ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2017-11-24 12:57 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2017-11-24 12:57 am
Entry tags:
Welcome to Winterfaire 2017
The Winterfaire spreads out as far as the eye can see. Some booths show streamers of red and green, while others sport blue and silver. All of them offer treasure after shining treasure. Music fills the air with lyrics of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yule. From the Wordsmith's Forge comes the bright chiming of words being hammered into literature. Delicious scents of hot chocolate, spiced cider, peppermint, baking cookies, and gingerbread tantalize the appetite. Smiling, laughing shoppers amble from booth to booth with lists in hand. Vendors grin back, calling out, "Come try, come buy...!"
I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!
Vendors: If you have goods or services suitable for holiday gifts, please put up a booth by replying with a description of what you sell, an estimate of your price range if possible, and some kind of contact information so shoppers can reach you. If you have a website (Etsy, DeviantArt, personal, whatever) showcasing your work in more detail, include the link(s). If you have holiday freebies, such as downloadable greeting card imagery, you're welcome to promote those too. For ease of identification, I recommend titling your reply starting with "BOOTH:" followed by the name of your business or type of goodies.
Shoppers: If you're looking for something specific and it's not posted yet, feel free to ask. Someone else may know where to find it! "SHOPPING FOR:" and the topic would be a good title.
Everyone: You may help promote the Winterfaire by linking to this post from your own blog or site. If you have a similar holiday-networking post, you may link to it in a comment on this post.
Participation Perk: I'm offering poetry for participation. The following linkback poems still have verses available: "Dangerous Refuges" (now complete), "The Marble and the Sculptor" (now complete), "Leaves Upon the Water" (now complete) "Lead Us in Peace," "We Will Fade into You," "The Emulsification of Humankind" (now complete), "Gliding In" (now complete), and "The Open Gyre." Linking to this page will reveal new verses in whichever one you request. Because, you see, all of these activities will unlock a verse each time someone does them:
* link to this Winterfaire page to boost the signal
* comment posting a Booth of your wares/services in the Winterfaire
* buy something from a vendor listed in the Winterfaire
* host a similar holiday market in your own blog or other venue
Dreamwidth will notify me of comments to the Winterfaire post; for everything else, you need to TELL ME in order to get credit for it.
Similar Markets:
* Winterfaire bybairnsidhe
Do you know of another indie holiday shopping post? Let me know and I'll link it here.
Happy holidays!
I know a lot of artists, writers, musicians, crafters, and other talented folks who make some of their living from their creative endeavors. I don't always have the money to support them as much as I'd like, but what I can do is set up a virtual faire where vendors can offer their wares to an audience that likes crafts, literature, and small businesses. For those of you doing your holiday shopping, here's an opportunity to buy something made with love, something unusual or unique, in a way that helps make it possible for creative people to go on creating wonders. And there will be no traffic jams, stampedes, or gunfights at the Winterfaire!
Vendors: If you have goods or services suitable for holiday gifts, please put up a booth by replying with a description of what you sell, an estimate of your price range if possible, and some kind of contact information so shoppers can reach you. If you have a website (Etsy, DeviantArt, personal, whatever) showcasing your work in more detail, include the link(s). If you have holiday freebies, such as downloadable greeting card imagery, you're welcome to promote those too. For ease of identification, I recommend titling your reply starting with "BOOTH:" followed by the name of your business or type of goodies.
Shoppers: If you're looking for something specific and it's not posted yet, feel free to ask. Someone else may know where to find it! "SHOPPING FOR:" and the topic would be a good title.
Everyone: You may help promote the Winterfaire by linking to this post from your own blog or site. If you have a similar holiday-networking post, you may link to it in a comment on this post.
Participation Perk: I'm offering poetry for participation. The following linkback poems still have verses available: "
* link to this Winterfaire page to boost the signal
* comment posting a Booth of your wares/services in the Winterfaire
* buy something from a vendor listed in the Winterfaire
* host a similar holiday market in your own blog or other venue
Dreamwidth will notify me of comments to the Winterfaire post; for everything else, you need to TELL ME in order to get credit for it.
