#also as a fiber arts person it's cool to see where the stuff I'm working with started. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sparklepocalypse · 8 months ago

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🥑☁️🐝🎨 please.💜

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

I'd get in touch with @cha-melodius for her anatomical knowledge (y'know, maybe I can resuscitate whoever it is?) and @happiness-of-the-pursuit for his legal expertise, in the likely event that the resuscitation doesn't work.

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

You know, I've had this username since about 2010, and I honestly can't remember the backstory. I'm fairly sure it has something to do with some sort of arts and crafts project and then-untreated ADHD, though...

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

This might get long, so I'll come back to this one and toss it under a jump. 🤣😅

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

You know, prior to the latest RWRB zine being published, I wouldn't have been able to narrow it down to just one, but this JC Leyendecker-inspired piece by @artofobsession is possibly my favorite piece of fanart that's ever been created. It's just -- even nearly a month after it was first posted, it causes beauty aggression in me and I just want to bite it because it's so pretty and glowy and ethereal and lovely and they're just so blushy and so into one another. It's the first fanart print I've ordered in years, and it's going to go on my wall of ephemeral pretty things with my Lindsay van Ekelenburg art and my various tarot card prints from Kickstarter decks.

[Send me emoji from the Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game and I'll answer the corresponding questions!]

Aight, back to 🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

I mean, obviously I'm tagging you first, @ad-astra13, because you're the Most Excellent of Doc Gremlins and your flailing in my Google Docs has been so, so motivating. Your fiber work is really cool and creative! I'm always intrigued to see which project you'll take on next.

And then there's @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, who even with a bunch of stuff going on IRL still takes the time to DM me a screenshot when someone has recced one of my fics, which -- warm fuzzies just everywhere. Val is one of the sweetest, most deeply passionate RWRB fans I have ever met, and her encyclopedic knowledge of all things book and movie have come in handy on like, dozens of occasions in the few months since I've gotten to know her.

@kiwiana-writes and I basically have the same brain in different bodies on different continents, the vibe is so consistent. Half the time I read his work it feels like it could've emerged from my brain instead of his, and now it turns out he's a pretty gifted songwriter too? Incredible, awe-inspiring, iconic, etc.

@artofobsession and I have a Spider-Man meme thing going on where I yell at Hann about their art, and they yell at me about my writing, and it's just a never-ending cycle of yelling. Pretty amazing to consider that I was Too Scared To Say Hi ™️ for awhile there, because I'm a big ol' introvert. Regardless of what Hann's got going on, I've never read an unkind word that's emerged from their keyboard, and they're super well-spoken and yeah, really glad I started making unhinged bulleted lists of art reviews as a way to break the ice, because they're good people.

Speaking of Spider-Man memes, @seanchaidh7 and I have also been Spider-Manning back and forth these last few months. She's created some really, really incredible art for my Big Giant AU, and just genuinely seems like a cool person. I'm happy we stumbled across each other in this fandom!

@duchessdepolignaca03 is one of the best unhinged idea riffers I've met. She deserves at least partial credit for the idea for my RBB fic, because a simple "fic where [x]" message can lead to a thread of dozens (or hundreds) of messages back and forth just flinging ideas out there to further the prompt. Half the time the riff is all that happens, but occasionally, the riff spawns something way bigger.

And there are folks who either I haven't found on Tumblr, or who left Tumblr behind in like 2013 and haven't looked back -- super grateful for everyone who's enabling my weird little brain to do the thing!

#ask me stuff!#ask meme

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naritaren · 6 months ago

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I can speak as a fiber arts teacher on some things I tell my students when they start out. Now, I'm not a knitter, but crochet is one of those things where some of the stuff is transferable.

The first thing to remember is that as you get older and into adulthood, it's very hard to learn new skills where your hands are doing two different things simultaneously. It's easier as a kid to learn things like playing instruments and fiber arts because the brain elasticity is better then and they don't have years of being used to doing things with one hand at a time or the same thing with both hands (like typing). That being said, it just means you'll have to practice a bit more, but it's not worth getting discouraged over. It can be done, but beating yourself up for it while you are learning a new skill is going to make it harder.

The next thing is that it's ok to rip out what you're doing and try again. I personally encourage it and teach my students that. It'll suck to do that, but when you get into the hang of things, you'll feel less discouraged seeing better-looking things as you go. Sure, it's cool to see your progress in one item, but it looks better if you can just start over and have things look better with each try. It reduces how often you are comparing yourself to yourself learning a new skill.

Practicing is important. Just like any new skill, you do have to work at it to get better. This goes for all sorts of things. The stuff you make at first is going to be rough, but you're going to learn something from it. Maybe you'll learn how to do a new stitch. Maybe you'll learn a new trick that you can use going forward to make things easier on yourself.

I guess my last tip is to learn by making dishcloths. Your dishes don't care if what they're being washed with looks a bit wonky. It's also a good medium to learn different stitches and practice them. Again, your dishes don't care.

how did you learn to knit? i want to start but its kind of overwhelming

my mom used to be an avid knitter years ago when she could still properly work with her hands, so i definitely picked the interest from her, but actually we have basic fibers arts as a mandatory school subject from like fifth to seventh grade so i learned it from there. i was shit at it for years before picking it up as an adult again and at that point it was muscle memory lmao so unfortunately i cant really help the learning part here. watching a lot of tutorials, videos especially, and trial and error has helped me learn new techniques a lot tho!

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