#Lacy's Crochet Corner

[lacys-crochet-corner]

So after a year of work I finished a crow costume I've been working on. I'm not the best at showcasing things (at least I think so), but here's some images of the I did! Ignore the weird blurs in the first image - I thought it best to remove people from the image, privacy and all that.

　

This was all don't over the course of a year. I was so glad that a lot of people seemed to like it - it was so good having feedback face-to-face with other crafters

I actually got asked about a commission from one of the leather workers at the renaissance faire for the wings. I haven't decided, as it's a massive project, even for the price we discussed. The good thing about this is that she understands how that kind of world works, and has been very understanding when I told her about my illness and that I have times where I can't do much of anything for weeks or so. I've never done a commission, and unsure exactly what to do. But, that's another thought for another day. She gave me her email address and told me to email her if I decide to.

I hope y'all enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed wearing it!

[enasallavellan]

Update:

Wowzers.

I didn't think it would get nearly that big.

But wow.

So, I finished it.

I might add shoulder straps and outline the interior of the shawl but I haven't decided.

I added some gloves to make it so I could wear them, and used plastic clothes hangers to add handles so even someone with my short frame could mostly show off the whole thing.

I might add shoulder straps to lift the edge a little more and distribute the weight. Finished, it's about three pounds which doesn't sound like much, but considering I've been sick nearly a year now with a (hopefully temporary) stomach disorder, I'm not exactly at full strength.

So, I think if I make anything else interesting I'll post it on my side-blog here:

Not sure how active I'll be, but I'll probably start posting stuff I make there.

Seriously, though, the support was way beyond what I thought it would be. I thought it'd get 20-30 notes *tops*.

Thanks, I'm glad y'all liked them.

I'll be posting another version of this post on it as well (It'll just be a combo of this whole post) as well as having a link as to where I bought the pattern.

So, I crochet.

And I know this is where I put my fic and stuff. But except for occasional life updates I tend to keep it to that.

But.

I've worked on this for 3 months and I'm proud as absolute hell.

It measures around 6 1/2 ft (214cm) across and I'm quite proud.

I still have to actually assemble it, and that is going to be a whole ordeal, but still.

I'm really proud of this.

Not being able to work and struggling to write with all my recent health issues has really taken a lot out of me. Just kind of sitting around being useless and expensive.

But I MADE this.

With my own two hands.

And it feels good to actually make something.

So yeah.

Just thought I'd share.

Love y'all.

- Lacy

[green-applepie]

Come to My Parlor [V0re OC x Reader]

“Sit, please, make yourself comfortable,” Mr. Iider practically purred to you as stepped into the intimate room, choosing to sit in a redwood chair “We’ll be having dinner soon and we can talk business then, we’re having my personal favorite tonight. Would you like some tea in the meantime? Ms. Muffit just made fresh pot…”

Agreeing to come to this arachnid’s home was the first mistake looking back. You had wracked up a hefty debt as of late and he had invited you over to discuss some payback options. You didn’t listen when everyone said I was a horrible idea. Maybe they were just exaggerating, right? Mr. Iider seemed perfectly pleasant sitting on his plush red velvet loveseat, two of his hands currently occupied in crocheting what looked like a large doily.

You swallow nervously and nod yes, not wanting to accidentally offend “Yes, p-please…”

He smiled at you showing perfectly white teeth as an unoccupied hand offers you a steaming cup from across the small coffee table. It was perfectly warm and smelled like spiced vanilla and mint. You happily take a sip.

“Good, right?” The arachnid chuckles

“Mmmhm~”

This wasn’t bad at all! Maybe is was his voice or calm demeanor but you found yourself opening up to him; chatting about your day so far, your plans once dinner was over and the doily he was making…

“Speaking of, would you mind holding it up for me? I need to see what parts need touching up,” he asked politely, holding out two perfectly lacy corners “it’ll only take a moment and then we can have dinner,”

You hesitantly take the doily, and spread it out, the material feeling the like the sleekest satin under your fingers. This thing was massive and nearly covered you from shoulder to toe..

“Oh it’s just perfect,” Mr. Iiders purrs playing with the loose thread still in his side of the table. “and just in time for dinner too…” the voice that put you at ease minutes ago now made your blood run cold as you realized that the doily was stuck to you. You could feel all eight of his eyes staring at you hungrily

“Deadbeats are always my favorite meal~” with a little tug of that loose thread the doily tightens around you, leaving you wrapped up like a helpless bug on the living room table. You gasp feeling Mr. Iider’s warm venom-coated tongue trace up your throat “And you, my little truffle, taste just divine~…”

Those were the last words you heard before being sent to the cramped, slick, belly of your host. That’ll teach you to gamble recklessly…if you make it out alive.

//and just like The Wolf I made it a little ambiguous whether Mr. Iider is a man with spider-like qualities (six arms and some extra eyes) or if he’s a full-on spider monster

[enzersquiltingdiary]

chapter one: Gothstitch village

Word count:

Nestled in a secluded valley, Gothstitch is a village where shadows dance with the light, creating an enchanting blend of darkness and warmth. The town is surrounded by dense, ancient forests, their towering trees casting long, protective shadows over the cobblestone streets. The air is filled with the soft hum of spinning wheels and the gentle clinking of knitting needles, as the villagers engage in their beloved crafts. The homes in Gothstitch are quaint, with gothic architecture that features pointed arches, intricate ironwork, and stained-glass windows depicting scenes of mythical creatures and enchanted forests. Despite the dark exterior, the interiors are cozy and inviting, with roaring fireplaces, plush armchairs, and shelves lined with colorful skeins of yarn and floss. The villagers of Gothstitch come in many types and are known for their exceptional skills like crochet, knitting, and spinning yarn. They take great pride in their work, often gathering in the village square to share techniques and showcase their latest creations to win a prize. The square itself is adorned with handmade banners and lanterns, casting a warm, flickering glow contrasting with the feeling adventurers would get 1st visiting this place. In Gothstitch, every corner tells a story. The local inn, “The Spindle and Skein,” is a favorite gathering spot, where travelers and villagers alike share tales over mugs of their favorite drinks. The village market is a vibrant place, with stalls selling handwoven blankets, intricately knitted garments, and baskets of freshly dyed wool. Despite its gothic appearance, Gothstitch exudes a sense of community and belonging. The villagers are welcoming and kind, always ready to lend a helping hand or teach a new stitch. It’s a place where the dark and the homey coexist in perfect harmony, creating a unique and magical atmosphere.

I live here in this village and love every part of it. I am a pastel cottage goth witch. I have ordered fabric that looks likePastel skies and galaxies, I have patterns with kawaii offensive text, Own a 4 yr old texas blue lacy (in the red hellhound form) and a few months old black kitten that runs around my room like she owns the bloody place. As my Crystals glowed with arcane magic I prepped myself for the day. I had 5 more jelly rolls on the way from a fabric store, embroidery books and some special floss on the way. I used magic to make my chocolate coffee and prep for the day.

Today was the possible day i was going to face my anger head on and learn to control it stitch by stitch. I have held in this anger since i was 13 years old when my dad betrayed me.. and wrath doesnt look good on my resume. I decided to not only write down what was going on in my lovely town but also every stitch.

The Enchanted Teapot was a charming little teashop nestled in the heart of GothStitch. The shop was known for its eclectic collection of teas from around the world, its mismatched vintage furniture, and the warm, inviting atmosphere that made it a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike.

On this particular rainy afternoon, the teashop was bustling with activity. The soft hum of conversation mixed with the clinking of teacups and the gentle patter of rain against the windows. The air was filled with the comforting aroma of freshly brewed tea and the sweet scent of pastries.

