Geekstress Wonders

Knitters! I've published my first knit pattern on Ravelry! Free and perfect for the advanced beginner wanting to try out various lace patterns. Plenty of tutorials within the pattern.  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/quintet-lace-scarf

Mental Health PSA Often people are nervous about starting therapy, don’t know what to expect, or how to find a good therapist. Or they are in therapy but unhappy and don’t know how to change the situation. These are some excellent resources. I hope some of this helps a few of you. Hugs to everyone out there struggling with depression and anxiety. My heart goes out to you. ❤️ 1) Crisis Hotline. They do NOT track your phone. They are also there for those who are not suicidal but struggling and having a bad day. You can text them. You are never bothering them. They look forward to chatting with you. Know that they are your 24 hour mental health resource. https://www.crisistextline.org 2) Everything you wanted to know about therapy. If you look at the list, it even talks about what to do if you can’t afford it. This article is a WEALTH of information! It will answer so many of your questions! https://www.buzzfeed.com/annaborges/how-to-start-therapy?utm_source=dynamic&utm_ca

My own words as someone who has intimate experience with grief from this beast: Suicide does not know your color, gender, sex orientation, number of friends you have, how much is in your bank account. There are so many myths about suicide even today which make it harder to address the issue and attempt prevention. This is not depression. Just because you have depression does not mean you are now on some slippery slope where, if not careful, it could tip you to become suicidal. This is different. Yet, no one is safe from it despite what they believe. Being suicidal is not a mental illness. It can happen to a person with no mental history who has undergone a great deal of trauma. Or not. This is an very personal beast that is unique to each person it attacks. And you will never know the details of the personal hell that made this person believe they no longer had the resources to deal with their pain. People do not want to die. They just want the pain to stop.

Education on what free speech means.  Because there seems to be some confusion.

Reality Check I really, really want to clarify something. Trump supporters being shut out of the Ravelry website is FALSE. It is also bad reporting by several news sources. A quote from Ravelry's new policy: "You can still participate if you do in fact support the administration, you just can’t talk about it here." They made it clear Trump supporters are not banned. It is the display of support for Trump and his administration that is banned. There is a very, very huge difference. Nor are they banning support of conservatives or Republicans. But because 95% of the news reporting states that people are being outright banned, it is causing half of this problem, this outrage. I was shocked by how many respected news outlets were either making things inflammatory and getting this huge detail wrong - or flat out lying in an even more major way. Truth is, they did not go off and ban a whole group of people. Though I am not a Trump supporter, I am really get

I use these instructions to get rid of pesky ads on websites with knitting and crochet patterns before I save the page as a PDF or print it. But you could use this for any website. I suggest you first save it as a PDF then print it out later. (If you need to print it out.) The usual story for a knitter or crafter? We find a wonderful pattern only discover it is littered with ads all over the place. To print out the page would be to print out so many ads as well.  I will be honest and say I haven't checked to see if the other internet browsers have this available so this post is specifically for the Chrome browser.  In your Chrome browser, go get the extension "Print Friendly & PDF" https://www.printfriendly.com/extensions/chrome (Check out www.printfriendly.com as they may have extensions for other browsers.) Install it the Chrome extension. To try it out, you can use this page that has both a pattern and ads within it: https://www.creativec

I needed a headband that would fit even my odd shaped head. Those with buttons in the pattern were fine - until the yarn stretched out. This pattern allows you straps long enough to tie it behind your head to secure the headband! So no matter how much the yarn stretches out, you can adjust where you tie the straps! And the body of the headband is wide enough to hold hair back in a pretty but understated way. The body of the pattern is simple. The body of the headband is also not so wide that you have that annoying gap at the back but also not so narrow that hair is spiking out on the sides.  As I said, my head is odd shaped which means, for me, many headbands slip right back off my head. I've tried my pattern with less stretchy and with more bulky yarn, and they don't grip as well - for me. But for you, they might. For my odd shaped head, I've found mixed yarns worked best. So far my two favorites have been one that was a cotton/wool mix. And the other yarn (show