#project: shawl 15

[journeyman-tier-fibercraft]

Happy Wednesday! I actually did things this week!

Tamagotchi coasters 4/6. Incredibly tempted to call it here but I have plenty of yarn for the last two and I'm just being too tired to cast on. (plus being finished means I have to weave in the ends which I'm super too tired to do)

Doily 14 sees me on the VERY LAST lace row. Would be far more exciting if I didn't already do the math to see how many chains I would need for the crochet cast off (as the pattern is written, it would be 2.5 THOUSAND slip stitches. With 170 total chains between decreases). But I really need the needles it's on so I've been grinding away.

Shawl 15 is the reason I need those needles! She grows so fast. This pattern is exactly as boring as I remember it being, but I'm a lot better at reading my knitting than the last time I knit it so I don't have to fuss with the 20 stitch markers the pattern recommends. I'm already planning even more mods for the next time I give in and knit it again, namely I think it could look good with an icord edge, esp one that starts with a gap a la Stephen West's Shawl Smorgasboard.

[clamorybus]

i haven't cried since saturday but a lot of little things have made me misty-eyed. like our birthdays are in a month and a half; ever since my parents moved out her and pa's house she gave us phone calls on our birthdays. and for the first time in my life i'm not gonna hear her voice on my birthday

[milkweedman]

Fiber Sale (need money for moving; also trying to destash) !! Only shipping to the US. All prices include shipping.

Would also really appreciate donations if you want to help support me but can't buy something for whatever reason.

Check the original post to see what's been sold and what hasn't (I will cross out sold items). First come first serve.

https://ko-fi.com/kolyenka

Prepared Fiber--all of this is prepared by me :) the following 4 are cheaper as I can ship them in normal envelopes

A: 0.14 oz, combed top. Blend of bfl, tencel, tussah silk, corriedale, merino. Very soft and shiny. $8.

B: 0.11 oz, combed top. Blend of tussah silk (black) and mohair locks (green). $8

C: 0.22 oz, combed top. Same blend as A, just a lot more of it and in different combos. Distinct gradient from one end to the other. $10

D: 0.4 oz, rolag (made on blending board). Tussah silk, mohair, and bfl. Very squishy and fine. $13

E: 0.29 oz. Rolag, wool and cotton blend. Even more stripes of color under the surface. $13

F: 0.51 oz. Rolag, wool blend with some Angelina. Purple underneath. $15

G: 4.75 ounces. Rolags (many many rolags). Blend of various wools; some fibers are not quite next to skin soft, but overall it's a soft blend. Mix of red, orange, white, purple, and black. $45

H: 1 ounce. Washed longwool fleece (breed unknown). Dyed by myself with onion skin. $10

I: 1.2 ounces. Southdown flax blend, predrafted from rolags. Could potentially make up to 6 ounces total of this. $18

FLEECE

J: 6 ounces. Washed jacob lambsfleece. Very soft for a jacob, large bits of vm (was able to get it out with hand cards). $20

K: 5.5 ounces. Hampshire with 2+ years growth, washed fleece. Definitely an odd fleece, not like your usual down breed. Has vm; washed it multiple times but still looks gross--I've found its almost impossible to get totally clean before it's yarn. Recommend combing, spinning, then washing. Nice and soft. $25

L: 7.5 ounces BFL cross. Very soft and with good luster. Some vm, was able to remove with hand cards. $25

M: 4.75 oz. Jacob x Border Leicester. Good luster, warm brown tips. Nicely soft. $20

SPINDLES:

1: thin spindle (7 inches long). Good for cobweb weight but can achieve thinner and thicker. Birch wood with woodburning. $80

2: thick spindle (7 inches long). Good for laceweight but can achieve thinner and thicker. Wood type unknown (some sort of fruit tree iirc). No woodburning due to lots of wormholes and spalting which provide their own visual interest (they don't cause problems spinning don't worry). $60

3: thick spindle (6.5 in long). Good for laceweight, can spin thicker and thinner. No clue on wood type. Woodburned on most of the surface, the rest has wormholes again. $90

BAGS

4: handblended handspun handknit drawstring project bag, 20 inch circumference. Cord is handspun flax. It's folded in half in the bigger picture. $90

5: handblended handspun handknit pouch. Don't remember the circumference but you can compare to the other bag. Body is entirely southdown babydoll wool. Handle is handspun icord. $75

HANDSPUN YARN

6: 4 oz, 325 yards. Hand blended and handspun. Alpaca, wool, silk, silk noil, angelina. 2 ply fingering weight. Very textured. $65

7: 5.75 oz, 572 yds. Merino and silk blend, 2 ply, dk weight. Blended for a triangle shawl, stripes get longer as you go. Very soft, shines very beautiful in the light. $115

Please DM if you're interested--first come first serve. I take payment via ko-fi.

