#i have the red yarn label but it's in a pile of 3 or 4 labels and i don't know which one goes with this yarn vs the other balls it was with

[gardenvarietycrafts]

WIP Wednesday (Belatedly)

I know it's been a minute since I've posted, but my partner got me Stardew Valley and I am obsessed with it and haven't been knitting as much. I did pick back up my needles recently, though, so here's what I'm currently working on:

I just cast on the Leafy Leaf cowl. I was going to wait until I had finished something else first (the Dustland shawl being the main one I'd wanted to finish before starting this cowl) but I recently watched a Nimble Needles video with tips and tricks for the experienced knitter and just had to try this one! The tip is that no cast on and bind off will truly match perfectly, because they're just formed differently no matter what, but to match exactly you can provisional cast on, knit the work, then bind off both top and bottom with the same bind off technique. I'll update once I'm finished with the cowl to let you know how I like it, but it also gave me an excuse to learn how to provisional cast on in the round!

The second photo shows a little bit closer view of the lace pattern. I've only made it about halfway through the first repeat, but I really like how it's turning out so far. I'm not sold on my guage, though, so I may restart on smaller needles. If I do, I'll still use the provisional cast on then bind off the bottom edge technique.

This one is a hit of a back burner project because I chose a yarn with less stitch definition than I probably should have used for this project, but it's the No Rhinebeck No Problem MKAL 3, and all clues are currently released. I just need to finish the last repeat for clue 3 and then complete clue 4 and I'll be finished with this one.

This one was also in WIP time out for a bit due to the way this yarn knits, but I've picked it back up recently. Working on finishing the heel turn for sock 2 (the more pink sock) and then I'll be back to working on these two at a time in the round. The heels on these are Japanese short row heels, and they'll be a gift for a friend. These are both from the same ball of yarn, and I should be able to get a second pair out of it, which I'll knit exactly the same as these so that all 4 socks can be mixed and matched. My goal is to finish all 4 socks before gifting, but I may just gift these 2 socks first, since my next socks will be a pair for me, I think.

I'm not using a specific pattern for the socks, but they're just stockinette stitch, Japanese short row heels, and I'll use a wedge toe.

Not pictured:

The Dustland shawl - I'm still working on it, slowly, but progress isn't really visible because the stitch pattern just repeats. I have, however, decided to stop just after this pattern repeat, so after the next diagonal rib section (actually, after the garter section after the diagonal rib) because 1, it's huge already, 2, the rows are too long to maintain motivation, and 3, I'd like to not have to use up the whole last ball of this yarn. If I get close to the end of the ball, I'll finish it off there, even if I haven't gotten to where I planned to.

Mitered square blanket - I've decided to add more squares to the width and just make all the squares in the same direction, instead of making panels and seaming them together, so next steps will be adding more squares onto the width of the blanket. But this one likely will also be a long term project, since I have other things I'm focused on working on right now.

Project list, for things I have planned (mostly so I don't forget):

Socks for me using the Duo Sox yarn by Willow Yarns, which is meant for knitting a pair of matching socks and comes with two balls, perfect for the taat method I use

Second pair of apple mittens for my partner. She follows me, so I can't explain how they'll be different because I want it to be a surprise.

Mittens for me to match the hat and cowl I have, though I may also do a stripey cowl with that green and a dark blue yarn I have in my stash. I have an idea to knit a pattern I saw slightly differently to suit my needs better.

A pair of worsted weight socks, because warm and faster to knit.

Tea cozy for my tea pot. The first one I attempted was too small.

[knitboyknit]

[Image description: there are three images of a green sock in various stages of making.

Image 1: there is a dark green sock that has been knitted from the toe up. It is folded in half with bamboo double pointed needles at the beginning of the cuff. The toe is a lighter green than the rest of the sock.

Image 2: The same sock is shown with the needles this time in the opening for the heel. There are stitches on the needle in the same light green as the toe. The sock now has a ribbed cuff in the light green colour.

Image three: there are two feet placed with the soles together, each wearing a knitted green sock. The left foot has a dark green sock with light green toe, heel, and cuff. The right foot has a light green sock with dark green toe and heel but the cuff is cropped out.

End image description]

Thanks for being kind about my couple of days off!! I used them well and made some socks, and they're even (almost) matching! I'm aware I'm a little late for NaKniCroMo but it's been an awful lot of a week so let's just bundle the first three days together and see how it goes from there

Day 1: Share your goal

This month I'd like to finish my rainbow blanket that I started last July, it's made up of 625 squares and I've got 105 left to make. If I make 4 a day then I should get the squares finished - the sewing will be a problem for next month.

