#heart stitch markers

[gay-ppl-real]

Did y'all know I have a pair of absolutely ancient jeans that I use as an embroidery canvas.

No, you didn't, because turns out I've apparently never shared my Layton or Encanto patches on here I guess??

Well, I made a Welcome Home patch on them!! My buddy was kind enough to help me take some pics wearing it while I was in town today.

What symbols for which characters under the hood :)

Wally: apple, eye, his lil face! Barnaby: his pawprint and his hat Julie: pink and purple flowers Frank: their tie, butterflies (plus hearts) Eddie: a multicoloured letter (plus hearts) Howdy: a caterpillar Poppy: the little wings she draws next to her signature, and a cupcake Sally: Stars!

Having more things dedicated to a specific character doesn't have any significance, it just means I had more ideas for them or they fit nicest to fill in a space haha

[depravitycentral]

Just a few small nsfw thoughts about the yandere haikyuu cast

Tw: stalking, kidnapping, non-consensual photography/involvement in masurbation, foot stuff in Noya's, spitting, overall just real unfortunate habits they have

Thinking about Daichi Sawamura who is the natural option for you to run to when mysterious packages start showing up at your door. It’s all sorts of intimate items – pretty lingerie that somehow fits you perfectly, all in your favorite colors (and his, too, of course). Then it shifts towards just single items, no longer the pretty babydoll sets – silk thongs with an initial stitched in, collars with your name engraved in the metal tag, vibrators that slowly get longer and thicker. It’s only when one comes that’s much too realistic, leaning slightly to the left and with veins lining the top that you finally confide in Daichi. It all comes tumbling out, and it’s only when you show him the handwritten note with the most recent dildo – reading it’s modeled after my own, let me know how it fits - that Daichi softly sighs, throwing you a look and telling you that you know there’s nothing we can do about it. Creeps like that always get away with it, unfortunately. Just ignore the way his uniform pants are straining at seeing you all teary-eyed and dependent on him – cute. Maybe you’d like another gag – he’s noticed you haven’t used the last one yet.

Thinking about Koushi Sugawara who feels bad about installing the bug on your phone, but not bad enough to disconnect it. It’s not visual, is what he tells himself – it’s not creepy if it’s not looking at you, after all. It only picks up on sound when he activates it – which has let him into a whole other side of you. You bring your phone with you everywhere, he’s realized, and he’s always keeping his headphones on at any given time, playing the live feed and letting his cheeks turn red and his pants grow tight at the sound of you. Your voice, your laugh, your humming, your moans and whimpers and hell, even the sound of you peeing is enough to make him feel light-headed, connected to you in a way that gets his heart racing and his cock swelling. Maybe one day he’ll install the visual one, too, but for now the sound is enough – the audio recordings he takes of you is more than enough fodder should he ever need it.

Thinking about Asahi Azumane, whose apartment is basically your second home. You come over and spend the night often – often enough to have your own toothbrush permanently living at his place, set off to the side and out of the mainly used area of the bathroom counter. It’s a common brand, one that Asahi can find at the corner market – which he does, keeping a constant supply around so that he can replace it each time you use it. He keeps them all stacked nicely in a Ziploc bag, dating each in permanent marker so he can recount and remember all the times you’ve slept under the same roof as him, only a room away. And of course, this makes it much easier to slip the it between his lips and against his tongue, teeth grinding down against the bristles and his eyes fluttering closed because it just feels so very intimate. It’s embarrassing and he keeps everything well hidden from you, but the way he stares as he brushes his teeth beside you is a bit of a give-away that there’s something going on.

Thinking about Ryunosuke Tanaka who keeps a running list of the insults you throw at him. They’re never truly mean, always just jokes or digs at some niche thing about him and his Loverboy attitude, but Ryunosuke notices. He’s transcribing them into his Notes app on his phone, and when he gets home each evening he repeats the insult to himself out loud, saying the word over and over in a mimic of your own voice, letting his hands run down the length of his body as he closes his eyes and melts into memories of your expression, your tone, the way you’d been looking at him. He’s got something of a degradation kink, and he’s training himself to become aroused at the mere mention of a derogatory nickname – it's for the future, he’ll tell himself, so that when he’s got you straddling him, tying him up and keeping him pinned underneath you, he can preform exactly how you want him to. He’ll be good for you – just call him a freak again, please.

Thinking about Yuu Nishinoya always making jokes about feet because he knows it makes you squirm in discomfort, but soon it stops being a joke. He’s always tickling your feet, making exaggerating sucking sounds when you slip your shoes off, even snatching your socks and running around with them, the adrenaline of you chasing him and yelling his name and looking at him him him making him giddy. But then he’s managing to keep the sock one day, curiously rubbing a finger over it as he palms himself, running his leaking, bright red tip against the material and cursing. He’ll wind up using it as a sort of cocksleeve, fucking into it and leaving it so riddled with cum that it’s hard, and suddenly the next time he jokes about you letting him give just one suck, c’mon is less teasing and much more serious.

Thinking of Shoyou Hinata who doesn’t understand why you get so angry when he suggests switching underwear. He thinks it’s sweet – a sign of love and comfort with each other, really. He’ll step into the cute, flimsy panties he buys for you, pulling them up and face twisting up slightly as he adjusts himself, trying his best to get the thong to hold as much of his cock and balls as he can. He feels naughty, wearing them under his shorts when he runs to the store to pick up groceries, and with each step he can feel the lacey material – the very material he’d forced you to strip out of that morning, the material still warm. And of course, you were forced into his boxers – the same ones he'd slept in, smelling musky and feeling wet with something you don’t want to name.

Thinking about Tobio Kageyama who has a full body reaction when he hears you say his name. It’s not subtle, either – he’s going stiff as a board, eyes blowing wide and pupils dilating, visible goosebumps erupting all over his skin. His breathing gets a bit heavier, and every muscle in his body is flexed, clenched so tightly that he can hardly move. He’ll stare at you, lips focused entirely on your lips, murmurs leaving his own that sound vaguely like your name, vaguely like fuck. You’ll have to pull him out of the moment yourself, with a touch to his shoulder or waving your hand in front of his face, and it’s only then that he’ll clear his throat, shifting in his pants and realizing much too late that he’s visibly hard, a bit of sweat visibly staining his exercise shirt under the armpits. He’ll make some lame excuse and run away, but as he fists his cock and replays the moment over in his head, he’ll be whining your name and your name only.

Thinking about Kei Tsukishima who feels so, so very stupid but can’t help but bite his lip as he scrolls through Spotify. There’s a separate, private folder of playlists he’s curated, each lasting easily two hours, all with different, single word titles. Doggy, cowgirl, lotus, 69. There’s ten or so, and they get updated at least once a day. It’s music that he can almost too easily imagine touching you to – slowed, passionate, your favorite songs, almost all of them coming from recommendations you yourself gave him. He just can’t help the mental imagery that fills him the moment he hears the chords and the singer’s voice – immediately you’re perched in his lap, tits pressed against his own chest and grinding on him so slowly that he’s near tears, desperation filling him and suddenly his finger’s tapping before he knows it, the little ‘saved to edging’ notification popping up at the bottom of his screen. It’s mortifying, really, but so is the silence only interrupted by the bassy thump thump that would otherwise fill up his bedroom every night.

Thinking about Tadashi Yamaguchi who splurges for his birthday and buys himself a customized life-sized body pillow with you printed on it. He’d been bright red the whole time he’d been ordering, the prized photo of you – scantily clad in your cute, revealing pajamas with your breasts just barely contained by the top – uploaded to the cute little Etsy shop. The package had arrived not soon enough, and he’s both flushed and breathing erratically the moment he rips open the packaging, wide eyes nearly tearing up at the sight of you – well, almost you. He’d paid extra to have the little audio insert sent alongside it, and as he records an audio he’d saved of you teasingly telling him goodnight ‘Dashi, love you, he’s shivering in excitement. It’s a shame that he stains the fabric with cum the first night, but a quick wash leaves it good as new – leaves you good as new.

