[juliebarkley]

9 hours ago, Harriet said:

It sounds like you're talking about a large woman, not a man. I have fairly large hands for a medium sized woman (5' 5.5")--long and thin though--and they're 18cm around the palm (22cm at the widest part of the thumb if I stretch my fingers out maximally. That wouldn't be the cast on number, though, that's what you'd reach with the gusset). A tall woman with muscular or fat hands could add a few cm... I can't imagine more than +5cm? I'm just guessing, though, now. Obviously a tall, fat and/or muscular man could have much larger hands. I think looking at other patterns could help here for guessing the needed size. And you're right, a little snug is better for mittens. Zero ease would be ideal, I guess. I knit some loose mittens (no swatch don't laugh 😅) and they just aren't warm.

No, tall man. 6'8". But I can't be like "measure your hands for me" without ruining the surprise. So I have to kind of guess, and my experience with tall people and their hand size is limited. I had one tall male friend in high school, and the ends of my fingers made it to his first knuckle iirc. But width, I don't remember.

 

Perhaps this was a bad choice of present. Here I was thinking hand size was a lot less variable than so many other things when I saw the pattern.

 

9 hours ago, Harriet said:

Certainly. Until you reach swatch enlightenment, surrender to and learn to love the swatch process, and achieve radical swatch acceptance. Then you'll be like "Ah, lovely; a relaxing square of nothing."

.....

What do you put in your tea to achieve this?

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

No, tall man. 6'8". But I can't be like "measure your hands for me" without ruining the surprise. So I have to kind of guess, and my experience with tall people and their hand size is limited. I had one tall male friend in high school, and the ends of my fingers made it to his first knuckle iirc. But width, I don't remember.

 

Perhaps this was a bad choice of present. Here I was thinking hand size was a lot less variable than so many other things when I saw the pattern.

 

It's always a risk knitting garments without knowing the size, but I'm sure you can find information for average hand sizes online. If he's 6'8" he's likely to be at the upper end of any range, unless he's really thin.

 

3 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

.....

What do you put in your tea to achieve this?

LSD micro doses. Too much and it'll be hard to knit at all though.

[juliebarkley]

9 hours ago, Harriet said:

LSD micro doses. Too much and it'll be hard to knit at all though.

  Too much to knit, and you'd probably come up with some kickass pattern ideas though. Win win.

 

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STR/DEX: Walking is getting mighty cold. I walked pretty fast (for me), but still had slightly sore ears on returning.
INT: Ooh, no. I was reviewing library books though, so I read bits of those.

WIS: I did do the morning thing.

CHA: Nope.

Occupational: I did the thing I should have done yesterday. I have another thing set up, which I may or may not do, but is well within my capabilities to at least start.

Organizational: Much like yesterday, email and library books. I brought home a lot of them on the weekend, unfortunately for the sorting pile.

Language: Yes.

Other: No.

 

The "get rid of library books" project is going well. Most of the books I reviewed today ended up in the return pile. The email is also going well. I am doing at least 500 per day, and it's progressing nicely. I've been a bit lax with the conditions of my Occupational goal the last few days, but I've not done nothing today. So progress is progress, even if it's not exactly what I was planning.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: Walked twice! Walking isn't even my goal and shouldn't feel like an achievement, but here we are.
INT: A very, very little bit.

WIS: As before, that morning habit is actually pretty reliable for me.

CHA: Logged in briefly just to edit a few messages. Since logging in was the goal, I succeeded.

Occupational: Packed an order, decided against auditioning for the company I picked out last night after researching them, but pulled up two more to audition for instead.

Organizational: Just email.

Language: Yes.

Other: No.

 

Not much else to say. Gonna do some reading and cast on for my knitting project.

[juliebarkley]

Not a lot challengewise; sort of blew things off to help my son with his chemistry. So I shall knit some, and read some, and that will be my evening.

[Mistr]

The nice thing about mittens is that they are likely to fit someone, if they turn out too small for the intended recipient.

 

 

This gives you a pretty good idea of sizes. 

 

I am impressed by your continued progress on emails and library books.

[juliebarkley]

1 hour ago, Mistr said:

The nice thing about mittens is that they are likely to fit someone, if they turn out too small for the intended recipient.

Very true. And the intended recipient has children, so there are a variety of hands available if the primary one proves wrong.

 

1 hour ago, Mistr said:

I am impressed by your continued progress on emails and library books.

