Completed The Way I Work My Weave Pt. IV

[Naadiya]

The Way I Work My Weave Pt. IV 16th of Spring, 522 AV Secret : Please let me know if there are chronological issues as there were many timestamp changes due to plots and misunderstandings. Changes were made after many threads were already started/finished/even graded. Originally dated for the 6th of Spring. When she had woken up that morning, Naadiya felt revitalized. What had started as a night of awkward nightmares, had melted into seamless dreams of birds. She watched them, the flying rainbows that they were. So many macaws and flamingos, toucans and parrots, all flying in large clouds entirely in sync. Swaths of color painted the sky and songs filled the air and Naadiya woke up with no need for tea or coffee. A good night’s sleep had wiped away any concerns from yesterday and she felt ready for the day. Had Naadiya only glanced in a mirror, she would have seen that she wasn’t quite back to normal. In fact, overnight, she seemed to have grown a bit of facial hair, a slight shadow touching the lower half of her face. Her legs too, had grown their share of a dark peach-fuzz, as had several other parts of her body. There was a newly sprouting patch above her rear and a narrow but thickly haired trail had appeared linking her belly button to her pubic triangle. All this was lost on the girl, who had gotten used to waking up in her female form even when she’d had a shift the previous night. Normally, Naadiya would have sat down to try and figure out the cause logically, then proceeding to finding a solution but this was like no problem she had ever faced before and it was going on inside of her. Her body was the grounds of the experiments, making the attempt at a trial extremely tolling. The added fact that while this was happening to her, there were a variety of strange occurrences on the coastal settlement, made it all the harder to keep track of anything. With so many being affected, it had become a common approach to just take each day one at a day, no expectations attached. But today, is a good day. She had gone to the kitchen draped in an open robe, her usual morning attire, but for some reason, it had drawn looks from everyone she encountered. Her mood was riding high, though, and Naadiya had found starfruit on the kitchen counter, her favorite! The exotically shaped yellow fruit had quickly become one of Naadiya go-to snacks from the first time she’d had one. Now she had one sliced up on a shallow plate and popped little stars into her mouth relishing the grape-like texture with an entirely different flavor. In her room, Naadiya pulled the curtains shut after stuffing another star in her cheek. She took the pages in her journal and tore them out. Then, her fingers poked through her sewing kit to pull out a round little pin cushion. Each torn page, she pinned to the curtain. Taking a step back, Naadiya surveyed all of her design ideas at the same time. Getting a look from far away often helped craftsmen and artists alike. It was how she would be able to see what an entire group of towels would look like together. This might not seem important at first but it was one of the many tiny details that could influence someone to purchase something. Certain colors compliment each other. Some make others look faded and weak in comparison. This was just as true for two finished products being displayed next to each other, as it was for two yarns in the same weave. Materials, too, might have an effect in skewing the aesthetic one way or another, but in her case this was largely a non-factor. Since arrive in Syka, she had been working with the isuas and was reluctant to part from it. But even staying within the ‘isuas’ umbrella, there were different yarn weights and treatments making some sleek and flat, some fluffy and light, and others heavy and dense. The yarn Naadiya had been using for the towels she’d been making, was brushed in such a way that its added volume gave it some absorbency and a fuzzy texture. It would soak up more water and feel softer against the skin. 682

[Naadiya]

