#Something about this kept making my little flat colours and maybe rectangles not work

[redsafalloutfan]

Tried to doodle something fun with the disaster husbands (looking way more confident then they should)

Various alts under the cut, (kept not being happy withe the background, said f* k it and just put the red rectangle)

I might make a text post about my lamb soon-ish, in the basic sense though it’s just how I think about the lamb from my first (and main) playthrough . Also just wanted to give them both lots of eyeshadow for funsies, (might just make that part of my Kallamars design permently)

[onegirlatelier]

La Toscana Shrug, August 2019

Of all the design elements out there, lace happens to be my comfort knitting option and white happens to be my favourite colour to knit with. Lace makes it airy, and white makes it light. A fairy project.

I hadn’t had a proper lace project since the Magnificat in G shawl in spring 2018, and didn’t have plans for any—though I longed for one—until I saw the original Arashi pattern. It was a large shawl, but somehow the repeats didn’t seem boring or too simple. It was something I would like to lay on or drink in with my eyes. I decided then that after a series of gift knits, it was time for some pleasure knitting.

I debated for the longest time whether to make a shawl or a shrug, and finally decided on a little shrug. Two reasons: the yarn was expensive and a shrug would take two skeins less than a shawl of the original size; a shrug would be both practical for a student (or an amateur ballet dancer) and fancy enough for a date. Despite the reduced number of lace repeats, it was still satisfactory and what I needed.

I am naming this shrug La Toscana, because the white and light earth tones remind me of this area in Italy. It is featured in a book about the cultures and interior design projects in Italy, and I have been dreaming of a trip to the country for as many years as I have owned the book. When I close my eyes, I can picture myself wearing the shrug over a dress dyed with marigold, strolling down the streets in southern Italy. I want to be far, far away from the current troubles in my life, and just relax and have a true conversation with my travel companion…my mother. We both have had a chaotic year and I miss being on a vacation with her.

So many sentiments packed into a single project. But that is exactly the purpose of making things for myself—to create anchors for memories and hopes which I don’t have the words to express.

Pattern

Arashi by Ema Marinescu. I only used the lace chart and it seemed clear enough. There is not a pdf file for the pattern, only a webpage on knitty.com. The layout of the webpage is not very neat, but that’s probably because I don’t like line-by-line written instructions (not even just seeing them.)

The smocking detail attracted me at first sight. I am not usually drawn to simple fan lace stitches, but when the smocking is placed right along the centre back, the large pattern repeats radiating from the CB resembles the dainty wings of a butterfly.

  Yarn

Quince & Co. Sparrow 100% linen, 155m/50g. It is composed of four strands of 2-ply linen yarns.

#233 Lunar 50g. (I have literally one metre left.) It is a bright white just as pictured on the website.

#256 Sea Salt 76g. It is more of a light toffee colour than the off-white colour shown.

A single pattern repeat (26 sts*24 rows) took 4g of yarn. The rectangle base of this shrug took about 34g #Lunar and 68g #Sea Salt. (See construction below for how I came to this estimation.)

The yarn was soft for linen and not hard on my fingers at all, but then I have a high tolerance and have knitted with pure wool yarn that was almost as tough as this linen one. It felt clean and crispy both during the knitting process and after blocking, though it indeed softened as advertised.

Environmental issues: linen is a durable fibre that requires relatively little water and energy to produce. For me, it makes less of a difference whether the linen is organic, but it’s nice to know that this one is. It’s also low maintenance and doesn’t require special care. The carbon footprint of the transportation process bothers me a little, though—the linen was grown (presumably) somewhere in Europe, made into yarn in Italy, shipped to the USA where the company is situated, and then to a stockiest in China, and finally to me in a different city. That was a lot of miles. I want to support the values of Quince & Co. and I do realise that global trade is inevitable, but I really should look harder for a better solution.

 This is my first linen project, and I wanted to invest in a good linen yarn to get the right impression and set the standard. Overall, I am really pleased with Sparrow and think it’s been worth my time and money.

