iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 22/09/2026

According to ikea my baby is currently transforming from the goober on the left to the goober on the right It’s not *inaccurate* I suppose. Just a little haunted

Photo of an ikea flat pack furniture installation guide. On the left, a cartoon baby, complete with starfish-like arms and legs and one curl of hair hovers ominously over a crib with the mattress support installed about halfway down the crib wall. On the right, a larger cartoon baby with five curls of hair and somewhat defined stubby feet hovers over a crib with the mattress support installed down at the bottom of the crib walls. (This baby can ostensibly at this point try to climb out of the crib)

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 20/09/2026

Ah I just took a starry-sky painting class! Convenient!

Photo of a notebook page with a starry night watercolor painting and notes in sepia ink on night sky paintings, including a mini painting of a moon in a dark sky

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 14/09/2026

I knitted these! It took me ages! Please clap!!

Photo of a pair of hand-knitted socks with black bats on an orange background, with black heels and toes, resting in a wooden floor.

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

Lung lichen veins, at their dryest but ready to swell back to life next time the marine layer reaches them

Photo of branching lichens on a tree trunk, each covered in somewhat creepy looking veiny texture

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

A teenier tinier forest of Cladonia sp. lichens

Fingers of gray-green lichen erupt from flatter lichen encrusting a dirt bank

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

The light shining through and around these Douglass fir trunks

Curving tree trunks frame the flare of the sun. The sun highlights the edges of the trees and the wiggles in their growth as they reach for the sky

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

This endemic chaparral pea still doggedly blooming into September

Photo of two fuchsia pink pea flowers with their banner, wings, and keel shining in bright sunlight with small spring green leaves and stems supporting the flowers, against a brown-gray-green background

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

The secret gold undersides of these chinquapin leaves

Photo of a plant with dark green feather-shaped leaves, which are angled so that you can just see the bright mustard-yellow bottoms of the leaves peeking out

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

Other good woods things from yesterday: the twizzliness of these manzanita stems

Photo of many stems of red manzanita wood twisting and turning on its way to the sun, dripping with yellow-green lichens

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/09/2026

Escaped into the woods today and took an all-timer slug selfie

Photo taken from a very low to the ground perspective of a banana slug in the foreground, eye stalks extended, crawling upside-down in frame toward the camera. In the midground, a woman’s smiling face wearing glasses looms behind the slug. In the background, blue sky and tree canopy

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 04/09/2026

Big Blöodcheep energy from this crow in my yard. I’ve named her Kraglor the Forsaken and she likes peanuts

Terrible photo of a crow on a dry lawn, through a window screen. The crow is missing all of its head feathers and looks generally scrungly

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 04/09/2026

Kids need science museums. Also, grown ups need science museums. It’s a lot easier to learn how to see if you have someone to show you.

Photo of a vibrant red dahlia on a busy background of teal garden hose, leaves, and orange marigolds. In the foreground, chubby little baby hands and feet. One little finger is pointing in the general direction of the dahlia (she just hasn’t quite gotten all the way accurate at pointing yet)

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 27/08/2026

Man, scarlet runner beans are just so fun

Photo of three fuchsia-pink beans at the bottom of a black ceramic bowl. The bowl is reflecting their colors in concentric rings

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 25/08/2026

Made this years ago for a secret Santa game, meant for a microbiologist who loved Dolly

Photo of a stitched hoop with a thread depiction of streaked bacterial cultures in red around the face of Dolly Parton with gently curled blonde hair and a black headband. Text in navy reads “don’t miss the little things”

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 22/08/2026

Another excellent celebration: visit and/or donate to your local library. If you donate and show me a receipt I will send you a mediocre picture I’ve taken of some kind of critter! Like so: (I really like this bug’s jaunty hairstyle situation)

Photo of a monarch butterfly caterpillar in black, white, and yellow stripes, over an inch in length, clinging to a narrow milkweed leaf in the shade. In the background, sunny trees and blue sky

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 20/08/2026

Both dresses! I’m honestly so proud of them haha

Photo of an earthy green double gauze dress (very soft fabric, looks crumpled and cozy) lying on a woven rug. On top of the dress a tiny dress and bloomers set from the same material

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 20/08/2026

I made a tiny dress to match the big dress that I also made

Photo of a long-sleeved earthy green double gauze dress with a row of seven dark metal snaps down the middle. It’s about a foot in length from the bottom of the skirt to the shoulder.

