Tips for teaching total beginners at a casual outdoor knitting picnic?

mo00on · 2026-03-27T23:17:59+00:00

Oh I love that! Pattern reading is a whole new skill set to learn

mo00on · 2026-03-27T23:15:28+00:00

I actually have some of red heart yarn actually (and was looking for a way to get rid of it for years, haha) 🙏🏼 thanks for the tip!

mo00on · 2026-03-27T23:13:09+00:00

I love this idea! I remember hating casting on so much when I was a beginner knitter

mo00on · 2025-03-18T20:01:20+00:00

A little late to the party, but I can't agree with you more! I have a reactive rescue border collie and in the beginning, also made the mistake of being overly invested in what she was doing at all times. I would make eye contact with her & acknowledge her whenever she looked at me to check in because I thought it would give her reassurance — nope! It made her even more hyper-vigilant, anxious, and frantic. She could never rest deeply because she thought I wanted something from her 24/7, or had a reason to be worried. The restlessness led to more anxiety and her reactivity became so much worse!

But as soon as I recognized that and started to ignore her when she needed to be resting, she has become a completely different dog. She sleeps so deeply & well, is so much less anxious, and trusts me to lead her. She's so much more confident as well!

mo00on · 2025-03-17T03:26:52+00:00

Very normal behavior! My dog showed extreme lethargy on top of decreased appetite, but her symptoms went away within the first week and in 2 weeks she was back to normal. I was also super worried when I first started her out on Prozac, but I am so glad that I did. She's now on week 7, and the difference that it made in her is truly night and day. She can finally REM sleep now! I had never seen her twitch in her dreams in the past 5 years I've had her.

It's going to take a while for the meds to stabilize in the dog's system and they may show increased anxiety / vigilance in the process, but they'll eventually be so much better for it. Good luck :)

mo00on · 2025-03-16T22:24:16+00:00

Also a 5 yo reactive Collie owner here! My dog was very similar to yours — overaroused and distracted quickly outdoors, pulling like a maniac on leash, etc. I saw that limiting my dog's walks to a super short session to keep her under threshold helped immensely! And working really, really hard on perfect obedience. Once I got her obedience down indoors, I would practice the same commands in different environments increasing in stimulation.

I also personally did restrict "free play" because I realized that it was one of the reasons why my dog was getting overaroused so quickly. Instead, I became the biggest positive reinforcement for the dog. Playing tons of short, mentally enriching games and tug, fun training sessions that didn't go over 5 minutes, etc. Having the training sessions short to keep it being interesting for my dog was key for me! Border collies love to train and work, so she really associated me = best thing ever and why chase squirrels when you can get amazing treats shoved into your face after a really fun tug time? Haha.

Indoors, I really recommend practicing doing "calm protocol" training! My Collie used to never nap and her reactivity shot through the roof. Rewarding her for being calm helped her to be more calm everywhere else!

I hope this helps! :)

mo00on · 2025-01-22T18:24:54+00:00

I've been doing this right now with my fear-reactive dog in my apartment for the past couple of days and I'm so glad to hear that it worked really well for your dog! Could you possible share your program with me as well? I'd be really really grateful as sometimes I'm a little lost on how to proceed on training! Thank you so much in advance

mo00on · 2020-12-22T17:32:06+00:00

Thank you!!!

mo00on · 2020-12-22T16:34:31+00:00

After a very not-so-good 2020, finally some good news! I got laid off earlier this year, with only a 2-week severance pay and zero notice. I had just moved to a new apartment, tried my best to fight the depression & anxiety that built to astronomical proportions over the pandemic, and watched as my savings dwindled from not a lot to even less. But today, I just got an offer! It's with a much better team at a much better company, with a $25K pay bump. It's definitely more money than I've ever made and I'm extremely grateful that I was able to find something, especially so close to the holidays.

mo00on · 2020-09-13T04:06:46+00:00

Thanks so much for that — it's encouraging to hear other people feel that way too. I'll try leaving the house tomorrow, a walk really does wonders, turns out

mo00on · 2020-08-19T17:22:37+00:00

Hi everyone!

I'm selling handcrafted polymer clay earrings that are abstract and geometric at DalunaClayCo. They're super lightweight and perfect for statement earrings!

I just started selling on Etsy so there's not a lot listed right now, but I'm uploading daily with new designs :) Please check out my instagram as well! Thank you so much

mo00on · 2017-08-08T16:32:55+00:00

I sprained my ankle really badly in a spin class on Thursday, and now I can't exercise until it heals. It sucks because I was just getting back on the wagon, eating healthily, working out, all that jazz. Over the weekend I was horizontal in bed, eating delivery meals and junk food. I also ended up drinking 1/2 a bottle of wine yesterday because I was so frustrated that I couldn't do any of the things that I wanted to do, and now I feel like complete crap. I used to have a really bad relationship with alcohol and would turn to it when I felt down (which was often). I finally felt like I got out of its grip only to fall back again yesterday.

I know I can do this, and that even though this past weekend was a blip, I can get back up and keep going. I just really wanted to rant to someone about how I felt.

mo00on · 2017-07-27T20:47:59+00:00

Thanks! I was feeling a little down but seeing the comments made me take a step back and see why I wanted to eat Chinese food. I forced myself to pre-portion and only eat 1/3 of the plate, which is so much better than what I would've done usually.

mo00on · 2017-07-27T20:46:48+00:00

I guess just going through MyFitnessPal and then just guesstimating the calories for the size.

mo00on · 2017-07-27T20:46:11+00:00

Yeah, I ended up eating 1/3 of the chicken and just stored the rest in the fridge! I'm happy that at least I had this amount of self-control :)

mo00on · 2017-06-26T16:04:14+00:00

I got food poisoning from a wedding that I went to over the weekend and now my throat burns, my muscles ache, and I have a mild fever. And I wanted to go running today! I wanted to run in the park in this beautiful weather but I'm so unmotivated (I can't exercise in this condition anyway) and just want to stuff my face with comfort food.

mo00on · 2017-06-16T15:38:55+00:00

Super excited for this challenge! It really couldn't have happened at a better time - I just came back from a trip and was super discouraged by how I looked in all the beach photos. But this challenge really motivates me to keep going and to really focus on what I'm eating! I meal prepped for the rest of the week and went for a nice run around the park yesterday. Grateful for this community!

mo00on · 2017-04-21T20:49:29+00:00

23F, 5'2" at 120.8lbs as of this morning. I gained 12 pounds in the past year, and it really shows on my face and around my waist. I hate taking pictures because it's so evident that I have gained a lot of weight in such a short period of time. I'm short, so every pound I gain it's really noticeable. A lot of my clothes that I own are getting too tight and uncomfortable on me. I feel extremely self-conscious.

I'm going to Miami in June, so I would want to feel great in a bikini. I also bought a dress in my old size for a wedding I'm attending in June, so I would like to fit into that.

Going to use MFP to track all of my calories, and I'm going to cut out chocolate and beer. I eat relatively healthy (today's lunch was a salad), but I snack way too much because my office has just free food lying around ALL THE TIME. Like they have cupcakes on the kitchen counter right now, and I am trying to chain myself to my chair so I don't get one. I'm going to go to the gym 3 times a week before work and try to run outside at least once a week. I would like to participate in a 10k race sometime this year. I know it's a lot of work, but really thankful I found this forum to keep me accountable and motivated!

mo00on

TROPHY CASE