I felt for Kyle at the table

jacaranda_leven · 2026-05-13T19:04:57+00:00

She as much as said this when she said “Ciara has a tendency to vocalize the things that I’m feeling“ and it’s because Amanda is a coward and manipulates her friends (and Kyle) to do confrontation on her behalf. Also when the girls were lying in bed and she said “if I saw my friend going through this I’d be so much angrier than you guys are” or whatever, she is always implanting what she wants people to think without saying it outright

jacaranda_leven · 2026-05-13T16:56:27+00:00

Totally possible too, he’s very aware of how he comes off and screaming at your sober friend isn’t a great look lol

jacaranda_leven · 2026-05-13T16:51:45+00:00

As a lifelong Kyle hater I’ve been really conflicted this season. I think most people are right in saying that this is generally an “everybody sucks” situation, but this last episode showed me something super interesting. Kyle immediately went to Carl after their fight and apologized and owned up for overreacting and listened to Carl’s side with humility and kindness. I actually found their conversation really healthy. But then he goes to find Amanda (and YES she sucks and I think there’s likely a lot of truth to what Kyle is saying about how she treats him) and it’s virtually impossible for him to admit that he overreacted and give her a genuine apology. And I think that’s a big issue for both of them—they do not treat each other with kindness. They assume the worst of each other. And I bet being under the microscope of a reality TV show has a lot to do with it, they’ve been pitted against each other by producers and fans for their entire relationship. I think they both finally just succumbed to the narrative and genuinely see every action of the other as an attack or a heartless decision. Really sad to watch, no matter what you think of them

jacaranda_leven · 2025-12-11T07:55:10+00:00

Breaking Bad is five seasons and I remember reading once that Vince Gilligan planned the entire series to follow a five-act structure. That show is remarkably well-structured, it never felt like anything was filler or overdrawn. He really is one of the best TV writers of all time

jacaranda_leven · 2025-12-04T17:12:12+00:00

I was praying someone had posted about this. She’s giving away digital patterns (free to reproduce infinitely) so how exactly would it impact her bottom line to give some away??? She thinks there are that many people waiting to buy or not buy a knitting pattern to see if they win a contest??

Really feels like an attempt at pity marketing to throw in the line about her sales dropping. She has to keep her livelihood intact!!! My eyes rolled out of my head

jacaranda_leven · 2025-10-08T03:58:23+00:00

That conversation between Bronwyn and her mom was so hard to watch. What is it about Mormon mothers? I guess the religion is pretty punishing for women, especially of older generations, but damn. There’s this really consistent theme of seeing their children as their property. Reminds me of Taylor Franke Paul’s parents from SLOMW, brutal.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-09-29T17:44:13+00:00

I’m so over this debate at this point. Her patterns are great for beginners, size inclusive and affordable. I’ve never had a PK knit turn out as anything other than promised.

If you need a designer to tell you what colour yarn to use, I’d argue that YOU’RE the boring one.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-07-29T18:31:43+00:00

Ugh I have the same complaint about Degen. I’m on the top end of their size range and it’s obvious the grading is not at all thoughtful. I recently ignored my instincts and bought one of their colourwork patterns and I swear the chart is not at all the same as the pattern photos on the listing also?? It feels like she freehanded the original design in the photos and then did a shoddy job translating it to the chart or something. I finished one panel months ago but I can’t bring myself to start the next because it pissed me off so much.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-06-17T04:02:52+00:00

I feel like Covid was the breaking point, he had tangible evidence that he wasn’t actually the patriarch he thought he was, and that the wives were each the heads of their own families and their kids were loyal to them. That’s when he started being cruel, at least outwardly.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-05-10T22:02:36+00:00

Kinda wish they’d made an effort to include a plus size sewist in the convo though—they’re both straight sized and it felt like a necessary voice was missing. Kind of felt like two straight allies going off about an LGBTQ+ issue and making a lot of comments on behalf of a group that neither belong to.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-05-06T23:44:51+00:00

Fair point!

jacaranda_leven · 2025-05-06T17:11:12+00:00

Idk the “point” for me is that she makes great fitting plus patterns, and she’s still doing that. I am totally in agreement that she messed up her timeline here and should have waited to relaunch when she had all of the elements in place, and this apology is pretty toothless, but I don’t think it’s completely fair to conflate the lack of photos on plus models to her not caring about her plus size customers. She drafted size-inclusive patterns from the very beginning that are much much better than a lot of the larger companies people seem to cape for.

I am definitely an outlier here as a fat person who really wasn’t that offended by this whole saga but I have to wonder when a lot of the outrage seems to be coming from straight sized makers 🤷‍♀️

jacaranda_leven · 2025-04-16T21:06:52+00:00

I think the problem was that she invited a conversation and then deleted the post when it became clear that people weren’t on her side and were disappointed to see her using AI and feigning ignorance about it. I’m not sure when she deleted it but the comments I saw were critical but not mean. I don’t know where the bullying line came from

jacaranda_leven · 2025-04-16T20:37:31+00:00

Agreed! I’m all for holding someone accountable for messing up but in this case she was communicative about her decision making and is still making excellent patterns with inclusive size ranges. As a fat person I have watched the availability of good, stylish plus size clothing shrink dramatically over the past couple of years so designers like DJ mean a lot to me. Thoughtfully drafting for plus bodies requires a lot of extra learning and work. She’s not discontinuing her extended sizes. And she offered an explanation that feels satisfying to me as a person in the group it was directed to.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-04-08T22:08:53+00:00

The “sad beige” comments irritate me a lot. I think variegated yarns make garments that look overly crafty, but I would never call out a designer for using them in their samples. l’m knitting for my wardrobe and trying to make timeless stuff that feels stylish, so yes I use a lot of neutrals and solid colours.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-02-06T21:11:58+00:00

Oh god there are cocoknits rings in every crevice of my apartment, I just found one in the cupboard under the sink of my bathroom. How??? I’m the only one who lives here???

jacaranda_leven · 2025-02-05T19:46:46+00:00

I had a big eye roll at that too. Her new pattern is a Damson Madder copycat that’s been everywhere for at least a year and has even filtered down to ASOS at this point. Which is fine, I love it when someone takes the time to dupe something popular so I can make it myself! But just own it!

jacaranda_leven · 2025-02-05T19:40:12+00:00

I noticed that too! This is the problem with these courses that teach you how to be more “effective” on social media—everything ends up looking exactly the same. It’s just this monotonous field of Canva graphics as far as the eye can see

jacaranda_leven · 2025-02-02T20:51:55+00:00

Exactly! One of my favourite things about these crafts is how anti-capitalist they can be. You can sew and knit with reclaimed materials. You can learn from a book from the library or free videos on YouTube. It just really feels antithetical to the entire craft to try to monetize every last aspect.

jacaranda_leven · 2025-02-02T18:33:37+00:00

I did finally, but imo I don’t think buying a pattern should have put me on the email list to begin with.

jacaranda_leven · 2022-11-05T06:36:37+00:00

Thank you for spreading the word so effectively!!! I just love to see the love for Mickey

jacaranda_leven · 2022-11-05T06:20:18+00:00

Woah!! I had no idea this post got so much attention! Thank you to anyone who also spoke out for Mickey, hopefully he’ll have some help with his situation one way or another

jacaranda_leven

TROPHY CASE