#e. spindle

[rocknout]

the voice was back and elspeth was about to have a shit fit. she didn't know what the nightmare was saying but it's rhyming, it's oily tone of voice, the laughter - it was cruel and awful. a curse, she was certain that she was cursed. "shut up." elspeth croaked out, eyes suddenly burning yellow as her nails cut into the palm of her skin. "shut up, shut up, shut up." and the voice, the nightmare, only laughed into her head. when her eyes opened, the yellow fading away immediately, her eyes land onto the other as a small curse falls past her lips. "not you, shoot. not you, i wasn't talking to you. i am s o sorry."

closed starter for @rcvcrics ( wyll )

[rocknout]

elspeth looks up, her own fingers on her screen as the question probes her mind for a second. old songs, like dongs that go dong. she has to quiet the voice in her head, saying nothing about the monster? the nightmare. nightmare felt much more fitting from what she had in her mind. "what type do you like? or... what genre is one you listen to frequently?"

closed starter for elpseth !! @rocknout

"-any suggestions? i've been looking for song recs to add to my playlists. -i'm getting kind of sick of my music, -but kind of I mean really." they joked.

[rosy-avenger]

I don't know about the moral arc of the universe, but our arcs sure as hell don't bend toward justice.

Unless we change them. Unless we grab our narratives by the ear and drag them, kicking and screaming, towards better endings. Maybe the universe doesn't naturally bend toward justice either. Maybe it's only the weight of hands and hearts pulling it true, inch by stubborn inch.

-A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

[toxictoxicities]

Ahhh!!! Baby grew! Baby gonna be so big! So proud of baby!

Not quite yet-

[caribeandthebooks]

Caribe's Fantasy TBR - Part 3

[miraclethemagician]

I made a fiber arts zine!! it's a celebration of all the projects I made this year ❤️

check it out! it's free!

[cjgladback]

[ID: A photo of prepared wool fiber and wool yarn on a wooden tabletop. A multicolored spindle rests in an orange mug; orange and grey wool is in the process of being spun onto it, with a small amount wound onto the spindle's shaft as a fine single and the majority still wrapped loosely around the top as something like roving. Around the base of the mug lies a trail of more roving, wrapped into nests and threaded onto some yarn, all grey but with a gradient of colors mixed in. In order: lighter orange, pale peach, rose pink, purplish pink, light purple, and medium purple. On the table next to the garland is a small skein of sock yarn spun from the same gradient, somewhat overplied and tied with a length of bright mint green yarn. End ID]

One down, most of one to go! I executed my plot: carded up bonus thrift store lanolin wool, reclaimed the gradient fiber from my first support-spindle-spun skein and carded it into seven gradient steps, blended those two fibers together, and divided the whole progression into two equal sequences for socks or mitts or...something. I've heard of spinners working hard to avoid muddying up their fiber colors, meanwhile I'm over here splashing in the mud puddles! The above photo was taken in the overcast afternoon light from our kitchen windows, so it's even more grey, but as a reminder this is what the colorful half of this looked like in its previous form:

[ID: The same spindle in the same orange mug, this time on weathered wood in direct sunlight with a very chunky skein of safety-vest-orange yarn fading to pale orange and pink with white patches and finally a bright purple. End ID]

I'll be honest I did have some second thoughts about blending once I'd re-carded the yarn into a smoother gradient. But I know I don't use small amounts of yarn well, especially in bright colors, and the fiber did feel a bit frazzled by the time it had no strings remaining. It benefited a lot from combining with the too-much-lanolin of its grey friend. So on to join my trusty cone of dark grey wool in some more staid applications! I am really happy with the tweedy look of this first skein, not removing any neps that had spinnable fuzz still attached (and tbh probably leaving a few slubs that could've been teased out in drafting if I hadn't spun a section of this on the bus to and from IMTS in the pitch dark of pre-dawn and late night). Only concern now is that I did just pull out the cone and realize it's only about 22wpi and my first skein is closer to 30wpi. Maybe it'll fluff up in washing? But either way I think I'll be likely to sacrifice symmetry in favor of fewer frustrations with snapping yarn while chain plying and let my second single trend a little heavier than "as thin as possible." I think the lanolin has helped a bit with it sticking together longer but it's not magic.

[lakecountylibrary]

It's my favorite time of year! Time to make my annual blog post about the best queer books I read in the last 12 months!

I've been doing this since 2017 so here, go back and see some trends: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Now, you may look at the covers of this year's batch and think... Four out of five of those are... kind of intense looking. Are you okay. And the answer is no, but are any of us? These books will help! Probably!

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (lesbian, gay, bisexual, poly characters)

Ok so this book comes with like. All of the trigger warnings. Government sanctioned homophobia, racism, eugenics, graphic depictions of violence... read this one when you're feeling strong. It's a fantasy novel about characters who fight against those things in a world colonized by a profit-driven (and often, too familiar) empire. Brilliantly written, but steel your heart.

Twelve Percent Dread by @emilyscartoons (nonbinary characters)

Let's lighten up a bit, shall we? This one's a graphic novel that, as promised on the back cover, is fast paced and action-packed. Follow the adventures of Katie and Nas as they navigate jobs, adulthood, and the whims of one eccentric tech CEO who's going to change the world, one way or another.