At a corner table, near the window, sat Miss Eleanor Whitfield, the elderly owner of the teashop. She was a beloved figure in the village, known for her sharp wit and kind heart. I walked in and always sat with her to discuss my woes of finding a proper therapist and today was no different.

"Ah Enzer hows the hunt?" She said as she poured me some tea. "Exhausting...I decided to take it into my own hands and try to find someone."

A sudden commotion erupted from the back of the shop just as i was about to ramble. The usually calm and composed barista, Lily, came rushing out, her face pale and eyes wide with fear.

“Miss Whitfield! There’s… there’s someone in the storeroom!” she stammered.

We quickly followed Lily to the back of the shop. The storeroom was a small, cluttered space filled with boxes of tea, jars of spices, and various supplies. As they approached, Eleanor noticed the door was slightly ajar.

With a deep breath, she pushed the door open and gasped. There, lying on the floor amidst the scattered tea leaves and broken jars, was the lifeless body of Mr. Harold Thompson, the village’s reclusive antique dealer. His eyes were wide open in shock, and a delicate china teacup lay shattered beside him.

[digitalusmarket]

10 Free Crochet Snowflake Patterns

The patterns of crochet snowflakes delight the imagination, and they are such a magical motif. Every individual is different from the others; they are just like the fingerprint of nature. When you follow a crochet pattern, the snowflake you try to make might look like others. That does not make them less delightful, as you will see when you peruse these designs. This roundup includes various crochet snowflake design patterns for simple motifs. You can add them to other projects, string them into garlands, add them to gift bags, or also use them as ornaments. In addition to particular snowflake motifs, we have included a few accessory patterns that consolidate snowflakes into their design.

A Free Tutorial to Crochet a Snowflake

Work up a complete flurry to these crochet snowflakes thanks to the easy and straightforward three-round design fastly. This snowflake pattern uses puff stitches to bear texture to an otherwise airy and light motif. As a final result, you get the best combination of elements for a bulky snowflake applique. Once you make it, add it to any project to feel wintry.

Also Read: 25+ Crochet Doily Patterns for Beginners and Advanced Crocheters

Granny Snowflake Crochet Pattern in the Frame

A crochet granny hexagon creates an adorable crochet snowflake, which is an effortless shape to learn to make. Once you have learned how it’s crafted, you can use it in various other projects. This pattern also shows you exactly how to stitch it into the middle of a 4″ ring. This uplift the design and makes it into chic decor.

Crochet Snowflake-free Pattern

This free snowflake pattern is based on the hexagon shape. Although it’s not a granny hexagon, it allows you to learn a new method to build that crochet motif. Once you have the elemental hexagon, you will easily keep adding to it to make the spiked edges of a six-sided snowflake.

Thread Crochet Snowflake-free Pattern

Thread crochet makes some lacy snowflakes that look like doilies inspire them. On the designer’s Ravelry page, you will see that this is one of three free snowflake patterns of crochet. Each is more complex than the next. Please note that this is only a symbol chart, but as long as you know how to read one, you will be able to craft this motif.

Also Read: 25 Free Crochet Baby Hat Patterns

Crochet Snowflake Doily Pattern

Take the idea of snowflake doily to the advanced level with this fifteen-round crochet pattern. The notes note that if you stop crocheting after the ninth round, then you will have a little snowflake. Therefore, you get a two-in-one pattern when you buy this one. It’s Decorative, detailed, and textured in a way that will colonial your senses as you work on it.

Beaded Crochet Snowflake Pattern

This beaded pattern of crochet snowflakes is one in a set of three. The small version is easy enough for beginners, and it’s made with single crochet stitches. The medium and large sizes are more challenging than other sizes. Also, this pattern comes with detailed instructions to add beads or to crystalize the yarn. From this one, you can learn a lot of things about how to crochet a snowflake.

Crochet Snowflake Square Free Pattern

This is a textural crochet snowflake motif worked in a square shape. This design lets you easily mix and match it with other squares to create beautiful shawls, scarves, and Afghans. Also, this pattern relies on post-stitches to make the design. Plus, to classic post stitches, you will also learn some new techniques.

Crochet Snowflake Afghan Pattern

This is a corner-to-corner crochet afghan. If you have yet to learn that procedure, it’s the best one for working blankets and one worth learning. The trick here is to use strategic, smart color changes to create the snowflake pattern. Also, this pattern shows you how to do that. After making it, you can also frame this and make a wonderful snowflake wall art.

Crochet Snowflake Scarf with Pockets

This c2c crochet technique can be used to make scarves patterns, which is something you can learn from this pattern. This scarf crochet pattern stands out above the pack because it consolidates pockets into the design. The pockets are embellished with snowflakes. Also, this is the ultimate wintry accessory to keep you cute and warm.

Crochet Snowflake Shawl Pattern

Snowflakes can be such an elegant motif for winter accessories. As we can see with this shawl pattern, this shawl uses bold colors to put a twist on the classic design of snowflake. Although, you also make it in pure white if you so desire. This shawl is assembled from motifs, so you could use this pattern to make single snowflakes.

Also Read: 25 Free Crochet Dress Patterns

Final Verdict

Crocheted snowflakes are one of the best ways to add a handmade touch during the holidays. These projects shine with the holiday spirit, from snowflake wreaths to snowflake gift tags. Be sure to create enough for your own decorating. Within a few hours, you will have a flurry of star crystals you can exhibit throughout the house. In the above section of this blog, you will find some best crochet snowflake patterns, such as snowflake Afghans, scarfs, shawl doilies, and many more patterns you can make at your home with the help of an instructions guide.

Source:https://hariguide.com/crochet-snowflake-patterns/

[deciphered-narrator]

i don't feel like editing my first draft prose but it's fun (cw for terminal illness and verbal abuse)

Her father's death was a long time coming. He'd lain in his bed for weeks; even with the windows open and flowers stuffed in every corner of the room, the stale scent of death clung to him. In the later days, he slept most of the time. Jess would sit in his room for hours, knitting out long, tangled scarves like a child with her first crochet hook. They spilled out across the floor and wrapped themselves up around her rocking chair, so she was forced to stop and pull them free.

Sometimes, he would wake up. These moments of consciousness were heralded by a long rattling gasp, breath clawing its way into his lungs. Jess wished he would stay asleep. Whatever woke in his body was not her father. He spoke to her in a voice as hard and sharp as the edge of a knife, stabbing into her with each word. Her father hadn't always been kind, but he had known how to wrap his works in a soft blanket of masked language, so she would only piece together his real meaning hours later. By the time he hurt her, it had been too long, and he would pretend he didn't remember what she was talking about. But the version of him that remained after parts of his body and mind had been scraped away by illness, this one didn't hide his intentions. She would sit and listen to him, and pull her stitches too tight, so she struggled to push her second knitting needle through them.

And then, one day, when she walked into his room in the morning, he was dead.

She stared down at his body in the bed. His skin was gray—grayer than it had been, his lips so pale they blended into the rest of his gaunt face. He didn't breathe. When she touched his forehead, it was colder even than the room around him. The morning air seeping in through the open window was already warm with summer heat, but he was ice cold.

She should have been relieved. Instead, panic boiled up in her chest. His illness had been her routine for so long she thought it would never end, it couldn't end—what would she do now? She couldn't imagine a future without this, without every day spent in this never-changing room, a permanent limbo of deterioration without death. Her scarf, so long now that it spilled out of the bundle in her arms and tripped her up while she walked, fell to the ground as her arms went limp. All she could do was stare at her father—at his corpse.

She didn't run back out to the kitchen to tell her family. They were sitting at breakfast in the golden light that broke past the lacy curtains. The clink of coffee mugs and their cheerful chatter drifted down the hall. She would walk to them, stand at the end of the table casting a shadow over them, and tell them the world had changed. She couldn't do that. She couldn't bear to think of it. 

