#but this is small yarn. small needles. finicky pattern

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

I finished the first section and I'm onto the second! Only twelve sections after this, but this one should be pretty easy!!

Me: *three rows into my latest knitting project* This isn't so bad! I'm figuring it out pretty easily, and I can already see it start to take shape! Wow, this is great.

Me: *counts stitches and notices I'm two short* Oh No

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

just for the fuck of it!

in real life i hate ted talks, i don’t think they’re generally good scientific communication and they appeal to a narrow spectrum of white moderate liberals with liberal arts degrees, generally. the format makes me teeth hurt.

but I WILL ramble on about a topic of my choice, thank you, even though that’s just a regular fuckin’ day here on girlfriendsofthegalaxy dot tumblr dot com.

For someone who only sort of cares about her personal wardrobe, I sure do spend a lot of time thinking about fabric. I also spend a lot of time thinking about Fallout: New Vegas, so let’s combine the two.

Where the fuck are people getting their clothes, and how are they making them? The game specifically points out the outfits that are pre-War, although if those are surviving garments or new garments made in a pre-War style is not discussed. From that, I’m assuming that mostif not all clothing regular NPCs wear on the street is of post-War manufacture. 

So, how the fuck are people making clothes? From what? Using what methods? 

The sheer variety of clothing available points to small mechanical looms and sewing machines. Sewing machines are fairly simple machines and I’m convinced there’s a mix of surviving pre-War and post-War manufactured ones kicking around. They’ve also got a makeshift power grid, which means a decent wire-making setup, which means metal needles. Bone needles are probably more common among hand/home sewers.    

Shoes are actually fairly easy-  the game is lousy with giant geckos, from which you can slap onto leather and metal armor to create gecko-backed armor, which provides additional types of damage resistance. There’s a very cute poster in a fanzine about gecko hide boots. I have lifted this concept wholesale for my own fic, bc everyone walks everywhere and everyone needs good boots. Most boots in-game appear hobnailed or have some sort of traction on the bottom. I don’t think shoe leather is a problem in New Vegas, although more specialized shoes like waders and sneakers are probably much harder, since there’s no petroleum rubber (a main plot point of FO2 is that there’s very little oil and gas left) and rubber trees can only grow outside if they’re in zones 10-11, which is a chunk of California that got whacked pretty hard by the bombs. Is it possible that someone in New California has bioengineered isoprene and now they’ve got vast stocks of non-petroleum synthetic rubber? Maybe? Doesn’t really fit with the tech we see in-game. The shoe rubber we see can’t all possibly be repurposed tires. 

Wool is harder but if we squint we can make it fit into existing lore without a ton of problems. The in-game large domestic meat animal, the bighorner, is a hair sheep not a wool sheep. Animal hair is useful for other things, but it’s hard to make yarn out of. There are probably fluffier breeds in higher not-desert altitudes. So we’ve got socks now, winter wear, and good blankets, and felt for hats. Various flavors of looms have existed long before the Industrial Revolution and I don’t see why they’re not in-game, or why weaving mills don’t exist in the Mojave. Knitting needles and crochet hooks are just fancy sticks, you can whittle them with a minimum of fuss. 

Linen is also a little wibbly lore-wise but sort of fits- there are no flax fields in-game but flax is a very tolerant plant, so I could see regions outside the Mojave successfully growing it. 

A surprising number of people wear jeans. Where the fuck is everyone getting jeans from? Cotton is not a staple crop in California today. Post-War California certainly don’t have the manpower or infrastructure for massive fields of cotton or the required processing, everyone’s a truck farmer or a Brahmin herder, to the point the NCR’s army is having extreme difficulty getting food for its troops. Is there some massive pre-War stock everyone’s been pulling from for two hundred years? Interestingly, the Legion’s armor is mostly football armor, so this does point to them having a pre-War warehouse full of the stuff somewhere. 

The Brotherhood of Steel have really uniform uniforms, if that makes any sense, with less variation than the New California Republic’s standing army in (hemp?) canvas. They don’t have the tech to make new suits of power armor, although I can’t quote that bc I can’t find it again and I have no memory of where I heard it. @morrak is convinced they have the technology to make rayon (invented in the 1890s in our timeline), and I agree bc it’s a finicky multi-step process with lots of drying and waiting time and they’re all nerds stuck in a bunker although I do NOT know where they’re getting the cellulose they are in a desert and wood is at a premium. 

