Needles & Nilbogs

Shut up, it’s still Thursday. I really like historical textiles, and I like fantasy worlds, and I like world building. So let’s talk fantasy textile traditions, for your default fantasy d&d-ish world. I have a bunch of ideas, and so I’m going to present a guide to developing a complete textile tradition for a fantasy culture, using examples, and also a list of things I’ve done that anyone can steal and drop into a game, because I have a lot of those. That’ll be the end of this three part series. This first bit is mostly about researching and coming up with general ideas, next week will be about making specific traditions, and the last week will be a list of ideas that you can use to build on.  I want to note that this is going into a lot of detail, and most people aren’t going to use this level of detail. I actually often start with specific traditions rather than a general thing, but I have a lot of preexisting knowledge that I can use to develop the general ideas more quickly...

 I start a lot of blog entries with “I’ve been really busy this week”, and this is another case where that’s true. Instead of actual anything, this is a snippet of backstory for one of my D&D characters: Fia, who I’ve definitely mentioned before. This is just a moment from her backstory as a rebel in a cell of the sorcerous underground, fighting against the establishment, except this bit is her and her best friend talking. (I haven’t slept enough this week, this is not eloquent, but I’m putting this out there because otherwise there shalt not be anything here.)  Fia and JWW — — —  It had been a stressful mission, and Fia was curled up in the corner of the safehouse's broom closet in the comfortable dark. She was enjoying the quiet and playing with a bit of her hair when someone opened the door.  "Go away," she said. "I don't want to talk." "I just need a broom, don't worry," a voice with a thick British accent said. "I'll be out of...

 Chag Sameach Purim! Happy Purim! I’ve had a very busy and exciting week, and I have plenty of hamantaschen as well. And some cool photos from a trip to Monterey. Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates that the evil Persian vizier Haman, adviser to Xerxes I (aka Ahasuerus), didn’t kill all the Jews because of the brave actions of the clever Jewish Queen Esther. We celebrate by dressing up and bringing food to others, among other things. So my family made A Whole Lot of Hamantaschen, the traditional cookie. It’s a butter cookie shaped like a triangle and filled with jam, chocolate, poppy seeds, etc.  Plenty of hamantaschen Ours are regular butter dough, filled with strawberry or apricot jam; chocolate dough, filled with chocolate chips; cheesecake filling in regular dough, drizzled with chocolate; and regular dough, filled with Nutella or chocolate chips and drizzled with chocolate. We made … probably too many, so I’m bringing them around today to all my friends. (Sorry, Rus...

 I’ve been a bit busy today (I have to get done with some stuff before leaving for a trip on Monday), so here’s a picture of some friendship bracelets I made a while ago. They have hearts! 

 The funny thing about math is the way it sneaks into everything. Or perhaps that’s the point. I don’t know, I just love math in all its forms. So I’m bringing back something I did a while ago, Math for Crafters, and providing another brief insight into my brain. This time, I’m talking about integrals (don’t run away, I promise not to have any scary equations) and the process of adding stitches to a project.