I have been working on a project this week, iteration three of attempting to make a crochet bra because it’s a lot simpler and easier for me to do that than attempt to construct a pattern in fabric that does what I want it to do.
There was an error in the initial geometry, which you can see the correction of, and there are a few more adjustments I need to make for the next attempt at this, but this time I actually have a wearable thing (neither the first nor second attempt resulted in a useful thing).
Geometry correction was from hexagonal boob support to pentagonal boob support, and the very newly started next attempt (pink and gray, instead of blue) is beginning with that.
I need to do things with the straps to better curve along my boob, which may involve narrowing the initial strap, and making the outer edging wider because it’ll be easier to make the necessary adjustments that way.
Also, the band needs some drawstrings on the sides, because trying to do more reductions in the stitches would mean involving buttons and making it close up the front in order to get it on, and I want a thing I can put on over my head. That may also take care of the “cannot lift arms above my head without having to reach in and readjust things when I bring my arms back down” problem.
All in all, though, a good proof of concept, and despite the minor issues, still comfortable to lounge in. Even if I do keep trying to sit up straight with it on.
(Also also, next time I am going to whip-stitch the pentagonal boob support in all around, not just to each other as here, because then it will be easier to adjust them to do exactly what I want them to do beyond merely holding the boobs and covering them. There will still be the band and the top part to integrate them fully, because those are edges and done last.)
Note: This is not a pattern that is going to work universally, because the number of adjustments that would have to be made to fit it to different people. The best I can do is go “pentagonal boob support” and suggest that doing a string of hexagons might be better to do sides/the bottom of the back than anything else. Also, double crochet for most of the structure, and half-doubles for the edges (US terminology).
And when it’s made, it may be a good idea to wash it before wearing it beyond checking for fit, because freshly crocheted cotton thread can be stiff. Silk will be less stiff, linen would be even more stiff than cotton. Bamboo will probably be between silk and cotton for stiffness. I would really not recommend any kind of wool (merino, alpaca, cashmere, angora, etc) for making things that lie on your skin like this.
Imagine, for a moment, that the last six years of your life have pretty much been this:
[Star Wars: Princess Leia’s “Help Me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” holo on repeat.]
And the person you’re talking to has understood your plea for help. They really have! They’ve been sympathetic, and tried to help with things about the house and with the kids and with Adulting…but they haven’t really understood yet why you keep repeating the same thing over and over again. When you’ve said that you’re depressed because you can’t go outside (allergies, hives, difficulty breathing) and masks aren’t an answer (I tend to freak out with things strapped to my face, long story, but it also involves Maine). They don’t get why you’re so anxiety-ridden/stressed about having to wear long pants and long sleeves and layers 12 months out of the year now, as your immune system is so utterly worn down that it can’t regulate body temperature, so if I go sleeveless, I get chilled, even if it’s 90 degrees F. When I break out in hives indoors, when I get horrific inflammation from what should be safe foods (which causes brain issues as well as intensely painful ulceric issues), when I’m losing my vision, when I have to take all of these supplements because I can’t eat local food, when I do everything possible to live here and I’m still slowly suffocating…yep, Princess Leia is still on repeat. Then it become discussions about how I’m borderline suicidal because of all this but I’ve been sitting on it (displacement, not dissociation) because I have kids and a mate who need me. That I’m actually in a state of constant despair that I also displace because Podlings. That I want to cry all the time but I’m so used to feeling this way that I can’t. Obi-Wan Kenobi the Mate nods, but he still doesn’t get it, even though he wants to fix it and make it better. He does! He just doesn’t actually do anything that would make it better.
Saturday morning on July 8th, the Mate woke up to the sudden realization that he is watching me die. Not only that, but it would be a slow and utterly miserable death. And he was just twiddling his thumbs and letting it happen.
Suddenly the “You’re my only hope” track repeat became
[Star Wars, Princess Leia’s hologram: “This is our most desperate hour.”]
The Mate went from “I know we need to leave but for Reasons we can’t right now” to “We are getting the absolute fuck out of Maine because I will not let this place kill you.” And he is entirely serious. Intense and driven. The escape dates are set and not to be changed because to change them means that he might keep finding excuses to stay, and he will no longer allow that to happen.
[Rose, Doctor Who: “You don’t just give up, you don’t just let things happen. You make a stand, you say no!”]
We’re going to St. Augustine, Florida. That’s home for me, and the Mate didn’t hate it (despite hating heat) and the kids fell in love and wanted to be outside in a way that they don’t want here. (I’ve always found it odd that they don’t like being outside here, but…maybe not so odd, given that it’s starting to drag their health down, too.)
Our set leaving date is July 21st. Yes, this July 21st. Thirteen days from now. We are seriously on the fucking move to move. He really means it, and I’m right there with him because I wanted to go home years ago.
Of course, escape is not cheap. This really is our most desperate hour: we need your help.
We need a full-size moving truck (omg 26′ fuuuuck) to be able to move everything, even compactly packed. No stuff gets left behind!
We have to cover the cost of four different hotel stays: Here, because the mattresses will all be packed and two of us have back injuries, the sort where if you sleep on the floor and try to drive the next day, you just want to whimper; Trenton, NJ as the first stop; Fayetteville, NC as the second stop, and at least one night in St. Augustine on arrival because Must Fall Down and Sleep because by the timing needed, the moving truck has to be unloaded the next day.