Staring at the last two attempt she’d made at designs, Naadiya sighed. ‘Attempts’ was definitely a strong word for what she had done. There should have been a rough idea of a layout, with small stitches of thread to indicate color but black and white stared back at her harsh and unrelenting. Her tunneled vision allowed her to see nothing else beyond the failed drawings. But then, something clicked in her head as she stared at the angrily slashed diagonal line. If she had been able to turn her horizontal stripes vertical, would she be able to turn them diagonal? Doing so might be called impossible by many beginners, and indeed if they were trying to produce continuous lengths of the fabric, the task would require much time, a masterful loom and very fast hands. But her scale was much smaller, and Naadiya did not have to achieve the continuous rhythm needed to weave a bolt of fabric for, not if she approached it from an entirely different way. The stripes would not be different colored weft yarns that had to be woven through different sets of warps, instead she would treat the stripes as if she was color-blocking the shapes into the singular set of warps. It was the same idea of making a vertical stripe but every other row, she would scoot over one or two warp threads, making a little stair case. Would that be the best way to get an easy diagonal stripe though? Naadiya set up her loom, cursing herself in the process for not having left it ready the night before. Looking to one of the designs she had more faith in accomplishing, Naadiya chose one of the simpler horizontal thick/thin stripe combinations. Her colors would be those of the lovebirds again, hoping to get enough pieces in that color palette to maybe even entice someone to buy the whole group at once. Time moved slow when you had monotonous things to do, and setting up the loom was often one of these tasks when there was nothing complicated about the design in its warp yarns. The weave she had been doing for the towels, was called a terry, it was a weave that created a pile on top of the fabric's surface. The pile looked like little loops of yarn, these loops would be even better at absorbing moisture, and the texture was also great for scrubbing things. She had seen the piles created two ways before. One required a more complicated loom… technically her own loom should be able to perform in this way, but Naadiya had only ever tried to simpler version, which would only create the pile of loops on one side of the fabric instead of both. Often, the woman had to remind herself that every attempt she made even if it failed, was a learning experience. Every attempt after that, would have the bolstered experience she had gained in all the failed experiments before. At the same time, confusing herself to the point of hopelessness was not beneficial. She decided to master the one-sided pile before trying the two-sided. The one-sided pile weave was closer to the carpets her mother would make in aesthetic, but couldn’t be more different in its making. Naadiya’s mother had to learn how to use the new style of loom along with her daughters and with the new loom came a bunch of new ways of doing very similar looking things. Similar to the untrained eye, of course. 590

[Naadiya]

The carpet weaving, her mother had learned from her own mother who'd learned from her mother and so on. It was a technique that leaned much more heavily on the weaver’s own hands than on the loom. It used a static frame and had no moving parts to speed up the process. But that wasn’t why Naadiya hadn’t tried it since she’d left the desert. She was scared that doing do would remind her too much of her mother. The wound somehow still felt incredibly raw as if she’d only heard of her parent’s deaths the day before. There were nights when Naadiya would wake up in the night with a dream too vivid, and could only cry herself back to sleep. Being around people, and busy with work, had helped a lot. Artik, had helped immensely, somehow always distracting her when she needed it. Naadiya wasn’t sure if he did it knowingly, if he was consciously trying to steer her mood in a more positive direction but she couldn’t argue with his efficacy. Today was not the day that Naadiya would try to do a carpet weave again. She sat at her loom, took a deep breath and cracked her neck. With a few rolls of each shoulder and a good stretch of her arms, she started weaving. She stopped immediately. Her eyes had caught a glimpse of something her mind must have blocked out, or not noticed in its hurried attempt at holding back the flood of emotion that almost always came when she thought too deeply of her mother. What had she just seen? There was a penis between her legs. The pesky penis that never left for very long. Had she been starting to get used to the appendage? She had barely felt its foreign presence hanging and flopping the way she had the first couple of times. With a displeased grunt and a shrug of the shoulders, Naadiya adjusted her phallus and continued her weave. Starting with a few passes of her shuttle, just enough to get a good and stable edge, she then reached for the rods. Her rods were wooden, matching the loom, but Naadiya had also seen some made of ivory, and even polished stone. Her grandmother used rods of a translucent amethyst, perfectly smoothed. One day she would get herself a set like that. The Benshira woman of her family had such beautiful little treasure that were actually just everyday tools. Her own tools, looked like tools more than treasures. The loom in front of her showed the warp yarns with the same set up as her first ‘lovebird’ weave. Green on the outer edges, then yellow and red at the center. These would mostly only show up on the edges, this time. Taking a rod, she slid it between a set of warp yarns. Then, taking the thread from her shuttle in her fingers, she looped the yarn around the rod. Naadiya wove the implement between another two warps. Then, another loop around the rod, and so on. The rods were designed to be as long as the widest weave the loom could manage, but could be unscrewed at the center, so that they could be used at half-size as well. Naadiya’s towels were, unfortunately, a little too wide and needed the full rods, which could be a bit cumbersome to handle in one hand until you got to about half way into that row. When she got the entire length of the rod woven in, she left it there to hold its loops for a while. With a comb, she brushed the yarns down with quick staccato motions. Then, she took her shuttle and made two passes across. If every row of thread on the fabric was looped, it would loose balance. One side of the fabric would have too much volume while the other had none, caused it to not lay flat. The regular passes of the shuttle, would help balance the loops by spacing out the looped rows. Every time she made her passes, Naadiya smacked the yarns down with the comb, its teeth were fine and smooth enough to slip into the weave but its points were so dull, they caused no harm. 708

