Weekly update - new craft group
Nov. 14th, 2023 06:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebSomeone in my neighborhood set up a monthly meeting at our local library for people doing needle arts (like knitting, crocheting, quilting, and embroidery). She even gave it a name: Hooks and Needles. (Note: not, as one of my friends pointed out, "Hookers and Needlers.") She said for people to bring their projects and their questions.
The first meeting was last week and I went. I brought and finished my latest cotton hand towel. I'm not going to say the other attendees are my people, but I'm also not going to say they're not my people. That's saying a lot because I often feel like an alien these days.
We went around the table talking about what kinds of needle arts we do. And one person does "blackwork" (a style of embroidery normally done all in black on white or pastel fabric, or sometimes in another dark color) but using all the colors. It was awesome. Another lady was doing quilting the way most people do jigsaw puzzles: starting from the edges and working her way in. She had all the backing and batting set up and the edges were all bound and she was cutting out pieces of fabric and adding them from the outside in.
It was nice, and I'll go again.
We also attended Wheatsville Coop's annual "Taste of Thanksgiving" festival. They had many delicious samples. One year they taught me that I would like sausage in my stuffing/dressing. It could be just a straight meal. (Not that I've tried making it like that.) However, there were no such learning experiences this time.
I bought a new board game recently, Apiary, and did not enjoy it as much as I expected to. It's a worker placement game, and even though you can easily understand all the possible actions (there are only six), it takes a while to figure out how to actually do things. What is wax for? (Only one thing.) How do you get honey? (You have to make it from other items.)
I tried several games solo (with the automa). I started at and easy level (level 2), as recommended. That was fine. Then I moved to the highest non-"expert" level (level 4) and it felt like the automa hogged all the good stuff and ended the game quickly, leaving me exasperated. So, I tried again, competing in the exact areas the automa favors, and failed just as miserably (both to make points and to have fun). Then I played the level in between those (level 3), and the automa wasn't quite so evil, plus I had time to actually accomplish a few things. I read a review of one person who thought that things were best at level 5 (of 6), for the same reasons I think level 3 is best. I can't even imagine. Maybe I'm missing something. Or maybe worker placement games aren't my thing, even when you can bump other workers (so they can't hog all the good spots) and even when they are also resource management games (which I like). Still, I will happily play it several more times at level 3 and with other people (probably just Robin--some people claim this game is easy to teach, but I disagree). There are a lot of different starting bee hives (that give you different rewards for building) and starting bee factions (that give you different powers), so there's plenty to explore.
In other news, I did vote and both the things that would improve my finances a bit if they passed did pass. (One is a so-called cost-of-living increase for people on TRS, the pension for public school workers in this state--I'll get a 2% raise. One is property tax relief--that will come to about the same amount, but only for a couple of years.)
Some other good things passed, the best one being the creation of the Texas Water Fund to help us with the fact that there's really not enough water for everyone. And there's also more funding for both state and county parks.
Unfortunately, we also passed a proposition specifically subsidizing natural gas, despite being in a climate crisis, supposedly to help the state electricity grid (but no other forms of energy will be subsidized). Also, the pro-big-ag "right to farm and ranch" proposition passed. And, weirdly, the position of Galveston County Treasurer was abolished. That county will still be handling money, but non-elected people will be put in charge.
I finished a book I think I'd heard of before called Crying in H Mart. With the word "Crying" in the title I should have been prepared. Well, it's part celebration of Korean food, part mourning the death of a parent, and part dealing with cancer in a loved one. This was a memoir, which made certain bits more disturbing than they would be in a novel, though it read like a novel. Not a favorite.
The first meeting was last week and I went. I brought and finished my latest cotton hand towel. I'm not going to say the other attendees are my people, but I'm also not going to say they're not my people. That's saying a lot because I often feel like an alien these days.
We went around the table talking about what kinds of needle arts we do. And one person does "blackwork" (a style of embroidery normally done all in black on white or pastel fabric, or sometimes in another dark color) but using all the colors. It was awesome. Another lady was doing quilting the way most people do jigsaw puzzles: starting from the edges and working her way in. She had all the backing and batting set up and the edges were all bound and she was cutting out pieces of fabric and adding them from the outside in.
It was nice, and I'll go again.
We also attended Wheatsville Coop's annual "Taste of Thanksgiving" festival. They had many delicious samples. One year they taught me that I would like sausage in my stuffing/dressing. It could be just a straight meal. (Not that I've tried making it like that.) However, there were no such learning experiences this time.
I bought a new board game recently, Apiary, and did not enjoy it as much as I expected to. It's a worker placement game, and even though you can easily understand all the possible actions (there are only six), it takes a while to figure out how to actually do things. What is wax for? (Only one thing.) How do you get honey? (You have to make it from other items.)
I tried several games solo (with the automa). I started at and easy level (level 2), as recommended. That was fine. Then I moved to the highest non-"expert" level (level 4) and it felt like the automa hogged all the good stuff and ended the game quickly, leaving me exasperated. So, I tried again, competing in the exact areas the automa favors, and failed just as miserably (both to make points and to have fun). Then I played the level in between those (level 3), and the automa wasn't quite so evil, plus I had time to actually accomplish a few things. I read a review of one person who thought that things were best at level 5 (of 6), for the same reasons I think level 3 is best. I can't even imagine. Maybe I'm missing something. Or maybe worker placement games aren't my thing, even when you can bump other workers (so they can't hog all the good spots) and even when they are also resource management games (which I like). Still, I will happily play it several more times at level 3 and with other people (probably just Robin--some people claim this game is easy to teach, but I disagree). There are a lot of different starting bee hives (that give you different rewards for building) and starting bee factions (that give you different powers), so there's plenty to explore.
In other news, I did vote and both the things that would improve my finances a bit if they passed did pass. (One is a so-called cost-of-living increase for people on TRS, the pension for public school workers in this state--I'll get a 2% raise. One is property tax relief--that will come to about the same amount, but only for a couple of years.)
Some other good things passed, the best one being the creation of the Texas Water Fund to help us with the fact that there's really not enough water for everyone. And there's also more funding for both state and county parks.
Unfortunately, we also passed a proposition specifically subsidizing natural gas, despite being in a climate crisis, supposedly to help the state electricity grid (but no other forms of energy will be subsidized). Also, the pro-big-ag "right to farm and ranch" proposition passed. And, weirdly, the position of Galveston County Treasurer was abolished. That county will still be handling money, but non-elected people will be put in charge.
I finished a book I think I'd heard of before called Crying in H Mart. With the word "Crying" in the title I should have been prepared. Well, it's part celebration of Korean food, part mourning the death of a parent, and part dealing with cancer in a loved one. This was a memoir, which made certain bits more disturbing than they would be in a novel, though it read like a novel. Not a favorite.
no subject
on 2023-11-14 06:18 pm (UTC)