#anyway cross stitch is really fun but takes so long!! I have so many patterns I want to try out and they'll take me months!!!!

[mimicmerchant]

Finished my first cross stitch! For a friend with a love of dumb internet memes and an upcoming art-gallery-themed birthday party.

flower bouquet pattern (altered for the text)

Stupid libertarian police copy pasta

[bluejayblueskies]

storge

n. familial love, born out of familiarity or dependence; a natural, unforced, instinctual love

Words: 3.3k

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Relationships: Danny Stoker & Tim Stoker, Sasha James & Tim Stoker (background)

Characters: Tim Stoker, Danny Stoker, Sasha James, Minor OCs

Additional Tags: AU - No Supernatural, AU - Everyone Lives/No One Dies, Internalized Acephobia/Arophobia, Implied/Referenced Arophobia (minor), Aromantic Character, Asexual Character

Summary:

Danny finished the last slice of the pizza they’d ordered, stared at the credits scrolling across Tim’s television screen from the cheesy Valentine’s Day rom-com they’d just finished watching, and said with feigned casualness, “I don’t think that’s for me.”

Tim, who had wanted that last slice of pizza, thank you very much, rolled his eyes and said, “Well, then I’m picking the pizza toppings next time. Maybe then we won’t have a pizza that only tastes like jalapeños.”

“Oh, absolutely not. Last time you put pineapple and pepperoni on it, which is grounds for termination from topping-decisions for life.” Danny paused, and then he took his eyes away from the television, looked at Tim, and said, with distinctly less casualness, “I meant the movie. Um. The romance part, specifically.”

Read on Ao3

Or, read below (additional warnings below the cut):

Additional warnings: - character forcing himself to stay in a romantic situation even after he becomes uncomfortable - character mentioning the possibility of forcing himself to have sex with someone (doesn’t actually occur)

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So here’s the thing: Tim is terrible at giving gifts. It doesn’t matter how long he’s known someone or how many of their favorites he can list off the top of his head—he still always ends up getting them something so incredibly, horribly generic because he just can’t do it. Sasha’s never going to let him live down the time he got her the exact same mug she keeps in the archives because he panicked, okay? And it was the only thing he could think of that wasn’t just candles or soap.

 (“I honestly would have preferred soap,” Sasha said as she covered her mouth with one hand to stifle her laugher, the other still grasping the mug. Tim was significantly less amused.)

 The one silver lining to the whole thing is that it’s never been a problem with Danny. Not because Tim is necessarily any better at getting gifts for him, but because Danny treats each and every gift from Tim like it’s something incredibly special and unique. Once, Tim got him a six-pack of plain black socks—just to test his theory that Danny was just being nice, or maybe just as a joke (or possibly both)—and Danny said, with a million-dollar smile, “You know, I was just thinking the other day how cool it would look to pair a patterned sock with a black one. This is great, Tim!”

 Yeah, Tim’s pretty sure that Danny’s just fucking with him at this point. But honestly, Tim doesn’t really mind. It takes a lot of pressure off him during any of the traditional gift-giving seasons because he knows that whatever he gets Danny, Danny will just smile and thank him like it was what he’d always wanted.

 Maybe that’s why Danny does it, Tim thinks as he stares at the dozens of tabs open on his computer, each for a different online retailer. To relieve the pressure.

 If so, then Tim’s really ruining the whole thing now, isn’t he? Because instead of doing that follow-up Jon requested two days ago, Tim’s been agonizing over whether to get a mug or a shirt or a pin, or maybe something more personal like those sunglasses he’d seen the other day, or—

 Or maybe something from the million other terrible ideas Tim’s had. With a long, drawn-out groan, he pushes back from his desk, stands with a too-loud pop of his back that has Sasha glancing up from her paperwork with a grimace, and makes his way to the breakroom.

 He needs coffee.

 As he waits for the pot to brew—because he’s the only one who drinks coffee in the archives (and yes, Sasha’s intricately named espresso beverages are technically coffee, but he doesn’t deign to count them)—he closes his eyes and tries to convince himself, yet again, that there’s a good reason he’s putting himself through this, and that no, it is not a stupid idea that has a ninety-nine percent chance of backfiring horribly.

 It had gone like this:

 Four months ago, Danny had finished the last slice of the pizza they’d ordered, stared at the credits scrolling across Tim’s television screen from the cheesy Valentine’s Day rom-com they’d just finished watching, and said with feigned casualness, “I don’t think that’s for me.”

 Tim, who had wanted that last slice of pizza, thank you very much, rolled his eyes and said, “Well, then I’m picking the pizza toppings next time. Maybe then we won’t have a pizza that only tastes like jalapeños.”

 “Oh, absolutely not. Last time you put pineapple and pepperoni on it, which is grounds for termination from topping-decisions for life.” Danny paused, and then he took his eyes away from the television, looked at Tim, and said, with distinctly less casualness, “I meant the movie. Um. The romance part, specifically.” Then, with a disarming smile: “I’ve got the comedy more than covered, after all. I told you I got that wedding gig, right? Maybe I can try some of my jokes on you.”

 Danny opened his mouth again, clearly ready to launch into a demonstration of his latest vocational pursuit, but Tim’s brain had finally parsed Danny’s words enough to say, maybe a bit too abruptly, “Hold on, hold on. Let’s go back to the romance bit, yeah?”

 He really, really hoped the statement had come off less accusatory and more encouraging. It must have worked because Danny’s smile faded into an expression that didn’t look afraid, only nervous. Still, Tim felt the need to add, with the edges of his words sanded down into something softer, “Obviously, you don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable with. But I’m all ears.”

 “Mm, they are pretty big,” Danny quipped. “Only going to get bigger, too.”

 Tim just sat back on the couch, crossed his arms, and waited. The credits on the screen continued to roll, the peppy pop music that accompanied them disrupting what might have, in any other situation, been an awkward silence. It still felt like an awkward something.

 Then, Danny sucked his bottom lip between his teeth, worried it for a few seconds, and said, “Okay, so- you remember telling me about when you figured out you were ace, right?”

 “Right,” Tim said.

 “Right,” Danny echoed. He fiddled with the silver ring on his left thumb absently, like he always did when he was nervous or when he had a million things racing through his head and he was trying to decide which thread to pull that would make them all come together into a neatly-stitched pattern. “Well, I guess all the stuff you said about liking sex but not wanting it with anyone in particular got me thinking about things that I like. And, uh. Things that I don’t.”

 There was another pause. The television screen had gone dark and the silence that stretched over them didn’t feel awkward anymore. Just heavy. Danny gave the ring on his finger another twist and said, “It had never really occurred to me that I could like to do something but not with anyone in particular, you know? Like- okay, so I enjoy flirting. I think all those stupid, cheesy pickup lines are hilarious, and seeing how people react to them is really fun. I mean, sometimes people laugh, sometimes people get annoyed, and sometimes people blush. But I never want anything out of it, you know?”

 Danny stared at the blank screen; the profile of his face showed a smile, but the lines of his forehead and the creases around his eyes were tight. Wordlessly, Tim moved closer so that his shoulder pressed against Danny’s, light enough that it wasn’t oppressive but a grounding presence all the same. From the way that Danny relaxed slightly at the touch, Tim decided that it was a good move.

 “One time, actually, someone offered to buy me a drink. You would have liked him, Tim—he had this really strong jawline, little bit of a five o’clock shadow, bright red hair. So I got the drink, and we talked, and even though he was funny and I had to stop sipping my drink because I kept choking on it when he would tell another joke, I just had this itching underneath my skin, like I just couldn’t get comfortable. But,” Danny said with a tight smile, “I ignored it. I told myself, You flirted with him first, Danny Stoker, and this is what happens when you flirt with people. Sometimes, they flirt back. So I had my drink. And then another, you know, because drinks are like potato chips, you can’t have just one.

 “He didn’t ask me to- to come back to his place or whatever, which was- god, I don’t know what I would have done.” Danny bit his lip, leaned more heavily into Tim’s shoulder. “Probably would have said yes? And I don’t need you to tell me that that would have been stupid. I know.

 “Instead, he gave me his number on one of those fancy business cards—I don’t really remember for what company, I threw it away as soon as I got home—and told me to call him. And I knew, as soon as he said that, that I wasn’t going to. That it- it wasn’t fun anymore, because there was this expectation to deliver.” Danny’s forehead creased, and he shook his head slowly. “No, that’s- that’s not quite right. An expectation to reciprocate, maybe?

 “The thing is, the idea of romance and dating and all of that sounds interesting in theory, and sometimes I can even imagine myself doing it—albeit not with anyone in particular, just like as a thought exercise I guess. I tried, a few times, to put a specific face to whoever I was going on lovely Italian wine tours with or- or hand-feeding grapes to on a bed on some island. Tim, don’t make that face, wine tours and grape feeding are peak romance. Uh, I think.

 “Anyway, anytime I tried to imagine dating someone instead of just dating, I got that same itching feeling under my skin. And I thought, well, I’m just not picking the right people. It’s got to be someone I really like, you know, someone I care about. Clearly, red-haired guy had not been the one.

 “And then… I found someone. Her name was Ash and she was just everything I ever could have wanted. She was funny and brave and did this little thing with her nose when she laughed that made me laugh, and she was a much better rock climber than me but I was better at rappelling because she could never trust herself to lean back unless someone guided her down, and I really, really thought that it could be her, you know? I knew that I loved her, and even though most of my standard lines bounced right off her, a few stuck. If I tried, really tried, I even thought I could picture it: every single corny, cheesy date I’d ever imagined, with her face cut and pasted into the image. It was a bit like a bad Photoshop edit, you know, where the edges clearly didn’t fit? But I ignored it because it fit well enough, and she made me happy.”

 Danny took a long breath and let it out just as slowly. Tim thought of a million things to say, a million reassurances, that he eventually let sink to the back of his mind and dissipate. Instead, he fought back against the instinct to break the silence with a laugh or a word or just a noise and instead leaned further back against the couch. Patience was not his strong suit, but he could do it for Danny.

 Finally, Danny continued, “And then one day, she… she asked me out. I guess I must have looked pretty shocked because she laughed and said that she’d been flirting with me for weeks, just like I’d been with her, and so there was no need to look so surprised. The thing is, I hadn’t even noticed. Every time she’d made some joke and I’d laughed, I’d thought that was just normal. Being friends, you know? Maybe that’s stupid, given that I’d been flirting with her too. Maybe not. I don’t know.

 “I said yes. And spent the next four days regretting it. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. We were planning on going out to dinner that Friday, and the entire night before I got maybe an hour of sleep? I just kept thinking, you know, is she going to want to hold hands? Is she going to want to kiss me? Is she going to want to do more than kiss? What about other things, the wine and the grapes and rings and weddings and kids and—”

 Danny cut off with a sigh, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Yeah, so I called her an hour before I was supposed to meet her at the restaurant and said that something had come up and I couldn’t make it. Which was a lie of course, and I’m pretty sure she could tell because instead of asking what was wrong or what had come up, she just said okay. In a voice that sounded like it very much wasn’t okay. And when she hung up, I realized we hadn’t scheduled a new date. And it filled me with so much relief that I just felt guilty, because I still loved her, you know? And I just couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong, why I liked to flirt but felt so uncomfortable when it actually worked, why the idea of dating didn’t bother me until it became a reality, why every single ‘crush’ I had just felt so forced even if I cared about the person so much it hurt.

 “And then you told me that you were ace, and you talked about how it felt to be ace, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about Ash. I didn’t think that your situation was the same as mine, but it just—it felt close? So I finally thought to look up how I felt. And I’m still not one-hundred percent sure what label fits or whatever, but just knowing that there’s labels at all, that there are people out there who feel the way that I feel and that I’m not just- just doing it wrong—god, it was just this huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

 Danny laughed, a bit harshly, born more of a release of nerves than of humor. “Is it a bit weird that I still really like to flirt? Maybe I should give a disclaimer before every pickup line: Hello, I’m Danny Stoker, I’m some flavor of aromantic and asexual, this flirting is purely platonic. Hmm, that’s a bit wordy.”

 Then, a smile cracked Danny’s face in two, tinged with more than a hint of devilish teasing. “Maybe I’ll make a business card.”

 Finally, Tim broke his vow of silence with a snort. He nudged Danny’s side with his elbow and said, “It can be a family venture. Stoker and Stoker, aspec brothers in crime.”

 Danny’s smile softened into something subtler, and he said, with an unusual amount of sincerity in his voice, “Thanks, Tim. I… I mean, I didn’t think you would react badly, but still. Thanks.”

 And Tim’s heart broke just a little, and he pulled Danny to his side and wrapped his arms around him tightly. “Never,” he said firmly. “I’m really glad you told me, Danny. Really, really glad.”

 So yeah. Tim can’t mess this gift up, because Danny had trusted him with this part of himself, and Tim really, really wants to support him in every possible way. Even if that way involves cheesy novelty mugs striped with the colors of the aromantic flag.

 Ugh.

 Tim grabs his distinctly not cheesy plain black mug of coffee and makes his way back to his desk, entirely absorbed in a swirling mess of thoughts filled with blacks and greens and whites and purples. Which is why he doesn’t notice Sasha sitting at his desk until he nearly sits on top of her.

 “Christ,” Tim says, jumping back so quickly he nearly spills his coffee. Sasha barely acknowledges him; she’s too busy typing away at something on his computer, and when Tim looks over her shoulder, he realizes with a sickening horror that she’s closed all but a few tabs on his computer. Tabs that he’d carefully curated. Tabs that he needs.

