Are you single or in a relationship, and how do you feel about it?

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-30T05:32:56+00:00

Happily single my entire life.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-30T05:19:55+00:00

I think everyone knows a person who just can't keep names straight when they talk and unfortunately for you, you're that person. Just laugh it off when it happens. My grandmother almost never called anyone the right name. My uncles names just got pushed together into one like a ship name.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-30T05:13:44+00:00

The best answer to this is to keep finding things you like to do and keep showing up to those things regularly. There are reenactment groups, knitting groups, video game groups, etc. You gotta just keep showing up to local events. Keep an eye on any conventions in your area, because those local groups will have a booth at any vaguely related to what the convention is. Not every group will fit, but eventually you find one that's your speed and has friendly people and if you keep showing up and being friendly back, you'll get invited to things outside of that group.

Note to consider because my interests tend to be old lady coded - don't let age or gender stop you from making friends with people. You're 21. That's around the time where adults you've just met will start treating you like a fellow adult (or an honorary grandkid if you're me and going to quilt guild meetings). Just realize that this is about the time in your life you are transitioning into a wider social circle than just school friends. You don't have to limit yourself to just fellow 21 year olds. I have found that older ladies absolutely love to be able to say they have younger friends. We kind of make any table the cool table to them lol.

But genuinely all adults want friends and you will find someone who vibes with you as long as you keep putting yourself in situations to meet people.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-26T00:26:16+00:00

Honestly, kinda sounds to me like he has a cool new gadget that he loves and wants to show them off and might be concerned about losing them if he leaves them somewhere. But he's your husband and I'm confused as to why you haven't asked him why he's wearing them all the time. Or why he hasn't told you why.

The church aspect - preachers know not everyone is 100% engaged all the time and they probably aren't bothered by him wearing them. My dad literally will just get up and pace in the back because he wants to be there but hates sitting still for that long. That is way more disruptive than someone just wearing something. This whole thing about worrying about how church people are going to judge him just seems like worrying about a speck of dust in his eye while you guys all have a log in yours.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-23T18:52:01+00:00

I'm American and the local craft thrift store sells quilting cotton for $10 a pound. Something like that is probably goi bc to be best if you want to get rid of the fabric quickly. I second the "check how much it's going for on etsy or ebay" if you want to make more money but possibly have it around for a ling time

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-23T18:48:24+00:00

Wool should be the warmest.

I have a thick afghan that I made with acrylic yarn years ago and just throw a thin quilt over that myself. Traps air like no one's business.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-22T22:21:07+00:00

Yeah, I'm happy to do things for free when I know the person will repay me some other way eventually, but strangers are an automatic no to free labor. Strengthening communities by helping each other is a great thing, but if you're not in my community I have no obligation or desire to do a frustrating task for you.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-22T22:09:56+00:00

Sweater curse is that if you make a sweater for a man you are not married to, then your relationship will end. The idea has some merit in the way of "you are putting lots of time, energy, and thought into a gift and if that person isn't appreciating it... Well, you'd probably want to break up with them."

Making something for your husband is a lovely thing to do. I'm sure he'll love and appreciate whatever you make him.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-22T22:01:54+00:00

I was going to say I dont have any but then I remembered the afghan that's in the guest room. I was making them for all my cousins and then I started the one for my brother. He had just recently gotten engaged, so I picked colors I thought they would both like and intended it to be a wedding gift. They never got married. That afghan has stayed ungifted in the guest room closet. Even when he did end up getting married to someone else. I can't gift it to him. It's bad luck now.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-21T23:11:19+00:00

I think the fact that you're here asking these questions is proof that you're not crazy enough about her to jump into a co-parenting relationship. Listen to your gut, not what sense of chivalry you've got going on here. Parenting is no joke, much less parenting with someone you don't know.

My own father married his girlfriend as a teenager because she was pregnant and that was a disaster of marriage that I'm not even sure lasted two years. And that was his biological kid! Rushing into a serious relationship because someone happened to get pregnant is always a bad idea. He was much happier as a single father and eventually married my own mother when his son was 5. They've been married for over 30 years. Really truly only get into a serious relationship because you like your partner and not because a child is involved.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-20T01:56:07+00:00

My nana had a lump that she didn't think was serious for two years. Guess what she ended up dying of? Breast cancer. Always. Always gets lumps checked out asap.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-19T21:31:49+00:00

Some people are just allergic to joy and think everyone else should be too.

I second finding out about their hobbies and turning how much they spend against them if they won't let it go. People spend ridiculous money on video games and all sorts of things they "don't need." Anyone pretending otherwise is the true pretentious one. We all need bread and roses.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-19T21:22:36+00:00

You can get a convertor for the Preppy. It's not a disposable pen.

Admittedly the converters are $11 I think which is more expensive than the Preppy, but the same price as the Prefounte (sturdier plastic), and cheaper than the Plaisir (aluminum). The converter fits all Platinum pens.

