-the back door is not locked, it cannot be locked or unlocked from the outside. We don’t have a key. Nor do we have a key for the garage. Just the front door. We have lived in this house for ten years, three as the owners. 🤦‍♀️

- so to sum up so far we need: a locksmith to get keys for all the doors, a garage door repair place, and an electrical place to replace the kitchen light fixture and ensure there’s no weird wiring issues (there have been for other fixtures we replaced)

- today the kitchen light people arrived and did an AWESOME JOB. Super nice and now the light works.

- minus one point health to Cthulhu from that success!

- when the garage person arrived we found out springs can be replaced to allow us to open the door BUT the door itself (which is probably original to the 1950s garage) is falling apart and rotting on the bottom so can’t really safely support being a garage door anymore so DONT USE THE GARAGE DOOR 😵‍💫

- we need a new garage door

- we schedule to get a quote for a new garage door

- and find water is trickling in above our brand new 2 year old window along the wood molding. (It’s quite warm today and snow is MELTING)

- cue plastic containers set along windowsill and towels to help ensure water stays contained

- have near crying call with my mom about all the things life and house is throwing around this week

- discuss with partner and resolve to call window people (newish windows still under warranty) about water ingress

- only to discover later tonight some very damp CEILING SPOTS above partners desk, where he works, and makes the money money we need to buy garage doors and kitchen lights, and dinner … and DONATE to help our neighbors help their neighbors survive ice.

It’s been a long day.

But the kitchen light works.

And people like the protest song website we put together. You can find it here: PROTEST SONGS

I feel like Cthulhu is at lots of points of health, but there are some helpers arriving tomorrow. And it’s a day at a time. Gonna slow down like my dog, here she is awoken from a nap after loving all the nice people that entered our house today to try and fix things.

[ms-demeanor]

Alex Pretti was killed for stepping between a member of his community and the agent of the state who was brutalizing her.

He stepped in harm's way with his hands up, using his body as a shield to protect his neighbor.

If you've never read Thomas Sharp's "The Running Towards," written for the London Fire Brigade, I think that you should, and you should think of Alex Pretti as you do.

[purplbear]

Image text: The Running Towards. And always some part of our pageant-and-alleyway city, our pudding lane city, our everyone-welcome city is calling. And always there will be those running towards. A pounding of boots which says there are no ‘others’. An engines hurrying growl which says we are only as safe as the vulnerable amongst us. People are good. People gather their humanity in hot moments and step forward to help those they don’t know. ‘Wailing sirens’ the newspapers say. As if all we hear is a desolate cry keening above the streets … rather than a protective call of reassurance, a community chorus of ‘we are running your way’. What we do when we get there comes from training. Love is the running towards.

[theprofessional-amateur]

Every day is like

I wake up and see what hell a small hateful group is unleashing or threatening to unleash on the world

I pull it together. Take a shower, make breakfast

I see horrors

I try not to scream

I smile and say hi to my neighbors on the way to the train. I am trying to do a better job of getting to know them.

I get to work and try not to cry

I am exhausted

I get article requests and reference requests for things that are difficult. I have learned to complete a swath of reference without reading but it doesn’t always work

I roll my eyes so hard it hurts to try and relieve some of the anger and anxiety

I see what my bank account says and do some quick math of how much I can send and where to help.

It is never enough

I try not to scream or cry

I see more horrors

I get guilted or yelled at by strangers on the internet for not posting enough about the horrors. I add a few more to the block list.

I call my representatives. Again. It is daily.

I try not to scream.

I check in with the neighborhood mutual aid group, what are our concerns, where can that energy go, where is it needed

I go to therapy, talk about all the boundaries I have in place and actions I have taken. I try not to scream.

7pm comes and all my notifications turn off so maybe I can sleep before starting again.

Enjoy my projects and try to forget the horrors for a little bit so I can fight them again tomorrow.

Tomorrow there will be more

Maybe they will be worse. Maybe not.

I cry for the neighbors in other cities. For the people I have never met. For the people in other nations. For the world we are in.

I celebrate every win no matter how small

I look for the helpers, I join when I can

I look for the every day average people that are fighting with every means available

I remember this is not just me. We are not alone. That more and more are getting angrier and angrier and showing up

I remember that hope is a muscle. It is tough and dirty and raw. That urge to scream I keep getting is my rage being channeled. It is the hope at the center. The part that will not go quietly or accept this.

Tomorrow is another day