@swachter@toot.boston avatar

swachter

@[email protected]

Product manager on hiatus, feminist, rock climber, geek, maker. I make and sell geeky/nerdy bags and jewelry. Currently recovering from ten years in tech, spending most of my time #reading, #sewing, and working with #polymerclay. Lives in #somervillema but grew up in #batonrouge #louisiana. #mlis from #uw #seattle. Move slow and fix things. Leave the world better than you found it. She/her

Online shop: https://rhymes-with-doctor.myshopify.com/

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@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

If you need a pin to help you express your feelings and/or remind yourself of the LUCE hotline number, swing by Sidequest in Bow Market. They’re running a fundraiser for LUCE & MA Bail Fund, donating 10% of shop sales and 100% of used book & game sales. I donated handmade buttons to support the cause and they’re donating all proceeds from their sale.

A block of nine pinback buttons. The top row reads “see ice? Call LUCE 617-370-5023” with a picture of a butterfly, dragon, or unicorn. The second and third rows read “queer as in FUCK ICE / queer as in F*CK ICE / queer as in END ICE” and have either a trans flag or a pride flag as the background.
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@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

I can’t fix much but I can fix my husband’s slipper.

The same slipper now has a sweet little woven pink heart outlined in purple chai stitch covering the tear. There’s also a wad of felt inside the shoe but I’m not gonna show you that because it looks messy af.

The same slipper now has a sweet little woven pink heart outlined in purple chai stitch covering the tear. There’s also a wad of felt inside the shoe but I’m not gonna show you that because it looks messy af.
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@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

Ok ok how about a cozy resource management game where the game mechanic is that you have a bunch of wombats and you’re trying to build things and you have to feed the wombats different foods so that they poop different kinds of resource cubes that you use to build things

It’s called shitting bricks

@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

Howdy! Do you know and love a nerd? Does your nerd need to carry their belongings in a stylish, sturdy, and oh-so-nerdy bag? GREAT NEWS! Whether your person is a librarian, a scientist, a doctor, a Trekkie, a ttrpg enthusiast, or ✨something else✨, I may well have a delightfully unique handmade bag that would tickle their fancy! I make lovely handmade messenger bags, totes, chalk bags, and crossbody bags from my home studio in Somerville, MA and I ship anywhere in the USA.

You can browse by bag style or by interest on my website: https://rhymes-with-doctor.myshopify.com/

A cream-colored messenger bag with two side pockets, with a repeating pattern of hearts containing images of old-school library due date cards.
A bright pink messenger bag covered with scattered D20s in very bright blue / green / yellow / orange / purple colors. The yellow D20s are 20-side up and have a little halo of marks calling them out. It's huckin charming.
A messenger bag with two side pockets. The fabric is a goldish-color (TOS: Command) and it has the Starfleet command insignia in the top right corner (as it would be on a uniform). Great for a cosplayer!

A messenger bag with two side pockets. The fabric is a goldish-color (TOS: Command) and it has the Starfleet command insignia in the top right corner (as it would be on a uniform). Great for a cosplayer!
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@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

Do you love your library? Do you remember the old-school due date cards and the satisfying KA-CHUNKA of stamping a due date? Do you enjoy carrying your belongings in a stylish, sturdy, and practical messenger bag?

GREAT NEWS. I have precisely one (1) library-themed messenger bag available for a fortunate being. I ship anywhere within the US or arrange local pickup if you’re in the Cambridge/Somerville (MA) region.

https://rhymes-with-doctor.myshopify.com/products/library-love-messenger-bag

If this isn’t quite up your alley, I have other great gifts for the nerds in your life! Poke around my website and see if something is more to your liking! https://rhymes-with-doctor.myshopify.com/

@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

As was foretold, I have managed to finish up two more messenger bags and will have them for sale this SUNDAY DEC 7 at the HOLIDAY MARKET at 438 Somerville Ave 12-6. Should be a blast, there's three floors of artists, makers, and local organizations, Cambridge Hackspace is hosting a repair clinic during the market, there's gonna be live music, drinks & snacks. Come say hi, get your holiday shopping done early and support the local artists who keep your community good and weird. And there's two other markets right around the corner! IT WILL BE FUN.