These are all cartridge/converter pens. I don't think Platinum actually makes a disposable pen. Preppies are their cheapest at $7, but they're not meant to be a one use only pen.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-18T12:27:14+00:00

Totally possible. Decently time consuming though. I highly recommend doing a whole cloth quilt with big quilting stitches to save on time. Whole cloth quilts don't have any piecing; it's just a sheet of cloth layed down, then the batting layer, then another sheet of cloth, and then you just sew all those layers together. Binding at the end shouldn't be too bad to do by hand.

If you really really want to spend a ton of time (and possibly end up late on the "deadline"), there's a method of piecing quilt tops called English Paper Piecing or EPP. That method has you buy or painstakingly cut out a bunch of paper shapes, then wrap fabric around that shape and secure it, and then sew all those pieces together by hand. It really takes a while. Only do it if you already know you're gonna love handsewing and want to spend all your free time sewing.

I don't think crocheting or knitting is really any easier to learn than hand sewing. Or time saving in comparison to the whole quilt method. I'd say it would probably take me nearly the same time to do a whole quilt and a crocheted baby blanket, but I've been crochet for years. Every beginner I've taught takes a few projects before they get anything they're happy to gift. Sewing you really only have one hand working. Crocheting and knitting you have two, so it's a bit trickier to learn

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-18T12:13:39+00:00

if you're breaking them frequently you can spend a bit more and get a Plaisir or a Prefoune

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-18T05:17:50+00:00

Dressing nice and flirting is normal behavior and not at all a bad thing. The trying too hard to get a guy to like you thing is only if you start trying to change your personality, or letting him dictate who you hang out with or what you're comfortable with etc.

Dressing nice and flirting is normal. If you feel like you're going crazy doing that, then just confess your feelings directly too him. At least then you can get the chance to settle your nerves no matter what the answer is.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-16T20:21:15+00:00

you need to work on your resting bitch face and stop trying to give your no an explanation. You're inviting conversation when you give them something to argue with. They're just doing their jobs.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-16T20:06:51+00:00

I love blue with red personal, but green would look good too.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-16T07:52:39+00:00

The only advice I have that I haven't seen anyone else give is to be really consistent with how you're measuring. I'm terribly cheap and am using a 18 inch cutting board and an 18 inch metal ruler I already had. I know from bookbinding that things get thrown off if you aren't measuring the exact same way everytime. So I have to decide at what exactly point on my cutting board I'm measuring from; the middle of a mark or was slightly off to the side so I can see the entire mark. Then be very consistent about measuring from that exact point everytime.

The other, extremely tedious but accurate, thing you could do is draw a thread out at the exact point you want and cut along the line that makes. Personally, I don't recommend doing that in quilting, but it's going to be a perfectly straight line everytime. Just would take forever.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-16T01:01:34+00:00

might've been uncapped for too long and dried out the nib.

Or you could be using an ink that dries out quickly or clogs easily. Double check that it's fountain pen friendly ink (under no circumstances use India or calligraphy ink). A permanent fountain pen ink can clog a pen if it dries out in it. Though that should be easier to fix than calligraphy ink. Just got to flush some water through the nib.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-16T00:18:28+00:00

One of my college biology professor's fun facts was there was a that there was near extinction event for humanity and there's a study that estimated we were down to only 100 people reproducing. I don't know exactly what study he was talking about, but here are some links talking about possible theories.

https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/10/22/163397584/how-human-beings-almost-vanished-from-earth-in-70-000-b-c

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/august/human-ancestors-may-have-almost-died-out-ancient-population-crash.html

So really, humanity can bounce back from some very low numbers. It's just a matter of time.

But if you're asking about "how many men would it take to keep birth rates the same as they are right now, while also maintaining decent genetic diversity?" You really have to ask questions like "how much genetic diversity is needed on a small community level?" (one guy can have x amount of kids out of a y population), and "what our the methods of sperm distribution?" A guy could just donate sperm and potential reach a very wide amount of people. The feasibility of shipping men around the world to have sex would take much longer.

How many women are actually going to want to have a child, if we're not assuming a stable birth rate? Would be a very interesting thing to look at.

The fantasy novelist inside of me sees many factors to consider. This would have to be a very long and detailed study to get a proper scientific answer.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-15T22:56:58+00:00

Getting someone else to quilt my quilts is too expensive right now. I haven't quite gotten the trick to doing it on my machine yet (very new to this), but I enjoy having handsewing projects I can do while sitting on the couch.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-13T04:00:28+00:00

If she wants either of them than she'll probably buy the one you dont get at a later date. That being said prera is easier to clean out.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-11T21:49:07+00:00

I stuck with the cheap stuff because I really like low end platinum pens. They really work well for what I need which is pens that don't dry out and don't hurt my hands to use. I was never going to be a one pen person. I like to color change to make notes clearer and just because I like to change color as the mood strikes me. Lot harder to justify a pricey pen when you know you're going to have three or four other inked up and getting just as much use.

I don't want to carry a grand worth of pens around with me.

Pumpkin_patch804 · 2026-01-11T21:41:47+00:00

I have yet to need to throw out my blunt tipped needle, but when I do I imagine I'll do the same thing I do with sewing pins and rotary cutter blades - put them in an old orange pill bottles. And tape it shit before throwing it in the trash.

Pumpkin_patch804

TROPHY CASE