Thinking about Tooru Oikawa and the pretty dildo he’s got buried away in his closet. It’s smooth, a pale pink color that reminds him of Sakura blossoms – that reminds him of you. He doesn’t use it often; only when he’s been on long, long stints away from home, tournaments and games making his muscles sore, his eyes sag, his heart ache in his chest. But as he sprits your perfume on it and whines your name as he sits down on it, his eyes roll to the back of his head and he remembers how he snatched this from your own closet after having watched you fuck yourself on it through your bedroom window.  

Thinking about Hajime Iwaizumi who absolutely loves the big, pretty mirror you have in your bedroom. It’s the first thing he notices when he walks in for the first time, and it’s also the first thing he looks up when he gets home that night. And when he’s got you spread out on his cock a few months later, the locks on the doors numerous with passcodes he’ll never tell you, he’s sure you’ll be a bit relieved to see something familiar on your new bedroom’s walls. And he’ll tell you as much, gruff voice in your ear as he bounces you in his lap like some kind of toy, telling you to look at the mirror, baby, lookin’ so pretty… And when you cry he’ll wince, but the way his cock throbs inside you is telling.

Thinking about Kotarou Bokuto who calls you when he’s touching himself, narrating to you exactly what he’s doing. Of course, it’s not from his own phone – he likes to think it’s more exciting if it’s an unknown number. Maybe he’s seen too many TikTok thirsts about men in masks and Scream, but he thinks you’ll like the mystery. So when you stop picking up, he’ll just leave voicemails – always groaning and moaning your name, putting the microphone on the phone right up next to his fist, the wet schlock schlock sounds loud and clear. It’s risky and dirty, and when you bring it up the next time he sees you, complaining and confiding in him that some fucking creep is leaving horrible messages for you, he’ll only play along, convinced you’re hiding your true feelings to avoid looking like a pervert. But that’s okay, he likes that you’re a pervert! So pick up next time, yeah?

Thinking about Keiji Akaashi who, when the late hours and pages upon pages of editing the same manga get to him, will switch over to edit the more lewd, more explicit series he’d recently been assigned. Yeah, maybe it’s illegal to be photocopying the pages when there’s particular scenes that appeal to him, and maybe there’s something ever so slightly creepy about printing your photos and cutting out your face, pasting them onto the hentai’s protagonist and doing the same with his own photos, but it’s not a big deal. At least, it’s not a big deal until you find the volumes upon volumes of different almost collaged panels with your photos, all strung together in Keiji’s own personal fantasies of exactly what he wants to do to you, fit with his own handwriting covering the neatly White-outted text bubbles.

Thinking about Tetsurou Kuroo who purposefully gets a desk at work that can be raised to standing height. It’s not often, but when his mind is wandering and he can’t sit still while thoughts of you become unbearable, he’ll bring the desk up slightly. Standing up, he’ll align the wood right below his groin, shuffling forward and gently resting his clothed erection against the surface, sighing and rolling his head back as he lightly thrusts forwards and back. The fantasy of having you bent over the desk is too strong to ignore, and when you – his oh so sexy little assistant – come knocking at his door, he’s thanking anything that’s listening that you can’t see the way wet spreads across the front of his slacks.

Thinking about Kenma Kozume who only plays Sims because he has characters for the two of you. There’s no other avatars, solely and only the two of you. He’s curated your character to have your hair, your eyes, your body proportions, even buying special packages and programming his own mods to make it happen. The house you’re both living in is, he’ll admit, a bit excessive – there’s beds in every room, and the very first thing he’ll do each time he opens the game is immediately press the WooHoo button, zooming in on the monitor to get as close to your pixelated forms as possible. He’ll gulp and palm himself, eyes unblinking and repeating the command until he’s panting and gasping and staring at the sticky mess he’s left behind.

Thinking about Lev Haiba who’s not good at the up-skirt photos he tries to take. He’s not subtle, the camera flash going off and making you stiffen up. It’s easy to brush off with him though, his little laugh and scratching the back of his neck, telling you that he’s just supposed to be taking ‘candid photos of myself, something my new agency’s been wanting! Hey, look at that bird over there, so cute right?’ The flash as you turn around is less noticeable, but the way he audibly groans at the sight of your pretty panties certainly isn’t.

Thinking of Wakatoshi Ushijima who can’t quite understand why you’re uncomfortable when he stands so close to you. He’s always creeping up behind you, unnaturally quiet for someone so large, and suddenly you’ll feel this looming, overwhelming presence behind you, his breath hitting the crown of your head and making your hair tickle your neck and throat. He’s standing nearly flush with you, his cock mere centimeters from your ass, the smell of his cologne invading every one of your senses. He’ll only stare, stonefaced when you yelp and whirl around, only swallowing when you lightly swat his chest, irritation rippling through your tone when you tell him don’t sneak up on me like that! He doesn’t mean to scare you, really, but there’s something about being so close to you that makes his heart race, and he’s heard from all his teammates in the locker rooms about how women ‘love it from behind’, and he can only assume this is what they mean. He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but he’s convinced that with enough time, you’ll grow to enjoy him standing behind you like a shadow, breathing down your neck and audibly inhaling at the juncture of your neck – television tells him as much, so why do you always shy away when he tells you that you smell heavenly?

Thinking of Eita Semi who, despite his best efforts, can’t find it in himself to reject a band admirer when she approaches him after a show. It’s not you and he’s not initially interested in her at all, but as she stays persistent and his numerous texts to you remain unanswered, Eita finds himself noticing that you have similar lips, similar hair, similar hips. It’s not actually cheating if he pretends it’s you, right? It feels sacrilegious to touch another woman, sure, but he’s actively moaning out your name, telling her to shut up when she says something he doesn’t think you would. And it starts a troubling pattern – you won’t sleep with him and he doesn’t want to pressure you, but the sexual frustration of desperately wanting to touch you and being unable to makes him crazy, willing to do anything to get even a phantom taste of you. He’ll apologize profusely if you ever find out, getting to his knees and begging you to forgive him, claiming he did it for you, but it’s a temporary solution for now. Just until you give him a taste of what he’s been dreaming of for months.

Thinking of Satori Tendou who picked up photography as a hobby once his feelings for you formed. He’s still a bit unsure about photographing you without your consent, but then you go and do something that makes his throat dry up, his fingers unable to stay still because you’re just so damn cute and he can’t help himself. He keeps all the photos in a special box, placed neatly and gently in the corner of his closet. They’re all labeled on the back with the date, time, and location, even a few jots of what he was thinking at the time of the photo capture. They’re by and large mostly innocent, but there’s a few that he’d been rash with, snapping the photo and feeling guilt away at him. Writing down the fantasies he’d had with each time he uses the photo to masturbate had been embarrassing at first, but each time he rifles through the photos – which are perfectly pristine, not a drop of cum or even spit anywhere to be seen – he’s poring through his notes, biting his lip and curling his toes as he remembers particularly vivid fantasies, all driven forward by your smiling face or your unaware figure. And while he’ll never offer to show them to you, should you ask he’d reluctantly agree, watching with baited breath to see which ones you like – which fantasies you want to try out.

Thinking of Tsutomu Goshiki who still, even as a young adult, finds himself getting flustered when he watches porn. He’s consuming as many videos as he can find, but he often finds himself clicking off of the video almost as soon as the actual sex starts – he’s interested in the lead up, rather than the act itself. He’s diligently studying the scripts, the scenarios placed forward, the way the women seem to go crazy for a few common, simple lines. He’s noting everything down and practicing the lines, looking at himself in the mirror and adding in your name just to get used to saying it without blushing. He’s convinced that because the women in porn would like these lines, so would you – of course, you would not enjoy being told that he’s the delivery pizza guy and that you’ll need to pay with your body, but Tsutomu doesn’t quite understand that. Surely it’s real – it’s porn, and he’s sure that he’ll be able to fuck you just the way he sees on his screen. He’ll make you scream just like all the women do – he promises.

