acommonrose

[acommonrose]

Not loving the current Jet Lag season tbh but fascinated by the fact that Adam decided to identify K-pop groups primarily by number of members

[acommonrose]

god in hell, before chatgpt people used to have some class. when we needed info we’d ask narnia blogs

[acommonrose]

Saw these bracelets in the window of a random shop and they have real gal pals energy

[acommonrose]

these guys haven't seen goncharov

[acommonrose]

You're the only friend I ever had. And I've had so many friends.

[acommonrose]

They should Tell everyone on both love island and survivor that a nuke blew up the Us and that they have to work together to start a new society . And then see which one becomes more warlike / Powerful

[acommonrose]

Knitting Update: June 2025

Once again, time to look at my fun little projects!

The FOs

This was more of a "progress on big projects" month than a finishing things month, but! I have socks! I always have socks! (I think other than January, I've finished a pair of socks every month this year? Might try to keep that up, I have so much sock yarn to work through, and I do love them.)

Anyways, these are the Branches socks from 52 Weeks of Socks, a book I will probably continue working from! They are a gift knit--I got this yarn from a local indie dyer at a little fiberfest in March, and I instantly knew that it would make great socks for my sister. I feel like the colors are actually a lot more vibrant in person, but this picture is the best I'll do. All that said, I LOVE this kind of tonal yarn (and I should remember that more when yarn shopping)--it's got enough going on to be interesting (and super pretty!), but it's also possible to see complex patterns on there (as evidenced by these socks).

Anyways in terms of the actual pattern, uhhhh I have mixed feelings. I think the lace pattern is super pretty, and I even like the vibe of the lace cuff (though idk how comfortable it is), but the heel construction is uhhhhh bad. It's a normal flap and turn cuff down heel (fine, normal), but somehow the worst possible version? The flap is doing a twisted rib thing, which is not a terrible idea in theory but it accomplishes it by having you purl through the back loop a bunch, which is just not fun? It's not a fun stitch to do, and because it's a less common and less natural-feeling stitch (for me but also for most knitters probably), it makes the tension worse. And then the heel turn is a short row turn, but instead of adding a few stitches on each side to get a kinda wedge shape, it stays the same width throughout? So you get a weirdly narrow/square-ish heel that I can't imagine fits great? (I have confirmed it does fit a human foot but still.) Anyways, the rest of the pattern is pretty enough that I think I'd make it again but just sub in a more normal heel if I did.

The WIPs

As I said, big progress month! First off, as anyone who follows anything else on this blog knows, I watched the second half of Revolutionary Girl Utena (beautiful, brilliant, life-changing) this month, which meant I needed a project that I didn't really need to look at, so I made a lot of temperature blanket progress!

So everything from the last blue/purple section moving up is from this month, which doesn't look like that much, but since each row is ~300 stitches (didn't actually count when I cast on but something around there) of seed stitch, it's a lot! We're now up to mid-July (...of 2024), and I'm hoping to finish this before the end of this year, so it's seeming difficult but possible! But I am done with Utena now, so I guess I'll have to find something else to motivate me to do all the seed stitch. (To be clear, I love seed stitch! But big long rows are less enticing than some of my other projects.)

Next big project is the Emery vest I started last month! I was feeling like I hadn't made a ton of progress since reaching the underarm join, but comparing this to last month, it's definitely coming along! It was still very short when I last tried it on, but I'm on my second to last ball of yarn, so hoping it doesn't have to go too too much longer. I'll try it on again after I get to the end of this repeat of the diamond pattern, and I'm kinda hoping it will be long enough to switch to ribbing then (but my row gauge seems to be a little small, so who knows.)

Next up, the (very very modified) As one fairy to another hat! I've mentioned this before as a project I was poking at during videocalls for a few months, but since it's a gift for a friend, and I'm actually seeing that friend soon, I'm going to try to actually finish it in the next week! I like the tree pattern on this a lot, but I'm definitely going to need to block it to make the twisted stitches look nice, and since the silk in this yarn grew a ton (frankly, too much!) when I wet blocked the other hat I made of it, I might experiment with steam blocking here? We'll see. I don't work with silk much, so I'd definitely take suggestions!

