#circular needle can be so tricky

[clairestrogen]

CAMERA NERD TIME

Taken with a Zenit 11 camera (my first camera ever given to me by my grandparents).

Using a Zenit 11 was a really manual process, look at the lightmeter needle, dial in so the pointer is pointing at the needle, read out the aperature stop corresponding to the shutter speed (which you had to choose based on the weather and the film speed), focus and shoot.

The nearly non-existent focusing matte of the camera rather makes focusing tricky, as you have to rely on looking for slight distortions in the middle of the viewfinder (which is rather dark, so that makes it a bit more difficult), and try to remove them woth focusing accordingly.

The film winder is a pleasure to use, it really sounds like a mechanical clock work with all the mechanics and gears inside moving, problem is that sometimes one of the gears might get stuck, or the oil lubricant hardened over time, turning the experience into pain (looking at you Zenit ET). The shutter is LOUD so you definitely wont be taking photos discretely :P

After years of using it i have not noticed any light leaks, tho experience can differ from camera to camera, and that's the beauty of it, one copy will be working after 40 years, other will break right after leaving the production line. They absolutely need callibration after all this time, the shutter curtains checked if they block light, the shutter speed if it's at the correct speed (again, my Zenit ET has WAY too high shutter speed at the lowest setting), and with the way these cameras were put together (they are a construction of hundreds of small elements, which are very elaborately put together), this would be a LOT of fun:3

The light meter is plain old selenium, which means it will deplete itself, and therefore will become less sensitive to light after some time (40 years in this case), giving out readings that are untrustworthy. Now i know to not use it, but then i wasn't aware and most of my photos (that were taken in harsh light) were over/underexposed.

Lens are mounted on m42, and usually these cameras are bundled with some Helios prime lens, in my case it was 58mm focal lenght.

These lens have a very specific way of rendering bokeh, as seen as a very faint (but still noticeable) circular pattern around the dog.

This camera is not recommended as a camera to take very important photos (ESPECIALLY if you are meant to take photos of your class for christmas and while winding back the film you are an absolute dumbo, and forget to do a very specific move with twisting the shutter release, resulting in tearing up the film and having like half of it destroyed :33333333333), but is you are looking for a full analog experience of using a fully mechanical camera for relatively cheap, would recommend if you find it on a yard sale (if you live in eastern europe). Tho generally to be avoided, if you want to have a better tool just save up money and buy a Minolta X-700 instead.

Photos:

B&W: Ilford HP5 400, Helios 44M-4 58mm

Colour: Kodak Gold 200, Helios 44-2 58mm

[digitalusmarket]

25 Easy and Free Knitting Patterns for Beginners

Are you ready to jump into knitting patterns but not sure where to begin? There are a vast variety of options for free and easy knitting patterns that will have you making all types of fun projects right away. Here is a complete list of 25 free knitting patterns for beginners that are best for gifting your started.

Easy Knitting Patterns for Learners and Beginners

To get started with knitting patterns, all you have to know are some basic stitches. Then add some more skills, such as increasing, decreasing, and working in the round, and you will have dozens of amazing knitting patterns to choose from! Well, there are enough knitting patterns for intermediate-advanced knitters or beginners. So you can easily knit to your heart’s content!

Read More: 25 Easy & Free Knit Dishcloth Patterns

The first thing a beginner should knit: Few of the simplest projects for first-time knitters include baby blankets, scarves, and dishcloths. All these patterns can be knitted up very quickly and require only one or two stitches.

Few things to look for the perfect project

Simple stitch pattern: Most of the patterns will tell you right in the introduction what stitches or skills you will have to know. When you get started, search for patterns like stockinette stitch, garter stitch, or rib stitch.

Increase, decrease, and easy shaping: When you are ready to start for something slightly more advanced as compared to a scarf, seek out projects that make use of skills of increasing, decreasing, and easy shaping. Hats and shawls are the best knitting projects for beginners that commonly use all techniques.

Yarn weight: Few yarn weights are simpler to knit than others. DK and worsted tend to be the easiest to handle. Once you get some projects under your belt, you can start testing with lighter and heavier weights.

Easy colorwork: Colorwork in knitting patterns is the technique of using various types of colors in your project. It might sound arduous, but it can be quite simple. Strips are the easiest type of colorwork for learners. A more complicated pattern will offer you a chart of color.

Clear instructions: Before getting started, read all the instructions. Make sure you have understood the techniques before jumping into your knitting project. This will save you from frustration as you knit. Most instructions for knitting patterns include videos and pictures so you can anticipate what you need to do.

The Best Yarn and Needles for Beginning Knitters

Yarn: worsted-weight yarn and DK are the simplest yarns for beginners. You can see your stitches with both yarns, and they won’t get tangled like other lighter-weight yarns. Each of the free patterns which are mentioned in this post includes suggested yarn weights. Be prepared to see worsted-weight and DK suggestions!

Needle: medium to large-sized knitting needles are perfect for beginners. They are simple to work with and also grip as you practice your stitches. The perfect size of the needle is 8-11 U.S.

As you knit unique projects, you will need to have a collection of double-pointed, straight, and circular needles. You can buy starter packs or a collection of needles to ensure that you have a wide variety of types and sizes of needles.

Read More: 20+ Best Gifts for Knitters in 2022

The List of 25 Knitting Patterns for Beginners to Start Knitting!

Tasseled garter stitch scarf

A scarf is the best knitting project, to begin with, for learners. The fun tassels on this stitch scarf are not tough to make, but it gives it a finished and fancy look. The second color in this pattern also adds to the fashionable look of this easy or simple project.

Baby booties

The simplest baby booties are a cute and perfect gift for a new baby. But these baby boots can be complex. On the bright side, this knitting pattern makes booties simple because it uses single-point needles and does not need any tricky shaping.

Baby sweater pattern

This pattern uses only one simple garter stitch, which utilizes a few simple shaping, one by increasing or decreasing. This is one of the great beginner sweaters, but if you are completely new to knitting, then you might want to save this knitting project until you have a scarf or two under your belt.

Seafaring scarf

With this chunky wool scarf, you will feel like you are cuddled up to the softest sheep. You can choose from almost five natural and dyed colors, in a range from this subtle and soft winter grass to rustic history nut. To make squishy ribs in this scarf, you will need to know the knitting process.

Confetti scarf

The fun colors that fill this Confetti scarf are made by knitting the project using seven unique strands of yarn. Don’t panic; it’s not as hard as it might look since the yarns tend to curl around and stick to each other as you knit. The knitting pattern even includes eight pictures of ideas for your color choices.

World’s simplest mittens

This pattern provides five different sizes of mittens. To make this, you will work in a round and knit from the cuff to the hand. After that, finish with the thumb. This is a basic knitting pattern, but it might not be acceptable for those who are brand new to knitting.

Garter stitch baby cardigan

This sweater is so sweet and cute! For this stitching pattern, you will have to make a few shaping knit button holes and then sew all the pieces together, as well as sew all the buttons on your sweater.

Garter yoke baby cardi

It’s a very simple tiny cardi with seamless raglan constructions and an I-cord button band. Also, it’s a very basic and easily adjustable knitting pattern. To knit this sweater from the top down, you have to use circular needles. If you make a small sweater, use thinner yarn and a smaller needle; if you make a bigger one, use thicker yarn and larger needles.

Flax pullover sweater

This knitting pattern is perfect for more experienced learners or beginners and includes toddlers through adults. Once you knit it correctly, the only problem you will face is that all your friends will be asking or requesting you to knit them too.

Diagonal comfort blanket

If you are searching for a cozy blanket that knits up very quickly, then this diagonal blanket is perfect for you. This pattern is made with medium-weight yarn and has a skill level of ease.

GAP-tastic cowl

This fun cowl project is best for new knitters who want to practice purling and knitting, and it’s also an amazing mindless knit for advanced knitters. With your favorite winter outfit, you can wear it and also give your friend a gift.

Cozy ribbed scarf

This is the perfect ribbed-stitch scarf that you won’t wish to take all winter long! It knits up very quickly and makes a beautiful gift to give your loved ones. For getting the perfect drape, use 100% baby alpaca yarn.

Delightful dishcloths

Making your dishcloths is the best way to make your kitchen feel more like home. These are the simple and most effective ways to create something reusable for your home. Also, this knitting pattern is free so that everyone can enjoy it. With this, you also don’t need to worry about gauge since the correct size is not essential.

Baby mitts

These tiny mittens are so adorable, fast, and best for using up extra bits of yarn. For these simple thumb less mittens, you will have to know how to work and how to increase.

Brick sweater

Brick is a simple and basic pullover as your daily sweater, and it has top-down raglan creation, which allows you to check the fit as you go. Also, this pattern is best suited to an advanced beginner.

Moonbow slouchy chunky knit cardigan

If you know the knitting, purling, and decreasing, you are able to make this chunky and cozy cardigan. When knitting the pieces, you will easily sew them together with a whip stitch.