The World We Make by @nkjemisin (ace, gay, lesbian, trans characters)

This one's a sequel, so sorry (not sorry) you're going to have to read The City We Became first. You'll love it, and you'll love this sequel. It's about New York manifested in human avatars, and it's about home and the power of being where you belong. The characters deal with some very real, familiar problems - and then they STOMP ON THEM WITH AWESOME GIANT CITY POWERS. Very satisfying read, highly recommend.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (wlw characters & general gender shenanigans)

This one's the third in the series, also not sorry about this one, start with Gideon the Ninth. It's sci fi! It's necromancy! God is there and he's depressed. It's really hard to describe.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (bisexual, lesbian characters)

A novella for when you are short on time or attention span and want a Sleeping Beauty remix told by an author who knows her folklore. Definitely have the second novella in the series, A Mirror Mended, on hand for when you finish - you'll want more.

See more of Robin's recs

[very-serious-book-reviews]

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Did I like it: hell yeah

Look. This isn’t high fantasy, it’s not taking itself too seriously or anything like that. It’s short, it’s goofy, there’s pop culture references, and a character is named Harold evidently solely for a meme. And I freaking loved it.

I listened to it and the sequel both in a single shift at work and ended up laughing at my desk several times about it.

If you’re looking for a short fun fantasy read, highly recommend.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2023. THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix E. Harrow. Up next! Back on my Driscoll-adjacent reading vibes, to fuel the Driscoll-centric revising vibes (pictured in the background).

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: A Thousand Nights

Author: E.K. Johnston

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2015

Genres: fiction, fantasy, retelling, romance, mythology

Blurb: Lo-Melkhiin killed three hundred girls before he came to her village, looking for a wife. When she sees the dust cloud on the horizon, she knows he has arrived. She knows he will want the loveliest girl: her sister. She vows she will not let her be next...and so, she is taken in her sister's place, and she believes death will soon follow. Lo-Melkhiin's court is a dangerous place filled with pretty things: intricate statues with wretched eyes, exquisite threads to weave the most beautiful garments. She sees everything as if for the last time...but the first sun rises and sets, and she is not dead. Night after night, Lo-Melkhiin comes to her and listens to the stories she tells, and day after day, she is awakened by the sunrise. Exploring the palace, she begins to unlock years of fear that have tormented and silenced a kingdom. Lo-Melkhiin was not always a cruel ruler; something went wrong. Far away, in their village, her sister is mourning. Through her pain, she calls upon the desert winds, conjuring a subtle unseen magic, and something besides death stirs the air. Back at the palace, the words she speaks to Lo-Melkhiin every night are given a strange life of their own. Little things, at first: a dress from home, a vision of her sister. With each tale she spins, her power grows. Soon, she dreams of bigger, more terrible magic: power enough to save a king, if she can put an end to the rule of a monster.

[jenyifer]

Alright! This is my first sapphic short story I’ve read.

8/10

The sell: Dying Girl who has a masters degree in fairy tales gets side stepped into a fairy tale of sleeping beauty right at the end of her life and tries to save herself and the princess.

The story is in first person pov. I think anyone who enjoyed reading fairy tales and mythology will enjoy this story. I… I found it very…. Idk nice? To read about a dying girls, I knew two women who were dying girls and eventually dead girls. I felt like MC was extremely believable. The cons is that it is very swallow story but it has to be to be a short story even so it did make me think so job achieved

Now spoilers for those who have read this

I hated the ending. MC gets a second chance at life and she decides to die again say proper goodbyes to her family watch them relax into acceptance and then watch her girlfriend get with another sleeping beauty. Help them fall in love. Then she leaves for alt realities for long as possible to help other princesses. She becomes like a good fairy I suppose. But one that has an expiry date. She leaves her family and friends behind like she’s dead. Idk….. one of my dying girls got an extra 4 months of life. She had bone cancer and she was in a car accident where she broke some ribs. Since they had to perform surgery on her they were able to scrape out some of the cancer to give her a bit more time. My friend didn’t stick around she went out there and lived her life to the fullest traveling etc. makes more sense I guess? Idk… ending just kind of upset me… did she have a happy ending? We don’t know but it’s an ending she chose so… winning more than other dying girls I suppose.

[desdasiwrites]

"I'm at least three-fourths straight, but her lashes are very long, and very golden, and I'm not made of stone."

– Alix E. Harrow, A Spindle Splintered

[nevinslibrary]

Weird & Wonderful Wednesday

Ah, more fractured fairytales, and the start of Harrow’s series that’s called Fractured Fairytales. In this case it’s about Zinnia Gray. She’s about to turn 21, which is as old as she’s going to get since because of an illness she got. No one else with that illness has lived past 21.

Of course, that would be a boring book (and sorta short). Zinnia’s best friend Charm wants to make Zinnia’s last birthday an awesome one, with a Sleeping Beauty theme. Except, when Zinnia actually pricks her finger, well, suddenly she’s adventuring through the multiverse, alongside another ‘Sleeping Beauty’ named Primrose.

Like a proper fractured fairytale, this takes these fairytales and tilts them on their head, or their side, or sorta upside down and inside out. The characters were really fun, and unique, and it was a fast read too. And, it is the first book too, with the second out as well.

You may like this book If you Liked: The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin, Malice by Heather Walter, or Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

[theoriginalladya]

Tour de Fleece 2023 - Day 20

After a long day of work today, spent an hour or so plying up the indigo I had spun. A challenge working off both an e-spinner spindle and a drop spindle and two different lazy kates, but it got the job done!