All she wanted was for things to stay the same. For his body to never leave this room. She knelt and picked up the long spools over her scarf off the floor.

His dead face lay frozen on the pillow. She placed one end of her scarf over his eyes. Gently lifting his head—rigor mortis had already passed, his neck bent as easily as it had in life—she wrapped the scarf around his hair, back over his nose and mouth. Around and around, she wound the scarf down his entire body.

When it was done, when she could no longer see that life had left him, she sat back in her rocking chair. Picking up the end of the scarf, she looped yarn around her fingers and kept knitting.

writing while my back hurts means my professor is going to get a real weird short story

[bridgertonbabe]

Colin pulls a face at his brother for reminding him of his reaction to discovering Benedict and Sophie in bed together, when suddenly his face drops and concern wrinkles his brow.

OMG! How did Colin react? Did he have a hard time being ok with Ben and Sophie's relationship??

Anon asked: I want to see Colins reaction when he finds out Benophie are together 🥹 i guess he wasnt súper excited about it?

Anon asked:  1. we definitely need to know how hp!benophie finally got together 2. we need that incident when colin finds them in bed that scarred him 😂

Alright, here’s another little insight I’ve had lurking in my drafts;

“Hey, Fran. Are you alright to look after Greg and Hy for a bit? I’m just gonna have breakfast with a friend.”

Francesca looked up from her crocheting and fixed Sophie with a typical unreadable look before giving her a nod. 

“Thanks. I should be back by midday.” Sophie said and turned to return up the stairs back to Daphne’s room where she had been staying since she had come back from her travels.

“And do you plan on getting dressed for breakfast?”

Sophie swung back round upon Francesca’s casual-toned question. The sixteen year old gave her a shrewd look and glanced over Sophie’s current attire of the satin Bridgerton blue dressing gown she had been gifted a few years previously. 

“O-of course.” Sophie replied with a forced chuckle she hoped came across nonchalant. “Obviously I’m just going to get dressed now.”

“Obviously.” Francesca echoed with the corners of her lips imperceptibly pricking upwards. “Tell your friend I said hi.” she added in before Sophie took off up the stairs. 

She waited the several minutes one would expect someone to get dressed in but then, remaining in her dressing gown, she apparated directly into the flat she had been a regular visitor of for the last four weeks. 

“Morning, love.” Benedict grinned lazily from across the room where he was dabbing at a canvas.

He was dressed similarly to Sophie except he was wearing a moss green dressing robe, which was all she had seen him dressed in since they had gotten together, seeing as any point of dressing was undermined by their incessant stripping and ripping off of garments. 

“Happy one month.” Sophie hummed as she walked over to him and hugged him from behind, pressing a kiss to the skin just below his ear. 

“One month already?” Benedict sighed as he relaxed into her arms. 

“Mmhm. Time flies.”

“It certainly does.” he nodded and kissed the corner of her mouth. 

“I got you something.”

“Did you now?” he cocked his head to the side as she let go of him. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you unwrap your present and find out?” she asked him coyly as she slid the end of her dressing gown cord between her fingers and offered it out to him.

His eyes flashed devilishly as he accepted the cord, giving it a smooth tug for the bow to come undone and drop away. Sophie then pushed back the satin dressing gown to reveal the lacy red lingerie she had on underneath, smirking with satisfaction as she watched Benedict’s jaw drop open. 

“Like what you see?” 

She had to suppress her laughter when her boyfriend provided a nodded response, seemingly unable to form any words. 

“Do you want your gift now or after break-”

Sophie’s question was cut off by Benedict’s lips fastening themselves against hers in a passionate embrace and he gripped the the backs of her legs to lift her up before taking her to bed. 

A couple of hours later it was safe to say that Benedict had thoroughly enjoyed his gift as they lay there panting in the afterglow. 

“Sorry... for ripping them.”

“That’s no problem.” Sophie grinned, picking up her wand and giving a lazy wave, glancing over to the corner of the room where her underwear had landed and watched as they magically floated in the air and sewed themselves back up. “Got them specially. They’re enchanted to sew back together so you can rip them off of me however many times you like.” 

Benedict groaned with pleasure and rolled over to kiss her.

“You are the gift that keeps on giving.” he said against her lips.

He eventually managed to extract himself from the bed and pull on some underwear to go fetch the breakfast Sophie had genuinely come over to share with him (though the sex was still as big a factor in her dropping by as the pancakes were). After their breakfast in bed Benedict began kissing her neck and though Sophie knew she had told Francesca she would be back by midday, who was she to resist her boyfriend? 

Benedict had climbed on top of her, parting her legs despite the sheet still draped over her body and his hand was stroking through the thin material, making Sophie gasp out wantonly,

Crack. 

They both instantly stiffened at the tell-tale sound of someone apparating into the flat. Benedict lifted his chest off of hers, bringing his hand to the side of her to lean up on, his face contorted with confusion for the unexpected visitor he had apparently just received.

“Ben?”

Sophie silently gasped at the sound of her best friend’s voice - the best friend who also happened to be Benedict’s brother. 

“You up yet?” Colin called through the flat. “More importantly you up for day-drinking? Because let me tell you the bullshit I’ve just had to endure,” - the bedroom door then opened and in strolled Colin - “already this morning is absolutely - oh shit! My bad! Apologies!” Colin ducked out with a grin on his face, his voice filled with cheery amusement more than embarrassment. 

When the door closed behind him both Benedict and Sophie stared at each other. Colin had just walked in on them and had definitely got a clear look of her in Benedict’s bed. What surprised them was his utter lack of reaction. 

While they had wanted to keep their relationship a secret just to enjoy being in their little love bubble, there was also the small matter of Colin’s thoughts on their new status. Truly they had expected him not to take it well or at least feel weird about it - but apparently they had underestimated Colin’s maturity. By all means he didn’t even remotely mind that he had walked in on his brother with his best friend -

Suddenly the door burst back open and Colin stormed back in wearing a face of thunder. He looked from Benedict clad only in underwear hovering over his lover, to Sophie being the lover in question with her modesty covered by a bed sheet. They stared back, holding their breath to see what he would do and the room remained still for a full excruciatingly long minute - and then Colin roared. 

As soon as his fury had sounded, Benedict leapt off of Sophie, holding his hands out to his brother to show he meant no harm. 

“Colin,” Benedict tried calling out to him but his brother was having none of it.

His wand was whipped out of his pocket and aimed at Benedict; “Crucio!”

“Colin, no!” Sophie cried out as a ball of red light fired from his wand.

As soon as Colin had shouted his incantation, Benedict had disapparated with a loud crack, with the secondary crack sounding from the living room. Colin ran out and into the living room after his brother.

“Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!” Colin’s voice rang out with ire, though Benedict appeared to be dodging each curse as the apparition cracks responded to every one of Colin’s cries. 

“Oh, for the love of,” Sophie groaned as she hopped out of the bed and threw Benedict’s dressing robe on. 

In the next second Benedict had apparated back into the bedroom, looking more wide-eyed and alert than she had ever seen him before. 

“Benedict, you BELLEND!” Colin positively screamed as he barged back into the bedroom before sending another crucio his brother’s way. Benedict dodged the curse again and apparated just a few steps away from where he had previously been standing. “Quit disapparating when I'm crucioing you!” 

“Colin! Jesus Christ, stop it!” Sophie shrieked at him and put herself in between the two brothers, glaring at the younger to stop trying to harm the older.

“No get out of my way, Soph! Crucio!” he yelled as he aimed the curse past Sophie, only for Benedict to disapparate back into the living room again. “He doesn't get to sleep with MY best friend without suffering the reper-fucking-cussions!” he threw his voice into the living room as he tailed after his brother.