[Image description: a photo of an open notebook, in which there is a plan for a patchwork blanket. There are labelled diagonal columns for each colour, which have been fully coloured in apart from green and the yellow column. There is only a small section of each to be finished. End image description]

It's made from acrylic because that's cheap and I'm a skint student, my ultimate goal in knitting is to learn to use (and spin!) nicer, more sustainable fibres like wool, cotton, and bamboo.

Day 2: Meet the maker

[Image description: a photo of a light skinned man with brown curly hair and large round glasses. He is sticking his tongue out at the camera. He is wearing a dark red shirt and a grey jumper with fluffy lining. He is facing the camera at a 3/4 angle. End image description]

Hi! My name's Len, I'm a 20 year old disabled man, studying so I can start uni in September, and I seem to spend my life on trains. My school textiles teacher first attempted to teach me how to knit when I was 11. She told me I'd never be a knitter, and when I was 16 I decided to prove her wrong and made a very wobbly, very long scarf. This year, knitting has become my biggest hobby and I've started improving lots, and now I can knit in the round and make dinosaurs, hats, gloves, and socks!! There's plenty left to learn, and I'm looking forward to every second of it

Day 3: Your Craft Corner

I knit wherever I am - there's normally a small project in my pocket and I knit in bed, on trains, any corner I'm in is a craft corner. I'd take a photo of the horrific pile of works in progress and my stash but we'll save that for day 26 and my yarn stash and storage because hopefully I'll have tidied up a bit by then!

Hope you all are well and you're having a good NaKniCroMo so far!!

[gretchensinister]

Burgess Wilderness Recreation Area Part 22/?

And so continues the story I began for the Black as Pitch Halloween event. It’s the kind of story I’m sure you know well. Five college kids, a cabin, and a state park that just doesn’t get many visitors any more… (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20) (Part 21)

Luc turned the truck onto the rural highway. Katherine sighed, and Tooth actually leaned back in her seat.

“But we can’t be sure we’re safe yet,” she said, and the others nodded.

“However,” Luc said, “in everything we found, the strange attacks never occurred very far from the natural features that form the boundaries of the official park.”

“Well,” Tooth said, then paused for several long moments. “I’m glad to hear that, but I’m not going to trust it. What’s out there is…I don’t think it’s so simple.”

“Right,” said Luc. “Right. Well, there’s nothing stopping us from speeding now.” He pressed on the gas and they widened the distance between themselves and the park.

 ***

 When they finally got to Mary’s Market, Tooth started shaking, her teeth chattering like a jackhammer.

Katherine turned around. “Do you want to go into town instead?” she asked.

“We—we can’t!” Tooth said. “I—I—I need to call the police, and—and if we go into town it will look sus-suspicious, and everything is going to look suspicious anyway because everyone is dead and I can’t explain who killed them, it’s impossible to explain.” She took a few huge breaths, trying to stop herself from crying, and only partially succeeded.

“Okay. Okay,” Katherine said. “No one is going to think that it’s suspicious that you wanted to go into town. In town there’s the park office. That’s where you’re supposed to go for help. There’s the police station. It’s way more obvious to go to town than to a random store. In fact, if anyone asks, you can tell them that’s what I said.”

“I need to—I need to—” Tooth hung her head and groaned. “This is a nightmare.”

“I’m making a decision,” Luc said. “We’re going back to the park office. Any phone calls that you need to make, you can make from there.”

The tires crunched on the gravel as Luc pointed them again towards the main road.

It was the best decision of his life.

The truck moved fast enough that none of them heard the unearthly scream that emanated from the depths of the park.

 ***

 Tooth managed to get out of the truck and enter the park office on her own when they got there. Katherine grimaced at the piles of papers they’d left behind, but ushered Tooth to the chair behind the desk anyway, and then pushed it toward the outlet at the side of the room.

With fumbling hands, Tooth unzipped her backpack and took out her phone charger. Her phone she retrieved from her pocket, and though it took her a few tries for her to put everything together, she managed it eventually, and the little battery shape appeared on the screen. She sighed and leaned back against the chair. “I guess I’ll have to wait a few minutes for my phone to be ready,” she said. “It doesn’t usually go dead so quickly. Maybe I wasn’t charging it like I thought I was.”

