Carrie on pens and needles
@cbhankes.bsky.social
She/her History person, Navy vet, writer, mom, outdoorsish, craft-type
Host of Pens and Needles Podcast
Host of Pens and Needles Podcast
Could sleep so got up, cleaned, and am working on my Cara wrap cardigan. Might get some editing done, too, but don’t want to push it too much lol/sob
Side note: I love the color of this yarn. It’s very logwoody
Side note: I love the color of this yarn. It’s very logwoody
November 12, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Could sleep so got up, cleaned, and am working on my Cara wrap cardigan. Might get some editing done, too, but don’t want to push it too much lol/sob
Side note: I love the color of this yarn. It’s very logwoody
Side note: I love the color of this yarn. It’s very logwoody
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
East Coast peeps! I am coming to you!
MONDAY I'll be at Franklin Park in Brooklyn.
11/17-11/18: JMU & Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, VA
11/19: Little District Books & As You Are in DC
11/20: Trans Day of Remembrance @ GMU followed by the Arthur C. Clarke Awards
11/22-11/23: Miami Book Fair!
MONDAY I'll be at Franklin Park in Brooklyn.
11/17-11/18: JMU & Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, VA
11/19: Little District Books & As You Are in DC
11/20: Trans Day of Remembrance @ GMU followed by the Arthur C. Clarke Awards
11/22-11/23: Miami Book Fair!
November 4, 2025 at 12:35 AM
East Coast peeps! I am coming to you!
MONDAY I'll be at Franklin Park in Brooklyn.
11/17-11/18: JMU & Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, VA
11/19: Little District Books & As You Are in DC
11/20: Trans Day of Remembrance @ GMU followed by the Arthur C. Clarke Awards
11/22-11/23: Miami Book Fair!
MONDAY I'll be at Franklin Park in Brooklyn.
11/17-11/18: JMU & Parentheses Books in Harrisonburg, VA
11/19: Little District Books & As You Are in DC
11/20: Trans Day of Remembrance @ GMU followed by the Arthur C. Clarke Awards
11/22-11/23: Miami Book Fair!
Am I really the only middle school sports parent in the state of VA concerned that kids are put back in the game after getting sick on the court?
October 29, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Am I really the only middle school sports parent in the state of VA concerned that kids are put back in the game after getting sick on the court?
For my museum friends: yall need to check out The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai. It might be a futuristic, sci/ fantasy, but it touches on sooo many ethics topics that museums grapple with. Link to a local bookstore below
prince-books.com/book/9781645...
prince-books.com/book/9781645...
prince-books.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:13 AM
For my museum friends: yall need to check out The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai. It might be a futuristic, sci/ fantasy, but it touches on sooo many ethics topics that museums grapple with. Link to a local bookstore below
prince-books.com/book/9781645...
prince-books.com/book/9781645...
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
Oh yes oh yes oh yes! This week's live chat from the workroom welcomes a special guest: Kate Atherley, author of the new and much-anticipated book, "Math for Knitters."
Patrons, the invitation and link have gone out, so check your inboxes.
For the curious, I include the clicky thing down below.
Patrons, the invitation and link have gone out, so check your inboxes.
For the curious, I include the clicky thing down below.
October 17, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Oh yes oh yes oh yes! This week's live chat from the workroom welcomes a special guest: Kate Atherley, author of the new and much-anticipated book, "Math for Knitters."
Patrons, the invitation and link have gone out, so check your inboxes.
For the curious, I include the clicky thing down below.
Patrons, the invitation and link have gone out, so check your inboxes.
For the curious, I include the clicky thing down below.
I’m on my 3rd read-through of Talking to Dragons in two months so my food envy kicked in. Guess who’s eating stew (Brunswick stew with chicken) and gingerbread for dinner
October 12, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I’m on my 3rd read-through of Talking to Dragons in two months so my food envy kicked in. Guess who’s eating stew (Brunswick stew with chicken) and gingerbread for dinner
Oh this sounds so cool!
October 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Oh this sounds so cool!
Crap. Yeah, I might have written this scene once or twice. Closely related, one character is scared into the others arms. Either way, someone walking in always breaks the tension.
There's no way to convey sexual tension except by having two characters fall or be knocked over, with one landing on top of the other with their faces an inch apart. We've made a lot of fiction but that's the only technique that exists
October 1, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Crap. Yeah, I might have written this scene once or twice. Closely related, one character is scared into the others arms. Either way, someone walking in always breaks the tension.