Garter rib baby blanket

There is enough texture in this ribbed and squishy baby blanket, and it’s perfect for keeping the baby warm and snug.

The age of steam kerchief

This triangle-shaped shawl is made with stockinette stitch and definition with garter knit eyelet sections. You can create it as large or small as you want to create the perfect shawl drape for you.

Sockhead hat

This cozy hat has a ribbed brim that keeps you warm while you sport your hand-knit project. To make this hat, you must know the complete process of knitting, purling, and K2tog.

Chunky hat for beginners

This is another sung and comfortable hat for the winter seasons. You just need to knit in the round until you complete your hat, then make your pompom to keep it fun. This knitting pattern also has video tutorials walking you through the knitting procedure.

Lambing mitts

These fingerless mittens were specially created to keep the fingers of farmers warm as they catch newborn lambs at lambing time. But even if you don’t have sheep, then don’t think too much because everyone can find a time when these gloves are just what they need. Also, this pattern has complete instructions for small, medium, and large-size mittens.

Headband with a twist

If you don’t want to wear hats but keep your ears warm, this fashionable headband is best for you. It adjusts the finished length or width so that it fits your head just right.

Easy peasy socks

This is a worsted weight sock, which means they will be warm and work up quickly. Maybe it’s not the socks you need to wear every day, but you will be a less depressed sock knitter if you learn the basics of a project that you will complete quickly. You can make these socks if you can work in the round, decrease and take up stitches.

Read More: 25 Free Cardigan Knitting Patterns for Beginners

Easy knit boot cuffs

This pattern is best for learning how to knit with double-pointed needles. Alternatively, you can use the method of magic loop. With this easy handmade project, your legs will stay toasty warm.

On the bias throw pillow

Don’t miss out on this fancy or fashionable throw pillow project to fix up your living room. It is a simple way to add color choices to your home, and plus it’s perfect for beginners.

Final Verdict

When you are entirely new at knitting, you may be threatened at first, but after some rounds, you will find your stride. There are various types of beginner’s projects out there, and you get the chance to find the patterns and styles you really want. These 25 free and easy knitting patterns mentioned above will encourage you to use your acquired skills to do projects for your home.

Source:https://hariguide.com/free-knitting-patterns/

[foxgloveinspace]

@absentviolet

I hope I make since I woke up before the sun because of some thunder, but yeah DPNs can be VERY tricky, and I drop stitches off the back a lot which is so frustrating. But I’m one of those crazy people who knit their socks two at a time with the magic loop method🙈🫣🤣. Which seems really complicated at first, but it’s not! If your having trouble with dpns maybe watch some videos on magic loop?? I just do mine two at a time cause then they both fit in the exact same way and are done at the exact same time, and it’s nice cause I do have second sock curse, I think I’ve finished maybe two pairs of socks not TaaT? And they took me soooo long. And only one of those pairs was with DPNs. I only use DPNs now for like finishing hats.

(Magic loop is just dividing the stitches in half and knitting on a pair of circular needles like they are two DPNs, Two at a Time is just getting a really long pair of circulars and putting them both on the same set of needles. When I go to church with my parents I impress all the older ladies who knit and crochet lmao, I have a reputation😂😂😂).

[knitpromindful]

How to Use Stitch Markers in your Knitting?

Ask a knitter if they knit without stitch markers. The experienced ones would say it is rather unthinkable after all, they help with marking, reference and avoiding common knitting mistakes. Stitch markers are handy accessories that either sit on your knitting needles or hang on the project. You do not need a special technique to work with stitch markers. You simply place one on a knitting needle and will slip the marker from the left needle to the right. Make sure to not entangle it with working yarn.

Available in round shapes, split designs, and even lockable ones that look like safety pins. Whether you are knitting socks or blankets, stitch markers are used to mark rows, rounds, and specific areas of a project.

Marking the beginning or end of a round - Knitting in the round means knitting seamlessly without edges. It’s tricky to tell when a round begins and ends, therefore you need to place a stitch marker to mark the point. This is important whether you knit with double-pointed needles or circulars.

When following Charts - Knitting charts are like a map. The stitches are represented with symbols. While new knitters are often scared to follow the charts, advanced knitters often enjoy it. To make your knitting smoother, use a stitch marker to note the beginning and end of a color chart repeats. Even the lace knitting pattern repeats can be marked with stitch markers. Also, if something doesn’t look right, the markers can help you backtrack on the pattern. Stitch markers can be used to divide your work into manageable sections.

Decrease or Increase in patterns - Some patterns instruct to count stitches before a decrease or increase. To not count the stitches every time, place a stitch marker that will let you know when it’s time to decrease or increase.

To mark Cables and Other Special Stitches - When working on cables and other complex stitches, stitch markers are going to be your allies. Place a stitch marker every time you make the switch to the elaborate stitches. This way you can work smoothly till you get to the marker and pay attention to the chart.

To Mark a Reference Point - In a knitting pattern, you might find an instruction to work a particular stitch for a certain point, stockinette stitch for 10cm (4″). It is difficult to measure the exact length, so instead of guessing, place a stitch marker and use a tape measure for the exact figure.

To Mark Multiples of Stitches - When working a large number of stitches at a time, get help from stitch markers. Place a stitch marker every ten or twenty stitches, you will have the count. If this sounds bulky to you, work with a circular knitting needle with enough cable length to spread your stitches and see them clearly.

Given the many uses and benefits of stitch markers in knitting, it is recommended to use markers that you enjoy working with. The Mindful Collection is dedicated to the meditative aspects of knitting. Stainless steel materials, teal colours and mindful themes make this collection special. The stitch markers of the collection are pretty special too, they represent the seven ancient chakras. The very design assists you with the practice of knitting as a mindful habit. There is also a pack of teal stitch markers that comes in round, split and lockable designs. Available in diverse options for all needle sizes, stitch markers are a must in a knitter’s craft collection.

With stitch markers by your side enjoy knitting!

Source: https://ext-6117053.livejournal.com/742.html

[humble-boness]

Make sure you are careful knitting in the round. You might end up with an unneeded twist in your knitting that you cannot get rid of. I did that before, myself.

Thank you for the suggestion! I’m still not an expert on knitting and have a twisted design always frustrates me. There was one time I have to remake a hat for 3 times a day.

[elvneedleworks]

Any suggestions for beginner knitting patterns? I crochet but knitting feels so different lol

Yes! If you're absolutely brand new at knitting, I recommend getting some worsted weight yarn and size 8-10 needles and just making a 2x2 rib scarf - it's not super complex and insures you've got the basics: casting on, knitting, purling, and casting off. Cast on a multiple of 4, and all your rows are K2 P2!

Honestly, you can't go wrong with making scarfs using different individual techniques you're interested in learning. As a bonus, you end up with holiday gifts for the whole extended family by the time you've learned them all!

If you're looking to learn knitting in the round I recommend the Classic Cuffed Hat pattern! Knitting in the round can be pretty tricky, whether you use dpns (double pointed needles) or circulars. This hat uses knit stitches, purl stitches, and decreased knit stitches.

For a step up in difficulty, why not try the World's Simplest Mittens? This uses all the same stitches as the hat, but you get to learn how to make thumbs! This involves leaving some stitches unworked, as well as picking up some stitches - I definitely recommend using dpns for this one! This pattern is super great too, and has options for multiple yarn weights.

Want to tackle something bigger? The Flax sweater is a simple but pretty sweater made using knit stitches, purl stitches, knit increases, and knit decreases. That's it! I like this sweater a lot because it's top down, meaning you can try it on as you go AND there are no seams to be sewn!

If you're interested in making socks, Back to Basics: Socks is the simplest pattern I know. I'm still learning how to make socks and this pattern is the only one I've managed to make perfectly first try, which means something, right?

If you're looking to learn cables, I recommend starting with something flat, like the Infinity Trinity Cowl. It's a lot easier to learn cabling when you don't have to worry about shaping a garment too! The fingerless mittens included with this pattern are a great next step for cabling while working in the round! When you're just learning to knit, it can also be kind of daunting to pick a cast on method as well as a bind off method.

Here's instructions on four different casting on methods. Personally, I like the long tail cast on, but this one can be super tricky to get the hang of. Experiment with a couple different ones until you find one you like!

Here's instructions for... A LOT of bind off methods. I honestly haven't found a bind off method I'm 100% happy with yet, but that's okay! I'm still learning too!

I also recommend getting an app to help you count rows, there's a lot out there with different features so I'm not going to list one, but I cannot express how useful that is.

[secrettheorist]

Loving with a Lie

@xpouii I’ve finally finished the prompt you sent in to me about, fake love, drugging, and lab rats. I’m sorry it took so long, trying to find a love angle was a little tricky for me but I hope I did it justice. TW: Non-con touching.

He waltz in being his cheery self, holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers, knowing flattery would get him everywhere with her. He located her in an instant with her flaming red hair and sparkling emerald eyes, she couldn’t be anymore…evil.

It had been a month since he infiltrated the villain’s group as one of their own. His job was simple, at least he thought it was. He was just ready for the mission to be over before things…escalated. He hoped tonight he can finally get the last piece of information to bring her down one and for all.