“Or maybe that’s just how these things go,” Katherine said. “I mean…”

“Ha,” Tooth said. “Like a movie. Yeah. I know what you mean. We had plenty of those conversations when there were still—when there were still people around for me to talk to.” She stared off at nothing, her phone sliding unnoticed into a precarious angle.

“Um, I was…I was going to make some coffee, but I think we all need something better than what the office machine can provide, so I’ll just step out to the café for a bit.” Luc looked from Katherine to Tooth. “Is there anything in particular you want?”

“Um, a latte,” Katherine said, shaking herself and blinking. “Riti?”

“I…just a large black coffee,” she said. “The biggest one they have.” She certainly sounded like she needed it.

“All right, got it,” said Luc. “I’ll…see if I can get some food, too. I guess they’d be serving lunch now.”

“Oh god. It’s still so early,” Tooth said, then resumed staring at the wall.

“I’ll see you soon,” Luc said to Katherine, and left.

The phone shone out its tiny red light, unblinking.

“So…is there anything you’d rather say to just me?”

Tooth turned to Katherine and blinked slowly. “I…I don’t want to say anything more than once.”

“But you’re going to have to,” Katherine said. “And I think you know that.”

Tooth looked down at her phone. “I suppose it’s charged enough for me to turn it on,” she said. “I still don’t know what to say.”

“You could try telling me,” Katherine said.

Tooth slowly shook her head. “Don’t want to. You’re…there’s not any risk for you. You’re local. You don’t have four deaths to explain.” She shook her head again. “My experiences…they’re dangerous for me to tell. They’re unbelievable.”

“Okay,” Katherine said. “I…may understand a bit more than you assume.”

“Well, if you do, you’re going to have to tell me first.”

“That’s fair,” Katherine said. “And I can do more than that. I can show you what we found. It’s all still here, anyway.”

Tooth leaned over and set her phone down carefully. “Okay,” she said. “What did you find?”

           “I’m afraid I don’t have all the yarn and notecards,” Katherine said, “but I have enough newsclippings to make up for it, I think.”

 ***

             When Luc came back Katherine was still explaining what they’d found, and after passing out the coffee, he helped with a comment or two.

           By the time they finished, Tooth had loosened up just a bit, and had even started to drink her coffee rather than just hold it.

“You were right,” she said. “There is something in the woods. It took my friends one by one. First it took Jackie. Then, when we tried to leave in the van, it took Nick. Then, when we were walking out, it took Bunny. Um, Edmund, that’s the name he signed. And then it took Sandy when we were so close to getting out.” She swallowed hard. “It’s so…it’s so stupid that I survived. Because it almost…I mean, Nick and Jackie were hooking up, and she was the first to die, and Nick was on the football team and he was next. And Bunny…Bunny doesn’t fit I guess, unless…what was it in that movie? Unless he was the nerd. The scholar. And then Sandy…Sandy would get the stoner label, and screw that, honestly. But he was the only one of us who smoked, really. And then there’s me. The final girl. It shouldn’t have worked that way. It makes me feel like nothing that happened was real.”

“I get that,” Katherine said, “but bizarre as it is, I have to think it was some kind of coincidence. A lot of other campers and random people died over the course of the park’s history. None of them—or it seems like none of them—died in a way that goes along with that horror movie order.” She paused. “Did you clearly see the…attacker?”

“I saw enough,” Tooth said. “It was humanoid, but it wasn’t human.” She folded her legs back under her on the chair.

“Humanoid,” Katherine said. “That fits with what happened to the girl Sarah. Before she disappeared, she mentioned talking to someone, not something. Everyone just assumed later that she’d been talking to a person.”

“You believe me,” Tooth said, as if that was the most unbelievable thing she’d said so far that day.

“We do,” said Luc, “but we’ve done our research, and we’ve been to the park.”

“You’re going to have to tell the cops something different,” Katherine said.

“But what?” Tooth said. “Jackie and Nick were taken in the dark, so, sure, I can say we didn’t see who attacked us. But then…the van…I didn’t tell you this yet, but…we drove the van on the path from the parking lot to the cabins. We knew we weren’t supposed to, but we figured nobody would know and if we got in trouble it wouldn’t be a big deal. But I guess it was. Anyway. When we were driving away from the cabin, something…something ripped out the rear axle of the van. Like, it was completely covered in vines. It was obviously…obviously unnatural. I can’t explain it in a normal way.”