Thinking of Shinsuke Kita who will let you bathe on your own, but never alone. He’s pulling up a stool beside the bathtub before you can protest, those eyes unblinking as he gets nice and settled in. He’s smiling gently at you, asking you if the water is the right temperature, if you’d like to a use a bathbomb, if you want any help shampooing or scrubbing your body. It’s unnerving if only because the nonchalance is infuriating, but his hands stay perfectly still on his lap, palms flat against the material of his trousers. He’s visibly growing hard as you quickly wash your body, still staring, but he makes no move to act on it. It’s only once he’s watched you settle into bed, promising he’ll be up soon, that he makes his move. The water’s cold by now, but he still sinks into the porcelain with a stifled grown, letting the bath water slip past his lips and cover his face, enjoying every bit of residue of you.

Thinking of Atsumu Miya who’s notorious for PDA with you long before you’ve accepted your fate. He’s always inviting you to his games, getting you special seating so that you’re as close to the court as possible, and after each win he’s pulling you into a searing, bruising, loud kiss. It’s dramatic and it’s entirely too much, but the cameras flash and the headlines spur with details of his supposed relationship with you. It’s all for publicity, he’ll tell you, apologizing but telling you that y’understand, right? It’s for his career, he promises, to make himself look better for the media, but the way he’ll slowly pull away and whimper your name so that only you can hear isn’t quite as publicity-driven as he claims. At least, when he groans and lets his eyes flutter closed afterwards, it sure doesn’t feel that way.

Thinking of Osamu Miya who, of course, has a rather nasty habit of infusing his cooking for you with something salty, bitter, and off-white, but he’s got yet another secret hidden up his sleeve. It takes him a while to work up to coming in your food, desperation driving him mad with the urge to somehow stake a claim on you, but letting his lips pucker and spitting into the frying, sizzling meal he’s whipping up for you? Well, that’s much less sinister, isn’t it? It’s less creepy, he thinks, and it’s easier – he can spit once, twice, five times in a single dish, watching with hawk eyes when you groan and praise his cooking after the first bite. It’s a secret, and the only tell he has is that he’ll bite his lips, Adam’s apple harshly bobbing, his fist clenching and his pants getting tight because oh, you think it tastes good?

[homesweetgoodneighbor]

It's Spooky Month; therefore, it's officially time for:

AUNTIE KAMI'S THE DO'S AND DON'T'S FOR FIBER ARTISTS AND THOSE WHO LOVE THEM DURING THIS MOST AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH TIME OF THE YEAR:

PART ONE, For Fiber Artists:

(Most of these will have been said before, but they bear repeating because a year is enough time for people to forget why their beloved fiber artist has now lost their damn senses once again.)

DON'T Work Through Pain: If you're starting to hurt, STOP. Every single one of us exist in an art that is a repetitive motion injury in the works. If you start to feel discomfort, STOP. I don't care if you're in the middle of the row, that's why the gods of fiber created stitch markers! Repetitive motion injury will take your art from you. Don't let it.

DO Stretches For Your Hands And Wrists: As I said above, we are nothing but walking repetitive stress injuries. There are lots of resources out there on how to stretch your hands and wrists. DO THEM EVERY HOUR. DO NOT SKIMP ON THEM. IF YOU TRY TO WRIGGLE OUT OF IT, I'LL BLESS YOUR HEART WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE. (Southern people understand this curse.)

DON'T Ignore Your Bladder: Do you really want to explain to your doctor that your URI might be because you wanted to see how many rows you could finish before your bladder bursts? Look, yarn/thread/etc. chicken is one thing, but bladder chicken is just not acceptable.

DO HYDRATE: I don't care how you do it. Just do it! Look at it as turning your bladder into an internal alarm clock so you'll take breaks. (see above)

DON'T Assume Your Non-Fiber Oriented Loved Ones Are Aware Of Anything You're Doing: All they see is you are Mr. Hyde now. You are the Dark Side. You are the Thing That Snarls And Sometimes Cries. If they are hiding under the furniture, they are just giving you some space. They still love you...they just want to be out of the blast radius.

DO Feel Free To Maim And/Or Hunt Anyone For Sport Who Calls Your Art "Grandma Craft": Grandmas (and Grandpas) created fucking art and deserve fucking vindication. I suggest the use of your art as new and adventurous ways in Social Correction. Have fun!

.

.

--------------------- Tune in next time for Part Two: What Should Our Loved Ones Do Besides Hide! Same Bat Time! Same Bat Channel!

[jensownzoo]

Just some quick mending of a small tension hole at the top corner of a rear pocket in a pair of jeans. Drew a heart with marker then did a simple satin stitch over it. Had to do a few extra layers in the middle to keep the ridge of the seam from poking through, but I think it came out well and took maybe 10 minutes?

[kisskiss-slashslash]

Can I request jason voorhees, bubba sawyer, Thomas hewitt, and Vincent sinclair and how they would react to finding a message on the inside of their mask that says "rember, I♡U ~ Y/N" from their S/O other, and maybe another angst version where the find it after the reader died but for now just fluff please?

Yes you can <3 and I did both for all of them. First fluffy, then angsty

So yeah content warnings: Death

Masked Slashers when they discover that their s/o wrote a message on the back of their mask

Jason Voorhees

If he discovers it during your lifetime, he becomes downright giddy. He knows what it means, despite being unable to read. He has seen the same thing carved into way too many trees around camp. But this isn’t harming a tree or defacing the camp, it’s just you reminding him that while he is out there killing people, you are at home, waiting to lovingly welcome him back. And to return the favor, he may carve or write the same thing on something of yours, so you will also always know he loves you. Should he not discover the message before then, however…

-

His days have become so dark since you left. And since then, he also stopped taking off his mask so much. While you were alive, he had made it a habit to not wear it around you. After all, you loved all of him; there was no way to hide. So now, if he needed to eat or drink, he usually just lifted it a bit and put it back in place immediately after. So it took him a few weeks to discover your message.

Jason never learned to read, but he sees the little heart scribbled next to the message and that says just as much. His heart breaks all over again. For a good while, he just stands there with the mask in hand, bitter tears dripping onto the rough plastic.

Bubba Sawyer

You make this particular mask for Bubba, after watching how he maskes the masks himself many times. It really is a bit gross, but you’d do anything for him, so there you are, carefully stitching the flaps of skin together and finally using a permanent marker to write the message inside. Once he discovers it, he is over the moon. He will immediately drop anything he is doing and come to you to wrap you in a bear hug. Depending on the time of day, Drayton may chase him back to work with some choice words, or just roll his eyes and tell you to get a room.

-

Bubba has many masks, for every one of his moods. But he rarely swaps them out anymore, now that you aren’t around. While your body has been treated like the rest of the Sawyer-family’s deceased loved ones, sitting upstairs as well-preserved as possible and treated as if still alive, it is just not the same. You aren’t laughing and smiling anymore.

This mask that he wears now has been your work; you had insisted on making one for him a while ago.

When family bath day finally rolls around, he finds himself forced to take it off, and that’s then he finally notices it. A message for him, written inside of the mask, right on his cheek like a loving kiss. The other Sawyers can only watch in bewilderment as Bubba breaks down, sobbing and clutching the mask to his chest.

Thomas Hewitt

Making his human masks is grizzly business, and one he normally wouldn’t want to involve you in. But he remembers you sneaking downstairs not too long ago, citing simple curiosity as the reason.

He will most likely find the message fairly quickly, while washing up after a hard day of work. Once he sees it, he will smile to himself. While his reaction is fairly subdued, he will definitely be extra loving with you for the rest of the day, causing Hoyt to tease him about it.

-

Now that you’re gone, Thomas just tries to move on with his life, as painful as it is. He still has the rest of his family to provide for, after all.

During his work, he briefly takes off his mask to wipe off the sweat that gathered underneath, only to find the message inside. His heart cramps up at the sight, and he bites down on his lower lip to stop the tears flooding his eyes from making their way down his face.

Carefully, almost reverently, he puts the mask back on a dummy head, now deeming it way too precious to wear. Instead, he grabs another one, but before he can put it on, he freezes, realizing that his one also has the same message from you. Holding back the tears becomes even harder. Another mask. Same thing.

