I’m not saying it’s always the right idea to stay with someone in this sort of situation. But the fact that you did was probably a major reason she could be successful. She knew she had support and that is so, so important.

Yes! Pretzel buns are the superior bun for holding a burger in your hands. Definitely needs moisture from the other ingredients though. Also they have great flavor. I’m personally not particularly fond of the overly sweet brioche buns.

Mine is super annoying so the silent mode is clutch. You just have to remember that you were heating something if you’re also distracted with other stuff. Whenever the power goes out and I have to reset it, I swear I turn the sound off before I do the clock because every button press is super loud. Even my MIL commented on it once when she was visiting, before we figured out how to turn the sound off.

I feel like most of the people answering you are not actually sewists.

The person mentioning the serger/overlocker machine is correct regarding stretchy material. You can do it on a sewing machine but it won’t look nice. On a regular sewing machine, a straight stitch will give you a non-stretchy seam. A zigzag stitch will be stretchy but most often people aren’t pleased with the look of it. If you look at the inside of a t-shirt, the side seams are generally done with a serger. (A coverstitch machine is usually what is used for a hem. It makes a row of two lines on the front. It only does that.) The reason a serger works better for knit fabric is because of the differential feed, meaning it can better handle sewing two stretchy fabrics together such as in a seam. A sewing machine only feeds by catching the bottom fabric and scooting it forward, and that can cause issues if the fabric is stretchy.

You also need appropriate needles, especially for something like spandex. I haven’t worked with it at all so I’m not sure 100% what to recommend, but possibly a ball point or microtex needle.

Meanwhile, for upholstery, all you need (I think) is a straight stitch. Technically you could even try to do it by hand, but depending on the material, it could be really difficult. You’d definitely need a heavy duty needle, and possibly pliers to pull the needle through thick fabric. If you went for a machine, you’d want something robust. I’m actually about to try an upholstery project using my mid-range Bernina; it has successfully sewn several bags so I think it can handle it. But Bernina is not a mid-level brand, and I spent good money on that machine. Certainly, like in most things, you get what you pay for.

Winter, but I’m in California so of course it’s a bit different for us. I love rainy days, particularly with no wind. I prefer to be inside listening to it, but if there’s no wind, I don’t mind being out in it too much.

Totally get that. I used to be that way; somewhere along the line I decided that I would not allow myself more than three WIPs at a time, and I’ve mostly been pretty disciplined about that, and it’s helped. I make a lot of sweaters for myself so when people learn that I knit, they know to ask me if I made what I’m wearing, and the answer is often “yes.” The ones who are also crafters just admire the work, but the ones who aren’t start telling me I should sell (big lol) or that they’d pay me to make them one. If I charged an hourly rate, it’d probably mean upwards of a thousand bucks for a single sweater, but they have no concept of that.

Anyway, I hear you on the learning new stitch patterns and then getting bored. I mostly knit while in meetings or watching TV these days, because it got easy. I had to learn something new (sewing) to stretch my brain because knitting wasn’t doing it anymore.

People want to pay me for my knitting. Too bad for them that the amount they want to pay me is laughable and also there’s no way in hell I’d take the time to knit someone I barely know a sweater.

Running is the worst for me personally, between weak ankles and maybe sports-induced asthma. Thankfully in high school I got a pass out of any running due to a slightly nuts podiatrist who thought the only sport that was safe was snow skiing because my ankles were bound in. (Even swimming was out, apparently? Made no sense to me. I went on to play water polo anyway.)

Loved badminton.

Even walking barefoot seems like it would be painful!

I guess what I meant was, they were so aware that we were lamely going as fast as we could (not very) in the slow lane that they managed to move over in plenty of time even when they were going way (way) faster than us and had to merge into other traffic. No one ever seemed to get stuck behind us unable to pass. I chalked it up to their very high awareness of our very shitty car, lol.

Ooh man, I’ve driven a lot of rentals for work…

I hated hated hated the Nissan Cube. Thankfully the check engine light came on within two hours of me picking it up so I got to swap it.

But I think the one that takes the cake is actually a vacation rental car. My husband and I rented a car when we went to Belgium. It was an Opel Corsa. It struggled to even reach the speed limit on highways and definitely couldn’t go above it. The funniest thing was that all the Audis and BMWs in Belgium didn’t even bother to tailgate us; they saw us ahead of them and moved over to pass well before they got to us. They knew. That thing was hilariously bad at being a car. I was also a new stick shift driver and it was very difficult. We then went to Switzerland where we got a VW Polo and suddenly I got a whole lot better at driving stick, lol.

It’s funny; I live in a Tesla hotspot and I actually notice slow teslas more than aggressive ones, maybe because I’m surprised they’re being so overly cautious. I guess it’s because everyone seems to have one here. Or… maybe it’s because they’re distracted. Yeah, that’s very possible…

(Full disclosure: I also drive one.)

Your hotdog buns have more structural integrity than mine.