Hello friends, happy 2024! And with that, we begin our lace rot along!

We thought it would be a good idea to start with Armenian needle lace, since it is the style that requires the least amount of supplies it should be convenient to pick up. All you need is a blunt needle and some thick thread (and scissors). It is also an interesting technique to start with because it seems* to share similarities with many of the other lace styles we plan to try (needle lace, netting for lacis, macrame). *(I say "seems" because I never done any of these, but based on tutorials they all look wonderfully interconnected, and I can't wait to find out!)

Here is video 1 of 8 of a beginner tutorial for Armenian needle lace. Let's all work through this tutorial series together and post our progress as we go. Follow along at your own speed, this is a very casual lace along if you haven't already gathered. For those who like to have more of a timeline (me), we are thinking of spending approximately one month on each type of lace, plus or minus a couple weeks depending on how the group feels.

The creator of this tutorial has a ton of other resources too, here's a playlist of all 59 of her lace videos including all videos in the beginner series

Happy lacing!!!!!

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The Lovers: Being at crossroads. Choices. Commitment. Falling in love. Harmony. Warmth.

The Lovers Reversed: Misalignment. Imbalance. Disharmony. Coldness.

Dr. Lace, as a practicing Lan Wangjiologist, why do you think Lan Wangji waited until the end of the novel to tell Wei Wuxian about A-Yuan surviving? Like, in universe, because while I think the real answer is that the twist plays out better at the end of the story, it’s more fun to guess why Lan Wangji kept quiet.

"Dr. Lace" and "Lan Wangjiologist" made me laugh for like two days straight. well done anon. well done sjdhfkjsdhlfkdsjf

but you've actually caught me on something that i don't know if i have a true answer!! i mean, as you said there is the obvious reason of it just working a lot better from a storytelling point of view.

us readers don't really learn about a-yuan existence until wwx mentions it the first time as they're hanging out in yiling before climbing the burial mounds, then there's a flashback where we met the wen remnants, they die, wwx is killed, and immediately after we return, we get the blood poll scene, which also immediately reveals to us that the little boy we met is actually now the BIG boy we've fallen in love with a long time ago! we care about lan sizhui long before we even know that he was relevant in wangxian's life before that. "what happened to a-yuan" isn't a looming question that follows us or the characters throughout the story, because a-yuan only comes up quite late in the plot. mxtx wasn't going for a shocking plot twist with that reveal, but merely using him as another piece in the story's theme. we love lan sizhui before we even know he's a-yuan, and knowing that he's now only alive BECAUSE wwx sacrificied all he did to save the wen remnants, even if he "failed" shows us the human side of how worth it was.

but of course that doesn't come without its foreshadowing. note that i don't subscribe to the "wangxian are a-yuan's parents" or "lan sizhui secretly calls lwj 'baba/fuqin'" headcanon (although u can always argue that 一日为师，终身为父 but that's for another day lmao), i find their relationship has a lot more nuance and honestly more depth than that of a nuclear family. we see how he and lan wangji seem to be much closer compared to other juniors (ie hgj personally teaches him the qin language, gives him books that other lan disciples seem to not have access to, etc) and while that is curious, it's not out of place for lwj to have a particular student he wants to train more closely. lan sizhui clearly deserves it! however, once it is revealed just how much sizhui means to lwj, as well as how he gave him both his new "birth" name and his courtesy name, as well as why he'd want sizhui to be under his protection and teaching, it all clicks!

but again, it's simply not a major focus within the plot.

ok cool lace, that still doesn't answer why lan wangji doesn't bring that up in-universe. and you're right! i'm quite fond of tangents

but seriously, i do think that's part of it as well. just like how the question of "what happened to a-yuan" doesn't follow us around the story, that's the same for our main characters. wei wuxian has long been convinced that a-yuan died alongside the wen remnants, so he doesn't ask because he's allergic to reminiscing anything about the past. for lan wangji, lan sizhui is safe (and still amnesiac), and wei ying is back to life, there are a thousand other things they need to focus on before bringing all of that up. and lan wangji is nothing if not focused on fixing the most important tasks at hand, matters of the past can be talked about later unless relevant (it's no wonder that all of lwj's backstroy is revealed to us by the narrator or a different character, after all).