He finds that every single one of his masks has the same message scribbled on the inside. Overwhelmed by it, he sits down at his desk and buries his face in his hands, hoping it will conceal the hot streams of sorrow pouring from his eyes.

Vincent Sinclair

Leaving this kind of message in a wax mask is a bit difficult, but possible. You got yourself some gold foil from a craft store during your last trip to town, and while Vincent sleeps peacefully next to you, you quietly get up and carefully work the message into the wax with the foil. When Vincent wakes up and discovers it, he will look over to you and smile. That day, he works with even more vigor than usual, and come evening, presents you with a small wax figure he made especially for you.

-

Vincent considered himself almost immune to grief for a long time; even his mother’s death had made him determined to continue her legacy more than anything. But then you suddenly pass away, and he feels like the ground underneath his feet is crumbling.

Then he discovers the message, and he just… shuts down. It takes days for his brothers to coax him out of bed, and even then, he only gets up to stop his brothers from pestering him. Should any victims come to town during that time, he will go after them with the ferocity of a wild animal. In his head he is screaming “Why should you get to live?! With what right are you still breathing while they are gone?!”

[kisskawa]

— in love and war cw alcohol, intoxication, reader has bad friends and a loving ex

oikawa’s already frowning when he pulls up next to you, hazard lights highlighting your face in blinking orange. the apples of your cheeks seem softer in this light, bunching together and causing your eyes to curve into happy crescents as his name tumbles easily from your lips.

“why are you by yourself?” oikawa demands as he nears you, outstretched hand meeting yours.

“‘m not,” you grin at the contact, letting yourself tiptoe closer to oikawa until you’re leaning against his chest. “my friends are over there,” you point up the road where oikawa can only just make out a gaggle of people, “see?”

a hand sits on your shoulder, heavy and grounding and serious. you look awfully pleased under its warmth. “why aren’t they with you?”

you look up at oikawa with a thoughtful hum, genuinely trying to remember as your brows furrow. “didn’t want to be with them,” you exhale, shrugging. your friends have never been as kind as they should be, you know oikawa doesn’t like them. you lighten up again, “’sides, was waiting for you.”

it feels like a punch to the stomach when oikawa shakes his head at you. and suddenly aching, you let him tug you back to his car and settle you in, having precariously parked in all his concern.

the drive back is quiet, nothing more than the mindless rattling of a late night radio host and the gentle purr of the engine. oikawa can feel you staring at him, trying to gage whether or not he’s mad at you.

the passing streetlights make your head swirl, a little dizzier than out in the street where fresh air filled your lungs. but you’re not alone now, and the leather seats of oikawa’s car are worn and familiar. your fingers run across the thick stitches and you use them as markers to count the flickers of orange that dance across oikawa’s face one by one. they make him look handsome, drawing long shadows across his sharp features and warming his eyes.

by the time oikawa’s pulled in, you’ve fallen asleep, chin tucked into your chest with your last thought being the driver beside you. it could’ve been worse, oikawa muses, you could’ve been sick.

he allows himself a moment. a sliver of peace to watch the way your chest rises and falls, air punctuated only by soft exhales. you really did look pretty, routine of dressing up for a night out long since perfected. oikawa can’t forget the way you’d shone when you’d caught sight of him. he leaves the car before the thought can stick any longer.

he’s only away for a split second, rounding the bonnet to get to you. the door opens and suddenly he’s surrounding you, leaning close to pull at the seatbelt, fresh linen and vanilla. 

oikawa freezes when your fingers curl around his wrist. “i miss you,” you murmur. his heart stutters painfully.

you half think you’ve imagined the mumbled confession, oikawa continuing to work at the seatbelt until you’re free and easing yourself into his arms. you stumble a little as you get out the car, it’s ok, oikawa’s got you.

“let’s go inside first,” he finally responds, voice taut.

oikawa’s flat is just as you remember, down to every last detail. the framed picture of his high school volleyball club that greets you at the door, and the blue umbrella that he never remembers to take by the shoe rack. the slightly wonky kitchen cupboard door that houses mismatched mugs collected over the years, and the blanket you’d made together on the arm of the sofa, his fabric intertwined with yours. knowing it all like the back of your hand, you walk a familiar path to his room.

“i miss you,” you repeat, firmer this time as you perch on the end of his bed, trying hard not to get overwhelmed by the comfort of his sheets. it’s so much stronger here, fresh linen, vanilla and the faintest touch of the ocean air.

oikawa shuts his eyes, “you’re drunk.”

“i’m not,” it’s true, you’d sobered up quickly on the ride back, “i had a few drinks but i’m not drunk. i mean what i said, i swear i wouldn’t lie to you.” you wouldn’t be this coherent drunk. and under the effects of alcohol, you’d never approach such a serious topic as you and tooru like this. you both know that.

“i know you wouldn’t, but you’ve still drank, you wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t. and i can’t listen to you say you miss me when i can’t tell you how i feel in return, knowing your head’s all hazy and your judgement’s wrong.”

your fingers wind in oikawa’s sheets. “you don’t have to believe me right now, i’ll tell you in the morning and every day after if that’s what it takes. but you can tell me,” you urge, “you can tell me anything.”

the floodgates open.

“you can’t keep doing this. you can’t keep calling me and asking me to pick you up, because you know i will, you know i care,” oikawa’s voice is low, defeated, as it expels the truth, “it’s not fair.”

the wobble in his words makes your heart hurt and you rub at your chest, hoping the pressure will ease some of the pain. it doesn’t. instead, it comes out in your response, more unfair than anything, “i only ever call you, i only ever want you. and it’s the same reason why you still care.”

a call of your name shuts you up, sternness stopping you in your tracks. oikawa’s never once said your name like this, always honeyed and warm and fond. the ache swells.

you crawl into bed, pulling the covers up tight to your neck and trying to hide the glassiness in your eyes. you wouldn’t cry, you couldn’t cry. oikawa was right, it wasn’t fair. because you had broken things off, you hadn’t been able to deal with the drowning comfort of oikawa’s love, and yet, you were the one calling him when you needed someone to rely on. each and every time. “’m sorry,” you whisper, the thickness in your voice comes through anyway.

“i know,” oikawa sighs, tucking in next to you, one hand around your waist and the other running through your hair, the position you’ve always liked, “i’m sorry too.”

when oikawa wakes in the morning, the glass he left on the bedside table is empty and a single painkiller has been punched out of the foil packet. the bed too is cold, a collection of wrinkled sheets and pooling blankets. your presence in the room is barely there, only evident by a trail of absences.

oikawa curls up, bed suddenly too big, too lonely, as he tugs the duvet up and over his head. he lies there for a long time, a lump as he reprimands himself. it was true, what he said last night - this wasn’t fair, he couldn’t keep doing this routine. and yet, he couldn’t do anything but care for you, its like he was programmed to. you can’t keep waiting forever, his brain commands and the twinge in his heart pulls his knees closer to his chest.

“oikawa?” the gentle call of his name forces him out from his mind and underneath the covers. his head pokes out from the duvet, brown hair messy and eyes bleary. you notice the downturn of his lips first at the sound of his surname on your tongue. it seems clunky, awkward.

your stomach churns and your hands grip cruelly at the cup inbetween your hands. it’s coffee, half milk with two heaps of sugar and caramel syrup. not the way you like it at all. you hold it out and oikawa’s kind not to mention the tiny tremble of your arms. “if you’ll let me, i owe you something,” you pause, “i miss you, tooru.”

tooru beams. not forever at all.

[ghoulie-67-baby]

Tally- Doctor Who.

Summary: You’re running from the silence. You’ve been separated from the doctor and the Ponds and life seems to be slowly coming to an end. What if the madman doesn’t come to save you?

Warnings: Fear, pain, mentions of death, dehydration, exhaustion, pet names, mentions of hallucinations, crying.

Pairing: Eleventh Doctor x GN!reader. (Platonic or otherwise.)

Word count: 1,151.