Milk Row (where I’ll be, in the basement): 438 Somerville Ave. 12-6p (Building is not reported to be accessible, per SOS website.)
Aeronaut’s Holiday Market: 14 Tyler St. 1-6p
Green & Jolly Holiday Faire: Bow Market 2-6p

A black messenger bag with two side pockets, printed with delightful rainbow-watercolor flying dragons. The bag has two purple buckles and a purple zipper in the flap.
438 Somerville Ave Artist Studios Holiday Market Sun * Dec 7 * 12-6pm A building wide market featuring The Loft New Alliance Gallery Studio 3 Lexi's Tree Fort Stodge Gallery Cambridge Hackspace & Over 50 Local Vendors and then there's a little map showing that the studio is right behind Little India and around the corner from Market Basket.
A cream messenger bag with two side pockets, printed with repeating heart shapes made of library due-date cards in various tones of cream/pink/red.

A cream messenger bag with two side pockets, printed with repeating heart shapes made of library due-date cards in various tones of cream/pink/red.
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@swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

I went to pottery class today and opened by asking several of my classmates if they knew how to use the slab roller upstairs. Nobody did but everyone wanted to, so when the teacher got in I’m like “hey teach, do you know how to use the slab roller upstairs” and she’s like “no” (she’s a visiting artist who only got here a couple months ago so this is not very surprising) “but I’ve used a lot of different ones and I bet we can figure it out.” Me: “do you want to go on a Journey of Discovery?” Everyone: yes. YES. cue sickos faces so we all thunder up the stairs periodically shouting JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY and our teacher snags another person who uses the slab roller A Lot and this person gives us a very thorough lesson and demonstration and every so often someone else wanders through and asks what’s happening and we all go JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY at them and now everyone knows how to use the slab roller and honestly I cannot recommend this approach enough as a way to make learning new skills and life generally more exciting.

@SnoopJ@hachyderm.io avatar SnoopJ , to random

Can't remember what the last VN I played was. Possibly it was Milk Inside a Bag Of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk?

Anyway, let's have a go with Steins;Gate which I know nothing about and gather that this is how one ought to go into it

Screenshot of the main menu of Steins;Gate
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swachter ,
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@SnoopJ Real "this is a map store" energy here.

swachter ,
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@SnoopJ For the uninitiated:

A screenshot of a bluesky post: Andrew Middleton @ecoandrewtrc.bsky.social A mom just came in SO EXCITED to find a map store bc her son would LOVE it. She tries to be coy. "My son is... Really into maps. Real special kid." I'm like, ma'am, this is a map store. Half my customers are on the spectrum. | have a trains and transit section. You're among friends. December 17, 2024 at 5:42 PM
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    • + JessTheUnstill
    @swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

    Well I just figured out my Halloween costume.

    https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Trypanohyncha_Ocellus

    swachter OP ,
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    Eeeeehehehehehehehehehehe

    swachter OP ,
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    swachter OP ,
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    Aaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    swachter OP ,
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    Ok here’s something I’m real happy I figured out on the second tentacle and not the sixth. You can stuff it while you turn it…so you invert the tip, put a bit of stuffing in, push the tip further in, add some more fluff, and repeat until the whole thing is done. So much easier than trying to turn the whole thing right side out and then struggling to get the fluff down to the very tip.

    A photograph of the tentacle inside, showing a bit of fluff peeking out where the tip was inverted.

    swachter OP ,
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    This photo might show it a bit better.

    swachter OP ,
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    EEEEEEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

    swachter OP ,
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    Ok garbage lighting here but the tentacles are done!!

    I know I have done well when I walk into the living room and my husband immediately chokes laughing.

    @NanoRaptor@bitbang.social avatar NanoRaptor , to random

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    swachter ,
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    @NanoRaptor 3 months/6 months rule. If something sucks for 3 months, you have to try to fix it. If you tried to fix it and it still sucks at 6 months, you have to leave.

    There’s nuance here for situational stuff (like, sometimes the six month marker is “make a plan to leave or start putting preparations underway” or “change what you can so you can live with it until you CAN leave”) but it’s done me right in many many situations.

