[Waanie]

I hope the weather is better again by now!

 

On 9/16/2024 at 4:06 PM, Mad Hatter said:

I don't know how to get out of this blah funk.

However much you'll hate it, the answer is probably morning walks, or something else that gets you outside in the morning. Even when it rains, hails or storms, it's good for your body to get sunlight and movement in soon after you wake up.

[Mad Hatter]

Time to resurrect this thread and stop pretending it doesn't exist. ?

 

I feel better, kind of. The nightmares have stopped, the weather's improved. I do suffer from a certain pointlessness of my existence and lack of motivation, but my mood and energy are... fine. It's weird.

 

- Still playing the ninja dancing roguelike, but the claws of addiction have released me. Or maybe it's become less fun at the harder difficulties - it's now quite unforgiving and I don't seem to have the capacity to focus for that long... It annoys me.

 

- I'm embarrassingly only 4 pages into my sketchbook. Hey better than zero?

 

- Handstands are plodding along, with frustratingly slow progress, as is the wont of handstands. ? I wish they weren't so incredibly inconsistent. I'm trying to understand if I fail because of lack of endurance or lack of concentration but it's all a confusing mess. I'm trying to get rid of some bad habits to reduce the variables, and sometimes I think it's helping?

 

- I sat down yesterday and made myself a schedule. I know, craziness! My track record of following schedules ranges from instantly forgetting it to rage quitting, but I need to do something to get my time under control. I struggle for hours with getting started and then the whole day's somehow gone. Since I feel similarly blah about starting anything maybe a schedule will work this time? And if not maybe it will at least tell me something about how long everything takes.

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I need to do something to get my time under control. I struggle for hours with getting started and then the whole day's somehow gone. Since I feel similarly blah about starting anything maybe a schedule will work this time? And if not maybe it will at least tell me something about how long everything takes.

 

That's an interesting idea. Maybe you can start by logging your time. Observation could be useful, and it may influence the observed particle. 

[Laghail]

7 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Time to resurrect this thread and stop pretending it doesn't exist. ?

 

I feel better, kind of. The nightmares have stopped, the weather's improved. I do suffer from a certain pointlessness of my existence and lack of motivation, but my mood and energy are... fine. It's weird.

 

- Still playing the ninja dancing roguelike, but the claws of addiction have released me. Or maybe it's become less fun at the harder difficulties - it's now quite unforgiving and I don't seem to have the capacity to focus for that long... It annoys me.

 

- I'm embarrassingly only 4 pages into my sketchbook. Hey better than zero?

 

- Handstands are plodding along, with frustratingly slow progress, as is the wont of handstands. ? I wish they weren't so incredibly inconsistent. I'm trying to understand if I fail because of lack of endurance or lack of concentration but it's all a confusing mess. I'm trying to get rid of some bad habits to reduce the variables, and sometimes I think it's helping?

 

- I sat down yesterday and made myself a schedule. I know, craziness! My track record of following schedules ranges from instantly forgetting it to rage quitting, but I need to do something to get my time under control. I struggle for hours with getting started and then the whole day's somehow gone. Since I feel similarly blah about starting anything maybe a schedule will work this time? And if not maybe it will at least tell me something about how long everything takes.

 

 

Sigh, Hatter, your better than zero is still fucking impressive. You're sketching, hand standing, and treating yourself like an adult?? Fuck off, you're kinda a BAMF.

[Mad Hatter]

15 hours ago, Harriet said:

That's an interesting idea. Maybe you can start by logging your time. Observation could be useful, and it may influence the observed particle. 

I don't like logging my time because it makes me feel gross about how much of it I'm wasting. ? But something of the sort the yes.

 

10 hours ago, Laghail said:

Sigh, Hatter, your better than zero is still fucking impressive. You're sketching, hand standing, and treating yourself like an adult?? Fuck off, you're kinda a BAMF.

Uggh thanks for saying that. It's just hard to believe it when I'm too focused on the negatives. Not sketching well enough, still not handstanding to the level I used to...

