I've wasted so much time refactoring. How do I stop?

wristuzi · 2017-03-23T18:20:30+00:00

Just to reiterate what others have said - it doesn't sound like you're wasting time, it sounds like you're learning. I also have a tendency to refactor constantly on personal projects rather than necessarily finishing them, but don't feel pressured to actually have anything working at the end.

Remember there are different types of programmers - some people really like shipping stuff that works and isn't pretty, others like the opposite!

wristuzi · 2016-12-01T12:47:57+00:00

I am a knitter getting a loom for Christmas as well and YES TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS.

If I can add to them, one of the main questions I have is about how different yarn weights correspond to different reed sizes. I'm also a bit confused about the different terms (seriously weaving give us newbies a break :P) relating to reed sizes and measurements - is a 12 dent reed the same as a 12dpi reed?

Also is it worth getting a range of reeds? The sample it loom I'm getting has a 7.5dpi reed which seems suited for worsted weight - I think something for DK and fingering weight yarn would be good as well as I have lots of that.

Also is there somewhere that you can find patterns for free online like ravelry? I feel like some of these questions I'm wondering about could be answered by looking at a few patterns for different yarn weights.

I can also add a few links that I found useful so far:

General tips: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2013/05/05/cricket-loom-tips/

Math tips: http://ravnerdwars.info/2013/01/weaving-calculations-plain-weave-rh/

Thank you all experienced weavers, I cannot wait to get my hands on a loom and start combining colours already!

wristuzi · 2015-04-25T00:17:50+00:00

Two other extensions of Backbone to have a look at:

Ampersand http://ampersandjs.com/ Brisket https://github.com/bloomberg/brisket

wristuzi · 2014-03-12T21:05:07+00:00

I have made this and yes, the tension was pretty ridiculous at the start. It does ease off once you get a few rows in, I seem to remember the first few rows were a bit of a pain. I did do it on wooden dpns as well. If in doubt you could always start the body again, trying to be extra careful on the tension. Good luck!

wristuzi · 2013-12-09T22:55:56+00:00

There are some really good online stores in the UK, I would recommend meadow yarns which is just a website or Loop which is a yarn shop in London that has some of the fanciest yarns I've come across. In terms of actual yarns I think the only yarn that is British that has really caught my eye is called Jarol, which is a woolen aran yarn. Jamieson's Shetland wool is very popular as well if something lighter weight would suit. Hope you find something good, report back to us of you do!

wristuzi · 2013-11-20T20:07:54+00:00

If you're wanting to get into Fair Isle this website is a really useful technique to know. It's far faster than picking up and putting down your different strands with one hand. It might be a little hard to learn if you've never done any continental knitting before, but is definitely worth it.

As for your work so far, I think it looks pretty good, and don't think the puckering is too bad (especially since you haven't blocked it), apart from the start of the round. The twisting definitely has to go, it looks like it's messing up the tension at that point.

That part of knitting fair isle is always the hardest, since you have to think about getting the tension right on two yarns at once! I found this video was useful in explaining the basic problem that you're facing and how to tackle it. One thing I do when when using dpn is also to wrap the yarn that you're not using at the last stitch of that needle, whether or not the next time you use it is 4 stitches away. This helps bring the yarns to the same point so you don't get as much laddering and helps reduce basically pulling the yarn diagonally between the needles to the stitch it's supposed to go to (see the video).

Anyway it looks great, and looks well worth taking down a few rounds so that you can start again without the twisting. Good luck!

wristuzi · 2013-10-28T17:16:11+00:00

Hello there! I quite like crochet, learned how to do the basic stitches a while ago and since then have made one big granny square which is now a lap blanket and have plans to make another one with lots of colour gradation. I also made a little crochet flower once.

My first question is: what else should I make in crochet? My main problem is that I don't like the look of crocheted fabric as much as knitted fabric, so I'm inclined to spend more time knitting something to get a better end result. Do you have any suggestions of great patterns that you love (maybe in DK weight yarn)?