    @swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

    Heyo I should probably do some marketing or something: I have two sales coming up in the next few weeks.

    This coming Saturday 8/9 the Somerville Yart sale is happening! I’ll be selling nerdy bags (including a great new smaller zippered purse) and my friend Pía is joining me to sell her awesome spiky weird pottery. Come check things out! We’re right behind the Armory: https://somervilleartscouncil.org/yart-sale/yart/

    And then on September 20 I’ll be at FLUFF FESTIVAL in Union Square - mark your calendars!

    A small lidded ceramic jar glazed in a warm speckled brown glaze. The lid has two large rounded horns extending from either side, and the jar body has several small thorns poking out in various places.
    A photograph of four small sling bags in fun marshmallow prints, including a blue one with marshmallow fluff jars, a black one with lucky charms, a pink one with kawaii smores, and a navy blue one with fluffernutter sandwiches.
    A composite photograph of several messenger bags, including a blue Star Trek TNG medical corps bag, a pale blue one with scattered lutes and weapons and magical stuff, a pastel pink and purple with video game controllers, navy blue with chemistry equipment, and teal with electronics resistors.

    A composite photograph of several messenger bags, including a blue Star Trek TNG medical corps bag, a pale blue one with scattered lutes and weapons and magical stuff, a pastel pink and purple with video game controllers, navy blue with chemistry equipment, and teal with electronics resistors.
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    @killyourfm@layer8.space avatar killyourfm , to random

    Please don't ever use this feature. Please don't trust AI to safely navigate for you on a hike or in the backcountry. Social media and map apps have already contributed to nearly double the amount of search-and-rescue calls. AI hallucinations certainly won't improve that statistics...

    [Full article, behind a registration gate: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2025/06/17/news/alltrails-ai-tool-search-rescue-members]

    Article headline about AllTrails launching an AI route-making tool that worries search-and-rescue members, dated June 17th, 2025, accompanied by a photo of two hikers with large backpacks walking on a mountainous trail.
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    swachter ,
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    @killyourfm The Donner party would like a word.

    @swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

    Ok fedifolk, hit me with your best recipes for celeriac and/or turnip. Our farm share included both (2 medium celeriac, 1 big turnip) and I've never cooked them before. Recipe search is an AI wasteland these days so I turn to the real people of Mastodon.

    @nicetriangle@mastodon.social avatar nicetriangle , to random

    People who sell at in-person art/craft/etc markets:

    If you were gonna invest in the most basic setup for doing a standard size table selling prints around the A5 - A4 size range plus some other odds and ends like stickers... what sort of display stuff for that table would you recommend for someone's first handful of times out?

    Seems to me it'd be wise to start slow and build over time instead of going crazy and buying ALL THE THINGS.

    swachter ,
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    @nicetriangle I sell fabric things so my constraints are different, but in my experience people don’t buy what they can’t see. So anything that increases your surface area (tabletop grid wall/easel, over the table hanging rod, etc) that lets you put more things On Display is a good idea. Definitely agree that going slow and seeing what you wish you had is a good path forward.

    Buy a tablecloth though. Venue tables are often kind of janky looking and may have schmutz on them, putting a tablecloth down protects your product and makes everything look nicer. Also it lets you hide bins under the table.

    swachter ,
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    @nicetriangle I got a two pack of pink solid tablecloths for about $15. It’s nice to have a backup in case something spills or I have back to back shows or something.

    I did get a sign custom printed but that’s separate (and I don’t think you need it immediately until you decide if you’re doing this long term)

    swachter ,
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    @nicetriangle @inherentlee Strong +1 to the weights. I have seen a strong breeze destroy so many artists’ careful setups. Anything freestanding should have a weight on the bottom; any stacks of items should have a weight on the top.

    @swachter@toot.boston avatar swachter , to random

    How do people share patterns these days? I’ve worked up a really nice minimal-waste packable grocery bag pattern and it feels like a nice thing to share, but I’m terribly out of touch on how this happens. I’m old enough that I used to write things up on my blog but then Google killed Reader (pours one out) and now I just don’t know.