Brittany Rae Benson aka Okie-Trønder
banner
perithemis.bsky.social
Brittany Rae Benson aka Okie-Trønder
@perithemis.bsky.social
Howdy og hei! I'm an artist based in central Norway (though my origins are in Oklahoma). I play tuba, paint, sculpt, embroider, illustrate, write, etc. You know, arts stuff. Anyway, I also make a lot of candy, and study oribatid mites and Odonata.
The Old Lady and Mr. Beauford were looking fancy by the light of the flames at the end of the day. We finally got a big ol' pile of snow all of a sudden - and now that skies are clear, temps have plummeted. It's a right proper winter now!
January 3, 2026 at 8:13 PM
So I just did my first supercoil with the spindle technique and holy crap is it neato and fun!! Unfortunately it is definitely a fiber muncher... I only managed a few wraps around the niddy noddy.

I used a commercial cotton core and a Shetland slub singles as the wrap.

#art #spinning #yarn
January 3, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Made some beehives the other day. They're boring and white right now but I'll be dyeing them later.

#art #yarn #spinning
December 31, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Also yesterday was Beetle Day. These guys needed new food so I had to bug them for a couple of minutes. Look at this adorable perfection!

#bugs #beetles
December 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Made a bouclé yesterday and it feels so amazing! Unfortunately this means I'm now nearly out of polwarth. Wermp.

#art #yarn #spinning #sosoft
December 31, 2025 at 7:16 PM
My dude is super awesome and got me a Kromski Fantasia for Christmas. I took it for a spin with a pigtail yarn on Christmas Day. It is such a smooth machine! Looking forward to the arrival of the jumbo flyer attachment for my bulky yarns.

#art #yarn #spinning #kromski
December 30, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Once I had the how-to figured out, I did another bouclé. It went a little smoother but there is clearly no getting around needing to help bobbles around the slots and tiny hook of the flyer.

#art #spinning #yarn
December 22, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I wanted to see if I could get away with a bouclé on the old wheel. I definitely had to stop and help bobbles along a number of times, but it worked!

#spinning #art #yarn
December 22, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I maybe got the red too thick, but I’ll pretend that was intentional.

#art #yarn #spinning
December 22, 2025 at 2:29 AM
More for the same piece. I love how stripey it looks on thr niddy noddy.

#art #spinning #yarn
December 22, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Started spinning some stuff for a piece I've had sitting around a while... These will mostly be embroidered with.

#spinning #yarn #art
December 22, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Got my old lady up and running! She's sat still for 4 years as the flyer was missing. But a few weeks ago I found one! I built a new flyer support and added a drive band. Someone before me had nailed the mother-of-all in place so I couldn't adjust tension, until I solved that mystery.

#spinning
December 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Friday night tweed.

#spinning #yarn #tweeeeed #art
December 5, 2025 at 6:46 PM
You know it's Jul season when the cantina has the risengrøt out!

Neither of us found the almond, but it was extra good.

#jul #christmas #num
December 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Came in to find the office mite already decked in the halls! All that was missing was his hat, so I fixed him right up.

#godjul #christmas #acarology #bugs #lovemymite #miteyjul
November 27, 2025 at 7:42 AM
November 14, 2025 at 4:45 AM
And yesterday I finished a 3 ply yarn (with one of them an opposing twist). Was going for a winter sunrise.

Bonus image of my new plying setup.

#yarn #spinning #spindle
November 12, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Did my first 4 ply chord yarn this week! I like it, but the black ended up dominating more than I was picturing. Later, I figured out which yarn I was going for so I guess I'll have to give it another go! As is usual for now, it was all done with a spindle.

#yarn #spindle #spinning
November 12, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Rainbow on the grain elevator!

#rainbow #rainyday #grainelevator #kornsilo
November 5, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Took a spinning class this weekend so now I can officially operate the wheel!
November 3, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Happy Halloween! Here's a roach butt.
October 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
They're here!!! Got some mostly very tiny nymphs of Pseudoglomeris magnifica. This is my second time trying the species. The first time, they lived long but never reproduced. I know a lot more now so we'll see how it goes this round.

#magnificent #roach #bug #soexcited
October 29, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Had a little buddy out today. Thought I'd try for a nice photo but there was absolutely no interest in sitting still.

#isopod #titan #bug #they'resowonderful
October 28, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Brittany Rae Benson aka Okie-Trønder
Last chance to grab Isopod with a 20% off launch discount!
store.steampowered.com/app/2053910/...

You can also pick up the Sbug's Bugs Bundle to maximise your time with these two adorable spiders!
🕷️🦐🕷️
October 28, 2025 at 5:06 AM
A couple of my slides for next week's talk. And yes, it does link to outreach concepts! Anyway, that photo of me (left) is apparently 25 years old now.

#kazoo #outreach #teaching
October 25, 2025 at 5:38 AM