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theyreonlynoodlesmike · 4 years

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Hi my friend just showed me your stunning vamp blog and I was wondering if I could request something? I knit and make things for people but I was wondering what the boys would be like if their partner or spouse was like this or just domestic I think its called?

Honestly, I love the idea of the boys with a domestic s/o. I think we were truly robbed when we never got to see the boys be domestic and doted on by Lucy, and if they had a girlfriend like that? Ugh yes. I’m assuming this is for poly lost boys! Okay, anyways, here you go!

Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Domestic S/O

The boys are the opposite of domesticity. They’re wild, untamed vampires! The only reason any of them, Marko, knows how to sew is so they can put cool patches on their jacket. That’s the closest any of the boys come to being domestic. But you?

You knit, bake, sew, crochet, and do every domestic thing under the sun. It had taken some time to break down their walls (they’re teenage boys from the 80s, they want to be tough), but they were more than willing to get some homestyle lovin’ from you after you started dating

David loves when you bake for them. You bring over a little tupperware container full of heart shaped cookies, and David melts. He has a problem with sharing and you have to remind him that they’re for everyone. He can’t help it, it’s like he can practically taste the love inside them. And he loves to watch you cook. He’ll hold you from behind as you busy yourself by the stove, and try to distract you with neck kisses. It’s not his fault he likes your apron

Dwayne never wears a shirt, even in the winter months, and you get exasperated because it’s cold out! Even if he’s a vampire and he can’t feel it, you still knit him a pair of gloves. It’s small enough that he can still expose his chest as much as he wants, but at least his hands won’t be as cold as ice when you go to hold them. When you give them to him, he just smiles to himself. He doesn’t need any convincing to wear them, and he thinks it’s so cute that you care about him as much as you do. If the other boys try to tease him for it, he doesn’t care

Even though Marko can sew himself, he still asks you to fix things or to put new patches on his jacket. You have to do it by hand because his jacket is too thick for your sewing machine, and Marko will sit besides you and watch you as you do it. He thinks the concentrated look on your face is adorable and that you stitch better than he ever could. And if you prick your finger? He’s right there to kiss it better. He’ll walk around with a big smile on his face after the new patch has been added

Paul loves to be doted on and pampered. You knit him a sweater? While he may not wear it on the boardwalk, he’ll wear it all around the cave. You purposely make it big on him and he hits the others with his sweater paws. He loves affection and attention, and the sweater you made him makes him feel like he’s being constantly wrapped up in a big hug. You made him a blanket? Come lay with him under it! He’ll cuddle you and kiss your cheeks while he tells you how adorable you are

Even though it’s the middle of the night, you still make them breakfast. Paul will help you flip the pancakes, and Marko will teasingly throw pancake batter at him. Dwayne will help with clean-up duty. You wash, he’ll dry. David will snag you when you make your way back to your living room, and he’ll hold you in his lap and thank you for being so nice to them

Expect lots of cuddle piles whenever they see you, and the boys try to give you as many gifts as they can in return. While you realize that some of them were definitely stolen, it doesn’t make you like them any less

Dwayne is the only one willing to actually let you attempt to teach him how to knit. He’s slow at first, as his hands are so big and clumsy compared to yours when it comes to the knitting needles. When he finally starts to get the hang of it, you two will have dates where he’ll just knit you a scarf or something while you work on one of your other projects. He wraps it tight around you on cold, winter days and kisses your reddened nose

You try to teach Paul how to sew, and let’s just say he gets fed up pretty quickly. It takes way too long and he keeps stabbing himself with the needle, and you can’t exactly kiss his fingers better because vampire blood, duh. He can play guitar like a pro, but for some reason his hands aren’t good with something as small as a sewing needle. He’ll pout because Marko can do it, and you’ll assure him that it’s fine and you’ll ask him to teach you guitar instead

When you offer to teach David how to sew or knit, he says no. He’s a tough, biker vampire. Useful or not. Instead, he picks up certain things from your cooking. He starts to learn what type of oil to use when you cook different things, what spices go with what, and he’s pretty good at cutting up vegetables. After awhile, you find that you two end up cooking together more than him just watching you. When the boys tease him for it, you comment on you think it’s actually quite sexy watching him cook. Suddenly, all the boys want to help

You teach Marko how to bake, but it’s only because you persuade him by offering to let him lick the bowl and have first dibs. He gives you a wide grin and quickly agrees. He gets chocolate all over his face the one time you make brownies, and he especially likes mixing all the ingredients together. He doesn’t understand at first that when it comes to baking recipes have to be followed. No exceptions. He’s your taste tester, and you two end up eating more raw cookie dough than baking it

The boys don’t get a lot of domesticity in their lives, but they appreciate it when they do. Especially when it comes from you.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #david the lost boys #the lost boys david #dwayne the lost boys #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys paul #paul the lost boys #the lost boys marko #marko the lost boys #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys x reader

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billyskullknits · 5 years

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On Gender and Knitting

I've been thinking about this blog post for about a year now, and now seems around the right time to write it.

I was setting myself up at a craft fair last month when someone paused by my stall, looked at my stock and said with an uncertain smile; "Knitting? That's a bit unusual for a man, isn't it?"

It is, by no means, the worst reaction I could have received. I smiled back a bit awkwardly and explained that yes, some people may think so, but my dad had taught me and my brother to knit when I was very young and I'd never found it odd.

I didn't explain that I was a trans man. I didn't say about how I honestly considered giving up fibrecrafts during the darkest days of my transition because of attitudes like that. I said nothing about the history of knitting, about the men-only knitting guilds and about how the perception of fibre crafts as "women's work" has historically tied in to its devaluation as a craft following industrialisation and mass consumerism and about the ridiculous misogyny that shift signifies.

I've been on testosterone for 22 months now, and I'm happy that I mostly pass, though rarely as a straight man (which would be boring anyway). However, I have noticed a definite trend; the one thing that seems to get me most misgendered isn't my voice, or my face, or my chest, even when not wearing a binder.

