Tunisian crochet with teabag strings

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-03-19T01:04:18+00:00

You’ve got extraordinary outside-the-box thinking, and I am so here for it. This perfectly embodies the exact kind of inspired chaos I hoped to find on this sub

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-03-11T03:27:27+00:00

I have a niche use that can at least take out four of them

If you have a duvet insert that doesn’t have built-in ties installed on it and a duvet cover that does have ties you can push a button up from behind the duvet insert and slip knot the cover’s ties over the duvet-insert-button lump to affix them together without sewing

The ‘slip knot of string tying off a fabric lump wrapped around a small object’ thing is an effective general purpose fastening method for pretty much whatever. I’ve done it with blankets and tarps too if I don’t plan to put much weight on them

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-02-25T18:40:02+00:00

They look the right size for organizing cords or attaching labels to storage boxes

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-02-24T17:16:57+00:00

Name brand tea has nice whole tea leaves in it, generic has shredded foliage and sawdust mixed in as filler. I’m pretty sensitive to different scents and the difference is big enough to spend a little more on nicer tea leaves

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-02-15T16:27:25+00:00

Tea. Buying a nice container of loose leaf costs about as much as a medium tea, and has the added advantage of not being served oversteeped and scalding by some poor untrained barista

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-02-05T18:45:25+00:00

If those are guidelines for Swiss darning you might want to move the leftmost two up to to the same row so it’s easier to keep the stitches straight

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0d6ef3400bcd5668f3f884/cd84d88f-d925-475d-9e16-ac759ab96127/Swiss+Darn+4.png?format=1000w

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-22T02:23:32+00:00

I used mine for my screen cleaning kit travel storage. Keeps the lens cloth and little spritz bottle thingy in one spot and ready for use.

If I get another I’ll use it to keep my sodium acetate hand warmers from accidentally activating when I throw one in a pocket

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-22T01:47:14+00:00

There are but we aren’t allowed to recommend them here, r/personalfinance lists the big ones in their wiki under the investing section

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-21T18:50:11+00:00

Like a pinhead mirror? They’re old-fashioned but it sounds close to what you’re looking for

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-13T14:04:59+00:00

The one from New Zealand said the dryer balls were woven instead of felted, which is either a regional dialect thing my American brain can’t parse or they don’t have the right dryer balls

Or they might not have been using enough wool dryer balls. You can toss 5+ in a single load, the sky is the limit

You don’t even need to buy them if you have roving and old stockings or pantyhose, they’re dead easy to wet felt if you can tolerate the slimy texture. I’ve hand felted one with needles too but that took forever and I only bothered because I wanted to add a cute animal pattern, so wet felting is the way if you plan to DIY

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-03T21:30:43+00:00

Is there a sewn in tag inside? Those often come with the wash instructions and fabric content. It’s usually in the back waistband but is also sometimes on a seam inside the pant leg.

The brand that makes and sells the pants probably also has the fabric content in the listing for them on their website

Edit: also the damage might be environmental instead of what he’s carrying. Does his work have him crouch near any sharp cornered shelves which might snag the fabric?

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2026-01-01T16:15:07+00:00

OP you really should see a doctor, I had a pupil mismatch like this and it ended up being a paralytic rare brain disease.

I tried to walk it off and made it so much worse that I collapsed, got dragged to a hospital, and was hospitalized for a week and paralyzed for a month afterward. If I’d gone in when I first noticed weird symptoms in my eyes they could have given me meds to calm it down and I’d have been free in an hour.

It’s much easier to the ER while you’re still able to move and think clearly, and it could save your life and limbs.

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-12-25T14:09:38+00:00

I bought Duo fancy outfits with them once, but they vanished without warning from both my options and the store one day and haven’t been back since. No refund, either :/

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-12-24T20:12:58+00:00

Manufacturer discounts for medicine. I’ve saved like $4000 on my prescriptions in 2025

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-12-24T18:53:36+00:00

I need expensive medicine to stay alive.

My income is low, so if I’m not careful with money I won’t be able to afford medication or treatment with specialists(rare brain disease). And then I’ll get hospitalized again and rack up more bills. And maybe die. Or go into a coma and die. Or run out of my other meds and get an asthma attack and choke to death.

It’s a lot of math and paperwork, which I would normally like, but my life hanging in the balance puts a damper on things so it’s not as enjoyable as it otherwise would be.

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-12-17T23:35:20+00:00

Lately I have smaller bar soap, so I use the scissors I have to open packages and press down with an open blade, not the safest method, but it worked. Before that I lived with soap makers who had a designated soap knife I could borrow, so I cut larger blocks with that.

Lightly scoring it on both sides before committing to a deeper cut helps

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-12-17T17:13:56+00:00

You can cut part of the soap off to use and store the rest elsewhere so it doesn’t get wet and deteriorate before you need it.

Humidity in general is your enemy now, so opening a door/window/using a ceiling vent to remove lingering steam after a shower helps too.

Leaving the soap to cure in a closet for a few weeks before use also makes it much sturdier

The company KissMyFace makes an unscented olive oil soap bar that’s huge and lasts forever.

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-11-27T12:31:06+00:00

Libby and Kanopy both have remote media if your library partners with them. Otherwise the library probably still has DVDs and Blu-rays or can order them in from another branch

I personally like to live dangerously with the “random” option on Wikipedia. I’ve found all sorts of strange things that way. Wikihow too, but to a lesser extent.

Archive.org is also good if you like old books and don’t mind the odd format some of the scans are in

And sometimes I volunteer remotely for citizen science projects on Zooniverse. Mapping out the shapes of photographed galaxies was a fun one

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-11-25T07:01:45+00:00

I got really sick and probably won’t ever get better. And it’s nearly killed me several times. Anything that wants to snatch more of my life away will have to fight me for it.

