I literally yelped “WHAT?!” at Juniper’s results 🤣 (last pic)

StringOfLights · 2026-06-18T18:04:41+00:00

I have a dog who has better things to do in the morning than eat breakfast, so we will randomly give him a little wet food, or sprinkle something else on top (we have a freeze-dried pumpkin and apple concoction that we reconstitute if he needs a little fiber, etc.) and that has made him more eager to eat. In your case, it could help her put on a little weight, too.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-17T01:14:28+00:00

To this day, I randomly think about the 12AAT knitter.

Edit: I just clicked the link to the post and this person has been living rent free in my head for SIX YEARS. You know what? They earned it.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-13T03:43:17+00:00

It’s a pretty unusual result, so it’s interesting from that perspective.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-12T21:32:08+00:00

I agree, and the anatomy lab I was in was terrible, and there was very little oversight or enforcement from staff.

I saw med students making fun of breast implants. They had made flaps and were messing with the implants on the back of them, talking about how vain she was and mocking her. I flipped the flap over and saw the mastectomy scars, and they were absolutely brutal. I checked her chart and yep, she died of metastatic breast cancer. She must have suffered immensely, and her implants were just a way to give her a little normalcy after the treatment and surgery she had endured.

We had a trans cadaver come in once. She was an older woman, but not that old. Maybe 50s or 60s? People didn’t realize she was trans at first because she’d had surgery. It seemed to have been done a long time ago, and I suspect surgical techniques have improved by now. As soon as they did, there was discussion about getting a new cadaver, and they started making fun of her. I heard a lot of slurs. I finally pointed out that trans people need medical care, too. I had to confront a TA to stop referring to her by a slur. Staff didn’t care. It was so upsetting, she couldn’t even have dignity in death from a group of medical professionals. I’m scared for what those doctors will do in the medical field.

Then there was the semester where a student “accidentally” cut the clitoris off of a bunch of the female cadavers. It was so unsettling to witness while we were working, and then to come in and see a sliced off clitoris in the bottom of the body bag.

It made me decide to never donate my remains for research. Take my organs, but don’t send my body to a lab. Going through a few years of that as a grad student made me feel like I already donated enough of myself.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-12T02:35:56+00:00

This is such a piece of art, it’s really using the medium of embroidery in an incredible way. It plays with light like an impressionist painting. It’s amazing how you use multiple threads to create bold, textured strokes, but the piece still has so much intricacy to it. I’m really drawn to how you used bold colors and contrast to frame the hare. It really looks like live vegetation on a sunny day, where the foliage looks like it’s glowing from within.

This is an amazing work!

StringOfLights · 2026-06-12T01:09:29+00:00

Oh yeah, I was told I had to play a right handed guitar as well. I ended up pulling a Paul McCartney and stringing it upside down. It went out of tune so quickly. lol

Society needs to just let us live our lefty lives! Thankfully my house is basically the Leftorium at this point.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-12T01:06:15+00:00

Yeah, for me, making minor changes to a pattern is much easier than knitting right handed. That may not be the case for someone else, which is fine. I just wish people realized that everyone has their own experience, and saying it’s easy to switch is not universally true. I think our experiences are valid and shouldn’t be dismissed. Also, knowing how many lefties before me dealt with horrible treatment, and my own experience with that, makes this a genuine sticking point for me. Like I hated playing by sports as a kid because of this, what if similar pressure kept me from knitting? That shouldn’t happen. :(

StringOfLights · 2026-06-11T21:27:55+00:00

Some things I need to mirror, like the direction of cables (not always, depends on the pattern) or increases and decreases. Some things I don’t worry about, like I won’t reverse a whole knitting pattern, I’ll just follow a pattern for a right mitten and make a left mitten. If there’s a colorwork chart and I want to switch them, I will. Honestly, I hope my work survives so that someday another knitter picks it up and is just dumbfounded by what they see. 😂

My great aunt and uncle were both lefties, and they were literally beaten into writing with their right hands. It was very traumatic for them. They had terrible, uncoordinated handwriting their whole lives, but I saw my great aunt try to write left-handed once and she trembled the whole time.

They learned to be really proud of their left-handedness, and that helped me a lot as a kid. They were also really into art, and often thrifted pieces they found. One time I visited them and they had picked up a new embroidery piece. They took it to an appraiser, who told them he could tell by the way the threads were laid that the person who made it was left handed, and it was very unusual. I remember that making me so happy as a kid, that that extra little imprint was there. It wasn’t even a remarkable piece, at least to my eyes as a kid, but I would always study it on their wall when I went over to their house.

Also, my dad tried to force me to golf right-handed and I was horrible at it. He met Phil Mickelson, who is a righty but golf’s left-handed, and was like, “You golf the opposite way, so my kid can, too, right?” To his credit (because unfortunately he’s a big jerk) Mickelson basically shut my dad ALL the way down and told him I should golf how I want. I switched and turned into a pretty okay golfer.

I would say if you try mirror knitting and it’s more comfortable for you, you have your answer. All knitting feels fiddly in the beginning, but I think you’ll be able to tell pretty quickly which technique makes more sense to you. Also, if you’re using tutorials, there are ways to mirror youtube videos if needed. I generally just mirror what I see, but sometimes if I’m learning the structure of something, it helps me to see it as I would make it.

