An open thread for personal stuff, continuing from here.
As usual for these threads: no trolls, no arguments.
Posted on February 7, 2014, in off topic, open thread. Bookmark the permalink. 1,059 Comments.
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So . . .random . . . but here’s a sign I’ve been reading this blog and comment threads for too long . . . I was just at Safeway and my preferred kitty little brand was now on the top shelf where I could not reach it (why’d they do that?) Anyway, this tall guy walked by me and I asked him if he could reach the kitty litter for me. Which he graciously did. But I worried that he might think I was hitting on him, especially if he lived directly on the beach.
He was admittedly and coincidentally pretty nice looking. But seriously, I just needed the right kitty litter.
@ Ally – really, like the others said, you are in no way responsible for your parent’s bad behavior. I will not say anymore, just anxiety attacks are awful and I hope you feel better and find a critter to cuddle (Tawney?) (my puppy helps me a lot).
And now for something completely different:
Somebody say bra talk? Me and my impossible-to-find-sized-but-somehow-still-lingerie-obsessed self are all ears. :D
Ah, grumpycat, but maybe that’s just your hamster talking and you secretly were hitting on him on a subconscious level because you sensed that his sperm was valuable.
(Or, you know, some ridiculous shit like that.)
There must be SOME way to make homemade bras, right? Seriously, how difficult could they possibly be to make?
If I could’ve made them out of whatever fabric and pattern I wanted, man, I would’ve been so much less grumpy about wearing the damn things. SKULLS. GRENADES. RAINBOWS.
For small busts, probably not hard to make. For bigger ones though, I feel like the engineers who build bridges should probably get involved.
I’ve tried, and as an accomplished seamstress I’ll tell you LBT – it’s possible, but HOLY FUCKING ARRGHHH it’s fiddly and hard. And this is coming from someone that pokes at individual cells under a microscope for a living with her damn hands >_<;;;
Also, don't get me started on "fun" patterns. I feel your pain for lack of variety, but at the small end of the spectrum here (yes-I-still-do-need-a-bra, thanks) tween-targeted patterns are all the color variety I get: Black, white, or freakin' fruit patterns or rainbows on neon colors. I LONG for a little elegance (for under $70, that is – If I was rich there's always the little bra co.)
Ally, I’m a big fan of distraction when I’m having an anxiety attack. Can you watch a movie or go for a walk with music or something? Also/or, do you have a therapist or hotline you can call?
Auggz, maybe the blog you found is trying to be “impartial” by presenting multiple approaches? Or they think not posting pro-ana stuff would be like shaming? Or maybe they’re really confused, and sometimes they want to get better but other times the disease wins and they post thinspo?
I have no idea, so here is a video of my cat being a vicious killer (not really):
You owe me a cup of tea now.
Homemade bras? Do ‘em the way they started in their modern incarnation – coupla handkerchiefs and strips of ribbon. :)
The thing that bugs me with bras is underwiring (all mine have had theirs ripped out) and the elastic under the breasts. Too bloody sweaty in summer, that is.
I wish there were really minimal pull-on ones for larger sizes. I don’t want a structured thing or a sports bra (gods forbid) in hot weather, just something a bit opaque for under light tops.
Oh and prices, gahhhh why are bras so fucking expensive????
Grace the savage monster kitteh! :)
Cassandra, good point. My subconscious hamster must have made previous arrangements for the kitty litter to be higher than I could reach. But I’m going to have to hone my strategy a little for next time because I went home with no sperm at all.
Probably your subconscious hamster was being influenced by the Furrinati, to test your devotion.
Wait, does anyone live in LA? It would be extra funny if they ran into Michael at the supermarket, loitering around waiting for women to have a hard time reaching something so he could yell SPINSTER at them.
RE: chimisaur
I’ve tried, and as an accomplished seamstress I’ll tell you LBT – it’s possible, but HOLY FUCKING ARRGHHH it’s fiddly and hard.
Dammit! It’s a moot point for me now *makes choppy noises while making the sounds from the shower scene in Psycho* but I might’ve actually forced myself to learn to sew if it meant I didn’t have to wear fuckin’ lace and underwire all the damn time.
My best/worst bra story is when me (trans guy) and my roommate (trans woman) went bra-hunting, banding together for safety. She had a very large ribcage but a small bust; I had a very small ribcage but a large bust. Together, we swept the entire goddamn mall like a pair of soldiers in enemy territory, tense and humiliated but so damn desperate for something to WEAR because we didn’t have more than two tattered bras between us anymore.
Both of us failed. Whole freakin’ mall, and not a single thing we could wear. We went home and decided alchohol and bad movies were required.
