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

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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

this hoodlum | ota

[scathefires]

Jason doesn’t have much skill in stitching, unless it’s knife wounds. Bitching, though? He’s got that part down. However, he’s quiet at the moment - not sitting in a chair with the rest of the group but standing near the door, leaning back against the wall, arms folded across his chest, silently debating with himself on whether showing up here was a bad idea. Positioning himself near the door means he can make a strategic and speedy exit if needed, but so far, it appears that such evasive maneuvers are not necessary.

Not yet, at least. Having attention turned on him with the expectation to speak? That definitely increases the likelihood of Jason bolting. He sighs, rubs a hand over his mouth, and shrugs.

“I don’t know how to do any of this.” And it really sucks to be in a position where he has to admit that. “Only thing I can really teach is how to fight, and I dunno how much interest this kind of group would have in that.”

Kat [OPEN]

[mediumhoodie]

Kat didn't know what she was expecting. She'd never been to anything like this but she was looking forward to it. She needed to get out of that empty house and this was the perfect excuse. She wore her hoodie and a pair of shorts. It wasn't the weather for shorts but there clothes were familiar and comfortable.

"I know how to sew but I'd like to learn how to knit. I've brought some of the pink alpaca fluff." She had collected it that morning and didn't have a lot but it was a start.

She placed her small collection out for anyone to take.

Stephanie Brown | OTA

[spoileralert]

It took a bit of effort to get Steph’s heavy foot-powered seweing machine to the house, but between her and Jason they managed it. The next trip was to retrieve scraps of fabric from earlier tailoring projects and what curtains and blankets she felt the village could do without. Those she kept in bundles with a blanket wrapped around each, since cardboard boxes were clearly not a thing here. Hopefully there would be more gifts of clothes later that she could use for big projects... and more lightweight boxes to cart supplies around in.

She had already set about carefully pulling what threads she could from their seams when Anne started talking.

"I’d like to learn spinning, since sewing is what I’m good at," she volunteered. There was only so much a person could salvage, and the fabric to thread ratio of blanket was definitely not ideal. "Did anyone think to grab books from the school? They have something on just about everything, it seems like."

So far there had been more talk about learning crafting skills than teaching them. The party might have to wait until some of them had made a library run. Steph couldn't really complain about that, since she hadn't thought to bring any either.

Billy Kaplan | OTA

[demiurgency]

When he'd first heard word of this gathering, Billy had known immediately he'd be going. After his conversation with 7, he'd started poking around for the right kind of wood to use for knitting needles, any word on yarn that could be used, finally relieved that there was some skill he possessed that could actually be useful.

He doesn't come empty-handed, either; in Billy's arms are half a dozen books from the library on knitting and crochet, all covered in various sweaters or hats or afghans. "I uh. Brought some of the books on knitting and crochet from the library," he volunteers. "In case anyone wants them. I can knit and sew, but I'd be interested in learning more. Spinning seems like it'd be really useful to know. We should probably recruit some of the villagers who have zalpaca, too."

Hawke - OTA

[championofsnark]

Hawke knew how to do these things, but it'd been awhile. Her mother was an expert; she could mend and make. The requirement of being a mother of two (three). Eventually she sighed and said Marian, you have to learn this. Like most things Hawke was fairly good at picking it up, but a little too lazy to become an expert at it. She could make it work though. Of that she was certain.

She casually lounged in a chair, her hair braided and out of the way. "I know how to sew and knit; not perfectly, but I can do it. I suppose there's an incentive to get good at it now." Who knows. She was an optimist! This could turn out brilliantly. Dark eyes slid across the room, curious to see who was going to join their little group. She recognized most, because of her overly friendly ways.

She was also delighted to spend more time with Anne, who she already adopted.

Seifer (open)

[firacrux]

He felt like an idiot. Almost immediately it was abundantly clear that this really wasn't the kind of place for him. Too many people, knitting really wasn't his thing, he had no idea what the hell he was walking into. But he'd showed up anyway because it beat sulking around without anything to do. Maybe he could lend a hand in a different way. Chopping firewood maybe?

Mostly it was the realization that he lacked even the most rudimentary knowledge of what they were talking about. Clothing had always been provided him, he never had to think about where it came from or how it was made. Maybe if he just slunk back out the door no one would notice he was even there.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Clearly a giant guy with a big scar on his face and dressed in black was definitely going to disappear in the background well enough to manage to slip back out before anyone realized he was there and could call him out on his attempt at escape. Flawless plan here.