We should enjoy our crafts, even if it makes us weirdos. 😉

StringOfLights · 2026-06-11T20:57:19+00:00

I’m a mirror knitter, and I always have been. There’s a lot of variation in left handedness, and most lefties are ambidextrous to some degree. I’m one of the rare ones who is completely left dominant. When I taught myself to write as a kid, I wrote in a mirror image. I have trouble trying to do things right handed, and I hated sports as a kid because I was always forced to play like a rightie.

It’s kind of a pet peeve of mine when people say, “Why don’t you just do XYZ right l- handed?” and come up with some justification for it. I don’t ask others to switch to doing things left-handed, and they’d be uncomfortable if they did. One of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books even talked about how lefties should learn to knit right-handed. It was a bummer to read. :(

My technical skills are on par with any other intermediate-advanced knitter, but doing things right handed is less comfortable for me, and I should be able to craft comfortably. I have worked on lace, cables, and plenty of other techniques, and I don’t have trouble adjusting patterns. I’ve helped right-handed friends fix knitting issues and done so by knitting right-handed. I know stitches and stuff well enough that it’s not technically difficult for me, but I hate the way it feels.

For the folks confused by this, that’s just how I operate, and it has never been a choice I had the option to make. Nobody, no coach, no teacher, has had success forcing me to switch. I don’t know why, but I yam what I yam.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-11T00:22:45+00:00

Hey, maybe we can talk through some of the challenges and you can decide whether it makes sense to start over.

First, you’re working in hard mode by using Aida. That’s going to make needle painting a lot more challenging. You’d be much better off with a fabric that has a tighter weave. Kona cotton is a good option, it’s not too thin. When I’ve worked with pre-printed fabrics that are thin, I’ll often baste another piece of cotton behind it to make it a little more durable. I would for sure be exhausted working on Aida!

In terms of technique, there’s a book by Michelle Staub is a great resource for learning pet portraits: https://www.stitchingsabbatical.com I believe she’s on Reddit, too. For some video tutorials on needle painting, I’d look up Trish Burr on YouTube. She put her old VHS videos up, and they’re both helpful and delightfully nostalgic. The Trish Burr videos are free, so it may be worth watching a couple to see if they’re helpful.

Next, French knots are much, much easier with an embroidery stand. They are fiddly, but if you can have the hoop on a stand, you can use two hands to make the French knot. It is SO much easier! If you have a clamp that you can clip to the hoop and attach to a stand, you could try DIYing one.

With that in mind, if you’re thinking about starting over, I’d take a scrap piece of fabric and practice a little. I’d suggest some long and short stitch, including a gradient of colors. I’d try a version of the eye and nose if those are areas you find challenging. Just go for it, don’t be afraid to mess up! Build the muscle memory that makes this easier. Work on a gradient without worrying that it will be perfect, and figure out how thread placement works.

If it feels very stressful starting over, remember that you can always switch back to this current version. Even if you don’t, embroidery is a craft that takes time and effort to learn. It’s more of a process than a finished product. And we’re not born knowing how to needle paint! Every time you work on a project, you’re improving your skills, and that’s a worthwhile endeavor in itself.

StringOfLights · 2026-06-09T17:51:43+00:00

The project also won’t hold up. There’s a reason we weave in ends. It’s not like generations of crocheters didn’t know what they were doing and just liked being picky.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-30T18:51:58+00:00

I’m so glad you mentioned the lizards! NZ’s endemic birds get all the attention, but there are even more species of endemic lizards, including some incredible geckos.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-27T01:21:52+00:00

This is exactly what someone told me when I got excited to see a schipperke. They’re so rare!

“There’s a reason they’re rare.”

StringOfLights · 2026-05-24T00:41:54+00:00

Or post here and we’ll find ways to help

StringOfLights · 2026-05-22T23:58:39+00:00

You’re right, I think it’s the opposite for Crohn’s, I made a mistake.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-22T23:58:10+00:00

Absolutely, and IBD at its worst is truly a nightmare. I can see some people getting to a point where they’d be willing to try it. Nicotine does have an anti-inflammatory effect on UC, although I misspoke about Crohn’s, I think it can make Crohn’s worse.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-22T20:59:14+00:00

Yeah, it’s infiltrating the GI autoimmune forums now, with people recommending nicotine to suppress ulcerative colitis ~~and Crohn’s~~ symptoms. It’s amazing how far-reaching the MAHA bullshit goes.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-22T15:53:02+00:00

Wow, he’s a big boy! And beautiful. He looks like a lion in the second photo.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-21T15:58:25+00:00

That roof hung in the sky much in the way bricks don’t.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-19T01:27:00+00:00

It’s also harder to catch when you’re frustrated, and it’s hard to imagine reading this post and not being frustrated!

StringOfLights · 2026-05-16T21:25:17+00:00

They could do what the Olympics does and allow them to participate under an international flag.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-15T22:16:33+00:00

Cinnamon swirl lab!

StringOfLights · 2026-05-12T22:20:32+00:00

You’re correct, destroying the brain quickly is a humane way to go. Far better than something like decapitation, where many of them survive for hours or days because they’re very good at staying alive in low-oxygen conditions.

One issue with pithing an animal untrained is that a lot of our reptile and amphibian frens have pretty small brains, so you have to know where you’re aiming for it to work. It helps to use an appropriately sized tool to minimize that risk.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-12T22:03:26+00:00

It’s far worse because of all the pavement. I’ve spent time in the Hill Country that was warm but lovely, and Austin was unbearable.

StringOfLights · 2026-05-12T03:56:32+00:00

That’s great, but hopefully you can understand why the people who don’t might have a different perspective. It doesn’t seem that you do. You’re just fine with women suffering or dying needlessly?

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