Cuddle Party

[ysabetwordsmith]

Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.

We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!

Comments

Need a break

[dialecticdreamer]

Dialecticdreamer wanders, wall-eyed and shambling, into the cuddle party, takes a "Cuddles YES!" sticker and puts it upside down on her shirt. The She/Her pronoun sticker manages to end up right side up, but at a steep angle near her right shoulder.

She wanders to a tall couch, and settles carefully on it.

All the while, her lips keep moving silently as she continues to think about the story she's getting ready for posting.

Re: Need a break

[zeeth_kyrah]

Holybell settles a 13-inch cloth doll near the distracted person. It is light-blue in color, with a unicorn head that has brown button eyes. The doll is wearing a white tunic with a smiling yellow sun embroidered on the front which is held on with a brown cloth belt that has a real brass buckle, and its feet have tiny rope sandals on them, made from heavy cotton string sewn together.

Re: Need a break

[dialecticdreamer]

Dialecticdreamer pulls out a small ball of sage green yarn, the size of an orange, which had been tucked into her pocket along with a bamboo circular needle. She takes measurements of the doll, using her thumb and the middle joint of her index finger for smaller details, and the span of her palm or spread fingers for greater distances. In just a few minutes, she was knitting the garter tab for a simple shawl.

As she knits, her smile grows bit by bit, and her body relaxes.

Thanks!

Re: Need a break

[(Anonymous)]

*flappy slinks over to watch the knitting* ooooooooooooo!!!!!! O_O :D *is mesmerized*

Re: Need a break

[dialecticdreamer]

Dialecticdreamer's hands are already slow, but she slows down to half speed, in order to make every motion of the next ten stitches distinct. Then she grins, wags her eyebrows, and resumes her normal pace, which is as slow as a dripping tap.

Re: Need a break

[(Anonymous)]

*ppppurrrrrrrrrrr*

* shows up with the project bag*

[ng_moonmoth]

*stops off at the sticker table*

*cuts the upper chest and hip area out of a yellow person sticker, writes "Anyx//xe/xyr/xyrs/xyrself" on the chest piece, and attaches the pieces to a green sticker. Sticks it on*

*grabs a nest's worth of pillows and sets up over by dialecticdreamer where they can see each other's project*

*pulls out the project*

I'm currently on a finicky row of our host's commission. After I get this row done, it should look a lot less like a tangle of yarn and mesh with needles poking out everywhere, and more like itself. Pics likely then.

I brought some goodies and a story from where I've been and left them below. Today I'm wearing leggings with a galaxy print, and a purple top with little glittery bits woven in.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I'm currently on a finicky row of our host's commission. After I get this row done, it should look a lot less like a tangle of yarn and mesh with needles poking out everywhere, and more like itself. Pics likely then. <<

*glee*

>> I brought some goodies and a story from where I've been and left them below. Today I'm wearing leggings with a galaxy print, and a purple top with little glittery bits woven in.<<

I have seen some very fine galaxy prints on various items. Getting good glitter that neither scratches nor comes off is hard, though. :/

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ng_moonmoth]

The yarn of the top has the glitz bits incorporated. It's got a look a bit like tiny stars in a deep purple sky.

I might have changed into this outfit for the Hugo Award ceremony, but there wasn't enough time to go back to the hotel for the top and shoes I had to wear with it.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[dialecticdreamer]

That sounds gorgeous. I can't get what I want in a premade pattern, so I'm going to be designing my own, starting from the garter tab.

First off, it's a deep blue chunky yarn, but only two skeins, so it's not going to be huge. But I want a batwing shape shawl, so that it does NOT have that triangle pointing straight at the wearer's behind-- because it's annoying to sit down and strangle yourself with your shawl. (Snerk.BTDT!) I'm thinking of alternating a four row repeat of faggot lace (yarn over, knit two together, mirrored in the rows) with plain garter stitch, for the loft. Also, I'm wanting a solid, subtle edge in the panel, instead of using yarnovers for the increases.

Which, for those non-knitters all translates to: I'm enjoying the wool and the movement, and will probably have to redo the start five times before I get more than ten rows into the project!

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>That sounds gorgeous. I can't get what I want in a premade pattern, so I'm going to be designing my own, starting from the garter tab.<<

I am impressed.