It's my knitting.

Yup - even with two weeks worth of stubble and a sore throat, people look at me knitting and think "ah, yes, a young woman knitting merrily along her way, why she even has a beard like my dear old Grandma."

It's silly. It's silly when people address knitting circles or craft groups as 'ladies'. It's silly when I'm told to apply for a women's enterprise award because "everyone in this craft group should apply," despite the group including numerous cis men. It's silly when almost every pattern book has a men's section which includes the sentiments of "here's something nice to make for your boyfriend!"

It's silly. Stop it.

Knitting - and crochet - are only gender-biased because we made them so, just like everything else.

Etsy | Ravelry | Facebook | Instagram | Ko-fi

#knitblr #knitting #men who knit #guys who knit #yarnblr #crochetblr #crochet #craftblr #etsy #ftm #guys who crochet #men who crochet #fibrecraft #lgbtqai #crafts #ravelry #transmasc

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maryellencarter · 5 years

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tagged by @aphorisnt

rules: answer 17 questions & tag 17 people you want to know better (I have not the brain to tag people and anyway since tumblrpocalypse the people I would usually tag are mostly gone, but if you want to do the thing, consider yourself tagged!)

nickname: I think of myself as JT more than by any other monicker. I'm still mad about losing that branding.

zodiac sign: Scorpio. Opinions vary on whether I am "the least Scorpio Scorpio ever" or whether I fit the category fairly well. Sexually confident and manipulative I am not. (Confident in general, still dubious. In touch with my dark side, okay, I will give you.)

height: 5'6", give or take

hogwarts house: Every quiz gives me a different answer, and I've never really clicked emotionally with any particular house. One of my supervisors at work decided I was a Ravenclaw, which I can definitely see. I poked at the @sortinghatchats system a while back, which puts you in *two* houses according to a system of their own, but I was doing me and Wes at the same time and all I really remember is that we were similar but different. I think one of us was... no, I can't remember, and I don't have time to rebuild the analysis at 3am on a work night. I *think* I was a Burned Ravenclaw Primary with Hufflepuff Secondary, or maybe the other way round, and I *think* Wes might have been a Burned Gryffindor or maybe a Burned Hufflepuff Primary? I remember we were both Burned (this is fundamentally the part of Wes I first glommed onto) and I'm pretty sure he was Ravenclaw Secondary but I wouldn't swear to it.

last thing i googled: "smallest count aida" apparently. I'm looking at poster-sized cross stitch patterns, and by poster-sized I mean we're talking 52x72" if I do it on 14ct so more of a tapestry really, and I don't have room for a tapestry in this apartment. I also don't actually have fifteen years to dedicate to making a cross stitch tapestry, but I was looking at potential smaller counts of aida cloth because I am dubious about the whole evenweave thing and specifically "you have to start on *this* side of a thread so the stitch doesn't roll underneath and stop being a stitch" thing. Apparently I could hypothetically get 22 count aida. Which would make it only a 46x33" tapestry, which is practically down to poster size if you think about it. Assuming I could *see* to work on 22 count aida; I really do need to schedule a fucking ophthalmologist appointment already, the whole diabetes-affects-your-eyes thing is being a thing.

song stuck in my head: I don't often get songs stuck in my head. I am not particularly auditory as a rule. Right now there is no song stuck in my head, only the twin whirs of the ceiling fan and the fridge.

following: 64 tumblrs, apparently. Most of these are more or less defunct, so I keep adding currently-active ones that catch my eye. Lot of cross stitch lately.

followers: 85. I used to have over 300 but there was the blog switch and then tumblrpocalypse and yeah. :P They're all apparently people, though. I keep on top of the pornbots pretty well. (Not like that. ;P)

amount of sleep i get: Not fucking enough. I need 9-10 hours a night and I get 5-7. You may notice that I'm up at 3am doing a meme. I suspect the depression, but I honestly haven't identified any underlying cause in a way that would allow me to fix the issue.

lucky numbers: I don't really have any that are "mine". My relationship to numbers isn't like that. I tend to think of 3 and 7, as being the classic medieval Christian lucky numbers.

dream job: That one tumblr post where you black out for forty hours a week and the paycheck shows up. I have absolutely no idea what I want to do that I am also able to do. My "passion" is geology, but that ship has sailed; I'm not physically capable of making a career in geology now, if I ever would have been. Or proofreading, but that hasn't been a livable wage for decades. Or spinster, like the kind that spins thread all day, but that went out with the Industrial Revolution. You see my dilemma? ;P

wearing: My skin. It's 3am, what do you want, fuzzy bunny pajamas? They don't make those for a 56" ass.

favorite songs: The Mary Ellen Carter. Most things from Pete Seeger. A selection of Raffi, The Monkees, and Johnny Cash. Probably some others I'm not thinking of right now.

instruments: I can play piano right-handed well or both-handed badly, recorder fairly well, guitar badly, and can make noises come out of a syrinx, which takes a certain level of skill. I also sing, loudly and sometimes very well.

random facts: Aphorisnt did a combination of random facts about themself and about the world. I, being sleepy, will provide you with only one, that I have been knitting for twenty years pretty continuously and that kind of scares me. (Huh. Maybe in another twenty years I'll be staring in awe and dismay at a similar mastery of cross stitch and finally take up quilting or naalbinding or something. Weaving, crochet, macrame, who knows.)

aesthetics: My phone was trying to autocorrect this to "Wes" until I got a ways into typing the word, and really that's pretty accurate. I have a sense of Westhetics. XD (My clothing is very utilitarian, jeans and solid-color t-shirts mostly, but you should see my apartment. If I ever catch up on the laundry again I'll post some more pictures, I'm pretty proud, even though right now I'm also in an obnoxious state of "NOTHING SPARKS JOY!" :P)

#meme #i was tagged #thank you

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aroworlds · 6 years

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Aro-Spec Artist Profile: Signe

Today’s awesome aro-spec creator is Signe, better known to aro-spec Tumblr as @fluffyllamacorn!