“Sam, flowers I can’t believe you remembered.”

“Of course, I remembered, it’s exactly a month since we both came up with the perfect plan for global destruction.”

She took the flowers from his hand and smelled them sweetly before she led him into one of the labs they were using to design various chemical weapons. He looked around noticing some big changes to the room he seemed to work in constantly as she handed the flowers over to a guard to put away.

“What’s going on, I didn’t figure we were starting human trails until next week.”

“Oh I’m sorry I forgot to mention I’ve upped the date.” She snapped her fingers and all the extra security that followed them both in jumped Sam and pulled him to a table similar to an operating table. “Secure him down tight, I don’t need the little snake wiggling out of this one.”

“No, no please why are you doing this?”  

“Did you really think I would believe someone who just comes out of nowhere and appeals to my every need as a blessing or a miracle? I don’t believe in such and everything about you is a fabricated lie to get into my operation and take me down from the inside. How stupid do your people think I am? From day one I knew you were putting on a ruse to get at me, I just never expected you to actually believe it was working.”

The guards slammed Sam against the table as it only took three to restrain him. Sam definitely wasn’t a big or strong guy; his weapon was his mind. He’s team sent him in knowing his brains would match hers, they just didn’t count in the factors that she might actually see through his attempts. She caressed his cheek as he snarled jerking away.

“At least you will be good for one thing,” she cooed as she circled him tugging at his clothes underneath the belts that secured him.

“What are you talking about? I-I’m not going to be one of your test subjects!”

He hoped his words came out stronger than he felt at the moment and she ripped his shirt open and rubbed her fingers in circular motions on his chest.

“Oh no you aren’t going to be a lab rat my darling, your brain is way too useful for that. I’m going to see what that brain of yours really has stored up.” She smiled as she pushed his locks from his face, “It least you never lied about how useful you could be.”

She raised a needle filled with a off-tint red color as she slid it slowly into his forearm.  “This is just to get things started before the real fun begins, and oh you can scream if you want, I’m sure this little concoction will be anything but pleasant.” 

She shot the liquid in quick as fire erupted up his arm and straight into his head. He let out an earth shattering scream as pressed his chest down onto the table. 

“That’s it, let it out. I soundproofed it this morning before you arrived, no one will interrupt us.

[bluepenguinstories]

Intention Headaches Chapter Four

Croaking, creaky, doors to heaven or a flash of bright lights reminiscent of a distant city for gambling purposes. Seed or glitter tossed to the audience of bird; dove and pigeon swooped down from above in the guise of hundreds of humans, all ready for a night of party. Sign changed to that of a welcoming invitation, an embrace fulfilled.

Swooners and swingers, uppers and downers. Sitters and stands found their places, some on stages, some in the dimmer recesses. In the middle of it all, a mild-mannered strict enforcer of peace among chaos cleaned glasses.

Some folks, card and dice in hand, bet high stakes; those playing Russian Roulette with a full clip. Some were on their last leg. There was one, solitaire player, alone at a table, with two legs, and mouth full of stake.

She had become without arm nor ornament, having to chew the fat and whatever else was left through the means as one would have at a pie-eating contest; mouth against the table, table against the grain. Although a steak, recent losses also reduced the quality to that of a super rare rather plus ultra.

“How goes your loss of arms?” One privateer sans privacy peeked at two stumps beside a line added.

“Shit's easy 'cept can't afford prosthetic 'til our gang gets a win. Love usin' my mouth, however.”

Sage nod, wisdom as a slow up and down motion.

“Experience any phantom limb?” Phantom crook hovered over, pale and ghastly gourd in hand.

“Don't believe in ghosts.”

Damned nod dawned on hovering attention hoarders.

Toward center:

“I had a wife once,” said old friend to tender of bars.

“I know,” gave a master of tender bars.

Old friend man strolled toward former owner of arms. He relaxed a pat on a shoulder, lest a back be pat.

“One day my story will be told,” he assured more lines added.

“Yeah, and who's gonna tell it, asshole?” She shot back, less with a gun and rather chunks of meat flying from a gaping hole in a face where food at times enters. “'Cause if it's from you, it's not worth hearing about!”

His stature was far from a statue, yet his manner was monumental. Rather chipped shoulder came crashing down, upside on a frown.

“It becomes more clear.”

However, smudged was what entered from behind a hue.

“What do you have against autobiographies? My dear, a automatic biological response toward the self is a circular motion. Jerking, ever forward, sliding sleight of hand marks for a rotary notary.”

Add a shiver to a line. Creep tingled spine.

Behind, vociferous virginal cackle crackled. Stooped stature. One and only entrance, where all else was least expected.

“It has come to my attention that my family of misfits have suffered some losses!” Such an announcement. “No more! I say! We shall overcome this laboratory love, seek shelter from ourselves! Turn inward and a new leaf forward! All who join my gang today gain free drinks on me!”

Thunderous lightning in bottles.

Adeline kept head down, as head above water came skin deep.

“There are two I fear: Sylvie and Virginia.”

To the other Woolfs, howls were deafening. Fangs were spiked in drinks. Yet, when in the presence of a Virginia, her commands were akin to carrying rocks in one's pockets and heading out to sea.

Right on cue, a tunic beat sprung from leaps and bounds of snapping fingers, rickety floorboards, and pickled shoelaces. Such a hall dedicated to tango. Dancers took a new center stage. Pinstripe, tuxedo, tutu, and tunic.

“May I have this dance?” One said to the other.

“No,” other said to one.

The two proceeded to tango. Separately. Creating their own moves. Spun and hiss from the potter's wheel.

“Sing us a song, piano man!” One in the crowd cheered and jeered, a jaunty musk enchanted a nostril torpedo humanoid.

Tune in minor D, flat. Singing in major G, sharp.

“I was born in an institution, so take me to the institution. Hollow out my skull for me, baby.”

Everyone snapped their fingers, sans those without or those with taste buds. Budding tastes abased. Upper right square, centerfold, holy ritualistic loneliness devoured a devout silent speaker.

Muttered, a sufferer. Alone, red wine.

“The church claims to hand out prayers to those in need. The church claims to heal all those with wounds. But how can such wounds be shaved when they come from the hands of one above? How can prayers reach, how can one pray, when one is prey to a praying mantis?”

Her words were a sermon, to and from her alone. All those to see, herself. Though there were two, seeing her.

“Annie, the sharpshooter. Tricky, thick needle. Not one made claim to touch her.”

One of two. Pointer. Point and jeer.

“Sharpshooter or fragile flower?”

Other, drinker. Just as most. Mostly morose.

“Church. We've been over this. Bullets. She knows this.”

“Her mother keeps a keen eye.”

“Of the Sextons?”

“Not one made claim to touch her, but one.”

Turtle and porcupine pawned a torch through a blazing trail, overheard outcrop of silent words.

“Yo, Buddy?”

Turtle had a back, no shell.

“Was that my name?”

“Such a dilemma, that Annie case.”

“Which one?”

Porcupine did a sit, then pointed to a sit, then took a stand. Syd was still on the fence. Respect on a mend.

“I respect women, but what about women who disrespect women?”

Turtle dove, diving down a crown.

“Respect a little less?”

Adeline, minding less of a mind and a little more risky business, less stake for steak, took to munching carpet. Similar texture, less cost.

Decimation, ten of them. Torturous conditions. Smaller and smaller, then lesser and greater than the sum of their tears for fears. Out on the other end, next kareoke session.

“My cue!” Glee, jitter bug and shut-in cough tourist.

As all else, empty, Syd, short for a name forbidden, spoke aloud.

“MOOD CHANGE TONIGHT!” Brought impassioned introduction, then a sing along to a line of lyric. “GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUUUUN!”

Abridged, bridged gaps, two ladies took hands. Unmarried, unbridled, in bridal regalia as regal as larked tongue.

“Why do you date him?” Lustrous loss owner inquired.

“He's harmless. Undangerous man, a safe, sure bet.” She curled over her hair, flexing her neck, sticking it outward in case ladies were to observe. Star tattooed, shoreline above the mantle.

Annie, less drink, more sorrow. Sylvie, more observant, sharp gaze.

“I prefer not to comment.”

“Leader of Sextons, her mother. Weren't the three of us in the same hospital?” Less Victoria, more Virginia mouthed audible.

“I share not her views. We begin and end with being acquainted.”

“Oh, come on, dear,” Sizzled, swizzled nails. Swerved, curly hair. White, silver, grey, painted. Glasses that zoom in and out of frame. “Do we not share our fascinations with death? Look around us, we have all suffered losses. We are dead among the dead. Is that not cause for celebration?”

Silent. Serene. Hostile.

“There are a million reasons to die. There are a million reasons to live. Regardless, we all experience one and the other at one point or another.”

“Hmph. Well, darling. We could talk for days about it.”

“Between nature and nurture, I do not force hands.”