And then my final project is an Age of Brass and Steam shawl in a lovely linen yarn! The linen makes it nice and summery, so naturally I will probably finish it in the depths of winter. Anyways, I started this because 1. I've had a bunch of this yarn in my stash for a bit (got it from a friend who I think maybe got it from a donation bin) and it was time to use it and 2. after finishing the Chilchuck cowl, I needed a new project to work on primarily during BOTC that I can do with my eyes closed. Does the eyes closed mean that I am certain that my stitch count, my row count, or (most likely) both are wrong? Almost certainly. Does it matter? Not really, it's a big mostly stockinette shawl and as long as I'm close to what the numbers should be, it will look fine.

The Other Stuff

The other big fiber arts news for me this month is I'm teaching myself to crochet! So far, it's going... okay. I have a feel for the basic stitches, but my tension is not great, so my little practice projects are a little misshapen. Tbh, because I've been knitting for so much longer, I wind up being more motivated to stop crocheting and go back to knitting because why would I make a wonky coaster when I could make an elaborately cabled vest? Anyways, this is all to say that I will not be sharing my crochet projects here for the time being but they will be counting towards my yarn usage.

The other knitting thing here is that I did decide to get that sweater quantity of Mongolian cashmere I was waffling on last month bc sometime you have to make an expensive and questionable decision. I'm still contemplating what pattern to make (could theoretically be anything in fingering or DK weight, since I don't have to finalize colors/weights until the Kickstarter ends), but I'm thinking very heavily about getting mostly oxblood (my favorite color of their offerings) but then also getting a white contrast color and trying to do a colorwork sweater? I have not actually done a colorwork sweater before (because I largely do not make sweaters), but I love other colorwork projects, so I feel like it would be fun to do one? Currently looking at this Sweater of Swords because swords are cool, but definitely not wedded to that idea (especially because that one's really meant for a sport weight, so I'll have to fudge the gauge a bit). Anyways, if anyone has seen cool colorwork sweaters or other cool sweaters that would be cool in dark red cashmere, I will likely get this yarn in about 6 months.

The Stats

No purchases this month, so I'm just adding in the sock yardage + a bout half a skein of cotton yarn I've used to practice crochet.

Yards used this month: 432 Yards knit YTD: 4066 Yards bought YTD: 5164 Net stash yardage: +1098

[acommonrose]

If you like the word “queer” reblog.

[acommonrose]

The great thing about getting more comfortable with your gender expression is that you genuinely get to have a lot of fun playing around and amassing a set of quirky little outfits and figuring out what does and doesn’t work for you.

…And then you get invited to one formal event where the quirky little outfits will not work, and it all just goes awry.

[acommonrose]

in case you needed to hear it today:

it’s okay to use your turn signal when you’re changing lanes

it’s okay to use your turn signal when you’re taking an exit

it’s okay to use your turn signal when you plan on turning (can even be done sooner than 2 seconds before you’re about to turn)

you have a turn signal. in your vehicle. two of them in fact.

you are so brave and beautiful and smart and can do it. using your turn signal

[acommonrose]

happy tenth anniversary to the video that changed lives

[acommonrose]

I hope you guys think I’m cool. I’m not, but I hope you think so anyway.

[acommonrose]

Tumblr's Favorite Show: Finals!

After several months of fierce fighting, with 256 initial combatants, we have made it to the FINALS

Now, it's time to determine Tumblr's Favorite Show!

Previous rounds can be found below the break:

Prior Weeks:

Week 1: Round 1: Group 1

Week 2: Round 1: Group 2

Week 3: Round 1: Group 3

Week 4: Round 1: Group 4

Week 5: Round 2: Groups 1 and 2

Week 6: Round 2: Groups 3 and 4

Week 7: Round 3

Week 8: Round 4

Week 9: Round 5

Week 10: Round 6

Week 11: Semifinals

[acommonrose]

Anyways, I finished Utena earlier today, and what am I supposed to do now? Just be a person when all that happened?

[acommonrose]

Got this shirt at the aquarium yesterday, and I had to get it in a kid XL, because apparently no one realized that 30-year-old women would be a prime demographic for it???