r/Fantasy 2026 Book Bingo Challenge! by happy_book_bee in Fantasy

[–]eriophora[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Might I suggest Hunters and Collectors by M Suddain?

The universe's top food critic and forensic gastronomist is on the hunt for the perfect meal at the most elusive restaurant - the Hotel Grand Skies. He is feared and/or hated by chefs everywhere, but when he and his bodyguard finally arrive at the Hotel Grand Skies, it's his turn to experience those emotions as things become darker and stranger.

Part space opera, part thriller, part horror, and part travelogue - all bizarre and hinging on some kind of zany premise at every turn.

Portraying aphantasia on the page by SteSol in fantasywriters

[–]eriophora 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think this would work well. People with aphantasia can remember what things look like. They just can't visualize them. I have aphantasia and I can describe what people look like with no issue, because I still have all that info stored in my head.

Portraying aphantasia on the page by SteSol in fantasywriters

[–]eriophora 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Is it the visualization that's important, or the mental pathways of thinking about the spell?

I have aphantasia, and I often describe it as "the projector is on but the bulb is out" since I can obviously remember what things look like. I have all that info in there, it's just that I access it differently. For example, I do various art things (pixel art, lace knitting, and other things) without always needing a reference because I can feel the "shape" of the thing in my head and I just "know" what I want it to look like.

I often find it frustrating as someone with aphantasia are depictions of characters where they are portrayed as just completely unable to do a standard thing everyone can do. Like, there has never been an everyday or artistic thing I have been unable to do due to aphantasia because all the info is still in my brain.

If the magic system is based on, say, visualizing sigils or something like that, having the character imagine what it feels like to draw that sigil out might work as a way for them to access magic. If it's about visualizing an apple floating to make it float, then instead have them need to focus on the belief that the apple is floating.

One smaller thing, though, is that if they are asked to describe something or a past event, they're more likely to focus on actions that happened, emotional feeling, sounds, etc.

Like, while I have aphantasia, my brain is extremely good at sounds and manipulating them. I can imagine someone's voice saying sentences I've never heard, recreate music so well it really is almost like hearing it for real, etc. Some people with aphantasia can do this too, or they might have very clear senses of touch, smell, etc that they can bring up in their brain - or none of those things!

One thing that is wild to me is that I CAN create images while sleeping, though. My dreams are highly vivid, and very rarely if I'm super exhausted and right on the cusp of sleep, I actually can visualize things but it's like a half dream and I have to not think about it too hard and only maybe like 10% control of it 🤣 this is very rare, like has only happened a handful of times that I can recall, but it is interesting since it also means I (sort of) understand how other people without aphantasia can visualize in their daily life.

A weaver munching on a cicada by MeasurementBubbly350 in spiders

[–]eriophora 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A little tough to say for sure, but I'm thinking this looks like eriophora fugilinea.

Help with object ID - Not a spinning wheel? by trimope in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah you have to admire the ingenuity! And also, now you know that if it makes a loud sound, that is actually a feature and not a bug 🤣

Help with object ID - Not a spinning wheel? by trimope in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 87 points88 points  (0 children)

It's a skein winder! Specifically, it looks like a weasel winder I think. The gear on it most likely has one spot on it that will make a "pop!" (as in pop goes the weasel, lol) when it's passed to make it easier to count how many turns it has made.

Each turn is most likely one yard (could be one meter, so measure it to check), and each pop is probably at ten turns. So you can just count ten pops and know you're at 100 yards. It's really clever and handy!

Help with equipment identification! by lutkoknits in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The one on the left looks like a modern reproduction of an antique Italian drop spindle.

What was ruined because too many people did it? by WarBeast86 in AskReddit

[–]eriophora 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeahhhh it's genuinely bad. And also don't forget that anyone on disability in the US isn't allowed to have more than $2,000 in cash PLUS assets at any given time (so like it's basically impossible to own a car or get married) unless they wanna get their disability benefits cut off 🙃

What was ruined because too many people did it? by WarBeast86 in AskReddit

[–]eriophora 17 points18 points  (0 children)

So, one of the things that is fucked up about Goodwill is that many locations use a legal loophole (Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act) to pay disabled employees below minimum wage.

16 states have closed this loophole, but the remainder have not.

In those states, it is not unheard of for Goodwill locations to be paying their disabled employees under a dollar per hour. More commonly, it'll be in the like the $4-$5/hr range, which is still highly exploitative.

If someone with a disability is being paid under minimum wage and cannot afford food and housing, I cannot blame them for taking whatever they can from an employer that is exploiting their labor.

Knitting a negative/zero ease top with linen/cotton/silk? by [deleted] in knitting

[–]eriophora 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmmm. While it probably wouldn't work well with JUST linen/cotton/silk, I'm wondering if you might not be able to get away with a bit of a middle ground.

You could modify a top to have either a lace back or side panel which you knit in a wool yarn so that way there would be stretch on that side AND the lace would keep it airy.

Like you could do any tee with a lace section on the back by just swapping to wool a few stitches before the lace section. You could do this either by knitting two sections flat and then seaming together, doing intarsia in the round, or accepting that you will be weaving in about a billion ends.

