BLACK SAILS 4.10 “XXXVIII.”

Gaza Fights for Freedom (2019) | dir. Abby Martin

just overheard my wife spelling something on the phone and i shit you not saying the words “E as in Eeyore” i am on my hands and knees wailing screaming crying pleading and begging people to learn the NATO phonetic alphabet

like the reason this exists is because none of the words sound like each other, which means that even with a terrible signal both parties should be able to clearly understand the words being spelled

i am dead serious that i believe this should be taught in school

now imagine how shitty being sick must be when you don't get to curl up somewhere warm. where you don't have medicine, you sometimes have tea, and you're LUCKY if you can get something hot to eat.

that's the situation @abdalsalam1990 is in right now.

he's currently dealing with a cold, and I want to boost his campaign and help him get some money so he can have something warm to eat, so he can recover quickly! being sick on the regular is already terrible - but being sick in heavy occupation? I can't even imagine how terrible that is.

food in gaza is so expensive, so please give whatever you can! if you do donate, I can maybe draw something for you, if you like? but please share this post if you can't give, that is also helpful!

thank you!

stupid thing about me is I don’t cut corners but I also have no work ethic. if I do something it WILL be done right. no telling whether I’ll actually fucking do it tho

Just a short video of my card weaving in progress

What kind of sorcery is this?! I can never turn more than 10 cards in sequence because they just refuse to cooperate and you have like, what, 35? 40?! HOW?!?!

40 in the tree strap above! The most I ever tried was 44 for this ramshorn strap below - that was tough, but also ok because the groups turned separately? I think my hands would murder me if I tried to go any higher on my backstrap setup though ;) I think the trick is maintaining appropriate tension!

Yeah, that one looks real nice. What did you use it for?

@diamondot speaking for myself, i just decided to learn it one day a few years ago (i had a viking phase ok) and simply started with it. It's surprisingly easy since all the info is available on the net. Honestly, i don't remember where i started since it has been so long ago and now i just browse pinterest for patterns alone. Google tablet weaving or card weaving (same thing, different names) patterns and some basic explanations and yt vids for how to turn and weave the stuff. Things like

S and Z threading are there for a reason, so mind your card orientation. Start with some easy pattern like simple wave or diamonds above, 6 - 10 cards are good for your first project. Don't lose hope in initial stage. Streching and threading all that yarn can take anything between 20 minutes and 3 hours depending on how big is the pattern and how skilled you are. Since you need some lenghts to secure ends and to turn cards, use about 40 cm more than wished lenght of your final product. Secure lose ends after threading through cards so you won't end with a bundled mess. Streching/knotting them to something is one way. Taping each card threads together or using weights (check pictures below) is another way (good only for shorter stuff though). Cards could be made out of anything as long as they have smooth edges and rounded corners. Cardboard, thicker plastic sheet, literal cards cut into squares with holes punched through them, whatever. These are mine 2 decks, minus cards i am using atm.

When you start weaving and pattern looks like a total mess, try turning cards in opposite directions. It usualy solves the problem (all that forward/backward can be a bit tricky and mirroring motions/patterns/card orientation can be confusing at first seemingly messing all your work even though you are doing everything right technicaly, just in opposite order/direction). Don't lose your hope. I still manage to mess up like first 5cm of every other work i start. It's not an issue as that start usualy gets cut off anyway (the tension is not right for at least first 4 rows, aka 1 full card rotation, until all threads go up and down at least once no matter what you do. Don't sweat it). You don't need any fancy startup either. Historicaly, people used to weave like this and this and this:

I just strech the thing between 2 chairs myself. Door knobs work as well and so does staircase railing. Wherever you have some space. Long hair clips are your friend, especialy when you are done with weaving for the day and you don't want stuff to tangle

And that's about it. Have fun 😊

Some of my favorite tablet weaving resources are :

This website is where I learned, twenty years ago while u was intending on Sturtevant Wi.

These books are both great, Collingwood is more comprehensive, but harder to just pick up and weave from.

I love when people post things like this, then say, “ah ha ha, it’s not that complicated! 🤗”

It is complicated. You’re just really good at it!

Hi. I may be late to reply but i'm in a weaving mood so here we are.

The thing is that the technique looks complicated due to the fact that there is 100 something and that number alone is scary. But. Actually several buts.

But number 1 - the technique is OLD. Meaning - while being somewhat tedious just like any other textile craft, it has been used and learned for a long long time and there's plenty of resources (check out links above or any youtube video explaining the process) of varying difficulty from complicated af to easy peasy lemon squeezy with closed eyes

But number 2 - there is only one core principle/step you need to understand and that is when some threads go from up to down or from down to up (aka when they cross), you need another thread going in between so they won't simply snap back again. That's it. That's the basic principle behind every weaving ever. What card weaving does compared to standard weave is that instead of a single thread going up and down in the single row, you get 2 or 3 or 4 or 6 or whatever number of threads your pattern calls for in the same row

But number 3 - the number of rows = number of cards. Simple as that. Cards turn around to make a cord like when you are twisting 2 or 4 or whatever numbers of threads to make a rope. If some of those threads have different colours, you get a repeating pattern.