 (Tabs full of indecision and terrible, terrible ideas. But he needs them all the same.)

 “I hope,” Tim says with a voice that’s only slightly on the saner side of panic, “that there’s a perfectly good reason why you’ve thrown a wrench the size of a small house into my gift planning process? Because otherwise, I am three seconds away from freaking out.”

 Sasha waves a hand at him, still not looking away from the screen. “All your gifts suck, Tim.”

 “Hey!”

 This time, Sasha does look at him, something apologetic in her eyes. “Sorry. But they do.”

 Sullenly, Tim says, “Danny doesn’t think my gifts suck.”

 Sasha sighs and turns back to the computer. “Danny loves you a lot more than he loves your gifts. But that’s not the point.” She types something on the keyboard, navigates through a few windows without even taking the time to look at their contents. “You’ve been scowling at your screen all day, Tim. And I know it’s not because of that Remmier case that Jon assigned because I finished that yesterday.”

 “Oh. Thank you?”

 “Yup. You owe me coffee.” Sasha types a few more things, squints at the screen, then makes a noise of triumph. “There. Get him that and thank me later.”

 Then, Sasha’s out of his chair and back at her own desk, leaving behind only a warmth that Tim can feel as he takes his own seat and finally gets a good look at what’s on the screen.

 Huh.

 Tim orders it. And a few days before Danny’s birthday, he has an idea. Maybe the only good gift-giving idea he’s ever had.

 So the next time he’s at the shop, he picks up some supplies. And for someone who majored in anthropology and doesn’t know the first thing about graphic design, he’s quite happy with the final product.

 And when Danny unwraps the box on his birthday, sat on Tim’s couch with empty boxes of Thai takeout in front of them, the first thing he sees are the cards, set right on the top. It’s a silly little design, a set of two mountains striped with the aromantic and asexual colors, and next to them:

 Stoker & Stoker, Inc.

Aspec brothers in crime

Where the flirting is platonic, NOT erotic!

 Underneath the cards, there’s a new climbing rope, striped with greens and whites and greys and blacks, and a matching set of metallic purple carabiners, something that Tim absolutely never would have thought of but that’s perfect nonetheless. Danny takes a card in one hand, runs the thumb of the other over the edge of the climbing rope, and looks at Tim.

 And Tim thinks he gets it, then. Why people put so much time and effort into giving people thoughtful, meaningful gifts. Because Danny’s expression isn’t fucking with him or relieving the pressure or just being nice or even this was what I’d always wanted. It’s something truer, something softer, something that sits in the pit of Tim’s stomach and burns softly, warming him gently from the inside out

 Yeah, Tim’s never going to be able to go back to generic gifts after this. He’s going to need a much larger coffee budget.

 (This conviction lasts, at least, until later in the evening, when Tim confesses that Sasha helped him with the gift and Danny laughs and says I figured, before saying in a quieter voice that the climbing equipment is great but the cards were Tim. That the black socks and novelty mugs and vanilla candles were generic but that they were Tim as well and that Danny had made it a game to try and guess what Tim was going to get him that year, keeping a bet with Sasha on how long it would take Tim to accidentally give him the same gift twice.

 Hey, Tim says, but his mouth is twisted into a smile. He ruffles Danny’s hair in that way he hates and says that he’ll stick to the basics from now on, then, and they put on some shitty comedy that Danny insists on watching and eat ice cream until their stomachs hurt.

 And if Tim sees Danny glancing at the business card every so often, wearing a smile so soft it’s almost melting, he certainly isn’t going to mention it.)

[hyperfixationtimego]

Happy little hcs to atone for my sins

Taka and Hina are study buddies

Sometimes Aoi manages to get Taka off track because she’s just so enthusiastic and wants to hear about all of her friends’ hyperfixations and special interests

37.2 minutes later

Taka’s infodumping about how he despises moral philosophy but also thoroughly enjoys it bc that’s how moral philosophers are

Or he’s infodumping about political science and debate tactics and how speeches were effective or not for various reasons

Sakura and Mondo work out together

It started off as a coincidence when they were in the gym at the same time but it kept happening so they called it a schedule

They talk about their SOs and they’re smiling

Sakura teaches Mondo certain stretches and exercises to help relax different muscle groups for whenever he pulls a muscle or has a flare up from the thing with the bikes

Leon constantly asks Chihiro to turn alter ego into a vocaloid or at least program a bit of that tech into their system

Bc he would rather shave his head again than talk to Sayaka about producing music

He just has so many ideas

And it’s cool when there are kinda punk rock songs that are covered in an 8-bit or a vocaloid style

Byakuya and Celeste have a small series of bets with low stakes about what their inferiors classmates will do to lead up to them jingling away morosely like the fools they are

Sayaka shamelessly advertises her group’s mercy to her classmates and friends

Everyone gets their nails painted at some point

Nobody knows how Byakuya got roped into it but it worked

Makoto has rainbow loom

Atua forgives you

anyway YEAH LEGIT?

Hina has fully and thoroughly fallen in love with all of her friends and classmates’ expressions whenever they’re talking about something that excites them omg 🥺

she sees someone rambling and having a good time and hears the enthusiastic pitch of their voice as well as the general Vibe™️ that they’re giving off and she just???? [Y E A R N]

:)

and also just???? her and taka being study buddies is so valid oh my god??? they’re really close because of it!!! And Taka always loves hanging out with her because he knows she’ll let him just Talk??? and he adores that about her????? And she’ll be ENGAGED which!!!!!! oh my god!!!!?????

hi in this house we love and adore hina

And Sakura and Mondo???? absolutely?????

they have friendly competitions over who can lift the most weights/do the most reps/etc. (they do it sparingly, ofc! bc Sakura at least knows that they’ll both be subconsciously trying to beat the other as opposed to listening to what their bodies need in the moment. Sakura is the single braincell of class 78 no I won’t take it back because it’s true)

and they totally doooooo like they both get such cute loveydovey pining expressions whenever it’s Their Turn™️ to discuss the latest cute thing their partner(s) did. and listening to the other talking???? oh my god it’s literally the neatest thing????

Sakura looking at Mondo: I would die for this man

Mondo looking at Sakura: this woman is literally beauty and perfection in human form

THEY’RE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS OKAY???

also chihiro joins them for training sometimes!!!! She obviously isn’t able to do as much as the other two are, but both Sakura and Mondo are always so proud of her progress??? They’re like “you are so cool and strong do you know that??? you better know that”

and speaking of chihiro hdbdvdvdvdvdvdvdvd on GOD Leon will Not leave them alone abt it and they’re just like

“y....you do NOT have the attention span,.......you’re gonna get frustrated within like the first five minutes......and then I’ll have done all that work for nothing..............”

but Leon’s >:( no I won’t!!!! music is my Passion!!!!!!!!

so it’s like *sigh* okay

and anyway leon genuinely does rlly like it???? like he gets burned out very easily and can only compose things in short bursts, but he’s always so so so proud of the finished products??? (Even if nobody else likes it but shush 😌)

and it makes chihiro :D to know that something she made (even if it was done with reluctance) has brought one of her closest friends so much happiness????? she’s also like good for Leon but also if he ever bothers them about something like that again they are Literally Going to Snap but that’s another story for another day vwv

AND YEAH LIKE. HE DOESN’T MIND TALKING TO HER ABT MUSIC IN GENERAL BECAUSE IT’S AN INTEREST THEY SHARE (quite possibly one of the only times they will have a conversation without one constantly insulting the other ❤️) BUT. ADMITTING TO HER THAT HE NEEDS HELP WITH IT IS THE WORST HE HATES IT HE HATES IT HSBDBSBD

god okay so. his first impression of her when they had just come to hope’s peak and met for the first time was “oh my god!!! she’s a pop idol!!! so she must know a lot about music!!! maybe she’ll help me become a popular musician!!!” and her immediate reaction when she first heard him ask was to literally roll her eyes and he was like oh okay fuck her actually

and then slow burn enemies-to-friends 💛

WHEBDVSVS CELESTE AND BYAKUYA JUST BEING RICH ASSHOLES IS SO FUNNY??? LIKE THEY HAVE WEALTH SOLIDARITY AND THEY ACT ALMOST LIKE alright your status makes you worthy of my time, I suppose-

they’ve had bets on everything from how many times kirigiri will pass out from exhaustion by the end of the school day, to how long it’ll take before Kirumi finally Loses Her Shit, to how many people will be harmed by Komaeda’s luck while hanging out with him.

Mfs about to die smh

and dhdbwvwbsvwvwb yeah like??? sometimes a normal conversation with maizono will turn into her being like “yeah, and by the way, if you’re looking for a change of style and wardrobe, you should check out the newest shirt my band just released as part of our merch drop, and-”

Makoto is the one who gets baited into her merch ads most often sndbsbsbdbdbw

even mentioning the word “merch” around Leon or Kaz will earn her a lot of groaning and sighing, and occasionally a pillow or other soft object being hurled at her face 💛

oh my god they all have a manicure spa day,,,,,,,class bonding 🥺

hdbdvdvdv they got Jill to break into his dorm and kidnap him ngl like the specifics they gave her were something along the lines of “use as much force as you need to without killing him” and she was like “DONE”

and okay I’m not gonna talk abt everyone’s nails but now I’m thinking about it and like-

Sayaka gets like a lighter violet background with gold and white stars smattered around them, more concentrated in some areas than others, and it’s generally very pretty 🥺

chihiro’s are a different solid pastel color on each finger!!! it’s very kidcore and fun and they love it so muchhhh!!!

leon gets a little self-conscious when it’s his turn because his nails are highkey disgusting from all the time he spends playing baseball - there’s dirt trapped under them and everything so he’s just like hhhhhhh anxiety go brrrr but anyway he gets solid black because he’s edgy and cool like that 😎

I think Taka gets a French manicure with little dark red flowers pressed towards the tips because!!! simple yet pretty!!!

Celeste probably takes the longest because her request is sooooo complicated like it’s black and red and long ass acrylics with overlapping patterns and everyone else just kinda sits there feeling h o r r i b l e for that poor nail stylist

Toko gets a checkerboard pattern, with each nail having a different neon color in place of white!!! Because she knows that Jill will find it cool and pretty and colorful the next time she fronts (visual stimming jill?? 👀)

Togami just picks whatever will get him out of the chair quickest hdbsvdvdvdbdbdb

anyway Makoto????? rainbow loom????? absolutely

he has so many bracelets!!!!! so many so many so many and he knows how to create such a wide variety of styles it’s so cool!!!!!! he wears a bunch of them at any given time because they are so fun to fidget with!!!! and rubber texture hvvvvhvv!!!!

and he creates personalized ones for his friends, too, like he knows their favorite colors and sometimes picks up on whether they prefer a certain style or not from the way they react to the other ones he’s made and it’s!!! just so neat!!!!!

I’m thinking about it and!!! he has a bi pride fishtail, a trans pride arrow stitch, a black and neon green railroad, a pastel pink/blue/purple/yellow ladder, a jelly yellow and green dragon scale, a rainbow double cross, and a bunch more!!! he also has a bunch with charms and beads added into them!!!!

He also makes them for his friends even if he knows they won’t wear them!! Like Toko, for example, isn’t the biggest fan of jewelry because she doesn’t like the texture, but he creates one for her anyway and fills it with so much love (it looks like a daisy chain!!!! because at least she’ll be able to look at it and hold it and still be interested in it without it needing to be on her wrist!!!)

he makes a ton of bright colored ones for Mukuro (usually either single or inverted fishtail because he knows she wouldn’t enjoy wearing anything too heavy or overbearing) so that she has more mobile visual stims!!!

similar for Jill!! although most of hers tend to be black and bright neon rainbow in various bulkier styles!!!! Jill will also force him to let her look at his bracelet-covered arm whenever they hang out because. my god,,,,,,so many Colors™️

he’s found that togami prefers black and white simpler styles, and that Kyoko absolutely adores singles, fishtails, and double fishtails in any shade of purple, and that Mondo likes any of the larger styles in darker colors + blacks and grays!!! Chihiro loves anything with jelly and glitter bands!!!

Leon usually only wears one at a time, but he cycles through every single one that his boyfriend’s ever made for him because????? GOD they’re so cool and his boyfriend is so crafty and incredible and just,,,,,,,,,hvvvhvv every time he looks at the one he’s wearing he’s able to calm himself down and remember that Makoto loves him........it’s also very good for stim and fidgeting <3

anyways sorry yes Makoto with a rainbow loom is filling me with serotonin and it’s canon now

[evanaaml]

The Road in Winter - Pokeshipping Week

The road they traveled on cut across a snowy hill, encompassed by woods beyond it, Most of the trees were bare, save for the snow that clutched to the branches. The evergreens that fought against the cold weighed heavy from the frost attached to their limbs, but still held strong. As they walked, the crunch of the snow beneath their feet echoed; the rest of the world fell silent. 

Misty looked around, the scenery drawing her in. She thought herself in a snow globe; the flakes falling in large clusters that clung to whatever it touched. There was no wind, and the air was cold but bearable with the garments she was wearing. She looked up, letting the snow fall on her bare skin. She smiled as she opened her mouth, catching some flakes on her tongue. Cold, refreshing, and wanting for more. 

“Enjoying ourselves, are we?”

Misty looked over to Ash on her right, then smiled and looked back up. 

“I am”, she replied. 

“Well, at least you’re honest”, Ash responded. 

“We don’t get to see snow a lot traveling, I wanna soak it all in while I can”, Misty explained. Ash couldn’t fault her for that.