I live in Northern California pretty far away from Michael but he makes $174,000 a year or whatever so he has the means to go to supermarkets all of the world if he wants. . .
Figleaves.com! They have the biggest size range of any site I can think of, and a good return policy.
@LBT
Those would be awesome bras. :3 I don’t know ways, but I’d love to know how. I’m actually planning on learning how to sow, in general, but don’t have time/ money atm.
@kittehs
To each their own, but I need underwires, if I’m to have any support. And I don’t actually find them uncomfortable, provided they are fitted right. Sadly, my damn boobs decided to get bigger, which I would usually be thrilled about if it didn’t mean more expensive bras.
I got lucky, in that last time I needed a replacement bra, I got one for 13 dollars.
LBT – “My best/worst bra story is when me (trans guy) and my roommate (trans woman) went bra-hunting, banding together for safety. ”
I feel your pain, and it’s good to know we’re not alone. This sounds exactly like my bestie and I’s last mall trip. (except I’m a small-in-all dimensions cis gal, but it’s really the same damn shortage once you get below a 34 band). Why the heck don’t they sell the larger band sizes in smaller cups anyway? I kind of get the shortage of smaller bras, after a certain band they just all stop, end of story, but it’s kind of ridiculous that 44 bands come in D-F but not A or B (or even C most of the time).
Um, er. I just stumbled across this. For all you craft-doing cat-people out there. I’m not sure if I find this horrifying, or if I’m just taken-aback:
Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat
Buy from Amazon
@Cassandra
Thank you! I shall go check that out right now! :3
oof. Apologies for blockquote monster’s rare italic cousin. >_<;
For small band/large cup, Bravissimo is awesome. Most of the UK brands that offer large cup sizes go down to a 28 band, actually.
http://www.bravissimo.com/
Unimaginative: I’ll take horrified. I love ‘em but their fur grosses me out in clumps.
Huh. There’s a lot of cat hair around here and it would be nice to find a practical and/or creative use for it, but that picture has me worried about Increased Chance of Hairballs.
I seem to have missed the SPINSTER/on the beach troll. Links?
@unimaginative, I have that book somewhere. It’s basically just needle felting, but with cat fur instead of sheep “fur”.
I’ve bought a couple of bras from Bravissimo. They are good, especially with fitting, but so. damn. expensive here.
Marie – underwires certainly give me more support, but they dig into my arms too much, and when I’m knitting or working at the computer, it’s just not worth it. Some days when I’m wearing heavy clothes I don’t bother wearing a bra at all (I’m 16D in Australian sizing).
@ Kittehs
Underwires too long for your frame, maybe? I’m short and can’t wear a lot of full cup bras because the underwires come up too high under my armpits and at the center gore against the sternum. Demi cups, plunge, and balconette all seem to work better for me.
emilygoddess – Michael who lives DIRECTLY ON THE BEACH turned up in the Dalrock thread.
http://manboobz.com/2013/11/18/dalrock-on-why-men-should-avoid-women-whove-wasted-a-lot-of-courtship-and-used-up-their-most-attractivefertile-years/comment-page-1/#comments
cassandra, that sounds like my problem, though the sternum bit doesn’t affect me.
Aaaand it’s time to go home, catch yez later!
@Kittehs
ah. I got lucky in that my underwire only digs into my ribs if I slouch, and it doesn’t dig anywhere else at all, which is great.
And I had to google to find out what a 16 D size would be in the US XD If I sized myself right, I’m a 34 I, which would be 12 I in australia, I think.
Bye bye :3
@cassandra
I’m following links to the stores and am currently in bra heaven :D Thanks for all the suggestions :3
re: bras
I am currently bra-less (an in the boob size range where bras would help a lot), because my trapezius is my prime source of pain, and any straps there kill it and make my entire day worse. I found a perfect looking strapless bra on an online store, but am nervous about the returning if it doesn’t fit….
and in person stores i’ve not been able to find anything good. :/
While we’re discussing the fit of clothes, does anyone else have trouble finding knee-high boots that actually fit over their calves? I would really like some pretty boots but I guess I have meatier calves than the average woman with a size 7 foot.
@emilygoddess: I totally found knee boots that fit my giant calves just this last month – there was a stretchy bit inserted in the leather on either side of the back, but it doesn’t look bad at all. I think I got them from Kohl’s, but other than that I don’t remember the brand or anything as I’m not very good at this whole fashion deal. I can check around the boots themselves for writing for ya, if you want. :)
@Emily goddess
No idea, sorry. I’ve never even worn knee-highs.