[padawansuggest]

You know you into yarn when you have headcanons about what spindles characters would particularly like, what they prefer to do with the yarn, what type of wheel spinner they are, and who has 17 projects going on at once (Anakin) vs who’s gonna focus almost entirely on one project as they go through thought spindle spinning a fine yarn, plying and washing enough of it for a blanket, immediately sticking it on the loom, and weaving a particularly intricate pattern (Obi-Wan) vs who’s the ‘I add the knots of silk and locks so that I can live in the moment and let chunks come out when they need to’ (as if I even have to say it, it’s Qui-Gon)-

ANYWAYS. I actually love yarn and think that yarn craft should be more in fics but that’s sorta like how lots of chefs and bakers make a lot of foodie fics like it’s nice but. Everyone eats. Not enough people care about Scottish spindles. Obi-Wan has 7 Scottish spindles and like 8 Turkish ones so he can make a blanket’s worth of yarn in a single go without having to unwind them and ply right away. Qui-Gon likes supported spindles and a traditional wheel. Anakin designs and makes his own electric spinners, electric yarn counters, and electric cone winders. And then he knits Padme shawls. Qui-Gon crochets blankets and keeps leaving them in the creche or outside random apartments in the temple. Obi-Wan weaves. Anakin spent 5 hours learning how to dye fiber in Padme’s favorite colours, made an electric wool carder to make batts of them, spent a solid 15 hours spinning enough for a massive shawl in lace weight yarn for his wife, knit her one, and then went back to his ADHD project hopping.

I have ideas!!!!!!

[boneapplet]

A Love Born in Blood pt.17

Relationship: Angron x oc/afab!reader

Warnings: minor descriptions of a difficult pregnancy

Word Count: 1780

Requested Tags for All Works: @beckyninja @runin64 @ilovewolvezz

Masterlist

pt 1 | pt 2 | pt 3 | pt 4 | pt 5 | pt 6 | pt 7 | pt 8 | pt 9 | pt 10 | pt 11 | pt 12 | pt 13 | pt 14 | pt 15 | pt 16 | pt 17

               Engines howling like the damned, the ship trembles in the grip of the warp. Inside its war-hardened frame, the World Eaters keep to themselves, sharpening blades and tempering fury, but their master doesn’t rest. His Legion, blood-drenched and glory-hungry, doesn’t understand what he’s doing. They whisper behind vox-helms, uncertain why their master diverts their fury toward an obscure mining world. It isn't conquest. It isn’t retribution. It’s personal.

Standing alone in the strategium, Angron paces—each step loud, thunderous, uneven. Before him, the hololith loops over and over again, showing the red-ringed designation: Subject A-19234R. Designation: Concubine-class Asset. Location: Gheltor Secundus.

               No name. No image. Just the designation. Just the echo of a life. The vitals hadn’t updated. The file hadn’t grown. Every moment that passed, she might be dying. His lips don’t form her name. They haven’t since the night they tore her from him—since he picked up her torn shawl with his blood-slicked fingers, when he broke in the sand of a dying camp. But he knows. The Butcher’s Nails scream. They always do. But for once, it is not only rage they feed. Beneath the boiling tide, another fire simmers. Older. Deeper. Hotter.

“Evara,” the word escapes, barely audible.

Khrivan, the tech-adept, watches from the perimeter. The last datafeed left nothing clear. No status. No exit log. Just a record expunged too neatly, scrubbed by someone with authority. Someone who thought Angron would never come looking. They were wrong. Khrivan tries again to speak—mentioning atmospheric density reports, obfuscated orbital traffic, the need for stealth.

Angron’s fist slams into a support strut, denting the adamantium. He turns toward the projection, eyes glowing like dying stars.

“I want Gheltor’s planetary logs cracked. Civilian manifests. Dockyard exports. Labor shifts. Even their sewage cycles, tear it apart. If a single scrap of her passed through that world, I’ll find it. They tried to bury her in silence.” He says.

Then, softer—dangerously calm. “They will tell me why.”

Khrivan nods quickly, fleeing to carry out the order.

Left alone once more, Angron approaches the hololith. With unexpected gentleness, he presses his armored hand to the flickering projection. For a moment, his shadow swallows it whole. He remembers her touch. Her breath against his shoulder. The way she had never flinched—not from his temper, not from the implants, not from the pain. In her presence, the monster had been just a man. She had seen what the Emperor hadn’t. There’s something else gnawing at him. Not the Nails. Not the fury. Fear. Not for himself, but that he might be too late. That whatever remained of that night, that woman, that hope, might already be ash.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               The freighter lurches as it breaks the upper thermosphere. Evara braces herself on the crate wall, her breath ragged, sweat slicking her hairline. Every jolt of the vessel is a new assault on her exhausted body. Her body aches in places words don’t reach. But she’s off-world, she made it.

The cabin is dark, shielded against tracking arrays, reeking of rust, coolant, and fuel. The crew keeps their distance. They don’t ask her name. All they know is she paid in secrets, not thrones, and that someone wanted her caged badly enough to raise a planetary alert once she vanished.

Tucked in the inner lining of her coat, the shawl fragment still lives. Pressed sometimes to her lips. Other times, her belly. The child stirs inside her again. Too early for motion, the data she read had told her. Every shift, every flutter, feels like being punched from the inside. She exhales through her teeth and rubs her lower abdomen, whispering nonsense words of comfort, half to herself, half to the life she carries.

“We’re not safe yet.” She whispers it like a lullaby.

Across the bay, Larn watches her. He doesn’t ask questions. They struck a deal, favors for freedom. Still, something in his scarred face suggests he knows more than he admits. He’s seen desperation like hers before, but never quite like this.