“Stop it, Colin!” Sophie begged him. “You can’t be attacking your own brother with one of the unforgivable curses!” 

“Well then maybe he should have thought about that before he committed the unforgivable act of sleeping with my best friend!” 

Benedict apparated back into the bedroom, panting from all the curses he had been dodging when Colin apparated a split second after him and deftly shot another curse at him. Benedict had just about enough energy to duck for cover, narrowly missing the stream of red light that soared over him and hit a vase on the bedside table, causing it to explode. Sophie’s heart was in her throat from how closely Benedict had come to being struck with a spell that would have caused him agonizing pain and she had had enough. 

“Expelliarmus!” she cried out and Colin’s wand flew out of his hand. “Levicorpus!” 

In the next second Sophie had Colin dangling upside down by his ankle as if he had been hung up on an invisible hook. She took a second to breathe to collect herself but unfortunately she had mistaken Colin’s apoplectic rage. 

“Accio wand!” he spluttered and captured his wand as it flew back into his hand. He then took aim at his brother and this time a jet of orange light fired from his wand and actually hit Benedict.

Sophie gasped as she watched her boyfriend disappear in a burst of light, only for a tiny reddish-brown weasel to be left in his place. She blinked in horror at the small creature as it squealed at her and wildly darted about the floor.

“COLIN BRIDGERTON!” she screamed and smacked him round his upside-down face. “TURN HIM BACK RIGHT NOW!” 

“Or what?” Colin laughed in her face. 

Her hands wrapped around his neck and suddenly he was wheezing for breath. 

“Or else I’ll put a curse on your tiny dick to make it shrivel up and fall right off!” she snarled furiously. 

Colin’s eyes widened with fright at her threat as she squeezed his throat tighter, all the while the weasel had ground to a halt and stared at them with big startled eyes. 

“Okay, okay!” Colin rasped and finally Sophie let go. 

He pointed his wand at the weasel and a second later Benedict was back.

“What the fuck?!” Benedict exclaimed as he shakily got up from the floor. 

“That’s what you get for fucking my Sophie!” Colin shouted back. 

“Um, excuse me? Your Sophie?” she spluttered. 

“You’re my friend! You’re my best friend!” Colin cried out. “She’s off limits! How dare you touch her!” he raged at his brother. 

“Colin, that’s enough!” Sophie snapped. “While I appreciate you being protective of me, it’s completely unnecessary! I’m a grown woman and I can sleep with whoever I want! And neither me nor Ben need your permission,”

“No!” Colin whined and flew his limbs about like he was a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Sophie, he’s not good enough for you!”

“Oh gee, thanks!” Benedict bit back incredulously. 

“He’s a slut, Soph! He’s a stupid slutty artist who’s just gonna pump and dump you and leave you hurt!”

“Colin, just stop!” Sophie trilled. “I’m sick of this! Stop being so mean to your brother!”

“Sophie I don’t even care that this is just some casual thing - I’m not going to risk him leading you on and breaking your heart!”

“This isn’t just some casual thing!” Benedict suddenly burst and marched forward. 

“What?!” Colin’s face contorted in anger. 

“We’re in a relationship, Colin! She’s my girlfriend and I’m her boyfriend and we’re in love!” Benedict declared and clutched Sophie’s hand in his.

Being upside down meant Colin was level with the hand holding and he looked thunderstruck at the sight. He stared at their clasped hands and then emitted a scream of frustration. 

“NO! You can’t be serious! Fuck you, Ben! This is just some big game to you and you’re going to leave her heartbroken!” 

“No, fuck you, Colin!” Benedict retaliated. “This isn’t a game to me! I love Sophie with all my heart! She’s all I will ever want and she’s my future! This is the woman I’m going to marry one day, she’s going to be the mother of my children, and she’s who I want to grow old and grey with!” he proclaimed, and the sentiments he was stating made Sophie’s chest tighten with anticipation for the future that lay ahead of them as a couple. “And you’re just going to have to get used to it because I’m not giving her up for anything!” 

Colin stared dumbfounded at them before his reddened face (from the blood rushing to his head) turned purple and he roared with anger. 

“You’re such a bellend! You’re such a fucking bellend! You could have gotten with anyone else, you arsehole!”

“I. Love. Sophie!” Benedict argued back. 

“How long?” Colin cried out. “How long have you fucking been in love with her then?” 

“Since that night seven years ago at the Yule ball!” 

Colin’s fervent squirming then ceased as he stared at his brother. Something appeared to be processing in his brain before he yelled incoherently again. Sophie managed to disarm him as soon as she saw the hand holding his wand twitch. 

“It was you?!” Colin screeched. “You broke her heart?!”

Sophie grimaced as she remembered getting drunk one night during their travels and revealing how a guy she had really liked had essentially rejected her at the Yule ball. Colin had been shocked, having never realised Sophie had fancied someone back then. She had never revealed who the boy in question was despite Colin listing off a bunch of guys they were at school with - and yet somehow it never even occurred to him to bring up Benedict’s name despite the fact that he was her date to the ball. 

“You piece of flobberworm shit!” Colin fizzed with rage. 

“Colin, it was years ago,” Sophie tried to pacify him. 

“You crushed her! You left her heartbroken!”

“And it’s my biggest regret!” Benedict choked back. “I didn’t realise how much she meant to me and I said something stupid and fucked it all up! I know I don’t deserve her love or forgiveness but she’s benevolently given it to me anyway and for that I vow to make her happy for the rest of our lives. I’m making up for all the time we missed out on because of me and I swear, Colin, I will never hurt her ever again. She’s the love of my life, Colin.”

Colin gaped at his brother and then pleadingly looked to Sophie. “Please, Soph,”

“Colin, I’ve been in love with Ben since I was eleven years old.” she firmly told him, making him still once more. “All my heart has ever known is him and it’s all it’ll ever know; and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I would gladly relive it all again because a life loving Ben is better than one not loving him.”

Benedict’s hand clutched hers tighter and their eyes met, shining with unconditional love for one another.

“Please let me down.” a small voice piped up and they remembered that Colin was still hanging upside down in the room.

Sophie released him from his hex and he landed safely on the floor. She braced herself, standing shoulder to shoulder with Benedict in case Colin led them into a false sense of security and attacked his brother again. When she took in Colin’s face, however, he appeared tired and defeated as he looked dispiritedly between the two of them. 

“Colin,” Sophie sighed, not wanting him to feel weird about their relationship even though he inevitably would while the discovery was still so fresh in his mind. 

“I can’t, Soph.” he shook his head. “I just... I need to get my head around this.” 

There was a sharp crack and Colin disapparated, leaving the couple alone in the flat. 

“Are you okay?” she asked Benedict, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” he sighed and cuddled her back. “Nothing like being chased by your brother trying to crucio you to get the adrenaline pumping.” 

“He’ll come around.” she assured him in spite of his light-hearted joke, pressing a kiss to his bare chest as she gently squeezed him, cherishing him and making sure he knew she loved him. 

“Not for a while.” Benedict stroked her hair. “But I’ll learn to live with it. I’d quite happily relive nearly being crucioed and being turned into a weasel by my own brother all over again just to love you for the rest of my life, Soph.”

[lacys-crochet-corner]

So I put these pictures up on my main blog and it - to my surprise - got a massive amount of attention.

Well, massive in my opinion.

So I decided to start putting stuff on a different blog, and the first step is put the images on this one.

So here are the nearly-complete wings, before I was able to sew it all together.

It is about 6 1/2 feet - and because I'm American, I need to add a silly way to measure that. So it is about the same wingspan of your average bald eagle.

For my metric friends, that's almost 2 meters or 198 cm.