Similar Markets:
* Winterfaire by
bairnsidhe Do you know of another indie holiday shopping post? Let me know and I'll link it here.
Happy holidays!
Knitted items!
My shop, which showcases some of what I have finished (it's been a while since I updated it) is at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RavenYarnworks
Want something that's not there? I aim to please, and can do commissions.
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
So in short, yes. Let me know.if you want to go to the find a pattern phase of commission.
Re: Knitted items!
Fair warning, I will be worse than useless when it comes to picking patterns - nonfunctioning eyeballs - so I'll leave that to the expert. But I am interested, yes! I'm also curious where this might end up price-wise, so if you'd sooner take things to DM, I'm utterly fine with that.
Re: Knitted items!
While I understand that this may make the selection more challenging because you can't glance at pictures, it should be possible for you to touch things and feel patterns that way. For many vision-impaired people, pattern is a big part of the appeal because they can't see colors much if at all. So for instance, you might like cableknit with a two-strand twist or a three-strand braid. For shawls, some people like lacey holes or little bundles of stitches that stand up. Working with two different yarns (the blue and silver you mentioned) you could have different textures between them; metallic yarn is usually scratchier than regular yarn. Fringe vs. tassels vs. smooth edge is another question to consider.
You can, of course, simply leave the decision to the crafter. But lack of vision needn't prevent you from comparing patterns. One thing I've done for some crafty friends is help them make descriptions that relate to multiple senses so that more shoppers can find what they want.
Re: Knitted items!
Huh. I can distinguish between pottery glazes by feel, depending on the glaze, and have used that when actively pattern-spotting with pottery before. How had I never broadened that to fibercrafts?
Re: Knitted items!
It's sad that people don't teach this sort of thing. I mean, they think to teach sighted kids what colors match or clash. But few people think of the aesthetics of different senses.
Long ago -- I think this dates back to junior high or high school -- I wrote a scene in which a sighted character criticized a blind woman's clothes. She snapped back that his garden smelled out of tune. Because her people were normally blind, and they designed gardens based on smell. It was the equivalent of "Did you dress in the dark?" turned around. LOL that's never going to stop being funny.
>> Must investigate different cableknit patterns at this QTH re: two-strand or three-strand variations. Thanks, Ysabet! <<
I'm glad I could help. However, this also suggests something else that you might find useful: a collection of square swatches for different patterns. You could request some from any fibercrafter and they'd probably be cheap. Build up a set that represents different categories of popular patterns -- a twist, a braid, a leaf chain, a couple different styles of ribbing, a basketweave, some laces, etc.
Then this becomes a type of product that fibercrafters could offer to vision-impaired clients. Put Braille/text labels on each one, hook them on a ring, and you have a pattern guide that works by touch instead of by sight.
>> Huh. I can distinguish between pottery glazes by feel, depending on the glaze, and have used that when actively pattern-spotting with pottery before.<<
Yeah, I can feel painted patterns, and the difference between smooth and rough glazes.
>> How had I never broadened that to fibercrafts?<<
*sigh* People just don't teach it, and it's not obvious to everyone. Me, I analyze everything. If you drop an obstacle in my path, I just automatically start thinking of ways around it. Why should blind people get shortchanged on aesthetics? They can just decorate with textures, smells, and sounds instead of colors. And there's nothing wrong with low-vision folks decorating in "clashing" colors if that's what they can see well enough to enjoy.
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
However, if the hat doesn't quite match up with what you want, that particular pattern was super easy to do, I have more yarn from that company in my stash (and if I don't, I can gird my loins and deal with my LOVELY lys owner and buy more) and I could get it knitted up ASAP.
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
Honestly, because I believe in leveling with people: 2 years on, I'm reclassifying to a child hat and offering to make you your own adult version to your dimensions.
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!
Re: Knitted items!