but most of all, i think lan wangji didn't bring it up because he simply did not know how to tackle the subject of the first siege, wwx's death, or the wen remnants with him. it's understandably a very sensitive subject, and lan wangji did not wish to overstep his boundaries by bringing it up when wwx wasn't ready to. again, he's a man of priorities, and he wouldn't risk breaking the scab off the wound unless it was necessary, or wwx did it first.

from those lens, it's no question why he only seemed to consider revealing a-yuan's identity after the second siege, not only because wwx has finally had closure on the death of the wens, but because lan sizhui himself is starting to piece things together, though it is also not something that should be forced. however, after the second siege, things really begin speeding up again, and between wwx watching the wens fade away and having a fight with jiang cheng, he's is clearly both physically and emotionally drained all the way until they get freaky in the bathtub, where things get even WORSE, and then guanyin temple happens which just... yeah. there was enough telenovela drama for one night.

so, once all of that is finally over, and lwj sees sizhui analyze chenqing with a clear sense of reminiscing, lwj finally settles it that he will reveal it. they're not in a hurry, wwx is finally doing okay, closure has been achieved in multiple things, and there are no other priorities at hand.

except that! he doesn't even need to. because sizhui catches up does it for him. and isn't that even more fitting?

but really, since i received this ask i have been thinking to myself "at what other time would lan wangji have revealed a-yuan's identity? and why?" and i just... keep hitting a wall. because revealing extremely charged emotional subjects to a beloved person who has never brought it up to you, about another person who doesn't even know or remember it, it's simply not lan wangji's character. wei ying is alive and safe, a-yuan is alive and safe, tearful revelations can come later, but right now lan wangji needs to ensure that they'll continue that way.

Here's my troll! I'd like to think they wear doll clothing or something like Polly Pocket. It was really fun, thank you for creating a cool concept (^:!!!

OHH..MY GOD.. OOHH MY GOD!!! WAHHH THIS IS SO SO SO CUTE.... THE OUTFIT THE SHINE THE EVERYTHING!!!

THANK *YOU* SO MUCH 4 MAKING SUCH A CUTE TROLL WITH MY CONCEPT WAH...

i hc that zelda knits in her free time + i also think karane does lace-making in her free time

It’s hard being so morally correct all the time

It's Sprang time! Instalment 1: Looms

Time for sprang! Since this lace style requires more tools and also perhaps less familiar hand movements than our last style, we are doing this one in three instalments: 1: making/acquiring the loom, 2: learning to warp the loom and do some basic stitches, 3: making an actual object of some kind.

To make sprang, you need a loom of some sort. There are many ways to DIY them:

SolRhiza Arts on youtube explains what functions a sprang loom must serve, and shows a few DIY options

Here is SolRhiza's detailed instructions for making a loom out of sticks

And here at SprangLady.com/SashWeaver you can download written instructions for making several other types of looms. For this instalment, check out the files "Frames: how to make them" and "Instructions for Carol's Sprang Frame".

(It is formatted like a shop, but you do not need to enter payment information if you are only downloading $0 items.)

Doily 10 | Yarn | Pattern

Finally got to chart 3. Which has way more stitches than chart 2 but is also significantly simpler. I have a good ten rows where I don't need to consult the chart at all coming up. I've also gotten to the beginning of the end of the ombre, probably 10-15 more grams before it hits the absolute darkest colour.

if I think about rolan in a corset one more time I’m going to have to write it into a fic

Last stuff for today probably. Haven't felt like drawing this much in a while, it's nice. Rewatched Arsenic and Old Lace with my mom a few days ago, super fun and goofy :-]

[230618] HALLYU TOWN in Belgium Day2 lyOn의 응원과 사랑은 온리원오브를 행복하게 해🍀💖 벨기에 행복한 추억 만들기 성공✨

so the first wig i tried for my gale fit is. definitely not it