She strode her stroll toward a grassy knoll within inner chambers of a table toward the back, varnished and vanished driftwood matte. Drink, had hand tilted with glass. Knotty bramble ale, crisp to the core of an apple and cider.

“I think I don't want society, but then I think I want society because society wants me to want society,” silver, slivered Syl.

“Societal pressures?” Verge in a woman inquiry.

“More that I don't know what I want if I don't have it. But do I only not want it because it wants me to not want it? And when I want it do I want it because it wants me to want it or is it my own desire? Do I desire to live in a society, or live outside? Do I desire to live, or without?”

Another fucking sip, babes took their places, hips and waist belly dances. Boomed a bounce off another end of another corner, crowd gathered to sharks and gatherers.

“I once knew a man named Dave,” dealer dealt shame.

“Say, pal, y'bought any penises recently?”

“Couldn't afford it. Couldn't win enough missions. Tried going in, trying on different dicks. Saw a penis I liked and asked the register. Clerk clocked me. Caught me and coughed up foul interplay of lessons in lack of funds and lack of missions won. Said come back when gang's more renowned. Screwed up, balls of screws.”

“What about a vagina?”

“Those are in even rarer supplies, mate. Try buyin' pussy and folks say 'our selection is for higher ranks. Come back with a little more, no a lot. Lot and lot of renown. Everyone wants one, those who can fit into one can't afford to have one. Now, them Hemingways, too good, little respect. Ain't know what to do. Men who love men, ain't go for dick, ain't try on pussy. Tell ya what's what?”

“My life's a litter box,” interjected strands of hair attached to a face, earl and mache.

“What, Dave?”

“We talking about cats? Because I own a house full. Over 20.”

“Yes, we know, Dave.”

“Y'know,” sized up undulate leader sliced up with a ruler lines of coke. “People think I do drugs, but I DO NOT DO DRUGS. What especially gets me is when they think I do heroin. No. None in this household. I am a vegan. I AM KOSHER. There are those who would call me a post-modernist, but lemme tell you guys somethin': if you measure out the diameter of a filthy swimming pool, describe the height, length, width, dimension, how clean the pool is and what made up the filth in the pool, in details, y'know what that is? REALISM. The real post-modernism is modernism, if you ask me. If you're too afraid to do a little research, then maybe DON'T GO OUT IN THE FIELD.”

Spread out were the cocaine powder locomotive rollercoaster. Salt or sugar, bitter pickle, all snow white.

“Now, anyone want some? I can't have any, I'm allergic.”

Grime, grit, salami-based muscle, pungent four fingers and a thumb attached to a potato called a palm reached for the flour, only for Dave to slap it away.

“Just so you know, a footnote is an endnote if it's at the end.”

Syl emerged from her drink, still in.

“Problem with Hemingway, when us women are ill, we are seen as the illness. When those men are ill, they are martyrs, brave soldiers. We are sent away to a hospital. To get better. Do we get better? Do we get worse? I think we change, in and out, there is a change, no doubt.” Slow sips.

“I'M JUST A GIRL, THAT'S ALL THAT YOU'LL LET ME BEEEEEE--”

Syd's singing. Unprompted.

Syl laugh. She does on alcohol.

“Do you love him?” Virginal census.

“I think I love love,” first responders. “I think I love loving love. But do I love? I think I would love to.”

“Are you in love?”

“Is love something to you as it is to me? I love love as a being, in or out. Am I being in love? I am loving being.”

Hunched, secrets whispered, lungs scattered. Liquids spilled. Glass intact. Bile of much knotty bramble.

“With me,” virgin of the wolfs. “We have much to discuss in the toilets.”

Two ladies followed the vortex of a single file line toward a horizontal stadium of stalls for all to enter. Few leave 'til close. Moss turns, moss directional, director of dissection, wash basins full of mossy oak. Ultimate of bidets on display, only few take. Most wash, some sign off on air.

Some folk wondered what the house special of the night would be, others wondered who belonged to which gang, or which gang belonged to who. There were those who wondered what constituted ale and bourbon and who owned the bonbons.

“You're probably wondering why I decided to show my face tonight,” leader of a ton of sex, hands spread, pose in a alphabetical T.

Nobody wondered that.

“Have mercy...” Mumbling Annie chit-chattered, tiptoed through tapped toes. No one took notice.

“Our gang has received a mission. Simple one at that. Simple, poetic. Seek out a member of the church,”

Others mumbled. Muttered, even.

“I know some of my children are in the audience tonight. Sippin' on some whine, wine, whinge, chardonnay. I ask: who would be willing to make me proud? My dear husband, perhaps? Or maybe I'll return to the hospital and seek if one of the doctors would be willing to join my family,” toot, tort, ruptured spinal speech, with a hoot and a howl to boot mixed in with something afoul afoot.

Splash spot, stood up was fraught fair-minded resolute, daughter with resolve.

“I'll go.”

Crone critter crept forward, slithered toward child (adult as she were).

“Ah, yes. Annie, my dear daughter,” hands upon Annie's shoulder, only her shoulder. Only her shoulder. Still, a flinch. Nerves before determination. Flushed, relieved, two faces attached to complete figures emerged and heard.

“Knowing how she operates. Disgusting.” Silver leadership spoke up.

“No flame, no phoenix. Speak of passion, yet dejection,” verge in a wolf shared opinion.

“True leaders fight alongside their people, or better yet, be the first to die.”

“At the least, inspire passion.”

“Instead, modifications.”

More shivers, between Sylver (if ever her name), Annie (a face green of gables expressed), or the great wolf.

Outside of it all, smokers smoked in the smokers' lounge.

“Wanna go back inside?” One asked.

“Nah. Hear some of the gang leaders are in there.”

Shackled awe, tight spot for jaw.

“What would they be doing here?”

“As private as they are, leadership have every bit of access to ales and spirits as any of us.”

“Now that I think of it, Ernie's always there.”

“Ah yes, 'blood of a unicorn' kid.”

“Blood of a unicorn?”

“Very same one.”

“Damn. Blood of a unicorn. I've been to the woods once or twice. No unicorns spotted. Rabbit, yes.”

“Rabbit? In the woods?”

“Very live rabbit!”

“Rabbit?”

“Hopped along.”

“Deadass? Rabbit?”

“No, alive rabbit.”

“No way. Those haven't existed for a while.”

“Anyway, we should head back inside. Bar's about to close.”

“Still, a rabbit.”

Some shady men, couple in fact, hand in hand, looking inward. Last drinks ordered: Brisk Bristol bourbon and Tempura Tequila.

Soon after, or not long, rather seconds after counting down the hours, safety in numbers huddled from day-to-day monotony began to rain away as seconds ran dry, as did the barrels.

“My doors will close,” bartender took to announcing, image appearing within every visible area of the distracted establishment. “Get your asses out and have a lovely hunt.”

Hemingway leader set down a sturdy book.

“War is ongoing,” Ernie walked, stuck to a miniscule cycle.

“Yes, my friend,” tip of the bartending hat toward world weary pint.

Other nights, others less dry. For a street of blood, oft wanted is a lick of water.

[rynthetyn]

Current project. This is my first attempt at knitting two hats on the same set of circular needles, which was a little tricky the first few rows, but it's gotten easier now that I'm making progress. I've already made the baby version of this hat, and now I'm doing the bigger version so the cousins can all match. . . . #RynKnits #knitting #knittersofinstagram #knitstagram #knitbeanie #magicloop https://www.instagram.com/p/ChBgzsRuvmd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sidereon-spaceace]

10 facts about me

I got tagged by @archaicsextoy, so I’ll go ahead and crank these out before I get started on Nanowrimo.

I’m a noisy sleeper. There have been a few times when I was younger where I’d start to fall asleep, but then I’d wake myself up again because I’d start snoring. I think I sleep-talk a bit too. It’s probably genetic, since everyone in my immediate family snores/sleep-talks/sleep-walks to varying degrees.

One time I accidentally sprayed perfume into my eye. I was little and my mom was showing me how she put it on, spritzing it onto her wrists and then dabbing it onto her cheeks. My 6-year-old ADHD brain assumed that the goal was to get the perfume to your cheeks, so I tried to cut out the middle-man and instead ended up with an eye that stung and watered for about 3 days.

I used to take ballet classes when I was little. I don’t remember much, but I do remember playing with the chairs that were stacked in the room we practiced in, so I would get in trouble and sentenced to time out. Then I would get into more trouble, because I’d keep messing around with the chairs.

I pick at my nails. I started doing it when I was super duper young, like, I can’t remember a time before I first started doing it. Rarely, I’d end up picking the nail too short, so I tried finding ways to stop. Google was no help, because it only showed results for how to stop biting nails. Lemon juice isn’t going to do squat when my fingers never come into contact with my mouth in the first place. It was tricky finding something that worked, because I’d start picking my nails without even realizing it. Eventually I just ended up wearing gloves whenever I wasn’t sleeping, showering, or eating. Recently, i’ve picked the habit up again. Turns out, typing with gloves on is a lot easier than I expected.