Signe is a busy aroace writer, visual and textile artist! She writes for the Young Avengers, The Shadowhunter Chronicles/Shadowhunters, Hawkeye Comics and New X-Men: Academy fandoms in addition to developing diverse original fiction. You can find her growing collection of fanworks on AO3 under the name FluffyLlamacorn and her gorgeous art at @llamacorn-productions.

She also posts and reblogs fashion and accessories at @clothing-inspiration, and some of her cosplays can be seen throughout this post!

With us Signe talks about her passion for textile arts and how they allowed her to reclaim her femininity, the importance of non-romantic relationships in creative media, the difficulty of writing kissing scenes, and the need for works and discussions that celebrate our aromanticism. Her love of making, crafting and designing just shines through this post, so please let’s give her all our love, encouragement, gratitude, kudos and follows for taking the time to explore what it is to be aromantic and creative.

Can you share with us your story in being aro-spec?

I just sort of … never cared? I’ve never wanted to get married and have children, and I never really had crushes growing up. I partly figured that was because I was surrounded by assholes who weren’t worth crushing on, but even when I graduated and moved to better schools where I actually had friends, I still didn’t care. I’ve always had a lot of confidence, so I’ve never bothered feeling insecure about not dating. I spent a while identifying as a straight person “who doesn’t care about romance” before eventually identifying with the ace and then aroace identifiers after having known them for a while, but there was never any big moments in the journey that really stand out.

Currently, I see my aromanticism as more important to my identity than my asexuality – being aro is what I do, while being ace is what my body does – but I also don’t really see them as separate. It’s hard to put into words because it requires cementing some stuff that I don’t mind leaving fluid, but while my lack of attraction is a package deal, it’s the lack of romantic attraction that defines my lifestyle the most. I know which I would choose if I had to, but I prefer not having to. That’s the only good thing about the ace discourse: It’s made me very protective of my ace identity again after having let somewhat go of it after I came to identify as aro.

Can you share with us the story behind your creativity?

I’m the type of person who has a thousand different hobbies and therefore doesn’t have time to actually do any of them. The three I care most about are writing, drawing and textile work.

I’ve always told myself a lot of stories. Walking home from school, I would develop my stories, acting out scenes in my mind and developing huge universes. When I decided to share them with the world, it was initially as comics. I drew a lot, so I had developed the characters’ visual identities along with their personalities. While I’ve switched to planning my stories as books, drawing and writing is still pretty linked in my mind and I can’t imagine creating a character that I don’t know how to draw.

I got into textile work through cosplay, but have spread out into knitting, sewing, embroidery, cross stitch, weaving, crocheting, bobbin lace… Pretty much everything I can get my hands on, which is why I give it such a broad name. (This is part of my too many hobbies deal!) I love everything about textiles, from the look and feel of it, to how many different things can be created out of one simple material. Looking at clothes and knowing not just how it’s been sewn, but also how the fabric was made, is so cool. Creating things from scratch can make me feel like something akin to a god, recreating this corner of the universe as I see fit. A big part of my love for textile work is also reclaiming my femininity in a way that’s so different from the girly girl image I was taught to look down on as a girl. This is a way to enjoy being feminine that doesn’t force me to embrace things I don’t enjoy.

One thing I’ve realized recently is that I love the freedom to design my own work. My cosplays have moved further and further away from canon, from human versions to characters without a firm design or completely redesigning a canon design. On the other hand, I rarely feel the need to sew completely original things, and without the built in deadline of a con, I’m not very likely to get it done. I tend to rarely do the things I can just do whenever, but I’m getting better at that.

Are there any particular ways your aro-spec experience is expressed in your art?

It’s easy to spot in my stories. I have a lot of a-spec characters. The two main characters who were specifically designed to get most of my heart – Shizuka, the shy girl who didn’t know how to make friends, and Diana, the confident girl who’s never cared what anyone thinks of her – both ended up being a-spec even though I created them long before I started identifying as aroace. Shizuka is demi and I don’t know whether it’s sexually and/or romantically or if it even matters. Diana ended up being aroace because I was thinking about her future and my mind nope’d out of the possibility of her ever dating. I also made a conscious choice not to include much romance until I got interested in queer love stories and that sorta fell by the way side. Even then, I try to keep the love stories from being the only defining feature of the stories and the characters involved in them and never to devalue other types of relationship. You will never hear the term “just friends” in my work unless I’m trying to make a point about the person who uses it.

(This is not to pass a value judgement on anyone who uses that expression, but to help normalize language that doesn’t devalue platonic relationships.)

What challenges do you face as an aro-spec artist?

The recent anti-a-spec discourse has made me worried about posting about aromantic things too publicly, as aphobic comments and opinions seem way to commonly accepted these days.

Also, writing kissing scenes. What the hell. “And then their mouths squished together for a little while, which apparently made fireworks go off in their brains.” Like. What? Why does society think this is the epitome of every relationship?

How do you connect to the aro-spec and a-spec communities as an aro-spec person?

Building communities about a lack of something is always hard. Once you’ve written the first story about being aro, it can be hard to write the next one, unless you consciously try to write about a different way of being aro-spec. It’s also a hard orientation to include quickly as being single isn’t as clear an indicator as having a romantic partner of the same gender. While I follow a bunch of aro-blogs and I have a bunch of a-spec friends, I wouldn’t say I’m strongly integrated in the a-spec communities on Tumblr.