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
There's no way to convey sexual tension except by having two characters fall or be knocked over, with one landing on top of the other with their faces an inch apart. We've made a lot of fiction but that's the only technique that exists
October 1, 2025 at 12:32 AM
There's no way to convey sexual tension except by having two characters fall or be knocked over, with one landing on top of the other with their faces an inch apart. We've made a lot of fiction but that's the only technique that exists
My zero draft was pretty short (normal) at 35,000 ish words. I usually type up chapters individually but did them all at the same time this time. The problem? I’m now hyper focused on word count. This is unfortunately anti productive.
#5amwritersclub
#5amwritersclub
September 29, 2025 at 10:51 AM
My zero draft was pretty short (normal) at 35,000 ish words. I usually type up chapters individually but did them all at the same time this time. The problem? I’m now hyper focused on word count. This is unfortunately anti productive.
#5amwritersclub
#5amwritersclub
Podcast suggestions needed please!
What recreatable item (clothing, food, or accessories) from a book would you like to see recreated?
Example: onion pie or cherries jubilee? A hat pin or necklace? The corset/ stays everyone’s always complaining about?
Whatcha got?!
What recreatable item (clothing, food, or accessories) from a book would you like to see recreated?
Example: onion pie or cherries jubilee? A hat pin or necklace? The corset/ stays everyone’s always complaining about?
Whatcha got?!
September 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Podcast suggestions needed please!
What recreatable item (clothing, food, or accessories) from a book would you like to see recreated?
Example: onion pie or cherries jubilee? A hat pin or necklace? The corset/ stays everyone’s always complaining about?
Whatcha got?!
What recreatable item (clothing, food, or accessories) from a book would you like to see recreated?
Example: onion pie or cherries jubilee? A hat pin or necklace? The corset/ stays everyone’s always complaining about?
Whatcha got?!
Finally finished the rewritten zero draft of my US Navy/WWI historical mystery. It’s still early in revisions but it feels stronger! Plus, I learned so much about the German ships interned at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1915/1916 and it’s so interesting to write about.
#5amwritingclub
#5amwritingclub
September 28, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Finally finished the rewritten zero draft of my US Navy/WWI historical mystery. It’s still early in revisions but it feels stronger! Plus, I learned so much about the German ships interned at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1915/1916 and it’s so interesting to write about.
#5amwritingclub
#5amwritingclub
The human ability to put things “where we won’t lose them” is second only to our inability to find said things
September 18, 2025 at 10:37 PM
The human ability to put things “where we won’t lose them” is second only to our inability to find said things
I published new episode:Patterns, History, and a Rant About Calendars, please check it out. www.podbean.com/wlei/pb-cvjx...
Patterns, History, and a Rant About Calendars
Join Carrie for a dive into the origins of sewing, knitting, and crochet patterns, why they’re on her nerves, and why dates are complicated when discussing the past.
Find me at carrieonpensandneedles....
www.podbean.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:47 AM
I published new episode:Patterns, History, and a Rant About Calendars, please check it out. www.podbean.com/wlei/pb-cvjx...
New podcast recorded!! Hopefully will have it up either today or tomorrow!!
#pensandneedlespodcast
#pensandneedlespodcast
August 12, 2025 at 9:49 AM
New podcast recorded!! Hopefully will have it up either today or tomorrow!!
#pensandneedlespodcast
#pensandneedlespodcast
I hate it when my Numbers doc says “the formula contains a syntax error” but it won’t tell me what it is
August 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I hate it when my Numbers doc says “the formula contains a syntax error” but it won’t tell me what it is
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
ok I'm going to reiterate some deeply important facts about measles:
-you can become infected by measles if you are in a room where someone who has measles has been hours after they have left
-measles wipes out your immune system
-measles can kill you and kills lots of 'healthy' people every year
-you can become infected by measles if you are in a room where someone who has measles has been hours after they have left
-measles wipes out your immune system
-measles can kill you and kills lots of 'healthy' people every year
As the US hits a 33-year high in measles infections, there is now a "race" to find a treatment for the disease.
One pharma company "is banking on a continuing decline in vaccination rates to fuel a need for measles treatments—and in turn, more investor interest"
🎁 link
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
One pharma company "is banking on a continuing decline in vaccination rates to fuel a need for measles treatments—and in turn, more investor interest"
🎁 link
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
The Race to Find a Measles Treatment as Infections Surge
The measles vaccine was so effective the disease was considered eliminated in the U.S., but a resurgence of outbreaks is spurring a need for drugs.
www.wsj.com
August 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
ok I'm going to reiterate some deeply important facts about measles:
-you can become infected by measles if you are in a room where someone who has measles has been hours after they have left
-measles wipes out your immune system
-measles can kill you and kills lots of 'healthy' people every year
-you can become infected by measles if you are in a room where someone who has measles has been hours after they have left
-measles wipes out your immune system
-measles can kill you and kills lots of 'healthy' people every year
Talking to kids can be wild. You spend 11 years learning their language approximations and trying to teach them synonyms, then when you say “hand me my knitting bag, please” they don’t know what you were talking about because “that’s not a bag, that’s a backpack” or something.
