Stitching Sundays

I know I haven't been finishing a lot of pieces recently, but I'm working on that. Ironically, now that I've moved the deadline for the Mammoth Secret Project an extra two months back, I can't stop working on it. Cayden says, quite rightly, that knowing I HAVE to do something makes me rebel against it. Now that I don't HAVE to do it, I want to. Typical. But I actually have other projects that need to be dome first now, so I've gotta get a move on and finish some stuff. Starting with this.

Knittaversary

So, Tuesday 26th October was my 2 year Knittaversary. I wrote about it last year. This year, in keeping with the tradition I started with my Crochetaversary, I've made a video. This is every completed knitted project I've ever made. Reasonably impressive. :-)

Wordsmith Wednesdays

Today I'm posting the most recent draft of the first chapter of my stalled novel. I know a few people read my blog, and I'd be very interested in their opinions. Do you want to read more?

Chapter One

Mountains clustered over most of the Elven country of Moreai, all of them reaching the clouds. On the highest mountain of the Colucca range, a wide ledge formed naturally into the side of the rock. A tall, Elven woman stood at the edge of the shelf, looking out over the landscape of her home country. From the horizon in the south, a dark green thread of water, the river Piato, stretched across the landscape until it joined with the lake below. Lake Talia. The green water glittered, the flashes of light reaching the woman’s eyes. At the edge of the lake was the small village of Talia, so close to the base of the mountain that the woman couldn’t see the lights of the homes that she knew were there. She turned back to face the ledge, taking in the flat rock floor. The mountain continued to rise before her, creating a wall sheltering the ledge. Scattered rocks and plants clustered around a small spring that burst through the ground. Rain began to fall softly.

She looked upwards towards the midnight sky. Two bright white full moons illuminated her, making her features clear. A soft, white face with smooth clear skin. Pale blue eyes, flashing with anticipation. Her long, straight black hair fell down her back and her white skin was damp with the moisture in the air. She shivered and pulled a purple robe from the velvet sack beside her. She put it on, gathering its folds around her, then pushed her hair back behind ears that curved into a point. She took a last look out over the country and then began to prepare for the ritual. Reaching into the sack again she pulled out a handful of tall blue candles and placed them at five points in a large circle around the spring. She cleared some pebbles and rocks from the inside of the circle. Reaching out her hand, a thin trail of flame burst from her fingers, lighting the candles. With her magic she traced a fiery circle between them.

She reached into the sack again and pulled out a short silver blade with a white marble handle and a white marble chalice. Footsteps and low murmuring alerted her to the two Elves climbing the track to the mountain shelf and she placed the chalice and blade by the spring before turning to embrace the newcomers. Both were male Elves, as tall as she; one her age and one much older. The older man had the same long, straight black hair as the woman, though his had white streaks betraying his age. He had the same blue eyes, surrounded with subtle lines. He took the young woman into his arms and held her tightly, giving her one soft kiss on each white cheek. The younger man had blond hair, falling in waves to his shoulders. He had deep grey eyes and soft white skin, and he embraced the woman with two kisses on each cheek.

With their greetings complete, the three Elves spread around the inside of the circle, the young Elf to the woman’s right and the old Elf to her left. The female Elf raised her arms to the sky and began the incantation.
“I am Aphra, daughter of Vitus and daughter of Jesslyn. I call upon the Elven magic of my ancestors.”
Her voice echoed over the ledge, spilling onto the deserted mountain.
“I summon all those in past, present and future who will bear witness.”
The young man smiled at her, and all three Elves looked to the sky. Between Xa’s two full moons, a dozen stars grew brighter and slowly closer. The lights removed themselves from the sky, dancing around the gathering like fireflies. The three Elves watched the lights settle to the ground outside the circle of candles. In the blink of an eye, the stars from the sky flashed and became the ghosts of a dozen Elves. A mix of males and females, young and old, all with two things in common. They were all dead, brought back to the land of the living for this ceremony, and they all smiled at Aphra with the loving gaze of family.

When the dozen Elven spirits stood outside the candle of circles, the young male Elf smiled at Aphra again and raised his hands to the sky.
“I am Hayden, son of Nealen and son of Tybida. I call upon the Elven magic of my ancestors. I summon all those in past, present and future who will bear witness.”
The gathering of Elves looked upwards once more and watched as another dozen stars fell to the Earth and joined the circle. Hayden’s ancestors.

