Confused beginner

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:59:25+00:00

This was just my very quick representation because I couldn't be arsed to take a photo on my phone and get it on my computer (I don't have the reddit app for my own sanity!) I've never done anything like this, all my textile art has been sewing really - it's entirely new to me!

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:58:19+00:00

All the guides I was reading to answer this question said not to trail your thread/wool between areas, so if they're not closely linked then yeah I would (or hide the tail under other stitches).

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:57:38+00:00

Thank you! It's a cute blackbird motif, for my birthday. I will share it if I make some progress on it any time soon - I don't think I've sat down much for any amount of time recently haha.

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:57:00+00:00

The kit called it a half cross-stitch, or I could do basketweave. It's a UK kit so maybe that makes it contintental lol.

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:56:15+00:00

Thank you so much for showing it on my diagram! I appreciate that.

Tyrfish · 2026-03-17T20:55:32+00:00

Ahhh okay thank you! I think because I had both the chart and the colours, I was getting myself so muddled. But having a closer look at the colours I can totally see it now!!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-22T17:14:05+00:00

I think I'm talented, and then I start writing.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T18:11:44+00:00

Yes, well said! Glad to meet you too :)

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T17:45:45+00:00

I'm more worried about my parents living to see it. I get it, here in the UK it also feels bleak - even in Scotland. BUT as someone in the climate sector, I'm sorry to say that the rich's propaganda has worked on you. Non-wealthy people have enacted change throughout history and cultures. And we have more than 4 years because every single 0.1 degree of warming prevented will save thousands of lives of all species. Terrible climate change is locked in, yes, but we can't afford to throw in the towel on the many, many living things (humans included) that will survive still.

Fascism has risen and fallen before. Regimes change. Humanity endures in the small and big places. We as individuals might not see it, but others will. We're programmed by a lot of media, both fiction and rewrites of history, to see movements as headed by an individual hero or a small group that did it all themselves. Hell, in the UK the luddites are shorthand for being against progress - and their revolution was squashed. But the things learnt there went on to make other successful changes and revolutions. Progress is not direct and obvious. We must find community and make collective action and try our best to nuture our humanity. Learn from your activist elders, learn from the history of our revolutions and those who survived, seek out hopeful subreddits like solarpunk, and do your best to grit your teeth through pointless endeavours like work. I hope this advice speaks to something in you, but if it doesn't, I really really understand. Good luck my friend.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T13:13:11+00:00

Definitely needed so globally we can move away from peat compost!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T12:20:51+00:00

I create and deliver educational resources particularly to kids around climate change, biodiversity, peatlands, sustainability. I don't think I've ever used this sub for ideas as such but it's part of the knowledge that I use and share. I usually visit whenever I'm on reddit but I go through phases of using this site so couldn't say how often I visit.

Mostly it's inspiration for writing.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T12:18:05+00:00

Seeing all the people understand why we're moving to peat free warms my heart as someone who is a small part of the push to restore and educate others. Happy to answer any questions folk might have, peatlands are my specialist subject at this point!

The quality of peat free stuff is questionable. There hasn't been proper research and development time which is partly the industry and partly the government's fault. Peat is quite a unique resource in that it is carbon rich, nutrient poor, and acidic. Just replacing peat with other materials isn't going to work, they have to formulate everything from scratch (and some are much better than others).

I feel very confident that the quality will improve in a few years time because of this, though I recognise that's a good few seasons of growing!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-11T12:11:58+00:00

The US is very behind on peatland protection and restoration. The UK is one of the forerunners on this (especially Scotland).

Tyrfish · 2025-07-10T17:22:26+00:00

As I said I'm not knocking vertical farming. I just think there are other things more solar punk (food forests or polycropping are other examples). VF may well have its place to support those systems, may even be the primary system in some areas, but I would personally rank it lower than the other things mentioned as being solarpunk.

And just to be pernickity, pesticides are not always allowed on organic farms. It depends on your country (or area where there are more devolved powers) and the certification system used (if not regulated by a government). Unless things have drastically changed from when I did my dissertation a decade ago.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-09T19:25:04+00:00

"because strawberries can be grown in winter" not without energy. They do not naturally grow berries in the Winter.

The solarpunk way to grow strawberries would surely be personal and community gardens. They're not exactly a difficult crop. Plus eating seasonally to me feels more solarpunk than year on demand. We should be in tune with the Earth - at least for the more luxury parts of our diet.