[Mad Hatter]

Stuff I did yesterday:

• Got rid of the ugly carpet to create a tiny bit of floor space and the room feels a bit lighter and roomier now. I also scrubbed the floor and did laundry while at it.
• Did a 30 min "power and balance" yoga with Adrienne video. It was good! And I didn't find her annoying. Except from her blurting out a few random meaningless words like "empowerment" in the beginning she didn't say much besides providing cues. Maybe other videos are different. And I now have a theory why I find yoga boring. Maybe, maybe it's because (online?) yoga teachers have a tendency to speak with the same, monotonous, chill yoga voice the entire time and they're constantly cueing. Plus the lack of music. But it was a nice little mid-day activity boost.
• I held my breath for 3 minutes! Bit more context - I listened to a fantastic podcast with the Octopus teacher guy, and I got inspired to try out a few breath holds on a whim. Last time I did it was when Harriet mentioned hypoxia training. Both times I noticed that they felt surprisingly relaxed and my holds felt quite long. Certainly much more comfortable than when I was actively training freediving last year! This is mindboggling to me. I can't think of any reason except that I must've been more stressed back then, putting so much more pressure on myself than I even realized. I knew it wasn't working because my breath holds started getting worse and worse instead of improving. In the end I'd start getting contractions already after something 40 seconds on land and everything felt horrible. My PR in the pool was a forced 2:30 min to pass the level 2 requirement. (Pool is much easier than on land, but obviously requires strict supervision.) And yesterday out of nowhere I comfortably did 3 minutes, on land! Wild. My approach now has been much more experimental and based on curiousity. Instead of trying to achieve something I've just been testing things out, and stopping well before it gets really uncomfortable. Just saying hello to what feels like a weird alien trying to escape my belly, letting it do its thing for a bit. Trying to build up a positive association with the sensation. Even though freediving as a sport is not calling to me the ocean still is and at some point I'd like to try again...
• Went for a long walk listening to a podcast about weird Cambrian critters and I wish I could've gone diving then!
• Got home but was suddenly very, very tired and ignored all scheduled activities and read instead. Realized I might not have eaten enough so I, ahem, ate some of my grandma's random leftovers. It helped for a bit but it probably wasn't enough food.
• To challenge myself I attempted some sketching in the evening anyways, but I really was too tired. I feel good about trying though!

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Stuff I did yesterday:

• Got rid of the ugly carpet to create a tiny bit of floor space and the room feels a bit lighter and roomier now. I also scrubbed the floor and did laundry while at it.
• Did a 30 min "power and balance" yoga with Adrienne video. It was good! And I didn't find her annoying. Except from her blurting out a few random meaningless words like "empowerment" in the beginning she didn't say much besides providing cues. Maybe other videos are different. And I now have a theory why I find yoga boring. Maybe, maybe it's because (online?) yoga teachers have a tendency to speak with the same, monotonous, chill yoga voice the entire time and they're constantly cueing. Plus the lack of music. But it was a nice little mid-day activity boost.
• I held my breath for 3 minutes! Bit more context - I listened to a fantastic podcast with the Octopus teacher guy, and I got inspired to try out a few breath holds on a whim. Last time I did it was when Harriet mentioned hypoxia training. Both times I noticed that they felt surprisingly relaxed and my holds felt quite long. Certainly much more comfortable than when I was actively training freediving last year! This is mindboggling to me. I can't think of any reason except that I must've been more stressed back then, putting so much more pressure on myself than I even realized. I knew it wasn't working because my breath holds started getting worse and worse instead of improving. In the end I'd start getting contractions already after something 40 seconds on land and everything felt horrible. My PR in the pool was a forced 2:30 min to pass the level 2 requirement. (Pool is much easier than on land, but obviously requires strict supervision.) And yesterday out of nowhere I comfortably did 3 minutes, on land! Wild. My approach now has been much more experimental and based on curiousity. Instead of trying to achieve something I've just been testing things out, and stopping well before it gets really uncomfortable. Just saying hello to what feels like a weird alien trying to escape my belly, letting it do its thing for a bit. Trying to build up a positive association with the sensation. Even though freediving as a sport is not calling to me the ocean still is and at some point I'd like to try again...
• Went for a long walk listening to a podcast about weird Cambrian critters and I wish I could've gone diving then!
• Got home but was suddenly very, very tired and ignored all scheduled activities and read instead. Realized I might not have eaten enough so I, ahem, ate some of my grandma's random leftovers. It helped for a bit but it probably wasn't enough food.
• To challenge myself I attempted some sketching in the evening anyways, but I really was too tired. I feel good about trying though!

