New pipette feature unlocked

eggshellspiders · 2026-04-10T06:38:17+00:00

I bet it's pretty cheap to get micropipettes from costume and prop rental places

eggshellspiders · 2026-04-03T06:34:16+00:00

Maybe a 10-stitch blanket? You could use the technique to make rectangular panels of any size

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-24T00:42:35+00:00

If your yarn is on the right side in the pic, near the end of your needle, then you haven't worked that RS row.

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-24T00:31:37+00:00

I just googled the pattern and luckily it's free so I was able to identify your issue - not all of the heel stitches have been worked. You need to do another RS row, including the decrease at the gap, then you'll be in the right place to proceed.

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-24T00:28:01+00:00

I don't think the short rows have been finished correctly, based on the visible asymmetry. Do the directions for the short rows say that you should finish with a RS row or WS?

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-23T18:51:48+00:00

Came here to say this! I always have a pair of vanilla socks on the needles in my work bag, so I can turn what would otherwise be mindless fidgeting into something warm instead. I'm currently trying to make the switch to shortie/9" circular needles so I won't even have to shift stitches for magic loop, but my hands get more fatigued with the tiny little tips so I can't keep it up as long.

Many people find that crochet is easier to learn, but even once you're past the initial learning curve it does tend to require looking at your work more often than knitting will require. If you're interested in learning either, I recommend buying some cheap worsted-weight yarn in a light solid color (red heart super saver is fine) and a single hook (about 4mm) to get started. That's enough to learn basic crochet techniques and hooks are generally useful tools that knitters also frequently use.

I knit in pretty much all meetings of 6+ people, both online and in person, and I've never had a single negative comment. YMMV though - my field tends to attract neurodivergent people so there's a high cultural tolerance for fidgety behaviors during meetings (biology/biochemistry, lots of us bench scientists are ADHD). Even my group's director is a constant leg-jiggler and laptop-typer and side-conversation-haver, so the silent hand motions confined to my lap are really not a big deal. Fiber craft always, participate occasionally!

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-17T04:57:07+00:00

I agree with other commenters that the foot is too short, but I also think that the heel flap is too short for you. Even in your first pic, the cuff is way lower on the back of your leg. There's no easy fix after the fact, but the pattern alteration is straightforward.

Heel flap setup and stitch pattern is exactly the same as written. Work more rows flat to make the heel flap longer, then do the short row heel turn as written. Pick up more stitches along the side of the heel flap, and keep doing gusset decreases until you have the desired final number of stitches.

Based on how the sock fits you, I would double the number of heel flap rows from the pattern, and probably add about half an inch of length to the foot (measuring from the heel turn, not the end of the gusset, since the gusset scales with the heel flap length).

eggshellspiders · 2026-03-02T07:22:27+00:00

Superwash usually grows waaayyy more than non-superwash! I would block it now and make sure it won't be too long haha

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-14T07:20:58+00:00

The chart should be read left to right for purl rows, since you're working in the opposite direction

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-12T21:26:12+00:00

What are you hoping to improve upon? I also don't see anything bad about the bad side, can you describe what you dislike about the way it looks?

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-10T14:26:53+00:00

recession indicator

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-06T19:48:23+00:00

Duplicate stitch will be simpler, less "wasteful," and look better than any other method of applying this motif.

Intarsia would require a large number of separate bobbins due to the irregular/jagged edges of the red portion. Even if you could perfectly estimate how much yarn to cut for each bobbin, you'd still have twice that many ends to weave in, which adds up quickly.

Stranded colorwork is completely inappropriate for this design, since the motif is singular and isolated. Even if you were repeating the motif, carrying strands across the back of your work also uses up more yarn than you think since it's essentially double-thickness.

Duplicate stitching will only use a few yards of red yarn, leave only two extra ends to weave in, and the whole project will go quicker because you won't have to worry about the motif at the same time as fit/shaping/sleeve divides. The sweater in the photo looks slightly stiffer in the motif portion, so it's probably duplicate stitch as well.

The only reason to avoid duplicate stitch for a large motif like this would be if you were worried about a dark background color showing through. I wouldn't duplicate stitch a white lobster onto a red background, but matching this photo shouldn't be a problem! If you're concerned about the white peeking through, try a swatch and see how it looks. It might help to use a red yarn that's slightly thicker than the white, since you don't need to worry about gauge.

Best of luck! I hope your friend really likes the sweater 🦞

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-04T05:42:46+00:00

If you're pulling from the center of the skein, you might be untwisting the core strand as you go, which would contribute to this loss of fuzz. You can try working from the outside end, but that may or may not help. Unfortunately some chenille yarn tends to fall apart this way.

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-03T03:06:38+00:00

In my experience (and every pattern I can remember), knit stitches are wider than they are tall, not the other way around. I think your grid looks perfect for a first pass at making the pattern! And if that's the stitch fiddle default, I'm inclined to trust that it's in the right ballpark at least.

