OTA Mingle || Stitch & Bitch

[can_fight_ugly]

WHO: Anne
WHERE: House 53
WHEN: Forward dated to Saturday
OPEN TO: OTA - but specifically those who expressed an interest in joining Stich & Bitch
WARNINGS: Stitching & Bitching. Should be a fairly tame log but will update as needed

---

Network Post Here

The first thing Anne had done was make a mental list (since she couldn't make an electronic one - or even a pen and paper one) of the kind of space she was looking for. Open floorplan, fireplace, multiple rooms, yardage. Eventually, she'd settled on House 53 - a soft yellow bungalow with three bedrooms, a fireplace, spaced farther from its neighbors than some of the other housing units, and with a sizeble plot of land behind it before it butted up against the houses in the next street over. Check.

Second, she would need chairs. She borrowed whatever furniture she could move from the surrounding empty houses, marking the underneath of each one in order to return them to their proper houses afterwards - if that was necessary.

Chairs arranged in a loose circle in the house, she went out to borrow a hatchet and go out to collect some firewood - this took the most amount of time, because she wasn't exactly built for this kind of labor. She's been working at it over a few days, though, and she knew that necessity would mold her far better than any CrossFit or Krav Maga class ever could. She spent enough time on this endeavor to ensure there'd be enough wood to last them a bit, then returned the hatchet. She'd have to ask Tony for one of her own at some point.

It doesn't matter if you're the first one here, or if things have been under way for a couple hours and you're just rolling in; Anne greets everyone as they arrive, already near the door or getting up from her chair to offer a warm handshake and introductions.

Today's inaugural session was meant to be a little more free-form, and let it grow from that organically, but at some point when a number of people have gathered Anne will stand to get their attention;

"I wanted to thank you all for coming. Unless I've somehow missed you, you know I am Anne Weying; I can teach knitting, and I would like to learn how to spin.

I know we're all from different worlds with different levels of technological advancements, but here we're all on the same footing. And that footing's about to get cold if we can't knit a sock, first. This idea was born from a practice in my world called "Stitch and Bitch", where people would gather to knit, and crochet, and generally complain about things in their lives. Here, I think it would be important if we used this time to share our skills and help each other establish a line of production in order to harvest and spin fleece and knit it into usable goods - or weave, or crochet, what-have-you.

We're definitely not in a tropical climate, and without knowing just how cold it can get here, I think it's best if we start preparing for a cold winter now."

She sits down and takes a look at each of those gathered around, "So; what can you teach, and what would you like to learn?"

Comments

[firacrux]

He's conflicted, but clearly curious. And far too proud to directly ask about being curious, so instead he just kind of let his gaze linger on the room. She wasn't wrong, no one started out mastering their chosen weapon class. It took a lot of work to get good. Really he'd been interested in checking out the forge but hadn't had an opportunity for that yet. He supposed it wouldn't be unreasonable to at least have a look around.

"...Gotta admit I've never even seen a sewing needle. Or knitting or whatever." He hesitated, thoughtful. "What d'you recommend for beginners?" Maybe he would try it out. Out of curiosity.

[spoileralert]

"It shouldn't be hard, just screw two knives together," she points out with a shrug. She'd be surprised if it wasn't one of the first tools he ended up making. But then, she had a certain perspective on technology that Tony might not share.

"What, were you worried about surviving the winter? People here are actually pretty nice. I mean, they've been feeding me for free for like, five months now."

[mediumhoodie]

Kat's mouth softened into a light smile. "No. I didn't. They were a little out of the way but at the bottom of a basket. I almost missed them." Needles were very small and easy to lose.

"I think so too." Kat wasn't great at tracking but she was trying to teach herself. "There are also farm animals here, kept by some of the residence. We can probably ask them as well though I think we should harvest after the winter." Or it'd kill a lot of animals by taking their shelter from the cold.

Collecting fleece didn't mean they had to hurt or kill the animals.

[demiurgency]

The books seem mostly filled with standard stuff, even if some of the garments seem meant for slightly odder body shapes (he's pretty sure he saw a sweater with wing holes in it). At least, he didn't spot anything too far out of the ordinary, but considering his world that's not all that strange.

At Anne's question about the gruffalo, Billy perks up a bit, sounding more confident. This, at least, is definitely something he knows. "They can definitely be domesticated, and they're pretty easygoing," he tells her. "I don't know how good their hair would be for clothes, it's a little scratchy, but it's worth a shot. I know someone who has one. Do you think there's space for a herd? I mean, they're kind of like cows, I guess, we could probably set up a big pen or something. I could ask Frank."