Kanto didn’t get much snow, and Johto was no different. That they got this much snow while home, before Christmas, was, well, a miracle. 

Perhaps it was this reason, and this reason alone, Ash thought, that Misty didn't mind the cold weather.

Misty stopped walking, prompting Ash to do the same. He looked at her, expecting a response. Instead, he was met with silence. Thinking something was wrong, he looked around, wondering if they might have gone the wrong way. Misty raised a finger in the air, knowing Ash would say something, and stopping him before he did. 

“Listen...”, Misty said quietly.

And so he did.

The crunching ceased when they stopped walking, and a new noise replaced it; it was that of the falling snow. The landscape before them was untouched, clean, fresh. Ash breathed in, and even the air felt different. There was a purity in the world around them, Ash couldn’t put it into words, but knew what it felt like. As if his body and soul were cleansed of impurities just by being there.

What a feeling it was, he thought, to just feel the surroundings. Through his travels, he was very often focused on the destination, and not the journey. He rarely stopped to appreciate the world around him. Not that he didn't love it when he did; and he loved the outdoors to be sure. But with his mind always on his next badge, his next battle, his next shot at realizing his dream, it wasn't rare for the scenery to be a backdrop and nothing more.

This was when having her with him, to remind him to stop and listen, was a blessing.

He looked at Misty, who kept her eyes on the woods around them. Her coat, hat, and boots were speckled with flakes of white. She held her mitted hands out, allowing the snow to cling to them. Misty inspected each flake, seeing the intricate designs in each before they could melt away. 

He thought to himself that he should take her down this way another time, perhaps with friends, or their Pokemon. But as way led on to way, he doubted that they would return here again. He closed his eyes and looked up, just feeling the snow cling to his face. The cold didn’t sting, but was instead rather welcoming.

“It’s like a painting. There are no trails in the snow, no imperfections, nothing is disturbed. It’s almost too perfect”, Misty said, keeping her eyes on the scenery before her. 

“It is”, Ash replied, not looking down from the sky. Misty turned to him and saw what he was doing.  

Like herself, the snow was scattered about on Ash’s garments. His hands were in his pockets, and he just seemed to soak everything in. Misty couldn’t help but smile. He seemed so serene, a rare sight for someone who was always active and busy. 

Misty loved to see it.

She felt a heat on her face, which caused it to sting slightly from the snow that melted immediately on contact. She shook her head. 

“S-So, should we be going?”, Misty asked. Ash took one deep breath in, looked over to her, and nodded. 

“Yeah”, he replied. The snow stuck to his eyebrows and lashes, prompting a giggle from Misty. 

Now that burn was felt on Ash’s face. 

The two continued on their way, the crunching commencing once again. Ash kept mind to look for ice on the path, knowing that the weather could make it likely. But as they walked, he found that the road beneath the snow was solid and devoid of anything slick.

Before long, the hill made way to a fork. The two stopped as they looked down both paths. 

“I forgot about this part. The map said that the woods here are protected for the Pokemon, so they made the path go around it. Both ways lead back to town, it doesn’t matter which way we go”, Misty explained. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say that”, Ash said. Misty looked to the raven-haired boy. 

“What do you mean?”, Misty asked. She wondered if he knew something she didn’t, which would be a welcome surprise, she’d admit. 

“I think this way is the scenic route”, Ash explained, pointing to their left. Misty looked down the path. A sheet of snow covered the road entirely. The trees on either side of them remained undisturbed; no Pokemon resting in them from protection from the cold or snow. The path went up a small hill before bending from sight. 

Misty then looked to their right. The path appeared the same, except that there was no hill to cross. The trees were equally blanketed as the ground around it in the fallen snow. She knew that both paths were about the same distance, and the other way looked just as wanted for wear. 

“What makes you say that? Have you been here before?”, Misty asked. 

“Nope, never”, Ash answered. He took a few steps towards the path to the left. He looked down it, as if imagining what was to come. “...just a gut feeling I have”. 

“And your gut has never led us astray before, has it?”, Misty asked with a smirk. 

“Hehe”, Ash chuckled, putting his hand behind his head in embarrassment. Misty stared at the boy before her, and felt that burning sensation on her face once more. However, this time she recognized the feeling, and made no attempts to hide it. The woods around them were lovely, dark, and deep; she doubted Ash would see the shades of red across her cheeks. 

“So, you think this way will be more fun?”, Misty asked, motioning her head towards the path. Ash shrugged. 

“Depends on what you think fun is, I just feel like it’s the road less taken, and I like the idea of being different”, Ash explained. Misty shook her head with a knowing smile.

Ash liked to do things his own way. He felt that following exactly what many other trainers did wouldn't allow him to learn anything on his own. While this made for some...difficult times, Misty knew that it was also for the best. Not just in the care and compassion he put into his training, his Pokemon, and his family. But it also let him find a new way to do things, and more times than not, those new things led to amazing adventures.

“That’s an...interesting logic to have. And we all know you’re nothing if not different”, Misty said with an innocent giggle. Regardless, she stepped ahead of Ash. “But, I’m fine with that. I trust you. Either way, we should get going; we don’t want to miss our gift exchange with everyone”.

She began walking down the path, only hearing the crunching of the snow. But noticing that the crunch seemed lonely, she stopped and turned around, seeing that Ash was not following her. Instead, he was rummaging through his traveler’s sack. She stood there quizically, until Ash pulled something out, swung his bag back to where it was, and ran towards her. 

“Well, I guess now is the best time for this, all things considered”, Ash said upon reaching her. He held in his hands a long cloth. He looked Misty in the eyes, then slowly wrapped the cloth gently over her shoulders and around her neck. 

Misty held up one end of the cloth when he was finished. It was a scarf, and felt warm to the touch. Hidden from the elements in Ash’s bag, it was dry, soft, and smelled of something like pine and earth that made her heart flutter. Although dark, she could still make out faint patterns in the stitch work. They seemed familiar to her, but her mind was elsewhere, and she couldn’t place it. 

“I know this isn’t the most practical gift for you, but once I saw the design, I couldn’t turn it down”, Ash explained. The darkness that Misty was thankful for but moments before, was now helping Ash for the same reasons.

Now knowing that the patterns were important, Misty took herself away from the scents and focused on the sight of the gift. The scarf was pink, with streaks of yellow and red dots in symmetry. She knew she had seen the design before, it was there in her mind's eye, but she couldn’t quite place-

wait...

“...Ash...is this?”, Misty asked. Ash smiled. 

“It’s made from the same person that made your handkerchief. I didn't know that it was unique craftsmanship. I saw that they had a shop online, and I ordered it for you. Now...well, we both have something to match”, Ash said sheepishly. 

The added warmth of the scarf made her face feel like it was being beaten by the sun’s rays. The Butterfrees in her stomach wanted to take flight, and she could hardly contain them, nor did she really want to.

“I know it's cheesy, I honestly thought of a million other things to give you, and a lot of them were lavish. But...I don't know, something about this just sorta felt right. Not sure how to explain it really...Anyway, I hope that, i-it’s a good Christmas gift for y-”

“It’s perfect”. 

Misty found herself cutting him off before he could finish, or even before she knew what she was saying. How unlike her to let her mouth move before her brain could think.

Ash took a moment to register her quick response, before smiling. There was silence between them for a bit. Snow speckled the landscape further, and themselves as well. The two of them, in the middle of the woods, did not feel the cold that engulfed them. Rather, they felt warm; the type of warmth one would feel in an embrace with another.

Ash stepped just passed Misty, further down the road, before turning back and grabbing her hand. Perhaps it was the peace and quiet of the world around them that made him feel this confidence, or perhaps it was her and nothing else, but he was glad to have spent this time with her and just her. The road before them begged to be taken, and there was no one else he’d rather take this journey with than her. 

“Let’s go soak all of this in...together”, Ash said, softer than even he expected. Misty found it hard to breath, if but for a moment, before finding inside of her a feeling of desire. A desire to step forward.

With him.

She smiled, taking his hand in hers and nodded. 

“Yes”, she replied. The two moved forward, walking almost in unison as they looked at the path before them. The road was untouched for now, but soon would be marked with two pairs of footprints, bound for a single destination. 

Whether by chance or by choice, they stayed hand-in-hand.

[dariadraws]

and my final piece so far for @geekinthecorner‘s @batfam-big-bang fic Bats Of The West, it’s Jason Todd! ngl i think this is one of the ones i had the most fun with, and also the one i crammed the most details into that no one but me will ever know exist, but i’ll share a few of them under the cut, along with the image description. plus, a list of all of Jason’s scars in this au, and how he got them.

also, like i said, this is my final piece so far but i fully intend to come back and round out the batfam, draw all the other characters i havent had a chance to get to yet, so keep an eye out for that, and in the meantime here’s some fun facts!

alright so. first off, just some general overall thoughts on Jason and some of the details i added here.

 his gun in the first pic is super expensive and pretty, but i imagine he doesnt use is as often as some of his other ones, simply because when he’s out in The Wilderness tracking down criminals for weeks on end, it’s not really the kind of place you want to bring your prettiest, most expensive gun. when he’s on the ranch or in town tho, or really just anywhere where he doesnt anticipate needing to rough it for more than a couple days (which isnt the same as not expecting the need to get rough), he’s probably got this gun.

his gun belt and holster are a whole other story tho. he spent exactly zero dollars and zero cents on them, just assembled them from some spare leather they had lying around, which is why theyre in such Not Great condition, and also why the belt itself ended up so long. he could cut it down to a more reasonable size, but it’s not like there’s anything else he could make from those scraps anyways, so why bother.

that big gun in the second image isn’t technically his tho, it’s the Communal Ranch Rifle. mainly it’s just used to scare away coyotes (or, yknow, actually hit coyotes) but it does occasionally see real action as well, tho not often.

also. does it even need to be said? his hat.. holder... bead... thing. with the turquoise inlay. is a gift from Dick

alright and now the fun part! i go through all of jason’s scars, and how he got them. there are quite a few and a lot of them are. Sad. so be warned, and take care of yourselves! (also just for the record, i promise the fic itself isnt actually as dark as this will make it sound. basically none of this shows up in the story, i was just given free reign to design whatever i wanted, and poor jason ended up paying the price)

ok so. scars. 

first off, the claw and bit marks on his arms and shoulders are from getting attacked by some coyotes back when he was still just a kid. to quote my explanation back when i pitched this to Em, “bc as a Young Human with minimal supervision and not necessarily having someone to call him inside once it gets dark, he was unfortunately Very Delicious, if somewhat scrawny, by coyote standards”

next up: a bullet scar on his abdomen, on his lower left side (our right), from some kind of shootout with a criminal. this one is middling-recent; after bruce adopted him, but before the joker thing. i dont really have anything concrete for that one but it was a through and through, and somehow, miraculously, missed hitting any bones, and any organs. just missed his lower rib by like. an inch. that one messed bruce up more than jason, honestly. if anything, he was just surprised it took him that long to get shot, with the life he's had

the ones on his cheek and on his chin were just Regular Childhood Shenanigans scars, no real story.

the one through his mouth is from his time with the joker though. there's also the J brand on his right bicep, also from the joker.

also joker related, hes got a lot of scars on his hands, especially his knuckles and fingertips, from trying to fight his way out of his captivity, and scratching his fingers raw trying to pry open the door to his cell/untie the rough rope he way tied with/whatever the specific situation was. also some minor rope burn scars on his wrists from the same deal.

also some blade scars across his palms from trying to stop/block knives. definitely with the joker, but probably at some point in his youth as well

a few faint lines across his neck from being a temporary hostage a few time while helping Bruce on cases when he was younger, but none of them ever went deep or caused any serious damage

oh and also, whip scars on his back from his time with the joker, which arent too prominent, and mostly cant be seen from the front, except for a couple of spots where they crest over his shoulders and the very tail ends of them can be seen, but they’re there 

and also some kind of straight scar on his left forearm, which was a carry-over from my usual Jason design, that i like but dont really have a story for, so that one’s purely aesthetic, lol

and that’s it! i think? that’s all my notes on that? either way this post is getting Way Too Long, and i still gotta do the image descriptions, so i’m calling it there. 

[IMAGE ID: two images of Jason Todd in old-fashioned cowboy clothing. He has red, curly hair with a streak of white running through it at the front. his skin is pale but sunburnt, has deep-blue eyes, many freckles both on his face and on the rest of his exposed skin, and his body is broad and muscular, and he has many scars. he has small round metal piercings in the lobes of both ears, as well as an additional two in the top cartilege of his right ear.

in the first image, he is facing directly at the viewer with his arms crossed, and a challenging look on his face. he is wearing a maroon cowboy shirt with checkered red accent at the chest and the sleeves rolled up to his upper arms. he has a dark blue polka-dot bandana tied around his neck, and over that pass two strands of red braided cord holding his tan cowboy hat, which is visible hanging off his neck behind him. the cords are tipped with small metal beads, and pass through a large, dark brown wooden bead inset with turquoise, which regulates their length. he is wearing dark-wash blue jeans with prominent yellow stitching, pulled over his cowboy boots up to the ankle until only the foot of each boot is visible. the boots are dark brown with pale seams and red stitching, and light brown heels and soles. fastened around each boot are embossed red spur-straps, with metal spurs extending from them behind the boots. at his waist are two cracked leather belts. one is dark brown, with a pale silver buckle stamped with vine designs, and it is threaded through his belt loops. the second belt is hanging diagonally over his hips and holds his gun and holster. this belt is a reddish tan with a pattern of darker brown, overlapping rings down its length, and has a darker silver buckle. it is long enough that the loose end of it wraps back around itself several times before hanging down. the holster is simple brown leather folded over the gun, with two straps to tighten it. the gun itself is an ornate and expensive-looking revolver, black metal with intricate gold detailing and a mother-of-pearl grip.

in the second image, he is facing slightly to the side, with a long shotgun propped over his shoulder with one hand and an unimpressed expression on his face as he looks somewhere to the right of the viewer. he is shirtless, and his torso is muscled, stocky, and as sunburned and freckled as the rest of him. his cowboy hat is hanging off his neck again behind him, once more held in place by the braided red cord and round wood-and-turquoise bead. he is wearing tan, high-waisted pants tucked into his cowboy boots, which are the same as in the first image but now fully visible, with red pulls at the top. the pants are attached to red suspenders, though they are not on his shoulders and hang down around him instead. his gunbelt is once more around his hips, but the holster is obscured behind him, and isn't visible. the hand not holding the shotgun is down loosely at his side, and has a red and white bandana wrapped around the wrist. END ID]

[timeslostart]

March 19th 2021

THERAPEUTIC KNITTING - STRESSED NO MORE

It really is a thing...