  Needles

I used a 3.25mm circular for the rectangle and the rib for the cuffs. Then I used a 3.00mm circular for the rib on the body.

Finished Size

The main body is 30cm*70cm.

The ribbing for the neckline is 5.5cm wide, and the ribbing for the hem is 5cm wide.

  Construction

I first knitted a rectangle in flat as the main body. It was worked from the centre. For each half of the rectangle, I did two columns of lace in toffee and one column in white using intarsia. At first I did five repeats (24*5=120 rows) for each side, but then after I blocked the rectangle, I decided to shorten the width of the shrug. I ripped out a few rows and ended up with 102 rows (24*4+6) for each side.

I asked the pattern author on Ravelry and confirmed that her long stitch is one normal wrap plus an extra wrap, which means two wraps in the same stitch. She calls this ‘k1, elongated twice’, yet I have a feeling that it should be ‘k1, elongated once’. I’m not sure. I replied on my instinct and it did turn out fine.

Also when knitting the rectangle, I did a one-stitch stockinette on the white side and a three-stitch garter stitch on the toffee side, because I had intended to only add ribbing to the white side and leave the toffee side as it was. I ended up knitting a wide ribbing for the toffee side as well as the white side.

I kept the last row on each short side of the rectangle ‘live’. After it was blocked and I was happy with the width and length, I folded it and casted off the first and last few stitches of the shorter edge with a three-needle bind off, to sew this portion together. It didn’t even occur to me that I could’ve simply used a mattress stitch. Note: I wanted the pattern to align nicely, so I let the garter ridge hang there and bound off from the first stitch of the main pattern (a LS). I bound off ten stitches for each side of the seam.

Then I knitted about five rows of 1*1 rib to form the cuff.

After that, it was time to deal with the loose hem and neckline. At this time, the hem hanged away from my back and the neckline was far too wide. It was clear that a lot of short-row shaping was underway. I did short-row shaping in 1*1 rib, and picked up 3 stitches for every 4 stitches. For the shoulder parts, I picked up 2 stitches for every 3 stitches to make it snug.

I first did some short-row shaping for the hem using white yarn, and I picked up the live stitches of the toffee-coloured garter ridge as if doing a knitted border, whenever I got to the ‘side seam’. This means I knitted three complete rows of white after the short-row shaping was done.

Then I did the shaping for the neckline in toffee. I wanted my shoulders and the base of my neck to be covered, so there were more short rows on the neckline. After I finished with the shaping, I knitted the neckline and the hem together using intarsia. It wasn’t exactly knitted in the round…it was more of back-and-forth knitting, but it formed a round because of the intarsia. It was all very intuitive so I figured it out as I went.

Then I knitted one full round with white yarn to give the whole garment a shiny bright white edge, then I did invisible 1*1 rib cast off.

Before the final blocking, the neckline and the hem sat snug against my body. After the blocking (and some mishandling by a family member), they loosened a little. The hem now hangs a little away from my back, which is not ideal. It is a minor issue, though, so I am leaving it the way it is now and maybe try to re-block it later.

Further considerations

I’ll be honest: I still don’t know how to do a proper provisional cast on. When I need one, I just cast on like I usually do and knit a row, then join in the working yarn. I will definitely learn the correct method.

As mentioned, the ribbing loosened after blocking. If I were to do this again, I would go down another needle size to 2.75mm for the ribbing. Or I would just pick up 2 stitches for every 3 stitches through the neckline and the hem. I haven’t tried dancing in this shawl yet. I think it might need a few extra rows of ribbing to stay securely on my shoulders. (You can see from the comparison below how it gaped at the back of my neck after I did some stretching.)

Lastly, I would love to make a bigger version of this shrug, or use a lighter-weight yarn to make a full-sized shawl of the same pattern.