Part of it is that most content I see is validations that every sort of aro is alright. I see a lot of content aimed at people who feel bad. That’s important, definitely, but I don’t need it. I’ve always known I’m amazing, both independently of and intersecting with my aromantic identity. I’m interested in work that celebrates being aro, work that doesn’t say I’ll be happy “even though” I’m aro, but “while” I’m aro, maybe even “because” I’m aro and don’t need to waste my life on amatonormativity. At the very least, work that spends more than a sentence on reassuring me. I see a lot of content that implies the basic state of an aro-spec person is sad, and I object to that idea.

I have also recently seen a whole lot of posts about QPRs and that’s really cool! I’m happy to see they’re becoming more and more accepted, at least in some circles. I’m less happy to see them become so prominent and so expected that they start feeling like a new shape of amatonormativity. It’s not that bad right now, but I definitely got allo aces saying “at least we can still feel love” vibes from some QPR posts earlier this year. Because here’s the thing: I’m aroace. I won the lottery. I don’t need to define myself by relationships to other people.* I refuse to take another label that sounds like I don’t want friends because of people pushing QPRs to be the new norm. Again, I’m super happy QPRs seem to have become more accepted, just please don’t present them as something every aro-spec person is interested in unless we specifically opt out.

There’s also the question of what kind of aro stories should be told. I mean, as many as possible, obviously, but that’s going to take a while. But the whole deal with being aro-spec is to have less interest in romance, so too many stories that focus on the lack of it become … counterproductive? I think the Jughead comics are pretty perfect in that regard. The main character is aroace and there are several stories that’s hella important to, but mainly it’s just about him going on adventures with his friends.

(P.S. I hate Riverdale. I’ve seen two different Jughead cosplays these last two weekends, but I didn’t dare fangirl, because what if they were based on the wrong version?)

Honestly, my main way of interacting with the a-spec community is befriending people at random and later finding out they’re a-spec. It’s … almost a superpower? It’s pretty great.

* No one needs to define themselves by relationships to other people, but I imagine it’s much easier when you don’t feel the desire to.

How do you connect to your creative community as an aro-spec person?

I don’t feel very connected to creative communities, but that’s more because I’m not very good at reaching out and promoting myself unless I know I have exactly what’s being asked for. I mainly stick to one or two people I can bounce ideas off of for my different projects before I post it and hope it finds an audience. It might also be because I’m juggling so many things and don’t spend enough time on the social connections needed to connect with a community.

How can the aro-spec community best help you as a creative?

Feedback, feedback, feedback! I love it! I live on it! Telling me you like X or Y part of my work can keep me floating for days and makes me so much more motivated to keep arting! So please, check out my art and leave a comment and/or share it with your friends/followers, if you like it.

(Also, if anyone has good tips on how to reach a larger audience, let me know.)

Can you share with us something about your current project?

I just finished my newest cosplay, which is Lup from The Adventure Zone in her lich form! I had a lot of fun designing her – the podcast doesn’t have very specific descriptions and the creators encourage fans to come up with their own designs – and got a lot of positive reactions at the con last weekend. I went for a very non-human design, including hiding my face, and added a bunch of fire details to reflect her evocation magic. I would have added more, but then my sewing machine broke in the last second, and I had to finish everything by hand, so I just aimed for the basic version. I’ll be updating her for the next con and will have much more fire with me then. I have yet to finish editing the pictures, but they should be up soon.

Have you any forthcoming works we should look forward to?

My next project, one I’ve alluded to a couple of times in this profile already, in fact combines all three of my passions. I was considering cosplaying Pixie, one of the underrated students from X-Men, relegated to the background since their series ended, but I kept bumping up against the problem that her uniform was just too … generic to be fun. Besides, what’s the point of cosplaying the pink girl, and then not getting to work with pink fabric?

So I just redesigned her and gave her an individual outfit. And then I decided to redesign all of her teammates. I wanted them all to go together, but still keep an individual feeling, and I achieved that by giving them a rainbow theme when they’re together. Obviously, the next stop was figuring out a story for that to take place in, of which I’ve posted the first chapter. The idea is that they get out in their bright colors and visibly help everyday people with everyday problems to stop people from hating and fearing mutants and maybe actually making a positive change, unlike all of the superhero battles that don’t get anyone anywhere.

The project has three parts: Individual drawings for every member where I develop their outfits further, chapters of fic describing their adventures and a cosplay that I aim to finish for Genki in August, the next big con in Denmark.

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biayahlife · 3 years

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Quilting Diaries: Charity Quilting

We all have our hobbies. I may not have a singular hobby, but all the hobbies I have tend to fall into some sort of fiber art – think sewing, embroidery, knitting, crochet. I wanted 2021 to be a time where I could be a little less haphazard about my hobbies, but that really hasn’t happened. 2021 has been a wild mess in our lives, and while we were hoping for a quiet autumn and winter seasons, moving has put a kink in that. I’m excited for this move. We’re still waiting on news from the complex we’re interested in, so keep your fingers crossed for us! Even with this move looming in our near future, I still find myself in need of time to really unplug from the stressors in my life, so I am making sure that I take time to engage in the hobbies I have.

We all have things that make us feel like it’s “okay” to engage with our hobbies. One of the things I struggle with is that my hobbies tend to create things. I often choose to not engage with my hobbies simply because I don’t have a space or use for the item I create. I’ve also really missed having something that I can provide volunteer hours for. As I was researching a quilt that I’ll be (hopefully) showcasing at the end of December, I came across the idea of charity quilting. I dug a little deeper into the topic and found out that there are many organisations with the sole purpose of collecting charity quilts. I felt like charity quilting would really fill a space in my life that would help me feel fulfilled in a way that I wasn’t. I found a local chapter of The Linus Connection. Their goal is to provide handmade blankets to children in crisis, and that really spoke to me. Bex and I investigated the next meeting date, went and had a great time. Immediately after this, our lives got very busy, and we haven’t been able to make it back. That doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been on my radar though!