“You’ll make it off,” he says quietly, more assurance than promise. “The crew doesn’t talk. They’re ghosts, same as you.”

She nods. Each breath burns. The stimulant is wearing off, leaving her shaking. There’s a sharp ache down her spine and a pressure beneath her ribs. She knows this pregnancy is not normal. She feels it in her bones. The child is growing too fast. Her body is breaking to house it. Still, she won’t stop. The freighter’s nav-officer, a woman with augmented eyes and a voice like gravel, ducks into the hold.

“Next stop is Shalritha, neutral space. Rotworld, mostly independent. Not safe, but unaligned still. You’ll disappear there, if you’re smart.”

Evara nods faintly.

As the woman leaves, Evara exhales and closes her eyes. The freighter shudders again, cutting into realspace. Somewhere out there, she knows, Angron is still alive. Something deep in her blood, whispers that he is coming. But she cannot rely on hope. She is alone and must ensure their child won’t be born in chains.

Tightening the coat around herself, leaning her head back against the vibrating wall.

“Just a little further,” she murmurs. “Just a little longer. I’ll keep you safe. Even if I have to crawl through the dark to do it.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The freighter shudders as it punches through the atmosphere of Shalritha, a world cloaked in volcanic ash and storm-born shadows. Evara clutches the edge of the cargo hold, the metal cold beneath her sweat-slicked hands. Her breath comes in short, ragged gasps. Each jolt of turbulence is agony, her spine aflame, her abdomen a storm of pressure and swelling pain.

Shalritha rises beneath them, a soot-swept ruin of steel canopies and slag towers veiled in permanent dusk. The entire planet groans under industrial overuse—a haven for exiles, dissidents, and traders who ask no questions.

Larn appears at her side, jaw tight. “We’ve only got minutes. The port logs are already flagged. You’ll disappear faster if we split now.”

Evara doesn’t respond at first. Her fingers drift to her coat, brushing the shawl fragment hidden in the inner lining. The warmth there feels almost imagined, almost memory. The pain in her belly spikes again—sharp, unnatural. She winces, a tremor of weakness nearly buckling her knees.

“I need a medicae,” she breathes, voice shaking. “One that doesn’t ask.”

“I know someone,” Larn says. “Midhive, sector six. Augmetic surgeon. Fallen off the books. Keeps old secrets for pay.”

“Then take me.”

               Rain pours in streaks of acidic gray as they cross the cracked ferrocrete causeways, weaving through forgotten alleyways and vent-hung bridges slick with rust and dripping coolant. The sky above is a fractured dome of faint electric storms, painting everything in stark, stuttering light. Cloaked in a smuggler’s garb, staggers out onto a platform swamped in rain and soot. Shalritha smells of oil, old blood, and damp metal. She nearly collapses as her foot touches the cracked ferrocrete. Larn steadies her.

“We need to get you off the main port grid,” he says.

Evara leans heavily on Larn now, every step harder than the last. Her body has begun to rebel against her. Her temperature surges and drops. Her joints ache with pressure. Something is growing too quickly inside her, a life not quite like others. They descend through a hatch behind a collapsed transport hub, entering a maze of service tunnels nicknamed the “Undercrawl,” where Shalritha’s ghosts barter silence in blood. Larn knocks on a warped metal door carved with archaic symbols.

“Old friend,” he calls. “We’ve brought coin. And something rarer.”

With a hiss the door opens. Beyond it stands a woman with half a skull replaced by an augmetic frame, one eye a hollow lens, the other gleaming with sharp intelligence.

“She’s breaking,” Larn says simply, nodding toward Evara.

“Come,” the surgeon replies, voice distorted through a speaker embedded in her throat. “Before she tears apart.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Khrivan returns, this time pale, breathless, data-scrolls in hand.

“My lord,” he stammers. “We decrypted an outbound freighter manifest from Gheltor’s unregistered dockyards. One departure… matching an unsanctioned biometrics flag. Female. No name. Code-red exit protocol triggered post-launch. Destination: Shalritha.”

Angron's knuckles whiten as he grips the data-table. His teeth grind.

“Course change,” he growls. “We follow.”

The helmsman protests, only barely “Lord, Shalritha is under sigil-sanction by the Mechanicus. Navigating it—”

“We follow,” Angron repeats, voice like a landslide. The Nails shriek approval.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

               Laying still on a rusted medical slab, her eyes half-lidded. Cold light pools over her face as the surgeon’s drones buzz low, scanning her trembling form.

“You’re lucky you made it this far,” the woman murmurs, studying the readouts. “This isn’t a normal gestation.”

Evara says nothing.

“The fetus is accelerating cellular division. Hyper-dense muscle growth. Neural spikes off the chart. Your body’s fighting it, losing. But it’s alive. Strong. Whatever it is… it wants to live.”

Evara’s eyes blur with tears she doesn’t let fall.

“I want it to live,” she says. “Can you help me carry it to term?”

The surgeon doesn’t respond right away.

“Maybe. With augmentic support. Blood infusions. You’ll be half machine by the end.”

“Fine,” Evara says through clenched teeth. “Just… get me that far.”

“And then what?”