The third Elf gazed at the two young Elves proudly. He cast his eyes around those assembled and spoke in a low rumble of a voice.
“I am Vitus, son of Maver and son of Tyfair. I stand here tonight to preside over this handfasting. To join my daughter, Aphra, to this Elf, Hayden.”
He held out his hands, and Aphra and Hayden put their joined hands in his.
“I am father of my clan, this is my right. I stand before these Elves; ancestors of myself and my daughter, and ancestors of an Elf soon to be my son. On behalf of these two, I seek blessings.”
Vitus looked at the Elf spirits gathered, locking eyes with each one and waiting for their smile and nod before moving on to the next. When all the Elves had given their blessings, Vitus let go of the hands he held and reached for the chalice and the blade. He scooped cool, clear water from the spring into the chalice, then turned to his daughter. He took Aphra’s hand, drawing the blade of the athame lightly across her palm. He let nine drops of her blood fall into the chalice, then passed his hand over the wound, healing it with his magic. Vitus turned to Hayden and repeated the process, then stirred the liquid with the athame. The chalice was passed first to Aphra, then to Hayden. They both drank deeply from it, then held hands tightly. Vitus smiled and reached into his robe. From his pocket he pulled two thin strips of silver. The metal was inscribed with runes for love, truth, loyalty and protection.
“Hayden,” he said softly. “Tonight you join with Aphra, to become one. This union is witnessed and blessed by your ancestors. This band is a symbol of your commitment to each other.”
Vitus reached for Hayden’s left arm and wrapped the silver band around his wrist. The metal bent naturally, as though it were made of dough, and the ends fused together when they met, aided by Vitus’s magic. Vitus turned to Aphra and repeated the steps of the ritual, giving her a handfasting band as well.
“And now,” he said, “with the blessings of your ancestors and the mingling of your blood, you are one.”
The couple embraced as Vitus looked on proudly and the ancestors faded one by one.

--

Vitus left the young Elves to their embrace and began to dismantle the circle, but a thundering of heavily booted feet distracted them all. They rushed to the edge of the shelf, Aphra and Hayden still holding hands. Halfway up the mountain track, getting closer and closer to the shelf, was a troop of twenty Human men, all dressed in black. Scabbards were tied to every Human’s belt, and each man held his sword aloft, the heavy weapons reflecting the moonlight. At the head of the troop was a Human a head taller than the others who held his sword in one hand and an ebony wand in the other. The Elves pulled back from the edge of the shelf, and heard the man thunder;
“In the name of my Lord, I purge you.”
Vitus crouched to begin an incantation as Hayden and Aphra reached for their swords. A red beam of light hit the edge of the shelf, shattering the rock as the men climbed up and onto the ledge.

Hayden and Aphra moved into defensive positions in front of the spell-casting Vitus. The leader of the Humans aimed the wand at the wall behind them, sending the red beam into the rock, carving out chunks that fell on the Elves. The men advanced, baring their swords and looks of fury. Aphra glanced briefly at the handfasting band on her wrist, then stepped forward, swinging her weapon to clash against a man’s sword that was coming towards her. She fought hard, bringing her sword forward over and over again, Elven steel meeting Human steel and Human flesh. Beside her, Hayden fought more of the men, keeping pace. Each time her sword rang against a Human’s, Hayden’s sword rang in echo. Hayden caught a sword on the side of his leg, and he stumbled, blood soaking his robe. Aphra pressed into the man who had attacked him, bringing her sword down on his head, cleaving into it. The Human fell. Hayden dragged himself to his feet to cover Aphra’s back. His sword entered the stomach of a man who fell beside his comrade. The battle continued and two more Humans fell; one losing an arm to Aphra’s blade and one losing his head to Hayden’s.

Behind them, Vitus brought his incantation to a close and a raging storm began to climb the mountain. Aphra could hear the thunder getting louder as she turned back to back with Hayden, crossing sword with Human after Human who circled the three Elves. There were six left, while the leader stood at the edge of the shelf and watched. Hayden and Aphra took down another, bringing their swords together through his chest and ignoring the taunts coming from his companions.
“Filthy Elves!”
“Scum of Xa!”
“Waste of flesh!”
“Plague of this land!”

