The colour is beautimous! What's it going to be?

A very interesting paper, which provoked some very interesting discussion in the chat, particularly around the environmental impact of using AI, and the long-term functionality of AI work given the rapid pace of change within the commercial AI models.

Absolutely! The diversity of our crafts can mirror the diversity of our collections! Lovely work, too!

Now that my paper is done, I can pick up the sock I've been working on:

A few folks at my institution missed the boat on registering for the conference, and eventbrite says it's now too late to buy tickets. Is all lost, or is there some way that they can still join?

YES!! We are reviewing our local guidance on how to catalogue bound-withs and are having a terrible time reconciling our local practices with the way that Alma links and displays records--particularly as we have many, many copies of many pamphlets in our bound-withs.

Knitters of #RBSCG25, what's on your needles (or crochet hooks)? I know you're out there; we have photographic proof from last year's conference!

"We keep receipts."

This is, of course, why they are going after heritage institutions, and why it's imperative to protect them.

Sign the Petition Stop the Destruction of the World-Renowned Dartington Forest Garden

chng.it/89nJqHBvjB

Another weekend day with sunny weather, another armload of bramble canes cut and woven into the raised vegetable beds.

The past three weekends, I have been gathering the longest, sturdiest bramble canes I could find from the hills around my house, to weave into raised beds for my garden. The result of many hours of work (interspersed with many pleasant chats with neighbours) is around four inches of height.

I originally bought this ridiculously large mixing bowl to use as a mould for making a pottery basin for a bathroom vanity, but after finding a basin we liked for a reasonable price on eBay, I started using it for normal kitchen stuff. It is now one of my most favouritest kitchen things.

An absolutely GINORMOUS catering-size mixing bowl full of not-yet-baked granola.

It's time to feed my granola habit again.

I am a cataloguer and as such, do not handle scanning requests, so cannot possibly confirm or deny this statement.

My job is frequently awesome, but today it was awesome with a side of otters.

A stuffed toy Scottish wildcat

The UoE holds the archives of the Edinburgh zoo, and the archivist cataloguing their papers is one of my direct reports. This meant that today I had a meeting at the zoo. The members' entrance is closed for the winter, so I had to leave via the gift shop. This ended about how you'd expect.

And for what it's worth, I think you totally deserve ALL the dinner.

It's funny how different people can have such different responses to crushing self-doubt. I wish we could trade pathology for a few days, back and forth. I could lend you my comfort eating in exchange for your anorexia. We'd still be mentally ill, but at least we'd both be a healthy weight.

As both a gardener and a rare books librarian, I heartily approve of this design choice.

Thank you for the well wishes. At the moment, I'm wavering between "not my first rodeo" and "getting too old for this shit". 🫠

Tonight, instead of trying to reset my sleep schedule for work like a sensible person, I am asking, "just how narrow can I make a narrow rolled hem"?

I cut my hair today. This is not especially noteworthy in itself; I chop off 6-8" of length about once a year or whenever my hair starts getting long enough to sit on. This time though, the bald spot I developed during radiation in 2020 has grown back to the same length as the rest of my hair.

I am lurching into 2025 by trying to claw my way back from a depressive episode before returning to work on the 6th, with the remains of a head cold that just won't shift. For the new year, I wish you the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and the wisdom to know when to rest.

Yup. The fact that you're "supposed" to be celebrating and having a lovely time makes it that much harder.

Hard same. Sending sympathy in your general direction.

Can't brain, so embroidering instead. New-to-me variation on blanket/buttonhole stitch.

A pair of hand-knitted socks, one of them only partially complete. The toes are split like tabi.

Tabi sock #2 now has a heel.

Steve and I noped out of Christmas entirely last year because we were just too exhausted. You are allowed to take the time and space that you need. I hope you managed to eat something to keep your meat suit functioning, even if it wasn't the usual festive gluttony.

In that case, consider yourself invited out to lunch in the new year.