Evara’s voice lowers. Her hand finds the shawl fragment again, clutched like a vow.

“Then I disappear. With him.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the void’s hungry mouth, the Conqueror cleaves through reality like a spear. Its hull groans with the fury of chained gods. Angron stands in the forward observatory chamber, silent amid the data-streaming hololiths and burning incense of blood rites.

Tech-Adept Khrivan kneels beside the relay node, his hands trembling as a scrambled data feed begins to resolve. “Coordinates align. One freighter. Unflagged registry. Illegal flight path. Landed on Shalritha… forty-two hours ago.”

The hololith flickers. No names. No faces. But Angron sees the trail. He feels it, chest tightening at this. The Nails throb, but it isn’t rage that moves him now. It is something else—quieter, more dangerous. A certainty. She is there. Lifting the torn shawl from beneath his vambrace, pressed close to his skin for months now, forgotten by all but him. Its fibers are brittle, scorched with dried blood, but still red. Still hers.

“She didn’t vanish,” he mutters. “They took her. And she survived.”

The void responds with silence, broken only by the growl of engines and the hum of war.

“Deploy two gunships when we breach orbit,” he growls. “Sweep the hive. Civilian sectors first. No fire unless I command it.”

Khrivan’s eyes widen. “Lord… you mean to land?”

Angron turns, eyes glowing like a furnace behind his helm. “I mean to find her.”

[knottybliss]

It’s Saturday night and freefloating anxiety is welling up, what do we do, gang?

Driiiiiink!

NO! …well yes, but only as a wee side quest. We do THINGMAKE! Tonight’s thingmakery is twofold. First, yarn prep!

I got these two skeins of yarn on massive, massive sale not too long ago - Jaggerspun Green Line, 100% organic wool in Caramel and Twig. Normally $18/hank and I only paid $15 for both. WIN! (Am I bragging? I’m from New England. Of course I’m bragging.)

I’m getting increasingly confident in my knitting, and I think I’m going to try some kind of a thing with these on needles rather than my usual hooking. Which means that these need to become center pull balls. And also I need a pattern. Suggestions welcomed!

The other project is another skulls shawl in this silver wool yarn. It’s weighty yarn, meant to be a rug yarn, but it is surprisingly touchable. I think if, when I get it done, I hit it with some serious fabric softener and beat the crap out of it, it’ll actually be pretty nice.

If nothing else, I always love making this pattern. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

What are y’all working on?

[mythosidhesdollhouse]

Comfi Cardi update & completed project! Went on a bit of a journey with this one, which I'll explain under the cut XD Before I get into that I thought it would be fun to share Naturally Perfect Grace (formerly Camryn) alongside one of my favorite Rainbow High makeovers, since they share a very similar color palette (I used the same crochet thread for the edging on the cardi and the main body of Coco's skirt).

The fibers used for the cardi are Elite Shawl Glitz (discontinued) from Ice Yarns; and Lizbeth Size 10 crochet thread in 122-Caribbean.

So. I started off following the Comfi Cardi tutorial using the yarn weight and hook size indicated to make a garment for American Girl dolls. What quickly became apparent was that this piece was going to be MUCH too large for the doll I intended to wear it. Although Naturally Perfect and American Girl dolls are both 18 inches tall, their body types are quite different. I was aware of this, but as I do not own and have never handled an AG I had no clear idea of just how great the difference was until I began this project.

Nevertheless I continued to work my way through the various sections, both to familiarize myself with the process and to create a visual aid to refer to on my next attempt. I stopped just short of the finishing stages (sewing the sides and adding the ribbing) for easier reference, though I did work a row of the ribbing stitch on one of the cuffs and sew down the side to try it on the doll and make sure I understood the directions before pulling it out again (no reason to leave the yarn attached and trailing about).

The other reason for finishing the main work on this piece is simply that I hope sometime in the near future to acquire an appropriately sized doll to wear it! If not AG then Our Generation or similar. At that point I can circle back and complete it.

Once I had worked through the pattern-as-given I had the guidelines I needed to start over and create a piece custom fit to my doll. I switched from a light(3) to a fine(2) weight yarn, and went down to a B-2mm hook. Checking against the doll as I went I ended up reducing the main granny square from 11 rounds to 9, then adjusted the front panel and sleeve lengths accordingly.

For the cuffs and edging, instead of ribbing I opted for something more in line with my personal aesthetic, and chose a couple of simple lace stitches that would adapt easily to this scale and allow me to incorporate some beadwork and a button. These beads were leftover from jewelry I made in the late 90s and have been knocking around my stash ever since; it was particularly satisfying to almost use them up on a piece intended for my tiny doppelganger XD I'll probably incorporate the few that remain into one of her necklaces.

And that's it! I'm looking forward to doing this again for my other Naturally Perfect girl, after I complete her skirt. For simplicity's sake I'm going to repeat the same layout with different yarn/beads/thread. After that I might try scaling it down even further for my 14 inch dolls, but knowing my tendency to get distracted I don't want to plan too much in advance.

Big thanks again to @joshybearhuggies for sharing such a clear, well-paced, easy to follow tutorial! Over the past 15 or so years I've gathered my crochet techniques from books, written patterns, and stitch diagrams, but video instruction is an area I haven't ventured into much. This project was such pleasant experience I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for similar content in the future.