Vitus’s storm reached the mountain shelf and the driving rain drowned out the sound of the taunts. The leader of the Humans moved out of the way of a striking lightning bolt, stepping into shadows. He watched his men fall without compassion, waiting for the perfect moment. He stood, ebony rod and sword waiting for action. Two of his men broke out of the circle and pressed forward to strike. Aphra and Hayden turned as one to block the attack. The leader used the opportunity to move around the edge of the shelf until he stood behind Vitus. The elderly Elf was concentrating on the storm, using its rain to hinder the men and it’s lightning to attack them. He didn’t see the leader aim the ebony wand at his back.

Aphra saw the red beam hit her father. She saw the ball of brilliant white light that was his magic rise from his chest and hover above him. The storm died as the leader pulled a small crystal vial from his pocket. He called “Come!” and the ball of light sank swiftly into the vial. Then, without even looking, he thrust his sword through the Elf’s back. Aphra lunged towards the leader with her sword raised to take his head from his body. The Human dodged her blow easily; she was angry and careless. Her ill-timed attack left her on the ground by her father’s body. The Human glanced at her once, a look on his face that could have been a smirk. Aphra stayed at her father’s side for a moment, leaving the man who rushed her from behind to her husband’s blade.

Another man swung his sword into Hayden’s shoulder and the force slammed him into the wall. His head struck the rock and he slumped to the ground unconsciously. Aphra saw her husband fall, and stood. She flipped her sword out to her left, beheading one of the men who attacked her. She prepared to rush the leader again, but the remaining men surrounded her. As she fought against them, she watched the leader from the corner of her eye. He approached Hayden’s fallen body, bringing the ebony wand and its red beam onto the Elf’s chest. Aphra cried out as Hayden’s magic rose from him. She fell to her knees as the leader arced his sword, slicing Hayden’s head from his shoulders even as he called the magic to the crystal vial.

Aphra’s body went numb. The remaining men drove blades into her from all sides, but she felt no pain. She stood, dropping her sword. Grief and fury coursed through her veins, swelling her magic to dangerous proportions. Her eyes clouded over and she flung out her left hand. A white ray cast from the palm of her hand, hitting the riders to her left in pure, uncontrolled emotional magic. In a matter of seconds, their skin began to sizzle and cook, then disintegrate. The flesh and blood beneath began to boil, and their bones turned to ash. Aphra moved her hand in front of her, sending the white ray across the ledge to hit every remaining Human. They met the same fate and the furious Elf turned her gaze on the leader. The Human who had slaughtered her father and husband glared back at her, the last man standing. He showed no fear in his eyes, no emotion even. Aphra let her arms fall to her sides, the white ray vanishing. The Human met her eyes again, and laughed. She closed her eyes, and then she vanished.

- - -

Food Fridays - Birthday Edition

Last Friday was my birthday. I spent it baking, in preparation for the food-themed celebration the next day.

I made this delicious cheesecake...



The base is chocolate chip cookies. The top is chocolate chip, with swirls of caramel ice cream sauce. Unfortunately, the topping didn't set. It stayed liquid, so the chocolate chips became more of a layer. It was delicious though.

Then I attempted to make a chocolate marshmallow crunch brownie thing.

Problem 1: I don't have a baking tin, so I ended up cooking it in a cake tin.
Problem 2: It took forever to cook, and by the time I gave up it was practically still liquid on the inside.
Problem 3: The marshmallow layer kept rolling off because it was in a cake tin and not a brownie pan, so they all ended up in the middle.



It may have been a disaster as a brownie, but it was scrumptious.



And then came my best bit of baking. Maple nut cookies. They were a little thin, because I think my mixture was too runny so they spread out too far. And they ended up stuck together in a big pile, but I don't have cooling racks and stacked them to cool, like a muppet. But, they are absolutely adorably scrumdiddlyumptious.



In other birthday baking related news, here's my birthday cake.



Jen made it. It was green :D

New Thing: Challenge # 43

Challenge 43 - Drink my age in Sherbert

Okay, so last week I turned 28. Woohoo, I'm old. For a while now I've been toying with the idea of drinking my age in alcoholic shots. My original plan for my birthday celebration was to go the student union and drink 28 shots of my beloved Apple Sourz. Unfortunately this proved farrr too expensive, and the results may not have been too pretty. It's also no fun to drink alone, and the people coming to my birthday celebrations aren't big drinkers. So we went to Taybarns instead.