I worked on it for three months. That might sound pretty fast, but I've been out of work since last May (a year tomorrow) after developing a (hopefully) temporary digestive disorder that eventually required a feeding tube to avoid the whole 'starving to death' thing.

So I've had nothing but time.

Here are some pictures of the final result.

I think I'm going to add some shoulder straps to keep it up a little easier and to better distribute the weight. It's about 3lbs (about 1 kilo and some change). That doesn't sound heavy, but carrying it around all day on top of being medically fragile got really hard, so I think that will help.

Here's a close-up of the gloves I added. I also used a plastic clothes hanger to add a handle so that I can actually have the wings completely spread (I'm tiny, so my arms have no chance otherwise)

I might outline the interior of the shawl but I haven't decided yet.

I'm really glad you guys liked it.

I didn't make the pattern, but if you would like to purchase it from the one who did, here's the link!

[somecunttookmyurl]

I've been crocheting for over a year but I haven't moved past scarves and blankets (not to mention my inability to finish projects) but I'm pretty good at keeping the tension tight and all the jazz. What are some good next level projects to one up my crochet game?

idk about “next level” bc i’m some kind of yarn freak who learned how to crochet in 2 hours and the fact other people have, like, “stages” continues to blow my mind so idk what’s advanced and what isn’t but uh i suppose it depends whether you wanna keep working with flat crochet forever or if you want to expand into 3D but here’s some cool shit:

learn C2C (corner-to-corner) stitch, it’s really easy I promise it just looks Cool As Fuck, and make a graphgan or use the technique for something smaller like a cushion cover.

grapple with stitch charts by making a lacy shawl

pick up crocodile stitch and make cool handwarmers

use magic rings to make sakura-shaped face scrubbies get started with 3D crochet with among us amugurumi beans

grab some cotton yarn and work in the round to make a reusable shopping bag

be seasonally appropriate and learn popcorn stitch to make decorative trees

hope that helps and you find something neat to make!

[perlukafarinn]

for @inacatastrophicmind who made this gorgeous gifset at my request <3

After the dust has settled, after Chuck has gone and yet another apocalypse has been averted, Cas tells Dean that he wants to be human again.

Why, Dean wants to ask but he keeps his mouth shut. Cas’ brief stint as a human sucked in most ways imaginable but so has his much, much longer stint as an angel. Maybe he needs the change. Maybe they both do.

He disappears for a little while and when he returns, it’s with a smirking Rowena in his front seat and a vial of grace in a delicate chain around his neck. He hands it to Dean, and Dean accepts it even though he knows he doesn’t deserve that kind of trust. He’ll have to do his best to earn it, even if it takes him the rest of his life.

He also accepts it when Cas kisses him, because that part is at least familiar.

*

What isn’t familiar is what comes after.

Peace. Stability. Basically all things synonymous with ‘domesticity’ and isn’t that a strange thought. God is dead and Dean got his happily ever after sharing a bed and picking out curtains with the former angel who pulled him out of hell.

The curtains, for the record, were not Dean’s idea.

“I don’t get it,” Dean says, eyeing the lacy, mustard-yellow monstrosity that Cas is holding with disdain. “We live in an underground bunker.”

Cas turns the fabric over in his hands. “They would just be for show. Bare concrete is depressing, at least this would be nicer to look at.”

“Disagreed. And since when were you so into decorating?”

“I kept you, didn’t I?” Cas says dryly. 

That’s probably the most sarcastic, round-about way Dean’s ever been called pretty. 

“Aw shucks, thanks honey.”

Cas puts the curtains down, picking up another, even uglier pair. They’re pea-green and crocheted; he has to be messing with Dean at this point. “I like that.”

“If you buy those, I’m burning them,” Dean warns.

“Not the curtains,” Cas says. “You calling me ‘honey’. Please do it more often.”

That effectively shuts Dean up. He can’t be snarky with Cas when he gets this sincere.

*

Dean wakes up to an empty bed.

It’s rare enough these days that the realization immediately puts him on edge. He reaches over to Cas’ side, relieved to discover that the mattress is still warm. Glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand, he sees that it’s only a little past six.

Despite the early hour, there is no way Dean can go back to sleep without knowing where Cas is so he sits up, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. He stumbles into the hallway in just his boxers and shirt, already missing the warmth of his bed.

As he nears the kitchen, he can hear someone moving around in it, and when he rounds the corner he spots Cas by the stove, spatula in one hand. 

“Cas?” Dean asks, voice still husky from sleep. “What’re you doing?”

Cas doesn’t so much as glance back. “It’s supposed to be an omelette.”

Dean walks up to him, hooking his chin over Cas’ shoulder and wrapping his arms around Cas’ waist. The supposed omelette is a burnt, scrambled mess of eggs, vegetables and sausage on the pan. 

“If you wanted an omelette, I could’ve made you one,” Dean says. 

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Cas sighs, removing the pan from the heat and turning it off. “I’ve seen you make it before, I thought I could do it myself.”

“Maybe next time follow a recipe?” 

“You don’t need a recipe,” Cas says, frustration leaking into his tone.

“Yeah, ‘cause I’ve been cooking for myself and Sam for thirty years. You can’t expect everything to come easy to you. Some stuff you gotta learn from scratch.”

“Nothing comes easy to me.” 

“I don’t know, you’re pretty good in the sack.”

Cas huffs out a small laugh at that and Dean smiles, relieved. Sometimes, making flippant comments only serves to frustrate Cas further. It’s a delicate line to walk and more often than not, Dean flounders off it and falls right on his ass.

“Now, c’mon, wash the pan and get started again.” Dean tightens his arms around Cas for a moment, dropping a quick kiss on his shoulder. “I’ll guide you through it.”

*

‘Happily ever after’ should be overstating it. 

It’s not like they’ve reached some blissful, unchanging state. Not like they never argue, or go to bed unhappy, or need to spend days apart because they’re feeling cooped up and everything they do pisses each other off. 

But, Dean thinks, there’s just no other phrase for it. 

Cas disagrees.

“Our story isn’t over,” he says, trailing kisses down Dean’s chest and this is so not the kind of talking Dean likes in bed, but he is the one who brought it up. “We don’t have a story, that was the point wasn’t it?”

Dean tugs at his shoulder and Cas acquiesces, straightening on top of Dean so they are face to face. 

“So you don’t wanna ride into the sunset with me?”

“Perhaps.” Cas looks him up and down. “What kind of riding did you have in mind?”

Dean laughs. “I have been such a bad influence on you.”

Cas grins and leans in, giving him a nice and thorough kiss. There’s no talking after that, theoretical or otherwise, and Dean supposes it’s just as well. Cas is right.

They’re not a story anymore. 

[knitcrate]

September 2020 Early Preview

September is just around the corner - time for a quick peek!

For our September crates, we are excited to have Maya Luna Corazon as our influencer partner! Maya creates her designs from the heart and with beautiful intentions to teach eager crafters how to be empowered by their creations. She brings her beautiful designs to life with yarn and hook. Her pieces often feature chic laciness and unique shapes that come together to create masterpieces. Maya's love of crochet has grown to inspire others to not only create but to share their love of crochet in return by teaching others how to run a successful crochet business. Check out Maya's featured Crochet pattern in our Membership crate in September, and feel the love radiating from every stitch! 

For September, we're dreaming of cotton candy blooms on trees, crystal blue waters and vividly colored birds. This month's crates are hyper-colorful and bring intensity to your stash to jump start your creativity!

During our Early Preview, we only show you the yarn that is coming in the next crate, and not the full patterns or extras, so that you can make decisions about changing your color vibe or adding a crate for the new month! If you need help changing your vibe, you can watch the video below for more details or contact us by clicking here.