[affreca]

I should really get around to knitting with all the yarn I spin. I finished plying the Sunflower project this morning and then spun 4 ounces of the purple (My Dear Lucy, 70% merino, 15% cashmere and 15% mulberry silk) and started spinning the blue (Polar Ice, 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon) just because they were on top of the stash bin. Shawl?

[fashion-foxy]

Going Foward With The EAH Server Based Mobile Game - My thoughts as of 24/2/25

This post will highlight my current thoughts and what I plan to do regarding this game, as well as that it most likely will not be playable ever unless some mericle happens. This is a very long update and is the first one in a while, so I have a very short recap under the cut.

INTRODUCTION/RECAP (Feel free to skip if you are familiar with my GMGA posts/updates):

Hi, I'm Foxy, I run @girlymobilegamearchive

I use the #GMGA updates and #Ever After High game tags for talking about my project of making now defunct stereotypically feminine mobile games easily accessible. I use the ever after high game tag for anything regarding this game. Recap is I found a game just titled Ever After High and went on a long journey trying to get it in a working state. Eventually, I gave up. I have since Un given up.

Actual Update:

I have recently found the versions 2.3.1 2.3.2 and 2.2. I use version and build interchangeably. I know their different. What you basically need to know is that these are just different updates to the game. Previously, I only had versions 2.4 and 1.10. What these new versions have confirmed is that:

There was a major update to the game with every new Netflix special that was released. (I already suspected it but it's nice to confirm it.

This game was not only being maintained (i.e. servers still kept up and on the appstore) but actively getting updated with new content from 2015 - 2022. (This is similar to the timelines of the other 3 EAH games, most of which did not have the same development teams)

This game, IF I find a functional version, will not be compatible with modern android (about android 13 to 15, which is what I consider modern. If you have an android device, i can almost guarantee this means you.) The version I can confirm will it will work if it ever does is Android 7.

Let's break down all of these discoveries.

1. Confirmation of all specials having a themed version:

Originally, I thought 2.4 was the epic winter build because Apple was the school winter shawl. However, both 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 feature her in the EW outfit, this with the DG outfits featured on the Amazon Appstore page and footage I found of the WTW build confirms this. I will try to find as many builds as I can.

2. Why were most EAH games made in 2015 and updated until 2022?

So, admittedly, it seems odd that the EAH mobile games were made in 2015 and continued to be updated years after the franchise was cancelled. But here's my theory. So, these games are pretty simple and could be made in about 6 months to a year. EAH and MH were doing pretty well, so naturally, they expanded into multimedia, more specifically games, around this time. They contracted Animoca to make Charmed Style and Tea Party Dash, worked internationally on Baby Dragons, and contracted [X]cubegames to make this game, Ever After High. [X]cubegames then worked with RedHat Inc for server maintenance. I don't what exactly happened in Mattel but either they just kinda forgot the games existed, or they were actually making enough money to beat maintenance costs. Then I think Mattel looked back into their MH and EAH games around 2022. Why did they decide to look into the MH and EAH properties in 2022? Well, that's when the MH reboot came out! So, in 2022, they were like, OK, let's go talk to Animoca and our home development team and whoever the hell else we contracted to make MH games. So, they went to talk to them and were like, hey, its not very profitable for these games to still be active, and we're rebooting the brand. And the companies said cool, but what about EAH. Mattel had forgotten EAH games existed and could really like to not make disney upset since they had just gotten the disney doll license back and got all EAH games shut down.

3. The EAH app will not be functional on modern android:

The EAH app was built for Android 5 to 7 and uses storage permissions for those versions. In the more than 7 android versions that have been released since then, the storage permissions have changed completely, and the game won't even recognize it. This is one of the many many reasons why we should just rebuild the game instead of trying to resurrect its long dead corspe, but I don't feel especially qualified for that. Maybe in the future, that'll change, but for now, I'm just going to work on archiving what the game was.

(BTW, sorry if the talking about the games in the main tag is annoying)

[sillyandsensibleheart]

Re-read this and thought it was a shame it never fit anywhere in chapter 15 or 16. I think it belongs on tumblr :)

When her tears were at last wrung dry some time later, Georgiana followed her brother quietly into his book room. Wrapping her shawl tightly around herself, she watched as he bent to stoke the coals to life in the hearth. He then turned to the small table and unstoppered a decanter, pouring two fingers of a dark amber liquid she did not recognize. He held out a glass to her silently. She regarded it for a long moment before gingerly accepting it. Passing it under her nose, she inhaled the scent of something akin to damp wood and cinnamon.

She put her lips to the glass and took a small sip. Instantly, her face crinkled as she reacted to the fire that heated a trail down her throat. As she tried in vain to suppress an audible cough, Fitzwilliam took a slow sip, closing his eyes as if to savor it.

When she was fairly certain that she would not cough again, she asked, “What is it?”

“A gift from Lord Alistair of Glenwood.”

She continued to frown at it until at last he said, “Whiskey.” 

Her eyebrows rose as she sniffed, then tentatively took another drink. The second taste was easier to master, but she still could not suppress her grimace.

“Do you like it?” he asked, as the corner of his lip lifted.

