Notes from somewhere between code and yarn. 2026-07-17T00:00:00Z https://danaadylova.com/ Dana Adylova 2026-07-17T00:00:00Z https://danaadylova.com/blog/yarn-chicken/ <p>I think there are a lot of people who don’t start knitting or sewing - one of those “difficult” hobbies - because there is a misconception that it will be way too difficult to learn. That has been stopping me for a while until I bought some yarn on a whim and decided to knit a sweater. Turns out it was a horrible idea - I did almost everything wrong on my first try. The color was horrible, I got the worst needles possible, and in the end I didn’t even have enough of the yarn to finish this project, so my sleeves did not match the body in color<sup class="sidenote-num">1</sup> <span class="sidenote"><span class="sidenote-tag">1</span> (note: yarn chicken is when you don’t get enough yarn for the project, and in a constant state of dread that there will not be enough to finish the second sleeve. I’d be a champion in yarn chicken if it was a sport)</span>. But I still enjoyed the process, so I tried again.</p> <p>I don’t even have pictures of that first project - I hated it so much I threw it out (on reflection, I should have frogged<sup class="sidenote-num">2</sup> <span class="sidenote"><span class="sidenote-tag">2</span> (Knitting translation: unraveled)</span> it and just reused the yarn, but at the moment I was very emotional about my wasted time), but the next one turned esthetically pleasing, even if not very practical. Hence, I will add a picture here.</p> <figure class="note-figure"> <img src="https://danaadylova.com/img/posts/sweater-no-1-back.jpg?v=3" alt="Back view of a lavender mohair sweater hanging on a wooden hanger."> <figcaption>sweater no. 1, back view</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="note-figure"> <img src="https://danaadylova.com/img/posts/sweater-no-1-worn.jpg?v=3" alt="Detail photo of the lavender mohair sweater being worn."> <figcaption>sweater no. 1, worn</figcaption> </figure> <p>All this is to basically pass some notes on knitting to beginners:</p> <ul> <li>Maybe start with a scarf first, not a whole cardigan</li> <li>Do some research before starting</li> <li>Do not knit whole sweaters from mohair if you get itchy</li> <li>Don’t give up :D</li> </ul> <p>See the project on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/projects/danaadylova/sweater-no-1">Ravelry</a>.</p> 2026-07-17T00:00:00Z https://danaadylova.com/blog/planting-this-garden/ <p>This site used to just point at [[unraveled-makes]], but I've been wanting a place to put my thoughts, recent projects, and keep a digital journal. I've always been fascinated by blogs, and even though it's not as popular anymore as it was 10/20 years ago, I'd like to give it a go.</p> <p>So: a digital garden. Everything links to everything with <code>[[wiki links]]</code>, like my Obsidian vault.</p> <p>A few things you might notice:</p> <ul> <li>Pages link to each other, and each note lists its <strong>backlinks</strong> at the bottom — so you can wander in any direction.</li> <li>If you type on your keyboard while you're here, the site thocks like a mechanical keyboard. This serves no purpose, I just like the sound. There's a <code>sound: off</code> switch in the footer if you don't.</li> <li>It's built with <a href="https://www.11ty.dev/">Eleventy</a>, markdown files, and a GitHub Action. The whole thing is <a href="https://github.com/danaadylova/danaadylova.github.io">on GitHub</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Next up: more notes on [[sweater-vision]], and my personal knitting journey.</p>