The drinking-age-in-shots plan went from that, to eating-age-in-profiteroles, to eating-age-in-delicious-ribs, to the ultimate. DRINKING MY AGE IN SHERBERT STRAWS! And not those little piddly arse ones either. The BIG ONES.

That's 28 of them. Unfortunately I didn't succeed. I managed 12 before my tongue started to explode. Very painful. I did get slightly high though.

Current saved total: £80
Current donated total: £135

New Thing: Challenge # 42

Challenge 42 - related to the Mammoth Secret Project

I can't talk much about this challenge, because of the Secret aspect, but I'd narrowed down what was left to do into sections. The challenge was to complete a certain number of sections. I failed.

I do have an excuse though. I ran out of yarn :-( I have yarn coming to me from all over the world now from random lovely Ravellers, so hopefully one day the Mammoth Secret Project will be finished.

Current saved total: £80
Current donated total: £130

New Thing: Challenge # 41

Challenge 41: Dye Yarn

As you know from Challenge 39, I won this yarn and koolaid months ago. And I finally got around to dying it!

My skein collapsed almost right away, which I should have taken as a sign, but I didn't. Because I'm me, and I ignore stuff like that. I mixed up the kool aids and picked these two.

I had visions of a nice red and blue variagated yarn with maybe some splodges of purple. Looking at it now, that blue was never going to work.

It was a fun process, although not if you're my living room carpet. But it didn't turn out like I'd wanted. The blue was invisible, and the red came out pink. Perhaps I used too much water, who knows. But it was done. In my drying cupboard I had a "skein" of pink yarn dying and slowly felting itself together. I put off winding it for ages, because I was convinced it was going to be all felted and matted and one big knot, but it actually came out quite well.

It's not an utterly horrible colour, if you like pink, and there aren't too many destroyed patches. And it's quite nice to work with. I made a patch for my crochet quilt.

I'm definitely going to try dying yarn again, eventually, but I think I'll use a different dye.

Current saved total: £80
Current donated total: £125

Random Act of Kindness

I love living in my flat on my own with Smudge. I know people are worried about the fact that I tend to isolate myself in here, and that I don't really go out more than once a fortnight on payday, but I'm quite happy with it. I like my own company, I like being safe from the world and its nastiness. But I do get lonely sometimes. Particularly when the post comes. I tend to only get bills, or junk mail. So often I won't go check it for days at a time.

Related to the post issue, I was concerned that I'd only get one or two Christmas cards this year (like last year), so I put a plea out on Ravelry. I run a couple of swap groups, one of which is huge! So I explained my situation and asked if anyone would send me a card.

Yesterday, I received a wonderful Halloween card from the girl who posts notebooks to me every fortnight. Her address was on the envelope, so I will most definitely write back to her at some point. But my favouritiest piece of post yesterday absolutely made my day.

First of all, the little package looked like this...



Is that not the most gorgeous package ever?! And it had this on the back...



There was no return address, I don't recognise the postcode or the handwriting either. Inside there was this adorable little guy.



There was no note, only this tag attacked to his foot.



I suppose it might be from anyone, but I do suspect it's a Raveler. I could investigate, but for now I'm not going to. I'm just going to say thank you. It really cheered me up :-)

Wordsmith Wednesdays

Here's a piece of prose I wrote nearly four years ago, about a guy I was seeing at the time...

Intelligence Excites Me

In a world where language is rotting; in a world where the average dolt on the street knows nothing unless it’s been in the glossy magazines; in a world where loud-mouthed morons are famous for having no talent, for embarrassing themselves on national television; in a world where people with any sign of intellect are ridiculed and outcast; in this world, intelligence excites me.

I sleepwalk through life needing minimal brain power to function. Spending more thought on simplifying words than exercising my vocabulary. I’m locking away my genius, caging it. Each night in my dreams a manifestation screams at me, begging me to release it. It’s only a matter of time before I’m indistinguishable from the mindless zombies that surround me.

But there, a lighthouse beam in the fog that threatens to envelope me, is my salvation. Someone with intelligence. Someone whose brain will awaken mine; fire it up with an electric jolt, and battle with it. Conversation! Oh how I’ve longed for conversation to defy the grunting caveman mentality I’ve had to cope with until now. Reasoned debate from someone with a better argument than “cos I said so.”

