Stitches

Writers: Devin, Mirren
Date Posted: 24th August 2015

Characters: Jaffra, Talryne
Description: Jaffra inspects Talryne's work.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 1 of Turn 8

Talryne

"Is there any of that ocean blue thread left?" Jaffra asked, looking
through the skeins and frowning. It seemed to be a popular shade this
turn.

Talryne looked up from her work. "I think there might be some on the
bottom shelf." She pointed in the general direction.

Jaffra crouched down to look. "I can't see any." If they were out again...

Talryne rolled her eyes, knowing there would be trouble if Jaffra
didn't find what she was looking for. She got up and found a spool,
tucked behind a different shade of blue. "There's not much, but at
least it's something."

"Whose turn is it to be dyeing more? This won't go far enough." An
apprentice would have to remedy this, but it was Jaffra's job to make
sure they did it.

"I'm not sure." Talryne didn't pay much attention to the duty roster
outside what she was assigned to do.

"Not you then," Jaffra concluded. "Fine, I'll find out. In the
meantime, how is your work going?"

"It's going well." A little wrinkle formed between Talryne's brows.
"Um, at least I think it is." Her current project was an assignment to
make a shirt with detailed threading. It was a bit of a stretch as she
was most comfortable with knitting and tapestries.

"Do you want me to check it?" Jaffra's style was to leave the
apprentices alone unless they or she deemed it necessary to do
otherwise. It wasn't the best strategy, but it had worked for her.
Apprentices either sank, swam or sought out another weaver for advice.

"If you don't mind." Talryne knew Jaffra wouldn't spare her feelings.
It was oddly comforting as many people walked on eggshells around her.

Jaffra wouldn't risk ruining or unravelling another weaver's work, so
she kept her hands to herself. Instead, she leaned over and looked
down critically at Talryne's work. "Riders are generally taught to sew
neatly and into material far thicker than this," she said, knowing
Talryne would be well aware of this fact. "I see you've bought that
skill with you to our craft. Your stitches are neat and uniform, but
they're slightly larger than they need to be. Most people wouldn't
notice the difference however." Most people didn't spend every waking
hour looking at stitches.

That was strong praise from the Senior Journeywoman. "Thank you. I'll
try to make the rest of the stitches smaller." It would certainly be
enough to satisfy the teacher.

"Not on this, or they won't be consistent," Jaffra said. "On the next
garment you make. Or practice on some calico first, so you're not
wasting anything." Jaffra loathed waste, no matter what was being
wasted - fabric, thread, time - it all frustrated her.

"Oh, of course." It made Talryne remember some of her early knitting
projects where the loops had started out loose and gotten tighter. The
resulting garment looked clumsy.

Jaffra nodded. "Good. You know where to find me if you need anything."
It was as close to a joke as she got. If she wasn't eating or
sleeping, she was working. In fact, she often ate here too.

"The other side of the room?" Talryne teased.

Jaffra blinked at her and _almost_ smiled. "Yes, quite. I'll let you
get on with it." She nodded and went back to work.

Last updated on the September 1st 2015

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