[Snarkyfishguts]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh that’s nice! Do you have any videos you’d particularly recommend? 
 

The second hat looks so complicated! How do you deal with all the colour changes? Are there some special techniques or do you just change colour for like a single stitch then change back??! Surely not.

It is a self-striping yarn, so you’re only using two different yarns! Less complicated. When you do a fair isle pattern like this, you just kinda carry the second color along the back in the patterned section every 5th stitch or so. The only thing to really keep in mind is not to carry it over too tightly.  I’m a tense gripper, I tend to knit too tightly so I will probably share this warning against not being too tight several times in our future. 

 

Videos… yes…

 

I have some options for you:

This is your basic knitting cast on tutoria knitting cast on tutorial. This is the first cast-on I learned. It’s really great if you don’t know how much yarn you need to cast on, but you want to be sure to not do it too tightly because it’s not as stretchy as a long-tail, but it’s still very satisfying to do. I like this for larger projects, like blankets. 

This is a long tail cast on tutorial. This is really nice, because it moves pretty quickly and is stretchy, but is a pain if you run out of yarn. I like this for smaller projects. 

I do like the all free knitting channel on youtube because it has a lot of good information so it’s nice when you’re learning to knit. That’s where the long tail cast on tutorial link leads to.  They also have different contributors that have different styles of teaching. I do believe you’ll find some good tutorials on knitting in the round with circular needles, double pointed needles or DPNS, and the magic loop method with circular needles. 

I’m not sure if you are a left-handed or right-handed knitter, but I would recommend learning right-handed because that’s what most patterns are designed in mind with and most tutorials as well. 

 

There are other cast-on methods, but these two are more than enough to start with. 

[Snarkyfishguts]

4 minutes ago, Harriet said:

 

Fair isle AKA stranded knitting. You hold two yarns at once. It's doable, but it will be quite distracting if you're trying to learn to knit at the same time, and it can go wrong if you don't make the floating strands at the back the right tension, which is easier with general knitting experience. I made some stranded sweaters from this pattern in different colours and they are some of my favourites. Not me:

 

  Hide contents

 

Other colour techniques include intarsia (for big blocks of colour) and mosaic, which is suitable for beginners because you only knit with one colour at a time.

 

  Hide contents

 

 I always struggled with intarsia and had trouble finding good tutorials for it! Do you have one to recommend? 

[Harriet]

1 minute ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

 I always struggled with intarsia and had trouble finding good tutorials for it! Do you have one to recommend? 

 

No, funnily enough I have never knit anything in intarsia! Fancy that. Mosaic and stranded, yes. Intarsia, no.

 

3 minutes ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

This is a long tail cast on tutorial. This is really nice, because it moves pretty quickly and is stretchy, but is a pain if you run out of yarn.

 

Also my favourite cast on. You don't run out of yarn if you quickly determine how much yarn is needed for 10 or 20 stitches, then pull out enough lengths of that amount to cover your total.

[Mad Hatter]

The tutorial told me to take breaks. I did not take breaks. Now my hands hurt. ? I will stop typing now.

[Elastigirl]

45 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

The tutorial told me to take breaks. I did not take breaks. Now my hands hurt. ? I will stop typing now.

oops. Hope they feel better soon, and you can keep at it. Sounds like you were enjoying it though.

[Mad Hatter]

22 hours ago, Harriet said:

Fair isle AKA stranded knitting. You hold two yarns at once. It's doable, but it will be quite distracting if you're trying to learn to knit at the same time, and it can go wrong if you don't make the floating strands at the back the right tension, which is easier with general knitting experience. I made some stranded sweaters from this pattern in different colours and they are some of my favourites. Not me:

And here I thought you were a black man all along. ?

 

Sounds tricky, but it makes sense. What happens when you don’t have the right tension? Is it that the colours will shine through or that it will warp?

[Mad Hatter]

Btw when you make swatches, do you do it in a basic stitch or the main stitch of the pattern?