“So don’t explain it at all,” Katherine said. “You were trying to drive away after one person in your group got attacked. All right, makes sense. But then it turned out your car had been sabotaged, and then also your other friend was attacked when you couldn’t drive anymore. It was dark and you were scared. I don’t see why you should have stayed to figure out exactly what was wrong with the car before running back to the cabin.”

“But we would have seen it when we walked out,” Tooth said.

“Sure,” Katherine said. “But why stop for it? You were trying to get away.”

“Well. All right. So far so good. But then what about Bunny? He was taken right in front of me and Sandy when we were climbing over a fallen tree.”

“You were still scared,” Katherine said. “You and Sandy climbed over first. You heard Bunny get attacked on the other side, out of your sight. Then you ran. Both of you, and you…you outpaced Sandy. When you ran into us, he wasn’t behind you, and you assumed the worst. We took you back here to get you out of danger right away.”

Tooth gave a single laugh. “Yeah,” she said. “I can see how that would work. It’s close to the truth and it makes way more sense.” She gave a lopsided smile to Katherine. “You should write stories.”

“I do,” said Katherine. “Don’t most women? Anyway, are you feeling ready to call?”

Tooth was silent for several long moments. “Yeah,” she finally said. “Yeah. There’s nothing that…that would get better if I delayed more.”

She powered up her phone, grimacing at the ordinary cheeriness of the start-up noise.

“Calling the local number would probably be best,” Luc said. “Leave it to the police to decide how much fuss they want to make.”

 ***

 The police came quickly, but without sirens. And, thankfully, they were inclined to believe Tooth’s story, or at least believe it in the way that Tooth needed them to. Mysterious attackers murdering a bunch of college kids for no apparent reason was bizarre and horrible, but Burgess, like many rural areas, had been wounded enough by meth and other drugs that something this bizarre and horrible seemed like it had to happen sometime. At least, that was what the younger deputy opined. The older of the pair simply recorded her statement with stoic formality, and called one of the doctors at the local urgent care facility to come out and examine Tooth for any signs of injury.

They didn’t seem at all inclined to believe that Tooth had anything to do with the attacks, despite her being foreign-looking. Maybe she’d been too paranoid about that, Tooth thought. When they saw her, what did they see? Her brown skin, yes, but this was the really horrible thing, but she had to acknowledge it because it was true, she was not so very brown as she could be, and in any case, she wasn’t black. She had just that much apparent harmlessness. Also, when they looked at her, they would see a petite college girl, appearing very young. Since Katherine had helped give descriptions of her friends, it didn’t make sense for her to have been able to do anything to harm them. The thought of her taking down Nick? It was a laughable idea.

The cops were, however, quick to assure her that her friends might not actually be dead. Even if she had heard them scream, that didn’t have to mean anything. They might well have been kidnapped. They’d start an investigation immediately. At this assurance, Tooth had started crying disconsolately, and completely genuinely. She made sure not to say anything while she was crying, though. She’d given her story, close enough to the truth as it was, and she wouldn’t spoil things now. She was so close to being out of danger. All she had to do was keep it together long enough for the cops to leave—with enough yeses to whatever instructions they had, and then…and then…she could call her parents and hide for the rest of spring break. She could ask them what to tell the university, and they would have some kind of reply. She would at least be able to count on them to make any of the phone calls that still needed to be made.

The cops were obviously uncomfortable with her crying, and pretty clearly wanted to leave and start investigating her friends’ disappearances. Or, at least, the younger one was like that.  The older one just looked grim, as if he knew, despite any rational objections to the conclusion, that her friends were well and truly dead.

Not a great bedside manner, no matter what he really thinks, Tooth thought, as her sobs started to peter out.

She was trying to figure out how to best ask if she could call her parents when the doctor from the urgent care arrived. To Tooth’s great relief, the doctor was a youngish woman, and it was with no particular fear that she accompanied her to the small office bathroom for a brief exam. She barely noted the old man who came in behind the doctor, except to think that if he was looking for a campsite he really ought to go somewhere else.

 ***

 Katherine paid quite a lot of attention to him, however, because it was Brick that had followed the doctor through the door. He hooked his thumbs behind his suspenders and slowly looked around the room. Katherine fixed him with a fierce glare, hoping to convey to him that his casual country-bumpkin act wasn’t going to work on her today. She knew that he knew something.

But Brick paid her no mind until he had looked around the entire room, until he had seen the piles of paper and the open boxes. Once he had done so, he met Katherine’s gaze and gave her a wink.

