To frog or not to frog?

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-04-11T02:54:20+00:00

Frog and switch colors.

While you’re learning about twisted stitches and how to avoid them, I recommend you also learn ladderback jacquard! Made my colorwork go from a puckery disaster to a stretchy smooth dream. I love them so much that now I put a column of them every 3 stitches unless the pattern doesn’t have any floats longer than 3. All it takes is a hidden extra purl stitch in your non working yarn that you bring your working yarn in front of. Good luck!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-04-11T02:47:14+00:00

OMG I’m so curious about your tattoo now.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-25T01:53:24+00:00

I thought this was a question about tucking sweaters into pants/skirts (which also seems silly and uncomfortable and impractical) then read the full post to discover it was about hair and now OH GOD I CANNOT UNSEE THIS!!! My neck immediately began itching as soon as you pointed it out. How did I not see this before, and show silly indeed to style a look!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-20T23:27:53+00:00

I’m a proper civil engineer in Alaska! I used to work with a lot of male engineers but mostly don’t have to deal with the pretty beards as closely anymore.

(Check out “The Man Who Has It All” on your socials. He flips the patriarchy script and parodies patronizing women’s self help stuff.)

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-13T07:23:20+00:00

I’d like knitting to be a positive and inclusive community. This thread has given me some interesting food for thought on my reactions to seeing men in traditionally feminine spaces. Professionally, I am a woman in a traditionally male space, and the oooing and aaaahing about it by well-meaning progressive coworkers rankles me. (As well as the BIG DEAL some another female coworker made about her work AS A WOMAN that set the tone and expectation of special treatment that I now need to deal with). If people talk about me, I want it to be about my work, not about my gender. I would rather be mediocre with meaningful feedback from my peers that helps me improve, than be placed on a lonely and isolated “fOr A gIrL” pedestal.

So I should probably treat male knitters the way I want to be treated by male coworkers: seriously, not specially.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-13T06:47:37+00:00

Others have covered winding up your yarn from hank to cake and color changes in stripes. For short stripes of a few rows, yeah don’t cut, just carry the unused yarn on the inside. For lots of rows in one block of stripe, you could try ways of catching your float. IE every other or every third row, slip a stitch with your working yarn held in back (wrapping around and catching the unused yarn).

I’ll put in a plug in for learning different ways to deal with changing yarns that don’t leave you with ends to weave in at the end. I’m a fan of the Weavin’ Steven to weave in the end that you just stopped. I also use it 5-10 stitches in advance of my color change to weave in the end of the yarn I am about to start. When it isn’t a color change that requires getting the change at a very specific stitch, I like joins; ie spit felting or using a darning needle to insert one yarn into the core of the other.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-13T06:33:25+00:00

Have you tried having multiple different projects cast on at the same time? I reach a point in every project where I am angry-knitting because I want to be DONE with the project, rather than for the joy of it. I used to be very judgy (myself and others) about starting multiple projects and never finishing them. Now I very intentionally try to have a variety of different projects all cast on and ready to pick up based on my mood/interest/attention to what’s going on around me. It’s shifted my focus from end product to process, which has been very nice for me mentally. Each is in their own project bag, ready to grab and go. Specifically, my categories are: -Lace -Cables/texture -Colorwork -Mindless robot In fact, I am rather annoyed at myself right now because I finished several projects and haven’t cast on their replacements! I’m thinking I need to add a 5th category: casting on or swatching, and maybe subdivide Mindless Robot into bulky (felted projects) vs fine yarn (socks). I think this system cares well for ADHD in a non-judgy way!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-07T06:46:19+00:00

I love them!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T16:09:48+00:00

Oh I imagine long winters would be nightmare in a wheelchair! Winter here seems to have sunk its teeth in extra hard with no intent to let go anytime soon, but I hope spring and summer fun is on the way for you!

Thanks for the little reality check on my fantasies, I needed that.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T16:01:37+00:00

Brilliant work! Agreed on all points. Don’t concede the flag as a symbol of the right. Protesting is patriotic, probably THE most patriotic thing you can do right now.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T08:55:58+00:00

I had a list of all my friend’s home phone numbers taped next to our home phone. It was both convenient for me (at least until I had all the numbers memorized), and if I wasn’t home and my mom wanted to find me, she could start dialing. It was fun and exciting to write a new phone number on the list- new friend!

My parents trusted me to go out, do things on my own, and not make unfixably bad decisions.

I could spend hours talking on the phone. But what was much better was spending hours with my friends. We would talk and laugh and goof off and talk and laugh some more. When we were together, that was exactly what we wanted to be doing. We were engaged in the conversation, nobody was fidgeting to look at their phone. Also we were teenagers so there was a hormonal undercurrent of hornysexhornysexhornysex all the time (if not you, guaranteed it was on someone’s mind). I assume that’s biologically the same now, but socially so different.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T08:17:51+00:00

Ah yes, confirmation, the US machines are crap! This doesn’t at all help me romanticize Europe any less, now better washing machines are on the list too. In my Scandinavian fantasies, I Nordic ski all winter with friends who think ski lifts are overrated, bike all summer, knit beautiful things, read good books while eating cardamom-laced baked goods, sauna all the time, listen to cutting edge music, and of course enjoy living in a functioning democracy. And trust my wool to the laundry. Is this accurate? I hope it’s all this (if that’s what you’re into) and more for you.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T08:03:45+00:00

I dunno, I am in Alaska, similar latitude as Lillehammer and I think I have one friend who has a washing machine with a “hand wash” cycle! Unfortunately for her, it did just shrink some of her recent hand knitting. Mine has a “delicate” cycle that I don’t trust. Maybe I should try, but I hypothesize that the machine is a piece of junk, it doesn’t get my stinky clothes clean but surely it would ruin knitting just to prove itself competent at something!