Remember: The option to swap your color vibe is only open between August 15-28 for these crates.

Let’s take a look at the September yarns.

KnitCrate Membership

Our September Membership Crate features our Audine Wools Sleek​: 55% Fine Merino Wool, 30% Baby Alpaca, 15% Mulberry Silk. This sumptuous yarn is worsted weight and 220 yds (201m) in each 100g skein. Each Membership Crate will have 2 matching skeins to bring elegance to your next project.

Energize Me: Bliss

Just as its name implies, this blissful shade is one you’ll find in the orange tones of a late summer sunset. 

Chill Out: Utopia

This soothing blue shade has us thinking of the most perfect day where you could sit for hours watching the waves gently roll by.

All Natural: Unwind

The fuzzy green feathers of tropical birds is what comes to mind with our All Natural colorway ideal for the softness of this yarn.

Membership Patterns

During the Early Preview, we will show you close up swatches of the patterns featured in this crate, without revealing the entire piece quite yet. This way you can see how the yarn works up before choosing your Crate!

Featured Knit Pattern is pictured here in the KCM Energize Me colorway, Bliss:

Featured Crochet pattern is pictured here in the KCM Chill Out colorway, Utopia:

Not a member yet? Join today!

Sock Crate Membership

Our September Sock Crate Membership yarn is Knitologie Block Sock, 80% Superwash Merino Wool and 20% Nylon. Each 100g skein gives you 400 yds (366m) of self-striping joy for your next sock project.

Energize Me: Pep

You’ll definitely have a little pep in your step with these vibrant pinks, blues, and yellows cascading down your socks.

Chill Out: Terrace

This colorway has us dreaming of moonlit evenings as gentle winds breeze through trees and lull us to sleep.

All Natural: Buoy

Heathered mauves and purples stripe with pale natural tones throughout this colorway that will make for a stunning pair of everyday socks.

Sock Crate Membership Patterns

During the Early Preview, we will show you close up swatches of the patterns featured in this crate, without revealing the entire piece quite yet. This way you can see how the yarn works up before choosing your Crate!

Featured Knit Pattern pictured here in the Energize Me Sock colorway, Pep

Featured Crochet pattern is pictured here in the All Natural Sock Colorway, Buoy.

Want to join Sock Crate Membership? You can do it here!

Let’s chat about these colors!! Tell us in the comments which crate or colorways you’re most excited for. We hope you love them!! 

[crochetysquare]

Garden Variety, part ii: the rest of them

All of the flowers below in this post are original patterns! None of them are written down for your consumption, but if you’re really serious about crocheting, you can deduce them out yourself or take what you like and recreate it in a way that is so uniquely yours that you’ll never be able to look at mine without feeling like there’s something wrong with them. And though I’ll admire yours, I’ll look at them and feel the same way.

All of these are options on my uquiz “Which crocheted flower embodies your Spirit?” but there are bonus pics below this cut right here:

Let’s start early in my flower-growing process. Please be kind.

Mountain Flower

[image description: a green sparkling square border around a flower with 8 large petals, two on each side of the square, so there are nearly triangular holes in the corners. The petals are a predominantly brown yarn with speckles of light blue and beige. end ID]

An early pattern-free flower. As you can see, there’s some experimentation with bulging double crochet petals built on rows of chains. You’ll be seeing that stitch combo quite a bit. It’s simple, it’s effective. Highly recommend the ol’ [8 dc in 5 ch space]*. Here’s your uquiz description: “I wondered what to call you to distinguish you from the others. You're a brown flower with flecks of blue and beige. One of the first attempted without a pattern. The petals bulge up like mountains, and they are the color of earth and sky. Grounded and dreamy.”

*I made these numbers up; I have no idea what the counting was here.

This flower, and what we’re calling The Nest, and The Sunflower were featured on this post at my real blog. Here’s some more pics of the Nest:

[image description: a very furry, green square with a ring of bubbly yellow stitches around a light blue flower with 8 petals. Second image: a close up of the same square where one furry corner is at the top of the image, and wisps of fur are seen crossing over the yellow flower. Close up, you can see that the yellow petals are cluster stitches around light blue posts. You can also see that there is a non-furry green camo yarn making similarly clustered stitches around the yellow ring. end ID]

To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about this one. The uquiz description is basically: “You’re chaotic,” and will probably be the description that gets changed the most retrospectively. What do you think of it? Is it alright? Is it awful and I should have pretended it never happened? Well, let me remind you that the point of the Quilt in which this resides is partially to explore texture, and there are some textures happening here.

The Sunflower

[image ID: an 8 petaled yellow sunflower with brown and blue speckled seeds. It sits in a blue square background, almost classic granny square so it looks almost checkered on the black background. end description]

It is actually only younger sunflowers which follow the sun (in a circadian rhythm similar to our own), while the older flowers generally face the east, which helps attract pollinators with their warmth. Like the African Flower - pink, there is a reference to Harold and Maude in the uquiz description for this flower because. I mean, it’s a sunflower. “They’re so tall and simple.” Maintaining that simplicity, the border is basically just your classic granny square. That and the Maude associations; hell, I guess this is your granny’s square after all!

[image description: another picture of the sunflower, close up and with slightly different lighting so the yellow looks less washed out by the actual sun. The blue border almost fades into the black background. end ID]

Next we have this white flower I have literally no memory of making:

[image description: a white flower with a circular center and rounded leaves sitting in a dark blue field with a notebook  page background which makes the blue easier to see than the black background featured in the uquiz result. end description]

Moving on.

The Septagon

[image description: a green lacy crocheted septagon sitting on a white background. The inner flower has 7 pink petals in a small circle surrounded by a peach row of thinner petals. This is all one yarn. Second image: a close up where it is set on a black background with the flower taking up much of the right side of the image. The sun hits the yarn in ways that emphasize the fuzz surrounding the wool-blend pink and salmon flower. It looks almost purple in places. End description]

I’m still obsessed with this one. I’m so obsessed my ability to name it eludes me. It will always be only the Septagon to me. The best 7-sided piece in the Quilt. I can’t remember if the 7 sides were deliberate, or if it all just came together like this without my willing it at all. This piece sprung forward from some Fae’s crochet hook, and I merely take credit for hir inspiration.

And finally, The Rose, a piece so finicky it has ended my floral series for now.

[image description: a layered red (almost orange in the lighting) flower. Each layer has 5 petals. 5 little green leaves surround the flower, and it's planted in a brown pentagonal "pot." The crochet pentagon rests on a notebook background to emphasize the rich brown yarn. end description]

It’s a mountain of double crochet/half double crochet petals.

[image description: a close up of the rose part of The Rose. The photo is taken at an angle to showcase how the petals pile up on top of each other. You can tell there is a cat in the house because there are so many hairs clinging to the red flower, and only some of them are yarn-related wisps. end ID]

Let me show you the back so you understand why I’m done crocheting flowers for a little bit. If you don’t speak crochet, saying it’s “a mountain of double crochet/half double crochet petals” means nothing to you. If you do crochet, you might also be like, “but what do you mean by that, Clancy?” Here’s what I mean:

[image description: two side-by-side duplicate pictures of the back. In the right image there are blue, purple, and green curved lines indicating roughly where 3/4 of the rows are located in relationships to one another. Two straight purple lines indicate where the triple crochets which anchor the second row (also indicated in purple), showing that these seem to reach all the way through the center hole. A black arrow points to “(beginning I haven’t tucked in yet)” a loose piece of red yarn. In the left image, without text, you can see two distinct bottoms of rows before all the parts obscured by these two top rows. In fact, the green line indicating the 3rd interior row of petals doesn’t look like it corresponds to anything, and in the key, it says “the middle layer cannot be seen from here easily enough to point out.” You can faintly make out the wood grain behind the flower more clearly than the 3rd and 4th rows of petals. End ID]