[Naadiya]

Leaving the rods in the weave helped to stabilize the looped row while she worked near it. Naadiya leaned down and reached for another rod, again weaving it through and looping the yarn around the rod with her fingers. She had four rods and repeated the process until all four were in the weave, each with a couple of regular passes in between. Instead of taking out every rod, Naadiya only slid one out from the weave, the first she had placed. And so she moved down the length of the fabric, taking out the furthest rod every time. Soon she was able to see what the texture would be looking like. Now she'd start swapping colors to create the horizontal stripes. Normally, unless the weaver was using a special yarn or a particular weave, the warp yarns would be visible on the fabric's front. But, the looped rows were so voluminous, they filled in the spaces that would have shown the colors of the warp. So instead of a plaid or checkered effect being created by the horizontal stripes being introduced to the vertical, all you saw in the front was the solid stripes of the looped rows. Narrower stripes were much faster to do, but having to switch between the colors so frequently made those areas more time consuming than the wider stripes. When she had to pause to fill up her shuttles again, Naadiya considered buying a few more, as well as a couple more rods. It would make it easier to continue to weave without stopping so frequently, but then again, in these short breaks she got to rest her hands, and eat. Naadiya finished off the plate of fruit and did a few stretches. She reached for her toes, then stretched out her right and left sides, and finally let out a fierce yawn that made her whole body tremor for a second. Sitting in that little stool was tiresome, even with the added cushion. Maybe I could visit the new masseur, she mused. One of the new sites in the settlement had been a studio dedicated to the physical cares of the body that did not reach medical levels. Naadiya hadn’t met the masseur in charge yet, but she had heard that he was pretty easy on the eyes. Not that it matters… she thought. But it certainly can’t make the massage any worse… She imagined herself being rubbed down with oil by strong hands. Hands that went exactly where they were needed and knew exactly how to soothe any ache her body might offer. Then, she imagined getting the pre-diarrhea feeling that preceded each gender shifting episode. Then… she imagined the man screaming in shock when he turned back to the body that laid on the cushioned table and in place of the woman who'd laid down, was a man. And depending on how good the massage was, probably a fairly inappropriately aroused one at that. Why were the gods toying with her so?! All she needed was a hot tub and a good massage! Both of them seem to come with very attractive men! But actually trying enjoy either could mean she herself would become one of those very men. 539

[Naadiya]