The rushing of blood echoed in my ears and my limbs ached with exhaustion. I had been running for god knows how long and I just seemed to get more lost. I allowed myself a break, falling to my knees in the fine, desert sand, chest heaving as I caught my breath. Dizzying pain ripped through my ribs from the stitch I had; I knew I couldn't stop for long. I didn't know what I was running from, but the fear that had acclimated forced me to run. Whatever it was, my body was in fight or flight and my senses told me it was something life-threatening.

An assortment of tally marks stained my skin, and though I knew I was the one who put them there, I couldn't remember why and that chilled me to the bone. The marker pen in my pocket seemed to dig into my flesh as my ears caught a gurgling sound behind me. My head turned slowly to face the noise as my hand grappled to pull the pen from my jeans as the creature came into view. My body felt as though it was sinking into the ground as I scrambled against the ground.

The wind seemed to pick up out of nowhere as it lumbered closer to me, kicking sand into the air around us. I groaned in pain as it blew into my eyes, blinking furiously.

My mind felt fuzzy as the sand finally cleared and I sat up, shaking my head to clear it before standing. My heart was beating a million miles an hour, but I didn't understand why. Fresh markings littered my skin and I stared at them, questions and fears rolling around in my head. My eyes watered as I scraped through my mind to work out what was happening but all I could work out was I was terrified and whatever I was terrified of was causing me to lose my memory.

I let out a few sobs as I fought off my panic before huffing out a long sigh. Now wasn't the time to break down, now was the time I needed to run and find someone who knew what was happening. I had to keep moving. I was in a desert with no food or water and was constantly moving. I wasn't stupid, I knew I had days to live in this condition and I didn't know how long I had been running for.

In the past hour, I had gained a total of 11 extra tallies despite the empty desert around me. My legs were barely holding me up, knees trembling with exertion but I forced myself to keep going. I longed for the wheezing of that beautiful blue box to fill the dry air, desperate to feel the cold metal of her interior on my scorched flesh. And that madman's voice to just tell me everything was okay, that he had fixed everything and I was safe but I had slowed to a stumble.

I didn't have the energy to run anymore and soon I would collapse, the sand would cover me and I would be forgotten to the world. There was no TARDIS on the horizon, no Doctor to save me and no Ponds to make me feel better.

Precious tears streamed down my face as my body gasped for breath, pain flaring through my body as my knees buckled beneath me. I didn't want to die, not like this and not in such a beautifully dangerous place but as hope drained from my body, I was slowly coming to terms with it.

"Y/N!" My head snapped up at the voice and my eyes zeroed in on the gorgeous blue monument ahead of me. "Don't give up, keep going," I scoffed at the hallucination of the Doctor, of course, it was him my dying brain would imagine. "You're nearly there now, Love." I clambered to my feet unsteadily, if I was going out then I might as well use every ounce of energy.

The sun glared into my eyes as I trudged along, feet slipping against mounds of sand. The TARDIS seemed to get closer and I had a horrible feeling that as soon as I reached her, I was going to die. She was like my light that people warned you not to walk into. So be it, I'd die happy if they were my afterlife.

"Nearly there, come on, you can do it." He coaxed me closer, holding open the door as I kicked up sand in my fight to reach him. I held my hand out towards the Timelord, his hallucination blurred by tears as I closed my eyes to welcome death.

But death never came. Instead, my hand was met with the calloused skin of another as fingers curled around my own. He was never a hallucination.

My eyes shot open as the hand pulled me forward, the familiar creaking of the TARDIS door behind me, as I all but fell into the police box and into waiting arms. The pen in my pocket clattered to the floor as I gripped the tweed jacket and buried my head against the time lord.

"I know, you're safe, Love, just breathe." My sobs echoed through the console as my body became overwhelmed with relief and pain, dragging me through a tidal wave of emotion.

I gasped as we sunk to the floor; pain, exhaustion, confusion, fear, relief, and happiness all at once. The chest beneath my head vibrated as softly spoken words carried me through the feelings.

"I've got you, you're safe," he whispered into my ear, my gasps settling to shuddering breaths. "I'm so sorry Y/N," my body leant against him bonelessly as his hand smoothed over my hair, the other rubbing gentle circles into my back. "That's it, good job, Love." Silence followed as I clung to him, the ambience of the TARDIS comforting me. After a few minutes, I tilted my head to look into those beautifully old eyes and smiled weakly.

"Knew you'd find me," I whispered, ignoring my hoarse throat. "Cutting a bit short weren't you." I teased, his green eyes glazed with tears as he smiled down at me, wiping my cheeks gently.

"We had some trouble," he chuckled, "Someone didn't want us to find you but I couldn't let that slide now could I? Not for one of my favourite humans eh?" I forced my arms to wrap around him, gripping the back of his jacket in a hug and buried my head in his neck as the past few days caught up with me.

I was safe now, my body had clocked on to that fact. I couldn't help how my eyes slipped closed as I relaxed into the Timelord's grip, finally letting my body and mind shut down to recover from the ordeal.

He would always save me, no matter what.

[skyrim-forever]

Beading: A Year's Progress

Hi everyone, I thought I'd do a little retrospective as I began learning to bead 1 year ago! Here is a timeline of my progress and projects :)

June 2023 Pomegranate 1st project -This was the first project I tried, design freehanded by me. I practiced a few stitches and then just started! Figured it out as I went, still proud of this turned out way better than I expected. Materials 6/10 seed beads, glass pearls, and glass semi-transparent beads in 4 different sizes for the seeds; polyester backing and thread.

July 2023 Twin Snakes -Project number two is where I decided to play with a more complicated design and use colour. This was definitely a learning experience but it gave me confidence to try more intricate designs. Materials 6/10 seed beads, glass gemstone beads for the eyes, polyester backing and thread.

August 2023 Scared Heart and Eyes -For project 3 I decided to try working with more different types of beads, design inspired by adobe stock images of scared heart tattoos :P Materials 6/10 seed beads, glass pearls, czech crystal beads, and semi-transparent glass beads.

September 2023-Janurary 2024 La Pietà di Neravar -A lot of developments! I decided to try working with smaller beads, 10/0 seed beads and began my most ambitious project. Taking over 50 hours, spread over 3 months, it was wonderful to document this process on tesblr. I also decided to combine my love of TES with beading, a theme that would continue. Materials 10/0 seed beads.

February 2024 - March 2024 Mask of Almalexia -Something about Morrowind just inspires me so much and for my next project I decided to do Almalexia's mask as she is my fav Tribunal member. This was complicated and I ended up colouring the background with markers to make sure I put the beads in the right places. This isn't my fav but I learned a lot and it didn't turn out too bad. Materials 10/0 seed beads, czech crystal beads, and metal cones with rinestones on the tusks.

April 2024 - July 2024 Ayem -More of her <3 I love my wife :P I decided I wanted to learn portraiture, in fact the reason I started beading was because I was so inspired by artist Rachel EllenBogen and her stunning beaded portrait purses. I hope to make this into a purse as well! Quite proud of this as it's not bad for my first stab at portraits.

Thank you everyone for your support, in particular I'd like to shoutout @thequeenofthewinter @throughtrialbyfire @ladytanithia and @your-talos-is-problematic for the incredibly kind comments on my wip wednesday posts <3 Many weeks I made progress because I wanted to show you all :)

[the-iron-shoulder]

Weebo crochet and pattern!

So I loved Magi-Nation when I was a kid. Lived and breathed it. Spent soooooo many hours and sooooo much money on the card game, got as many friends as I possibly could roped into it, the works. It was just a delight to me.

The game's been defunct for decades now but it still holds a place in my heart, so I decided I'd make a little Weebo! This is my... third, I think? amigurumi that I did freehand, without using a pattern that someone else made. But unlike the last couple, I took notes when I made this one, so there's a pattern for anyone who wants to make their own below the cut!

WHAT YOU NEED

Materials:

Yarn: Orange, white, dark brown, buff

For the one in the photos, I used size 3/DK yarn made of cotton.

Crochet hook or hooks

For the one in the photos, I used a size C/2.75 mm hook.

You can make the plush bigger or smaller by changing the hook size and the yarn size as you see fit.

