Trekking

I have a confession to make.

I was not born into my nerdom. I didn't find it by accident as a small child. I had never heard of Zelda or played Super Mario Bros. I didn't own a NES or a Genesis. My first console was the original Play Station, which I played many an hour of Spyro on. And nothing else. I've never beaten a Pokemon game. I've never gotten past the first gym.

I hadn't heard of Star Trek, never watched Star Wars, and was only vaguely familiar with some of the most well-known superheroes. I only read books I knew I would like (mostly historical fiction) and never branched out to sci-fi or popular fantasy.

All of that changed when I met John. Like many a person before me, I decided to try and make myself more appealing to him by pretending to be interested in the stuff he was. So, I picked up Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap for my Gameboy Advance. And I fell in love with it.

As John and I's relationship progressed, he introduced me to more and more awesome things. One of those things was Star Trek. He had watched The Next Generation with his father as a kid. It seemed to kickstart a life-long love of all things space and sci-fi related.

He shared that love with me and encouraged me to check out the series. So I did. And I, too, fell in love.

Nowadays, we both belong to so many fandoms and factions, I can no longer keep track. We're Trekkies, Bronies, Whovians, Sherlock lovers, Dungeons & Dragons players... The list is endless. But Star Trek has a special place in our hearts. Just today, we rediscovered a picture of us sitting together, he wearing his TNG hoodie, and me with my Star Trek t-shirt on.

We also have an unhealthy obsession with astronomy and all things NASA related. We stayed up late to listen to Curiosity land, something that John considers to be one of the best days of his life. We watch almost every launch from SpaceX, grinning madly when they make giant leaps forward in space travel.

A few years ago when I first discovered the fiber arts, I stumbled across this pattern. I became obsessed with it. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to knit! But I knew I HAD to make it. So, I set out to learn how to wield two pointy sticks and some string.

A year ago, I finally felt confident enough to start Celestarium. It was slow going. I would work on it in bursts, but then would feel my attention wandering towards something small and quick, or anything with a more intricate lace pattern.

I tried to have it done in time for our vow renewal. When that didn't happen, it got tossed to the side again. But it was always there in the back of my mind. I knew I HAD to push myself to get it done.

So I did.

Yes, after a year of incubation, my baby has finally hatched. 

And it's everything I could have dreamed of. The yarn wasn't very soft to work with, but after I washed and blocked it, it's done a complete 180. It's buttery soft now. I had to be talked out of cuddling this thing all night.

The Orion constellation is the one constellation I can find without fail every time. It's always the first thing I look for when I'm out at night. So, I decided to do it in a copper colored bead to make it stand out from the rest. It's hard to tell in photos, but in person, it's quite lovely.

You can see the color a little bit better in this photo.

It is a massive thing, though. It blocked out to a 62 inch diameter.

But let's talk about the edging. So, all the talk of Trek stuff earlier? Yeah, I ended up with the completely bloody insane brilliant idea of completely writing and charting out a Star Trek com badge lace pattern. And while it's not exactly how I pictured it, I'm still quite proud of it.

When I finally pulled it off the blocking boards and laid it out on our bed, I broke down sobbing. It was hard for me to register that "I" actually made something like this. Having no confidence in my abilities makes it hard for me to see when I do actually make beautiful things. At that moment, I had physical proof sitting in front of me.

I really don't think I can properly explain just how much of an accomplishment this is to me. Suffice to say that I am proud of myself for doing it and proud of the completed project itself, which if you know me, is a groundbreaking thing for me to say.

But now I find myself at a bit of a loss. This thing has been with me for a year, a project to work on, an old friend always waiting for me. What project do I devote myself to next? What is going to be my next knitting milestone?

Maybe this? I always did love the crazy projects...