>>First off, it's a deep blue chunky yarn, but only two skeins, so it's not going to be huge. But I want a batwing shape shawl, so that it does NOT have that triangle pointing straight at the wearer's behind-- because it's annoying to sit down and strangle yourself with your shawl. <<

Once you get a pattern worked out, that seems like something other people would appreciate. Can you take notes as you go, so you could write down the pattern? People sell those.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[dialecticdreamer]

I hadn't even thought of selling the pattern. I get annoyed at the for-sale-only that's taking over Ravelry, when I felt Etsy was more appropriate for that. Hm. Will have to make careful notes and knit two versions, one to make the pattern, the other to double check the pattern for errors. Somebody's getting a nice Christmas present... next year!

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I hadn't even thought of selling the pattern. <<

That's why I mentioned it.

>> I get annoyed at the for-sale-only that's taking over Ravelry, when I felt Etsy was more appropriate for that.<<

I agree. I feel that craft patterns should generally be free. I want to be able to link things for my viewers to buy, and unless that's a product (e.g. "you can make or buy X") I want the access to be free.

However, I know that money has been tight for you, so this seemed like another possible income stream -- and it's something where you do the work once, but it can generate a trickle of income over time. Consider that you could offer the pattern for sale now, but if you establish a comfortable income later, switch it to free.

>> Hm. Will have to make careful notes and knit two versions, one to make the pattern, the other to double check the pattern for errors. Somebody's getting a nice Christmas present... next year! <<

Awesome. \o/

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ng_moonmoth]

Your shawl sounds interesting and fun. Are you making a scaled version for the doll?

I am just now leveling up to the point where I can figure out how to work things out on the fly, and write up what I did. The working out is as much fun as the making.

As far as for sale on Ravelry goes, I think that is fine for a fiber arts professional. Someone who makes their living from creating and selling patterns, or runs a craft store, shouldn't have to compromise their income stream to reach out to a sizable market. But for folks like you or me, I agree that it seems better to share with everyone.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ysabetwordsmith]

What we need is a clear distinction between sites that share patterns for free and sites that sell them. But people don't seem to want to do that, which means users -- of both preferences -- get frustrated by bad signal-to-noise ratios and stop going there. That makes it hard for sites to stay active, which then makes it harder to find patterns of any kind. >_

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ng_moonmoth]

I think your point about the signal/noise ratio is telling. Thing is, though, the sort of signal one is seeking might characterize itself along different dimensions. For myself, for example, I usually start with a garment type -- and then start looking for instances that I think would look good on me. It's only after that that my filters consider price. So if I must visit multiple sites to find my candidate patterns, that's a challenge of it's own. And unless there's enough overall volume (e.g., travel) to make an aggregator site profitable, I have to do it myself.

Ravelry does have a price filter, so those who want to limit their search to free patterns can do so. I think it's for the best when there's room for everyone, with good filters to remove the stuff one isn't interested in.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ysabetwordsmith]

Filters work -- as long as there's enough material and interest on both sides. If there's not much on the free filter, it's no use; and if people won't pay for patterns, there's no point pricing them.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[dialecticdreamer]

Technically, I don't have to scale it. Switching to sock yarn would make it finer, but with the same yarn as the full-size project, I can stop when the project is long enough for the doll-- which means working the tab, the foundation row, and the first dozen rows of the top-down shawl, as is.

With the doll, it would look like the VERY oversized knits of the seventies, or modern arm knitting, which can be gorgeous and sumptuously fluffy.

Re: * shows up with the project bag*

[ng_moonmoth]

Cool! Hope Holybell likes the result.

Re: Need a break

[ysabetwordsmith]

*cuddles*

Re: Need a break

[librarygeek]

Mostly human, but the fox ears are sticking around, I give you a quick hug, and shows off the book I got, when you managed a recommendation in said virtual space: Tangle Art Pack: A Meditative Drawing Book and Sketchpad - Adapted from the Best-Selling Book One Zentangle A Day https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1631590960/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bqZzDb0NBDD11

Because it's easier to carry and do for me, THANK YOU! :-D

Re: Need a break

[dialecticdreamer]

You are very welcome! I need to pick up zentangling again, now that I'm mostly typing and writing normally.