 

Sounds like a bunch of cool stuff. Just for context, the hypoxia training I did was carefully calibrated by a machine that measured my blood oxygen saturated and responded with a higher or lower mix of oxygen. I don't know about the safety of breath holds. I trust that you do. 

Maybe yoga is boring because we're used to constant input and it's a relatively low stimulation activity? 

[Mad Hatter]

24 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Sounds like a bunch of cool stuff. Just for context, the hypoxia training I did was carefully calibrated by a machine that measured my blood oxygen saturated and responded with a higher or lower mix of oxygen. I don't know about the safety of breath holds. I trust that you do. 

Totally, it just acted as inspiration. I still haven’t even felt signs of hypoxia! 
 

On land it’s fairly safe. If you push too far you’ll black out for a second. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it, but as long as you’re lying down it it’s very unlikely to cause harm as there are still oxygen reserves in the body. Anywhere near any kind of water it’s super dangerous. 
 

38 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Maybe yoga is boring because we're used to constant input and it's a relatively low stimulation activity? 

Is it though? There’s so many different positions in yoga, all with their own technical cues, all challenging different aspects of what body can do. There’s a lot more going on than say lifting. Or handstands, which is the most repetitive of them all. ?

[Mad Hatter]

8 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I still haven’t even felt signs of hypoxia! 

To clarify that doesn’t mean I’m not hypoxic - it’s more that I only feel the CO2 build up. Initially oxygen levels drop surprisingly slowly though (in a relaxed state) so who knows really. 

[Harriet]

16 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

To clarify that doesn’t mean I’m not hypoxic - it’s more that I only feel the CO2 build up. Initially oxygen levels drop surprisingly slowly though (in a relaxed state) so who knows really. 

 

Interestingly the hypoxia sessions didn't really feel like much. 

 

33 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Is it though? There’s so many different positions in yoga, all with their own technical cues, all challenging different aspects of what body can do. There’s a lot more going on than say lifting. Or handstands, which is the most repetitive of them all. ?

 

If the sensations of my body were enough to amuse me I wouldn't be addicted to screens. Also I don't want to hear what my body has to say since it is mostly wingeing about various pains and discomforts. SHHHHHH

[Mistr]

Great work on doing things yesterday!

 

I find most yoga challenging enough to hold my attention. I like it that Adriene gives several levels of difficulty for a lot of moves. It helps me feel like I am not the only one who cannot touch my toes without bending my knees.

[Mad Hatter]

On 9/26/2024 at 12:44 PM, Harriet said:

Interestingly the hypoxia sessions didn't really feel like much. 

Thinking about it, typically you wouldn’t notice any symptoms. Most of the symptoms are very vague like confusion or impaired judgement. During my training I got mildly hypoxic once in a pool session and I only knew because my spotter told me my lips were blueish. I felt 100% fine.
 

On 9/26/2024 at 9:05 PM, Mistr said:

I find most yoga challenging enough to hold my attention. I like it that Adriene gives several levels of difficulty for a lot of moves. It helps me feel like I am not the only one who cannot touch my toes without bending my knees.

It’s like I’m bored and attentive at the same time.
 

Don’t worry you’re by far the only one!

[Mad Hatter]

Dropped off - again!!! This time I messed up my sleep and have been feeling pretty bad and my body’s been hurting. Still not feeling it, but tomorrow I’m going back to the gym and hopefully I can get back on track.

 

The last time I went something funny happened. I was doing my wall exercises and some young gymnast dude walks in and started casually stretching. I’m busy so I ignore him, but take a peek when resting between sets, as one does. Then he randomly got up, did a single set of handstand pushups and left. I’m still so confused. Was that meant to be a weird flex? Good for him I guess. ?