[Mad Hatter]

16 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

oops. Hope they feel better soon, and you can keep at it. Sounds like you were enjoying it though.

I was too busy concentrating to enjoy it. ?But learning new things is fun. And it feels like a great thing to do while half watching stuff in the background.

[Harriet]

6 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

And here I thought you were a black man all along. ?

 

I might be anyone. Harriet might just be my nerdfitness character.

 

6 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Sounds tricky, but it makes sense. What happens when you don’t have the right tension? Is it that the colours will shine through or that it will warp?

 

If your strands are too tight, the fabric will distort and pucker. If they are too loose, the strands will be easily caught on fingers, noses, rings etc. when you put the sweater on, and the stitches either side of the strands may loosen up and become too large.

 

4 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Btw when you make swatches, do you do it in a basic stitch or the main stitch of the pattern?

 

The pattern will tell you. Usually you swatch in the main stitch of the pattern because that determines the fabric size. For example, cables make for a narrower swatch and fabric.

[Mad Hatter]

16 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I might be anyone. Harriet might just be my nerdfitness character

And we’ll never know… ?

 

Thanks!!

[Mad Hatter]

So how do you know if you’re using the correct tension? I tried to google but couldn’t (quickly) find good examples, only wishy washy explanations. 
 

Is there anything obviously wrong except general wonkiness? I messed up the bind off on the rib stitch so it stretched out ugly and I messed up something at the end and couldn’t be stared to fix it. But other than what I can see?

 

[Harriet]

35 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

So how do you know if you’re using the correct tension? I tried to google but couldn’t (quickly) find good examples, only wishy washy explanations. 
 

Is there anything obviously wrong except general wonkiness? I messed up the bind off on the rib stitch so it stretched out ugly and I messed up something at the end and couldn’t be stared to fix it. But other than what I can see?

 

Don't tug the stitches tight after you make them. Other than that, it doesn't matter what your tension is, as long as it is consistent (with the exception of the strands mentioned above for stranded colourwork). The reasons is: if your tension is a little tighter than average, you can simply use a larger needle size to achieve the same gauge as the pattern, and vice versa for a looser gauge. The reason I don't want you to tug the stitches is that then your tension will be *very* tight and your hands will be tense and hurt as you try to knit very tightly.

Your knitting looks beautiful, the wonkiness is minor and totally normal, and it will even out like magic with blocking.

[Mad Hatter]

On 10/12/2024 at 3:05 PM, Harriet said:

Don't tug the stitches tight after you make them. Other than that, it doesn't matter what your tension is, as long as it is consistent (with the exception of the strands mentioned above for stranded colourwork). The reasons is: if your tension is a little tighter than average, you can simply use a larger needle size to achieve the same gauge as the pattern, and vice versa for a looser gauge. The reason I don't want you to tug the stitches is that then your tension will be *very* tight and your hands will be tense and hurt as you try to knit very tightly.

Yeah I learned that the hard way on day one. ? I ended up with giant loops at the ends and hurty hands. Now I'm focusing on keeping everything as relaxed as I can. I need to be careful since I also do handstands. And it's easy to want to knit "just one more row". ?

 

On 10/12/2024 at 3:05 PM, Harriet said:

Your knitting looks beautiful, the wonkiness is minor and totally normal, and it will even out like magic with blocking.

Woohoo, thank you! Hat project is underway! Very very veeeeeery slowly lol. 

[Mad Hatter]

As usual my challenge went down the drain. Autumn hit me real hard at the very beginning of the challenge. Now I feel better, but the challenge is over. ? 

 

The positives are that I got a new hobby and that seems to have unlocked something! I have been sketching, I have been moving more again, cooking more, when I've been gaming it's been in short fun bursts. I haven't allowed myself a new hobby in soooooo long, and I think I really needed it.