The Linus Connection accepts cash donations as well as donations of blanket making supplies or craft store gift cards. What this means is that you can hook into the local group, and they have almost anything you could need to create a blanket for a child in crisis. We didn’t realise this when we first went, but it was a welcome surprise. I planned to make a couple of quilts, so we went through the fabric stash and selected enough fabric to make several baby blankets. While there is a plethora of free quilt options available online and through The Linus Connection itself, I didn’t completely follow any of the available patterns. I took inspiration from Stash Buster 9 from Just Get It Done Quilts. I liked the idea of a rainbow of colours, but the measurements in her cut pattern just didn’t fit with what I needed for the quilt sizes used by The Linus Connection. I took some time to modify the cut sizes, and honestly, I’m pleased with the resulting top.

We also found an adorable trio of fabrics that I thought would be lovely in a straight patchwork quilt as well. I’m not used to working with such large motifs in my fabric, but the happy little monsters were cute and would do well with a larger square. I’m really pleased with how the squares are coming together as well. It feels cheery, and I smile every time I see it. These quilt tops are easy and straightforward in a way my other quilting project isn’t. They’re also a nice space for me to let go of a lot of the more complex things gripping my brain.

Everything I’m showing today is a work in progress. We live in a time where we are bombarded on social media by beautiful, complete projects that are started and finished in a quick video or singular blog post. If I only showed completed projects here, I wouldn’t have anything to post until December. Completing the project has never been the cornerstone of my life. The journey to the end has always provided me with more knowledge and insight into myself.

What I’m learning:

There is something beautiful about simple patterns. My other quilting project is much more complex and much larger. I was hitting a place where I was dreading sitting down to work on it. The project is so large that in order to complete it by December I started in August. I need short, simple projects to operate like a palate cleanser so that I can keep going with my marathon projects.

Sewing, and quilting more so than many other forms of sewing, has a HUGE ironing component. My normal idea of breaking down a larger project into small pieces that offer my brain a moment of completion doesn’t work with quilting, at least not for me. I learned this with my bigger project and have put that into practice with these smaller quilts. I get so much more enjoyment out of the process now! Instead of ironing between each piecing step, I’m building my sections as much as I possibly can without going to the iron. This does two things - one, I don’t have to leave my iron on all the time, and two, I can lump all my ironing into short sessions. When I was ironing as I went, I would end my quilting time feeling like I hadn’t accomplished anything at all. Now I feel like I accomplished a lot more when I can end my time by ironing out completed sections that are MUCH easier to see. It disrupts my checklist for my larger project, but it also has made these charity quilts feel much more real to me. I can sit down for an hour and have a small quilt top almost entirely completed.

I knew that I enjoyed quilting. When I made my first quilt my goal was to try all the steps to see if I liked quilting as a hobby at all. Now I’m learning to refine my process so that I can give myself some mental space and engage in something relaxing. I still hate cutting out pieces, no matter how many things I do to make the process less awful. I’m thankful that I have the space to engage in something that tickles the creative part of my brain while still being helpful to someone.

If you’re interested in charity quilting and are in the greater Austin area, I encourage you to check out The Linus Connection. Their website keeps a small archive of completed quilt pictures, and the meetings have a show and tell component. Bex and I really enjoyed getting to see the completed quilts. It felt like a mini-art show. Meetings aren’t even necessary. Their website has everything you need to know about how they need their blankets structured as well as alternate drop locations. It’s also not limited to quilts! They accept knit and crocheted blankets as well as weighted blankets. Hopefully I’ll complete these quilts before we move, but I’m not stressing out about it. I’m thankful that I have an opportunity to do something I enjoy for someone else in need.

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qwertyprophecy · 7 years

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Niffler Crochet Tutorial

Of sorts. Disclaimer: As a newbie crocheter, I hardly know what I’m talking about – most crocheting terms are a mystery to me, and I didn’t count my rows or anything – but if you want a vague step-by-step guide for making this Niffler, keep reading.

BASICS

Yarn: Should be woolly and chunky. I used 6mm “Essentials Alpaca Blend Chunky” by Rico Design (50% acrylic, 30% wool, 20% alpaca - very soft!), black and light brown. They had a nice pinkish one too but I decided to dye the nose instead to get that gradient. (I also used a second black yarn for the fur but more on that later.)

Hook: 4.5mm for the main body, 3.5 for the paws. You might want to go for a smaller hook or thicker yarn to avoid holes, honestly. The 4.5 is a bit too big but it was the only one I used to own.

Whole thing is in single stitch unless otherwise noted.

DIAGRAM

First, to keep track of the sizes of the various parts, I drew side and top views of the Niffler. (Please ignore the weird lines and numbers – just a failed attempt to keep track of rows.)

Then it’s possible to keep crocheting without worrying about stitch count. Just check every now and then that you’re on the right track in terms of width.

You can use my diagram, or improve upon it. For reference, I was mostly looking at this pic since that’s the pose I wanted:

BODY

1. Start at the tip of the tail with a magic loop, as few stitches as possible. Increase on every row according to the diagram.

2. To make the tail curl, keep increasing on the bottom side of the tail, but decrease on the top.

3. Then keep increasing on every row to match your diagram. Mostly evenly, but to create a full tummy, increase more rapidly on the top part. And so on.

NOTE ON STUFFING:

You’ll want to start stuffing your Niffler with filling early on, before the opening gets too small. Of course, the Niffler being black, regular white stuffing will shine through the holes. Use black stuffing, or line the insides with black cloth (ideally something soft like velvet) before adding white stuffing.

4. When you reach this point (red line):

Instead of completing your row, turn around on the second-to-last stitch and crochet backwards. When reaching the last stitch of the old row, turn around again. Keep turning around to fill those missing rows (blue lines on diagram). Once you’ve ran out of stitches, do a row of normal stitches on top of the weird hole-y row you’ve made. (Now, I’m sure there’s a proper name for this technique, I sort of co-opted it from a sock heel tutorial. My crocheting knowledge is a bit rubbish)

Also remember to keep following the curve of the back by decreasing a stitch every now and then.