[Laghail]

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Dropped off - again!!! This time I messed up my sleep and have been feeling pretty bad and my body’s been hurting. Still not feeling it, but tomorrow I’m going back to the gym and hopefully I can get back on track.

 

Sorry! Bodies are fickle

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

The last time I went something funny happened. I was doing my wall exercises and some young gymnast dude walks in and started casually stretching. I’m busy so I ignore him, but take a peek when resting between sets, as one does. Then he randomly got up, did a single set of handstand pushups and left. I’m still so confused. Was that meant to be a weird flex? Good for him I guess. ?

 

Weird, I wonder if he felt something twinge in that set and called it? Gender and age combo usually doesn't predict for cautious behavior around injuries, who knows

[Elastigirl]

Hope you can get back into a good sleep routine soon!

[Everstorm]

Sleeeeeep 

[Mad Hatter]

I want to knit a hat. Where do I start? My XP is touching knitting needles once as a child in school sewing class and crocheting a Deadpool baby beanie. Meaning none. Sorry can't remember who knits. @Mistr @Harriet

 

(We're not going to talk about the challenge. The challenge does not exist. Sleep does not exist. Everything is terrible.)

[Harriet]

25 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I want to knit a hat. Where do I start? My XP is touching knitting needles once as a child in school sewing class and crocheting a Deadpool baby beanie. Meaning none. Sorry can't remember who knits. @Mistr @Harriet

 

(We're not going to talk about the challenge. The challenge does not exist. Sleep does not exist. Everything is terrible.)

 

I wouldn't start with a hat because it's small circumference knitting in the round, which is a little tricky. But if you insist:

 

Go to ravelry patterns -> advanced search. You may need to make an account but it's worthy. Pick category hat and filter by "knitting" and "free" and the weight of yarn you want. Aran and worsted weight are fine for hats, though you could also go lighter (DK) or heavier (bulky). You want wool. Plant fibres don't have the elasticity needed for a hat. 

With knitting it's nice to learn techniques one project at a time--so if you've never knit in the round then you don't need to add cables or brioche. You could start with a plain stockinette (only knit stitches) and let the yarn do the talking with a beautiful colour. 

 

Look up videos of magic loop knitting, and double pointed needle knitting, and decide which you want to attempt for small circumference circular knitting.

Buy the needle size recommended for the yarn or in the pattern, and perhaps one size above and below, unless you already have them. For small circumference projects like a hat, you need either a set of double pointed needles, or a circular needle with a longish cable (like 60cm I think). The coloured wood ones by knit pro are great. Don't get adjustable circulars, only fixed ones. I don't like plastic, bamboo or metal, personally.  
 

Probably safest to size down slightly for a hat, because knitting stretches. For a snug hat you want the finished item to have a circumference that is slightly *smaller* than the circumference of your head--maybe an inch smaller.

 

Swatch a piece of knitting at least 10x10cm, and wash and dry your swatch the way you intend to wash and dry the hat. If you're not going to wash the hat, just measure the unwashed swatch--stitches per inch horizontally, rows per inch vertically. Flat and round knitting give a slightly different gauge but it should be close enough for the purpose of a hat. If you're close to the gauge recommended by the pattern, you're good to go. Use maths to adjust number of stitches to cast on.

E.g. Pattern calls for 5 stitches per inch but you got 4 stitches per inch. Desired hat circumference is, um, 24 inches (I have no idea how big heads are in inches, sorry). Instead of casting on 24x5 stitches you cast on 24x4 stitches. You probably don't need to adjust for length because patterns give length instructions by inch/cm, not by row. Except for shaping. Then just follow the instructions. As long as your row gauge isn't WILDLY off you'll be okay. 

Long tailed cast on is a splendid, stretchy, forgiving cast on and is not hard once learned. Videos all over the internet. 

For bind off, purl two together, then place the new stitch back on the left hand needle. Repeat, reducing stitches one by one, then draw yarn through the final stitch to secure.
 