[tiopercmegco1971-blog]

If the blog is personalized and mostly dedicated to a fandom, then the blogger is completely justified in reblogging with a fandom based insertion. Because then their followers, presumably other fandom ites, can appreciate what they saying. It kind of like crossposting something from /r/pics to /r/Bossfight or some other smaller niche.. But poor though this work was, Shakespeare seems to have done it well, and he became such a favorite that he had several boys under him who were long known as "Shakespeare's boys." Their master, however, soon left work outside the theater for work inside. And now began 파주출장마사지 the busiest years of his life, for he both acted and wrote. At first it may be he only altered and improved the plays of others. It takes off my eye makeup gently, removes all makeup, cleans up my skin, yet doesn't dry it out. And, despite essential oils etc, it hasn't broken me out. It is something I look forward to at night.. Key summer 파주출장마사지 items are sundresses and light blouses. Recently, open, lacy (crocheted) tops are kinda in style, so that might be a good choice for this year. I find that Zara clothes tend to hold up a little better than H clothes, so I been shopping more there recently. The milky jelly cleanser was honestly such a disappointing product for me. All my friends who tried it raved about how wonderful and gentle it was and how their skin never looked better. All it did for me was give me acne that threatened to rival my teenage skin and made me self conscious about how I looked. Tonic, Flash and Fireball. I have been collecting their purples because they do purple so well, and I have a little sample of Fireball and it is so pretty even by itself I had to have the full size, I afraid I lose the little sample. I just pass it on to let someone else fall in love, lol!. But sleep is unlike most activities in life. While trying harder is often the surest path to success in business, sports or other waking activities, it is the surest path to failure when you want to sleep. Attempting to force yourself to sleep simply won't work. I enjoy skincare and consider it a way that I'm finally taking care of myself and my body. I take pride in trying different stuff with my skin and do a lot of research into it. How could I possibly trust anything Sunday Riley claims their products do now? Are we going to find out other unsavory things from ex employees following suit, like that they know certain products don't work at all or make skin worse but slap an $100 price tag on it anyways?. PvE is one thing. In PvP it is cheating, and should be bannable. It is a game engine exploit. First of all, tell your MIL that "this older boy" is your SON and your twins' BROTHER, not some total random stranger that none of you know. He's a part of your immediate family. She is not. But all that is going to change because my PR team told me it needs to. I going to be a better person. I said hi to a barista the other day, so I finally making friends without ulterior motives. Below stairs the dinner cloth had not been taken away, but had been left ready for breakfast. Crumbs, dust, and waste paper were all over the house. Some pewter pots and a milk can hung on the area railings; the door stood open; and we met the cook round the corner coming out of a public house, wiping her mouth.

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Always On My Mind (Pt3)

Tags: @mad-girl-without-a-box  @ladygofuckyourself17 @youdonebeengarthed @goodnightwife @dolamrothianlady @supermoonpanda @yourtropegirl @distinguishedqueenofbooks, @anyakinamidala @dirajunara-archive @anotherotter @little-study-bug @wanderingkat77 @feelmyroarrrr @annathewitch @musikat18 Word Count: 1636

Part 1 Part 2

The day couldn’t pass fast enough for you, and you found yourself inattentive to the simplest of tasks as you thought about and anticipated the picnic. At one point, you sharpened a pencil until it was down to the eraser because you looked out the window at the promising day and got distracted. You knew the afternoon sun would be warm and inviting regardless of whether he drove you out to the ocean or took you for a hike in the woods he worked. Your absent-mindedness did not go unnoticed at work, either. Not when you walked into a door, not when you tripped over a floor transition that didn’t exist, not when you set the photocopier on the fritz and it made 120 copies of something before you could manage to cancel it.

When the day finally ended, you packed up your things and locked up your desk before heading home. As you’d anticipated, the afternoon sun was pleasant, kissing your skin with its rays and you couldn’t help but turn your face toward it as you walked down the sidewalk toward your house. As a result, you collided with someone before realizing whoever it was was directly in front of you. In the split second it took for your eyes to adjust as you looked away from the bright sky, your hand came up against a solid chest in apology. As the white splotches retreated from your vision, you realized you’d laid your hand on a broad swath of off-white button down henley attached to Gavin’s trim physique.

“You’re early,” you smiled, shifting your work bag to the other shoulder. He noticed you grimace under the weight of it and quickly intercepted the move, taking it himself.

“I might have been a little eager to see you again. It hasn’t exactly been my year,” he explained, and you could have sworn you saw a slight tinge colour his cheeks.

“You’ll have to tell me about it over dinner,” you suggested. He cringed and shook his head, falling in step beside you as you walked up the path to your door.

“It makes me look like an asshole,” he admitted. “I’ll share the whole story after I’m not still working on my first impression.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his reply, and gestured for him to follow you into the house. “I have to get changed, but here, let me take that.” You took the bag back from him and dropped it beside the kitchen table. Gavin was looking around at the pictures on the walls in the living room and pointed at one.

“This is you,” he commented. “That’s Harvard.” You looked around the edge of his shoulder and saw your university convocation photo.

“It’s not hard to get into Harvard for undergrad, Gavin. It’s their grad schools that hold the reputation,” you dismissed with a light shrug.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been on a date with a woman with more than a high school diploma before,” he admitted.

“Sure you have,” you laughed.

“Who?” He challenged, raising an eyebrow.

“Me, silly. Last night.” You moved back into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pouring him a glass of cold water. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll only be a minute.”

Once you were upstairs, you flipped through your closet, quickly dismissing all your dresses as too fancy for a picnic. You’d worn your most appropriate sundress the evening before, and didn’t want to wear it again already. You dug through your dresser and quickly found a pair of pale green pedal-pushers and pulled them on with a lacy crochet-style tank top. You pulled your hair up in a ponytail and checked your make-up. Satisfied that you looked appropriately casual enough for a picnic, you descended down the stairs to catch Gavin standing by the bokshelf, holding a framed photo in his hand. He looked up, his eyes sad, and put the frame back on the shelf.

“Your Mum was just as beautiful as you are,” he commented. You bit your lip and met his eyes, noting they were full of sympathy.

“She was. Right up to the end, even,” you agreed with a slight nod, tears welling at the corners of your eyes.

“How long a-”

“Just this past spring,” you interrupted, hoping he’d take your subtle clue. He nodded and disappeared around the corner, placing his empty glass in the sink, and giving you a minute to collect yourself. You blinked rapidly while he was out of the room, and smiled brightly when he reappeared. “So where are you taking me?”

“I thought we’d go to the beach.”

The heat from the afternoon sun licked your skin and warmed your shoulders as soon as you stepped out of Gavin’s truck. While he rifled around in the bed, collecting a cooler bag and blanket, you busied yourself slipping your sandals off your feet, and making your way across the parking lot to the shoreline, letting your toes sink in to the warm sand. Gavin quickly caught up, looping his free arm in yours, and let you lead him across the beach to a washed up log. You helped him lay out the blanket and then sat down, propping yourself up against the log and crossing your legs at the ankle. He opened the cooler bag, and after popping the cap, passed you a long neck glass bottle of Coca-Cola. You took a sip, closing your eyes and letting the entirety of the afternoon soak into your bones.

“Thank you,” you murmured, looking over at him. His head was tilted and he was looking at you with a soft, amused smile. “What?”

“You’re beautiful,” he replied, the simple comment warming you inside as much as the sun.

“Thank you,” you smiled.

“I’ve gotta say, Y/N, I don’t remember ever meeting you before this, and I kind of wonder how it never happened. Midhaven isn’t a big place,” he said. You nodded.