[sherlockxreader]

Man and Machine

Title: Man and Machine - Part 1: Tony’s Invitation

Summary: Your new life in Baker Street has been challenging, exhausting, exciting and satisfying. It has been little over a year since you have moved away from your brother Tony and after becoming part of the duo that is John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. You hadn’t expected their worlds to collide so quickly however, with Christmas fast approaching, you find yourself caught up in the whirlwind that will be the Avengers Christmas, featuring two British best friends, one obnoxious boyfriend and one protective older brother. Merry Christmas?

Author: Maddy @laterthantherabbit Words: 2220 Characters/Relationships: Sherlock x reader, Tony Stark x sister!reader, John Watson x platonic!reader Warnings: Nada

Request: Hey it’s me again Haha so I was hoping if I could request that reader is Tony Stark’s Daughter (or maybe sister would work better for you?) and she manages to drag her boyfriend coughSherlockcough to America during a holiday to meet him(?) that was my idea and I know it’s a really weird and specific niche of fic but if you guys are comfortable with it ik you’re the best ones to pull it off - anonymous

A/N: Hey anon, thanks for this request! I love it heaps! I’ve decided to write this with the reader as Tony’s sister just cause of the ages and stuff. I’ve also added in a few more Avengers cause they’re always fun. The Accords exist but all the drama that had happened and the split has been resolved, so everyone’s together in the new compound. Also this is after Sherlock’s fall but he and John made up and are still working cases together. Season 4 didn’t happen in this universe. I’ve also decided to write this in multiple parts as well just cause I feel like I’m doing some major info dumping here that I don’t want to try and put it all together into one. Hope it’s what you were expecting!

———————————————————

Being Tony Stark’s younger, introverted sister was both a blessing and a curse when living in New York City, especially after he gained countless enemies over the near decade of being Iron Man. After the Battle of New York and the events of The Mandarin, you had decided to move to London, away from any business your brother was involved with, into a quieter, more stable lifestyle.

It was more peaceful in England and though there were some people who recognised you as Y/N Stark, they were more polite about your personal space and kept their distance better than those in NYC. Life was quaint, as Tony had described it when you showed him pictures of the small apartment you were going to be renting in Baker Street from a nice old lady. Mrs. Hudson if you remembered correctly. You commuted from 221C to the law firm you worked at via the tube daily, preferring that over any eccentric cars Tony would have bought you. You met up with Mrs. Hudson frequently, finding solace in the woman when your cases were getting to your head; she always knew how to help in the drug-related cases somehow.

The most exciting part about your move however were your neighbours, John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. You didn’t meet them until your third day in London, as your hours required you to leave early and work late. You had always heard the occasional violin upstairs, sometimes loud arguing between the two men at the early hours of the morning. Their theatrics amused you even if they didn’t know you knew of their various exploits and adventures through Mrs. Hudson’s stories and John’s blog, kindly provided by Mrs. Hudson herself. When you finally met the men on one of your afternoon’s off with Mrs. Hudson, your amusement towards them grew tenfold.

John was grumbling to Sherlock about running off by himself again from the front of the building to the dining table in Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen, ignorant of your presence at the end of the table. You chuckled quietly over your tea as he walked in ahead of Sherlock, looking at the ground and flopping into the chair at the other end of the table, his head in his hand and his elbow in the table. Sherlock came in next arguing against whatever John had just said, stopping abruptly when he saw you sipping tea at Mrs. Hudson’s table. John looked up at the sudden silence and blushed a little at having not noticed you in the room.

From there, your life became far more interesting. John became a close friend, one of your best. He was always one to listen to your problems at work, letting you whinge on his shoulder as he read a book or watched crap telly.

Sherlock on the other hand became one of the most important people in your life. At first, he was his abrasive and obnoxious self yet he had always left the light on for you when you came back to the building especially late and you began to notice that he’d play soft music at these times, helping you sleep before the next monstrosity of a day. After a couple of weeks, you’d find little post-it notes on some of your work, suggesting at evidence you should use and even pointing out parts that would change the game immensely. You knew who it was immediately.