[championofsnark]

"It is! I've been mending my socks and trying to take good care of my gloves. These aren't exactly meant for archery." The gloves were good and kept her warm, but there was a sort of wear and tear that came from getting gloves that were specifically designed to fight with. Hawke is good at sorting out things she can use, and it'll be awhile before she can make something that's worth it, but for now mending is the best way to go about it.

She glances up at Anne with a smile. "Sometimes. Kirkwall's a port city so it gets hot hot hot and then crushingly cold depending on the season. I'm also used to being in a lot more action and covered in armor."

[demiurgency]

Honestly, that might be something they have in common. Billy's never let it stop him from trying to make friends, but he's definitely worried about that being a not-great thing for the other person. For not entirely dissimilar reasons. "It's definitely like riding a bike," he offers. "Or, you know, like they say riding a bike is supposed to be, which I definitely disagree with, learning how to balance on two wheels again after ten years is not as easy, especially if you're like three feet taller than you were the last time you tried."

But that's a ramble, isn't it? He's gotta get better about that. "Tony Stark made your sewing machine?" Now that's something to be interested in. "That's awesome. I knew he was running the forge, but I still haven't actually talked to him. To this him. I don't know this version, is he cool?"

[can_fight_ugly]

Anne nods, "It cam get that way, by water. We had some wicked snow snorms when I was in New York; record breaking blizzards, it got intense." San Francisco was a different kind of cold; not as frigid, but wet and oppressive.

Anne missed the snow, and the decent heating and insulation of a New York condo.

She smiles, "Do you plan on finding a way to be active here as well?"

[spoileralert]

Steph chuckles at the simile and shrugs. She remembers how to hold the needles, but after that she's a little lost.

"Yeah, I got the request in early when he was asking for them. I don't know if he's cool, but he doesn't totally suck." She's even kind of fond of him, hence the relentless teasing. But that doesn't necessarily mean anyone else will like him. She enjoys people who bite back.

[can_fight_ugly]

"Good for outer layers, certainly. We could start small with one or two, see how they manage. We may not need many more than that, unless we want to look into milk and meat production." But that would open up questions about extensive land use and that, she felt, should be a village-wide decision.


"I've got some space behind my house, if there's no better option." She'd originally chosen that location with thoughts of one or two of the cute zalpacas, but she's willing to be adaptable to offer the greatest help she can to the village.

[can_fight_ugly]

"It's a tricky balance - making sure we all make it through the winter together. It's too bad we don't have more time to prepare."

Come the spring, it would be easier to establish an appropriate shearing schedule.

[championofsnark]

"Never really anything that intense, but we had some terrible wind. Bad enough ships couldn't get out easily, which was a bad thing since as a port town, that's the only way to trade." Kirkwall in the start was in dire need, and from then on they were always trying to scramble to get afloat. There was a short time when the city really was doing well. "I always said I wanted to go somewhere warm permanently, but then when it's summer and I'm smelling horrifically in my armor, I remember why it's terrible."

Hawke's eyebrows go up at that and she grins. "What kind of active you talking?" She winks, because it could be taken either way and Hawke would never give up the chance for innuendo. "I think sooner or later we'll need to be that kind of active. Those beasts out there will come looking for food in the winter too, I think. There's always that risk." She knew humans weren't the only predators in this place.

[can_fight_ugly]

"Well, my kind of active involves French cuisine and a reasonable effort at intelligent conversation." Anne's pretty good with give and take, given she trusts where those innuendos are coming from. "I have been leaning on letting the fighters be fighters, but it might not be a bad idea if I get at least a little training."

[demiurgency]

"Yeah. I mean, one or two sounds like a good idea. Frank and Kamala have a gruffalo and a zalpaca in a pen behind their house, they do pretty well together," he offers. "I mean, if you're interested in setting up a pen and trying to get one or two for yourself, I'm sure he'd help. He's really good at this stuff. I've been learning a lot." And it'll be nice if he can finally find something to offer, himself. Maybe knitting can be that thing. Not like he can do much else without his magic.

[can_fight_ugly]

"Are you familiar with the concept of 'Stockholm Syndrome'?" It's an honest question; there were a lot of worlds represented, she's discovering, and this may not be a phrase that's been born on another reality.

"While I appreciate the hospitality, I have a hard time not being wary of it since I don't know where it's coming from, and I didn't elect to be here."

[demiurgency]

"Well, that's definitely more he's got going for him than the Iron Man I know back home. That guy was always super uncool, especially to me and my friends." Although admittedly, the only time they ever spoke was when Billy and his friends were breaking curfew, going out and fighting crime, sooooo...

