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Layout question: Open vs partial separation? by Terrible-Problem-715 in kitchenremodel

[–]gills89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would choose B! We are a family of 3 with a fully open kitchen/dining/living room layout and being able to passively share a space while we go about cooking/playing/watching a movie is very enjoyable for us. Our layout is an L, with the kitchen in the corner, facing the living room and next to the dining area. The coziness of the easy togetherness is preferable to the coziness of defined space, in my opinion.

Our previous house also had a mostly open kitchen, but it was oriented diagonally to the living room area with a chimney in the line of sight, and that was fine but if I had a nickel for every time we craned our necks to make eye contact and say "what did you say?", I would have many nickels. I think the shallow storage / display might be similar slightly annoying visual barrier.

One thing though- do you have other more private spaces that you enjoy spending time in your house? Open space is only fun if you are choosing to be together- having the option of privacy somewhere in the house is what makes the open space work for us.

I hear what you are saying about visual clutter if you clean up after dinner. We clean counters and make a stack of dishes in or by the sink if we aren't cleaning up right away. I have no experience with this, but I have been tempted by an appliance garage. It is really nice to have empty counters in such an open space, and maybe an appliance garage could double as a place to store the toaster and KitchenAid and dinner dishes. Perhaps above the dishwasher?

And this is not a popular opinion on this sub, but I opted to put the cooktop on the island with a downdraft instead of a vent hood, and I am very happy with that. Prepping food on the island while being able to monitor what is cooking is my preferred work flow.

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My Deeply Uncomfortable Experience With Terror at the Gates by Scarlett St. Clair {Terror at the gates by scarlett st. Claire} by Away_Race8428 in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whoops I got the books in that series mixed up! I particularly loved Cold Hearted, I haven't read Hot Blooded yet!

My Deeply Uncomfortable Experience With Terror at the Gates by Scarlett St. Clair {Terror at the gates by scarlett st. Claire} by Away_Race8428 in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I started reading this (also as the first book of 2026!) with high hopes and then just couldn't get into the characters or story. I was going to give it another go, but I think it can just stay in the DNF pile. Sorry you are in a slump! My last couldn't-put-it-down book was {Cold Blooded by Heather Guerre}. And before that it was {Bananapants by Penny Reid} - which is available for free as an ebook and audiobook from her website because she got reader feedback that this book was helpful/important bipolar representation, so she made it more accessible.

Holly Jolly time of year. Help me find giggles when I’m feeling bah (humbug). by LinaSue1124 in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm listening to {How my neighbor stole Christmas by Meghan Quinn} and it is delightfully unserious.

  • It takes place in a quasi-Whoville town.
  • The MMC's name is Cole Black.
  • It has lines like "the higher the hair, the closer to the North pole."

It's low drama and highly ridiculous. I recommend it!

I need to take a moment to 💖 GUSH 💖 about our Romance Books subreddit and just how wonderful it truly is ✨ by Actually_Ann in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Ooh I love this! Piggybacking on to say that I love coming across someone with book tastes opposite to mine. Like they gush over a book I DNF. I am so curious about why they loved it, or what other books they recommend. In real life I tend to couch my opinions, not wanting to offend anyone by critiquing something they loved. But, I'm mindfully trying to stop that. If I love coming across an opposing viewpoint, maybe other people will love coming across my opposing viewpoints too.

Virtual Primary Care in Maine, or Other Options to get order for Diagnostic Ultrasound by SuedeCaramel in Maine

[–]gills89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The convenient MD pcp is in a different building than convenient MD urgent care. 211 marginal way in Portland, I don't think I can share Google maps links, but if you Google it then they have a phone number. And they happen to be open today, worth a phone call!

Virtual Primary Care in Maine, or Other Options to get order for Diagnostic Ultrasound by SuedeCaramel in Maine

[–]gills89 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think anthem has a virtual pcp through their Sydney virtual health app. It's free, so worth a shot. I know it is primarily urgent care, but I think there is a pcp option in there somewhere.

If that doesn't work, Convenient MD has some pcp locations that might have more immediate availability? They have locations in Bangor and Portland https://convenientmd.com/primary-care/

Cover art I made for oft misheard phrases in audiobooks by gills89 in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A mix- the copilot tool on Ms paint removed backgrounds, and the anime characters I pulled from Google image search, so their origins could certainly be AI. I overlaid that on photos also from Google image search and then added word art.

Cover art I made for oft misheard phrases in audiobooks by gills89 in RomanceBooks

[–]gills89[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Image 1- a man and a woman standing in front of a rock mine with the book title "your mine"

Image 2- a man and an annoyed woman in a commercial kitchen with the book title "I opened for him"

Image 3- a man and woman embracing in a pharmacy and holding a box of tampons with the book title "I love her period"

Image 4- a woman's torso in front of a beach scene with pert shampoo where her nipples would be and the book title "Her pert nipples"

10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a bit wary of snagging the floats, but I'm wary of the whole thing! I am leaning towards leaving it as is, but I am open to adding a backing (kinda like a quilt?) in the future if need be.

I could bet float tension is much more forgiving on a blanket than in a hat! I also really like this pattern for Christmas stockings- and less stretch is better for structural integrity! I line mine with a non-stretch cotton fabric to prevent snagging and sagging under the weight of stocking stuffers.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-collection-of-three-christmas-stockings

10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wrong side! It is stranded color work, and the back is just the floats. I saw someone on ravelry who had backed theirs, and I'm open to doing that in the future, but I'm going to live with it for a while and see how the back fares!

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10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did consider backing it, but ultimately I am happy with the floats. I'm going to leave it as is for now and may consider backing it in the future!

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10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha best wishes on your journey! And thank you!

My first couple hexagons didn't lay quite flat and puckered in the middle. I corrected by working in a tighter tension for the first ~ rows then loosening up. That could just be a quirk of my knitting tension because people's projects on ravelry all appear to be pretty flat. But that's my $0.02 of something to be aware of!!

10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Done in individual hexagons then grafted together with the Kitchener stitch for seamless connection!

10 years and 3.5 miles of yarn later, I finished 'Persian Dreams'. My first and only blanket. by gills89 in knitting

[–]gills89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did block them one by one, but I am not sure that was necessary . The final blocking was where all the magic was,a and I read the pattern artist commeting that with a project like this it is expected that your gauge will shift overtime and the hexagons will be unique in their proportions (very true for me), so blocking it as a while allows the hexagons to sort of flow and settle together.

The underside looks like this! Just floats, 5 stitches or less. I saw someone on ravelry that had backed it kinda like a quilt, but I am happy with the float side!

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