Honestly, me too! The unchecked library book pile has built up a little in the last week, but I intend to tackle it over the next couple of days. And I'm down more than 30,000 emails at this point and still making steady progress.

[juliebarkley]

Got in a walk, reading, email, and FINALLY a real start on my knitting project after four false starts. If I have this much trouble on the second mitten, I might cry. Or stab something with these tiny needles. No work though, oops.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: Much walking. Details below.
INT: Hasn't yet, but will.

WIS: Yay morning habit!

CHA: Scattered milkweed seeds. I'm going to count that.

Occupational: Nope. I don't really feel like I was slacking off though.

Organizational: Will do some books tonight. Did not do email.

Language: Yes.

Other: Yes - milkweed and walking.

 

When I went to pick up my vegetable box today, the weather was so lovely that I decided that today was the day I would finally scatter the milkweed seeds that I gathered at my previous home. So I went for a three-hour walk down the rail trail, scattering them. I still have some left, but I know where I can take them to. So I feel like I accomplished something today.

 

During my walk, I saw the first live garter snake I'd seen since I was a child. (Also saw a dead one further down. ) And as I neared home, I had a car pull over next to me and open its window for a chat. This was not an asking-for-directions sort of chat; it was the sort where I was hearing about how Vatican witch-burnings of female healers in the Middle Ages was a genocide less than a minute in, and also learned how to use poppies for pain relief. (I think the driver thought I am pagan. I used to get that more often before I started wearing a headscarf, but I still get it from time to time. Apparently I have a witchy vibe. 😄)

[juliebarkley]

'Twas one of those days where you plan a thing, but then something else comes up, repeat. I did have a fun D&D session in the evening, get some reading in, email, library books, and also some knitting. Did not get work in, sadly. I would say that I'll try to do something small before bed, but I'm on a roll with the knitting and I desperately need to eat, so chances are I won't.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: I didn't.
INT: I did a little.

WIS: I don't remember.

CHA: I did not.

Occupational: I did, token though it was.

Organizational: I did email.

Language: I did indeed.

Other: I didn't leave the house, so no.

 

My plan for the day was primarily "work on knitting", and I have indeed done some of that. It's going fairly well now that we're past the ribbing, and I think the colours will be enough for the image to stand out properly. Fingers crossed.

 

I spent the evening trying to set up a networked backup. I bought the stuff I needed for this back at the end of 2019/start of 2020, or so I thought. The computer I was planning to use as the server unfortunately won't work. (Well it can, if I'm willing to shell out $500+ for software that came out in 2009, which I'm not.) So I did some research into what I can get to do what I want. I think I will only need an Airport Extreme, which runs less than $100 on eBay. So I'm running a temporary backup right now (because I'm having some worrying issues with apps crashing and repeated kernel panics) and I'll buy one of those tomorrow.

[juliebarkley]

Another day of not much in the way of challenge things. Didn't sleep well, as my backup took far too long to finish (and failed a few times, so I had to restart to finish it - kind of shows why a backup is urgently needed, eh?) and also it was cold. Worked all day, did email, helped child with studying, walked, chatted a bit online with a friend, and also with the child, for a long time, about topics both weird and controversial. Now I might knit, or work on a few books, but I also might just make some popcorn and watch some YouTube videos. Hope everyone is having a great evening.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: Yes.
INT: I will do a bit more before bed, but yes.

WIS: Yes.

CHA: No.

Occupational: I didn't. I probably should have, but I knit instead.

Organizational: Just books.

Language: Yes.

Other: Nope.

 

Nothing super interesting. I did get my first mitten done up to the thumb hole. It's my first stab at colourwork, and it's going all right I think. Tension isn't fantastic, but should come out in the blocking. I've learned that knitting vertical stripes one stitch wide are actually pretty fun and fast. However, I'm concerned I'm not going to have this done in time for the planned recipient's birthday. That would be unfortunate, though I suppose there's always Christmas.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: Evening walks are very nice. We are getting a little bit of a reprieve before we head into the deep freeze.
INT: Yes.

WIS: Yes.

CHA: No.

Occupational: I once again did not. In my defence, I have been waiting on the books until the last box got processed to see if there were any snags in the process I needed to be aware of before shipping more off. The second box, which was rerouted, finally processed today, and I feel comfortable sending more now. (I am aware I could have been doing voice stuff instead.)

Organizational: Email.

Language: Yes.

Other: Nope.

 

This was my first day working a late shift on Tuesdays, and somehow all my non-work time seemed to vanish in email. 🤷‍♀️Still, it's progressing nicely, and once I hit 50,000 in the box, I will reduce the daily quantity a little.