"Is there fabric and stuff in the village to work with? Besides like, the scrubs and stuff, I mean," he asks, looking back at the sewing machine. "It'd be cool if we could work on making up some new things for people to wear, instead of just those and whatever else is kicking around in the lost and found."

[can_fight_ugly]

"He's helping me with some knitting needles, I could see if he can give me some gruffalo husbandry pointers as well."

So there's currently one gruffalo and five zalpacas that she knows of altogether. That's not bad.

"Are you looking to get an animal of your own?"

[demiurgency]

"What, me?" Billy looks surprised at the question, maybe more than a little uncertain. "No, I mean, I don't know. I've never even had a pet before, unless you count that one winter break in fifth grade when I took the class hamster home and took care of it for a week. My mom's allergic to cats, so." That answers nothing, Billy.

"But, uh. It might be kind of nice to learn more about them. I talked with Alex about the peacats when I first got here, and it seems like there are a ton of animals here, even if you don't count the weird ones that don't exist back on Earth. Once I know more about them, maybe I could help take care of them."

[can_fight_ugly]

"I think it makes sense here for people to have animals - because we're able to have ones that serve a purpose. We can't just - pop off to the corner store to grab a gallon of milk, but if there are two, three bovines available ...."

She stops and thinks, this world is considerably different than her own, "Is gruffalo milk potable? I mean I imagine it would be, but I guess I shouldn't assume ..."

[can_fight_ugly]

"For beginners? Knitting. Equipment is more portable and, especially in this environment easier to replicate. I could lend you some of my needles and get you started; the great thing about knitting is there is so much you can do with just very basic stitching techniques. A decent scarf will run you the grand total of three steps: cast on, knit, bind off."

She smiles. "Sewing needles are smaller, sharper, and generally fussier; used to stitch fabric together. There's hand-sewing and machine-sewing, which you can get a glimpse of over there with Stephanie over there." She points out where Stephanie had gotten herself set up with a sewing machine and fabric. "Might take a bit to get an actual machine, though."

[mediumhoodie]

"It is. I'm used to it." If she was being completely honest. "But there were always places to go where we could raid food storage's or find warm places to sleep. It was a bonus to living in a city."

Kat had never had an easy life and things like this felt very normal to her.

[can_fight_ugly]

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Hopefully, we'll be able to figure it out here; but you're not alone. If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

Maybe it's a little heavy-handed, but she wanted Kat to know she'd be supported here. Anne definitely got the concept that peopel here helped each other out, and she's more than willing to continue that tradition.

[spoileralert]

She snorts a laugh. She can definitely see Tony being uncool to a bunch of teenagers. Luckily nobody’s tried that crap with her yet. She sure as hell doesn’t need a new dad. One was more than enough for one lifetime, thanks.

“Not really,” she sighs. She waves at the pile of ‘scrap’ fabric.

“I’m just using what I can. And making some changes so the scrubs aren’t so terrible. Normal human belt loops, for example, instead of the stupid drawstring deal the scrubs have going on.”

[firacrux]

Knitting huh. Yeah. Maybe he could try it. Sewing sounded a bit out of his league. As in majorly out of his league, Seifer wasn't exactly well known for creativity. Start with something that could be corrected without a lot of wasted resources in the process. "Sounds like a proper old bitty hobby to me," He smirked slightly. Yeah he's that guy. "Pretty forgiving then? Can you fix it if you mess up?" Sewing he knew a little more about from a theoretical standpoint. Patterns, fabric, all that jazz. A little harder to fix if you mess it up, which concerned him given he didn't think they had a steady supply of fabric to waste on novices.

Three steps, he could do three steps that sounded easy enough. He might go check out the sewing machine just to watch it work, curiosity and all, but he was much more interested in maybe learning to knit. "It's pretty cold, scarves might be nice to have around." He observed. Anne was quickly selling him on the at least trying it out point. Good on her!

[mediumhoodie]

"Thank you. I've met a lot of people here willing to help others." Kat's expression softened though she didn't quite smile. "Tony helps, usually with just voicing his opinion." He was a very opinionated guy but so far, most of his opinions have been logical and something that Kat can get behind.

It was also the reason that Kat was here. She couldn't stay in her house by herself. Not when the world continued on without her. She needed to do more than survive. She needed to fight and thrive.

"But if I need anything, I'll let you know."

[can_fight_ugly]

"Yes, he is very good at that." Anne smiles. She was getting to know him better here than she had back in New York. Granted, that was before either of them had a decade of personal development. From what little comparison she'd seen, he's definitely grown into someone who's opinions were worth listening to.

"Just give me a holler and I'll be by."