5. Do another round of that technique to get your rows lined up correctly.

6. Once you get to the top of the head, stuff the rest of the Niffler, decrease rapidly and tie it all off.

FACE

Now, I pretty much winged this part, but the general idea is this:

Take a look at a reference picture and figure out where on the finished body base your Niffler’s face should be. Still using black yarn, crochet an outline of the face. To get a base for some nice puffy cheeks, do couple rounds under the cheeks (black lines on diagram), decreasing appropriately. (I slipknotted under the snout; I suppose you could also cut the yarn.)

Switch to brown yarn and do two flat circles as the areas around the eyes, and an outline for the snout (beige lines on diagram). Put in a bit of stuffing and keep going with the snout.

To help the snout keep its shape, I cut up a small piece of foam and put that inside instead of stuffing.

Once the snout is at correct lenght, you should have maybe 8 stitches remaining. Press them against each other (4 against 4) and tie them off.

Finally, sew on buttons for eyes.

LEGS AND ARMS

Made as separate pieces, stitched into the body afterwards.

1. Start with the sole of the foot. This is how it should look like. Each toe is a 3 stitch long chain tied off at the end.

2. On the side, it looks like this. It’s not very visible, but the brown foot continues underneath the black leg – it’s like a pocket, shut off at the end (where it says “attach”). This is to give the foot some three-dimensionality, when the rows next to the toes are flat.

3. Switch to black yarn and crochet a circle around the ankle of the foot piece.

4. The calf is a simple widening tube – as always, just roughly follow the diagram, increasing appropriately. Keep checking the leg against the body to achieve correct proportions.

5. To turn at the knee, use the technique explained in step 4 of the body.

6. Once you’ve done the wide bit of the thigh, decrease quickly and tie it off. Use the remaining yarn to stitch the leg into the body of your Niffler.

Same thing with the arms, except the hand looks like this:

Instead of the pocket thing, just crochet a whole round, and close the hole by stitching it onto the palm. Then switch to black yarn and make the arm.

POUCH

Make a flat pocket the size of your Niffler’s tummy. Attach to Niffler. Ta-dah.

FUR

Now comes the ridiculously time-consuming part.

1. Cut up a ~5cm piece of yarn.

2. Loop it through a stitch on your Niffler and fasten it off. If you do it from the correct side, the yarn strands should follow the natural direction of the fur.

3. Repeat 1-2 ad nauseam until the Niffler looks ready for a punk concert.

NOTE: I only added fur to the head and tail, as it quickly turned out covering the whole creature would take forever. Those are the important bits though.

NOTE ON YARN: I had another type of yarn I experimented with for the fur. I lost the label but it’s the the kind with stuff sticking from it:

I put about 4 strands of this per stitch, here and there. It had a rather nice fuzzy sheen, and I thought using two types of yarn gives the end result a bit of a scruffy, natural look; but honestly, it’s probably not worth buying a whole new ball of yarn.

4. Take a comb and run it through the mess of yarn so that the individual strands separate. This’ll work best with a loose sort of yarn.

5. Now for the fun part: giving the Niffler a haircut. With small scissors and a reference picture on hand, cut the fur down to appropriate lenght.

NOTE: It might be easier to work on a small bit at a time, instead of adding all the fur at once before cutting it down.

6. Here’s a trick to make the knitted part match together better with the furry part: Take your comb and rub it against the un-furred surfaces. If you’re working with woollen yarn, it should start breaking down, making it slightly fuzzy. This covers up the stitch texture a little so it looks a bit more like fur (at least in my opinion).

DYING THE SNOUT

To give the snout its pinkish hue, I diluted red and magenta watercolours, dabbed it on and let it try. You could probably use proper dye for better permanence, but as long as the Niffler doesn’t go swimming, watercolour’s fine.

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And there you have it: your very own Niffler. Ready for cuddles, bank heists, and biting Dolores Umbridge on the nose.

IMPROVEMENTS

When I make more Nifflers with this pattern, I’ll definitely change some things. Here’s a couple of suggestions:

1. The tail a bit too big on the original diagram. The whole bit could be moved closer towards the body.

2. The eyes are are a tad too low. Be careful when positioning the face outline.

3. Don’t cut the fur too short. The knot will not hold and then you’ll have Niffler shedding all over your bed.

4. The fingers and toes curl a lot. Looks cute, but only when it’s curling in the right direction. Otherwise there’s this whole Gnarlack vibe going which is... less nice. I’m not really sure how to fix this, but there must be a way.

Happy crocheting!

P.S. If you do make a Niffler, please link me some photos! I want to see an army of nifflers. a world covered in nifflers. that is my dream

Oh yeah and tagging to make sure the people asking for a pattern see this: @shelbylynnmarie @butterfleeee @servicedoodle @lawonsie @secretlyaravenclaw-blog @alycexthraina @bluecat158 @potterwhovian98 @knittingknerdy @beanie117 @mskastiel

#crochet #tutorial #niffler #diy #fantastic beasts and where to find them

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purplesurveys · 5 years

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Doing another one of those looking back surveys ‘cos it’s fun to do that sort of thing as a way to cap off the year. This is one of the first surveys I took, all the way back in 2012. Let’s gooooo. [Edit: I wasn’t able to finish this by the end of the year, so I guess I’m opening this year instead with a throwback hahaha]

Do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed? Closed. I’m pretty OC, so if I leave them opened I’d only end up irritated. Now: Closed. Why the hell would I leave my closet open?

Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels? My mom does. Now: Dear 14 year old Robyn, I don’t know what you were observing but your mom definitely never took anything from the hotel??? But to answer the question, no I don’t. The most I’d take is probably a notepad. Have you ever ‘done it’ in a hotel room? No. Now: Six years later, yep.