We need a post office box in St. Augustine to be able to get our mail transferred. (If they make me drive down there in person to do this, I will scream, because how can I change my address without a fucking address??)
We will need at least one month’s rental on grabbing a vacation rental (waaayyyyyy cheaper than a hotel) until we are sitting in a proper rental property that accepts cats, because we’re not leaving them behind, either.
Even with all the free boxes I’ve been scoring after making friends with the Pet Department Manager at Wal-Mart, packing supplies are expensive. SO much tape. So much bubble wrap. Oh hey I need a special box for Micah’s dresser mirror. Mattress covers! Fuck a doodle.
This is sort of why I’ve been trying to sell posters and what shinies I could make when not utterly flattened, because…we need to go. We need out, and I hit desperation several years ago.
Without help, this might well describe out success rate:
[Cat missing a jump]
I don’t want to miss. I need to go home because I’d like to live. Please. I will get down on my hands and knees and literally beg. Please.
[Simpsons: ”I need you to take care of me, to put up with me…”]
We’re trying to raise enough money to survive, to get out, because that
way we can thrive. Right now, this isn’t thriving. This is barely
surviving, and it’s pain.
I’d give you guys the world in return for helping us, but mostly what I have to give to you is words. I have stories that I can give you like pouring rubies from a golden vase. I’ll grant you all the words I have within me, to the best of my ability, to tell the stories you want to read because they make you feel like you’ve come home.
The current house is going on the market. Buyers will have a second floor that is now structurally rebuilt, but they can customize it however they like.* (Yes, that is all we could afford to do after you guys were so helpful in February. We were able to get the structural repairs done…and that was it. Depressing shit, yo.)
Some detail about the medical stuff below. Let’s just say that @thebibliosphere and I call each other our beloved Clone Sister for many, many reasons. Tags #thedeadcat speaks or #state of the deadcat will grant you more info.
I think that the photos are not high enough quality for me to get as clear an image as I’d like. I think that’s actually couching, rather than embroidery, but I’m not confident of it, because again, the quality of the image.
I can tell that the lines along the edge, and the work around the button holes is couching, because the cord that’s been couched down – probably to help strengthen those edges – is visible in places.
It’s the finer detail work that I’m not as certain of, though I suspect it too is couching, just much finer work. And either way, it’s a level of skill I can’t reproduce, and not just because I physically can’t do that without pain killers and a pair of pliers. I’ve never had that level of skill with that particular decorative stitching technique.
Thank you for tagging me! 🙂
PLEASE TO NOT INCLUDE ME IN YOUR RELIGIOUS RITUALS, YOU SHIT-SWILLING SOCK FUCKERS!
*scrambles for headphones* Ah, sweet white noise, now I can stop wanting to VIBRATE OUT OF MY SKIN. *adds music to the masking noise, and grumpily makes very rude gestures at the church that thinks the entire neighborhood needs to be included in their Sunday morning worship*
The posters are printed on hella nice glossy paper (printed them myself before the expensive printer decided to be a dickface). Each poster is 12×18″ (ish)* and will ship in a solid protective cardboard tube, USPS Mail.
This is the poster, which was drawn by the awesome @jaegervega while I supplied some nifty graphics help/rearranging to create the final (awesome) product. The colors on the posters are a lot more crisp:
I can’t sign it (not my art), but @jaegervega might be up to signing a copy if you ship it to them. Or you know them local, either/or. Oh, and I need to get off my ass and talk to them, too, as @jaegervega will be doing the cover art for Vishakha and is thus triple-amazing.❤
To support my writing habit (I just replaced my keyboard and I’m about to have to replace my mouse, too), posters sold within the US will be $22.00 USD, shipping included.
Posters sold outside the US will be $15.00 USD + $24.50 for USPS First Class International Mail. ($17.00 for Canada).
Breakdown:
US-Sold Posters: $22.00 USD flat rate
Canada: $15.00 USD per poster + $17.00 Shipping
International: $15.00 USD per poster + $24.50 Shipping
(*ish because while the posters are pretty much all 12″ wide, some of them are more like 17.5″ long. So: ish.)
There are only 23 posters available, so it’s first come, first paid, first shipped! To pay, go to my Paypal.me/flamethrower account to send the funds.
tl;dr: Help a writer out, get awesome poster in the process!
Pretty art that goes with a fantastic book! And helps support an awesome author!
I made art and forgot to post it on tumblr even tho I made it so I could because the Van Helsing fandom is like…non existent on tumblr (for real, I only find art and fics on DA from like 2009)
…Huh. That is adorable, and kinda scary in an interesting “nope don’t need another AU!” way. NIFTY, thank you! 😀
*blinks* Fuuuuuuuck.
I want to draw this now, and my traditional arting skills are rusty as hell, as I have had cause to be reminded lately, and damnit.
Also, if there are baby vamps paired up with clone troopers, that means that Dracula is out there somewhere, and either he’s working with Sidious or he’s trying to undermine Sidious, and I’d honestly go with the second one. Because I don’t think he’s about to share power with anyone.
There's a Mirror on the Wall 