Safety eyes (2)

Stuffing

Cardboard (for the inner feet)

Embellishments for the toenails: either needle felting supplies or yarn embroidery supplies

This can be as simple as a yarn needle and some gray or beige yarn

I needle-felted it, so that would be a felting needle, a foam work pad, and some gray or beige felting fiber

General crochet accessories (pins, yarn scissors, yarn needle, stitch markers, etc.)

Knowledge:

Single crochet (sc), magic ring (MR), increase (inc), decrease (dec), chain (ch), fasten off

I make some references to slip stitches and invisible finishes; those are all optional

Basic plushie sewing (I don't tell you when to attach yarn or when to knot it or hide it)

I'm not using a specific named stitch when sewing the pieces together. If you like using specific named stitches, you'll probably end up using whip stitches and/or ladder stitches, but if you're already familiar with those terms, you're experienced enough to figure this all out anyway.

Body (Orange cap)

First we're going to make the big orange mushroom cap. This is pretty simple. Use orange yarn.

MR 6 (6)

Inc 6 (12)

(sc, inc) x6 (18)

(sc 2, inc) x6 (24)

(sc 3, inc) x6 (30)

(sc 4, inc) x6 (36)

(sc 5, inc) x6 (42)

Sc around (42)

(sc 6, inc) x6 (48)

10-12.  sc around (48) (3 rds)

13. Back loops only this round: sc around (48)

14. (sc 6, dec) around (42)

15. (sc 5, dec) around (36)

16. (sc 4, dec) around (30)

17. (sc 1, dec) around (20). Note that this is a faster decrease than we've been doing. Fasten off. I found it easier to attach the white ring first before stuffing the orange cap, but you can stuff it when you find it to be convenient.

Images of the side and underside of the finished orange cap.

White Ring

For the white ring around the body, use white yarn. Make a magic ring with 6 sc (so MR 6), then just SC around for approximately 52 rounds, until the tube that you make is long enough to wrap all the way around the orange cap. Depending on how tight your stitches are and so on, this may be a little more or a little less than 52 rounds, but that's what it was for me. As you go, periodically measure the tube against the orange cap to see when it's going to fit around nicely. You're going to sew it to the cap roughly at where the back loop only round was, but this can be adjusted as you see fit.

Image of the white tube stretched out

Fasten off at the end with a long tail for sewing; you can finish with a slip stitch or an invisible finish but it won't really matter since you're sewing it to itself to make a loop.

When I made mine, I sewed it to the body right after making it. You might choose to also leave this step for last, so that you have more room to work on the underside. I don't think that will make a huge difference.

There's no need to stuff the ring unless you REALLY want to, but I wouldn't.

Images of the white ring stitched to the orange cap

Foot (make four)

Use dark brown yarn. The toenails can be embroidered on or needle-felted on; use beige or gray material. I suppose you could even cut them out of premade felt or premade fabric and glue or sew them on if that's what you really want; point is, they're not directly part of the crocheting process. In the photos, mine are needle-felted on. (If you have a felting needle, it's very easy; just stab your felting fiber into the right approximate shape, position it on the doll, and stab it repeatedly until it holds itself in place.)

Chain 5, turn. Sc 3, 3 together in next sc so you're moving around to the opposite side of the chain row, skip 1, sc 2, inc (10) (The skip 1 part is always a little weird for me because I didn't realize I was doing it until the third or fourth foot, but as long as you end up with 10 stitches in your row, you're good. The goal is to be stitching in the round but to make it kind of oblong instead of a perfect circle, hence why we're using a chain instead of a magic ring.)

Image of going around the chain to the opposite side

Image of row 1 completed

2. Inc, sc 2, inc, sc, inc, 2 sc, inc, sc (14)

3. Inc, sc 2, inc, sc, inc, sc, inc, sc 2, inc, sc, inc, sc (20)

4. Back loops only for this round: sc around (20)

5-7.  Sc around (20) (3 rounds).

NOTE: After the first or second of these, if you're using cardboard to stiffen the feet to make it stand up more easily, this is a good time to trace and cut out the cardboard (I used two layers; do what feels right for the materials you have on hand) and stick it inside the foot. Make sure you tuck in the initial end of the yarn before you add the cardboard or else doing so will get annoying.

8. Sc, dec, sc 3, dec, sc 3, dec, sc 3, dec, sc 2 (16)

NOTE: If you're embroidering (rather than needle felting) the toenails, now is a good time to do that. If you're needle felting them, wait until after you've stuffed the foot.

9. Sc around (16)

NOTE: Speaking of stuffing the foot, this is when I started doing that, then stuff as you go until you start combining the feet in row 12.

10. (sc 2, dec)  x4 (12)

11. Sc around (12). For the first three feet, fasten off. For the fourth foot, don't cut the yarn yet.

12. Once you have all four feet (with toenails, however you're choosing to do them), set them together on your workspace clustered in a square. Each foot should slope slightly (i.e., they're not perfectly symmetrical); position them so that the narrower parts are all together in the center.

Image of the feet arranged and pinned

12 cont. Pin the feet in place to each other to hold them steady; make sure the bottoms are all flat. I left the pins in until after I finished sewing them to the underside. Go back to your active loop and crochet around the four feet so they're all together in one round.

Image of crocheting the feet together

12 cont. You don't really need to count specific numbers of stitches at this point; a few of the existing stitches aren't going to get used because you're just going around the outsides. See the picture. SC around for one full round and end your round near but not at a corner (if your feet are in a square and you imagine the square as a clock, it's at about 10:00 or 2:00; see picture). Our goal now is to make one end of this taller so that the cap ends up peeking up at an angle.

Image of approximately where you'll finish row 12

13. Mark where you ended and then chain 1 and turn. Going in the opposite direction from before, sc across until you get to roughly the mirrored position. See diagram. (Diagram assumes right-handed crochet. For left-handed crochet, mirror it, i.e., you're going counterclockwise instead of clockwise when you go "backwards.")

14. Mark where you ended. Chain 1 and turn. Sc all the way around the entire thing now. When you're at the "shelf" between row 12 and the raised part of row 13+, do a decrease down (or up) the side; see photo. Go a stitch or two past where you started (so that you've done the decrease up the shelf as well as down it) and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing. You can finish with a slip stitch or an invisible finish but it's not critical. Image of doing a decrease down the side of the shelf

Underside Use buff (or tan/beige/taupe/etc.) yarn. Our goal here is to make a really floppy circle, so we're going to use a huge number of increases. This absolutely will not lay flat, and it isn't supposed to! It's specifically supposed to be wrinkly and saggy, as is the eventual fate of all of our bottoms. 1. MR 6 2. Inc 6 (12) 3. Inc 12 (24) 4. Inc 24 (48) 5. (Sc 1, inc) around (72) 6. (sc 1, inc) around (108) 7. (sc 17, inc) around (114) 8. (sc 18, inc) around (120) 9. (sc 9, inc) around (132). Fasten off. If you want to be fancy and leave a long tail for sewing the underside to the orange cap, you absolutely can do that. I tried to do that and eventually ended up cutting it off because it kept getting in the way as I was sewing the feet to the underside, so if you tend to have problems with yarn getting tangled when you sew, maybe leave it short.

Image of the floppy underside measured against the body

Assembly • Position the feet (which should be a single unit now) in the center of the underside and stitch them on. Because of the raised portion from rows 13-14, the underside will be kind of at an angle. Be careful to keep the feet centered; because the underside is so floppy, it's really easy to accidentally get shifted around if you're not careful. Make sure that the feet all stand mostly flat on the ground but that the underside is tilted.

Image of the underside attached to the feet at an angle

• Position the body on the underside and use a lot of pins to hold it in place. Basically, the places where you put pins will end up getting stitched to the body and the places between the pins will be big floppy wrinkles that fold in on themselves.

Image of the underside being pinned to the body and forming the wrinkles

The front of the doll is the part where the cap is raised (where you built the extra "shelf" on the feet). Attach safety eyes to the underside facing the front. Make sure that when you re-pin this, the eyes are mostly flat and not folded into a wrinkle.