Where is your next vacation? My family haven’t decided yet! Now: We’re flying over to somewhere in Bicol a couple of months from now.

Have you ever stolen a street sign before? Nope. Now: No, that’ll never serve me any sort of purpose lmfao.

Who do you think reads these? Meh, no one. Now: Surprisingly, both my old survey blog and this one have earned its share of followers, so I guess at some points my surveys are being read. I say ‘surprisingly’ because both blogs were just meant to be a feelings dump for myself, and I never expected anyone to read my posts.

Do you have a calendar in your room? Like, one that’s hanging on wall? No. Now: Nope. I have one on my phone, which is more convenient.

Where are you? I’m in my house. On a bed. In my room. Now: ^ Literally the same answer. I guess little has changed when it comes to this.

What’s your plan for the day? Finish Romeo and Juliet and start on that Friar Lawrence essay. Now: Hahahaha freshman year. Well it’s New Year’s Eve, so my crazed mom is gonna take us to church to idk I guess ~commemorate the end of the year because apparently god still has to be involved in that. We normally celebrate NYE at home since our rooftop has the best view of the fireworks, so I’m guessing we’ll have media noche and then wait for the clock to strike midnight.

Are you reading any books right now? Yeah. Romeo and Juliet. Now: I’m reading Bret Hart’s Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. I’m also reading AJ Lee/Mendez’s (I never know what to call her anymore) Crazy is My Superpower, and sometimes I’ll skim through Chris Jericho’s The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea because Jericho’s always a good read. Obviously, wrestling autobiographies are my thing.

Do you ever count your steps when you walk? Occasionally. Now: I literally never counted my steps. What the hell was young Robyn so loud for?

Have you ever peed in the woods? No. Now: Nope.

Do you ever dance even if there’s no music playing? Yes…maybe it’s why I have no friends? Now: ^ Stop trying to sound cool, you hate dancing with every atom in your body. I don’t dance, even if there is music playing; but the grand exception to this is when I danced my soul out at my Paramore show last August. I’d be crazy not to have.

Do you chew your pens and pencils? Uh. Yuck. Now: Never did. I liked chewing on my lollipop sticks though.

What is your “Song of the Week”? Night On Earth - The Bouncing Souls Now: Haven’t listened to a lot for this depression break, but let’s go with Paramore’s Franklin. Night on Earth is a fucking banger though.

Is it okay for guys to wear pink? Of course. Now: Of course.

Do you still watch cartoons? You bet I do. Never letting the kid in me go. Now: If I catch a rerun of Spongebob then yeah. But I generally still agree with the answer I gave. We Bare Bears is a favorite.

Whats your favorite love movie? Titanic, Love Actually, Friends With Benefits. Now: The Proposal, Love Actually...do Revolutionary Road and Eternal Sunshine count?

What do you drink with dinner? I drink water most of the time. Now: Water’s still my bet.

What do you dip Chicken Nuggets in? Barbecue sauce. Now: Whatever’s available, but barbecue seems to be the default dip.

What is your favorite food/cuisine? I enjoy pizza and fried chicken. Now: Indian food for days. Also sushi. I’m not much of a pizza person anymore; I’d get it while on a date with Gab but my heart belongs to sushi this time around.

What movies could you watch over and over and still love? Titanic! Now: Yeah...Titanic’s still That Bitch. But also Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! That’s a fun movie to see if I just want to spend a fun two hours watching something.

Last person you hugged/kissed? Last one I hugged was Gabie; I’ve never kissed anyone. Now: My five-year-old cousin went in for a hug when I came over to see her the other night. My girlfriend was my last kiss.

Were you ever a boy/girl scout? Nope. Now: Never been.

Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? Never. Now: Never.

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? Last month during my class’s recollection. Now: One of my friend groups did a secret Santa, but we also required everyone to write a letter alongside our gift/s. That said, I wrote a reeeeally long, handwritten letter to Laurice, who I happen to have grown close to this year.

Can you change the oil on a car? No. Now: Nah. I leave that to my dad.

Ever gotten a speeding ticket? No; I can’t even drive yet. Now: I dunno if the Philippines actually has a speeding rule? People here drive like death when the roads are miraculously clear (they never are except for Sundays and holidays) because it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic in the city 24/7, but they’re never pulled over. There are speeding rules on the expressways but people don’t seem to mind that as well, so I doubt getting pulled over for speeding is actually a thing here.

Run out of gas? Nope. Now: No that’s like one of my biggest fears. What happens when your car runs out of gas? I imagine it to be like that scene in Toy Story where Buzz and Woody are trying to chase the moving truck, so they use RC to move faster, but then his battery dies and he just kind of slows down lmao.

Favorite kind of sandwich? Chicken/gourmet. Now: Sandwiches aren’t my go-to so I don’t really have a favorite. I don’t know what I was talking about when I meant ~gourmet sandwich, what a feeler haha.

Best thing to eat for breakfast? BACON. Now: I like eating waffles with bacon inside. Omelettes with everything put in is great too, and so are scrambled eggs.

What is your usual bedtime? On school nights, 9 PM. On Friday nights it ranges from 10 to 12. When I’m on summer vacation I don’t sleep at all. Now: Yeah, I pretty much still sleep at 9 at the earliest on school nights. A bitch needs to function the next day. On Fridays and weekends I’d sleep at 1 AM at the latest, but that depends because sometimes I’ll have school stuff on a Saturday.

Are you lazy? The laziest. Now: I have my periods but when I do work I bust my ass off.

When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? Tinkerbell! Now: Various stuff...I was Tinkerberll, I was a pirate, I dressed up as my former best friend, I was AJ Lee, I was Daria. I’ve had a lot of costumes through the years.

Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Nope. Now: No, I was never subscribed to any. I did buy Total Girl every month when I was like 6 up until I was maybe 11 or 12. It’s an Australian magazine for girls, or, as they liked to call my age group at the time, ~tweens.