The Raiders’ armor is mostly rags and spikes and sandals made out of old tires, which is also interesting and more of a scavenged Mad Max 2&3 vibe than the other factions, which fits their whole schtick. 

This is many words and I’m reaching the end of my own attention span, I’m sure I have another couple thousand words in me about this but these are the thoughts I am dumping out of my head right now. I haven’t said a single thing about dyes and patterns and prints, for example. 

[mariapilar-tactilesurfaces]

COMBINING THE EXPERIMENTS

I’ve worked with: 

punch needle stitches

punch needle patterns

And I wanted to bring the two together, since I haven’t worked with my preferred yarn and ply on my material. It was really easy to draw out a pattern on the monk’s cloth. 

Started with the outlines first this time to try and get a more defined ‘punch’ side. 

It’s definitely clearer than the pink and orange from the horizon pattern. One mistake I made was cutting the monk’s cloth too small, and I had to keep stretching the fabric. It kept losing tension and therefore the punches unravelled. Short punches, for whatever reason, are a lot trickier than long ones; these were quite finicky. Also, I will definitely have to build a frame: the embroidery hoop isn’t the best quality, and it keeps loosening up. It was really hard to work on the edges because the needle kept hitting the bottom embroidery hoop. 

The big stitches are definitely the most fun and less-time consuming. 

Wanted to follow the idea in my conceptual statement of intent of “gradually increasing intensity” so the teal is the smallest stitch available, while the mint in the middle is a medium stitch, then the second biggest loop, then finally the longest loop, like when water rushes and there’s that big gush of white. 

[hypokeimena]

in the last ~week i’ve bought

sock dpns and a case for them

two stuffed animal sewing patterns designed for machine sewing that i’m going to have to complete by hand

significant quantities of felt sheets, embroidery floss, etc to complete the above project[s]

embroidery and doll needles, doll eyes, stitch ripper, pincushion

about 7 vinyl stickers (not exactly a Craft but)

another jellycat (??? WHY DID I DO THAT, i will cherish it but???)

little finicky notions (stitch catcher-fixer, tapestry needles)

a cumulative $180 worth of yarn (some new, some recycled/reclaimed)

i still need to buy

a really cheap set of 7″ bamboo dpns in 15 sizes for ten bucks because that is an UNAVOIDABLY good deal

a case for aforesaid dpns, because the alternative to BUYING a case is BUYING ALL THE RAW MATERIALS TO MAKE ONE AND THEN HAND-SEWING IT and i don’t know what i’d do with five yards of interfacing

POSSIBLY something small for my notions to go in so they’re not constantly rattling around my project bag but this is not Urgent and i’ll probably be able to put it off

im having the manic craft supply shoppings

[just-here-for-humor]

Circus of Dreams 13

Sabin, the twins, Artemishia, Josiah, and Blue walked through the marketplace of the town. Shops and cart vendors lined the street; there were even some people who just had their wares spread out before them on a large mat.

"Alright Blue and I will get canvas and such for tent repairs and y'all can get food stuffs. Sound good?" Josiah offered.

"Yep. And we meet back at the end of the street like we do in every town."

"Yeah."

With that the group split ways to make the shopping quicker. Going faster was better, if trouble stirred up most of the shopping was already done. Josiah took Blue's hand in a firm grip; his hand nearly engulfing her's, and lead her along the busy street, telling her to stick close. She looked at the shop windows and displays trying to see if there was something worth spending her pay on. They passed toys, produce, carpenters, and an apothecary selling herbs and potions.

The duo entered a small store whose sign depicted a needle and spool of thread. Shelves filled with big rounds of fabric sat in crowded rows before the door. The end of the store had smaller shelves located behind a counter which held spools of thread and skeens of yarn in various colors. Josiah went to the counter where an older half-elf lady sat to ask her for canvas and thick thread. Blue explored the small shop, gazing at the colors and patterns of the fabric, and lightly touching those that seemed especially soft. It was quiet in the shop and it made her think of a library. Once he had procured the items Josiah came back to her with a substantial bundle underneath his arm. She reached for it but he took her hand saying that he had it. After he said that they were next going in search of a candlemarker. When Blue cocked her head at this statement Josiah explained that they would use the wax to make the fabric water-resistant.

The candle shop was similar to the one with fabric; however, it was less cramped but smelled weird. The scent tickled Blue's nose and made her want to cough. Jars of popourii and various candles either scented or not combined in a finicky way. She was glad to leave that shop after Josiah had made the necessary purchases.

"Where to now? Nadine had asked us to look for paint brushes. Is there anything that you would like?"