Image of putting the safety eyes on the front

• Sew the underside to the cap, and sew the wrinkles to themselves so that you don't have any openings. If you haven't done so already, sew the white ring to the orange cap (in the photos, I did that first, but I can understand why you might choose otherwise).

• All done! Enjoy your little Weebo!

[crochet-the-night-away]

Enoch (Over the Garden Wall) Crochet Pattern

Disclaimer:

This pattern has a lot of sewing. You've been warned! I couldn't find a way to minimize the sewing and still have the same color changes and composition I wanted.

Materials

Two different greens (Green 1 and Green 2) and orange yarn (I used a Medium sized yarn) Appropriately sized Crochet Hook (I used a 3.5mm hook) Black, soft brown and off-white felt to make the face details (If you can't find off-white felt, like me, buy white felt and paint it off-white with acrylic paint) Stitch Markers Tapestry Needle Fiberfill Scissors Sewing Pins

Techniques

Magic Ring (mr) Chain (ch) Single Crochet (sc) Increase (inc) Decrease (dec) Skip a stitch (skip)

Head

----- Using ORANGE Round 1: 8sc into a magic ring [8] ----- The next two rounds are worked on the stitches from Round 1 Round 1.5: FLO 8sc [8] ----- Attach a stitch marker to the first stitch of Round 1.5 for later Round 2: BLO 8inc [16] Round 3: (sc, inc) * 8 [24] Round 4: (sc, inc, sc) * 8 [32] Round 5: (3sc, inc) * 8 [40] Round 6: (2sc, inc, 2sc) * 8 [48] Round 7: (5sc, inc) * 8 [56] Round 8 - 16: 56sc [56] Round 17: (5sc, dec) * 8 [48] Round 18: (2sc,dec, 2sc) * 8 [40] Round 19: (3sc, dec) *8 [32] Round 20: (sc, dec, sc) * 8 [24] ----- Stuff ----- The next two rounds are worked on the stitches from Round 20 Round 20.5: FLO (sc, dec) * 8 [16] ----- Attach a stitch marker to the first stitch of Round 20.5 for later Round 21: BLO (2sc, skip) * 8 [16] Round 22: 8dec [8] ----- Stuff

Fasten off and leave an extra long tail. It should be able to wrap around your head 10 times.

Pass the yarn under a stitch from round 20.5. Wrap the yarn over and around the pumpkin and divide it in two. Pass the yarn under another stitch from round 20.5. Pull the yarn tight and secure it with a knot. Repeat this two more times until your pumpkin is divided in 6 parts.

Pass the yarn through the pumpkin from bottom to top to work on his top embellishment.

Starting from the stitch marker on the head's round 1.5

Round 1: 8inc [16] Round 2: (2sc, inc) * 5, sc [21] Fasten off and weave in the tail.

Body

----- Starting with GREEN 1 from the stitch marker on the head's round 20.5

Round 1: (sc, inc) * 8 [24] Round 2: (sc, inc, sc) * 8 [32] Round 3-24: 32 sc [32] Round 25: 32 sc [32] Round 26: (sc, dec, sc) * 8 [24] Round 27: (sc, dec) * 8 [16] Round 28: 8dec [8] Fasten off and weave in the tail.

Arms (x2)

----- You can crochet around a wire to give the arms more structure ----- Using GREEN 1 22ch (Skip the chain if you're using a wire) Skipping the first chain from the hook and 21 sl st Leave a long tail for sewing

GREEN 1 Stripes (x9)

----- Using GREEN 1 27ch Skipping the first chain from the hook and 26 sl st Leave a long tail for sewing

GREEN 2 Stripes (x11)

----- Using GREEN 2 27ch Skipping the first chain from the hook and 26 sl st Leave a long tail for sewing

Assembly

Using sewing pins, attach all the stripes and the arms and stripes alternating greens. Once you're happy with the placement, sew everything.

Using felt, cut the following shapes: 2 soft brown circles 2 black circles (smaller than the brown ones) 1 skinny black heart that will serve as a nose 1 soft brown oval 1 off-white oval (smaller than the brown one) ----- To make the teeth, I just cut the smile and then vertical lines. When it was time to glue it on the brown oval, I separated them a bit for that teeth effect. Glue everything and you're done!

[blasphemous-lies-and-deceit]

Flufftober Day 28. Lucky Charm

"Oh, you little fucker."

"You called?" Gerry replied, sticking his head around the corner to peer into the living room, finding Michael on his knees peering under the couch. "What're you looking for?"

"My stitch marker," Michael called to him, slightly muffled by the furniture in the way. "I swear, the second I took my eyes off it, it bailed on me."

"Need a new one?" Gerry offered, ducking to unhook a safety pin from his trousers. "You usually just use one of these, right?" Michael raised his head to give him a look over the cushion. 

"It's not just a safety pin, Gerry," he said mournfully. "It's the safety pin." Gerry raised an eyebrow, and Michael quickly elaborated. "It's the one you gave me on our first date. I've been using it as my stitch marker ever since, and I haven't had any major slipups since." He sighed unhappily, slumping down on the floor. "That was my good luck charm, and your first present to me, and now I've lost it."

"Oh, Michael." It was such a little thing, but Gerry's heart twinged in affection. He'd had no idea that Michael had kept the pin that he'd gifted him in a nervously playful moment, much less that he considered it such a crucial part of his craft. Gerry quickly rehooked his trouser pin and hurried to Michael's side, grabbing the arm of the sofa and shifting it aside. "Does that help?"

Michael immediately squealed and dove forward, snatching up the safety pin so fast that Gerry nearly didn't see it. "Thank you!" he cheered, springing to his feet and kissing him on the cheek. "You're a lifesaver, my love, thank you so much."

"Don't mention it," Gerry laughed, catching Michael's hand and bringing it up to his mouth. He kissed his fingers and then kissed the pin sticking from between them. "Now you can have your luck back." 

[gradientdescent-does-it-all]

Sewing Journal: In Which My Embroidery Projects Become Increasingly Unhinged In Scope, Scale, and Content

Oh boy oh boy, I’m really excited about this one, y’all. After that series of smaller-scale experiments, I’ve finally pulled it all together to set up this fabulously visceral, gory panel by @barbatusart into the embroidery project that I’ll be doing off-camera for the next 2 months of Zoom calls.

In case it’s not clear from the picture, this thing is BIG. Like, 2 feet tall “big”. And although I can generally fit the embroidery frame onto my desk just off-camera, my coworkers have gotten used to knowing I’m always sewing just-offscreen and are in the habit of asking me to show what I’m doing. So I, uh, may need to keep a decoy project on hand to show them. Showing this one to my colleagues may qualify as ‘oversharing’.

If you wanna watch the daily progress pics of this one, I’ll have ‘em up over on the side blog @gradientdescentthreads . And if anyone’s interested in the combination of quilting and applique that went into setting this up, check it out below the cut!

Ok so this project started by slightly editing the original comic panel to pull out just the black and white line art into one layer, and the geometric color blocks into another. The original image used color sparingly so this wasn’t a very difficult task. I then printed both out to the exact same scale; these form the basis for the 2 layers of patterning that went into the overall composition.

Cutting up the print-out of the background was an easy route to a quilting pattern.

…And then, heart-breakingly, I cut up that nice quilt panel, using the paper print-out of the foreground as a template. Taking the lessons I learned from my smaller test projects, I used double-sided iron-on interfacing both to reinforce the fabric as well as attach it to the white underlayer cleanly. Then I got busy with a washable marker and a light box to trace the design. Finally, since the colored fabric was too dark for me to see through the light box, I printed out one final version of the design onto Stick-n-Stitch and overlaid it onto the red and black areas.

Why not save the time and just use Stick-n-Stitch for the entire design, you ask? Well, purely personal preference, but I feel like hand-tracing a complicated design helps me understand it better, kind of a dry run for rendering it in thread next. And also drawing those big gnarly teeth is just FUN.

[schemmentisjacket]

Chapter 5 - First Day pt 2

Authors Note: Little something something about non binary queer new teacher coming in, leading to Melissa finding the one.

The thing about kids is, as much as they’re interested in something, that interest moves on quickly. They’re also open minded and untainted by the world.