For Bras, I swear by these guys: http://www.brasnthings.co.nz/
I can’t believe that over brands which are basically a pathetic amount of lace joined together by ribbon are like $75.
Also, I now swear by Amazon for clothing, and yes you can buy bras from them, and some of the prices look really good: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bras
I did a quick search on Etsy and found some things I cannot unsee.
Re boots: no idea. :(
Ally, I hope you’re feeling better, and I hope things settle down.
No help, I just wanted to share the story of my former co-worker, who was adorable and also had meatier calves than average for her shoe size. She ordered some boots over the internet and had them sent to work, and she tried them on when they arrived but they didn’t fit her calves. She gave a little sigh and said, “I’m too cute for these boots.”
This became a kind of catch-phrase for us for a while.
My last shopping disaster: trying to find plain white/beige cotton bikini-style underpants. Patterned and dark colour pants are all well and good, except when one has light coloured trousers and skirts. There is actually a conspiracy against me: when I get it in my head that I need a particular thing (because, say, my old laced ankle boots died and I just want a replacement pair), you can guarantee that there will be *no shop* that sells them. Also happens for colours (see original complaint above). It happens so often, that it is a standing joke between Mr Kiwi and me.
Also, please let me know what tv shows you really like and I will make sure I don’t like them. Me *really* liking a tv show guarantees its cancellation (/sob Arrested Development /sob).
On the topic of bras, does anyone know a good conversion chart between us/uk? I’ve tried googling, but am getting conflicting answers.
These two seem to agree with respect to cup size and inches:
http://www.85b.org/bra_conv.php
http://sizeguideuk.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/bra-size-guide-uk-us-europe.html
Does that help at all? I’ve never purchased bras outside of Australia/New Zealand so I have no idea.
Also this: http://www.brasize.com/au-to-us-uk-eu-fr-it.html
I know it can be an absolute mare unless one gets properly fitted first. Isn’t there some factoid trotted out about the percentage of women who wear the wrong size bra?
Sizing is pretty much the same, I think? I know that for the larger cups in Japanese sizing you need to add one cup size from the British size. British sizing seems to be more precise than American though, ie. I can buy almost any British 34E and it will fit, even if the style isn’t right for me, whereas with American bras it’s a bit less reliable.
@kiwi girl
I can’t tell if I’m reading those right, because I got different results for every single one…
Maybe I’m not looking at the right row. I was looking around the 34C, which is my size. I got boobies in my 30s.
I really like t-shirt style bras that don’t show seams under shirts and are really plain. I got myself one of these last year http://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/red/catalog/product/As-Seen-On-TV-Belvia-Bra-Original-Black-M?SKU=1759890 and it’s quite comfortable. But I’m only a C cup (and up to my mid-30s I never thought I was even going to get that big).
And maybe more women would have gone out and conquered countries in past centuries if it hadn’t taken them bloody 2 hours to put their clothes on, and 2 hours to take it off again to go to bed, and all those whales kept all their bones.
Marie, did you get the sizing conversions sorted?
@kiwi girl
technically not, but it’s not terribly important atm, since I don’t even money for bras.
:(
What happened about your eye/s?
Marie – US sizings are four smaller than their Oz equivalent, so I’m a 16 in our sizings and a 12 in yours. If you’re a 12 in ours you’d be a US 8. You’d like our shops, there are 12s (Oz) everywhere!
emilygoddess – yes, finding boots that fit over my calves is a pain. Finding flat ones, ditto, is even harder. I did have a pair by Y.So that had the elastic side same as chimsaur mentioned, so they might be worth a look. They were barely over the knee.
Kiwi girl, can you get Bonds underwear in NZ? Their good old Cottontails line might be helpful.
http://www.bonds.com.au/womens/underwear/tails/where/color-filter/white.html
@kitteh, yeah we have that brand over here too. The bit I forgot to add in my post in that I resent having to pay $12 for one pair of plain cotton pants. The Bendon ones, which I used to like and would wait until they had had a 3-for-the-price-of-2 sale are now incredibly thin with really flimsy elastic, so I’m nervous about wearing them under skirts.
Why does a woman’s pants, which has way less material than men’s boxers and seems to be less intricate, cost very similar?
And don’t get me started on beach bikinis – seriously $150 for a two piece togs outfit???!!!
On a different note entirely, I have almost finished this: http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/109281.aspx which has sat for 3 years until I could read crochet patterns better. I’m doing it in a denim-coloured pure cotton double-knit (that’s light or light worsted for the North Americans).
