better than a master of one | Glowfic Constellation

soul-is-swift

A cheerful young man (young being the operative word; he looks late teens, maybe early twenties?) is attacking some yarn with a crochet hook, narrating as he goes. The video is called Let's Learn Crochet (Part 1) and he does indeed seem to have started this endeavour with no idea what he's doing, but he isn't perturbed when he makes a mistake, just figures out how to untangle (sometimes literally) the problem and goes right back to following the instructions in his beginner's crochet kit. His voice is calm, pleasant, soothing, and clearly audible; his face, although the video doesn't show much of it, is also very nice to look at. (His hands are pretty nice to look at too.)

He drops a few sly hints over the course of the video about what the kit is supposed to make, but doesn't actually admit it until the last stitch is in place, even after he's put together enough of it that it's pretty clear he is making a wee little penguin plushie approximately the size of an egg. At the end of the video, he gives the penguin tiny headpats with a fingertip, laughing softly about how it's 'just so darn cute'.

Oh no it is indeed so darn cute!!!

oh no it's cute!!! 🐧🐧🐧🥺🥺🥺

intensely relatable process

soul-is-swift

A few hours after she leaves her comment, it has a reply:

Wait'll you see the next one!

And indeed there is a second video on the channel. Would she like to find out what fiendishly adorable little creature will ensue in Let's Learn Crochet (Part 2)?

Um, yes???

soul-is-swift

He is once again doing the bit where he won't say what he's making until it's completely finished, even though he spends several whole minutes at the very end trying to get the little egg-sized bunny's ear to flop just so. At last he succeeds, and carefully pulls the ears through the ear-holes in the tiny top hat he crocheted at the start of the video, and holds it up to the camera to announce, "Aha! It's a bunny!"

it's a BUNNY in a HAT

She appends a picture of a little needle-felted maneki-neko.

soul-is-swift

What a good fuzzy friend you have there! I'd love to see how you made it.

It's needle-felted. I stabbed it into shape

soul-is-swift

Nice! Maybe I'll make that my next project after crochet.

But in fact the next video that comes out, the following day, is Let's Learn Crochet (Part 3) and involves Liam* making his first foray into designing an egg-sized crochet creature, taking what he learned from the penguin and the bunny and applying it to making a little orange tabby cat with a white belly. ("The tabby part was perhaps overambitious," he remarks as an aside the second time he has to fiddle with the stitches on the head to get the markings to stop looking so wonky.)

This time, by the nature of the process, he does have to confess what he's making at the start; but he still manages to work in a surprise by declaring, at the end of the video as he is trying and repeatedly failing to get the cat to stand up on a little shelf next to the penguin and bunny, "His name is Marmalade and I love him." Marmalade falls over. "God dammit, Marmalade."

*He's been introducing himself by name at the start of every video and the channel is called Liam Learns.

don't swear at the poor kitty!

soul-is-swift

It's okay, he knows I don't mean it. Anyway I fixed his stuffing so now he is capable of standing upright and can join tiny crochet creature society.

you could have made him a tiny wheelchair

soul-is-swift

I am not nearly that good at crochet!

After a longer interval:

not a crocheted tiny wheelchair

Appended is a picture of the needle-felted maneki neko perched on a wheelchair constructed out of cut popsicle sticks, jar lids, and pins

soul-is-swift

Oh wow, does it roll? It looks like it might roll. Impressive! I will admit I did not think of that.

it rolls! if, like, a person, was trying to use it, I would want to do something to the wheels so they had more friction with the ground. but it rolls

soul-is-swift

It takes until the next day for him to respond,

I think that's a fine amount of rolling under the circumstances!

Soon afterward, a new video comes out. Let's Learn Needle Felting (Part 1)

"One of my lovely viewers—possibly my only viewer—does that make you de facto my loveliest viewer?—anyway—one of my lovely viewers showed me this resplendent creature," a picture of the cat in the wheelchair appears, "so obviously I had to learn how to make one myself. I have with me a stabbing implement and a ball of fluff; I hear that's all you need to get started. Let's see how well this works." (A text overlay in a charming yet readable font helpfully elaborates on the exact nature of the stabbing implement and the ball of fluff.)

Stab stab stabstabstab. "Very cathartic," he remarks. "I can see how this could get to be someone's favourite hobby. I of course will never have a favourite hobby, I'm too much of a dilettante." Stabstab stabstab stabstab stab. "It's fascinating how such a simple process can yield such intricate results!"

After much stabbing, some shown in realtime with live commentary while other sections are done in fast-forward or as skillfully edited montages, he eventually adds a fourth creature to his shelf: a teeny tiny mouse ("Behold: a mouse!"), about half the height of the crochet creatures. "I really should've started with something more... blobular," he says as he sets it down on the shelf next to Marmalade (who is standing upright as promised). "Those ears...!" (They were indeed difficult, and are indeed still a bit messy.) "Someday, Mousemeralda. Someday you will have a sister whose ears are a delight to look upon."

Aaaaaa that's so cute.

He mentioned her! In a video! She wiggles excitedly. Her next comment is a mess of hearts and exclamation points.

soul-is-swift

Please, teach me your needle felting wisdom! How am I supposed to manage those ears???

you felt them SEPARATE and then stab them to the critter!

soul-is-swift

Miraculous. I'll have to try it next time.

But once again the next video is about something else: Let's Learn Needle Felting (Part 2) involves making, instead of another mouse, an itsy bitsy fuzzy wuzzy teacup and saucer. (He does not felt the teacup's handle separately, and has a bit of a time with it, but manages to make it work in the end.) The teacup is just about big enough for Mousemeralda to sit inside, but he doesn't put her there, instead setting the cup-and-saucer assembly on the shelf next to her.