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 16/08/2026

This cat’s been in the same spot for 24 hours! Is that normal?? Am I right that it shed a lil exoskeleton back there? It’s my biggest meatiest monarch so far so I’m ✨💕Invested in its Wellbeing💕✨

Photo of a monarch caterpillar in white, yellow, and black stripes clinging upside down to a narrow milkweed leaf. Behind it a gray crumpled cast-off caterpillar-suit

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 13/08/2026

Anyways I haven’t heard from whoever this person is since probably 2014? But yesterday

A text thread on an iPhone between me and Farrah.
F: Do you still do whale facts
Me: if you’re hype for a whale fact I’m happy to give you one!
Me: A blubber layer on a healthy bowhead whale can be up to 20 layers [I meant inches oops] thick! They need a warm insulating layer of fat to contend with the cold temperatures of the Arctic waters where they live.
F: Thank you!

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 13/08/2026

But it was a sort of ad-hoc situation and occasionally someone’s friend would want in and the only way to “subscribe” was just to text me, personally. So I have some mystery phone numbers saved in my phone, like for example:

A screenshot of an iPhone text message from a contact saved as “Farrah Askedforawhalefact”

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 11/08/2026

Delighted to announce a new addition to the family! (I’ve been trying to grow milkweed in my backyard for years, and this is the first monarch caterpillar on the first really successful milkweed plant!!)

A tiny yellow, white, and black-striped caterpillar lying across the unopened head of a milkweed flower cluster. Narrow leaves and one open bloom in the background

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 26/07/2026

Omg omg this absolute CUTIE of a spooder in my narrow-leafed milkweed. Tiny bee stripes, itty bitty lil face, what a sweetheart! @spiderdaynightlive.bsky.social

Photo of a tiny yellow and black striped jumping spider perched on a pale-skinned thumbnail.

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 08/07/2026

Also, look how sweet and innocent this bear looks! Just a lil guy making wishes on the dandelions by the side of the road

Photo of a black bear standing in a cluster of bright green shoulder-height dandelions along the side of a gravel road. The bear has one long dandelion stem in its mouth, with its poofy head out. Long ears perked quizzically, it is looking directly at the camera with more dandelion seeds decorating the top of its head

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 13/06/2026

It’s my most labor intensive dinner but also my favorite one Lacks something when it’s just me making them though. Really should be 3-4 generations of us rolling and wrapping and frying and eating

Photo of neat rows of uncooked pleated potsticker dumplings, resting in a worn and stained baking tray on a dusting of flour

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 27/04/2026

Freehand knitting a silly duck hat for my baby but she’s too wiggly to try on (especially with four aluminum needles poking out of it) so this friendly octopus with a convenient-sized head is standing in.

Photo of a toy octopus in plush gray material with two black eyes and a smiley face wearing a yellow hat, still on a set of double-pointed knitting needles and attached to a ball of yarn. The hat has a sort of knob shape protruding from the top that will be a silly duck head when a beak and eyes are added

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 27/03/2026

It’s FINISHED! I ended up reworking two shark knitting patterns plus learning three new kinds of decreases/increases because I wanted my shark’s head to be symmetrical, but I got there eventually. I love her. #whaleshark #marinebiology #knitting #sciart

Photo of the dorsal side of a knitted whale shark toy in light and dark blue, held up against a tree background

Photo of the face of a knitted whale shark toy in light and dark blue, held up against a tree background

Photo of the right side of a knitted whale shark toy in light and dark blue, held up against a tree background

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 21/03/2026

Making some patches for later mending shenanigans

Rows of printed black icons on plain beige fabric. There are insects (bee, butterfly, dragonfly, ladybug), an acorn, and several Studio Ghibli-style soot sprites