She took a third sip. “After a fashion,” she said, attempting to emulate Fitzwilliam’s stoic expression. 

He gave her an amused look as he gestured to the chairs before them. They settled side by side in the two wingback chairs by the fire—she in her nightgown and he in his dirty boots.

Georgiana found it an irresistible tonic for peace: the refracted light in her glass, the hearth before her, and her family beside her. She knew not how long they sat, but she felt the moment as an exhale from her very soul.

Sometime later, her brother’s deep voice broke her reverie. 

“You are not to blame, Georgie,” Fitzwilliam said, his voice low and slightly hoarse. His gaze remained fixed on the glass in his hand, as if the words he spoke were written in its depths. “It is not for you to carry this shame,” he said, the steadiness of his words undermined by the drawing together of his brows. 

She did not look at him, but could think of nothing to say. She felt herself nod slowly, then a sudden prickle of tears burned in her eyes and she shut them tightly. His hand rested gently on her arm. “All is well, and I . . .” He trailed off, then tried again. “I want only for you to be well, sister. To be happy.”

A silent tear slid down her cheek as she nodded. 

“That is all that has ever mattered to me,” he murmured into the dark.

For perhaps a quarter of an hour Georgiana sat with her thoughts, the warmth of the whiskey in her belly the perfect companion to her reflective mood. So deep was she in her own head that  she did not notice that her brother had risen until she felt a light kiss on the crown of her head. 

“Goodnight, Georgiana” he said, his voice sleep roughened, eyes now half-lidded. 

“Goodnight, Fitzwilliam,” she replied, smiling affectionately up at him.

Not long after he departed, the sleep that had eluded her for so many days began to descend upon her like a warm weight. Yet, unlike the previous nights, she did not fear the solitude of her thoughts.

Though her brother had left, Georgiana felt certain that she was not alone.

[omnipotentauthor]

this was the year of crafting for me! got into crochet and cross stitch

started a crochet fox from a woobles kit november of 2023, but didn't finish until march 13

made a rainbow penguin, also a woobles kit, for my mom's birthday, finished march 21

made a bunch of coasters for myself, and my mom and grandma for mother's day, finished may 10

was given a cross stitch pattern and supplies by my sister for hannukah of 2023, started march 14 and finished may 13

made a granny square for my grandpa's birthday, finished june 5

made a set of placemats for my grandma's birthday, finished august 4

made a shawl for my mom for hannukah, started august 17 and finished september 15

(then my brain turned off and i didn't do shit for four months)

made a hat for my sister for hannukah, finished december 24 (yes, the day before i gave it, had to do it in three days, don't look at me)

i do have another cross stitch in the works, but it's not very far along bc i've only worked on it a couple hours a month for a few months. it's a bigger one, so it might take me a bit even once i start working on it more regularly, but finishing it is one of my goals for 2025, along with other projects

[sirotras]

2023 crochet round up!

i mentioned making a post like this a few days ago, and true to my nature, i waited until the last minute to get pictures

so here we are, in no particular order, various projects i finished in 2023

1.) this was technically crocheted last year (i think) but this year i finally assembled and lined it, making it finished! its not quite the size to be a purse, but its perfect for carrying my phone and keys while dog walking

i followed this pattern, and im really happy with the results!

2.) some little zipper bags. like the bag above, the purple one was crocheted last year, but i finally added the lining and zipper this year (i also used the same pattern as the above bag to make the purple one)

the grey one doesnt have a lining and zipper yet, but since the crochet is finished, it still makes the list

3.) little squares from this pattern, to have something to clip my stitch markers to, very helpful for travel

4.) a few of the chokers i made during the summer, there are a bunch more, but you get the idea, a couple were made based on this pattern

4.) this one was hard to get a good shot of, but it's a cat blanket i made for my sister's cats

the pattern was a free one i got from michael's in store, which doesnt seem to be on their site? however its a pretty simple pattern, im pretty sure you could find something nearly identical by searching "star baby blanket" or something like that

5.) for ages now i've been meaning to make something to keep my tablet pens in, because having them loose in my bag is begging for disaster

i actually had to make this little case twice, the first one was too long and the proportions looked weird, so it isnt pictured here

i hand finished all the seams for the lining, there was no practical need to do this

6.) pouch to carry headphones i got for my birthday

7.) pouch to carry Cool Rocks

the bottom of the bag comes from these doily patterns, and the ends of the ties are from this pattern

8.) a mini dice bag, made to hold a couple sets of mini dice my sister made for me!

9.) several cord ties made from this pattern, the flower was my own addition (only two ties are pictured because i didnt feel like tracking down the third)

10.) a flower vine to decorate my desk, no actually on my desk because i still need to sort out how i want to attach it

11.) speaking of flowers, ive probably made dozens of these little guys, they're very quick to make, and a good way to give my hands something to do while watching something

12.) little succulents from this pattern

13.) oops! another pouch to hold even more Cool Rocks

14.) while technically i still need to to line these bags, i still wanted to include them, i made them from this pattern, and im very excited for when theyre actually finished so i can use them

next we're getting into some shawls i made, and unfortunately i just dont have a good set up for getting pics of them

15.) this one was made by doing a little variation from this pattern

16.) this was made from the all shawl pattern by doris chan, its a really great pattern for beginner's, the first shawl i made was from that pattern!