“No, I grew up in Portland,” you admitted. “But Portland was too much after Mum, and so I decided a change of scenery was in order.”

“You went all the way to Harvard for university, though?” He pressed.

“I had to uphold my father’s legacy,” you rolled your eyes as you replied. “Dad’s entire family, back about a million generations went there, and part of accessing my education fund was attending Harvard.”

“Where’s your Dad now?” He asked. You shrugged.

“Don’t know. Don’t care,” you replied. “He left not long after I was born. The family trust made sure Mum and I never wanted for anything, but I haven’t seen him since my sixth birthday.”

“Jesus, sweetheart,” he breathed. “That’s not right.”

“Well, if you ever come across him, you can let him know how you feel about it,” you laughed. Gavin just shook his head, and dug into the cooler bag again. He produced a bag of grapes, a container of sandwiches and a small dark box that you couldn’t see into. You could tell there was more in the bag, which made you wonder how long he planned for you to be at the beach. Not that you minded.

The sandwich itself was nothing too special, just ham and cheese, but the bun it was served it was amazing. You commented on it around a mouthful and Gavin smiled.

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s my Granny’s recipe.”

“You made them?” You asked. He nodded.

“Yeah, Granny said that because there were no girls to learn to bake, Jack and I were going to whether we wanted to or not. I don’t know that either of us minded learning. Meant we always got to have buns and cookies and pies whenever we wanted. Pretty sure it’s how Jack won over Gracie,” he laughed. You took his free hand in both of yours, and flipped it over, palm up, tracing the lines on his palm with your thumbs.

“These hands?” You asked. “These lumberjack hands? Know how to bake cookies? And pies? And buns?”

“And bread, and cake, and brownies, to name a few,” he agreed. You looked up, full of wonder.

“No wife hidden off in a cabin in the woods somewhere? No bodies in shallow graves?” You teased. He laughed again, and it was a full, rich sound.

“Never had time for a wife, and by the time I thought I might want one, Jack was going through everything with Julie,” he began, reaching for his bottle of Coke. “He was so ruined by the end that I backed away from the idea of family.”

You noted the sadness in his eyes, and tried not to feel jilted by the comment. Instead of saying something, you chose to look out at the ocean, reflecting on how difficult it would have been to watch your brother lose his wife.

“Then he got friendly with Grace,” Gavin continued. “And Natalie started to blossom and Jack really began to heal. Made me realize that no matter how painful life is, it keeps going on. There’s really no point in coasting through life without the ups and downs, I guess.”

“Sometimes I wish the downs weren’t so down,” you commented, not looking away from the ocean, thinking of those last days with your mother. His hand found yours again and he squeezed and you glanced back at him.

“Makes the ups that much sweeter,” he offered. He pushed himself to his feet and pulled you up with him. “Like today.” His arm slipped around your shoulders and you walked together toward the water, dipping your toes in the cold ocean as the waves lapped up over your feet.

“Today has been pretty nice,” you admitted. He leaned over, brushing his lips against your forehead.

“Here’s to more,” he murmured against your skin.

[makeitcajun]

Meet my new “lil everything dress”….you know, that dress that is perfect for every occasion…..it’s the Evermore Dress @by.stephanie.erin It’s 2021 and everyone is looking for a reason to party and this dress is perfect!!!! Whether it’s for a special occasion, the upcoming holiday party season (yes it is just around the corner), or just because you want to have it available for “whatever comes up”…this dress fits all of those check points… and more. The #EvermoreDress is my absolute favorite crochet dress ever and it’s now available in all of Stephanie’s shops (check her bio for links) and use code: EVERMORE for 10% off all weekend 🥰 This dress is totally me. So very classic, sophisticated, and dressy. I don’t need to have an occasion to wear it …I wear it just because….. The lacy yoke flies by and then the body increases in a subtle A line skimming all the right curves to feel classic yet sexy at the same time. Pattern comes in 9 sizes from 28-62” bust with -1-1” of ease at the bust. You’ll need light fingering weight yarn and approximately 1700 (1980, 2100, 2280, 2465, 2640, 2900, 3250, 3500) yards 💗 I’m Wearing the Size 5 with my 46 inch bust Of course the pattern is size inclusive and looks great on every body. Stephanie Erin is know for creating designs that are figure flattering at all sizes. Be sure to check out other testers versions of this dress at #EvermoreDress Big thanks to @essenceofautumn for inspiring this design and her stunning Silky Linen yarn in colourway Garden Party Design: The Evermore Dress Designer: @by.stephanie.Erin Yarn Dyer: @essenceofautumn Yarn: Silk Linen Color: Garden Party (at Maurice, Louisiana) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQj1Ix0LAwa/?utm_medium=tumblr

[shiphitsthefan]

#Hannictober: Scarves [Bedelia/Will/Hannibal college/dancer AU]

Crochet is predictable. There’s a pattern to follow, an order that appeals to Will’s anxious mind. Ballet does the same for him, but Will can’t always be dancing.

(He tried once, during a meltdown. Hannibal found him thirteen hours and two pairs of blood-soaked shoes later.)

Will remembers glaring at this therapist for the rest of his hour when she first suggested it. He was only there to keep his hard-won place in the pointe class, not for advice on potential hobbies. The only craft Will was interested in was the craft, and he told Hannibal just as much in the cafeteria during brunch break. His books slammed on the table, a satisfying echo of the way he shut Ms. Bloom’s door.

“I take it your first period alternative went poorly?”

Will only grunted in reply, burying his face in Hannibal's neck, hoping Dr. Crawford wouldn't write them up for PDA.

Hannibal stroked the side of Will’s face. “What happened?”

“She thinks I need a hobby.”

“And what do you think?”

“I think she's full of shit,” Will said.

“Yet she has a point. A hobby could be beneficial,” said Hannibal, shrugging. “Perhaps first aid, so you can bandage yourself the next time you take to self harm to soothe your anxiety.”

Will pulled away slowly. “It wasn't self harm.”

“You mutilated your lovely feet, Will.”

And he knew he wasn't going to win this battle, not when Hannibal was so sincere in his concern. Therapists around every corner with no escape in sight. “Suggestions?”

“Perhaps you could create something to do with dancing? It would then catch your interest.” Hannibal smiled and scratched behind Will’s ear when he added, “My single-minded Patroclus.”

He started with leg warmers, because Hannibal hated them, and Will hated being coerced into crochet. Hannibal hadn’t waited for Will to choose a hobby on his own, simply showed up in pointe class with a bag full of yarn and crochet hooks and handed it to him. Will pouted through class--as if the girls didn’t make enough fun of him and Hannibal for being the only two boys to make it to pointe. It was already a woman’s world, and now Will had a bag full of women’s work.

Humiliated, Will set out to make the gaudiest fucking leg warmers in the entire world. Ballet pink, with sherbet orange stripes and silver yarn throughout that sparkled like tinsel. He crocheted a scarf to match, because...well he wasn’t sure why, beyond enjoying making the leg warmers. But the set was ugly, no matter how well-made, and if Will hid Hannibal’s regular leg warmers, then he’d be forced to wear Will’s.

Hannibal still wears them. He wears the matching scarf, too, and the soft plaid socks Will makes him for Christmas, and the earflap hat with the ridiculous crochet roses for buttons. Bedelia likes Will’s work, too, though Will gives her nicer gifts--primarily leg warmers (light pink and lacy) and scarves (chunky stitches and merino yarn) because he loves to dress her in pretty things.

This afternoon, however, on a whim, he decides to start a set of beanies. Scarves to match. Pastels. Pompoms.

Let’s see how they coordinate their outfits now. Grinning mischievously, Will picks up his needles. It is the season for tricks, after all.

[start from the beginning]    [drabbles for charity]   [like my work?]