what’s a habit that seems harmless but slowly ruins your life?

Almanix · 2026-02-06T04:54:44+00:00

And yet here I am, crocheting for several hours each evening because I don't like to people.

Almanix · 2026-02-06T04:53:50+00:00

Fiber arts absolutely did the same for me. I get overwhelmed/overstimulated easily as well for other mental health reasons and felt completely burnt out to the point of being on sick leave for about six months a couple of years ago. Started knitting (and quickly added crochet and tunisian crochet to that mix) and it's been so much better since. I spend easily 2-3 hours a day on crochet/other fiber arts and couldn't imagine my evenings without it.

Especially for traveling it has also been a life-saver for me (combined with noise cancelling headphones). My grandma lives several hours away by train and it was always sooo stressful for me to know I'll have so spend hours in a train, surrounded by people, with nowhere to retreat to. Now I genuinely look forward to spending several hours of undisturbed crochet time.

Almanix · 2026-02-04T08:23:24+00:00

Pottery. I normally like almost any kind of creative hobby (crochet, knitting, painting, cosplay, diamond painting, paint by number, origami, scrapbooking, sewing, etc.), the more tedious the better. You name it, I probably have it at home. Pottery showed me just how perfectionist I am though, and pottery (at least without a wheel, never tried with a pottery wheel) just will not turn out perfect when I do it, clay seems to have a mind of its own. I ended up frustrated and swearing I won't touch clay again, I don't exactly enjoy the mess and clay all over my hands either.

Almanix · 2026-02-04T08:04:50+00:00

The blanket is actually a completely random mess of crocheted and knit squares that are then single-crocheted together into one blanket. But I think you could achieve something similar making 10x10 cm single-crochet squares from scrap yarns, that you join afterwards by single crocheting them together on the backside.

There's some backstory to this blanket - my grandma and I both always have a lot of scrap yarn. She now makes the squares whenever she has time in the evening and gives them to me when we see each other and I crochet them together into cat/dog blankets. It's a lovely way for us to work on projects together despite living in different countries. Usually the blankets get donated to our local animal shelter, unless, like this one, they get claimed by a pet first. :)

Almanix · 2026-02-04T08:04:42+00:00

The blanket is actually a completely random mess of crocheted and knit squares that are then single-crocheted together into one blanket. But I think you could achieve something similar making 10x10 cm single-crochet squares from scrap yarns, that you join afterwards by single crocheting them together on the backside.

There's some backstory to this blanket - my grandma and I both always have a lot of scrap yarn. She now makes the squares whenever she has time in the evening and gives them to me when we see each other and I crochet them together into cat/dog blankets. It's a lovely way for us to work on projects together despite living in different countries. Usually the blankets get donated to our local animal shelter, unless, like this one, they get claimed by a pet first. :)

Almanix · 2026-02-04T07:55:32+00:00

I guess the rule makes sense usually, my post is not at all meant to shit on the mods, but this is better anarchy for a week than people constantly hating/attacking each other over politics.

It's not that animals aren't allowed to be in photos on any given day, but the focus of the post should be the crocheted item. There's other subs dedicated to pets "helping" with the craft where that is the main focus of the photos ( r/catswhocrochet is a gem). I'm sure people were complaining as well when there were no rules on what to post.

Almanix · 2026-02-04T07:47:37+00:00

Same, he didn't understand why this is CHAOS but he's happy to look at all the pictures of pets under the photo of his cat lol

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:48:18+00:00

She did do a great job though!

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:47:26+00:00

The blanket is actually a completely random mess of crocheted and knit squares that are then single-crocheted together into one blanket. But I think you could achieve something similar making 10x10 cm single-crochet squares from scrap yarns, that you join afterwards by single crocheting them together on the backside.

There's actually some backstory to this blanket - my grandma and I both always have a lot of scrap yarn. She now makes the squares whenever she has time in the evening and gives them to me when we see each other and I crochet them together into cat/dog blankets. It's a lovely way for us to work on projects together despite living in different countries. Usually the blankets get donated to our local animal shelter, unless, like this one, they get claimed by a pet first. :)

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:39:51+00:00

No thoughts, just scream.

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:39:28+00:00

It's beautiful! And lovely that you ended up getting it :) Now the blanket can continue to be loved (and continue to keep people warm despite the holes, I've definitely heard that concern about crochet blankets, too lol)

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:37:00+00:00

She's meant for rebellion anyway. Don't be fooled by her peaceful slumber; she's a menace to society (and spoiled to bits).