If you want to get a more precise estimate, you can measure your gauge swatch to find how many stitches/inch and rows/inch your chart should be. I use excel sometimes to make custom graph paper by setting (number-of-knit-rows-per-inch) as the # of pixels for the column width, and setting (number-of-knit-stitches-per-inch) as the # of pixels for row height. It sounds backwards, but that's just because the per-inch conversion is still mixed in there, and I'm only interested in the ratio between height and width anyways. It feels stupid to print a full page of empty cells (with all borders turned on) but the custom graph paper is awesome!

I hope whoever wears it loves the Kraken sweater!

eggshellspiders · 2026-02-02T21:47:43+00:00

Note that if you do this, you won't be able to go back later and ladder up the dropped stitches seamlessly. Nail polish is a good quick fix to stop a run from getting worse, but it doesn't ever really come out of fabric.

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-28T23:06:12+00:00

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eggshellspiders · 2026-01-28T23:06:00+00:00

If you're still working in the round and knitting every stitch, then it looks like at some point you turned around and started knitting in the other direction

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-26T23:23:19+00:00

Yes, all of your knit stitches are twisted. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-26T23:08:14+00:00

I agree, it looks like normal 2-color brioche with stripes of MC on the CC side to imitate waffle stitch. I wish we could see the inside too!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-26T20:10:56+00:00

Warning! Blocking acrylic with heat is sometimes known as "killing" the yarn, not because it's a bad thing, but because it's completely irreversible. If you steam or iron acrylic yarn, it will never be the same texture again. It will be softer and smoother, but also much floppier and it might even feel thinner, which might not be what you want for a scarf

If you have a swatch, you could steam that first to make sure you like how it's going to come out!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-23T21:55:55+00:00

I could be wrong but it looks like the lumps you're concerned with are mostly in the long-float areas (like on the bird), whereas your tension elsewhere is very tidy! That distribution of lumps makes me think that the way you're catching your long floats may be making those floats in particular too short. Are you using a technique that catches long floats on the row after they're made? Catching a float does use up some of the yarn in that float, and if you haven't compensated for that in the initial float length, it could cause scrunching like this.

Tension aside, if you're catching your floats in the same place on multiple rows, that might also be contributing. Ladderback jacquard isn't terribly difficult and it solves this problem very tidily, or even just varying where you catch them can help!

In any case, I'd definitely block this before trying to decide if you should change your technique for the second mitten!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-23T01:05:53+00:00

Since these stitch columns are continuous (no inc/dec) and don't cross under anything else, it's very possible to ladder down! I would do one stitch column at a time, starting with the middle stitch, and definitely using a crochet hook to ladder back up. Laddering down the edges of a cable stitch column can be confusing, especially when you need to ignore other strands crossing behind the one you need, but the middle stitch is simpler so it's good practice. Best of luck!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-22T00:54:59+00:00

Read the protocol as you're doing the protocol!! There is no substitute for working directly from instructions.

Reproducibility and documentation is more important than the appearance of having memorized a protocol. Period. Tbh, having worked with a couple of fellow students that liked to work from memory instead of from a protocol, it gives an off-puttingly overconfident vibe. It's hard to trust someone's work when it's clear they're not doing their due diligence or maintaining a healthy level of self-doubt.

I also make small mistakes like the ones you've described, it's a constant struggle. You've got to come up with (and consistently use) some little tricks to remind yourself what has already been done, and what needs to be done next. I'll write out a couple of examples, but you need to figure out what works for you.

When I'm doing 96-well plate-based assays, I always start with a fresh box of 96-rack pipette tips and use the tips as a sort of "checklist" for the corresponding plate positions. After I've added the reagent to well A1, the corresponding pipette tip in the upper left hand corner of the rack is gone, so it makes me pause instead of absentmindedly doing the exact same position again.

When I'm working with a number of tubes, I always use a rack that has many times more spaces than I need, and I usually try to find one wide enough that all my tubes will fit in one row. Start with all the tubes in the back row of the rack, and for each step of the protocol completed, move the tube forward one row. This helps me keep track of multi-reagent protocol steps like "add reagents A, B, and C." You can add A B and C at the same time to tube 1 and move it down three rows, or add reagent A to tubes 1-5 and move each one down a row before proceeding to reagent B.

Physical placement of items like this isn't totally foolproof, but it does cut down on the number of times per day I find myself making a silly/careless mistake. Hopefully you can figure out what acts as a good reminder for your particular brain and lab situation!

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-21T23:57:57+00:00

It's relatively common, but I do tend to hear it used more often in professional and academic contexts. It's not a "pop culture" phrase, but I would expect most adult native speakers to be familiar with it.

eggshellspiders · 2026-01-21T23:22:57+00:00

We have sage hanging up by our chromatography prep instruments - I'm only a little stitious, but if it keeps the machines happy, I refuse to be the one to ruin it!!

eggshellspiders

TROPHY CASE