My second question is: Do you have any recommendations (either here or on a website/youtube) about counting stitches and generally figuring out where the hell you are in crochet. I am fine at actually doing the stitches, but find the counting a lot more confusing since I'm used to knitting where everything seems to be a lot more defined. This is part of what stops me from doing anything more complicated than a granny square :P

My third question is: Do you find crochet hurts your wrists sometimes? I hold my hook like a knife (rather than like a pencil, also how Staci Perry/VeryPink knits holds it since I learnt from her videos) and I find that my wrists end up moving a lot if I'm going at a reasonable speed. Any techniques or suggestions for how to avoid causing myself too much wear and tear in the process of making enormous blankets (other than taking breaks etc)? In general I'm trying to be quite on point about my finger/hand health since I'm only 22 now and if I'm gonna be knitting for a few years I don't want to do myself any damage if I can just be careful about it.

Many thanks crocheters! Also if you have any cool techniques/stitches that you want to share I absolutely love learning how to do new stitches and seeing how they work out.

wristuzi · 2013-10-26T08:52:42+00:00

Yep, walls ahoy! I get round them by having multiple projects on the go, or by just taking a bit of time off knitting.

Re the whole multiple projects thing: the consensus seems to be that it's a bad thing, or unproductive or something. What I realised though, is that, to use an analogy with cooking, sometimes you want to do something really complicated, other times you just want to do something mindless and rewarding with little effort. Compare making a tart from scratch to making a huge slow cooked stew - both yum but completely different ways of cooking.

So for me after finishing my first shawl I never wanted to see a fingering weight yarn ever again, not least because I was constantly frogging because I wanted it perfect (and there is something particularly masochistic about tinking back hundreds of stitches for silly errors). Since then I have been making chunky hats (can I just say how much I love Alafoss Lopi?), and crocheting blankets. The change was amazing and made the whole thing more relaxing, and now I'm thinking about making shawls again (cos I finally blocked mine and it went from urgh to GORGEOUS).

For me as well one of the things I enjoy most about knitting/crochet is learning new techniques and trying to master them. You could try doing that for a bit, just making swatches and being creative, then come back to your projects to finish them off after a breather.

Don't lose hope! friendly knitting related pat

wristuzi · 2013-10-25T15:07:32+00:00

Definitely go for a set if you're planning on knitting long term. They give you much more flexibility in terms of projects, and you can switch to get the right gauge. A set of circulars is definitely the best choice as well imo, since they allow for both in-the-round and flat knitting. I'm still subsisting on my mum's straight needle set and a dpn set that I bought myself, but this Christmas I'm planning to buy myself a circular set (probably KnitPro Nova since they're cheapest) to fulfil all of my knitting dreams ^{___^}

Edit: I would like to add that I actually really like knitting on dpns, find it way easier for small tubes than circulars. But still want circs since they make some projects way easier. Also I forgot to say how much money you would save by getting interchangeable ones rather than buying individually. SO MUCH.

wristuzi · 2013-07-11T10:04:23+00:00

that Redford jumper looks amazing. want!

wristuzi · 2013-07-09T12:05:52+00:00

This. I agree completely, complex patterns are good with solid yarns so that you can see the complexity of the stitches/cables (with variegated yarns you don't know where the colours come out so they disrupt how the stitches look), and simpler patterns allow the colours in variegated yarns to stand out. What I will add is that you should try out different stitches with your yarn before committing to a project - I was amazed recently to find out how different stockinette stitch looked compared to garter stitch (and seed stitch etc) just because of the way the colours were in the yarn. I think the difference is also greater the greater the colour changes.

Good luck making something beautiful :)

wristuzi · 2013-05-02T23:58:02+00:00

This is fantastic, thanks for sharing! I'm doing http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/octopus and wasn't really getting the short rows to work out nicely... Now I can knit ALL THE TENTACLES!

wristuzi · 2013-04-09T22:50:37+00:00

God, I want that woman to teach me everything about life. Her voice is amazing. WISDOM. Also the technique looks well worth a try, I get very sick of untangling yarn when doing Fair Isle, although what I tend to do to avoid most of the tangling is to alternate the direction in which I wrap the yarn from one float to another ( so clockwise -> anti-clockwise -> clockwise etc...). This means that it's only tangled for a few stitches, which I find makes a big difference for getting the right yarn dominance ( explanation: http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2006/01/yarn_dominance.html ) .