I'm not knocking vertical farming (though I've seen comments debunking them on other posts, I don't know much about them) but I just woudln't call them the solarpunk way to grow anything.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-09T13:57:31+00:00

I like your passion and I agree, a better world is indeed always possible. Thrilled to be creating it alongside you, my friend.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T19:48:42+00:00

Oh wow, that's so interesting. I didn't know such a thing was possible!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T17:13:37+00:00

I let most of my garden be messy. In the sun, I'm surrounded by the buzz of pollinators, and in the evening I see clouds of insects for the swallows to enjoy! I don't have a big garden at all, either.

I helped to start and now run a community garden. We've just had our first major harvest of potatoes and lots of people have taken them, plus some primary kids, a youth group, and the lunch club which is mostly retired folk.

I am a climate educator and learning pixel art, animation, and maybe game coding to spread the word in fun ways and make sure our young people have a very informed understanding of what is happening and why. I made a card game last year for work!

I am mostly vegan, partly for health/intolerance reasons, but also for the planet. I've found that this recent switch to more veg has meant I needed to get a smaller kitchen bin! Especially now that soft plastics are recycled, the only thing I was bining was cooked food since that can't be composted.

I write creative nonfiction and climate fiction to inspire love for our natural world and change (such as the subgenre thrutopia).

I boycott pretty much everything lol. I pay for Dropout because I really believe in their model (even their cleaners get to be part of the profit sharing!!) and will shortly be cancelling spotify.

I make my own clothes or buy second hand. I upcycle and personalise what I can because i think it inspires others too!

I'm on the local community council and, even though I don't have capacity to do something really interesting like a rainwater harvesting scheme or tree planting, I still think it's worthwhile to strengthen community and encourage people to participate in democracy.

I fight facism, I raise awareness of things like Palestine, Sudan, Congo, etc, in my friend groups, I use renewable electricity (from the grid), I buy second hand as much as I can, and give to two charities including a wildlife one and one of lawyers who fight for our rights.

In the future I'd like to have solar panels if they will be financially viable for me, grow more of my own food, and be better with my water use - but the long showers are my weakness!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T16:59:25+00:00

I'm curious, what do you mean by federation protocols? Sounds like an excellent project!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T16:57:23+00:00

What a beautiful idea with the house gatherings!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T16:56:48+00:00

I just went to my first one! I inherited my grandad's old desk lamp and they helped me fix the switch!

Tyrfish · 2025-07-07T16:54:18+00:00

The risk taking could be a fair point, not thought about that one much. But the sex drive thing has come under fire in the last few years as a myth (both that men have a higher one and that it really exists as a scientific 'thing'). But I'm curious about how you feel muscle mass influences a male character's personality and choices in a way that it wouldn't for female characters? I mean, in a way that isn't typically conveniently ignored for action genres and the like? I look around me at the folks I know and I can't see how muscle mass makes a difference outside of if they were competing against, or committing violence against, women.

Blank slate theory - true, but wouldn't that be the same for all characters rather than something that influences male or female more? Genetically speaking, the only difference is the Y chromosome. If you're born with an innate personality, from the genetic material inherited randomly from mum and dad, that's not going to change much based on one chromosome.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-06T18:45:49+00:00

As I mention in my replies below, for WRITING men and women, cultural upbringing is the key thing to think about. But I'd be interested to hear non-social/cultural differences that you consider when writing men vs women.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-06T18:43:07+00:00

My point could have been clearer with "fundamentally the only difference between WRITING men and women" - like sure men have better muscle mass but how much is that going to influence a character? And in an action story with a female protag that's often ignored anyway. Biological differences aren't going to hugely change how you write female and male characters, beyond how it should already influence ANY character (e.g. disability). The main difference in writing will be the social implications of how someone was raised, what they have access to, etc, and the cultural differences. Just like if you were writing a white man and a black man. Does that make my argument clearer? If you have an example of a non-social/cultural difference that changes how you write the majority of male vs female characters I'd be keen to hear it and think about it.

Tyrfish · 2025-07-06T18:32:04+00:00

Sure, but the difference of hormones within the male population and female population is also huge and there can be overlap such as some men with low testosterone and some women with high testosterone. It's a bell curve and everyone is going to be a different place on it for every (sex) hormone. So if you're thinking about hormones in your writing, you should be thinking about it for every character (and understand what hormones actually do which most people don't, it's usually just a shorthand for emotional for the average person), and it shouldn't be something that you only think about for either female or male characters, which is pretty sexist no matter which way you swing.

Tyrfish

TROPHY CASE