 

The negative is that I'm getting frustrated with handstands. I wasn't going to the gym as frequently for like 2 weeks and immediately my handstands are terrible again. It's so incredibly annoying, I've put in so much work and now I'm worse than before... I've been thinking about whether it's worth it. Part of me wants to say fuck it this is stupid, you'll never reach the next level and learn anything new. Maybe it would be better to focus on something new or something I could progress faster at. But I don't think I'm ready for that... I do need to switch things up though, maybe focus less on handstands for a bit. For the challenge I've been experimenting with yoga/movement videos to do at home but I found them pretty uninspiring. But maybe if I rearrange a bit I could do part of my handstand conditioning work at home sometimes, and do something else at the gym? I've also been considering whether to try some online dance classes, I'm often dancing around when I'm bored at the gym in between sets, maybe learning some actual dancing could be fun to do in-between. Or maybe it's time to try the strength training again to build up the basics? Though realistically I don't think that alone would motivate me enough to trek to the gym on the icky days... Or focus on flexibility to go with the handstands? I don't know, too many options! 

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Yeah I learned that the hard way on day one. ? I ended up with giant loops at the ends and hurty hands. Now I'm focusing on keeping everything as relaxed as I can. I need to be careful since I also do handstands. And it's easy to want to knit "just one more row". ?

 

Woohoo, thank you! Hat project is underway! Very very veeeeeery slowly lol. 

 

Splendid! If you stick with it and once you're used to the knit stitches and ready for a new challenge that will level you up, ask me about lever knitting and tensioning the yarn. It's a way to have great speed and consistency. Only if you want to though; it's not obligatory.

 

24 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

As usual my challenge went down the drain. Autumn hit me real hard at the very beginning of the challenge. Now I feel better, but the challenge is over. ? 

 

Me too. Well actually the challenge is over and I don't feel better but same difference.

 

24 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

The positives are that I got a new hobby and that seems to have unlocked something! I have been sketching, I have been moving more again, cooking more, when I've been gaming it's been in short fun bursts. I haven't allowed myself a new hobby in soooooo long, and I think I really needed it.

 

 Yay for unlocking! I can't tell you how to proceed with the handstands or dancing. But it sounds like for you, things need to feel rewarding. So I'm wondering if it would be good to focus on something that has long term benefits but also feels good on the day you do it. I think that's what I need, too. I need feedback, because something about my reward and motivation system is burned out and I don't feel much reward from anything, don't trust in the long term and need things with more immediate feedback to start rebuilding that connection between effort and reward. Well that's my feeling anyway. Would dancing feel a bit more fun when you actually do it?

[Mad Hatter]

54 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Splendid! If you stick with it and once you're used to the knit stitches and ready for a new challenge that will level you up, ask me about lever knitting and tensioning the yarn. It's a way to have great speed and consistency. Only if you want to though; it's not obligatory.

Later for sure, right now my focus is on not fucking up. ?

 

55 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Me too. Well actually the challenge is over and I don't feel better but same difference.

?

 

56 minutes ago, Harriet said:

But it sounds like for you, things need to feel rewarding. 

Absolutely. That's why handstands are so good when you win the handstand lottery, and so bad when you lose. ?

 

58 minutes ago, Harriet said:

So I'm wondering if it would be good to focus on something that has long term benefits but also feels good on the day you do it. I think that's what I need, too. I need feedback, because something about my reward and motivation system is burned out and I don't feel much reward from anything, don't trust in the long term and need things with more immediate feedback to start rebuilding that connection between effort and reward.

That's what I'm thinking too. I'm 100% the "eat the muffin right away kid".* I need something rewarding otherwise I just get bored. Doing things that "are good for me" is simply not strong enough a reason to do them. That's why I always had such difficulty with "working out", but prefer climbing, dancing, handstands, acro of different kinds... But I could imagine sandwiching something more rewarding with something more useful. It would also be good to not rely so much on the handstand lottery, but have more options...