She shrugged not sure. Nothing had quite caught her eye yet.

"We'll stop at the general store first then. If you see something just pull me in that direction."

The general store was much bigger than the previous shops they had been in. Multiple rows of shelving ran along the interior. Food, candy, grain, oats, and various outdoor and houseware utensils lined the shelves. There were even some simple magic items like stones of farspeech held behind the counter. Josiah went to the counter to ask about paint brushes as Blue walked the isles. She ran her fingers over a carved horse toy. It was painted blue with orange and pink flowers blooming on it's back. It was a very pretty toy. She counted her money in secret, just in case of unwanted looks, before deciding to get it. Blue had remembered something else that she had wanted to look for and wanted to make sure she would have enough left over.

Josiah was paying the half-dwarven man at the counter for a variety of paint brushes. As he stepped to the side with the brushes she set the horse up on the counter. The half-dwarf smiled at her.

"That's a very pretty horse you picked out," he said to her.

She shyly nodded in response.

"That'll be ten copper pieces."

She counted out the money as Josiah started to reach for his own coin pouch. Blue shook her head at him and gave him a look of resoluteness. He understood and hooked his thumbs on his pockets instead. She handed the man the pieces and he put them in the register.

"Would you like the horse wrapped?"

She shook her head and patted at her waist showing that her dress had a small pocket sewn on it. He handed her the toy and she carefully slipped it into the pocket. The horse's head stuck out of the top and she patted it as if making it secure. Blue went to Josiah and took his hand. Josiah thanked the man and she gave a small wave as they left the store.

Blue looked up at Josiah and tugged his arm. When she had his attention she said one word: Bakery. Josiah nodded and looked around as they went until they found one and went inside. Once in she looked around, trying to gauge if any of the pastries on display were the one she was after.

A young woman stepped from the back room calling to someone as she went, "Check the danishes soon Isaac. We don't want them to burn," then she turned her attention to them, "What I help you with?"

"Oh I'm not sure she wanted to look in here."

Blue gestured to Josiah for him to lean down, then she whispered in his ear.

"Do you sell something called a c...cæphóri?"

"No I don't think so. But we might call it something else. Can you describe what it is?"

Blue once again whispered in Josiah's ear. This might have been the longest period of speaking she had done but it was necessary. She really wanted a cæphóri. Josiah was even surprised at the amount she spoke even if it was in clipped sentences.

"It's apparently from Lastrot. It's a batcha honey and cinnamon biscuit. Sometimes it might have chocolate or jelly as well."

"Oh I know what you're talking about. Yeah we have some. We call them kappers here. How many did you want?"

Blue held up three fingers and stepped closer to the counter as the woman got turned to a mesh covered patter. She pulled out the cæphóri and placed them in a small white box. She tied the box with a strip of ribbon and handed it to Blue.

"Two silver please."

Blue handed the woman two silver and was glad to see that some silver and copper still remained in her pouch. She didn't even have to spend her gold piece. Blue once again took Josiah's hand and gave a small wave as they left the store. They went and met up with the others then and returned to the cluster of tents marking their temporary home.

Blue slipped from the group to go find Lutz. He was in the main tent checking the stage and seating to make sure the collaspeable wooden structures were still steady and unlikely to come apart.

"Hey Blue."

She gave a small wave and held up the box as she undid the ribbon as pulled open the lid.

"What d'you have there?"

In response she held out a dessert for him to take, before grabbing the second one for herself.

"What's this for."

She tugged a messy braid in her hair; the best on she had managed to make that morning, and said, "For thank you."

Lutz broke into a toothy grin, reminding Blue of the other reason he was called a wolf man.

"You're a sweet kid, ya know that? It's been a long time since I had a cæphóri."

They sat on the edge of the stage and bit into the pastries at the same time, Lutz humming gladly as he tasted it. It was as sweet as he remembered and this particular baker had added moonberry jelly to the center making the cæphóri especially tantalizing. They finished theiri pastries and licked the honey's stickiness from their fingers.

Blue slid the box towards Lutz. He looked inside and grinned at seeing a third cæphóri.

"Thank you Blue. You don't know how much this means to me. This really takes me back to my homeland. I still miss it sometimes. This was a wonderful surprise."

Blue squeezed his hand in response, shutting her eyes and sighing contentedly.

Part 12: http://just-here-for-humor.tumblr.com/post/176142223135/circus-of-dreams-12

Part 14: http://just-here-for-humor.tumblr.com/post/178019463325/circus-of-dreams-14