But number 4 - card orientation or S/Z orientation or whatever other fancy name for the twisting direction simply means that if you turn all your card in the same way at the same time, which one of them will make the twisted rope in this / angle and which one will do that in this \ angle. That's it. That's the whole mystery between S/Z threading.

But number 5 - you can start with as little as 4 cards to make a custom set of shoe laces or a key strap or whatever and call yourself a weaver. Because you did that. And it was nice. And it was easy. You just turn and thread and turn and thread and then you keep repeating this while watching a movie or something. There's no need for the math finals level of concentration here.

But number 5 - no one, literally NO ONE starts with a pattern like this

No. Everybody starts with something like this

Keep it simple, keep it easy, make 10cm and be done if you want to. It's perfectly fine.

But number 6 - you don't need any fancy items for starting. No hooks, no needles, no loom, no anything. If you have 2 balls of yarn in different color or some remains of your old cross stitch project or whatever and some card-like stuff you won't be sad for making holes in it, you are all set. Back side of the sketch pad is good. Poker cards cut to squares are good. A sturdy enough sheet of plastic is also good. You remember that old pexeso pairs stack you didn't touch since you were 9? Guess what!

My point is that if this looks like something you may be interested in, then you can absolutely try doing it for literally zero cost other than your time.

This reminds me that I have my Thor’s Hammer tablet weaving project still sitting in the closet untouched for the last few (almost 3?) years...  I need to get back to that eventually.

@cryptid-extremist found it for ya! Go wild!

@hauntedbyyarn you've talked about this for ages!

so i accidentally went down a wikipedia rabbit hole and came across the funniest thing that's apparently been plaguing scientists for centuries

it's called "maxwell's demon" and it's so easy to learn but difficult to disprove. basically a tiny demon controls a trapdoor, letting some particles through, and eventually it changes the temperature of two gases without applying any work. the fact that actual physicists are fighting over this 💀

but most of all imagine the tiny demon that's doing all this. all of this impossible effort and for what. why is he doing this. what does he gain

*does a gay little violation of classical thermodynamics that pisses you off*

the lovely woman who owned kabosu, the shiba known as doge, should get to take a point blank shot at elon musk with the doohickey that killed shinzo abe

Begging everyone on the internet to stop smoothing out their middle aged men and draw wrinkles for the love of god I promise it's so fun you'll love it Come into my wine cellar

no.

Did you just DeWalt my fucking white

of all of the bizarre things I’ve seen while working in skilled nursing the one that’s going to stick with me until I die is bug god

nothing can possibly prepare you for the moment you show up to give a man his apple juice and he says “Do you think bugs come from the same god as us? They’re older than our god. They have their own.”

a co máte v plánu vy?

I feel very emotional saying that my friend Nader @abdalsalam1990’s family’s campaign only needs less than 7,000 euro to reach their goal of €50,000! The campaign has made amazing progress thanks to Nader’s hard work every day to spread his family’s story. I’m so so grateful to every kind and compassionate person who has shared their fundraiser and donated, it means the world. But i’ve seen many fundraisers slow down as they raise more money because people feel it’s not as urgent anymore. Please please don’t let Nader’s campaign slow down now that they’re so close to reaching their goal. I check this fundraiser daily, and every day when I see the fundraiser grow, I feel hope and love from every person who has chosen to help them.

I’ve been in contact with Nader for a little over a month now. He’s a 17 year old boy who lives in Gaza with his family, including his father Ahmed who has cancer and urgently needs treatment, and his one year old niece Iman who suffers from malnutrition. They desperately need funds to survive in Gaza and eventually evacuate and get Ahmed the treatment he needs to survive his illness. Nader has told me about his hopes and dreams to continue his education outside of gaza and travel to different countries, but the occupation and genocide has taken that from him. Please help give Nader the future he dreams of and let his family survive this genocide and recover in peace from what they’ve been through.

DONATION LINK + VETTING (#4 on the spreadsheet)

€44,175! Can we get them to €45,000 before friday? ❤️

TL;DR: We need money for food and drinks/groceries for this month, but also a $580 form fee to grant me employment authorization so I can work in the US.

Okay so I've finally managed to acquire the necessary documents and paperwork to apply for ID so I am now eligible to fill out and mail the i-765 Request For Employment Authorization form, which if/when approved will mean I can both use that to apply for State ID (finally!), and seek traditional employment (in this stellar economy).

The only snag is that the fee to apply for the i-765 under my eligibility category is $580 USD. And given that I need to get this EAD card to get a job to have money, I obviously can't do that as things stand right now.

Ergo, I am requesting what should hopefully be my last endeavour for 2024 with regards to help, and if everything goes well, I hope to receive the EAD and begin applying for jobs sometime in the first few months of 2025.

This could prove to be a big lynchpin in getting a steady income and hopefully finally stabilizing ourselves for good, or at least make a lengthy and significant stride towards that ultimate goal.

The only other thing is we're out of food and drinks again, so any help with that for the month would be extremely helpful. Groceries is the top priority, followed by the $580 application fee.

If you can donate, boost, or spare anything, you could help us get into a position to start off 2025 strong and hopefully stay that way.

Please consider helping if you are able. Thank you. 💕💝❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜💖🤍🩶🤎🖤💞💘❣️

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