Being a single mom can be hard at the best of times let alone in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Moving back to my hometown (city actually), finding a full-time job after being a stay at home mom for two years, trying to start my own business and dealing with the daily trials and tribulations of having a now four year old little boy is not easy. (read my Halloween post :p )

The one thing that has been helping me get through this very trying time is that I have wonderfully creative and supportive people in my life that constantly push me to continue to be creative myself.  I draw a lot of inspiration for my designs from the people I know and the situations that arise in my life.  No situation or experience is too tough to get through.

I always try to see the glass half full even though lately it's been getting harder and harder to do so in my personal life and my professional life. 

I have been working on this mountain blanket design since last July for a Christmas present (that was the goal anyway as it is March 2021 now) and I've had to start over six times already.  I try not to look at this as a failure as I've learned so much trying to attempt this pattern that I created; new stitches and new techniques in order to get the result I desire but it still has been a very long, difficult process.  Because of this I thought it might be interesting in this post to talk about how I create my patterns and how many times I do start over in order to get it just right.  This is my personal version of knit therapy.  Sometimes in order to create you must first destroy!  Ripping out my knitting after getting frustrated with it can be truly satisfying at times.

STEP 1 Idea

Now an idea for a new design can literally come from anything or anywhere for that matter.  My friend's favourite colour or a conversation I have with my child; even  a picture or image I see online or in my travels.  For my mountain blanket it all started with a conversation that I had with my coworker.  He talked about growing up in Banff, Alberta and how he would go snowboarding in the mountains and bam it hit me, I'd design a pop art inspired piece.  That's all it was in the beginning, just two words... mountains and pop art. (well I guess three words but you get the idea)

STEP 2 Design

Designing is always fun for me, I get to let my imagination run wild. For patterns that involve any kind of pictures as part of the design element, like my mountain blanket, I use my Microsoft Excel program and create a chart. 

Once that is underway I decide on a size for my pattern and adjust my chart accordingly.  This can take a few hours or even a few days to get just right.  My blanket was designed specifically  to fit a twin bed so it was quite a big undertaking to begin with and having to start it over six times... I'm surprised I haven't ripped all my hair out yet.

STEP 3 Making

Now it's one thing to have an idea and another to have a design but if you can't take your vision and turn it into reality it's back to square one.  I have spent the past 8 months trying to make this blanket work.  It has a beautiful seed stitch pattern followed by the mountain design and I just can't get my tension on the mountains right.  My stitches are either too tight or too loose or my yarn drags too much on the underside of the blanket.  It's been such a frustrating project, I've actually shed a few tears over it.  That's where Step 4 comes in.

STEP 4 Adapting

Like I said earlier this blanket was meant to be a Christmas present.  I should clarify, it was for Christmas 2020.  So three weeks before Christmas I had finally had it with my blanket.  Enough was enough.  I was still only half done and had to rip out the mountain section yet again.  Nothing seemed to be going right and it looked like I wasn't going to have a gift to give at our Christmas gathering when I decided that my best course of action was to get back to basics and go back to my roots.

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that I was a cross-stitcher before I was a knitter.  That skill certainly came in handy here.  A knitting chart and a cross-stitching chart are very similar so it was quite easy to convert my mountain pattern over to a smaller needle and thread. 

Four weeks later I had my design completed as a cross-stitch just in time for our Christmas gathering. (sometimes having a Covid-19 quarantine around the holidays resulting in festivity postponement works in your favour)  A good lesson here was not only do you need to know how to adapt but you need to know when to adapt.  As an artist and as a person I need to know my limits and when certain skills or certain things are just out of my reach.  It doesn't mean that I'm going to give up, it just means that I need more time to acquire what I need in order to succeed.  At the end of the day I'm still new to knitting, I've been doing it for less than a decade and I still have so much left to learn.  I just need a little bit more time before I can attempt the kind of intricate patterns that I would like to do.  Until then it's good to take a break from knitting every once and a while and make sure my embroidery skills stay sharp. 

Pop Art Mountain Mash-Up 2.0

Not too shabby!

If you would like to purchase any wooden embroidery hoops or embroidery thread please check us out at

www.timeslostart.com

A smaller cross-stitched version of this mountain pattern will be available for purchase in the summer months.

Gabrielle Vansteelandt

Times Lost Art

[forineffablereasons]

lucky-leafeon replied to your post “The Good Omens Cross-Stitch Pattern: Now Available!”

Oh my lord I love to stitch but I just started a new project that's 150 x 150, this one is 286 x 429?? Man and I thought my project was huge, this one has got me REELING

lucky-leafeon replied to your post “The Good Omens Cross-Stitch Pattern: Now Available!”

Holy fucking shit I am in awe of your dedication, I've edited pixel art before and I know just how long it can take, and converting an entire art piece to pixel art?? And then making that into a stitching pattern, an enormous stitching pattern???? And then stitching some of it for us to see on your own time??? And then RELEASING THE WHOLE THING FOR FREE????? I already held a ton of respect for you but holy shit this is absolutely incredible, I cannot commend you enough

lucky-leafeon replied to your post“ The Good Omens Cross-Stitch Pattern: Now Available!”

I know just how much work these projects can be and holy shit you put all that in for a free pattern. I'm still just in awe, I respect all your effort and I have to say the end product is MAGNIFICENT. Thank you for putting so much energy and hard work into this project!! It's absolutely spectacular!!

HEY THANKS SO MUCH!! I am excited that people are excited! I didn’t actually have to do the conversion to pixel art - I use a program for stitch pattern creation, PC Stitch, that allows you to upload an image directly. Then I just had to tidy it up. Here is the original image compared to the final image:

neat, right? I can’t remember how many colors the original image had exactly, but i had the program set to go up to 400 and i feel like it was definitely above 300, maybe 369 i want to say? i wanted to do more in terms of blending but for the sake of my own goddamn sanity i had to let it go, though i think it would be pretty easy for anyone who wanted to blend to do so just from the colors that are already there - just blend colors half and half roughly along the outline divide. anyway it was really fun and i’m excited to work on the rest of it too :D 

[izzy-b-hands]

Marks

Another piece of what I’m calling the San Francisco AU for Papillon and Dega. Just a small snippet, but now that I’m working from home I’m trying to get out more smaller pieces as I can, and possibly longer stuff on the weekend if I can manage it (for any ship, no guarantees, but if nothing else I want to keep posting one shots as much as I can!) 

They had a budget, a limit, and Louis had trusted him with it. This wasn’t even the top of the limit, yet he was shaking as he led Louis up the path to the front door. San Francisco was expensive, and he knew Louis knew that too, but still...

“If you hate it, we can still back out. I sign the last bit of paperwork tomorrow; we’d lose a little bit of money, not enough to stop me if you don’t want this.” 

Louis pulled the blindfold off, and took in the front of the house. It was small, but he thought it would be to Louis’ taste. 

“I like it.” 

The weight was only half gone off Papi’s shoulders with that. “Good. I’m glad. Now, the inside-” 

Louis was inside before he could get another word out, and he could see the disappointment in his shoulders as they slumped. 

“Well. A bit plain inside, but-” 

“That’s where you come in! If you want, I mean; I had an idea, is the thing,” Papi interrupted, and pulled Louis gently to the sitting room. “You could paint, if you wanted to, I thought...” 

He’d bought actual supplies, nothing like what Louis had been forced to use on Devil’s Island. No matter what Louis said, he knew how much he wanted to keep working on his art, though he rarely gave himself time to do it. 

“I’m not go-” 

“Don’t you say it,” Papi interrupted him again. “You are. And if you had to force me to choose only one way to decorate our home, and it was between your art and anything else, I would choose your art. Every time.” 

Louis smiled, but it was a nervous one as he glanced about the many blank white walls. “This will take ages though, surely-” 

“I can be patient, especially when I know it will be well worth it,” Papi didn’t want to keep interrupting Louis, but he could just hear the excuses Louis had floating about his head to stop himself from being able to do this, to have fun making their house beautiful. 

“And what will I tell my job?” 

“This doesn’t all need to be done in a week, or a month, or even a year. You don’t work weekends, and if you want, a day off to stay at home and paint if you want or even just, you know, relax, would be good for you.” 

Louis nodded. “Okay.” 

“To the painting? Or to just the house?” 

“To all of it,” Louis replied softly, kneeling down to inspect the various paints and brushes on the sitting room floor. “Can I start tomorrow night?” 

He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “Of course. As soon as we get home.” 

“What about our things?” 

“I can move all that,” Papi said. It was no second thought to him, and he was more than happy to move everything they owned while Louis painted. 

“Even the couch?” 

Papi nodded. 

“The couch that the two of us couldn’t get in the apartment alone?” 

He nodded again.

“The couch that we had to get three strangers off the street to help us fit into the apartment because of how awkward and heavy it was?” 

“Louis,” Papi sighed. “I’ll be fine.” 

Louis shook his head and laughed as he stood back up and turned to Papi. “Let me help with the couch, at least. I can’t paint if I’m taking you to the hospital because you’ve hurt yourself moving it.” 

“If you insist,” Papi said. “But you could do a mural of our moving in, and include that in it.” 

“Oh yes, the grand mural on the first wall when you come in,” Louis snickered. “Yes, here’s the bit where you can see my husband nearly breaking his back moving our couch.” 

That stopped him cold for a moment. “Husband?” 

They had exchanged rings, but neither had used the phrase, and they hadn’t really ever addressed why. For Papi, it was because he felt bad it wasn’t legal. He knew there wasn’t a way to make it so, but he knew Louis would have been happier if it could have been. He worried about things like death and how the other would survive after, if they would have access to each other’s funds and things, if their bodies could be released to one another to plan a funeral. Without marriage, legally, none of that could happen. So he didn’t use the word, to avoid making Louis think about it. 

“Yes,” Louis replied. “I should have been saying that long ago, even before we got the rings. I was...being silly. Wanting things we can’t have, and completely looking past all that we do have. Maybe it will be a mess, later on, when one of us...” 

He could tell Louis wanted to look away, but he didn’t. The tears sat in the corners of his eyes, but didn’t fall, and his gaze didn’t break. 

“Anyway. I’m sorry, for not using it sooner. And now, especially, I should be. My husband bought us a house!” 

“Technically we both bought a house,” Papi clarified. “You contributed just as much money as I did.” 

“True, but it could only be in one of our names, and it’s in yours,” Louis said, and brushed away the tears before nearly leaping into Papi’s arms. “So, my husband bought me a house.” 

“And my husband is going to make it beautiful,” Papi murmured as he gave Louis a soft kiss. “Can you believe they left this place so...” 

“Dull? Ugly? Boring? Blank?” 

“Yes,” Papi agreed. “There’s so much they could have done with this place.” 

“We’ll fix it,” Louis said. “I’ve got ideas...” 

**

And ideas he did have. The first night in their new home he spent covered in paint in the sitting room, the furniture (including their heavy couch) moved to the center to be out of the way. At first it was just patterns, nothing overwhelming, but at the same time eye-catching and enticing to sit and stare at, curlicues and circular moving lines, intersecting and crossing one another in a way that Papi knew had a great deal of thought and technique behind it, but he couldn’t explain it if he tried. They were in light yellow and green, the paint dotting Louis’ skin, a gorgeous contrast that marked him with his art, marked the house as theirs, a mark of not just ownership but love. 

In the weeks to follow, it was shocking how much he got done. Papi would watch Louis come home, only to give him a quick kiss before dashing to change into his painting clothes and racing into the latest room he was working on. He missed spending their evenings as they had done before (usually both with a book, laying across each other in a tangle on the couch until it was time for bed), but this was good too. 

It was like watching math in action, Papi thought. All calculated lines and structure, but that flowed so softly and loosely that you could forget the cold calculations behind it for a moment or two, and take in how it all came together. A room of butterflies in blue and purple in their bedroom, a mixture of stripes and eyes like those on the backs of butterfly wings in the dining room, abstract flowing lines through the kitchen that showed up in other rooms as well, tying one room to another as if Louis sought to stitch the house together. 

And it was utterly perfect, but he didn’t get a chance to tell Louis that until he finally reached the last room, much sooner than Papi had anticipated. 

“Before you go,” Papi said softly, gently grabbing Louis’ arm as he started to charge into the guest room. “I wanted to tell you-” 

“I can make any changes you want,” Louis said, and up went his hand to nervously adjust his already mis-adjusted glasses. 