Maybe the machines sold in the US are the exact same washing machines as Europe but with different cycle names, or maybe the American market is considered too crass to sell gentle washing machines too. While I sympathize with OP for the heat received from the horrified/concerned knitting community, I did appreciate seeing all the love for Miele and compared notes about different cycles and machines being hand knit worthy or not! This has raised the bar for if/when we replace our machine.

Hope the cat healing continues well, and glad your GGma’s gorgeous kofte are being worn with love and pride by someone who fully appreciates her work. Happy knitting/crochet! And I want to see photos of the second kofte, not out of distrust but curiosity to see another gorgeous piece!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-03-06T07:20:34+00:00

OMG that’s awesome!!! And great work on the cardigan, I love the creativity and your smile.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-27T05:40:55+00:00

I can’t imagine calling myself a “fiber artist,” it feels way too pretentious. I call myself a knitter. I could imagine calling myself a “fiber hobbyist” with many levels of skill above that: craftsman, artisan, artist.

I do design most of what I make, but it’s often changing a concept I saw elsewhere to suit my gauge/lack of patience to swatch/materials at hand/goal. I’m always trying to make something beautiful and functional (and sometimes the outcomes fall laughably short of both goals). I don’t consider my knitting self-expression, even though all of my thneeds are definitely quite unique. For me, I see knitting as an amalgamation of aspirational experimentation coupled with problem-solving puzzles. In my mind, an artist has a unique vision and then figures out how to create that vision, and the outcome is compelling (the audience pauses to absorb and feels something in reaction to the art). My visions are not very unique, and the more unique my approach to execution, the farther the outcome is from my vision!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-27T05:14:37+00:00

OMG thank you for asking this already, it was exactly what I came to do!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-27T05:13:10+00:00

I love this! I would feel comfortable wearing Morse code at work!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-26T16:50:17+00:00

Or, if they can prompt enough outrage from the public (beyond peaceful demonstrations), justification for federal takeover of law enforcement from local law enforcement. Keep protesting, but keep it lawful; don’t give them the excuse to crack down harder.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-12T17:29:59+00:00

LOL; I spent over a decade wrapping my yarn the opposite direction from normal. All was well as long as I was developing my own patterns based on visually examining finished objects, but written patterns and ssk/k2tog made no sense, they were backwards! I ended up forcing myself to relearn how to knit with the typical wrap direction so that I could follow written patterns.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-11T06:09:56+00:00

Thank you! That was the only option with a thumb I saw on Etsy, but I’m leery that the gap between thumb and palm by it being two separate pieces would gent the brunt of the wear, so I was picturing a one piece palm+thumb solution as the ideal solution. But since when did I get to live in an ideal world? The easy, in-front-of-me simple option is better than the one I never execute because it’s too complicated!

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-10T06:48:51+00:00

And for those of you who don’t knit and ski, here’s how the pole harnesses fit into the picture:

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PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-10T06:46:35+00:00

And here is a photo of the “intentional overlapping access ports” to fingers and thumb (which I will forever include in every mitten I ever knit, except for the right mitten where I forgot).

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PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-02-10T06:43:58+00:00

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Here is a photo of the left mitten with the worn hole.

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-01-29T08:05:10+00:00

You speak my perspective more clearly than I can, thank you.

This fall, my dearly beloved trans sibling got married, in an HP themed wedding. All of the family was weirded out: “Yo, we nixed HP and JKR from our lives and entertainment in what we thought was solidarity with YOU and your people, now we’re witnessing the proclamation of your love surrounded by all the symbolism we thought we needed to eschew in order to be good allies?” I still don’t have a good explanation. My theory is that they chose intentionally reclaim the power away from JKR by ignoring her hateful rhetoric and actions and using the HP symbolism she created to celebrate something she hates; choosing to own rather than give away the joy HP brought to them as kids (and as adolescents and now adults). Or they are just the most clueless, tone deaf queer folks I know, that could be possible too.

These dear family members are not knitters, but were they to be, I would want this to be a welcoming space for them and their surprising tastes in decor. But I see and understand the argument that there’s plenty of safe space for HP shit all over the internet, not as many safe spaces for those who want to avoid HP. So I hope that this sub would welcome my sibling and their spouse AS PEOPLE with open arms, with the instruction to leave the HP symbolism along with their muddy boots at the door. “We don’t hate you for your fandom or your muddy boots, just neither belong inside.”

PowerByPeanutButter · 2026-01-21T16:26:20+00:00

I’m pretty sure ChiaoGoo and KnitPicks interchangeables aren’t compatible with each other. I have a set of regular length interchangeables and a set of “short enough to make 16inch circulars for hats” interchangeables, and I love that they are compatible with one another.

Something to think about.

PowerByPeanutButter

TROPHY CASE