[Harriet]

Also, if you're going to start knitting, know that fixed circular needles are also great for flat knitting.

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

I wouldn't start with a hat because it's small circumference knitting in the round, which is a little tricky. But if you insist:

I figured. But scarves are boring and my head is cold. ? I also want socks but that seems even fiddlier.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Go to ravelry patterns -> advanced search.

That's an impressively advanced search. I did not expect to find a mature content section.

 

....

 

....

 

Ok I'm back.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

With knitting it's nice to learn techniques one project at a time--so if you've never knit in the round then you don't need to add cables or brioche. You could start with a plain stockinette (only knit stitches) and let the yarn do the talking with a beautiful colour. 

I always need fluffy, tasty brioche... Mmmm brioche... Oh these are stitches.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Look up videos of magic loop knitting, and double pointed needle knitting, and decide which you want to attempt for small circumference circular knitting.

These are techniques independent of pattern?

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

casting on 24x5 stitches

Is 24... the number of rows?

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

24 inches (I have no idea how big heads are in inches, sorry)

Your switching between inches and cm amuses me. I'll sometimes use inches when I want to describe something yay big, otherwise I'm clearly on team metric all the way.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Long tailed cast on is a splendid, stretchy, forgiving cast on and is not hard once learned. Videos all over the internet. 

I have no idea what this means but I like the sound of forgiving.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

For bind off, purl two together, then place the new stitch back on the left hand needle. Repeat, reducing stitches one by one, then draw yarn through the final stitch to secure.

Words. Is there a good knitting dictionary around?

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Also, if you're going to start knitting

First we'll see how rage-inducing knitting is. ?

[Mad Hatter]

@Harriet There are 10000 hats in ravelry after filtering!

[Harriet]

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

These are techniques independent of pattern?

 

Yes. For a large circumference, you can knit normally on circular needles--short needles connected by a plastic cable. For small circumference, that doesn't work because the needles are too long and the stitches get stretched out. The traditional method is double pointed needles:

 

Spoiler

 

A newer technique is magic loop with circular needle.

 

Spoiler

 

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Is 24... the number of rows?

 

In our example, it's the desired circumference of the item, in inches. Stitches give width or circumference. Rows give height or length. The pattern will tell you to cast on x number of stitches to achieve x number of inches/cm. But if your gauge is different to theirs, you need to do maths. You can scarcely be worse at maths than I am, but let me simply note that more stitches per inch = a smaller item, not a larger one.

 

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Your switching between inches and cm amuses me. I'll sometimes use inches when I want to describe something yay big, otherwise I'm clearly on team metric all the way.

 

I use inches for human height, and knitting. Cm for everything else.

 

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I have no idea what this means but I like the sound of forgiving.

 

It means that if your stitch size is really inconsistent and uneven, it will be less obvious with this cast on.

 

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Words. Is there a good knitting dictionary around?

 

There's truly nothing more convenient than just googling as you go. Everything knitting is online now.

 

Edit: I see you wrote "words" not "word" which changes my understanding of your comment. Purl is the second stitch type you will learn, after Knit. Cast on is how you start a piece of knitting. Bind off is how you end a piece of knitting. Everything else should be looked up as you go.

 

46 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

First we'll see how rage-inducing knitting is. ?

 

Indeed.

[Harriet]

36 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

@Harriet There are 10000 hats in ravelry after filtering!

 

But how many crochet willies are there?

[Harriet]

I think small circumference knitting will frustrate you if you have never knit before. I feel that you will have better luck with a flat pattern to start. Can I tempt you with a doctor who scarf, slightly reduced in size for sanity?

 

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/super-reduced-original-doctor-who-scarf

 

[sarakingdom]

Hats don't need to be knit in the round, if you don't mind a beginner vibe. You knit (or crochet) a rectangle that wraps around the head and goes a fair bit above it, seam it up into a tube, then gather one end of the tube and stick a pompom on it, and you have a bobble hat.

 

 

The seam and gather is a bit lofi, but whatever, it's a homemade hat. Beginners can do it with a simple rectangle.