I am intrigued that most UK/Aust/NZ patterns I have for crochet and knitting use DK and most North American patterns I have use Aran/worsted. It makes trying to get local yarn substitutions a nightmare, so I normally import the yarns. Acrylic worsted-weight isn’t a “thing” in NZ. :(
It’s the same with most women’s clothes, isn’t it – more flimsily made but cost more than men’s.
That’s a lovely jacket!
I haven’t tried crochet but I’m knitting a beret in cotton at present – first thing I’ve tried in it, everything else has been wool or synthetic combinations. Do you find cotton hard on your hands while you’re working it?
I tend to go arse about face with yarns – I’ll see one I like and then start thinking of what to knit with it. Then I’ll usually find it’s a withdrawn colour …
I don’t find cotton too bad, I just can’t do anything with wool in the summer because … allergies plus heat. But Feb is normally our hottest month, and today’s high was about 18C, and we have the heatpump on tonight.
This is what I am wearing on my right hand as I crochet at the moment, because I kind of overdid it over the long weekend: http://www.dritz.com/brands/showcase/details.php?ITEM_NUM=82308 they come in a pair, but I find it’s normally only the working hand that gets issues. I think with cotton that maybe the twist might influence how much it rips one’s hands, I assume pecunium would know more about yarns because of his spinning, so I wish he was here to answer that. I’ve not experienced it with cotton, but some wools have split my finger, where I tension the yarn. I think that might also be because using that yarn in the winter tends to mean I have drier (sp?) hands and so the skin may just be more prone to that rather than it being a yarn thing.
I tried to find similar locally (i.e. anywhere in NZ, even via website) and nope.They’re just straight pull-on with no velcro or anything like that, which could catch on the yarn.
Do you use the throw or continental method for knitting? I use throw and have been trying to shift to continental, but purling is blargh in that method and I tend to lock my joints which means pain from knitting. I have looked at the two-hand method for knitting fair isle/ intarsia, which I would love to learn, but I need to learn how to stop freezing/locking my joints otherwise that would be asking for a world of hurt.
Have you got a link to the beret pattern?
I have a glove for sore hands too, the Handeze brand. A manboobzer put me onto them and now I’m really embarassed I can’t remember who it was – not someone currently active on site. (Big thank you if you’re lurking!) I don’t have to use it much, and am just as likely to need it if I’ve been doing a lot of mouse work as when I’ve been doing knitting.
The beret pattern’s the Supplement on Ravelry. It’s very easy – I’ve done one beret in it already. I’m adapting it for this, though, ‘cos the cotton’s finer and I like my berets really floppy, so I’ve gone for 98 stitches for the brim and 195 for the crown (15 x a group of 13). The cotton’s so springy when it’s knitted that it’s not going to be too lose around the brim. I’ll also be knitting it fairly deep. I hate my hats feeling shallow! :P
Thanks for the glove link, I hadn’t seen those ones before. And none of the knitting shops over here have craft gloves. I haven’t noticed if Spotlight sell them.
The beret looks really cool, are you going to take a photo of this new one when you’re done? What colour are you doing it in? :)
Yes, I will take snaps! It’s a pinky-wine colour, fairly dark – my hairdresser said it’s a cranberry shade.
Forgot to say, I do the throw method (is that the same as the English method?) – yarn in the right hand. I’ve never tried the continental.
Do you find knitting to the front or the back of the stitch seems to be dictated by the yarn? I learned to knit into the back, and had no idea that wasn’t just the ordinary knitting. Now I mostly still knit that way, but some yarns are easier to do from the front. Quite odd.
BTW this is how my first beret in this pattern came out. It’s a nice yarn, acrylic I think and very soft.
Since “lives on the beach” has become a meme here on Manboobz…I know it’s just an idiom in my native language but it always gives me a mental image of a homeless person, specifically when referring to a man. As in, someone who sleeps under upturned boats.
Re: crafting with cat hair.
Another Finnish idiom refers to “cat’s fleece” as something utterly useless. That finger-puppet certainly fits the image.
Making bras — Joann Fabrics carries preform cups in at least A and B, I think C too, but it’s been awhile so I won’t swear to that. Larger cup sizes are still SOL, but maybe it’ die an idea for the large band // small cup folks?
Learning to sew — McCall’s I think carries one hour patterns that include ALL the instructions, no shorthand. They’re a couple of bucks, might be able to get them on sale. Besides that all you actually need is fabric (duh) and a beginner sewing kit ($10-20). And an iron, you’ll definitely want an iron (mine was like $20, you don’t need the fancy kind)
*used to work at Joann’s*
Kittehserf:
Is there any way I could email you about something? I have a couple questions I’m a little embarrassed to ask out here in the open.