So when Charlie tells them they can call them ‘Dr Flinn or just Flinn, no need for Mr or Miss’ they do. When they’re interested in the gloves Flinn wears and they say ‘They keep my hands warm’ thats also enough.

And like that the lessons pass, some kids wrangle them into a ball game during break, Melissa and Barbara watching from their spot on duty.

Jacob calls you over to sit with him during lunch exchanging more details of the potential first date with Ant and his excitement about that.

The day seemingly uneventful until story time, two periods before the end of the day. The four graders are quietly invested in reading to themselves when a shout echos from across the hall. Suddenly a student bursts through your doors ‘Miss Schemmenti is hurt!’ They exclaim, eyes tearful in that way kids get when they’re faced with something unexpected.

You’re immediately on your feet, directing two of your pupils, ‘Fetch Mrs Howard and Mr Eddie,’ you instruct them calmly, knowing they’re the closest classrooms to yours and Melissas.

‘Everyone keep reading, I’ll be back.’

You walk briskly across the hall, despite your heart pounding in your chest, you hide the panic from the children. Heading into Melissa’s classroom, you spot a board pen on the floor near to the front desk, and the fiery hair on the back of Mel’s head just above the surface. You head towards the desk quickly and drop down behind it next to her away from the kids view.

Melissa was looking at you with slightly unfocused eyes, blood running down the side of her face from a gash in her hairline.

Without thinking you pull off your gloves and toss them on the floor, followed by removing your jumper, that you bunch pressing it up against her head carefully. ‘You know I’m not this kind of Doctor?’ You chuckle to her quietly, as her eyes run across your exposed arms and hands, with your jumper off you were left in a short sleeve shirt, your heavily tattooed flesh exposed to the world. She reached out to touch you. ‘I just wanted to get your top off,’ she chuckled breathily, before the classroom door bursts open and Barbara and Gregory enter.

You carefully pop your head above the desk, ‘Mrs Howard if you could take Melissas class and Mr Eddie if you could take my class please, that would be wonderful, could you let Ava know that Myself and Miss Schemmenti will be unavailable for the rest of the day.’

You turn your attention back to Melissa as the students file from the room.

‘Well it worked. You want to tell me what happened?’

You could see the shock off the fall wearing from her face as she looked at you intensely ‘Kid must’av dropped a marker and I slipped, caught my head on the desk on the way down.

You careful moved the jumper from her head to access the damage. Stitches would be needed. You took her hand and used it to hold the jumper back in place.

‘Looks like you get the rest of the day off and a trip to the accident room with me.’ You smile and stand, tucking your gloves into your back pocket. ‘Stay there and keep that pressure on, I’ll go grab my coat and bag and then we’ll get out off here.’

You sprinted out of there returning a moment later. Coat and backpack on.

M:

You couldn’t believe the last five minutes. Going from teaching to being on the floor bleeding. Then the new teacher you’d began to crush on comes running in like a knight in armer. Whipping off their jumper without a second thought other than making sure you were okay. And they were even hotter than you had imagined beneath those hoodies and jumpers. Tattoos running from their finger and hands all the way disappeared beneath the tight short sleeves of their dress shirt.

Your head was throbbing, but you were subtly aware of a dull throb stirring much lower down.

[pikolswonderland]

Morley picked up the crumpled piece of paper, covered in old crayon and marker, left behind by one of the children no less. She inspected the child’s drawing, only to be met with a pain in her heart. This was Toby’s drawing, she knew his art style and handwriting far too well. It was a crudely, but wholesomely, illustration of what was clearly labeled as Toby, Claire (who’s name he spelled wrong), and…Captain Fiddles? As in the mascot? No…the closer she looked she noticed what appeared to be stitches on the monkey’s face and torso. This was clearly the experiment of Fiddles.

“He and his friend must’ve found Fiddles and are travelling with him, there’s no doubt” spoke Banban, crossing his arms as he turned to Morley.

“Fiddles was always a sweetheart, he’s the youngest out of us that wasn’t from the offspring experiments. Don’t worry Morley, we’ll save Toby and the children, we swear on it!” Banbaleena reassured Morley, putting her hoof-hand on her shoulder and giving a warm smile.

Morley nodded in appreciation, folding up the paper and slipping it into her bag.

Don’t worry Toby, I’m coming for you…

[smallpotatoknitwear]

The Valentine's Day Gradient Heartigan!

Wow, that's a bit of a mouthful, huh!? As I continue my quest to make sweaters for all of my favorite holidays, I'm so excited to have finished my Valentine's Day cardigan--partly because Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, and partly cos this sweater came out so frickin' cute!!! Click on the keep reading link below for all the details on how I made it!

Items used:

Red Heart Super Saver in Burgundy (red). I used just under three skeins for all of the squares and joining the sweater.

Caron Colorama Halo in Cranberry Frost. I used less than a full O'Go donut for all of the hearts, so I think you should be able to use a single cake for them if you want to make your own version of this sweater, and I used part of a second donut for the ribbing--so even if you don't get all of your hearts out of one cake, if you have a second to do the ribbing as well you'll be all set!

Even though the Colorama Halo is listed as a bulky yarn, it's really a worsted thickness, so I used a US size I/5.5MM hook for the entire project, including the ribbed border.

I used the pattern for the Little Heart Square by Raffamusa Designs for the squares, and added an extra row of double crochet around the outside (with 2DC, ch2, 2DC in each corner). I used a total of 60 squares for the sweater.

This sweater is, at its core, just a basic granny square cardigan, meaning that I built it by measuring another sweater that I like the fit of (this one, if you're wondering), making a single square, measuring it, and figuring out how many squares I needed for each section of the sweater to get measurements as close as possible to the model sweater. That may sound a little confusing or even daunting, but it's really not as hard as it sounds! Let's break it down a little further, piece by piece.

To start, here are some measurements:

Each heart square is 5x5 inches, and I blocked each one to make sure my measurements would be consistent and that my squares would have nice, even sides.

On my model sweater, the sleeves are 18 inches around and 15 inches long. So, with 5x5 in. squares, I made 4x3 square tubes, so that my sleeves measured a total of 20x15 inches.

On my model sweater, my front panels were 10x20 inches, so I made two 2x4 panels.

On my model sweater, my back panel was 26x20 inches, so I made a 5x4 panel.

I used a total of 60 squares for all of these panels.

To get the gradient, I made all of my hearts in order through a skein of Caron Colorama Halo yarn (technically I was using one of the O'Go donuts they were originally released in, not one of the cakes that yarn is available in now, but there was a good amount leftover, so I think you'd be able to make a sweater approximately the same size with a cake of the yarn, even thought the yardage is different). Once I had added the red border around each square and blocked it, I laid them out on a table starting with the top left corner of the back panel and working in a spiral from that corner, across the back, across the top of the right sleeve, over both front panels, and across the top of the left sleeve before moving down. Then, I used stitch markers and safety pins to attach the corners of the squares together in each panel so that I wouldn't mess up the gradient as I moved them to attach everything.

Once all of my panels were finished using flat slip stitch seams, I seamed the fronts to the back at the shoulders and sides, made the sleeves into tubes, and attached them to the armholes in the "vest" made from the fronts and backs. Then, I used a second skein of the Colorama Halo to add ribbing to the front and bottom, using a 6-stitch SC FLO rib worked directly into the edge of the garment and beginning in the front right corner of the sweater. I was able to make the front and bottom ribbing all one piece by just turning a corner in the last row of the front ribbing (the left bottom corner) and working along the bottom. For the sleeves, I started with the same color red I used to finish the squares and seam them together, and worked a row of double crochet (I decided I wanted the sleeves just a hair longer, for a slightly more dramatic poof), then worked two rows of *SC1, DEC1* before breaking the red yarn and attaching the pink. I did a 12-stitch SC FLO rib around the ends of the sleeves to create the cuffs.

[forevergazingatstars]

okay I get that losing stitch markers is just a part of the deal when doing yarn crafts but I cannot believe I misplaced the entire bag of my new pretty heart-shaped ones :(