Rage boiled through Katherine. Whatever Brick thought was happening, it certainly wasn’t a winking matter. She knew at least some of this had to be conveyed on her face, but he paid no obvious attention to her, instead taking a few steps toward the cops.

“Mr. Ombric, there’s been an incident at the park,” the younger cop said. “Have you been out there between noon on Saturday and now?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t,” Brick said. “What kind of incident are we talking about?”

Though it was clear the younger cop was eager to answer, the older one beat him to it. “Five campers went out to a cabin around 12:45 pm on Saturday the 2nd. Katherine Oak and Luc Alecson went to assess the park road for storm damage this morning, and they found both what they were expecting—downed trees—and what they weren’t: One of the campers, Riti Khan, on foot, alleging that her four friends were attacked and murdered over the course of the last twenty-four hours. Now, as we have not been able to investigate the scene of these alleged attacks, we cannot say with confidence whether these attacks were fatal or not. However, given the evident distress of Miss Khan, I think it is clear that something did happen out there.” The cop frowned, apparently struggling with what to say next. “I was going to give you a call as soon as we finished getting the girl’s statement.”

The younger cop gave him a sharp look.

Katherine could understand why. Why would they bother calling Brick? For all that he had been always here in the office, it wasn’t his park. At least not on paper. But in practice… And of course…of course the town cops would have to be involved somehow. They always had to be if a death wasn’t in one of the few approved places, like a hospital. They would have to see that there was something off about the deaths in the park. Maybe the other cop just hadn’t been working in Burgess long enough to have dealt with one of these incidents before. After all, it had been years.

The older cop, perhaps sensing his partner’s look, turned to give him one of his own. Asking him to keep quiet, at least for now, and maybe a promise to explain things later. Or maybe not. Katherine knew expressions weren’t usually that readable. Regardless, the tension in the room didn’t ease. It was incredible how much menace seemed to flow from Brick’s mild, grey-bearded, country patrician form.

Katherine hoped she was imagining that. But, had there ever been survivors before? She couldn’t say for sure, but she thought maybe not. And if that was true, did Brick want to keep it that way?

If she’d been alone, she would have shaken herself to get rid of that thought. This was a weird situation, yes, but Brick was…Brick was…

She’d been going for normal, but Brick wasn’t normal. Brick was the one that had stopped locals from getting eaten by a monster in the woods for decades. That wasn’t anything average.

Brick nodded at her and turned back to the two cops. “I’ll be happy to help you in any way I can. Do you need me to answer any more questions?”

“Not as yet,” the younger cop said.

“You should come down to the station later this afternoon so we can talk a little bit more,” the older cop said.

The younger cop only pressed his lips together at this—probably still thinking that was just going to be a waste of time.

A few minutes later, the cops had said their farewells and left the office. Brick focused on Luc and Katherine again, but before he could say anything, Riti and the doctor left the bathroom. The doctor took her leave of them as well.

“I’m not injured,” Tooth said to Katherine and Luc. “But I knew that already.” She noticed that Brick was still here, and her expression became puzzled.

“You must be Miss Khan,” Brick said, holding out his hand. “My name’s Mr. Ombric, but you can call me Brick, everyone does. And unless I miss my guess, Katherine—and Luc, too—told you a few things about me.”

Tooth’s eyes widened. “Yes,” she said slowly. “You’ve been the head of the park for a long time.” She took his outstretched hand tentatively.

“That’s right,” Brick said. “And as such, I’ve become familiar with the things that make the park unique.”

Tooth frowned deeply. “I don’t want to hear any of this beating around the bush. If you know what makes this park ‘unique,’ you also have to know what my last twenty-four hours have been like. So if you have something to tell me, or, honestly, whatever, can you just get on with it?”

Brick smiled. “You’re a tough cookie. But you’d have to be, now wouldn’t you?”

Tooth only glared at him and kept her mouth shut tightly.

Something in Brick shifted, and while Katherine wouldn’t say that he’d removed his mask, she would say that he’d at least removed part of his costume. “I expect you have questions about how all of this is going to proceed,” he said. “And you may think you understand some things you actually don’t. So, I’d appreciate it if you would accompany me on a little walk and talk.” He glanced up at Luc and Katherine. “You can accompany me, too, to offer her your protection, if you like. And I daresay I’ve got a few things to say that you ought to hear, too.”

Tooth sighed. “Sure. Why not?”