I’m awake again. Alive. My brain has been set free. Running wild across the landscapes of capable thought. My blood races through my veins, filling me with life and energy and excitement.

Each nonsensical moron I encounter now, each attack of stupidity, slides over me and leaves me unscathed. My beacon waits for me at the end of the day, armed with stimulation, friendship and hour after hour of uninterrupted, unadulterated intelligence.

Food Fridays

This is slices of slightly boiled potato, ham and red pepper. On top of that I poured a four cheese sauce mixed with mustard. On top of that I sprinkled crap loads of cheese, and paprika. Bung it in the oven for a bit, and... scrummy!

Only issue was a little bit too mustard for my taste, but I still managed to eat the whole thing.

Stitching Sundays

I don't think I've actually finished anything since the last time we spoke. I feel guilty when I work on anything other than the Mammoth Secret Project.

I suspect my most recent finished project was this though:



It has yet to be framed, since it's a little too big for the standard large frame and I haven't had a chance to get a bigger one yet. Aren't the colours fabulous?

Wordsmith Wednesdays

Here's a cutesy kid-like poem I wrote when I was about 15:

Frogs

They’re slimy and green,
And can always be seen,
In rivers and lakes,
In witch biscuits and cakes.
In France they are eaten,
But not in Great Britain.
Spotted in bogs,
Of course, they are frogs.

Sorry for the absence

Hi guys. I haven't blogged for a while, I know, and I'm sorry. I have no excuse. I haven't been without internet, and I haven't been too busy. I've been... meh. My depression has been manifesting itself the way Neil's does. Instead of crying and getting miserable and suicidal and emotional every five minutes, I just haven't cared. About anything. For a few weeks now I'll wake up, stare at the laptop and watch my shows, eat, and go back to sleep. I haven't had the drive or the energy or the oomph to do anything at all. There have been days at a time where I haven't done any crafting at all. Not a single stitch, which is pretty drastic for me.

I'm okay though. I think I prefer this manifestation of my depression than the suicidal desperate crying. Although I do get a lot more done when I'm suicidal. My Mammoth Secret Project has also been ignored, which is very bad, because the deadline is rapidly approaching. And I don't think I'm going to finish it on time. I have plenty of time if I'd just do it, but I find myself not wanting to do it. I don't want to force myself either, because I feel like I'd be crocheting a whole load of bitterness and negative energy into it, and I really don't want to do that. Also, I'm rapidly running out of yarn. I simply don't have enough left to finish. I sent out a plea on Ravelry, and there are some lovely people sending packages of yarn to me, but I don't know if they'll arrive on time. It's very sad. It will get finished, and it will be given to its recipient, it just might not be given on the intended date.

In other news, Friday is my birthday. My plans for the day involved baking a lot, and then in the evening Neil would be coming down :-D Then on the Saturday we'd be going to Taybarns for lunch with some friends, and spend the afternoon/evening in my flat eating baked goodies and playing games. Unfortunately Neil isn't able to make it. I'm bitterly disappointed, but I can't be upset or angry with him, because he has a good excuse. He's going to a big dedication thing in Scotland for some dead soldiers, including his brother Paul. I just.. I miss Neil very much. I haven't seen him since the end of July, and I'm not entirely sure when I'm going to see him again. I don't like it. I'm a little nervous about my birthday actually. I don't have the best record for birthdays. I can't remember the last year I didn't get upset and lonely and disappointed and end up crying. And this year I won't actually be seeing any of my family or friends on my birthday. I'm a little scared, but I'll manage. I'm going to baking all kinds of delicious goodies for the Saturday:

- chocolate chip cookies
- chocolate chip cheesecake (which I plan on dying purple)
- caramel apple muffins
- maple nut cookies
- mint chocolate chip cookies
- marshmallow crunch brownies

There will also be a variety of crispies, and ice cream cornettos, and Jen is making a birthday cake. So stomachs will be full, even if hearts are a little empty.

I've missed a couple of Food Fridays and Wordsmith Wednesdays and Stitching Sundays, so I'm going to do one of each right now, on Tuesday. Oh well.

30 Day Meme - Day 16

Day 16 - a song that makes you cry.