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

Would dancing feel a bit more fun when you actually do it?

It could! At least in the beginning it'd be something new and shiny. It could also be distracting trying to multitask. I could also get angry at mirrors. I can't tell. I think I need to experiment a bit and see what I find rewarding right now (other than handstands).

 

 

*Why that's considered a bad thing I don't know. I mean isn't it better to eat the muffin now so you can leave the stupid experiment and go play? Besides why do you even want two muffins? If there's no other kid to share it with then you're just greedy. The second muffin won't even taste as good as the first one. And if you won't eat them now they'll get stale and then you'll have two crappy muffins. Assuming there's even a guarantee that you get to keep them, maybe the scientists are evil and are conducting a secondary experiment where the muffins get taken away from you at the end.

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Later for sure, right now my focus is on not fucking up. ?

 

A good place to start.

 

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

?

 

Absolutely. That's why handstands are so good when you win the handstand lottery, and so bad when you lose. ?

 

That's what I'm thinking too. I'm 100% the "eat the muffin right away kid".* I need something rewarding otherwise I just get bored. Doing things that "are good for me" is simply not strong enough a reason to do them. That's why I always had such difficulty with "working out", but prefer climbing, dancing, handstands, acro of different kinds... But I could imagine sandwiching something more rewarding with something more useful. It would also be good to not rely so much on the handstand lottery, but have more options...

 

It could! At least in the beginning it'd be something new and shiny. It could also be distracting trying to multitask. I could also get angry at mirrors. I can't tell. I think I need to experiment a bit and see what I find rewarding right now (other than handstands).

 

Why angry at mirrors? And why multitasking?

 

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

*Why that's considered a bad thing I don't know. I mean isn't it better to eat the muffin now so you can leave the stupid experiment and go play? Besides why do you even want two muffins? If there's no other kid to share it with then you're just greedy. The second muffin won't even taste as good as the first one. And if you won't eat them now they'll get stale and then you'll have two crappy muffins. Assuming there's even a guarantee that you get to keep them, maybe the scientists are evil and are conducting a secondary experiment where the muffins get taken away from you at the end.

 

Nice try ? Being able to delay gratification doesn't mean you *have to* delay it. You can still be opportunist as necessary. You have both choices. But if you struggle to control impulses you can feel like you only have one choice. Or at least, that the other choice is too hard.

 

It's why I eat and drink too much, I guess. I guess people who can delay already have a stronger connection between the future and their feelings of reward right now--like they feel satisfaction maybe. Or have enough experiences that waiting pays off. But I feel burned out, like hardly anything is rewarding. Nothing works. I never get to reap the fruits of my efforts. So the connection between effort and reward is frayed and I struggle to get started with anything where the rewards are more abstract or distant. And I reach for food and alcohol, which are immediately rewarding.

[Mad Hatter]

44 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Why angry at mirrors? And why multitasking?

Mirrors - that I look stupid and ugly trying to dance. ? Multitasking - that I switch too much between handstands and dancing (or whatever I choose) in a distracting way.

 

46 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Nice try ? Being able to delay gratification doesn't mean you *have to* delay it. You can still be opportunist as necessary. You have both choices. But if you struggle to control impulses you can feel like you only have one choice. Or at least, that the other choice is too hard.

Hey I'm not arguing delayed gratification is bad - only that the kids eating the muffin straight away made a logical choice. ? 

 

47 minutes ago, Harriet said:

It's why I eat and drink too much, I guess.

Could be. For me I don't think that's the case. If I ate in the most rewarding way I'd eat the right amount and both healthy and unhealthy things. At least on a brain level, maybe it falls apart on a biological level. But eventually unhealthy things taste and feel gross. The system is self-balancing. When I eat too much it's almost always because I'm underfed/undernourished and compensate the fastest way possible. 

 

Then again, I often get myself to that state in the first place because the effort to plan and cook and tidy seems massively disproportionate to the reward... 

