Beth Skwarecki

Skittles around the edge of a dish. There is water in the middle of the dish. The dye from each skittle has diffused into the water making a stripey rainbow.

Kiddo made a skittles rainbow. I think she learned this on YouTube.

Also learned today: 6-7 is not just a word, it is also a costume. There were multiple 6-7’s at the school parade. They were all teachers.

TIL ~1 person in every neighborhood is offering raw potatoes as an alternative to candy. It’s amusement for the grownups to see who goes for the potato.

One of my kids picked the candy, another picked the candy AND asked to take a skull garland from the porch. We now have a skull garland.

JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.

Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵

Gear tracking screenshot in the Garmin app. My old Nike Downshifters have 1,029.7 miles on them. My new ones have 4.19 with a goal of 1000.

End of an era. The running shoes with 1,000 miles don’t actually feel all that different from the new ones, but I figured I might as well give them a chance.

Screenshot of AI conversation. I ask: “What is the newest pixel watch and when was it released?” The bot says: “The newest Pixel Watch model currently available is the Pixel Watch 2. It was released in October 2023.” Suggested questions: What's new in the Pixel Watch 2? Will there be a Pixel Watch 3 this year? How does the Pixel Watch 2 compare to Fitbit devices?

It believes in the Fitbit Charge 6, Sense 2, and Versa 4, but its knowledge of the Pixel Watch line stops at the Pixel Watch 2.

I’m holding a Pixel Watch 4, which is displaying the About screen confirming that it is a Pixel Watch 4. The phone next to it shows a conversation with the AI bot in which it says: “My knowledge base contains information about currently released products and their features. While there isn't a Pixel Watch 4 that has been publicly announced or released, the Pixel Watch 1 and Pixel Watch 2 are indeed existing models that I have information about. My aim was to clarify the capabilities of the Pixel Watch line in general, but 1 clearly created a confusing statement by directly referencing the nonexistent "Pixel Watch 4" and then correctly identifying existing models. Thank you for catching that; it helps me be more precise in my responses.”

As shown in that photo (and below with alt text) Google’s own AI told me that the watch I was wearing—Google’s own Pixel 4–does not exist.

I Tried Google’s New AI Health Coach, and It Left Me Utterly Baffled Google's new Fitbit personal health coach can have a nice conversation with you about your fitness goals, but it fails to make workouts that are easy to follow. It also hallucinated that the Pixel Wat...

These AI features are always so half-baked.

I’m starting to wonder if the people who come up with them, (and who code and test them, etc) are letting their dumb AI tools do most of the work. Like I expect rough edges but this goes so far beyond rough edges.

lifehacker.com/health/i-tri...

Here's where to get help with food in southwestern Pennsylvania When SNAP benefits expire because of the federal government shutdown, hundreds of thousands of Western Pennsylvanians will struggle to afford food.

When SNAP runs out on Nov. 1st, hundreds of thousands of people in Pittsburgh and across SWPA will struggle to afford food. I compiled (with the help of community members) a non-exhaustive list of where people can find help, including sites in Pittsburgh & outer counties.

Please spread this.

The modern ones are stocked with pennies and you pay with a credit card! They dispense the penny into the slot and then you get to turn the crank.

I hate how high tech they are but I never have a penny with me anymore so

If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation.

Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net

Another factor I think: when AI has whole departments named after it, it’s a lot harder to say “oops AI is dumb” and scrub that off. The departments/programs/etc will have to gradually evolve away from that naming and focus, extending AI’s appearance of legitimacy

Proud of this

Minute Cryptic - 20 October, 2025
"Uproar from little brother texting you "LOL"" (8)
⚪️🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣🟣
🏆 1 hints – 2 under the community par (70,850 solvers so far).
www.minutecryptic.com?utm_source=s...

I've been having SO much fun with Minute Cryptic. I've even graduated to occasionally doing the Guardian's weekly "Quick Cryptic" (not so quick for me, but it's easier than their regular cryptic crosswords)

Knitting on the needle, 2 purl stitches (left) and 2 knit stitches (right) are highlighted.

Count me one more!

Btw I forgot to tell you how to read your stitches when they are on the needle. A purl stitch wears its bump like a little scarf around its neck.

If I want to continue the columns of knitting I knit the v’s and purl the guys with the scarves.

I’m glad I could help! You are doing great, for real.

Oh hey that’s the 5th stitch on your list! (Ok a slight variation.)

Checkerboard coaster with squares of knit and purl stitches

Haha yeah we use the word stitch a lot. Technically there are only two, the knit stitch and the purl stitch, but you can combine them into stitch patterns like ribbing or garter.

This might be a fun first/second project: a coaster where you just knit 4, purl 4 to make blocks like a checkerboard.

Riley’s garter stitch with the v’s and bumps highlighted

Oh and

Garter stitch is reversible! I’ve tried to answer your question in the main thread.

So if you want to get the fabric with v’s on the front and purl bumps on the back, there are two ways:

1. Flat knitting: knit a row (when the v side is facing you), then purl a row (when the bump side is facing you), repeat

2. In the round: just knit forever because it’s always the front

Close up of 2x2 ribbing

So you’ve learned how to do a knit stitch, which puts the v toward you. There is also a purl stitch which puts the bump towards you and the v on the other side.

Alternate them and you can get fun patterns like ribbing. This one is 2 knit stitches, 2 purl stitches, repeat.

Garter stitch. Some of the v’s and bumps are drawn over with pink digital marker.

Like so

You are doing knit stitches, so the V side faces you. But as soon as you turn your needles around to do the next row, the bump side is facing you. So you get alternating rows of bumps and V’s. This is called garter stitch

- - - - - -
vvvvvvv
- - - - - -
vvvvvvv

A little purple swatch showing the knit side of stockinette stitch. All V’s.

The other side of the swatch. All bars.

When you make a “knit stitch”, that puts the V side toward you, and the horizontal bar side on the back of your knitting.

Here are some examples of knitted work that are all V’s on one side and all bars on the other. (The “knit side” and the “purl side”)

Loop over my finger. Makes a V shape.

The other side of the loop on my finger. The part you can see horizontal.

Thread on reading your knitting @rcmacleod.bsky.social

Each stitch in knitting is a loop. Another loop gets pulled through it. Note that a loop with something through it looks like a V on one side and a horizontal bar on the other.

The loop on the end of this Bananagrams package will demonstrate

That is some TEXTBOOK garter stitch. Nice work. It is the most knitting kind of knitting.

I’m going to take a few pics of something for you, one sec

The beginning stage of learning to knit is perplexing and this is normal. Like babies falling down when they walk. I promise you it gets better, and quickly.

Hi may I be insufferable to you please? I knit a lot and have many opinions on it

Knitting is easier than playing the ukulele (a thing I am bad at despite practice)

If you have a row of loops, and are putting a new row of loops through them, you are knitting. The rest is just details.

Hard disagree.