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 20/03/2026

Ok but here’s the real reason I decided to print on fabric: my baby, now nearly 4 months, is obsessed with our ceiling fan and so I decided to make her FAN MERCH

Photo of a green striped baby bib and a white onesie bodysuit for an infant, on a wooden table. The bib has a single ceiling fan motif stamped in black ink on the middle of the front. The onesie has a nearly all-over repeating print of the same fan stamp in black ink

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 20/03/2026

Hi sorry but I’ve decided to restructure my whole personality around the fact that I just learned how to print tiny hand carved bees on my own clothes, and I plan to be insufferable about it

Photo of a woman with dark hair and big glasses smiling. She’s wearing a light gray linen vest open over an orange top. On the corner of the vest collar is a tiny black bee stamp

Close up of the collar and the bumblebee stamp

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 14/03/2026

Just knittin’ up a shark, what are the rest of you party animals doing on a Friday evening? #knitting #marinebio #overlyelaboratechildrenstoys

Photo of a knitting project on a spiral-bound notebook. The knitting is on circular needles, size 7, and consists of a trapezoid-ish shape of dark and light aqua blues in alternating spots and stripes. The notebook lists the project as “Whale shark knitting pattern fixes” in blue ink

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 22/02/2026

Particularly in love with this beauty. Yayyyyy arttttt

Photo of a hand holding up a card that features a painting of a keenly focused black bird, probably a crow (?) against a moody brown background. Light on the bird’s feathers carves out each individual plume

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 22/02/2026

🎶 These are a few of my favorite things! 🎶 (Just got a lil brown paper package tied up with string from @esthervanhulsen.bsky.social full of *gorgeous* bird art, congratulations to me and anyone getting mail from me I the next several months that will include the prettiest card!!)

Photo of a hand holding a brown paper-wrapped package tied with a piece of rough twine. The package has a business card taped to it, partially obscured by the twine but it features a painting of a wolf. In the background a window and a blue curtain in front of a blue sky

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 13/02/2026

Anyone know what dolphin species these are meant to be? I’m assuming they’re lags of some sort but am not super familiar with Arctic species! #marinebio #cetaceans

Photo of a children’s book, Raffi’s Baby Beluga to be specific, illustrated by Ashley Wolff in a bright maybe gouache style. The image shows ice, an Atlantic puffin, a leaping beluga whale, and a group of five black, white, and gray dolphins with rounded faces

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 05/01/2026

For my bean’s new and growing book collection #art

Photo of a hand-carved circular stamp in wine-colored ink that reads “from the library of Beatrice brownman” and features a bumblebee

Drafts of the stamp on paper and tracing paper

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 01/01/2026

Opening 2026 with my daughter snoozing on one of my favorite pajama shirts, which my dad bought from Crazy Shirts in Honolulu sometime in the 90s and used to wear while baby me snoozed on him.

Photo of the back and side of a month-old baby’s peach-fuzzy head and tiny ear resting on a light gray shirt that features a color print of a cartoon gray tabby cat reclined on a blue couch while a tabby kitten sleeps curled up on its stomach

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 24/12/2025

Happiness is hand-knitted baby socks that match mama’s. Or at least that’s happiness today. Tomorrow it might be more about a whole four-hour sleep, or an especially satisfying burp. But anyways. Wishing you joy and warmth and safety.

Photo in black and white of two tiny baby feet in finely knitted socks folded over at the cuff. The baby feet are on a sweatpants-clad lap and in the background at the end of the sweatpants-clad legs are matching knitted socks on an adult’s feet

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 19/11/2025

It is the season of decomposers and eroders

Photo of the same gray mushrooms but as seen from underneath, where their delicate gills are obvious. Behind them in the background a signpost echoes their shape and coloration, reading “prevent erosion, stay on trail”

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Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · 19/11/2025

Please imagine this video accompanied by the “boingoingoingoingoing” soundtrack of your choice

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