“What? No,” Papi said. “I love it all. I wanted to tell you. I don’t know quite how you do it, like you do.” 

“You’ve done your fair share of art.” 

“Perhaps, but this is different,” Papi replied. “You got done in weeks what I figured would take at least a year. And it’s all gorgeous, and I don’t know how you made it all happen like you did. It seems effortless.” 

Louis giggled, and ran a hand through the soft curls he was finally growing out, at Papi’s persistence, the same curls he’d helped wash paint out of the past few weeks, when Louis somehow managed to get it on them. “Effortless is...a very kind thing to call it.” 

“I know you’ve worked incredibly hard,” Papi said. “But you make it look easy.” 

“Want to watch me finish up?” 

“I’d like that.” 

The guest room was rich, red and purple jewel tones with gold. It made him think of the lush wallpapers from the fancier hotels in Paris, though none of them could ever beat what Louis was doing. 

He’d again gone for butterflies, a theme that Papi more than loved, but this time a singular line of them, all shaped fully but connected and made with one purple line, flowing up and down in flight across the red walls, with gold accents upon them in unique designs. It was warm, and easy to get lost in as he laid on the bare mattress they’d tossed in the center of the room until they could afford to better furnish the guest room. He ended up too lost, too relaxed, so that he jumped when Louis dropped down next to him on the mattress suddenly. 

“You’re half asleep,” Louis teased. “Is watching me paint so boring?” 

Papi shook his head. “Soothing.” 

He could feel the half-dried spots of paint on Louis’ hands and all over his clothes as Louis snuggled in close to him, but he didn’t mind. On the contrary, he wanted it. To be marked, to be covered in the colors of their new home, their new life, finally getting on track like they’d always said it would be after they escaped. 

Louis would draw up the tattoo designs later. “Do you really want another butterfly tattoo?” Yes, he did, and he knew exactly how he wanted it. The line to create the butterfly on his body matched up to where the one making Louis’ started, so if they laid together, side by side, the lines flowed together, connecting them both, the same rich purple and gold from the guest room. 

Marks of their new life, there forever, long after the drops of paint would be cleaned from their skin. 

[sml8180]

Ego Christmas - Day 25 - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! And a happy fourth day of Hanukkah to any Jewish followers who might be reading this! This post was scheduled ahead of time, so that I couldn’t forget to put this up. I hope that everyone is having a great day!

Merry Christmas

Breakfast ran long, it always did on the holidays, but that was fine, nobody had to go anywhere, anyways. After everything was cleaned up, the Egos all moved into the living area, where gifts were all set under the tree as the lights twinkled.

“Alright, everyone gather ‘round!” Wilford called out. “Everyone in a circle, you guys know how this works, by now.”

Everyone worked to arrange the sofas and armchairs into a circle, moving the coffee table out of the way to make more room. As they all settled down, with Dark, Wilford, and the twins closest to the tree, everything began. They started with the stockings, which hung up on the fireplace and on the wall surrounding it. Each one was simple, a red stocking with a white cuff, with the name of an Ego stitched in shimmering red thread. The stockings were filled with different candies, and a handful of small gifts that would likely keep each of their interest as the gifts under the tree were given to the correct Ego.

Dark, Wilford, and the Jims worked well together to get all the gifts out to the others, in a way they had clearly been perfecting over the years. Dark and Wilford would read the names on the gift tags, and each Jim was silently assigned to work with one of them to get the gift to the correct person. The twins clearly enjoyed the little job, each one wearing a red and green elf hat, while Wilford and Dark wore Santa hats - though Dark initially put on a grumpy facade, it didn’t last, and he was soon smiling with the others.

“Before we get too far into things,” Dark spoke up, calling all the Ego’s attention to himself. “We all need to take a moment to celebrate that this is the first of hopefully many Christmases with the newest members of this chaotic family of ours. Eric, Reynolds, Magnum, Yancy, and Illinois; I hope this ends up one of many holidays we all spend together.”

A chorus of agreement met the five Egos, making Eric blush and hide his face in Illinois’ shoulder, as Reynolds laughed a bit, patting the man’s back.

“Alright, well, go ahead, everyone,” Dark urged, chuckling as Wil kissed his cheek. “The gifts won’t open themselves.”

Bim was one of the first to open a gift, the one he’d gotten from King, tearing away the wrapping and opening up the box to reveal a glittery purple suit with black lapels, and a matching tie. He smiled brightly, hugging King tight and drawing a laugh from the man. King, meanwhile, opened his gift from Bim, ripping away the wrapping paper to reveal a somewhat cylindrical bundle. A check of the tag revealed that it was actually a couple’s sleeping bag, perfect to go on the bed in the tree house King had in the woods that surrounded the manor, for a little extra warmth.

Silver opened up his gift next, surprised to have gotten a gift from Ed of all people. The wrapping paper actually contained two items, one being a set of blackout curtains for Silver’s room, which lead to him looking to Ed for an explanation.

“You get home at weird times,” Ed reasoned. “Sometimes it’s only a couple hours until the sun’s up, and I know the light comes in your window pretty early. With any luck, these’ll help you actually get some sleep.”

“That’s, actually really thoughtful, Ed,” Silver replied with a smile. He then proceeded to open up the box that had been with the gift. The box contained some black and white fabric, and at first, the superhero was once again confused, until he started to pull whatever it was out of the box. “No, you didn’t…” he began, trailing off as he pulled out a mask that looked much like the one he wore on a regular basis, though it was clearly a bit nicer and had a cleaner design.

“You’ve had the same costume since you were created. It was time for an upgrade,” Ed told him. “Jackie helped with that one, y’know, with the design and all that, and Eric helped to actually make it, but the original idea was mine. I guess it’s kinda from all three of us.”

“I love it! And if Jackie was behind part of this, I know it’s gonna be good, and Eric, kid, you’ve fixed my suit so many times since you got here, I’ve lost count. You guys are great,” Silver beamed, hugging Eric and then, surprisingly, pulling Ed in for a quick hug.

Magnum opened his gift next, seeing that it came from Reynolds. The wrapping contained a box that had a kit to build a model ship in a bottle. Reynolds hadn’t been sure what the large man would like, but he felt that a model pirate ship to display in his room would be interesting, and he’d noticed how careful he was with smaller things, so it seemed right. The captain smiled brightly, pulling the construction worker into a big bear hug.

Reynolds opened his gift next, his face lighting up as he shifted the box and heard the telltale sound of Lego bricks shifting inside. He tore open the wrapping to reveal a large set that seemed unfamiliar to him, but familiar at the same time, seeing as the box had an image of the manor on it.

“What’s this? It’s not an official set, is it?” the construction worker questioned.

���It-it’s a custom set!” Eric told him. “Dark, Wil, Bing, and I all pitched in and-and had a set made from the manor’s floor plan! You’ve got a lot of great sets, and I remember you saying that the manor would make a fun one, e-especially if it was all different sections that you could put together. So, Dark and Wil found the plans, and Bing drew up the actual stuff and submitted it to one of Dark’s contacts who actually got it made. I did all the box art.”

“That’s so cool! You guys are amazing!” Reynolds exclaimed, hugging those responsible for the gift.

The Host was next to open up his gift. The package didn’t have any wrapping paper on it, but rather, it was in a simple unmarked box with a ribbon tied around it, and a tag written by hand and in Braille, indicating that it came from Dr. Iplier. He undid the ribbon and opened the box, forcing his Sight for a moment to find that the box contained some high quality parchment and a nice calligraphy set with a quill, a few different writing tips that could be put on it, and a few different colors of ink. Meanwhile, Dr. Iplier opened his gift from the Host, smiling and breaking out into a bit of a blush when he found a couple of travel mugs, one which looked like the TARDIS from Doctor Who, and one covered in the print of the exploding TARDIS piece.

Google and Bing opened each others gifts, next. Google lit up when he pulled out a new set of small tools to use for his glasses and other small projects, along with a white suit jacket that would fit him perfectly. Bing practically threw himself at Google when he unwrapped a set of three dot grid notebooks to use for whatever he might need, along with a pack of pens.

Illinois opened his gift up next, finding a new bag to use during his expeditions. Eric explained that he felt that he could use something other than the cross-body satchel he was using, especially since he’d reported that it sometimes got in the way while he was climbing.

Next up was Eric, who was careful with the small gift in his hands. He undid the wrapping, and opened up the hinged box, finding a silk scarf folded inside. Carefully, he pulled the scarf out, marveling at the soft material and the light blue, green, yellow and purple pattern. There was something else, though, something heavier wrapped up in the scarf. Unfolding the thin fabric, he gasped at what he found. There was a necklace inside, with a black cord that wrapped around the smooth heart-shaped stone. The cord was tied into a pair of sliding knots, which would allow Eric to adjust the length of the necklace easily. Eric was rendered speechless.

“I found the stone a while back on an expedition, and thought you’d like to have it,” Illinois explained, somewhat sheepishly. He chuckled as Eric hugged him tight, and pulled him into a kiss.

“It’s perfect,” Eric told him, a bright smile on his face as he pulled the necklace on over his head, fiddling with the stone.

Ed opened up his gift, smiling to find that Silver had given him a set of hooks he could put up on his wall to display his hats and lasso. It would really help with organization, no doubt; those things took up space in his closet, on his bookshelf, and on his dresser. The twins each opened up their gifts at the same time, finding that they had gotten one another updated equipment.

Wilford opened up his gift next, breaking into a bright smile when he found a picture frame with five different windows. Four had photos of Wil and Dark together, at various points of their relationship, with the fifth and largest photo being one from their wedding. The photo had been taken from the isle, getting Wilford, Dark, Bim, Host, and the pastor who oversaw things in the shot, along with the ornate flower arrangement and large tree under which they had wed. It was one of Wilford’s favorite photos from that day, and he hugged his husband tight, kissing him.

Dark was next, tearing away the wrapping paper and opening the box to find a display of the solar system with a small dial and read out on the base. When he opened it, the planets were all lined up, and Dark simply raised an eyebrow in question as he looked to his husband.

“Google helped me with this,” Wil began. “It’s got a few different dates; the day we met, our engagement, and our wedding day, and a few others, all on the dial, and a setting where it’ll just run in real time. The planets all move when you pick a setting, so they’ll be in their proper place for that time. If you pick our wedding day, the planets all go to where they were the day we said “I do”,” he stated.

The demon looked to Google, who nodded in response. He then turned the dial so that the date of their first meeting was on the display, and pressed the dial down until it clicked. His mouth fell open in awe as the little planets rotated under the glass dome, stopping when they reached their proper positions.

“Wil… I don’t know what to say…” he finally breathed, still in awe over the gift.

“You don’t need to say anything,” Wilford stated, kissing his husband once again. “Your reaction says enough.

Dark smiled, looking around for a moment before snapping his fingers, spotting that one Ego hadn’t opened a larger gift like all the others had, and didn’t even have one by him. “I almost forgot, give me a moment,” he stated, handing the gift he had in his lap over to Wilford before standing. The demon tore open the Void and stepped through, returning a moment later with a box wrapped in silver wrapping paper. “This one is yours, Yancy,” he specified, handing off the gift to the former inmate.

Yancy set the box in his lap, running his fingers over the shiny wrapping paper, before giving Dark a quick look. Upon Dark making a silent motion for him to simply go on and open his gift, the former inmate tore away the wrapping and opened the lid of the box. He pulled a black case out of the box, setting the wrapping aside so the case could sit on his lap. The man ran his fingers over the clasps of the case, before he flicked them open with a soft click. With a deep breath, he opened up the lid of the case, and let out a shocked gasp.

“A violin?” he questioned, wanting to confirm the sight through his surprise. “How did youse know that I…?”

“I made a couple of calls and found out. I have my ways,” Dark stated calmly.

Yancy gave a bit of a nod, pulling the instrument out of the case to get a better look. It was clearly old, but well made, with intricate details on the pegs and scroll. He was in silent awe of the gift, and a similar silence had fallen over the entire room. 

“Where did youse get this…? These ones ain’t cheap, and they ain’t easy to find, either.”

“It belonged to an old friend, originally,” Dark stated. “He passed some time ago, and left it to me. I can’t play, but when I learned that you’re musically inclined, I thought it would make a good gift for you. An instrument like that doesn’t deserve to sit and collect dust.” He wasn’t exactly lying, not in full, at least. He physically couldn’t play the violin anymore, thanks to the broken body he inhabited. It hadn’t belonged to a friend, though; the violin had belonged to Damien once upon a time. But, that time was long past.

“It’s amazing,” Yancy stated, carefully setting the violin back into the case. “Thank you, so much.”

“Well, it looks like we’ve gotten through everyone,” Wilford observed, looking over the room. “I think this was a great Christmas.”

“That it has been, Wil,” Dark confirmed, smiling.

Indeed, it had been a very merry Christmas, for everyone in the manor.

[officialinuyasha]

Official Art is free use as long as it is not used for monetary gain, and I will never ask anyone for money for my pictures, and I was told I am the only person that actually credits the official animators and artists. Each image of the anime is directly ripped RAW Japanese versions, that are ages old by the way. There are probably better ones out there now. Because had these when the English dub hadn’t came out on my Windows XP. About that, they should be in 1080, but since they were used into WMM I had to recolor all of them and increase their quality myself. I don’t like taking screenshots from YouTube like most people do. Not only do I increase the quality but there are assets I enjoy changing them from the anime. Most people can’t even tell it’s changed because it’s “that good” they say. The only thing I ask if you are sharing my edits, just credit me for taking to time to increasing the resolution, ripping, and alters. I do a lot of screen-stitching also. There’s a lot of them and some I haven’t even posted. But here are some of my favorites -

Besides that, I also like posting basic screen caps with my watermark on it. Because I did it. I don’t have to explain myself on that. Because it originated from my RAW rips, I have every right to credit the official animators and myself for doing the work. I see a lot of people post their watermarks on official images, even when it comes to illegal manga scan sites. I don’t see anyone complaining about that.