The sun was starting to set and Naadiya realized she had spent the majority of her day inside, not only the inn but inside her room. She spoken only a few words in passing to the other inhabitants of the inn but for the most part her voice had gone unused. With a sudden thought, she straightened her back and went to the kitchen again. This time she closed the robe, aware of the shlong that swung. Naadiya took a deep breath and swallowed the nothingness in her throat. If she ran into anyone, she wasn’t sure what she would say. Maybe the brother story would hold a little longer until she could iron out the details of her malady. Her shrug was mildly defeated, but overshadowed by the idea she’d had blooming. Head held high, shoulders back, and spine straightened, Naadiya went out into the hallway. She had nothing to be ashamed of and it was about time she started acting like it. Despite her mustered bravery, despite her confident strut, despite the near cocky mask on her face, her pace was rushed. Her feet glided over the floor, not as graceful as they once were, nor as quiet, but still agile. It did not take long to go through the kitchen’s stores and find a couple mangos, slice them up, and leave the pits aside to be replanted. When she’d gotten back to her bedroom, Naadiya realized she hadn’t run into anyone. She could hear sounds coming from inside the other rooms and perhaps outside, but as fate would have it, she did not actually see anyone and did not think anyone had seen her. Though she had told herself she would be ready for the encounter if it arrived, Naadiya still found herself relieved to have avoided it for one more day. How much longer would she be able to keep her secret from the community as a whole? For tonight, at least, her secret was still mostly her own. She placed the bowl of mangoes by her window and took a piece herself. Sticking her head out of the window, she whistled a couple of times. It was not the practiced and specific whistle some people did to replicate the mating calls of birds, it was just a whistle. In truth, she hadn’t even known the mating call of a lovebird, so couldn’t even try to imitate the sound if she'd wanted. With a lilting and inviting voice, she started singing out into the green: If you are a laaazy lovebird, and you love ripe maaangoes! If you’re snaappy and chaatty, And have a beak for a nose! If you love your lazy lover And you feed him in bed! Nevermind you sleep in a nest, So think of that one instead! As her improvised song came to an awkward end, Naadiya saw a couple pairs of green feathered wings coming down from a branch not too far off. “What happened to you? Happen to You?” The feistier half of the couple squawked as soon as they’d perched on the window’s rail. Apparently they could still tell it was her. “Ugh… is that the only thing you want to talk about? I’m having hormonal issues of a new variety…” “You can say that again! Again!” “Do you want the mango or not?” She shot out sharply, waiting for the bird to quietly bob its head a few times. “Okay then, be nice. I thought maybe you’d be willing to sing a song while I sat at my loom. There is plenty more mangoes where that came from.” “Song for mango! Song for mango!” It jumped excitedly from side to side, the lazier one perking up a little this time too. The melody the two birds created with their chirping started off a bit random but eventually they found a rhythm and before long, it seemed that even other birds nearby had joined in, letting their own musical notes mix with those of the two lovebirds. Naadiya sat again at her loom and continued her weave, the music did wonders and she was able to fly through her work much faster than before. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was just being near life without feeling self-conscious, or maybe it had come from the birds recognizing her despite her physical appearance. She wove for another few hours, replacing sunlight with candlelight and eventually thanking her avian orchestra with several chopped up mangoes. Naadiya placed the fruit bowl in the deck floor, other birds from nearby trees came for the fruit. When there were way too many colored feathers flapping on the ground, Naadiya worried the birds would attract the attention of predator, or worse, another guest at the inn. Her tone because a rushed whisper. “Ok ok hurry up!” Then she threw in more incentive, “there are snakes close by!” The birds scattered and Naadiya grabbed the empty bowl before closing her shutters for the night. The towel on her loom was finished, it would just need its edges to be tied, twisted or braided. These last steps Naadiya conceded to do in silence. It was getting late and the bird’s outdoor concert was getting a little loud. The last thing she wanted was a noise complaint from one of the other people at the inn who just wanted to get some sleep. Her light was limited, and so was her energy but Naadiya really wanted to finish this towel that night so she could have the loom ready and for the next morning. Not having done it the previous night had really slowed her down in earlier today. She chose to just tie the fringe close to the woven edge and leave a couple of inches of loose yarn hanging after the knot. Looking closely they resembled tassels but the knots were so small they were almost lost to the average observer. Naadiya then trimmed both sides would have uniform length fringe. With the towel finished, she promptly fell asleep. Come morning, she would again regret having left the loom unprepared. 1017

[Alric Lysane]

Your Grades

Naadiya

Skills

Design – 2
Negotiation – 1
Observation – 4
Singing – 1
Socialization – 1
Weaving – 4


Lores

Colours: Complimentary Shades
Naadiyo: One Hairy Boy
Negotiation: Bird Style
The Curse: Logic Experimentation Impractical
The Curse: So Many Afflicted
Weaving: Carpet Weave
Weaving: ‘Lovebird’ Weave
Weaving: Terry Weave