Zarastinia

I figured I might as well share my work here.

Here's some WIP and final pictures of my last project, a 12x12 pan chang in 2mm yellow cord.

Foundational weave

About 80% done

Final weave partially tightened.

Completed knot.

I'm working on another for my fiance. Both will be parts of belt hangings at some point.

I <3 Huun-Huur-Tu too 

Lately I've been really getting into the music of CloZee, e.g. https://soundcloud.com/otodayosupa/clozee-koto-1

 

 

Ahhhhh, A woman who LOVES books, is *always* a Great woman!   

 

Welcome, Peace, Differently Abled Daoist

Of course I'm personally biased, but I whole-heartedly agree. 

Zarastina.  Hum.  Are you related to Zarathurstra?

The story behind my handle is rather oblique. There was a minor supporting character in the original Battlestar Galactica episode "Baltar's Escape" named Siress Tinia, and at the time I didn't know the spelling and wasn't clear on the phonetics (and didn't get that "Siress" was a title and not part of her name) so I rendered it in my head as like 'Zarastinia' and took it as a handle.

Greetings! My name is Sophia (or 蘇菲), and I am a 30-something IT professional in the DC area.

After being raised in evangelical Christianity and spending the first part of my adult life as an atheist, the events of the last year have convinced me that some significant metaphysical dimension to existence is real, and of all the perspectives on such topics Daoism resonates with me the most.

I am an incorrigible sinophile and have been for more than half my life. While my Chinese language skills are still rather poor (I'm awful with second languages in general), my knowledge of Chinese culture, history, and politics is such that I have been assumed to be Chinese online by ethnic Chinese people. (I am, alas, quite white 白人.) But I watch a lot of Chinese movies and TV, listen to Chinese music (both traditional and contemporary), read Chinese literature, history, and news, and am learning things like traditional Chinese knotting techniques and plan to learn to play the guzheng eventually. 

(My first pan chang knot. Sorry for the low quality, the picture is from a webcam.)

When I'm not doing IT work or obsessing over China I often play tabletop role-playing and/or strategy games with friends. I'm engaged to another equally nerdy woman, and we live together in bliss with our many cats and computers, drinking tea and plotting our eventual escape to the West Coast.

Better pictures of me: