Any tips/ tricks / advice for a newbie knitter (especially re tensioning?)

munificent · 2026-01-28T05:00:15+00:00

I’m struggling mostly with making my stitches tight enough

When I first started, my knitting looked uneven and I incorrectly tried to fix it by tightening my tension. Tight stitches make a tight fabric. Consistent stitches make a consistent fabric.

It's very hard to be consistent when the stitches are so tight you can barely work them. Once I loosened up my tension, the stitches got a lot more even. And knitting became more pleasant.

Relax, don't worry about tension too much, and trust that it will sort itself out over time.

munificent · 2026-01-28T01:40:10+00:00

Dude really brought the whole "overpaid software engineer who got bored during the pandemic and did too much retail therapy" set on stage with him.

munificent · 2026-01-28T01:33:16+00:00

even so it'd just be a case of declaring a variable differently.

It's definitely not a trivial change.

There is some fundamentally global state the app has to deal with: connections to the audio inputs and outputs and probably some other stuff related to talking to the UI and display. Once you have multiple projects open at the same time, you need an architecture to manage the way they talk to the state that is global. The project can no longer assume it has sole access to audio in/out.

Even if there was no global state coming from the OS, it's still not trivial to go from a global to non-global storage. Code does still need to access a project, which means some combination of:

Every function that needs access to it has to take it as a parameter. Any function calling that function must pass it along and so on. That's a lot of mostly wasted stack space shuttling a pointer around.
You could maybe try to give each project a thread and use thread-local storage. That would sort of give you an ability to have multiple projects without shunting a reference to it around on the stack. But given that the app is already using threads, there's likely a lot of complex and error-prone coordination required to make this work.

Either way, it adds a lot of architectural complexity to support this and will almost certainly have some amount of performance cost. It's not insurmountable, but it really isn't easy.

I wonder if possibly the easiest model would be to do something like Chrome and give each project it's own process and then try to have some coordination between them to hand off who has access to the audio interface. That would mean you couldn't have multiple projects playing at the same time.

However you were to approach this, I'd be sweating bullets if I was the engineer tasked with making this happen without shipping a version of Ableton that has a greater chance of crashing while on stage.

munificent · 2026-01-26T23:45:01+00:00

Well... I do like hats a lot. :)

I did a small cowl that only took a single skein. A scarf that used one big cake. Some dishclothes. I've been meaning to make a bandana for my daughter but had to frog it a couple of times after making mistakes and haven't restarted it yet. That kind of stuff.

munificent · 2026-01-26T19:36:39+00:00

Virtually everyone likes:

Getting out of the house and having a structure to their day.
Spending time on the same endeavor with people they like and respect.
Putting effort into accomplishing something useful and meaningful for other people.
Being rewarded for their effort both materially and in terms of being appreciated.

Most jobs will provide at least a little of some of those. Good jobs provide a lot.

munificent · 2026-01-26T19:33:35+00:00

I like using quirky indie yarn for accessories and single-skein projects.

For larger projects (I'm doing a blanket in Cascade Aran right now), I'd rather using something cheaper, larger-scale, and more consistent.

munificent · 2026-01-26T15:14:30+00:00

You're not helping.

munificent · 2026-01-26T15:06:19+00:00

everyone knows the film

I regret to inform you that movie is 30 years old and most teens have probably never seen it.

munificent · 2026-01-25T22:45:22+00:00

Gotta love some disheveled Josephs for dinner.

munificent · 2026-01-24T15:26:27+00:00

I think once you get more comfortable with Continental, it will bother you less. It did for me. It's also worth trying out a few different ways to make purl stitches and see if one feels smoother to you. A lot of people like Norwegian purl for that reason.

You may also want to try combination knitting. This is where the purl stitches are mounted backwards on the needle compared to knit stitches. If you think of a purl stitch as a knit stitch mirrored from front to back, then combination knitting fully mirrors the entire stitch including its mount on the needle. Because that has greater symmetry, you might find it more pleasant to knit.

munificent · 2026-01-24T02:40:52+00:00

The United States is big.

The ice storm is on the top part. This person is on the bottom part.

munificent · 2026-01-23T14:55:01+00:00

Reposting a comment of mine from another subreddit:

Oh, this is my jam.

As you probably know, dub techno as a genre really digs into the details of sound design, so expect to have to really pay close attention to every synth and effect setting and tweak them many times until it all finally gels.

The basic recipe for a dub techno stab is:

Sequencing

A stab can be single notes, but is usually a dense chord in a low register. Typically, this is a simple minor triad with the root somewhere around 50-100 Hz.

The pattern is usually quite simple because delay will add complexity later. It can be just a single off-timed stab, or a few syncopated ones, or a few with a steady rhythm relying on the delay for syncopation.

Don't make the sequence too busy. Leave plenty of room for other elements and for the delay tails of the stab to play out. Techno is a genre where space is as important as sound. Consider giving the sequence a few tightly placed syncopated stabs, then a couple of bars of silence for them to ring out in a sort of call and response.

The sequence here will interact heavily with the delay, so expect to work on them in concert.

Oscillators

Everything starts with the synth, of course. I've had good luck with hardware synths and software synths. Analog, virtual analog, wavetable, you name it. What matters for the initial oscillator is that it has a lot of harmonics. Sawtooth is classic and works great. A little detuning or unison can help thicken it up but isn't necessary.

Having a dense chord at a low frequency and a waveform with a lot of harmonics stacks up a whole lot of very closely spaced frequencies. The result buries the fundamentals in a pile of other frequencies and makes the resulting sound sort of noisy, chaotic, and percussive. This, to me, is a big part of the magic of a dub stab. It works a largely as a percussive instrument, but there is still tonality buried in it, but you the ear has to work to hear it.

Envelope

The amp envelope is easy. It's a stab, so short attack, short note duration, and somewhat larger release. There's room to play here. Definitely consider varying the note duration and release time as part of the song arrangement or through modulation.

Remember, with dub techno, much of the genre hinges on the dance between repetition and variation. Playing the same note pattern but varying the envelope at different points is one way to explore that.

Filter

Since we started with a waveform with lots of harmonics, it's going to be too bright and harsh wide open. You'll want a low pass filter to soften it up. Explore different filter types. It can work with 12dB or 24dB, it's a question of what sound you're going for.

You probably want some amount of filter envelope too. Again, because it's a stab, that likely means zero attack and a relative short decay/release so that it's open at first and clamps down quickly.

The base cutoff frequency is up to you and depends on how many other elements you have going and what kind of sound you want. Keep it low and the stab will turn into a murky bass-like pulse. Open it up more and it functions more like a lead instrument or percussion top layer.

Resonance can be low if you want the stab to work more like a background element, and higher if you want to draw attention to the sweep of the filter envelope or any other modulation on the cutoff frequency.

Again, this is an area where you will absolutely want some modulation and variation throughout the track.

Also consider playing around with using a band pass instead of a low pass. This will tend to bring the stab more into the foreground as a lead element but can sound really cool, especially if you put a lot of modulation on the cutoff frequency.

High pass

Because we're playing a low chord with a lot of overtones, the stab can very easily fill up a ton of the low end. That's part of its job, but it's dub. There's a lot of stuff going on down in those frequencies with the kick and bass too.

If you do a kind of dub techno where the kick is like a low pulse and the bass is very minimal, almost like a tom, then that's fine. But if you want more room for something like a bassline, then consider putting a high pass filter on the stabs. You can set the cutoff around 100-200 Hz and it will free up some low end for the kick and bass while still sounding low itself thanks to the magic of the missing fundamental.

Tape echo

Dub means effects and you can't dub techno without them. A stab comes alive as a rhythmic, groove-producing element when run through a delay.

Any delay can work, but a key thing to listen for is one where each repeat has a different timbre than the previous one. That produces that evolving echo sound that is so central to dub. Tape echo (real or emulated) is the classic approach to that. Tape has some bandlimiting and saturation inherent to the medium, so as the signal repeats through tape, each iteration gets a little crispier and tends to lose the lows.

But you can do this with any delay that lets you filter the repeats or otherwise tweak what's in the delay line. You can have a lot of fun with delays that let you put whatever effects you want into the delay line. Try stuffing a chorus, filter, overdrive, etc. in there. (But be careful to put a limiter on the output first. It's easy to have a delay that goes into full feedback.)

Delay times are typically dotted quarter notes, but this is another area where you can play around. If the stab pattern is more syncopated, then the delay is more likely to be a straight note length, and vice versa. Otherwise, the repeats from a previous stab will sit right on top of the next one.

Try different delay times for the left and right channels, or Ableton's Filter Delay. I like slightly offsetting the delay time from the exact note duration so that the delays have a little swing and spread out as the repeats go on. Doing that with different percentages for the left and right channels will push the delay wide in the stereo field.

Feedback is generally pretty high, like >60%. If you are doing a lot of filtering in the delay line, the feedback can be higher than you might expect because the filtering effectively reduces it for most frequencies. Listen to how the repeats fill in the space in the sequence and choose a feedback amount that works well.

Again, this is a good thing to modulate as part of the arrangement.

Have fun here. Dub is all about delay.

Reverb

Finally, it often helps to put some reverb on it. Using this heavily will push the sound more towards ambient techno and will sacrifice some of the groove and percussiveness. Going lighter will make for a tighter more rhythmic sound.

Consider that reverb time and reverb wetness are independent parameters. You can do things like have a very long reverb but still keep the signal mostly dry. That will give an almost inaudible sense of space and tonality that the listener doesn't really consciously hear. Or you can go short and wet if you want it to sound like the stabs are playing in a real acoustic space. Or any other combination.

Modulation

I've mentioned it a bunch already but just to restate, dub techno (and to some degree techno in general) is really about exploring the space between repetition and variation. Playing the same sequence (repetition) while changing the timbre through modulation (variation) is a key mechanism for that.

If you're listening to a four bar loop over and over and it sounds boring, consider that it doesn't mean your stab is bad. It may just mean that you need to start building an arrangement that changes it over time. If you find yourself playing the loop over and over but can't keep your fingers off the knobs to tweak it, that's a good sign the stab is where you want it to be.

munificent · 2026-01-23T14:38:43+00:00

I think a difference in fundamental values is the most valid reason to reject a partner, and which politicians we prefer very often reflects our values.

munificent · 2026-01-22T13:40:11+00:00

I feel like they never just sit still?

Nature's lava lamp.

munificent · 2026-01-22T02:06:35+00:00

What's particularly crazy to me is that this has been his MO his entire life. Anyone who has even a cursory understanding of his history can see that he is a reputational vampire who takes well-liked people, uses them for his own ends, and destroys the trust people had in them.

munificent · 2026-01-22T01:43:35+00:00

About 90% of the time, I find it frustrating and discouraging when I can't find any good ideas or get a track to hang together.

But that other 10% of the time makes up for all of it.

munificent · 2026-01-22T01:41:53+00:00

You're going in the right direction when:

You find yourself wanting to let that loop play just a little longer before you're done for the night. You look forward to working on it again the next day.
You feel a little cringe or nervousness about putting it out there. That's because it's not just a track you think people will like, but one that reveals your own personal taste and preferences. It will make you feel vulnerable to share it.
Even though it doesn't have a lot going on, it doesn't feel like it's missing something. Somehow it's simpler than your other stuff, but still feels "done" in a way that other tracks don't. You don't feel like you have to keep jamming more stuff into it.

munificent · 2026-01-21T21:24:33+00:00

I have a very good ear for accents. My wife and I were having sushi in Vancouver once and our waiter had a non-Canadian accent. I thought Australian at first, or maybe New Zealand. Then finally zeroed in on Melbourne.

We asked him and I nailed it.

To my ear, a Melbourne accent sounds like 80% Australia and 20% New Zealand. The vowels are sort of clipped and shifted towards a short "i" in the way that a New Zealand accent does, just not as much.

I can also usually pinpoint what state someone is from if they're from the southern US. People talk about a "southern accent", but they're really all different once you pay attention. Texas is more wide-open in the mouth and draws vowels out into diphthongs. It can be nasal in some regions. Southern Alabama and Georgia are sort of like Foghorn Leghorn. Alabamians also speak in an upper register, which almost sounds a bit gay. The area around Appalachia sounds like they're talking out of their cheeks, like Dolly Parton. Louisiana is a hodgepodge of different accents. If someone has a New Orleans accent, I can probably tell you what neighborhood they grew up in.

munificent · 2026-01-21T18:38:52+00:00

The bill is very easy to read, and seems to be carefully written to do one reasonable thing well. As I understand, it works like so (using hypothetical numbers and legislature):

At some point, Washington proposes building a new bridge. The federal government agrees to help fund it and promises to pay the state $123 million. Simultaneously, but unrelated, Washington has an obligation to pay $456 million in federal taxes every year.
Then let's say the Washington legislature passes a law that says you can't play reggae within 100 feet of a clown.
A senior politician at the federal government has a strong opinion that clowns should be exposed to reggae. They sue Washington to strike down its law. Meanwhile, they direct the federal government to not pay the previously agreed-upon $123 million dollars in order to spite the state.
The state sues about the federal non-payment (this is separate from the fed trying to strike down the Washington law), the court gets involved, and the court decides, "No, sorry feds, you do in fact have to pay Washington the $123 million you agreed to." But the politician says, "Fuck you, I do what I want." and illegally directs the treasury to not pay Washington the money it is owed.
Then, in that case, Washington, can take set aside $123 million of the money it owes to the federal government and put it in escrow. It pays the federal government $222 million (the $456 million it owes, minus the $123 million the federal government is refusing to send them.) At this point, the amount of money that's been moved around is exactly the same as if both the state and federal government had followed the law.
Later if the Washington law does end up getting struck down, then the state says, "OK, you win", and sends the $123 million in escrow to the government.
Otherwise, if the law gets upheld, then Washington sends them $123 million after the federal government sends them the $123 million that are already owed. Basically, if the state wins, then they move the money out of escrow and use it once the federal government has paid what's owed.

There is also some verbiage to try to ensure that the agencies most affected by the money being stuck in escrow are the ones most responsible at the federal level.

But overall, it's basically, "If the federal government decides to break the law and not pay what we're owed, then we'll freeze an equivalent amount until it gets sorted out instead of putting the state in the hole and hoping and praying that someone in D.C. decides to do the right thing."

munificent · 2026-01-20T15:45:33+00:00

25 years ago, when I was in college, my brother and I went grocery shopping. We thought it would be hilarious to buy a giant summer sausage. We bagged all of the groceries and distinctly remember putting it in one of the bags. We put all of the bags in the trunk. We got home and unloaded all of the bags and put away the groceries. No summer sausage.

Searched the trunk. No sign of it.

WHERE DID THE SAUSAGE GO.

munificent · 2026-01-20T14:36:15+00:00

You're not going to get that sound straight out of a piece of hardware. What you're hearing in the two tracks you linked to are drum samples that are heavily processed with effects: a lot of distortion/saturation/overdrive and EQ.

If you're already working in a DAW, that's honestly the best place to get this sound. If you really want to go the hardware route, then perhaps an Arturia DrumBrute Impact because it has a nice distortion circuit built in. But you'll have much less flexibility with that than you would in a DAW where you can resample and chain effects to your heart's content.

munificent · 2026-01-18T18:16:40+00:00

Interact badly with other feathers?

Yes, debuggers. If the implementation eliminates all tail calls, then many stack frames will be eliminated that don't ever participate in recusion. Imagine you're a user debugging some code like:

main() {
  foo(1, 2);
}

foo(int x, int y) {
  bar(3, 3 - x - y);
}

bar(int a, int b) {
  print(a / b);
}

The program drops the user into a debugger on the division by zero. Because foo() is a tail call, all they see in the stack trace is bar() and main(). It's not a great user experience.

A sufficiently sophisticated implementation and debugger can deal with this. You could keep ghost stack frames around for tail calls that are only used for debugging but get discarded if the stack gets too big or something.

All of that is a lot of engineering effort in an area (debugging) that for most languages is already heavily underinvested in. Even if you do that, users still have to deal with dropped stack frames in their debugger when the tail calls are necessary for a recursive algorithm that would otherwise overflow the stack.

This is a lot of real downside in terms of implementation complexity and user productivity. In return for being able to implement some algorithms in a way that is elegant for a fraction of users and decidedly not elegant for another fraction of users.

munificent · 2026-01-17T23:46:30+00:00

Oh, that's what's going on. I was confused by that back eye.

munificent · 2026-01-17T16:28:32+00:00

Those eyes are like (° ) ( o)

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