If you see my watermark on it, like Max’s it’s because I have his permission to slightly alter it as a Profile Picture! - and I usually have their credit or their watermark on it also whether in the image or in the description! Since Max intentionally made art for me also, it’s kinda a given.

I always see @redrobelover talk about bullying and certain fandoms. I can tell you what I see.

Here is what I see most of -

People “bully” others if someone is asking where a certain fan art came from - With absolutely no intent to steal it. They know they didn’t make the art.

But as soon as someone constantly credits each individual animator, they don’t care and the official animators are swept under the rug. These people are paid, just like fan artists. But they are way less known. I hardly ever see anyone talking about the animators of InuYasha. When they do, it makes me very happy and excited.

They also think it’s okay for someone to share Fan Art from a person that intentionally left because of drama like this. Basically, “this person left, probably because their art was being stolen and sold on Chinese merchandise. But I’m going to share it anyway.” And to them, that’s completely fine.

Can you see where all this hypocrisy is?

-

I’ll tell you all a story. Our friend was from Tumblr since 2009. I won’t give out her identity, but a lot of these people know. And she recognizes a lot of this toxicity and drama. She used to write a lot of fan-fictions and became really well-known. She was a very popular role-player.

She knows and can name people, can predict how people are -exactly- on here.

Well she actually left because people wouldn’t stop fighting, making fake accounts to go and attack everyone. This stuff is stupid. I just don’t get what’s so fun in that.

-

A story about me.

I had a friend on here I knew for years. She used to take a lot of my edits and I wouldn’t say anything because she was my friend. Even if it bugged me, I felt like she wasn’t doing any harm in that. All I asked of her was to at least tell me or credit me. Which I don’t think she ever did. It was always odd to find out from another person that she was doing this, or stumbling upon it myself.

The sad part was, I saw her as a really close friend of mine. And when my life began ta change dramatically I went and told her everything. I wrote a whole novel for her. In hopes that she was going to be supportive of my life changes and choices I was making during my transition and the person I am meant ta be with. Like most of my friend are supportive of it and asked me a whole buncha questions about it. They were happy.

Unfortunately I never got the ecstatic answer from her. Instead she ghosted on me and I think blocked me. I never understood why. But I was told it was probably because we have the same mind set in a lot of things. So I will never hate on her ever. I don’t have a reason to. I just wished things like that was better.

-

We are all a family. We all like InuYasha. InuYasha is supposta be a safe space.

-

Something I wrote in August 20th, 2018

My name is InuYasha, yes legally. Yes I'm the only person on record with that name in the US atleast. I am a transman. I've been on hormones for two years now! 💪💉 Damn those "emojis" look hella weird... August 2016 was when I started my hormones. Anyway. I'm in a relationship with @officialkagome , her name is Kagome she's a transwoman! I really came around on YouTube 2007 as TheHanyouInuYasha, now displayed as "OfficialInuYasha". I also run the FaceBook group "Official InuYasha Group" which is increasingly popular and extremely active with almost 5,000 members now! My sister really helped push me to go for the doctor's appointment for my transgender diagnosis in order for me to start my hormones. The series InuYasha really helped me get in touch with my true self, as InuYasha I see myself as one with. Being an outcast and having to make my own world was very, very difficult. I went through a lot of depression and anger during certain times and was told I could not be "InuYasha" because they told me I was a "girl". Just like in the series how the ignorant people also pestered InuYasha being half demon, that it was "unnatural" to them. I continued on, struggling as InuYasha. I started cosplaying InuYasha around 2005. I remember going to my neighbors house to watch it pre-recorded in Japanese dub! I was only about 10 years old. My grandma helped me make my first outfit. We made the top from a Wizard robe and Dancer pants patterns. I have gone through four different outfits, now 7 wigs, and 6 different Tetsusaigas. My current wig was made by Alichii from deviantART since 2004 based on Katie Bairs method, made from 3 different wigs. A historical wig. My current outfit is the Officially licensed VIZ Media outfit! It's my treasure. Kagome in the series really helped me alot to learn and to love. I have had many issues with haters, stalkers and copycats. Keh! But that won't stop me!

- The response @officialkagome wrote after me -

My name is Kagome, yes; it really is. InuYasha inspired me to share my own story. I am a transwoman, and have known I was a female my entire conscious life. I was told I couldn't be Kagome because I wasn't a girl. I was punished a great deal and abused for being trans. I was told I was wrong, and sick for 'thinking' I was a girl, I was invisible to everyone around me. I grew into an aloof teenager that thought I knew the evils of the world, until when 14 years old; I was sexually assaulted by three men while at a house party without my parents knowledge. My world fell to pieces, and who I was died. I spiralled, I lost all respect for myself. I never was dated, I gave myself to bad guys. I made horrible choices and I still carry the shame of what those men turned me into.  I watched InuYasha a lot then, and I found similarity in myself and Kagome. She was everything I always dreamed of being. Kind, brave, beautiful and pure. My first Impression of InuYasha was that he was a jerk; but I got to learn more about how he felt different in his world, and didn't belong. Before I knew it, I fell deeply in love with him. He saved my life and made me feel like that strong woman I knew I was. I spent the next 13+ years submitting to the fact that I would never really be able to see InuYasha, I begged for dreams, If I could only see him.. Meanwhile, InuYasha was going through the same exact thing. We crossed paths on so many occasions, even unknowingly, we grew up in the same cities, our whole lives lead up to us finding one another and life blessed me, and brought InuYasha to me in the most ironically fated way. We are BOTH trans! He gets me, And he waited for me just as long as I waited for him. There is so much coincidence in our meeting. It's haunting. He looks at me, a pile of my trauma; and he loves my broken pieces back together. InuYasha has ALWAYS come for me, and I may have lost faith; but I am glad I didn't. InuYasha found me in the darkness; and now together we move towards tomorrow. We have always been the same since the very beginning. We ARE InuKag~

-

Thank you for all the asks.

I will respond to each one. All will be animated, which I know they are piled up.

So send all Asks. Let’s see how fun we can make this -

-

- Inu-Yasha -

[frogsandfries]

I don't have my s-pen, so I was taking care of smaller things I've been needing to do--like dating and titling my sketchbooks.

Then for some reason, I decided to dig out all of the in-progress sketchbook sewing projects or sketchbooks that I don't need yet. I already know in my head which is four, five and six, I just need to finish sewing and making covers.

Which led me to dig up this plastic aida cover that I really wanted to do. I knew obviously I would need to do something pixel style, but since this is the cover for my sixth sketchbook, I don't know what issue of the graphic novel I'll be working on (I could estimate, but I'll definitely end up off by an issue or two.

I thought doing something pokémon would be fun. I found this one umbreon and espeon that was amazing, but it reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy didn't translate well.

So I found this pokémon tarot deck. Nidoqueen and Nidoking looked like a pair, which I thought was really cool. So I'm just picking away writing these cards into cross-stitch patterns because I don't have anything else, really, to do with my pen being out of commission like this.

Then my partner wants us to finally go get our hair cut. It's a bigger deal for him than it is for me. I can just keep pouring more and more shampoo into my hair and taking longer and longer to brush it.

I kind of wonder how many sketchbooks I'll need to make. I'm admittedly running out of fun things to do for covers. Maybe I'll try to Belgian binding for the scraps of cloth from my pin board. I need to find a really awesome cloth, or maybe just a plain solid color, for the retro chunky beads. Or maybe I just hang some of these enamel charms off these breaded elements.......I think something gold and pastel pink would be perfect for that. And I still want to purchase (or maybe make) a botanical encyclopedia type page for at least one journal. Probably a closed spine.

Anyway, so I need to, at the very very least, finish putting more frames into SB01, the black Walmart sketchbook, and for brownie points, I had kind of incidentally made another blank sketchbook that I'll have to line myself. I still haven't finished stitching pineapples into my pineapple sketchbook. The plastic aida covered book is ready to stitch up--it'll be the first one with the frames printed in automatically!

It feels like it'll be so, sooooo long before I need these sketchbooks. Then of course, before I know it, I'm scrambling to finish them. Or I make a little time for them. I can't let the pineapple sketchbook fall to the bottom of the list because it's unduly difficult.

[ddpej]

Hello! Could you explain how you manage your marker stitches without the stitchens on the front of the aida looking slightly off/not as clean as the other stitches, please? Because I stitched a pattern that went zig zag and when I changed direction it sometimes looked off in the front (I frogged the whole leaf I did last year because it looked unclean). Or is this because of 14ct aida and 2ply, if I did it outside of kits with 16 or 18ct and 2ply, would it look better?

(ask refers to the stitch variation shown in this post)

Hi!  This is going to get a bit long, I’m afraid, but hopefully something of it is helpful to you!

Since I can’t actually look at the offending stitches you had, I did some experimenting with counts and plys to see if there was any particular difference.  I grabbed a representative sample of fabrics from 14ct to 22ct, including some looser evenweaves in 18 and 16, and tried plys of 1 and up depending on the counts (1 and 2 for all, 3 for 14ct through 18ct, and even 4 ply on the 14ct).  I also tried a few stitching variations in 14ct with 2 ply, at the end, as stitching technique can affect stitch evenness as well.  All of that testing is shown below the cut in as fine a detail as my camera can manage.  In each test row shown, the sixth stitch is a single marker and the tenth and eleven stitches are double markers.

[Image: the test stitch rows, with marker stitches indicated and fabric count + thread ply labels.]

I do want to note, first of all and more for anyone else reading this, that there is always going to be some variation between stitches.  Usually it’s going to be pretty minor, but fabric is never quite perfectly even and ply thickness varies along each strand even if your stitching itself is flawless.  That sort of thing is really, really hard to avoid and for the most part no one’s going to notice or care in the slightest.  So not every oddball little thing needs to be taken out and redone, necessarily.  Even if you know it’s there, anyone else looking at the piece is going to be seeing the whole big forest rather than a stray vine here or there within it.  Messiness within a mass of stitches tends to vanish within the whole, and a simple backstitch outline can do wonders to hide messiness along the edges of a piece.  And again, truly, not many people even have the experience to identify what seems to the stitcher a blatant mistake.  Perfection is, on the whole, overrated.

(This is a really hard thing to internalize, to be sure.  I used to pull out a lot more stitches than I do now because I couldn’t stand it, and saw everything as a flaw.  Nowadays I tend to fix things on the fly with weird thread tricks/whatever comes to mind, or adjust the pattern to suit if it’s a wrong color/too many stitches issue, and that habit really honestly just came with time and the realization that for me adaptation is faster and easier than frogging for what is effectively the same result.)

Anyway.  My experience, both previously and repeated in these tests, is that it is easier to get clean stitches in general with a thread ply count that suits the fabric count.  22ct can be done with 2 ply for better coverage/bulkier stitches, but 1 ply will be cleaner.  18ct and 16ct do well with 2 ply, in terms of uniformity, and 14ct plays best with either 2 or 3 ply.  This is not to say that you shouldn’t play with plys, by any means!  Varied plys can create some very fun texture and visual effects when used well.  But it’s worth knowing, if uniform stitches are your preference.

Other factors that can affect stitch cleanliness, both in general and with marker stitches in particular, are:

Fabric style – a loose fabric, like some types of evenweave or an Aida that has lost its starch, will allow more variation in stitch appearance than stiffer fabrics.  Marker stitches change the direction of the line of tension in the thread, and if your squares have give to them this might show up more.

Stitch tension – quite tight and quite loose both tend to showcase stitch differences.  With marker stitches, high tension will tug your fabric weave out of line, allowing changes in thread tension direction to be more obvious; low tension won’t affect your fabric but eaves the thread itself loose enough to curve into the line of tension rather than laying straight across each square.  In the bottom row of my 14ct testing, I pulled the left side tightly and kept the right side very loose.

Needle positioning – when inserting a needle from the back through a hole with a horizontal thread already in place (such as with a marker stitch), there are three options.  You can insert the needle inside the horizontal thread, which tends to tuck the top leg of that cross under the bottom leg of the previous one and therefore not look quite right; you can insert the needle straight through the horizontal thread, which splits the ply and almost always makes the corner look messy; or you can insert the needle outside the horizontal thread, which keeps the horizontal threads tight to the square and usually looks cleanest.

Having said all that, I will note that a multitude of stitch direction changes, especially stacked top to bottom as can happen with zigzags and diagonal lines, is more likely to result in messy stitching than just a marker stitch here or there.  The more horizontal threads you have stacked on top of each other on the backside, the more that will show in the stitches themselves.  It’s just the way physics works, I’m afraid – any thread that goes outward from a stitch rather than inward across it is a thread that breaks the square and might cause trouble when another stitch needs to share the corner.  So you may well just be running into that, in which case an adjustment of your technique might be worthwhile for future zigzags.