I hate night driving. I think I may have a condition, and I’m planning to get an eye exam in the near future. At night, street lights and headlights have this glowing circular halo or aura. If I squint, rays of light seem to shoot out in all directions. Sometimes I don’t even have to squint. As a kid, I thought it was really cool, but I hate driving at night because it gets really disorienting, and it’s almost more blinding than driving around at high noon. And I live in Arizona, so that’s saying something.

I really hate how velvet feels. Like, not just when you brush it the wrong way. Even brushing the right way, it just...feels pretentious, if that makes any sense. Like this fabric knows it’s generally seen as fancy and crap, and wow don’t I feel so soft and luxurious? No, you don’t. You feel like I’m running my fingers through radio static and my fingers are curling up just thinking about it. Give me soft polyester blends, I don’t give a fart. 

I’m unable to give blood or donate plasma, even though it’s something I’d really like to do. I signed up for a blood drive in high school, and when they gave me the form with the required heights and weights on it, I assumed it was a misprint or something. Turns out it wasn’t, and I was entirely too small to give away a whole pint of my blood. Now, even if I gained enough weight, I’ve taken ADHD medications (i.e., amphetamines) so if I’m not barred from giving blood for life, at the very least it’s gonna be a while.

I used to be in a Scottish pipe band. Every Thursday, we’d meet up at some church. The bagpipers would practice in a separate room while the snare and tenor drummers would go to the library. I was a tenor drummer, which means I got to show off. The mallets have a tether that you wrap around your fingers, so that way when you’re not actually playing your drum, you twirl them around. It’s called flourishing and it was pretty fun! I kinda want to get my hands on some mallets and see if I can still remember the moves I learned. We’d actually enter competitions and stuff at Scottish cultural festivals. And yes, the uniform involved a kilt.

I seem to pick up crafts and home skills really quickly. To some extent, I know how to sew, knit, cross-stitch, and bake. I’m also pretty good at folding origami. My muscle memory is pretty good apparently, because I picked up kniting again for the first time in months, dare I say over a year, and I didn’t have to glance at youtube or anything. I just picked up the needles and went at it. And keep in mind, I do these things very sparingly. I’d often work on something for a few days or a week or two at a time, and then I’d loose interest or get distracted by other stuff.

I’m a really good swimmer. It was a bit of a revelation when I learned that not everyone grew up taking swim lessons every summer at the public pool since age 5 up to age 14. After that, I joined the pool’s junior lifeguard program, and then I was in my high school’s swim team for freshman year. I’m not fast by any means, and I never really put in the effort to get good at endurance, but apparently I have very good form. Two of my roommates last semester begged me to teach them how to properly swim (I found out i’m not very good at teaching, sorry guys). I know all the strokes, and if I have the option, I much prefer exercising by swimming laps. You don’t get all hot gross and sweaty, it works out all of your muscles, and i just really, really love being in the water.

And that does it, 10 facts about myself! I’m gonna tag @relativelynerdy, @transtoast, and @emedealer, if you guys wanna do it.

[20dollarlolita]

Hand-sewn scallop trim

Lace is expensive. At the fabric superstore that I spend a lot of time at, lace can sell for as much as $25 a yard.

This ball of string was $2. And look at that, it comes with free lint!

This ball is polyester kite string (because this is part of the 20dollarlolita No Fabric Store Challenge, and you can find it in the hardware store), but size 20 or 30 crochet string will work just as well.

You’re going to need something to put your edging onto. Try it on a purse or a headbow for your first try. A skirt hem will take you roughly 4 years. Collars are tricky, because a collar frames your face, so uneven spaces become very obvious.

You’ll also need a needle that has an eye large enough for your thread to go through, and a medium to long length, but that also has a point sharp enough to easily go through your fabric.

I used the largest needle in a little circular package of “assorted needles.”

It’s a good idea to do five or six practice scallops before you go onto the finished piece. There’s only two tricks to this technique, but they’re both important.

If you’re doing this technique as an edging or on a hem, you’re going to have a fold or seam to come out of.

And back in it goes. The width of this stitch determines the width of your scallop.

Bring your thread back to the side that you started on. Don’t pull the loop tight. It needs to stay as its own little loop. The amount of thread in this loop determines how deep the scallop will be, or how far away the center of the scallop will be from the edge of the fabric.

Now you need to tie a knot at the edge of your scallop. This is very important, because without this knot, the scallops will pull thread from each other and become very uneven in size.

Any knot that keeps the scallop in place works. Here’s a close-up of the one I use, with allegedly helpful arrows.

Note that the needle isn’t going through fabric here. It’s just knotting around the string.

Do a little line of thread loopies. I find that it’s much easier to do five or six at a time, than to try to tackle the whole piece at once.

There are two things that make this technique look good. The first one is getting these thread loopies the same distance apart from each other, and the same size within the loopie. If you need to, make guiding marks on the wrong side of your fabric.

Start working back the way you came. We’re going to cover that thread loop in blanket stitches.

The blanket stitch looks like the left, and the buttonhole stitch looks like the right. The difference between the two is that the blanket stitch goes behind the needle one time, and the buttonhole stitch goes behind the needle twice.

Here’s a(n unfocused) picture of a scallop I did with the buttonhole stitch. It’s a different look than the blanket stitch, but neither is incorrect. Consistency across the whole scallop is more important than if it has the buttonhole purl along the edge.

On this one, I used the blanket stitch. It makes for a softer edge and a softer lace. It’s also about twice as fast for me to do, just because of muscle memory I’ve built up. Blanket stitches are easier to slide around on the foundation loop, which gives you more wiggle room (ha!) for getting the tension right.

As this picture shows, you can make the stitch in the center of the loop, and then slide it to the side when you tighten it. This also makes the process go much faster.

There’s the two things that will make or kill this technique, and here’s one. The stitches need to be nearly identical. Don’t cram too many stitches onto a loop, but don’t leave space between them. Get all the edges of the loops all in the same direction. Don’t pull the stitches all the way tight, but don’t let them get floppy. There’s about 15 things to keep an eye out for, but they all sum up to “make it look good.” This little finicky business is why it’s important to do about ten practice scallops before you start on your final project.

Once you’re done, tie off your thread, and start aligning the loops. Give it some quality time with you making sure a scallop is perfect, and then pressing it with your iron so it stays perfectly aligned.

And then you’re done! All the lace edging you can want, for the cost of a ball of string.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

I remember reading a prompt about Tony being a knitter but no one being the wiser until Bucky figures it out because he wakes up at the wrong moment. I would really like something done in the Knitting Tony verse :D, maybe the others asking for comissions and Bucky trying to help. I'm a knitter so I loved that prompt

A/N: I apologize in advance if I got some of the terminology wrong. Mytranslation tools aren’t all that helpful with knitting expressions. Oh and: theway Tony teaches knitting to Bucky is the way my mom taught me. :)

Knitting Tony Part 1

 The morning after the big reveal, Bucky wearsthe first sleeve he ever received (gray with Basketweave) like a badge of honorand Tony just knows that his ears are fire red. Steve is the first to ask andTony already has a terrible feeling about their reaction when Bucky proudlytells them the truth. At first, there is stunned silence. One that lasts formaybe a minute until the group around the breakfast table erupts in a cacophonyof voices and it takes Tony at least as long to decipher what they’re allshouting and chattering. But what he hears completely stuns him: Bruce wants toswap patterns and discuss techniques, Steve praises his handiwork, Natashawants to know when and how he learned knitting, Thor wants to become hisapprentice since a celebration for his mother is coming up and he wants to makesomething for her and Clint genuinely requests a sleeve for his bow ‘because Idon’t want her to freeze during cold missions’.

To say that Tony is dumbfounded may be anunderstatement. And when he looks at Bucky, his boyfriend simply smiles at himlike there was never a doubt about this outcome.

(please beware the ‘read more’ ♥)

♠

Just like his older friends, the team is soonrewarded for their loyalty. Clint gets his bow sleeve, a dark purple, almostblack acrylic yarn in simple Basketweave but with black and lighter purpleshading in the right places so Clint’s baby looks like a comic book recurvebow, Natasha receives a dress out of rich chestnut colored merino wool with amix of patterns and Steve gets to adore his royalblue sweater with swirling cable and celtic knot pattern. With Bruce and Thor, Tonymeets pretty regularly for a tiny knitting circle which is kind of nice.

But it doesn’t stop there and the requests keepcoming. Natasha subtly tries to trade knitted goods for special Russian andself-defense lessons, Clint begs for a blanket when Lucky’s not feeling sowell, Bruce proposes a collaboration on pillowcases for the living room, Janeneeds a dress for her handfasting ceremony with Thor, Steve thinks a few ovenmitts would come in handy, and, and, and.

On one hand, Tony’s elated and he startsknitting more openly in the common areas, but at the same time, he starts tofeel overwhelmed by the additional projects. Where knitting has been a refuge,a way of calming himself down, something he doesn’t need to think about much,something to look forward to, it’s starting to become a chore. He hates to thinkabout knitting that way but he also doesn’t want to disappoint his friends andso he keeps on knitting whenever he doesn’t need his hands for other things.