Which are better, legos or lincoln logs? LEGO! Grew up playing those. And I’d end up crying after I stepped on them. Now: I was never familiar with Lincoln logs. We had crates of LEGO blocks though.

Are you stubborn? Very. Now: Yep, ‘very’ sums it up nicely.

Who is better…Leno or Letterman? Dunno. Should I give a crap about them? Now: I definitely don’t give a crap about either now...I mostly watch Fallon if I want to see celebrities doing silly gags, cos he does a great job making his show super entertaining.

Ever watch soap operas? Yes, when I want to laugh at horrible acting. Now: 14 year old me didn’t have to be so mean. No, I’ve never been into soap operas.

Afraid of heights? Yes. Now: No, only when I’m in a ride, which is partly why I stopped going to amusement parks altogether.

Sing in the car? Don’t we all? Now: All the time, but only when I’m alone.

Dance in the shower? No. Now: Just really rarely.

Dance in the car? When there’s enough space yes. Now: Literally never. Wtf was I lying so much for??

Ever used a gun? No. Now: Never, but lately I’ve been really interested in the idea of going to a shooting range for funsies.

Do you think musicals are cheesy? No. I think they’re the best. Now: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What the fuck Robyn!!! You’ve hated musicals ever since and you hate it now. Stop lying and stop trying to sound cool!!!

Is Christmas stressful? Yes. Waiting 25 days to open that awfully tempting, beautifully wrapped present under the Christmas tree is really stressful honestly. Now: Buying gifts is stressful. Receiving gifts and opening them have leveled down on the excitement factor these days. Such is getting old.

Ever eat a pierogi? A what? Now: Nope.

Major annoyance right now? The fact that I have to write an essay about Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy writing but when you’re forced to write something you’re not really enthusiastic about, it’s just. Not. Fun. Now: I have to go back to school by next week and I just want to be on a much longer break.

Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? A fireman. Now: Fireman, astronaut, veterinarian.

Do you believe in ghosts? Yes. Now: I’m always open to the idea.

Ever have a deja-vu feeling? Like once a week. Now: Pretty often, yeah.

Do you take a vitamin daily? No. Hardly do. Now: Nah, not anymore.

Wear slippers? Occasionally. Now: Only when I’m at the beach or a pool.

Wear a bath robe? Yes. Now: Sometimes.

What do you wear to bed? Tank top + shorts. Now: I wear t-shirts more now, but yeah I woul wear tank tops on warmer nights.

Wal-Mart, Target or K-Mart? None of the above. I haven’t entered any of these stores yet, because I live in boring, old Philippines. Now: I don’t care about any of these.

Nike or Adidas? Nike. Now: I like them both and have sneakers from both.

Cheetos Or Fritos? Fritos. Now: Fritos.

Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? Peanuts! Now: Peanuts. I’ve never had sunflower sees.

Ever hear of, “gorp”? Never heard of it. Now: No, I’ve still never heard of it seven years later.

Ever taken karate? No. Would love to! Now: Nah. I think I’m too unathletic to even try.

Ever kissed someone of the same sex? No. Now: Yes.

Can you curl your tongue? Yes. Now: Yep, but only in two. I know some people can curl it even more.

Ever won a spelling bee? Dude, I always get first place. Probably the only thing I’m good at besides writing. Now: Before.

Ever cried because you were so happy? Countless times. Now: I cry more because of wholesome videos or instances that make me happy, but not because something so huge that made me overwhelmingly happy happened to me.

Own any record albums? No. Now: I’d collect them if I actually had a turntable.

Own a record player? I sadly don’t D: Now: See above.

Regularly burn incense? No. The smell is annoying. Now: Yeah I’d still find the smell annoying, but only because it reminds me so much of church.

Ever been in love? Maybe. Now: Yes.

Hot tea or cold tea: Neither. Now: Hate tea.

Tea or coffee? Coffee. Now: Coffee for daaaaaysssss.

Favorite kind of cookie? Burnt chocolate chip cookies. Hnnng. Now: ^ Well...still that...except remove the ‘burnt’ part? Idk what I was thinking but I just enjoy chocolate chip cookies period. Anything with peanut butter is also a yes for me.

Can you swim well? Oh, no. I look like a dying fish when I swim. Now: I know basic stuff, but I know I don’t look good when I do the strokes, especially the backstroke eugh.

Can you hold your breath w/o manually holding your nose? Yes. Now: Sure.

Are you patient? NOPE Now: In some aspects. But I hate waiting in traffic or in lines.

Ever won a contest? Yes. Now: Here and there.

Ever had plastic surgery? Never. Now: Never.

Which are better black or green olives? No idea. Now: Olives are the worst.

Can you knit or crochet? No, which is the reason why I failed Home Economics last year. Now: Home econ was “LAST YEAR” at that point??!!?! That’s absolutely crazy. And no, I still don’t do either. I still wouldn’t even if it were graded.

Wash room or bathroom? Bathroom. Now: I use both.

Do you want to get married? Someday! Now: ‘S all I’m looking forward to.

Who was your High School crush? I’m only in my freshman year, but I’m having this crazy, suicidal infatuation with CM Punk. Now: I wish I could talk to 14 year old Robyn and tell her how delusional she sounded in her first few surveys. This is why Punk blocked you on Twitter sis. Anyway, Gab was my high school crush through and through, but I didn’t start liking her til about halfway through sophomore year.

Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? I don’t, but when I want things to go my way and they don’t, I give everyone the silent treatment and roll my eyes every like, two seconds. Now: No I don’t, I just keep quiet until it fizzles out.

Do you have kids? No. Now: Nope.

Do you want kids? Yes. Now: Yep.

What kind of mom are you? …I’m a mom!? Now: ...Still not a mom.

Do you miss anyone right now? Sure. Now: Always do.

Who do you want to see right now? No one really. Now: My girlfriend.

#survey #surveys

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