Specifically, when I have a lot of diagonals or zigzags involved in a project, I often prefer to adjust my stitching so that no outward horizontals are used on the back – only verticals, diagonals, or inward horizontals.  If stitching one by one, as you might do with a variegated floss, it means that in one row the stitches all start from the bottom left, then in the next row the stitches all start from the top right instead.  If stitching down the row and back, as is typical with solid-colored floss, it means that I can cross horizontally back to the right to start a new row, but if I need to go to the left I’ll go vertically instead and then horizontally across the bottom of the new stitch to continue the row.  (It’s a horizontal stitch in the same place as it would have been otherwise, which can make the intricacy a little hard to see at first.  The difference between the two is that going horizontally immediately takes you from one row to the next, pulling the thread diagonally across the hole and therefore muddying the lines for other stitches at that corner, whereas going horizontal after placing the first leg of the new row pulls the thread exactly horizontally across and back up within the row, leaving the corner accessible.)

This method can be a little weird to get used to if you’re only used to doing stitches one way, and does require a little more attention to what you’re doing, but I find that it both keeps the stitches neater and also helps prevent the stitches from warping my fabric if I’m using a high ply for the count.

I hope something in this ramble was useful!  Feel free to poke me if you would like clarification or visuals for anything – words can be hard to translate into sense sometimes. ^_^

[thedappleddragon]

Day 134 (Saturday July 25th)

Whoops I’ve gone almost a week without an entry let’s go

I gave my sister her birthday present of a bunch of glowing paper stars on a string, and she thought it was really sweet. I got up earlier than I wanted so my dad could take me and my sister to look at buying a new phone for her. We didn’t end up buying it, so we drove around for something I don’t remember until my dad dropped me off to a friend’s open house. The open house was fun. It was at the same location as another one I had been to recently. We had been having so many open houses that we were running out of things to talk about lol. I had a good time, but I accidentally stayed a lot longer than I intended. Near the end I got tired and was on my phone half listening to the conversation until the other friend left and I listened to Katie talk about a Minecraft role play series she was super into until my mom picked me up. We drove around for a while, picked up my sisters birthday card from our grandparents, and went to the phone store to buy the phone dad was looking at earlier. We waited in there for an HOUR AND A HALF because the girl behind the counter didn’t really know what she was doing. When it was bought and set up, I thought we would stop by home, but instead we drove around for reasons I don’t remember and went straight to Roman’s birthday party. My phone died and we got lost, but we eventually made it. I gave them the $25 amazon gift card I had gotten at the open house iyrssjristsiry. They weren’t out to their parents yet, and hearing their dead name was really jarring so I just didn’t refer to them by name at all, not wanting to deadname or out them. Other than that party was really nice! We sat around a fire and talked bout everything and anything. We bonded over men being scary and also hot. One friend talked a lot about her ex and her crush, and we all talked about how shitty her ex was. At one point when we were all getting pizza, the dog stole my entire goddamn slice off my plate lmao. When my dad came to pick me up and asked who the party was for, he asked weither my friend was a guy or a girl. I explained what non-binary meant, and he was super chill about it!!! He did say it was dumb or anything. He just went “well there’s another new thing I learned today.” Like!!!!! I didn’t know my dad was cool!! Wow. That cheered me up a lot. When we got home, we sang happy birthday and had some cookie cake before Emily left to Michigan for a week.

Day 135 (Sunday July 26th)

The only thing I could think about that day was making a fursuit. That’s the only thing that was happening in my brain for like all of today and the next day. I started to do some laundry until I realized we were out of soap. I went with my mom to Walmart, and while she did curbside pickup I went in the store to get soap. While we drove to pick up food, I played a game with my friends where we all assigned each other colors to match our ~soul.~ I left my phone in the car, so I made paper cranes out of the Walmart receipt instead. I watched some tutorials on how to dye fur, because all I have is white, but I ended up not doing that. I decided FUCK IT and cut a chunk out of a memory foam slab bed insert thing and got to work. I didn’t take like ANY WIP photos so I have no clue how far I got. I just kept going until I got too tired.

Day 136 (Monday July 27th)

I spent all day either working or laying outside in the hammock. I found a frog!! I got really happy because I never see frogs or snails, even though I love both of them.

It jumped off of the seat where I didn’t even see it into the folds of the broken umbrella. I laid outside watching my cat, and I even got her to lay on my lap while I sat in the hammock for a little bit. Then it started to rain, so we went inside. By the end of the day, I had completely finished both paws. I was super proud of myself and I loved just wearing them for no reason. I still do!! I would wear them all the time if they worked on my phone screen lol. They’re obviously not perfect, but I love them. 💕

I made a video and of me wearing them and collapsing from cute and sent it to my friends the next day.

Day 137 (Tuesday July 28th)

I spent my day watching tutorial after tutorial after TUTORIAL about how to make fursuit heads. I couldn’t think about anything else. I also spent a lot of time outside in my hammock again. I spent most of my day trying to decide whether or not to give it a try. Late in the afternoon I said fuck it and cut out another chunk of foam from the sheet in the garage. I spent hours working on it, and I knew from pretty early on that it wouldn’t be usable. The foam I was using was wayyyyyy too soft and floppy (hehe ew). I decided to keep going, just to use the foam I had already cut and use it as practice to get the shapes right. I also spent some time shopping for fursuit supplies, but not actually buying anything. I played animal crossing for a while after a couple days of not playing.

Day 138 (Wednesday July 29th)

I spent some more time working on the head base, adding cheeks and eyebrows, but ultimately decided to offer it for sale on furry amino for cheap. I haven’t gotten any offers yet almost 12 hours later, so I think I’ll either wait longer or try selling it somewhere else. I went outside with my cat and got her to lay on me while I lightly swung on the hammock, and it was really nice. She was being super snuggly and rubbing her face on my and on my face and on the ropes of the hammock. I made myself some pasta and hung out for a while. I did some laundry and changed into some real clothes for the first time in a few days, which felt nice. I showed my dad my fursuit paws, which I had been referring to as a secret project to him for a few days. He was really impressed! He pointed to the head I had wrapped in plastic grocery bags, asking if it was the headpiece. I explained that it wouldn’t be usable because I was using the wrong foam, and he said he would buy me the right kind of foam within a few days. I really appreciate how supportive he is about it. I haven’t told my mom about it yet. She’s poked fun at me before about making a “furry suit” and occasionally pokes fun at my interest in the fandom. It doesn’t upset me, it more joking than actually making fun. I laugh it off like the idea is dumb, why would I go to a convention or make a suit. I would totally show her, I just don’t know if she would be super impressed or if it would make her poke more fun. Idk, I’ll bring it up eventually. But I was sutting in my room thinking about making fursuits. I had an itch to get back to snipping foam and making stuff, so I decided to make another pair of paws for my characer Egg. I think I’ll name the dog suit Peppermint, since it’ll be a red and white color scheme. These are my plans for each character. I’m not sure if Egg should have pink mouth bits or yellow mouth bits.

I plan on using the kloofsuits headbase patterns, just because it’s seems like an easy way to make sure my first suit turns out looking ok. I think it’s funny how I’ve only make 1 pair of paws and half a headbase and yet i already have plans for multiple full partials lmao. Actually I’ve already started on Egg’s paws, and I probably would have gotten further if it weren’t for a random hesitation (idk if that’s the right word) to get out the fur/fleece. I tried a slightly different method for these paws. For the first ones, I had a little layer of foam over the back of the hand, and it was all one piece. This time, it’s all still cut from the same chunk of foam, but I separated the fingers and there’s no backhand foam layer. They also fit differently, since I sewed the lining closer to the edge and it’s not at tight. If I really need to, I could rip the foam off and re-sew it, but I’m going to continue and see if I actually need to or not. I’m also exited to try a different, cleaner way of attatching the paw pads this time, since the first pair had slightly messy blanket stitching.

Anyway yeah. All I’ve been doing for the past few days is either making fursuit parts or think about making fursuit parts or watch fursuit YouTube tutorials. I’ve gone back to that one phase I had in middle school where I was OBSESSED with getting a fursuit. I want to make a tail and maybe feetpaws too, I’m so exited about everything. Sorry this blog is now a pro awoo zone, NO fine.

ALSO the entire time I was working on fursuit things, I had MBMBAM on in the background. I’ve been listening to the entire podcast starting with episode 1 since before quarantine, I think. I realized while I was typing this out that i went through AT LEAST 35 EPISODES during that work time, probably closer to 40.

(Sorry for the long post!!)

[anneedmonsonus]

Our Budget Nursery Makeover: Miss Nerd’s Room

Not everything about writing a blog is fun and roses. But one of the things I love most about blogging being a part of my life is that it gives me so many kicks up the butt – deadlines and incentives to finally get my act together and do something.

I need these kicks up the butt, guys! Otherwise I would never make decisions and actually get things done. And this couldn’t be more true of Little Miss Nerd’s nursery makeover.

This room was unfinished and it had been bugging me for AGES. Literally every time I walked in I felt bleh. You know when something broken or just-not-done brings your energy down? I would feel irritated with myself for not having made the time to tackle it yet.

It used to look like this, after I had fixed it up and made it a craft room.

Photo by Heather Robbins.

This is nice. This I liked! (Before that it was our junk room, our dumping ground – you can see those photos in this post before I fixed it up and made it a craft room) My budget craft room makeover! It was even in a magazine.

Then it became a guest bedroom for a while (it was so small it barely fit our old double bed) and then it became Little Miss Nerd’s bedroom after she moved from her bassinet in our bedroom to her cot in here, and then it sort of became a junk room all over again.

All these things that didn’t have real homes kind of migrated there. And I’d never decorated it properly with a colour scheme and styling and everything. I’d never decided what to actually do. I’ve talked about this before when I shared Little Nerd’s toddler bedroom reveal, but the thing about our 1970s house is that the bedrooms are SMALL. And Miss Nerd’s nursery is the smallest – it’s 265cm x 265cm – it’s a small and dark room and not super-inspiring. We had nice things – the painting on the wall, the cot, the little toys and bits and pieces, but I’d never tied them altogether properly.

Miss Nerd was nine months old and I was literally always thinking, “I REALLY have to decorate her room properly,” when I got the perfect excuse to finally do it. A publicist for Channel 7’s House Rules contacted me and asked if I would like to do a budget room makeover on my Instagram and share it to celebrate the new season. Of course I was keen – it was the motivation I needed.

The aim was a $250 budget and I was actually excited about having a tight deadline. Maybe it’s the journalist in me that always needs a deadline.

And then, a weekend of solid work, and the room was finished. Have a look.

It is done! Done feels SO GOOD, I wish I’d done it earlier! Sometimes I deliberate all sorts of design decisions for AGES. This time I tried to trust my gut and just do things like choosing a paint colour and place art without second-guessing (and third-guessing, and fourth-guessing) my decisions and I surprised myself because I am actually really happy with it. Sometimes ‘done’ is better than perfect, right? (Something I constantly need to remind myself).

The bit that I’m most proud of is my DIY wall beading/cornicing/railing/trim/picture line (a few people asked me what I would call it and I’m actually not sure what the best term is).

Regardless of what it should be called, what I wanted to add to this room was some wall colour and some character. I was thinking if I did one solid feature wall, it might overwhelm the room and make it feel more closed-in. Adding some beading seemed like a nice way to add some wall detailing and a paint colour without sort of overpowering what is a really small space. I bought the trim from Bunnings – from memory it was about $13 a length.

It’s so simple but it’s quite pretty. What I’m proud about is that I did it myself. Mr Nerd was on a work trip, and I did the room in a weekend on my own. Okay not entirely, Little Nerd helped me measure and cut the beading (but then again, he is three, haha) and my Mum helped me glue it up so it was level, but still, I’m proud of my DIY trim!

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You have to cut the beading at angles to get it to sit right around the corners and the windows, and I used to have this amazing Dremel which would have been PERFECT for cutting the beading at an angle, but then my charming sister borrowed it and left it in her car and someone broke in and stole it. So annoying.

So, I literally sawed all these pieces with a hand-saw. That wasn’t so easy. I’m sure all my carpenter readers are looking at my DIY beading in these photos dry-retching in their mouths as we speak, but I am so proud of it. Like I did it and I just wanted to keep walking into the room afterwards to look at it gleefully.

It’s probably because I am NOT the most practical person. I am inventive, not practical. Once me and my sister, the one who lost my Dremel, hung shelves in my toilet by drilling holes into the double brick walls with a cordless drill driver, because we couldn’t find the hammer drill that my husband had probably hidden from me somewhere. “It will be fine,” Simone said. (Surprisingly it actually was, even though it took about two million hours, I even wrote a DIY on it). See? Creative. Not practical.

But yes. What I wanted to say about this little DIY was, if I can do this, you DEFINITELY can. Have a crack. If you use a piece of beading with a more rounded profile, you have to cut the ends to get them to sit flush, then sand them, then I used putty to fill in any gaps and painted those with a tiny brush.

DIY WALL MOULDING TIPS

Measure the line from the ceiling, not from the floor.

Paint the walls before you affix the trim, not after. Then your trim will cover any slightly wonky bits and make it look smart.

Paint the beading before you affix it rather than after – way easier. I used white Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

If you have low ceilings, consider making the line higher up rather than lower. I would actually have raised the picture line up a little higher than where it is, because this is a tiny room with low ceilings, and that would visually make the ceiling seem a little taller. However, when I removed the old IKEA picture ledge, it left two unsightly holes that still didn’t look right even when I puttied over them, so I used the trim to cover them.

Being slim and pine, my beading was lightweight enough to be able to be glued up (I used a Liquid Nails) but a heavier, thicker wood might have to be screwed in – take it into consideration when you choose.

Get someone to help you glue it up so you get it level. Ideally someone who is not in kindergarten.