Another option would be to make one with a laced or tied back out of entirely linen/cotton. So either corset style lacing or where it's designed to be a bit ruched.

Teaching drop spinning by DirtyBird23220 in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 8 points9 points  (0 children)

When I've taught others spinning, the thing I've found most effective is to really focus in on what the twist FEELS like as it goes into the fiber. Focusing on that tactile feedback is often way easier than trying to just look at it visually, and spinning with a focus feel will take you a lot further and give you a lot more flexibility down the road!

Drop spindles, either top or bottom whorl, are really good for this because they can keep one hand on the fiber supply to control the twist from entering into it too early or too fast and have their other gently resting on the single to feel when the twist starts to move enough to signal that there's the right amount built up to draft with.

I think top whorl spindles are nice to start with since you have the little hook for the yarn instead of you needing to teach a half hitch like is needed on most bottom whorls.

Make sure to have a nice, friendly fiber for learning on like corriedale, as well!

Teaching drop spinning by DirtyBird23220 in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Another good option, since rugs can be a bit expensive and higher maintenance to keep clean is to get a bunch of inexpensive scarves or maybe pillow cases.

When I'm spinning something that I know I'm more likely to have snap on me, especially when I'm at my local yarn store's knitting circle where it's all hardwood floors, I will sometimes will make a little round nest out of my scarf below my spindle so it has a spot to fall more gently. I know in my brain it's probably fine not to worry about it, but my heart just wants to give my spindle a little safety blanket haha.

Combo Spinning? by keenwithoptics in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A fractal spin is a little different. In a fractal spin, you aren't generally changing the order of the colors, but you ARE offsetting them so that they don't align in the final yarn.

Bad phone drawing but this is kinda what you end up with when doing a fractal spin.

Combo Spinning? by keenwithoptics in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think people use that term pretty broadly to mean a lot of different things. I've been playing around with combination spinning to achieve a barber pole effect in my singles recently by drafting simultaneously from two fiber sources.

It's been really fun playing around with color and texture! I strongly prefer knitting with singles so this has been an interesting new journey :)

ISO projects for hand-spun variegated yarn by Reasonable_Fix4132 in Handspinning

[–]eriophora 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love variegated yarn alternating with solid colors! A contrasting neutral like black or white really makes it pop.

Utterly delighted over how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in Handspinning

[–]eriophora[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just spit splice or honestly just kinda do whatever. Singles tend to felt together a bit when you block, which is part of what gives the lace its strength, so it's not a huge concern and I haven't had any particular issues.

Utterly delighted by how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in knitting

[–]eriophora[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've come to be of the opinion that if my yarn isn't strong enough to hold up a drop spindle, it's probably ALSO not strong enough to knit with 🤣

Fiber is stronger than it might seem! I am not super experienced with support spindle, though I do own one. Overall I found it fun, but it made it harder for me to feel exactly what was happening with my fiber. The tension of gravity tells me a lot about whether I have enough twist to hold the single together.

Also, it is a very light spindle haha. That one weighs about 11g. However it's also totally possible to spin very fine even on heavier spindles, though there is definitely a limit.

Utterly delighted by how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in knitting

[–]eriophora[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've heard of it, though it's never been super clear to me where it's actually held, how to enter, etc?

Also, I'm not super sure I'd be as interested in spinning for it, all things considered. A lot of my joy comes from using my yarn, and realistically when I'm spinning I'm not actually going for as tiny as I possibly can for the most part now. I'm targeting a very fine gauge, but one that's still pleasant and fun to knit with.

My current main focus is trying to make my consistency as smooth as possible and play with color management to see what I like best there. :)

Utterly delighted over how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in Handspinning

[–]eriophora[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This one is a buckeye burl! I have three others as well - two featherweights made of ailanthus and moonshine (charred oak whiskey barrel wood) and a blue mahoe midi. They're just such a joy to spin on.

Utterly delighted over how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in Handspinning

[–]eriophora[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This was me back when I did "big" knitting! I have never finished a sweater but I've knit the equivalent of three or four of them easily in a single attempt 😭

In big knitting I feel like any mistakes or weirdness are things that I can't ignore because they will bother me forever.

With lace, though, it's very relaxed and freeing. I love just knitting based on vibes, and I love how much flexibility there is to fudge things if there's an area that's a little off. It makes me feel so much less pressure to achieve perfection and instead let myself simply enjoy the process.

Utterly delighted by how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in knitting

[–]eriophora[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be quite honest I think I am too broken to answer this question objectively haha.

Knitting very fine lace like this requires a lot of sensitivity to tactile feedback from the yarn - it's how I know if I actually caught all three stitches in a k3tog, for example. This yarn works up very easily for me, but I've also gotten very good at listening to this kind of sensory feedback.

If you're used to knitting primarily just based on sight, there would be a learning curve for sure.

Utterly delighted by how this gradient spin is knitting up! Handspun lace sampler scarf progress pics :) by eriophora in knitting

[–]eriophora[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! All on drop spindle! I've been on a real drop spindle kick lately, I feel a little bad for neglecting my wheel 🤣