 

49 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I guess people who can delay already have a stronger connection between the future and their feelings of reward right now--like they feel satisfaction maybe.

I think they must, otherwise what's the point? Take something like strength training - there will never come a point where you're say strong enough to reap the reward, unless maybe you compete. Do you then suffer through every workout for the rest of your life? That's not exactly a healthy attitude either, I think you have to enjoy the process. Otherwise it's like people saving money their entire lives for their retirement when they can finally start living. And then realize you're too sick/old/confused to live.

 

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

But I feel burned out, like hardly anything is rewarding. Nothing works. I never get to reap the fruits of my efforts. So the connection between effort and reward is frayed and I struggle to get started with anything where the rewards are more abstract or distant.

I wonder if it'd help to reframe what the reward is. With art - is the reward really to git gud? Or is it to have fun arting? 

But really, if I may, I suspect your burnout is because of misplaced effort. You put so so much effort into getting healthy and it's incredibly admirable. But it's not in your control, and it's not even working. No wonder you're burned out. It's frustrating and unfair. We live in a society where the messaging is that if you put in enough effort you can overcome all obstacles and achieve anything, and if you don't put effort in you're a loser. Neither is true.

[Harriet]

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Mirrors - that I look stupid and ugly trying to dance. ? Multitasking - that I switch too much between handstands and dancing (or whatever I choose) in a distracting way.

 

Oh, so you'd keep the handstands but just add something more?

 

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Hey I'm not arguing delayed gratification is bad - only that the kids eating the muffin straight away made a logical choice. ? 

 

Muffins and marshmallows are indubitably for eating.

 

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

But eventually unhealthy things taste and feel gross.

 

I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

The system is self-balancing. When I eat too much it's almost always because I'm underfed/undernourished and compensate the fastest way possible. 

 

I suppose my system is self balancing, too, it just balances about 15kg heavier than I'd like to be.

 

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I think you have to enjoy the process.

I don't really enjoy any of the things I'm supposed to. I enjoy video games and eating and drinking. I feel like a base and lowly beast.

 

51 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

I wonder if it'd help to reframe what the reward is. With art - is the reward really to git gud? Or is it to have fun arting?

 

 

But really, if I may, I suspect your burnout is because of misplaced effort. You put so so much effort into getting healthy and it's incredibly admirable. But it's not in your control, and it's not even working. No wonder you're burned out. It's frustrating and unfair. We live in a society where the messaging is that if you put in enough effort you can overcome all obstacles and achieve anything, and if you don't put effort in you're a loser. Neither is true.

 

Why can I sometimes separate the quote boxes, but not other times? I don't know what art is for. It's just the only "work-like" activity I can imagine. Sometimes I feel focused. It's not really the same as enjoyment.

 

Precisely. My efforts to get fitter, thinner, and healthier did not work and now I don't know what to do and have nothing left to do it with.

 

[Mad Hatter]

37 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Oh, so you'd keep the handstands but just add something more?

Yeah I'm not ready to give up on handstands altogether. But I want to be less reliant on having good days to enjoy the gym. ? And it'd be nice to have something I can actually make progress at within like the next year...

 

38 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I suppose my system is self balancing, too, it just balances about 15kg heavier than I'd like to be.

Mine at about 10 kg. ?

 

39 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I don't really enjoy any of the things I'm supposed to. I enjoy video games and eating and drinking. I feel like a base and lowly beast.

It's ok to enjoy those things. I enjoy them too! I'm also a base and lowly beast and that's ok.

 

Would it be possible to find ways to enjoy more things? I know it's easier said than done, when my mental health is tanked or when tired even trying to reframe activities as more enjoyable is nigh on possible...

 

41 minutes ago, Harriet said:

I don't know what art is for. It's just the only "work-like" activity I can imagine. Sometimes I feel focused. It's not really the same as enjoyment.

Treating art like work is a certain road to not enjoying it.