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: I did not walk today, alas, except to the restaurant.
INT: Not yet, but I shall.

WIS: It's a good morning habit I have developed.

CHA: No.

Occupational: I did. It was small, but it was something.

Organizational: Email. Again.

Language: Yes.

Other: Nope. But I have a bunch of things to do tomorrow.

 

I'm going to continue knitting tonight. But tomorrow, I have a long list of errands I need to run, so it will be a day of accomplishments!

[juliebarkley]

STR/DEX: Yes!
INT: Yes!

WIS: Yes!

CHA: Yes!

Occupational: Yes!

Organizational: Yes!

Language: Yes!

Other: Yes!

 

In addition to being successful in all of the things above, I started getting the Werewolf game I run set up for a new round, finished knitting one of the mittens (minus the thumb), and cast on the second one. I also have a shiny new music stand to use for recordings, and should have a new violin bow coming soon. (Mine is getting quite threadbare). So it has been a good day.

[Jarric]

Looks like a perfect day - well done!

[juliebarkley]

16 hours ago, Jarric said:

Looks like a perfect day - well done!

It was a good day for sure.

 

I knew this one would not be much in terms of accomplishments, because after getting home, I had time to do the last bits of game prep, then play a different game, then start the first game while playing the second one. And that is really it for today.

[juliebarkley]

This day has fewer accomplishments to boast than I would like. I did email, but it took forever. Partly because I did some more time-consuming emails today, but also because the computer problems I have are definitely getting worse. Priority tomorrow is going to be diagnosing this issue, because my computer is rapidly becoming nearly unusable.

[juliebarkley]

Computer problem diagnosed. My hard drive is failing, and unlike last time, it's actually giving me some warning. So I will have a new drive on its way tonight, and my little patient has some surgery in its future.

 

Should still be able to do stuff with books, but audio recording of any kind will have to wait for the new drive. It's just too risky from a crashes-and-corruption standpoint when the drive doesn't seem to be able to tell the system that it is too hot. So I shall finish labelling and packing the box I have almost ready to go.

[Mistr]

I am glad that you have a good chance to salvage the contents of your hard drive. I hope the memory transfer goes smoothly.

[juliebarkley]

8 hours ago, Mistr said:

I am glad that you have a good chance to salvage the contents of your hard drive. I hope the memory transfer goes smoothly.

Thanks! The estimate is two weeks before the new drive arrives, so I shall have to be good with my backups!

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess this is the end of the challenge. I feel like I started a lot stronger than I ended.

 

The habits book that I'm reading is a good refresher on how habits work, and how to build good habits that work. It also emphasizes that habits stick when you feel good, not when you feel bad, and that a failed habit it not a personal failure, but an opportunity to tinker with an arrangement that didn't work out. Since that was the purpose of this challenge and I've had some difficulties, it's worth thinking about why while trying to avoid feeling bad or guilty.

 

I think my biggest problem was that for most of the habits I wanted to build, I failed to set a trigger. This was obvious for my work habit especially. I would think about it randomly from time to time, but there was never anything to signal that it was time to work on it. Then it would get too late, and it often wouldn't happen.

 

Another issue was the habits not being sufficiently planned. For the STR/DEX "use outdoor equipment and find places to parkour", it wasn't clear on any particular day what I was trying to do, and I didn't take the time beforehand to go and get the equipment and put it in an accessible spot. For work, I could have planned the day before what I would do the following day, to take the decision element out of it, or picked something that would be the same every day to get the ball rolling. That sort of thing.

 

There is probably more too. I have found that the Maui habit stuck almost immediately, so clearly I can set habits. It just may require more intentionality in the planning, and the willingness to go super small.

 

I will need to have a good think about my goals for next time and how to plan them. Look at my annual plan. Put in more physical activity, because frankly I'm getting a bit antsy from having only walked for this whole challenge period.

 

I also realized that I had not picked books for October. 😅 Tiny Habits is not the sort of book that it makes sense to binge, so I'm going to keep reading it a bit at a time. My non-fiction book for the month is Speak Not: Empire, Identity, and the Politics of Language, which looks at Welsh, Hawaiian, and Cantonese, with short sections on Afrikaans and Hebrew. For fiction, I'm not sure. I may read the only horror I have out, The Bone Mother, in honour of the month.

 

All right. See you soon!

[juliebarkley]

New challenge, kinda.