John managed to get Sherlock to face his feelings for you when he saw him drape a blanket over your exhausted figure which had collapsed on the couch of 221B, a smile that could only be of adoration on his face. It took some time, but eventually, he worked up the courage to open up his heart to you and from there, your life was perfect. Until the first Christmas away from Tony approached.

—————————————————————-

You were sitting cross-legged on the ground of 221B, your back against the couch and mounds of paper strewn across the floor in front of you, different coloured highlighter and post-it notes dotting the white in a code that only you and Sherlock could really understand. You were alone at the moment, John having gone to work and Sherlock having gone out to examine something with Molly. You had the day off from work, only to have to catch up on a heap at home. You attention remained fixated on the papers in front of you as you heard someone’s footsteps on the staircase outside, the door creak and the person shake out their coat from the rain outside.

“Hello Y/N. How’s the case coming?” Sherlock spoke as he stripped on his way to his bedroom, coming back out a moment later in his pyjamas and blue dressing gown. “Y/N?”

“Hm? Oh it’s dismal, as always.” You chucked the pen you held onto the words with frustration, lying your head back onto the couch cushions as you scrubbed the tiredness from your eyes. “This one’s hopeless. God dammit.” You kept your eyes shut, letting them rest as Sherlock flopped onto the part behind you. He began to stroke your hair out of habit as he let his other hand drape across his own eyes.

“It’ll work out. You always make it do.” You hummed in appreciation as he continued.

“Only with your help. I can’t remember how many times you’ve helped me.”

“True.” You smiled and brought your hand up to playfully swat at his chest. You heard him gasp at your antic and felt him shift as he brought his fist to his chest. “Rude.”

“Rude yourself.” You sighed and opened your eyes, lifting your head to continue with your work only to have it brought back to it’s resting place by Sherlock’s hand on your forehead. “Sherlock. I really need to get this done, I don’t have time.”

“I’ll help later. You need to rest anyway.”

“You shouldn’t be helping at all. These are confidential documents. In fact, everything I do is confidential. I should’ve stopped you right away.” Your bickering was pointless as you settled your head back and let Sherlock fiddle with your hair.

“Mycroft can sort anything out if we’re caught. Don’t worry.”

“How horrid.” You both laughed, the domesticity of the room making you sleepy. You dozed until John came in a couple of hours later, letters in his hand, one nearly double the size of the rest.

“I see you two are cozy. I brought your mail up as well Y/N. It’s mostly junk except this one.” He handed you the giant, off-white letter, the outside rimmed with a thick gold border, a thinner one next to it in hot-rod red, before he made his way into the kitchen to make tea. You knew who it was from immediately and your sleepy body sprung upright immediately as you worked on opening the letter. Sherlock, who had managed to catch some sleep with you, was jolted by your movements, making him grumble and turn to the back of the couch.

“It’s from Tony!” You heard John chuckle to himself as he emerged from the kitchen while the jug boiled.

“I kinda guessed that. I thought he usually called?”

“He does but you know Tony. Always going that extra mile for the wow factor.” You smiled as you lifted the flap of the quality envelope, your address written in Tony’s messy handwriting, a contrast against the pristine paper. Inside was a thin black screen branded with the Stark name. When you lifted the rectangle, it flickered and came to life, scanning your fingerprints where they were at the edges, projecting the Stark image above the tablet when it was flat, as it was in your hands.

“That’s a bit much isn’t it?” John had made his tea while you were pulling out the device. His face was a mixture of confusion and awe towards the advanced piece of technology. “And he sent that through the post? Would’ve thought it would break.”

“It’s probably stronger than that mug you’ve got there.” You smirked at John as he scowled and sat in his chair, preferring to read the paper. The scanning completed and, after confirming that you were you, the face of your brother appeared in the holographic image.