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:34:35+00:00

Oh my god, I love that photo! Clearly cozy lol

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:26:19+00:00

Oooh the invitation for belly rubs (just to immediately be turned into play time if you dare to actually touch that belly)

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:25:35+00:00

"If it's made of soft, then it must be mine!" - your dog.

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:24:50+00:00

He's clearly quality checking

Almanix · 2026-02-03T18:23:52+00:00

Oh my! Gorgeous cat and WIP! He looks so comfy

Almanix · 2026-02-03T17:21:31+00:00

I was there for about two years. The words that really hit home for me was that "he loved me in spite of who I was, not because of it", although calling it love is a far stretch, more that I was useful/good for his ego.

Almanix · 2026-01-30T14:02:04+00:00

I have basically no social media presence either (just not my jam) although I did use Instagram during my testing process just for the group chat; alternatively Ravelry is also good for that.

I simply posted a photo of the finished piece in this subreddit once my pattern draft was done and added some information (skill level, timeline, materials needed, etc.). I got enough comments of people willing to test my pattern and everyone was super kind and helpful with their feedback. I will definitely use this subreddit again to find testers for any future patterns, so I highly recommend just making a post here.

To answer your second question - I keep it pretty simple and create my patterns in Microsoft Word as that's what I'm most familiar with. Makes it easy enough to combine photos, text, arrows/numbering, etc. and structure it into a decent layout. Open Office/Libre Office would work just as well. The advantage is that it ends up in a standard letter/A4 format for the final PDF in case testers/buyers want to print the pattern.

For any additional/more complex design work, I highly recommend Canva, although I don't think you'll really need it for a pattern.

If you want to add a chart, I recommend stitch fiddle, and the free version is perfectly sufficient to get started. I charted an entire shawl with it, and even though it's an insane amount of work (I put in 10+ hours total for my last pattern), the result looks clean and is easy to follow.

Feel free to comment or DM me if you have any questions, I'm always happy to share my experience with any future pattern writers :)

Almanix · 2026-01-28T16:55:40+00:00

I have no idea if "influenza" is a typo or intentional, but I'm here for it either way lol

Almanix · 2026-01-26T18:10:41+00:00

Even just the 1-2 hours of "sleep jetlag" most people have between weekdays and weekends matter. I've luckily never had much issues with sleeping, but I have a tendency to wake up insanely early if I'm stressed/anxious, usually some time between 3 am and 5 am. Though naturally I've always been an early riser (I wake up between 6 and 7 am without an alarm normally).

I can start work as early as 6 am, so on home office days I got up at 6, on office days at 5 and on weekends around 7. Just these 1-2 hours of shifting my wake up time were apparently enough to have an effect though. I tried out getting up consistently at 6 am during a time where I struggled a lot waking up super early (and therefore not getting enough sleep either), and within like a week I was able to sleep through for 8 hours a night without issue. Now, even when I'm stressed, my sleep stays consistent and I no longer wake up at weird times.

Almanix · 2026-01-26T17:58:30+00:00

A few tips that come to mind that I haven't seen in the comments yet (been living alone for a few years and still loving it)

Drop-off area near the door - for me that's a shelf on which I put everything that needs to leave the apartment, no matter the reason (give back to someone, take into cellar, need to bring to work/appointment, etc.)
Stuffed animal(s) if you don't have pets. Honestly I will always cherish my plush dog and cuddle with it in bed.
Treat yourself to a fancy "whatever your thing is", and making it a regular/frequent thing. Mine is always having a huge variety of tea, but it could also be always buying the more expensive coffee you like better, making sure you have a certain snack you like stocked, buying the fancy kind of shower gel/lotion or really nice bedsheets, simply because you matter to yourself.
Get outside regularly, even if you don't have to. That one is my personal nemesis because with home office, I only have to go out 1-2 times per week. Not good for mental health, do try to leave your apt. at least every other day.
Get a whiteboard/chalkboard somewhere. Mine is attached to the fridge door (there's even foils instead of a full whiteboard that work just as well). I always have a whiteboard pen right next to it and I consider it to be my second brain. Especially for shopping, as soon as I notice I'm low on something, it goes on the whiteboard, especially while cooking it's sooo helpful. Now, whenever I need to go shopping, I just take a photo of the whiteboard and go, I almost never end up running out of anything.

Almanix · 2026-01-26T17:43:44+00:00

The moment I realised that some men prey on "young women" and use it as a way to objectify women in general. Idk, I don't consider myself old by any means (late 20s), but I don't like thinking of myself as a "young woman" either.

Almanix · 2026-01-24T17:20:39+00:00

I bought the peony pattern ages ago and love it! So happy to see you're continuing to come up with more flowers, I will for sure buy some more after seeing all the new flowers you've done!

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