August 8, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Talking to kids can be wild. You spend 11 years learning their language approximations and trying to teach them synonyms, then when you say “hand me my knitting bag, please” they don’t know what you were talking about because “that’s not a bag, that’s a backpack” or something.
First bike ride in about 19/20 yrs is complete! It was short, but a blast and I got to teach youngest some of the rules of the road!!
July 30, 2025 at 11:51 PM
First bike ride in about 19/20 yrs is complete! It was short, but a blast and I got to teach youngest some of the rules of the road!!
I’m struggling with this right now as I try to research my latest podcast.
Super thankful Dr Ingo Heidbrink made sure to include a section in our museum studies class on checking the authenticity of Wikipedia entries. It has become increasingly relevant.
Super thankful Dr Ingo Heidbrink made sure to include a section in our museum studies class on checking the authenticity of Wikipedia entries. It has become increasingly relevant.
All historians know the sinking feeling of tracking an "authoritative" reference back through several generations of writers to an unsourced assertion by someone nobody's ever heard of.
Now AI can make up new ones in no time at all.
Now AI can make up new ones in no time at all.
From my own academic research, even pre LLMs there was a huge danger of zombie factoids that begin in a respectable publication by mistake and then get reprinted for decades because no one is backtracing to the original source. Once bad info gets into the system it can take years to clear it out.
July 30, 2025 at 10:46 AM
I’m struggling with this right now as I try to research my latest podcast.
Super thankful Dr Ingo Heidbrink made sure to include a section in our museum studies class on checking the authenticity of Wikipedia entries. It has become increasingly relevant.
Super thankful Dr Ingo Heidbrink made sure to include a section in our museum studies class on checking the authenticity of Wikipedia entries. It has become increasingly relevant.
Podcast Update!
It is too difficult to get my 11yr old to finish a book, even when promised seat on my podcast.
SO, my next episode should be on the history of patterns, NOT my kid’s opinion on the Royal Diaries Isabel of Spain/Women During WWII/Nancy Drew and the Case of the Old Clock
It is too difficult to get my 11yr old to finish a book, even when promised seat on my podcast.
SO, my next episode should be on the history of patterns, NOT my kid’s opinion on the Royal Diaries Isabel of Spain/Women During WWII/Nancy Drew and the Case of the Old Clock
July 29, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Podcast Update!
It is too difficult to get my 11yr old to finish a book, even when promised seat on my podcast.
SO, my next episode should be on the history of patterns, NOT my kid’s opinion on the Royal Diaries Isabel of Spain/Women During WWII/Nancy Drew and the Case of the Old Clock
It is too difficult to get my 11yr old to finish a book, even when promised seat on my podcast.
SO, my next episode should be on the history of patterns, NOT my kid’s opinion on the Royal Diaries Isabel of Spain/Women During WWII/Nancy Drew and the Case of the Old Clock
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
Scheduling update: my office hour is going to be tomorrow afternoon, not today.
July 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Scheduling update: my office hour is going to be tomorrow afternoon, not today.
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
I'm noticing a fascinating theme in new science fiction and fantasy books: memory. Just in the past few months there have been a few amazing books with "memory" or "memories" in the title.
I wrote about some new books on the theme here: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
I wrote about some new books on the theme here: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
These sci-fi books ask the most basic question: Are we our memories?
New books by Mia Tsai, J.R. Dawson, Daniel Kraus and Seth Haddon explore how we recall the past when everything falls apart.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I'm noticing a fascinating theme in new science fiction and fantasy books: memory. Just in the past few months there have been a few amazing books with "memory" or "memories" in the title.
I wrote about some new books on the theme here: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
I wrote about some new books on the theme here: www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/0...
My summer hack: taught the kids to make microwave s’mores. Bonus, they’ll make me one too!
July 15, 2025 at 12:21 AM
My summer hack: taught the kids to make microwave s’mores. Bonus, they’ll make me one too!
Reposted by Carrie on pens and needles
Thank you to everyone who has donated. ConCurrent is 500 USD away from funding! If you have the funds and also don't want genAI in the arts, 5 bucks would help support us!
Registration remains open!
paypal.com/donate/?camp...
Registration remains open!
paypal.com/donate/?camp...
July 14, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Thank you to everyone who has donated. ConCurrent is 500 USD away from funding! If you have the funds and also don't want genAI in the arts, 5 bucks would help support us!
Registration remains open!
paypal.com/donate/?camp...
Registration remains open!
paypal.com/donate/?camp...