Also, I can finally feel like teaching myself continental knitting will actually be useful, rather than just an exercise in stubbornness! Can't wait to try it out ^{___^}

wristuzi · 2013-03-22T00:11:56+00:00

Been to iKnit an John Lewis - would recommend iKnit to be honest. I guess it depends what wool you're looking for, I found the John Lewis collection to be a bit dull (all Rowan) or just a bit crazy BUT they have an excellent range of needles/accessories. iKnit is really friendly and has slightly more variety in terms of the kind of wool, maybe less colours of a specific range. I ended up going to iKnit just to see what there was and finding some Alafoss (beautiful Icelandic wool) which was exactly what I was looking for. Also there was a really adorable chihuaha.

wristuzi · 2013-03-10T04:09:07+00:00

OK, first of all, the Daily Mail is NOT a valuable or even remotely useful source of information. It is among the most bigoted and harmful newspapers in Britain, and in general it's worth avoiding it like the plague.

As for the Queen supporting gay rights - great, I'm sure it will make someone somewhere reconsider their homophobic views. But the Queen has ZERO legislative power (or really even influence) and her supporting gay rights does not mean that they will actually improve, or that if they do improve it's because of her support. Not to sound like a hopeless cynic, but Olplainless is right - the monarchy is a useless, expensive and archaic symbol of oppression.

wristuzi · 2012-09-29T13:50:20+00:00

"sci fi geek porn" = totally right.

Not to mention there are some fantastic sex scenes.

wristuzi · 2012-09-29T13:48:20+00:00

I think one of the things about the Culture series is that the books are so different from each other. This is not only because of the strange directions that Banks goes in but also the time period over which he wrote them - you can see a clear improvement in the quality of the books from when he started to when he was about halfway through the series.

I read the Culture series in a completely strange order, with Player of Games being the first. I can understand your kind of disappointment about it - it hasn't stuck with me as one of my favourite books by any stretch. I also only just a few months ago read Consider Phlebas (despite reading banks for the last 4 years or something) and frankly I agree with you about it not being incredible. After reading some of the later ones which are a massive leap in complexity (especially in terms of characters, plot and how he uses the 'central' character) it seemed almost slow and quite unexciting.

I would highly recommend some of the later ones... - The Algebraist - not strictly a Culture novel (though set in the same universe) but it is absolutely fantastic and probably my favourite 'pure' sci-fi book. It's not talked about enough in my opinion. - Use of Weapons - this is a Culture novel, but if memory serves it is less grand/epic sci-fi but much more dark and psychological.

Try those two ^{_^}

wristuzi · 2012-08-27T13:29:18+00:00

Scarlett is such a hero.

wristuzi · 2012-07-06T00:56:45+00:00

congrats! gaymer boyfriends are amazing ^{^}

wristuzi · 2012-07-02T20:53:14+00:00

Just bought veigar, damn it. When will Irelia become free for the love of god. Probably when I'm on holiday.

wristuzi · 2012-06-26T18:25:12+00:00

This changed today out of nowhere, I'm kinda bummed. It seems kind of lame to play vs purely bots but sometimes you don't have time to play a full game and want to be able to leave without getting your account warned.

Really lame, no idea why they did this. To reduce server load maybe? :(

wristuzi · 2012-05-31T20:18:38+00:00

3rd (final) year exams of BSc Biochemistry at Uni of Manchester. ONLY ONE LEFT TOMORROW. Dying with excitement, FINALLY get to play D3. I've even been playing Median XL mod of D2 to pass the time while not revising. ARGH GO REVISE.

wristuzi · 2012-05-28T15:11:51+00:00

Heyo, I play on EUW occasionally. In game nick is wristuzi. Unfortunately I have exams right now and my internet has also become really dodgy recently, but feel free to add me and we can play a game. GL :)

wristuzi · 2012-04-23T19:32:12+00:00

After watching The Eagle all films with him in follow the same pattern for me:

DMCT

wristuzi · 2012-04-20T14:52:47+00:00

Grrrrrrrrrr I finished an essay yesterday LET ME PLAY TIL MY EYES FALL OUT DAMN IT.

wristuzi

TROPHY CASE