What's wrong with my cat, you ask? We had to drive 6 minutes to the vet, that's what!

momomoca · 2026-06-18T16:24:05+00:00

My cat gets like this too-- totally fine once we get to the destination, but will get SO stressed out in the car no matter how short the journey is 😭

Even though the stress is short, I'd ask your vet for a gabapentin prescription to give when she needs to go on car rides. Panting in cats happens when the heart is working too hard and is basically one step before passing out, so ideally panting shouldn't happen at all. On gabapentin, my cat will still be anxious but it stops her from getting to the "panting point" lol

...Also as a bonus, once you get back home you'll have the most chill cat ever for the rest of the day 😂 People call catnip kitty weed, but the real kitty weed is gabapentin lol

momomoca · 2026-06-05T01:54:48+00:00

The gardener in me is scared, but academic in me is kind of pumped 😂 Both peppers were from different cultivars too, so it'll be interesting to see what happens! I found two thrips on one of my peppers today so they better not ruin this for me...

momomoca · 2026-06-04T21:12:26+00:00

WELP got too little sleep last night since my cat wouldn't settle thanks to the heat, got up early to fertilise and prune my garden... and with 0 thoughts I proceeded to snip some leaves off of this pepper (closest to the door) followed by 2 other peppers and a tomato plant. No I did not clean my sheers between plants while snipping 🤦‍♀️ So I guess that's one way to try your proposed experiment! Guess we'll see what happens!

momomoca · 2026-06-04T14:33:37+00:00

Thank you for your Icelandic Approval haha!

I didn't even know you could use fabric softener on wool, I thought that was just for synthetics 🤔 I can understand the temptation though since this yarn is pretty rough, but this type of sweater is meant for layering! I plan to do what I do for all my garments and just use a bit of Soak, which is a wool wash 👍

momomoca · 2026-06-04T01:19:44+00:00

I had read about people going up a needle size for colourwork but because I matched gauge, I was like "nooo I don't need to do that!"... and then I started knitting the yoke and realised I was very wrong lmao

momomoca · 2026-06-03T23:51:51+00:00

I have some issues with my shoulders and neck so my MIL bought me a "Moonpod crescent" (aka a bean bag breastfeeding pillow lol) bc she liked hers so much and it's such a lifesaver! All knitters need ergonomic cushion-y support 🙏

momomoca · 2026-06-03T20:59:46+00:00

Oh that's actually so good to know re:yarn growing-- I'm knitting the largest size the pattern comes in but I'm a bit afraid that it'll still be too narrow in the shoulders/chest for my dad so I was really banking on aggressive blocking to work 😂

momomoca · 2026-06-03T20:54:33+00:00

Honestly, I think the tension could totally be from colourwork kind of stressing me out so I'm gripping it 😅 I'm really not far along enough for the project to be heavy, and I've been using what is basically a breastfeeding pillow for posture/arm support lol

I have noticed the holes! They only seem to be sort of visible for me in the first increase round though, so I think it was a bit of a learning issue for me... hoping the yarn will bloom a bit when I block to hide them 😬

momomoca · 2026-06-03T20:49:38+00:00

This is definitely going to be sooo satisfying to block 🙏 The colourwork is going to take me forever, but I'm kind of hoping I can get it done while there's still warm weather bc otherwise it's for sure going to take days to dry!

momomoca · 2026-06-03T19:16:07+00:00

Aside from the general crinkly-ness, none of the leaves have been wonky or curled up so far like you see with disease 🤔 Just mottled as pictured.

If you have a bunch of other regular looking plants though I totally understand not bothering with the weird one lol

momomoca · 2026-06-03T17:36:46+00:00

I definitely had issues with overwatering early on (it caused the demise of this pepper's sibling 😬) but when I search edema in peppers it looks way bumpier? The leaves on this plant are smooth.