♠

Bucky, in the meantime, proves to be a perfectboyfriend once again: He doesn’t ask for anything but still gets excited aboutevery knitted piece Tony gifts him and he helps out whenever he can. He sitswith Tony to keep him company, fetches new balls of wool whenever Tony runs outand lends his hands to Tony when the genius has to unravel a part and doesn’twant his yarn to become the next Gordian Knot.

It’s sickeningly domestic and Tony loves it.

♠

“Can you show me?” Bucky blurts out one calmSunday afternoon when they’re sitting on the couch watching some movie. Tonylooks up from where he was working on a rather tricky part of Jane’s dress andblinks in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Can… would you show me how to knit? – It looksso soothing and… nice.“ he shrugs and smiles a bit at which Tony simply meltsinside.

“Sure! Of course! Let me just-“ Tony untangles himselffrom his project, sets it neatly aside and rummages around in his knitting basketuntil he finds a rest of simple, yellow wool and circular knitting needles soBucky doesn’t have to worry about his first test piece falling off the end ofhis needles. Then he leans back into Bucky and pulls about a foot and a half ofyarn from the ball.

“With the first row you usually determine howwide your piece is going to be.” He then shows how much yarn to leave for a fewinches of cloth and explains how to weave yarn around the fingers of his lefthand to cast on. Tony then proceeds to cast on 20 stitches and talks throughthe two first rows in which he shows Bucky left and right stitches before heunravels the whole thing and passes needles and the end of the yarn to Bucky.

It takes a few minutes but Bucky learns quicklyand soon he’s got his first few rows with only minor hickups. There are still afew stitches right when they should be left and the other way around but Tonysimply shows him how to go back and correct the mistakes. Bucky is still slowbut elated and after a little while Tony returns to his own project and the twoof them knit in perfect harmony.

Perfect, until Tony feels Bucky tense next tohim. His boyfriend freezes and lets out a quiet curse. Tony looks over to whereBucky is holding his needles like a raw egg.

“Tony?” The plea is sheepish but Tony isn’t alltoo worried. To be honest, he’s kind of been waiting for it.  “I think I just lost a stitch.”

„Don’t worry.“ Tony quickly assures him. Hesaves his own work, picks up his trusty crochet hook and shows Bucky how tosave a lost stitch.

♠

Over the course of the next few weeks, Bucky isan eager student who learns to experiment with left and right stitches as wellas casting on and off, how to finish a piece, and how to use different colors. Hethen starts to take over the simpler requests of the team like the oven mittsfor Steve and a scarf for Darcy.

When Bucky presents Tony with his firstsweater, a simple knit red sweater with grey cuffs, neckline and hemline, Tonyblurts out his first ‘I love you’ and proceeds with thanking Bucky thoroughlyfor the garment.

It doesn’t fit perfectly and still has a fewwrong stitches but it instantly becomes Tony’s favorite.

 - Auri

[so-very-small]

So, I was knitting a while ago and of course my thoughts wandered to g/t, because for ages I’ve been trying to figure out how I could knit as a tiny, and that lead to thinking about how other crafts would work out in a g/t setting. (Note that these are all from a tiny’s perspective because that’s just how I think, but I’m working on a similar list for giants that I’ll probably add later ^^)

Knitting would actually be pretty easy? Depending on your size thread could be the relative size of yarn for beans, and knitting needles could be carved out of twigs and sanded down to make them smooth (straight needles and dpn’s, circular ones would take a bit more tweaking). The only major problem I’d see is getting the needles the proper size to work with the yarn (too large/small causes too loose/tight knitting respectively), but that could be figured out with some test swatches while sizing the needles. Also: you could probably easily carve a crochet hook if crochet is more up your alley.

Painting would be super interesting. Assuming you have the means to press flowers, you can easily dry out some white flowers and use them as canvases! They may be a tad delicate, but with scaling down strengths I imagine they wouldn’t give tinies too much trouble. As for paints, one could crush up various kinds of berries for different shades. Maybe even diluting them with water, and then layering them to make it appear lighter/darker? For brushes, animal fur tied about the end of a stick and cut at the end works. (I’ve seen regular sized people even use their own hair for art, if you wanna do that).

Makeup would actually be fairly easy! (And makeup totally counts as an art, I will fite). Back before we had the means to make modern day medicine, a lot of older cultures simply used crushed up berries to tint their lips. Given that lip stains can also be used to give color to cheeks, you got lipstick and blush right there. Assuming your careful, you could probably use some berry-juice-stain to tint your eyelids. If you can get your hands on spices and they’re fine enough of a powder to apply, you can use cinnamon or similar colored spices as contour powder or to fill in your eyebrows. And if you can get coconut oil and mix it with a tad bit of your spices, you got eyeliner! (I’m pulling all of this from memory and internet recipes btw, if you intend to use any of this irl I’d probably recommend reading up on recipes/warnings first).

Culinary arts would be a bit tricky. I imagine cooking would be wonderful, provided you had a safe place to make a fire, and a place to “borrow” ingredients/spices from. Plus, given that tinies are small enough to eat things like bug meat, minuscule fish, and other things along those lines, they could make some pretty damn neat new recipes. Baking would be a bit more tricky because it’s less art and more science; there’s more leeway than one would think but absence of things like baking powder/soda or proper amounts of flour or a oven-setup that can bake things consistently, that can break a recipe. I think baking as a small is definitely possible, but would take a ton of planning to get the right things, and a lot of experimentation to nail down recipe ratios and baking times.

From a few quick google searches, it seems relatively easy to make a simple clay. Flour and salt, or glue and cornstarch, or baking soda and cornstarch, any of those combos added to various ratios of oil or water. I imagine substituting dirt might work? It all depends on the objects you can get a hold of, but if one does get kitchen-grade ingredients they can easily shape some tiny-sized mugs and plates. (Wouldn’t recommend it with the dirt clay, imho). Honestly I don’t know much about pottery, as in what you can and cannot make without access to certain tools/a pottery wheel, but I imagine someone well versed in pottery could find ways to keep their art going as a tiny.

This topic has been on my mind for days, different expressions of creativity is super important to me and I doubt that’d change as a tiny. If you have any related ideas, feel free to add on, I’d love to hear em ^^

[buildingshitwithcrab]

Ye Crochet Cotton Shower Pouf

I didn’t really make any new year’s resolutions, beyond the broad but vital “finish stuff”. To that end, I’ve been trying to avoid working on anything but my giant infinity-scarf-thing* until it’s done, because it’s been a demotivating pain in the ass, but

my current store-bought ‘natural’ net shower poof unraveled a couple of months ago

you kind of just have to hold it wadded together

it’s bullshit that you’re supposed to buy a new one every month

the ‘natural’ ones are about $3 each at Meijer, which isn’t a lot until you think of it as $20-$36 (depending on how long ‘til they unravel) a year just in poofs

I never seem to remember to get one when a) I’m there and b) $3 isn’t a big deal

a pattern for making one out of cotton yarn just happened to show up on youtube last night

cotton yarn can be thrown in the wash, after a week, instead of the trash, after a month

It would probably take ~3 hours, if you didn’t keep pausing over an evening and an afternoon, like I did. Only thing I did differently was chain 15 for the handle, instead of 12. It’s a loop--it doesn’t really affect anything, but I thought a little bigger was just a good idea. It’s only tricky when you start on the scrubber tentacles, as the base is awkward to hold onto, but the further you go, the faster you get at it. I haven’t used it yet, but it’s really dense and plush. Very nice feel to it.

The majority of the poof is a half-ball of natural Sugar’n’Creme that I think came out of that outlet bag of yarns. It had enough to do everything but the last two rounds of tentacles, which came from a variegated S’n’C that I know I balled up from the outlet bag.

It’s something I actually needed, so I don’t feel bad about putting the scarf-thing on hold for it. And I saw it through until it was done, so that’s still in keeping with this year’s mission, I feel.

*the infinity-scarf-thing is little more than a way to use up a gigantic ball of Bernat Blanket gray that I accumulated a year or two ago. I love chunky yarns, usually, but I have learned to hate BBlanket intensely. It’s way too big to crochet with--at least, if you want the final product to be flexible like the blanket it’s named after--and is so big that to knit with it, you have to use circular needles. My only circulars this big (15) are bamboo, and they suuuuuuck for letting this chenille-like shit slide along the needles. Aluminum needles would probably be much better. Any stitch pattern but stockinette (which is at least one of my favorites) looks like indiscernible shit to me.

The yarn is soft! It doesn’t fray, nor break easily! It doesn’t seem to pill nor shed! The color is great! But oh my god, there is nothing to do with it, that I actually like. Maybe it’s meant for weavers, but forgot to put that on the label. So, I’m making a stockinette scarf-tube-shawl-whatever that can at least be folded up, as opposed to the giant ball that’s just been sitting around, taking up space. There’s like $30 worth of yarn, all together, which feels like too much to just donate the damn thing, which is another annoyance. “Blanket”? No, Bernat, you should’ve named this shit “Hubris”. Or “Icarus”. “Monkey’s Paw”. This is the most irritating yarn ever, and it’s got nothing to do with the texture.