Initially I actually wanted to paint the walls a sort of light duck egg blue, deep blue or blue-green. But when I looked at those colours on the walls, they just didn’t work. Because this room barely gets much sun (it’s also overshadowed quite a lot by the two-storey house next door) it already feels quite dark, and the cool colours made it seem cold and depressing. I wasn’t even thinking of pink but I was on Pinterest and saw a pretty apricot-coloured room – and then I realised a warm tone was probably the way to go.

The wall paint is Dulux Diva Rouge in half-strength. The colour is actually almost exactly like the same pinky-peachy-apricot colour my parents painted their entire rear extension in the 1990s, and as a little girl who loved blue I always swore I would never, ever paint my house that colour when I got a house, but here I am 20 years later painting my house 90s pink. Go figure.

After the walls were painted and the trim up it was time to play with pictures! For some reason artwork that might look a bit plain or shabby on a white wall somehow looks so special on a coloured wall. And when there is trim or just some sort of colour difference, it gives a nice ‘anchoring point’ for artwork. It sort of looks more pulled-together especially when your art collection is a little more random.

I had so much fun pulling out all these random bits of art that I’d collected over time from markets and op shops and then realising they looked pretty good in here. The little castle long stitch was $4 from an op shop and I thought it was so cute. (Mr Nerd calls things like this my ‘old lady art’). The pink and blue floral cross-stitch I got from a woman at the markets for $5 and I remember her saying happily, “It’s so nice to see younger people appreciate cross-stitch, no-one likes it anymore.” (Mr Nerd probably would have said, ‘that’s true’ had he been there). The castle cross stitch was $4 from a Good Sammy’s.

The oil flower painting was $4 from a market and the Love print I got yeeears ago from a girl who had a stall outside Jessie’s years ago. I have to admit it sat in my cupboard for years, waiting to be framed and hung… does anyone else buy prints and then frames them like years later? The mobile was a cheapie from Kmart.

That huge painting by the cot I got for $10 from the Melville Markets. I love it there. I literally walked past this painting every Sunday at the markets for about five weeks and I liked how it sort of looks like a paint-by-numbers. Then one day I decided I HAD to buy it even thought I had no idea where I would put it.

Sometimes I say wide-eyed to my husband, “I would NEVER buy something from the markets if I didn’t know exactly where I’m going to put it,” but that is such a lie. I impulse buy weird things all the time and then I stick them in the cupboard where they sadly wait for a home/the day when we buy a big house ten years in the future/the day my sister comes over with the (screwdriver) drill to help hang them up.

Anyway, thank God for my hoarding DNA. I was never intending to put this one in Miss Nerd’s room but somehow I think it just works. So, colour can make random art work, guys. Art walls don’t have to cost a fortune and if you like random stuff, a coloured wall can help you tie it all together. Eventually, I might add a pretty patterned rug – how cute is this from Temple and Webster, for example. But for now it’s fine. I was also initially planning to paint the wardrobe doors a light blue or grey, as I thought it would be too much pink, but when the walls were painted it somehow didn’t look too bad, so I’ve left them for now.

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All up, I went JUST over my $250 budget for this room. The last splash was a huge palm from Bunnings – $110, which I put outside her window to make up for the lack of garden there. That view is so crap – ugly old fence and paving. Sometimes a huge plant is just what you need. One day we’ll eventually pave that part of the yard and put some sort of more permanent (possibly potted) garden there, but the effect of having a plant there definitely visually brightens it all up for now. Palms seem to be one of those plants that fall in the love them or hate them category. My husband hates them, but he usually lets me do what I like with the garden, and did I mention he was away that weekend? It has its perks.

Then I celebrated finishing by taking a break and taking Nala for a run by the river with my sister (the other one, not the one who lost the Dremel) and we got pizza.

The best part was when I showed Little Miss Nerd. I’d done the last bits of the room, hanging the art work and the mobile and putting in the toys, while they were at my mum’s place, then picked them up and brought them home. Being just a baby, I didn’t actually know if she would notice any change to be honest, but she lit up. If you go on my InstaStories, I saved a Highlight reel of stuff called Nursery Makeover – there’s a clip where she sees the finished room. Her face cracks me up. Make sure you put the sound on so you can hear her brother harping on. He is a details man.

And I kid you not, the day after I finished her room, I was hanging out in there with the kids (something we never did before, because it wasn’t a nice place to play in) and Miss Nerd took her first steps in her new room! We were all super excited about it and she was so proud of herself. Maybe it was her way of celebrating. (“Finally! Mama got her shit together.”) At nine months old, she started walking SO much earlier than Little Nerd did, which has been new territory for Mr Nerd and I, having an adventurous walker, but it’s also been fun. And funny. I think I could just watch babies walk all day. She reminds us of E.T).

I can’t even describe how good it felt, to FINALLY have finished a room that has been bothering me for months and months. It felt so energising. The home decorating equivalent of Marie Kondo-ing a messy kitchen cupboard. Now this room literally makes me feel lifted up each time I walk in there, but best of all the kids love it too, and they play in there (by themselves! Every morning! At their own free will! Heaven!) It’s still small, and dark, but it’s a much nicer, way more pleasant part of our home. Maya x

SUPPLIERS

Wall paint Dulux Diva Rouge half-strength Pine wall moulding Bunnings Bed linens Bedtonic pure linen cot sheets Moulding paint Annie Sloan Wall shelf IKEA Dog wall print Mokoh Design Wall art Thrifted

The post Our Budget Nursery Makeover: Miss Nerd’s Room appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/06/24/budget-nursery-makeover/

[peacocksandpurls]

  The Quaking Aspen Cowl

Well…I purchased this yarn when I was in Colorado last fall….and I finally finished the cowl I intended to make with it!  Yay me!  I’m so happy with the way it turned out.  It is relatively light weight but will be best if I save it for the very early autumn.  Something to look forward to!  If you would like the pattern…click here.

Mermaid Tail Blanket

I had a special request from a friend who’s daughter had an upcoming 7th birthday… and she loves mermaids.  She wondered if I could knit a mermaid tail blanket for her since she’d seen one somewhere and really wanted it.  Originally it was intended to be a Christmas present, but I was so backed up with other custom orders and my full-time job, that I couldn’t devote enough time to get it completed in time…so thankfully she was very forgiving and decided it would make a great birthday present.

back side

front side

Her mom took her photo for me after she received it!  She’s so cute!! Its waayyy big!  But her mom requested it larger so she would have room to grow!  What a great idea!!

I also found this pattern on Raverly….there are several!  Jump on and find one you like.

Isn’t she adorbs!!

Riverfront Cowl

I also finished the riverfront cowl – the kit my friend and I got at the Pittsburgh Yarn Festival from Stitch Party.  It was a fairly quick knit up and I’m loving this color!  What do you think?

This was a very fun kit…I’m glad we picked it up, without thought to really what it was, other than a kit!!  Meaning the yarn was already selected, the pattern, and it even included the needles!!  Sweet!

Non-Knitting Adventures (are there any? really??)

Glass City Half Marathon

My gang of turtle running friends all headed to Toledo, OH last month to run the half marathon.  The Mercy Health Glass City Marathon. Most of the group had run it before…but this was my first time on this course.  From what they told me, its beautiful…and most importantly…FLAT!

Since its an April race…that meant I had to train during the WINTER…..well….I’m a bit of a freeze baby when it comes to running outdoors in the coldness….I’m not really fond of it…. at CrossFit, we switch from running to rowing or cycling indoors…where its warmer and sane!  Needless to say….I DID NOT TRAIN….. I did do some running here and there, but no long mileage.  I secretly wanted to see how I did, without any dedicated running and all CrossFit as my training….

A couple of my friends and I made a pact….that we would run/walk intervals the entire 13.1 miles…. since none of us ended up training…um hello…winter!

The morning of the race, we decided to use the shuttle buses provided by the race.  They were to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the start line (near it anyways). We picked a pickup time that allowed us plenty of time to get to the start of the race on time.  Race time was 7:00am.

Well…they had a huge mix up and ended up messing up the scheduling and bus availability from our hotel…. many, and I mean MANY runners were left stranded at the hotel waiting for pickup.  Finally a bus showed…at the start time of 7am!!!!  Once they dropped us off, we crossed the starting line 25min late.  Well…we intended to run/walk and adding another 25min to our time…puts us behind the clean up crew!  Crap!  The entire way, we had the water stop clean up crew following us in their trucks…all the way to mile 10.  They ended up tearing down all the water stops before we reached them…so my friend and I vowed to stick together because I was the only one carrying water.

Once we reached mile 10…the race director forced us to integrate with the marathoners on their race course because they opened up the last leg of the half marathon course to traffic, and it was no longer safe for us to be on the roads.

Adding insult to injury, one of the spectators on the marathon course heckled us and told us to move off to the side (because at this point we are walking)…It was all I could do NOT to kick that woman in the shins….

However… we finished and we did get our medals….and a fun fancy beer mug!!  I would like a redo on this course…but again…I’m looking at winter training…  I’m not sure I’m up for that…winter = knitting, warm cozy socks, and a strong cup of tea…. What do you think?  Should I repeat…and maybe NOT train again…just use CrossFit as my training and see what happens??

What’s up next for Peacocks and Purls….

Ummmm… Knitting of course!  Starting a couple new projects with yarn from the Pittsburgh fiber festival and yarns from and new company I discovered via Instagram… Swift Yarns….I LOVE this pink to yellow colorway!!   Shawls people…fade shawls are in my future!

Till later love…

My Latest Projects The Quaking Aspen Cowl Well...I purchased this yarn when I was in Colorado last fall....and I finally finished the cowl I intended to make with it! 

[charlinesugerman-blog]

Knitting Wool - Gentle And Sensitive Materials

Honda Long Island Husband and wife group, Matt DeVries and Trish Hoskins offer funky fabrics, modern patterns and pleasant courses for all ranges in crocheting, knitting, quilting, embroidery and much more. Their selection is so trendy and fun that theater scenery designers often come and choose some of their fabrics for their sets. Some of their more popular products at the shop consist of Amy Butler Fabrics and patterns. You'll find floral botanical motifs that are not stuffy or old fashioned, Japanese fabrics, subversive cross-stitch designs and soft Honda Long Island yarns. They're great for fertilizer. Not the alpaca! The manure an alpaca produces. Corn never grew exactly where we live until we attempted alpaca manure on our garden. After spreading alpaca manure on the backyard, not only did our corn grow but it was the sweetest corn at any time! The manure was the only thing we did different and we are fairly sure it produced the difference. It's possible to make a little aspect company out of Honda Long Island manure. Now it is a extremely typical problem for parents whenever their kids inquire for a pet. Certainly, many mothers and dads do not have the additional time needed to take the responsibility of owning and handling a pet with this kind of duties as strolling, feeding, coaching and cleaning up the garden. With FurReal Buddies Biscuit My Lovin' Pup, kids will not be deprived of the joy they will really feel if they have a pet to consider care of. Also, even kids who are allergic to pets can consider care of an animal with the assist of this lovin' pup. So to all mothers and fathers out there, to purchase your children this type of electronic pet toy will certainly be a smart transfer, a treat to your kids providing them a different kind of delight. You don't have to consider a vendor's word for it. If you have absent through a process of due diligence, then you will be able to decide a deal very quickly simply because you will know your market. So you will be in a position to make fast choices, and be assured you have produced the right decision - without having to believe in anyone else. After Cyber Monday, the next big buying working day to look for doesn't yet have a name. It's discovered in the middle of December, but doesn't have a established date on the calendar. Look for the final working day most merchants will guarantee transport in time for Christmas and you will find what some are calling the last cyber buying working day of the holidays. A: Though we can't solution the 2nd question (it depends on your neighbors!), the solution to the first is that alpacas are generally extremely quiet. They hum quietly , particularly when a bit anxious. If they see something really worrisome, they might sound a warbling call that some explain as a cross between a squeaky toy and a hawk's cry. Woman will find alpacas for sale on Cathy Daniels coordinates, Gloria Vanderbilt casual separates, Lee shorts and capris, Onque French terry knits, Speculation sheeting separates, Women Club embroidered tees, Fashion Classics and Speculation rib knit tanks, MHD active separates, Skip R assistance tanks and Amanda Jade style tees. First, you should decide what your venture is heading to be. Honda Long Island roving is usually utilized for worsted projects. Don't be afraid to try it in some other project or make up samples so you know what that roving can do for you. If people didn't break the guidelines occasionally, fantastic things wouldn't be discovered. Physical physical exercise can help you "sweat out" stress hormones. Alpaca ranching provides plenty of chance for physical exercise. Some of the action needing to be done are herding alpacas and operating on fencing and pastures. A brisk five-10 minutes of scooping poop is all that's required to relaxed you down. You can study more about scooping alpaca manure. Anyway, if you're buying presents this year, these are some truly fun options to zhu-zhu whatchamacallits that you can really feel truly good about providing and that may just make the receiver really feel good too. Happy Vacations, and peace be! Where can established people chance on alpacas for sale? I, affectingly, do assimilate. disappeared like a puff of smoke. I have to get that stage across to everyone in regard to and Really, I'm just extremely pleased now. The Sherpa Earflap Hat. Produced in Nepal, these wool knit hats are all distinctive and very well-liked this year. Incidentally, if you aren't acquainted with Recreation Outlet, you should rectify that. This is one location you can always rely on to discover some alpacas for sale on all kinds of outside gear. First, you should decide what your project is going to be. Honda Long Island roving is usually used for worsted projects. Don't be afraid to try it in some other venture or make up samples so you know what that roving can do for you. If individuals didn't break the guidelines occasionally, fantastic issues wouldn't be discovered.