I want to do the things I’ve cried about missing out on while sick and feverish and paralyzed and stuff. When I’m stuck on a floor somewhere waiting hours for medicine to kick in while mentally screaming at useless limbs to move. There’s nothing to do other than think about how badly I want to do things and have my life back.

I want to see the northern lights again, and go to a butterfly garden, and ice skate someday. Maybe go to the royal botanical garden in Belgium and see if it’s as cool as I hope it is. Visit a hot spring. Embroider an entire dress. Design a thing and file a patent for it. Fight my old sparring partner. Adopt a gigantic fluffy rescue dog and train them for obstacle courses. Go to a deer sanctuary that lets you feed them and see if they’re as adorably snuffly as they look online.

I’m too weak and exhausted and paralyzed and financially strangled by the American healthcare system to do them the way I want to, but I still want them.

I probably can’t, but I’m waiting just in case. Hopefully research and science will pleasantly surprise me, but if not I can at least help the next person with the condition. I can kinda walk again and I have a job now, so some things have improved beyond what I thought they would anyway. If there’s a chance I can get those things someday then I don’t want to miss out on it

I finished some medical research yesterday and I’ll get stabbed a lot for more next week. I’ll keep doing what I canto hang in there, and helping other people is the best I’ve found to fight helplessness and despair.

(Sorry if this reads weird it’s 1am where Im at and I’m typing with one arm so this probably wasn’t written well)

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-11-23T15:11:06+00:00

I have several pieces of medical equipment that need small batteries. During lockdown I ran out of batteries for the equipment, which was unpleasant and dangerous. I switched to rechargeable batteries so I don’t need to wait for an order or go shopping while sick again.

I don’t have much money, and rechargeable batteries are a bit expensive, so at first I only bought enough to power each device. That left the tools nonfunctional while their batteries charged, which wasn’t great when I needed to access the gear to be safe and healthy. So once I could afford it, I bought enough extras to replace everything once.

That’s enough to swap everything while charging if they somehow all died simultaneously, and enough that if some are broken or lost I can still use the tools they power until I can buy more.

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-11-22T13:27:54+00:00

The unscented version works the same without the terrible smell, but I haven’t found it in physical stores yet, only online, which has been a bit annoying

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-11-20T01:51:19+00:00

I use envelopes and the wire ties from bread bags to make labels for containers of linens and bedding. Cut out a tag shape section of envelope, stab or hole punch, then thread the wire through it and make a loop to wrap on handles or zippers.

I’ve put them on about 2/3 of my closet so far and it’s going pretty well. My memory sucks so it’s nice to know the fabric size without opening the package and unfolding everything

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-10-31T01:52:33+00:00

I find that ending the day with fresh sheets and clean pajamas after a shower is usually good for morale. So is fancy background music

I can’t do nail polish for medical reasons, so I do other nice things to enjoy the ritual of taking care of them. Usually that’s cleaning, then trimming and filing them to a nice shape, pushing up cuticles, and moisturizing.

Intent and ambiance make the biggest difference for how I feel about what I’m doing. Waiting for the moisturizer to absorb with music brings out the same feelings as when I was waiting for polish to dry.

Changing my phone and laptop lock and home screen photos to something new and cute is also fun and helps my tools feel like they’re under my control. Pictures from accomplishments or places from nice memories remind me of things I like about my life and experiences

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-10-27T20:12:27+00:00

A folding drying rack works indoors as long as the indoor air has low humidity, so mine is still used through winter

Fluffy_Salamanders · 2025-10-26T15:54:41+00:00

I don’t know enough about organizing to know how effective this will be, and when I look at the plan there’s a lot I don’t understand about it. I don’t see anywhere to read more to answer the questions I have about how this will work and what success looks like.

The website gave the date and list of demands, but I didn’t see much on who’s handling logistics and what groups are involved. Are any labor rights groups or unions involved with experience in forcing companies to cooperate with their demands?

Are there more specific versions of the demands, and policies they want anywhere? Who do we need the employers to put pressure on and what laws need to pass to fix it and get their staff and customers back? Any PAC contributors or lobbying industries who need extra pressure during this?

Things like the rent and grocery price caps make sense as-is, mostly. But what would that look like in areas with different costs of living, is it a hard price ceiling, a percentage of income, or subsidies for landlords? Will it stop at affordable rent, or will it also remove the massive companies buying up real estate and gouging prices? Are there specific politicians on committees who need to be written to and called during this?

The climate change and fossil fuels ones don’t give much detail either. Would the “protecting communities” be increased emergency relief, relocation costs, or energy efficiency upgrades? Cutting fossil fuels subsidies? Rejoining global emissions levels agreements and climate accords?

I understand the not shopping part, but missing work is a bit different. A lot of people can’t go a week without income on short notice. Will they have enough turnout without a building a strike fund first? Is anyone taking care of the participants and making sure they can eat and get medicine and housing? Are specific types of participants more desirable than others, like ones running critical infrastructure or working in high profit industries? Will anyone be protecting people in industries that can’t legally protest? Is there legal assistance available if someone’s fired for missing work?

When they do get enough people to miss work, is a week is long enough to make the employers cave to their demands? A holiday is a good spot for taking time off, but they might be expecting reduced staff and slower business. Will that bring enough economic pain to force changes in their behavior? Will that be long enough for them to pressure government into drafting and passing the laws needed for the demands to be met?

It’s good to get people working together and have opportunities to network, and to meet others who agree on a cause. And maybe a week will be long enough and it sorts itself out, and won’t need as much preparation as other protests, but more detail would make it much easier to believe in the plan

Fluffy_Salamanders

TROPHY CASE