[zippdementia]

Part 30 Alignment May Vary: In for the Long Hall (sic)

The water trapped room slams shut behind them as they exit, Karina’s tampering having disrupted it for now. They cannot go back, so the players must go forward. But first, they decide to add a new member to the team.

Long ago, the players defeated an enchantress known as “Rose,” and Karina stole her magic book, setting her on the path to multi-classing into wizard. Now, Karina decides to cast one of the spells she studied so long to learn. She casts find-familiar.

Guts of Barghest. Ground bone dust. A hot fire. Blood of a demon. Purified water. Such were a few of the items in the list of components needed for the spell. Karina did not know where she would have found the guts of a Barghest, but she had seen plenty of bones in her journey, and she happened to have a steady supply of demon’s blood, being a Tiefling. Anyway, Rose’s component pouch (which she had also stolen) had the remainder of the items (at least she guessed the dried out entrails which looked like fat worms were the guts of an unfortunate Barghest).

The rest of the instructions were as complex as the ingredient list, but Karina had studied them for weeks and found, as she did with most things magical, that understanding seemed to come to her less than a gut feeling that led her movements and gave the words she spoke power.

The ritual took an hour to complete, while her companions rested on the landing as best they could, their armor loosened so as to give some relief from its weight.

Near the end of the ritual, things became loud. Booming laughter echoed from the circle she had drawn in chalk on the floor. Smoke exploded in small puffs with sounds like the cracking of skulls. And then, in the midst of one of the puffs of smoke, a shape formed.

It was small. It had wings and also a tail. Its body was humanoid with a few distortions that made the whole thing seem wrong somehow, a hodge podge of elements like the tail and the horns and the flat pig nose and the sharp row of needle-like teeth that lined the too-large mouth.

“Mistress Rose?” the small creature asked. “Moonglum has come back to answer your call!”

It takes a little explanation to get the imp caught up the speed and a little cajoling to get him to agree to work with the party. Then, with her new imp familiar, Karina begins to scout out the remainder of the dungeon, as they plan their next move. Their goal: find the end of the tomb. The obstacle: this isn’t the real tomb.

Haggemoth always knew that his legend would attract tomb robbers and he needed to be left in peace to complete his master plan, his life’s opus. Furthermore, because of the many blockades he had put in place to actually finding his tomb, he knew that anyone who did come would be either (a) a powerful and hungry monster from the jungles of Rori Rama, or (b) a proven group of adventurers who likely had experience in traversing deadly places deep under the world.

Because of this, he built two tombs. First, he dug out tunnels inside the mountain and layered these halls with traps and the trappings of a crazed wizard, hoping to frighten adventurers away (or kill them) before they could get to his real tomb. Only this wasn’t meant to be a tomb. Deep beneath the mountain, Haggemoth has his true home, a place of magical comforts and research, only dangerous because Haggemoth’s final preparations didn’t go as planned and chaos ensued as a result. But more on that later.

For now, the players begin exploring the second part of the upper levels, rooms 17-25 on the map below. With Moonglum looking for traps and dangers, they soon discover that there are dangers all around them, including walls that slam together and a strange fungal growth breaking through the secret door leading to room 19. Room 20 controls the water trap, but there is a dead man here with his face burnt off from steam. They take his helmet of telepathy and some unidentified healilng potions he had on them, which they get very nervous about when I tell them (innocently) to record them as “Dead Man’s Potions” (note to self: if you want your players to drink a potion, maybe don’t put “dead” in its title).

The biggest threat comes from the shaded hallway to the east, amrked 23 on the map. This is a complex conveyor belt trap whose function they discover by using the crystal ball from the tomb of Udo the Grey and some experimentation. When activated, it  turns the floor into two conveyor belts that run towards the middle of the hall, depositing anyone unfortunate enough to be caught on them into a set of industrial strength grinders that can easily be an instant kill (or at least a permanent loss of a limb). This terrifies them, rightly so, and they decide they need to find a way to turn this trap off before proceeding.

Eventually the players proceed north, which they deem the most safe passage, taking a winding set of stairs down to a large room with a single solitary statue...

Cloaked

“That has to be a trap,” Karina said to the group.

“Oh most certainly,” Tyrion said.

“It would seem to make sense,” Xaviee added.

“Why would it be trapped?” Abenthy asked, the one voice of dissent. 

The statue in question was tall and seemed very old, judging by the battered feet and the areas where paint had peeled away and become mildewy in the cold damp of the chamber. They couldn’t see much beyond the feet, for draped over the statue was an old leather cloak, large enough to cover most of its features.

Karina’s mind went through a half dozen possibilities, none of them good. Was the statue a hibernating gorgon, having been defeated at last moment by a cloak of slumber wrapped over it? Would they release its terrifying gaze when they removed the cloak? Or was this the sign of a lurking basilisk, who waited for adventurers to wander into its lair and then trapped them here? Karina quickly looked over her shoulder at the one entrance to the room, almost sure she could hear soft padding footsteps descending the stairs towards them. Maybe the cloak was magically cursed, set here to entice adventurers, and then  draining them of their abilities the longer they wore it.

“Let’s leave,” she said. “This is too obvious, too easy. We need to leave this room now.”

If Abenthy heard the panic in her voice, he ignored it. “We leave no stone unturned. It’s the only way we will find Haggemoth. Justice will protect us.”

And saying no more, he reached for the cloak. They had a glimpse of the statue underneath, the face either worn smooth by the years or left blank intentionally by its creator. Either way, it was non descript, and it did not come to life to attack them. But the cloak shifted in Abenthy’s hands, wrapping itself around his arm, his chest, his face. Before any of them could react, it was pressed tight against him and they could hear a terrible grinding and gnashing, accompanied by a muffled yell of dismay, as something wet and messy happened underneath the cloak.

Xaviee ran forward, but suddenly a whiplike tail emerged from the folds of leather and its spiked end caught him in the chest. He coughed once, then collapsed in a crumpled heap. Tyrion ran to help him.

Karina lowered her bow and instead conjured up a skeletal hand, which clawed and pulled at the cloak, leaving dark red splotches where its necrotizing touch damaged whatever the thing was, but it was unable to break it away from Abenthy.

Abenthy fell to one knee, making a deep choking sound.

“It’s suffocating him!” Karina yelled.

“Working on it,” Tyrion mumbled, as he drew his lute and began to strum madly at the instrument. The melody that came forward sank deep into Karina. It raised the hairs on the back of her neck and made her feel ill, like the world was tilting madly. The sensation passed quickly, thankfully, but that was because it wasn’t targetted at her. The creature left Abenthy with a deep sorrowful moan, peeling away to reveal a wingspan like that of a Manta Ray, and a pale underbelly with a gaping fanged hole. The creature drifted into the air as if on an unseen wind and gracefully floated from the chamber. Karina darted forward behind it and slammed the door shut.

“A Cloaker!” Karina said. “We have to hold the door!”

“What in the bloody hell is a cloaker?” asked Tyrion, running to join her. Xaviee limped after him, to add his weight to the door.

“What we just saw—that’s a Cloaker. Abominations, they inhabit the old places of the world. Not very common to see one anymore. They live on rodents, mostly, but aren’t adverse to a larger meal when they can get one.”

The door suddenly shuddered, as the fear spell wore off and the Cloaker came back, seeking its prey.

“For something that seemed made of cloth, it certainly packs a punch,” Tyrion said as the door shuddered again and cracks appeared in the thick wood.

“Open them, and I will tear the beast in half,” Abenthy growled, getting to his feet. The Aasimir’s face was a hideous red color, punctured in multiple spots by deep circular wounds from which blood flowed freely. He staggered towards the door, drawing his longsword with a schinking sound that hung in the air like a spell. He flung open the door and raised the blade... but nothing was there.

“Tricky creatures, cloakers,” Karina said quietly. “We have to be on guard. They can disguise themselves in the most clever of ways. I read about them in that book from Celaenos. One man, Vollo, describes how a Cloaker settled over a pit trap, looking just like the floor. When Sir Griswald stepped on it, it dropped him onto the spikes and then floated down while he was impaled to feast on him. It kept him alive while it ate, and left him ultimately to bleed out on the spikes. We need to keep our eyes open.”

As she talked, the four companions had begun to ascend the spiraling staircase out of the room, keeping their eyes everywhere: ceiling, floors, walls, cracks in the walls.

Then, as they came to the top of the stairs, they saw in front of them a hanging leathery curtain. It definitely had not been there before and its level of conspiciousness in the setting of the tomb was ridiculous.

“Clever, huh?” Abenthy said, and strode forward to rip the Cloaker in half.

And that’s what happens when a Cloaker rolls a critical failure on a hide check.

The Long Hall

“We are not alone.”