17.) this was made from a variation on the same pattern i used for the cat blanket, i made a couple others from the same sort of pattern late last year, but i decided i needed one in black in october, because it looks just a bit like bat wings

18.) i made a cowl from this pattern, and i really love the texture of it! i also made one for my mom in a different color, which is not pictured here because i took these picture last minute

other things not pictured include: a dice bag for my sister, flowers for my mom, and a sack for the cats to curl up in (since they love making nests out of my projects)

[recordofablerd]

Made a small mountain of chunky crochet shawls for my very queer family this year. I'm really proud of them: a year ago, asymmetrical wraps and scarves were waaaay intimidating but now, I’m a bit of a master at them!

I also tried a new way of drying that resulted in some very soft yarn: a 15 minute dry on low heat followed by a 20 minute air dry tumble. Let me tell you, this is the only way I'll be washing all my acrylic garments from now on. Probably helps that I used some Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner to help relax the yarn during the initial wash: it's a nice, scent-sensitive way to clean projects and isn't too much for me smell-wise.

All in all, the holiday is looking merry and bright: plus now, I can finally do projects solely for me!

[msbarrows]

Yeah, got behind because I wanted to include photos of my crochet and kept procrastinating on that, so have a verbose post of four days at once.

Aug 15 - finished the green and white cotton wool scarf! Overall pretty pleased with how it came out. It's a little weighty and has great drape, as cotton generally does.

Then I killed some time looking at various shell crochet based shawl patterns online, before settling on a simple one with a good video tutorial, Lacy Triangle Shawl by Hopeful Turns (damn but she's a fast crocheter).

For supper I got the pair of remaining moose hand pies out of the freezer, and reheated them in the air fryer. Served them with potatoes mashed with chopped green onions and smoked paprika, steamed butternut squash, and a couple of fresh garden tomatoes cut in quarters.

Aug 16 - More crochet, more Anno 1800. I'm half regretting going for such a fine yarn; thinnest one I've ever worked with, which is proving to be a PITA. But it'll look fantastic if I manage to complete it. Right now I'm just trying to start it; I keep making mistakes and having to frog back and try again.

Supper was mild Italian sausages with hashed potatoes and corn.

Aug 17 - slept in stupidly late after staying up until stupidly early. Disordered sleeping'r'us.

It was due to a combination of Anno 1800 and getting very focused on crochet once I went to bed; I'm finding that crocheting for a bit before trying to sleep usually helps my brain wind down. Anyway, I finally got the hang of the pattern of repeats for the lacy shell crochet and got a reasonable start on it:

After that I decided since I was still feeling too wired to sleep that I might as well frog the crochet vines (the scale of them really is completely wrong), drag out my yarn winder to rewind the variegated yarn from that into a cake, and then start on yet another scarf using the green yarn I'd been using for the leaves. Yup, I now have two projects on the go at once. Got the first few rows of it done before I finally felt tired enough to sleep, on the wrong aide of dawn. Brain, why do you do this to me?

Once I finally got up, showered, dressed, etc, I didn't really have time (or motivation) to cook anything else, so supper was pasta, with meat sauce from the freezer.

Aug 18 - Day started out with a nice long power outage, so what did I do? Crochet, of course! Overcast day so I stuck with working on the green scarf, which doesn't need me to work under a light to differentiate the loops from each other (also helps that it's all one colour). Made pretty decent progress on it, since the rather large yarn (having to use my biggest crochet hook with it) means it adds up fast. I'm working this one out of my head, not from a pattern. I think I'm going to aim for about three times as long as it is wide, if the wool lasts that far, as it's quite wide.

Not a big fan of the yarn. It's 100% acrylic (Red Heart stuff) and works up very stiff; even with netting parts I think the final scarf might be uncomfortably bulky and not have nice drape, though that may improve with size, as its own weight will affect that. I'm mostly thinking it'll go in a pile of stuff to eventually donate or give away or something, since there's only so many scarfs or shawls or whatever my mostly house-bound self needs.

I need to find a sizable project to work on that isn't either of those two types of items. Maybe buy a LOT of yarn and make something sweater-ish. I'm looking at the construction of a poncho-style ice dyed top I purchased recently and thinking it might lend itself really well to a crochet coverup to wear over other items; it's basically two same-sized rectangles, with a slight scoop at the middle of one long side for the neck opening, joined along that long seam, and then partially up each short side, but set in from the edge hems so there's a few inches of loose fabric beyond the side hems to be all flowy:

It looks like it should be very easy to make out of a couple crochet panels, I just have to figure out how to work the scoop. I'm thinking make the back panel first, from the top hem on down, then starting at the top edge of it again work the front panel directly off of it as well, so my starting chain is lost in the join except along the back of the neck opening. Then I just have to slip stitch the side hems and done.

Ended the day playing even more Anno 1800. I'm teetering back and forth between making and losing money, but am generally gaining more than I'm losing. Have gotten even further than last time (yay!) and have now hit a spot where I can see a hump looming that I need to get over or around, can see what the way past it probably is, and just have to work through some prerequisites to unlock some technology so that I can change from shipping a bunch of things long distance from other regions, to making them locally out of alternate (local) materials.