 

43 minutes ago, Harriet said:

Precisely. My efforts to get fitter, thinner, and healthier did not work and now I don't know what to do and have nothing left to do it with.

Maybe playing video games is exactly the thing you need right now in that case? Eventually you'll get bored and want to do other things. I don't know. I wish I knew. I'll just repeat what you guys always tell me - try to be kind to yourself. Going through a hard time doesn't make you a terrible person.

[Elastigirl]

I think online dance classes sounds like something you would enjoy. That's great that you have a new hobby you enjoy!

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Yeah I'm not ready to give up on handstands altogether. But I want to be less reliant on having good days to enjoy the gym. ? And it'd be nice to have something I can actually make progress at within like the next year...

 

Very good. Easy fun regular handstand practice.

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Mine at about 10 kg. ?

 

Solidarity.

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

It's ok to enjoy those things. I enjoy them too! I'm also a base and lowly beast and that's ok.

 

Lowly beasts unite!

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Would it be possible to find ways to enjoy more things? I know it's easier said than done, when my mental health is tanked or when tired even trying to reframe activities as more enjoyable is nigh on possible...

 

That's the hope. Or, rather, I hope to do things with more immediate feedback even if it's not enjoyment as such. Like maybe a walk helps me sleep and yoga reduces my pain or something.

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Treating art like work is a certain road to not enjoying it.

 

I don't really know *how* to approach art for enjoyment. Ideas?

 

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Maybe playing video games is exactly the thing you need right now in that case? Eventually you'll get bored and want to do other things. I don't know. I wish I knew. I'll just repeat what you guys always tell me - try to be kind to yourself. Going through a hard time doesn't make you a terrible person.

 

Maybe! I am doing some video games and being kind right now Thank you

[Mad Hatter]

On 10/14/2024 at 7:40 PM, Harriet said:

That's the hope. Or, rather, I hope to do things with more immediate feedback even if it's not enjoyment as such. Like maybe a walk helps me sleep and yoga reduces my pain or something.

Makes sense. It might also make it easier to enjoy other things as a result, for example if the pain is less distracting.

 

On 10/14/2024 at 7:40 PM, Harriet said:

I don't really know *how* to approach art for enjoyment. Ideas?

I like to make small stupid doodles, that are not meant to look nice. But it could be drawing something you really enjoy (birb project 2?) or maybe experimenting with a new style (maybe that's more stress than fun?) or making pretty colors on a canvas?

 

On 10/14/2024 at 7:40 PM, Harriet said:

Maybe! I am doing some video games and being kind right now Thank you

Excellent! What games are you playing?

[Mad Hatter]

On 10/14/2024 at 5:22 PM, Elastigirl said:

I think online dance classes sounds like something you would enjoy. That's great that you have a new hobby you enjoy!

If it's the right classes. YT tutorials seem too scattered and I'm wary of paying for classes unless I'll really go for it... I might use some free trials to experiment with.

 

Though last time I went to the gym I switched up my warm up to a mini workout and even that small change helped making the session feel more productive! One of my training programs got a revamp so I tried it, it's supposed to be a leg flex warm up but my butt's still a bit sore. ? I think it made my handstands worse, if possible, but at least it felt like I did something. And for some reason I now have an urge to try and fight through this bump...

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Makes sense. It might also make it easier to enjoy other things as a result, for example if the pain is less distracting.

 

I like to make small stupid doodles, that are not meant to look nice. But it could be drawing something you really enjoy (birb project 2?) or maybe experimenting with a new style (maybe that's more stress than fun?) or making pretty colors on a canvas?

 

The birbs were good, that's true. But I feel like I wasn't advancing the skills I want to --design, imagination. I was just painting from reference.

 

1 hour ago, Mad Hatter said:

Excellent! What games are you playing?

At the moment, assassin's creed valhalla. It was on sale so I grabbed it. It's so beautiful compared to the older games I'm used to.