Moonglum was shaking as he said it, the tiny imp looking over his shoulder and biting his long fingernails in a display of fear that would be comical if they weren’t inside a deadly tomb.

When he described the creature that had pulled itself from a crack in the ceiling back near the water room, the three companions knew that the skeletal centipede-like monster had caught up with them. They stood in the place where the four corridors came together, the only light Tyrion’s magically illuminated hand. Their voices were soft but still cast unsettling echoes all around them.

“We are dead,” Abenthy said.

“Not so,” Tyrion chided. “What if we run? We have the headstart on it? We could lock ourselves in the statue room and hold our ground, or run through the long hallway.”

Abenthy scoffed. “So we either make a last stand or sprint over a deadly trap? Doesn’t seem like that would improve our odds.”

“Where is your optimism?” Tyrion asked with a grin that was more than half manic.

“I am practical, not optimistic. False optimism only leads to grave dissappointment.”

“I believe you about the grave part, certainly.”

“Quiet, all of you,” Karina said, who had been studying the hallway in front of them with rapt attention. “We have only moments to pull this off.”

In seconds she explained the plan. They would bait the creature, using her illusion magic to create a false image on the trapped long hallway of the party. If the skeleton bought the illusion, it would hopefully charge and then be caught by the trap. There was only one catch...

“To cast that spell, you have to be within sight of the hall,” Tyrion said. As a fellow student of magic, he knew the restrictions. “Which means it will walk right past you.”

Abenthy looked from one of them to the other. “Can you drink our potion of invisibility?”

“No,” Karina responded. “The casting of the spell will cancel the effects of the potion. I will have to trust that it is more interested in the illusion than in me. I have my boots of Elvenkind and my cloak, I may be able to—”

“No.” Abenthy’s voice was firm. “No, we will come up with another plan. We will make our stand in the statue room. I do not like this. It puts you in too much danger.”

Karina tilted her head slightly and regarded Abenthy with the deep black pools of her eyes, hearing somethign in his voice that she had never detected, or suspected before.

“I don’t like it either,” she said gently. “But we cannot stand against that thing, nor run from it. We are weaker and slower. But we may be smarter. It is our only chance.”

Before she could say more, Xaviee emerged from the darkness, breathing heavily. “I saw it. And it saw me. It’s coming. We have moments to run.”

Abenthy looked sideways at Karina. “We are not running,” he said. “Karina has a plan.”

Thirty seconds later, Abenthy, Tyrion, and Xaviee had disappeared down to the statue room, using the helmet of telepathy to keep in touch with Karina, who was now alone at the crossroads. Down the hallway, an image of Tyrion and Abenthy sat with their backs against a wall, seeming to sleep. She hoped it was enough. The image seemed distorted to her eyes. There was a limit to this kind of illusion, and she was pushing it past its boundaries. Abenthy was squatter than in real life, Tyrion’s clothes less colorful. They made no sound—she wished she could make them make sound—and altogether she felt that if she were to see the image in the hallway, she would question it. But then, these were her companions. To her they meant friendship, comraderie, and life. To the monstrosity they were food, perhaps, or maybe just interlopers in its world, something to be killed. To such a beast, the details might not matter.

She heard the sound of bone scraping against stone as the creature emerged into the fourway corridor. She pressed herself back against the wall, not daring to breath, trying to control her shaking. It was huge. It didn’t have hands. The bones that made up its arms and legs were sharp and stunted into tusk-like appendages that it slammed into the floor and wall to steady its bulk as it moved along the corridor. This close, she could see the dried blood on its front arms. Her blood, she realized, from when it had attacked them before.

The creature pulled itself along the corridor, barely ten feet from her. Its skeletal head turned back and forth and she heard a raspy sigh emerge from it. It looked at her and paused. But it was only an instant. Then the head moved on and saw what she had put down the hallway. It rasped again. Its four front arms lifted up like the mating sign of a praying mantis. It tapped the bones against the walls in a stacatto beat.

And then it turned back towards her hiding place.

No, she thought, and it was all the time she had before the thing was moving. But it wasn’t moving towards her. Its head snapped back to center as it screeched and charged the illusion she had made. And a moment later the hallway was filled with noise as the floor came alive. The floor stones lifted and sunk back into the wall, pieces of granite and an ocean of dust cascading off of it as it shifted. Underneath the stone was a moving belt. The floor tilted downward slightly and the belt was pulling the creature forward towards the grinders at its center, massive metal discs that cracked together like the teeth of some angry god. The skeleton’s own momentum was its downfall. It tried to skitter to a halt, but its speed was incredible and its body whipped around on the belt, turning it to face Karina, pulling it backwards until it got caught by those teeth and with a scream began to be eaten by them.

Karina watched in fascination as the bones exploded into fine white powder as half of the skeleton’s body was pulled between the grinders. Only briefly did they seem to halt under the enormouse beast being fed them. But they never truly stopped and the speed at which they decimated the bone was shocking.

But then the beast was moving, pulling itself up. Appendages dug into the stone walls and it ripped itself front half free from the lost back half. The torso began to climb up to the ceiling and then back towards her. She tried to raise her bow, but fear had finally taken hold of her mind. It was coming, so fast for something so injured, and she could do nothing, and her plan had failed afrer all.

Not failed, a voice in her head said.

Abenthy was there beside her, then. He tapped the telepathy helmet on his head knowingly and smiled for the first time in weeks. A flash of light erupted near him as Tyrion cast spell after spell at the creature, his bardic voice singing out the words to the spells. Xaviee was firing arrows at the beast. And then Abenthy cast his own spell and a massive spectral greatsword appeared in front of the creature. It sliced and the bones came free from the ceiling. It fell with a cry and was carried backwards again, into the grinder, into its doom.

And then the halls of Haggemoth echoed for the first time in their history with the sound of cheers and victory.

Noxious Growth

The companions cheer does not last forever. They have just seen a massive beast get chewed to dust by the trap in front of them and are understandably wary of approaching it themselves. They know that there are devices in this dungeon which shut down traps and so they determine to find the one for this hallway.

On a (correct) hunch, they head south, to the room where they found a secret door with a fungal growth coming through it. Abenthy, immune to disease, opens the door, enters room 19, and...

Even knowing that whatever spores or infection lingered here could not hurt him due to his divine background, Abenthy could not help but cover his mouth and nose as he entered the room, as if it could actually help protect him.

The room was thick with fungus. Every spot of the floor and walls were covered in a violet tapestry of interwoven strands of mold. Every step he took, his steel clad feet crushed the delicate rug and sent up explosions of a violet dust—more of the spores, he knew. It was impossible to tell what the room’s purpose had once been. Its only decoration now was a body.

It was a curious corpse. It hung suspended at the far end of the room, wrapped in a thick web of the mold strands. It was definitely humanoid, but its features had eroded, leaving fungal growths where limbs should have been. The feet were still barely discernible, though melded together into a fleshy mass. The head lacked most features except a gaping, too-wide hole where perhaps the mouth had once been.

As Abenthy stared, that mouth suddenly closed and then opened and a clicking sound began to emerge from it, like a tongue rapidly tapping against the roof of a mouth. The body began to gyrate madly in its prison. Abenthy raised his shield and only this saved him from death. Acid spewed forth from the mouth in a projectile vomit that went fifteen feet across the room, splashing against the shield. Even so, the air around Abenthy suddenly shimmered with heat and his lungs burned as spores began to burst into small explosions all around him. He grabbed a javelin from his side and threw it, cleanly impaling the gyrating corpose. It clicked at him in response and continued to push at the confines of its webbing. Abenthy backed up and bumped into something. He spun, ready to see another of the creatures having snuck up behind him, but it was Karina, her eyes wide at the sight of the horrendous room.

“Out!” she commanded, and then she pointed a hand at the creature. A skeletal hand ripped at its chest and the effect was terrifying to see. Where the claws touched, the fungus rotted and died, almost instantly. A gaping wound was left in the creature’s chest and it screamed for the first time, a horrible half human sound like a man trying to cry for help from underwater. The creature strained again and this time the webbing broke and it fell to what passed for its feet. Then it was charging them...

This is yet another time I have dipped into Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts. It really is the second monsters manual I always wanted from DnD 5 and my most used third party supplement. First of all, it has some tough monsters, nicely filling out the later level gaps left by the original MM. Also, each encounter, whatever the CR, is simply interesting. Each monster has a mechanic that adds to the tactics of the system, whether it is dealing with poisons, grapples, pushes and shoves, or diseases (as in this case). I drew inspiration from this book to create several of my own monsters, including the Skele-Pede and I can’t recommend it highly enough for 5th Edition DMs.

This particular beastie is a Mindrot Thrall and I cannot detail exactly what its infectious spores do, because it is very possible that at least one of my non-Aasimir players has become infected by it and I don’t want to spoil the surprise when they read this.

Suffice to say, they do end up defeating the creature, as it vomits forth acid and spores and makes a mess of the rooms. They then push on, find the trap mechanism, and clear the way for next time’s post: Ever Deeper.

[dabbierose]

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