Lots of songs get me emotional. The Take That song "Rule the World" from the movie "Stardust" which was mine and Neil's second date/first day. "As Long As You're Mine" from Wicked, which is a song I share with a very good, very important friend I'm no longer in contact with and who I miss very much. "For Good" from Wicked, which is one of mine and Jen's songs.

But they only make me cry if I'm already feeling low and emotional. The only song that actually makes me cry is "Old Rugged Cross." I'm not a religious person, but it was played at my Grandfather's funeral a few years ago. I never considered myself particularly close to him, but after a lot of family issues, when he died it was hard. Being at the funeral was hard too. I was feeling very lonely, and my sister was there with her boyfriend, and my mum had her sisters, and... it was a bad day. At the wake I texted my father to tell him I was at grandad's funeral and that I loved him (this was after a hundred years or so of us not talking). He replied that it was "reciprocated". The whole day was horrendous. And this song still makes me cry.

New Thing: Challenge # 40

Challenge 40: Leave the house (further than the gas meter) every day

FAIL. Big fail.

I'm not good with the going out. I tend to go out once a fortnight on payday, and that's it. If I had a bus pass I would go out more, but I don't at the moment. The going out for a walk every day challenge a few weeks ago failed miserably, but I figured this one would be a little easier. All I had in mind was crossing the street and sitting on the wall and watching the world go by for a bit.

Except that I'm having a strange episode. I'm in a funk, a definite funk, but it's not like my usual ones. I'm not depressed, at all. I'm not overly cheerful either, I'm just... okay. The downside is that I have no energy to do anything. Anything at all. I haven't even done any stitching in days. Not a stitch. All I've been doing is waking up, watching my shows, going back to sleep. It's been strange, but I much prefer it to the usual deep, dark pit of misery.


Current saved total: £75
Current donated total: £125

30 Day Meme - Day 15

Day 15 - a fanfic

I haven't read any fanfiction in years. Partly because I nearly always end up reading the more risque stuff, which works as well as porn for me. I'm trying not to think too much about that kind of thing at the moment, what with my visits with Neil being incredibly sporadic.

In general though, I think fanfiction is a wonderful invention. I guess it must have been around before the internet, but possibly not shared quite as much. Isn't the internet wonderful? My favourite thing about the internet is the same as my favourite thing about New York City. Anything you can think of, any combination of anything at all, can be found there somewhere. This applies especially to fanfiction. Any book, tv series, film, cartoon, comic, etc. that you can think of, you can find fanfiction for somewhere on the internet. And if, by some slim, infintesimal chance you can't find it, then you can write it. The delight of the internet means you can write it and publish it and hundreds of thousands of people can search for it and find it and read it.

Have I written any fanfiction? Well, I tend to think fanfiction an awful lot. The number of fantasies I've had about Clark Kent, or the guys from Supernatural, or the grown-up Harry Potter characters, of the Buffy Scooby-Gang. But when I try to write them down afterwards, they just aren't as good as my fantasy was. Somewhere though, I do have a book which has the beginnings of a Harry Potter fanfiction. It's meant to be a novel, and I started it before book seven came out. I have a plot drafted out, and I even have chapter titles. Unfortunately I only have about three hundred words of the actual book. It's been sidelined, along with everything else I've ever started writing, when the writer's block kicked in. One day I'll get back to it. I'll probably publish it when I'm 90, if I ever make it that far.

New Thing: Challenge # 39

Challenge 39: Dye Yarn

A few months ago I won some plain yarn and some packets of kool aid for dying in a swap challenge thing. I've been meaning to get around to it since I got it, I've never dyed my own yarn before. I've also been doing all of these challenge groups on Ravelry, and since dying yarn counted as one of the challenges for September, I figured I'd do it this week.

I failed. No particular reason. I just never got around to it. The deadline for my Mammoth Secret Project is rapidly approaching, and I still have nearly half of it to finish, not including sewing it all up, So I've been trying to focus on just that. As a result, the challenge groups have kind of been ignored. I did leave one or two of the groups, but I'm kind of regretting it now. Just cos I can't participate at the moment, doesn't mean I can't go back to them in a month or so when the Mammoth Secret Project is finished. So I'm gonna go rejoin them now :-)

Current saved total: £75
Current donated total: £120