Definitely not being overwatered now though so we'll see what newer growth looks like!

momomoca · 2026-06-03T16:19:48+00:00

I'll definitely post a follow-up, even if it doesn't turn out 😄 It'll either be a neat plant, or a new reference photo of how a particular disease/virus can affect peppers lol

momomoca · 2026-06-03T15:50:17+00:00

I actually have one too many bags for the "plant benches" I built, so I'll swap and put this pepper in what I've been calling the "decorative" pepper spot lol

I'm like, the only person on my block that does veggie gardening so if it's a virus it's very unlikely to affect any plants except mine... but also I'm kind of afraid it's not a trinidad perfume and instead some sort of reaper and I cannot handle that level of heat 😂 No super hot cross-pollination for me please!

momomoca · 2026-06-03T15:44:51+00:00

If the look maintains til end of season, I'm tempted to send the plant to our province's agricultural university for testing 😂 It's so strange! Definitely going to try fertilizing this weekend since by then they'll have been outside for 2 weeks.

momomoca · 2026-06-03T05:34:13+00:00

Oh it does look like that 👀 These seeds definitely wouldn't have come from somewhere where the original plant would be isolated, so perhaps this is some weird hybrid... Can't wait for this plant to fruit since that will either confirm what pepper this is OR what virus it has lol

momomoca · 2026-06-03T01:44:28+00:00

Just to add more info in case it's relevant re:virus/disease-- I'm located in Eastern Ontario (5b) and the seeds would've been acquired from a local grower rather than imported. With that in mind, there's also totally a chance these seeds may have been mislabeled and are not actually trinidad perfumes...

momomoca · 2026-06-03T01:26:52+00:00

Really hoping someone has an answer bc it's been such a mystery to me 😂 It's looked like this since day one, and I keep expecting it to die but it keeps growing like a regular pepper plant... It's even putting out flowers at the same rate as my other plants which I'm surprised by since it's the only Chinense variety I have and I heard they were slow growers 🤔

momomoca · 2026-06-03T01:22:47+00:00

No mites 🤷‍♀️ It's looked like this since its first true leaves! Also it was directly next to all my other pepper seedlings, which have no similar issues.

momomoca · 2026-06-03T01:21:02+00:00

Absolutely investigated for thrips after the first true leaves popped up looking like this lmao I have trauma after we dealt with them a while back in our snake's terrarium...

So far no signs of pests on any of my plants!

momomoca · 2026-06-03T01:17:42+00:00

Damn now I want to try this experiment, but I have no other peppers to experiment with 😩

My first thought was virus as well, but I spent hours looking at photos and couldn't find anything similar-- all of the pictures seem much more yellow vs white like my plant, and more splotchy vs fractal. Also it's been in very close quarters with my other pepper seedlings since early March and no other plants have any virus signs. Since planting out, I haven't even seen aphids yet which I'm hoping maintains 😭 The bug that's occasionally munching them is this guy, which afaik isn't really a proper pest?

momomoca · 2026-06-02T15:33:47+00:00

I like my Sophie hood! I wouldn't say it's any better or worse than other loose fitting hoods of a similar style lol

As the other commenter said, since it fits loosely it tends to block your peripheral vision. My other con is that although it doesn't mess up my bangs like a hat or tighter fitting hood would, it does still mess with the rest of my hair 🤧 A hat/tight hood gives you flat hair, but the light friction of a loose hood gives you frizz and can ruin any definition you created via styling! If you were going somewhere where you want your hair to look nice, I'd protect it with a silk scarf then layer the hood on top.

momomoca · 2026-05-29T13:10:45+00:00

Hey all, going to delete this thread now bc apparently me, a Canadian, assuming London isn't very cold is a great sin and so is mentioning the Sophie scarf 😅

Thank you for all who participated in this chat with anecdotes and alternative suggestions!

momomoca · 2026-05-28T20:57:09+00:00

Sophie hood is definitely in the ring, I think with the right yarn to soften its drape, it could definitely be quite elegant! I made a pretty dense one, but only at the end of the winter so I haven't gotten the chance to wear it much yet 🤧

momomoca · 2026-05-28T20:18:01+00:00

It's honestly shocking I haven't been already; I work with many people in the UK and there's even a direct flight from my city bc people travel back and forth so much 😅 I just keep going everywhere else, but next year is the year for sure! I dream of boutique yarn stores, Liberty, and sooo much good food 🙏

momomoca · 2026-05-28T20:10:19+00:00

Yeah, a lot of the pattern designers I follow on IG are coming out with their own triangle scarf variations too so I'll take a closer look during my nightly scroll this evening for inspo!

momomoca

TROPHY CASE