About the worsted/DK chatter: where are you folks getting all these large weight patterns?! Everything I want to knit seems to run to sport/lace weight, and since pretty much all yarn shops up here sell is worsted, I would be SOL if not for internet shopping. Also, Ravelry: I’m new to that network though I’ve been knitting for years, and don’t have a lot of friends that do the same, so it’s lonely there. Anyone have one I could friend? I want to oggle your knitting! :D
Ah, screwit: I pulled most of my identifying info off Ravelry anyway, so you guys can add me if you want: Tinasaur is my nym there.
I’ve only just joined so nothing on there yet (as titianblue on there, too) if you’d like to friend me.
I get almost all my patterns from http://www.tangled-yarn.co.uk/ and a lot of them are worsted weight and originate from the USA (so if you’re states-side you can always google to find them over here). I love her website ‘cos you can filter patterns by knitting ability or yarn weight as well as by end product.
Ooh. Neat website. Thanks for the link, titianblue!
Although nobody in this system is any use at sewing, the kids have gotten into needle-felting! They took a little class yesterday and had a lot of fun stabbing wool with needles.
RE: chimisaur
It’s annoying. I swear, bras are the biggest racket I’ve ever heard of.
RE: emilygoddess
does anyone else have trouble finding knee-high boots that actually fit over their calves?
YES. Shit, I have trouble finding any boots higher than the ankle that’ll fit over my calves–and sometimes, my ankles baffle them too. (Which is bizarre, since seriously, guys, I’m pretty skinny, what the hell do bigger folks do?) I swear, the fuckers are made entirely for twiggy hipster girls with all the curves of a block of wood. (There’s nothing wrong with them. There IS something wrong with the industry who acts like they’re the norm.)
I’ve not done felting but that does sound like fun.
I am taking a class in spinning when I’m in holiday in June – it turned out the woman I’m renting a cottage from gives spinning classes & doesn’t mind that I’m a complete novice. So then I’ll be a SPINSTER ;-)
Re worsted weight patterns, basically any (non-thread, non-sock) garment patterns I buy from http://www.anniescatalog.com/ or download from http://www.lionbrand.com/ or are in http://www.interweavestore.com/crochet or any other American magazine/crochet book are pretty much all worsted weight.
OTOH, most of my British-sourced patterns are DK.
So not only did the war of independence mean that the US decided it would use the same crochet term to mean a slightly different stitch (e.g. US single crochet = Brit double crochet), it also means the popular yarn weight is different. Oh, and knitting needle and crochet sizes use a different system as well! Grrr!
Re knitting, I use the throw method and normally go into the front of the stitch. I’m eyeing up a video to learn all types of different knitting, including the Norwegian method(???). I’m much faster with knitting the Continental method when doing knit, but I can’t get my angle right to use purl properly. And I haven’t tried it with anything like cables or fair isle.
Cables and lace are fun! Fair isle and other colorwork makes my knitting wrinkly and me sad, though I know others with the exact opposite predicament, so I suppose it’s a preference thing. I use the throw method as well, I tried Continental once and it drove me nuts (perhaps being left-handed played into that a bit?) so I’m sticking with throw forever. I’m fast enough for a hobby in any case.
If you liked Arrested Development, I highly recommend Community. It’s got a similar style of hidden jokes and callbacks. I also recommend it to anyone who’s ever wasted too much time on TVTropes, as they frequently do genre-homage episodes.
It’s already been cancelled twice (and it’s still going), so I doubt you could make it any worse!
@cloudiah, I never get tired of that story. I’ll have to remember that attitude next time I get depressed while I’m clothes shopping.
@Kittehs, it looks like Y.So brand isn’t available in North America.
@Kiwi Girl, DK is definitely a size in the US, but maybe it’s a different size? That wouldn’t surprise me.
@chimisaur and anyone else, if you get a Ravelry friend request from emgoddess, it’s me :-)
AIT – woo yeah, drop me a line! You can get me at frenchqueen 13 at gmail.com.
:)
(I love getting emails from manboobzers.)
chimisaur – you can friend me on Ravelry! Here’s my profile.
I’m not on there nearly as much as here but I do check in fairly often.
I wonder if we should start a Manboobz group there?
I get all my patterns there now, ‘cos I can get free ones. What I like is having the advanced search thingy, makes it easy to narrow down what I’m looking for.
8O
emilygoddess – well that’s a pain! I wouldn’t have expected that (Y.So boots not being available in the US).
Just wondering, is it possible to eat too much protein? Like what are the risks? I’ve heard it can make your calcium levels messed up.