For supper I made corned beef hash. Yum.

[topazadine]

Because it's my birthday I am going to share 23 random facts about me (that no one cares about except me, I care very much)

1. I was born in Okinawa, Japan. No I'm not Japanese, my mom was an accountant for the Air Force. And no, I don't remember anything about Japan; we moved back when I was six months old. The military broke into our apartment and forced us to leave the country because my mom criticized the Air Force for having religious programming on the government-funded radio station. She wrote a screenplay about it which has sadly never been sold :(

2. I've written over 2 million words of fiction, most of which you can read over on Archive of Our Own.

3. I was named for two typhoons that hit Japan around when I was born (first and middle name). Every year, we used to get horrible insane bad weather around my birthday. After I changed my birth name and kept only one of the typhoon names, we don't get bad weather anymore :)

4. I've lived in 10 different houses and three different time zones over my lifetime.

5. I won a Gilman Scholarship for the most competitive country in the program and got to study abroad in Stirling, Scotland, during undergrad. I got all As in my classes while there, despite the fact that I was dealing with repeated bouts of antispychotic-induced trismus where my jaw would lock open for up to six hours. It was ouchie.

6. Over my lifetime, I have kept dogs, cats, betta fish, koi fish, zebra finches, guinea pigs, hamsters, ferrets, and chickens.

7. My favorite time of year is autumn.

8. Back in the early 2010s, I anonymously pretended to be Darren Criss (from Glee) in random peoples' inboxes, and I was so good at it that there was a theory that I was, indeed, Darren Criss. I eventually had to come clean about it because other people tried to copy me.

9. I also caused a controversy in the Sherlock fandom by Photoshopping Sherlock-related graffiti on a photo of the Baker Street Underground station. People literally thought someone was going around spraypainting the London Tube while I was comfortably at home in my apartment in Chicago.

10. While living in Chicago, I once found an iguana in a tree, in the middle of winter. Poor thing would have died if it was left out any longer. I captured it and gave it to my friend who kept reptiles; the original owner never came forward for it.

11. I have dyscalculia, meaning it's nigh-on impossible for me to do anything other than basic math.

12. Because of my dyscalculia, I can't read sheet music. Despite this, I was in choir and musicals because I had a good singing voice. To get around this, my teachers would give me CDs of the music, and I would learn everything by ear.

13. My first ever fannish hyperfixation was The Beatles. I used to roleplay Beatles RPF with my best friend by passing a notebook around between classes. My character had a whole city in North Carolina named after her, plus a lime green Bugatti Veyron and a mansion. Typical middle schooler power fantasy lmao

14. My favorite animal is the unicorn. Barring mythical creatures, my favorite animal is the cow.

15. I collect music boxes, specifically ones with moving parts. My favorite present anyone has ever given me is a singing bird music box with a little canary that dances while it sings.

16. I also collect vintage luggage. Look, it's a cooler storage system than tote boxes, ok??

17. I have been knitting since I was around 9. My favorite thing to make is socks, and the favorite project I've ever done is a seashell-patterned shawl for my mom.

18. In the summer, I love kayaking; in the winter, I love doing nothing whatsoever. Though I'm tempted to try cross-country skiing, ngl.

19. Last year, I made my first roombox; I'm now working on a three-story dollhouse. I also mod Nendoroids.

20. I've had nearly every hair color, which includes blonde, brunet, black, red, purple, teal, blue, green, and pink. My favorite is green.

21. I have seven tattoos, including the term "Mors ad Raptoribus" written across my chest. I got this one after being sexually assaulted; it means "Death to Rapists" in Latin. The other most important one is a portrait of my late dog Luke.

22. I like all sorts of music, including alt, indie, (some) folk, pop, metal, rap, blues, jazz, and classical. The only music I really don't like is gospel. If you ask me my favorite band, rest assured it'll change in about three weeks.

23. I'm a late bloomer horse girl. I rode a little bit as a child but was too broke to afford regular lessons. Now that I'm an Adult, I go riding once a week and wish I could go more!

Happy birthday to me! And yes, I am always this insufferable about myself on my birthday. Look I get one day a year ok

[leiyahime]

3, 6 and 9 for the crafting asks please :)

aww thank you for the ask!

3. when did you begin crafting?

I don't recall a time in my life I have not been creative. I've tried almost everything except working with metal; drawing, photography, simple woodworks, simple projects with electronics, fibre stuff, calligraphy, writing stories, I tried it all. I loved embroidery and crochet in the rare crafting related lessons at school, tho I started crafting in earnest when I began to cosplay about 15 years ago in my early 20s.

6. anything you made that you loved?

I absolutely love my Uraboku (Betrayal knows my name) cosplay of Usui Shusei in his black and white long vest and my Princess Saturn from Sailor moon. I love my nalbound headband. I still enjoy reading some of my older fanfics. And I love quite a few of my handspun yarns!

9. what are you working on right now?

Crochet: triangle shawl out of bought yarn knitting: Scarf out of my first usable handspun Spinning: Some grey yarn (one single merino, the other possibly mohair) for a crochet border sewing: need to finish the seams of my medieval stuff, and many plans...