“Y/N?” Holo-Tony called through the screen. He was in his engineer clothes of a singlet and grease stains, as you had dubbed them, and he was leaning in with his head tilted showing the left side more. You could see his workshop and suits behind him.

“Tony! How’ve you been?” You stood from your place when you realised this was a phone call of sorts, moving to Sherlock’s room to have some privacy.

“Splendid. Never been better. How’s the Traveling Utility for Removed Dumbasses working?” He had leaned back to fiddle with something out of screen though you could still clearly see the smirk on his face as your face dropped, unimpressed.

“Seriously, TURD? It’s like you’re still five.”

“Well I had to find some new way to insult you. You should be grateful I made that thing just for you.” He was looking smugly at you through the screen as the smile that had disappeared flickered back onto your face.

“You dork.”

“You love me.”

“Yeah yeah. Anyways what’s up? That can’t be the only reason you made this thing?” You sat on Sherlock’s bed and rested the tablet at one end so you could lay down on your stomach, nothing behind you except a blank wall.

“Course not. You know what the date is?” He had gone back to looking down at something and you could see his tongue poking out the side of his mouth in concentration.

“Um, the twenty-fifth?”

“Of?”

“November?”

“Exactly! And where are you?”

“England. Tony what has this got to do with anything?” He dropped his hands loudly on the desk and looked into the screen with a gobsmacked face.

“Christmas! The Big Stark Christmas and now the Big Avengers Christmas! We are planning the best Christmas ever and that can’t begin until you’re here so pack your bags sis, you are coming home!” He spun in a circle on his chair as holographic fireworks surrounded him on screen in the vibrant colours of Christmas. You giggled at his theatrics and shook your head.

“Tony, I can’t. I have so much work here and-”

“Nope.” He waggled his finger at you and picked up what he was working on, one of his thrusters, “It’s already been sorted. I got you the whole month off and am sending a jet over tomorrow so you can come here and celebrate. Meet the newbies. Maybe meet someone.” He wiggled his eyes suggestively and you blushed, hiding your face in your arms.

“Uhh, well, about that-”

“I’m just joking Y/N.” He began tightening a screw in his thruster, not registering the direction you were heading with. “Anyways what I’m saying is that you have no choice really. You’re coming here for Christmas whether you like it or not. So?” His eyes flicked to the screen and you saw how hopeful they looked. You sighed and smirked at your brother.

“Well after all the trouble you’ve been through, of course I’ll be there. Tomorrow the jet was coming you said?” His eyes crinkled at the sides and his mouth widened in a brilliant smile.

“Yes it is! I’ve got stuff to do but I will see you soon!” He leaned in to hang up but you waved your hands at the screen and spat out syllables in objection.

“Wait! Wait, stop!”

“What?” Tony looked confused at you and slightly worried as you fiddled with your sleeve and said you were going to bring some friends if they agreed. “Is that all?” He relaxed against his chair and smiled softly. “Course they can come, the more the merrier! I’ll need a name to do a background check so, who are they?”

“Uh, John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.” You thought you saw recognition flicker across his features however, it disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced with his previous relaxed face as he asked FRIDAY to remind him to run a background check on the two.

“No worries Y/N. I’ll see you soon yeah?”

Your tense face and body loosened and you smiled into the screen, saying you’ll text if they agree to come. “I can’t wait. Bye T.” He smiled back then the screen went dark, leaving you reeling as you realised that you were about to introduce your boyfriend and new best friend to some of the most powerful people in the world as well as your brother.

On the other side of the world, Tony sat in his workshop, a dark screen in front of him and his mind racing. “FRIDAY?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Don’t worry about that background check and bring up everything I have on those two people.” A moment later, a mass of virtual newspaper clippings and information appeared in front of Tony. John’s service in Afghanistan, Sherlock’s rehabilitation, their work on a multitude of cases, John’s blog, Sherlock’s fall. Anything and everything that was related to the two men was at Tony’s fingertips and a steely expression was on his face. “She just had to meet a Holmes, didn’t she?”