Steady On

When we last left off, I was a mere 6 rows and a picot bind-off away from finishing my vow renewal shawl.

I'm happy to report that it is, in fact, finished.

Even though the bind-off did its best to kill me. It took me 15 hours to do...

Yeah...

Anyway, I don't have any finished pictures yet because my skin decided that a giant friggin zit ON MY LIP of all places was what I needed. And I don't really want that in my photos with such a gorgeous shawl. So instead you can just have this teaser of the pre-blocked beauty.

As for everything else relating to the vow renewal, things are steadily moving forward.

We're working on getting the Christmas decorations up, which are also the deorations we're using for the ceremony.

The mantle is done.

Some of the garlands are up.

I've started on the tree.

But I do need to go buy more decorations for it because it's just *slightly* bigger than we anticipated.

Even all this isn't enough.

But I am fond of how the top is shaping up.

Speaking of this tree, this is the one I bought when Pat Catan's was going out of business earlier this year. I paid a whopping $36 for it.

Want to know the original price?

Yep.

A $700 tree for $36.

This is probably my best buy to date.

On the knitting front, I've started a new shawl to wear for Christmas itself.

It's another Sunshine and Pinwheels in Malabrigo Mora. I made one in August for my cousin and I loved how it looked in this yarn so much that I HAD to make one for myself.

This color totally reminds me of antique linens, which is delightful. I think it'll be lovely with my emerald green velvet dress.

I'm considering adding jet black crystal beads to the points, too. Because why make life easier for myself?

I've also knit a couple of hats for John and myself.

No formal photos yet, but here you go.

This is just an improvised design, but I DID write it all down, so I'll probably throw it up on here eventually as a free pattern.

I especially love the giant pom-pom on mine.

I also have some knitting-to-be in the form of the Anthophila Sweater.

It has bees on it. How can I not?

I'm thinking ivory body and gold bees.

Wouldn't that be stunning?

This will probably be my January/February project. An indulgence of selfish knitting after the holiday rush.

Because yes, I AM ALSO KNITTING CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

I *obviously* don't have enough to do.

But going back to the selfish knitting, I was kinda maybe considering hosting a craft-along around that theme? Some self-care crafting at the start of the year for everyone who needs it. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? Let me know!

For now, though, I need to get back to work. Today's goals were to write this and finish painting our upstairs hallway. And sadly, I haven't completed my painting robot, so I guess that's on me to do.

So, I'll leave you with our color inspiration for this space.

Cheers!

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In January, We Wear Pink

Well, this month has been a punch in the face.

I am FINALLY over this damn cold... just in time for John to get it.

*sigh*

Anyway, I DID manage to get January's KOGOTP project done.

I started this thing clear back in fall of 2017 with the intention of gifting it to Renee for her birthday.

Yes, I know. I was just a *wee* bit late.

But it's done now and gifted to her so I can show it off here!

I made her another one of my bulky sweater shrug things.

"So Ashtan..... where's the usual photo shoot?"

Listen, the fact that I was able to finish this thing at all is a bloody miracle.

Blocking it was a total nightmare that zapped all of my energy. And trying to keep it away from as much cat hair as possible since Renne is allergic? Hello, energy debt.

I got it finished up as fast as I could and sent down to her before I could infect it with my germy-ness.

So, no photo shoot. Just some attempt at artsy-fartsy pics on the bed that I was practically confined to.

Awww, yiss. Look at that *arty angle*.

Oh, you want to know about the actual knitting behind it?

You're acting like this is a knitting blog or something...

ANYway, this is another original lace pattern designed specifically with the recipient in mind. I wanted to incorporate leaves, as they have a special personal significance. Continuing the garden theme, the outside lace was meant to mimic trellises, while the middle is representative of vines twisting up through each other. Everything is reaching skyward, signifying growth and change, always striving to better itself.

Yeah, I know, much more in depth than, "I thought it'd look pretty."

I'm happy to report that Renee seems rather fond of it, despite how late it was.

And now I get to kick back and work on a relaxing project and certainly not something that is going to have literally dozens of ends to weave in that I'm designing purely out of my head...

Whoops...

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The Year Closes Softly

Y'all, it's been a shit fucking year.

You're mostly aware of the trials, tribulations, disaster, and the like we've dealt with. So I'm not going to restate it here.

The only thing I want to talk about is the beautiful thing I ended my year with.

I decided back in the fall that I was going to spend the month of December making something for ME.

No frantic Christmas present making, no commissions. Just something pretty and lacy and wonderful that I could wrap myself in for the winter.

I wanted it to be winter themed. Something that evoked visions of ice-coated windows, snow piled high outside. And it HAD to be done by the Winter Solstice.

So I settled on Winter Largo.

And seeing as this was a present to myself, I wasn't skimping on the yarn.

So I made it with my pure cashmere from a kickstarter I backed.

And, my stars, I NEVER could have dreamed how amazing it would turn out.

Yes, the pattern itself is lovely.

But nothing... NOTHING compares to how FUCKING UNBELIEVABLY SOFT THIS THING IS!

I'm serious. I want to *cry* when I touch it. I have NEVER had something so amazing against my skin.

I had debated about adding the beads the pattern called for, but I am *so* happy I didn't. It would have detracted from the feel of the cashmere.

I didn't try to Ashtan it at all. It was a fixed pattern, no way to make it bigger.

Annnnnnnd... it still came out huge...

Okay, I *may* have lied about not having magical powers...

I was actually worried I wouldn't have enough yarn, but I ended up with just over 100 yards left.

So... I took a little bit of it and made a wee little something for my darling Renee.

Because everyone obviously needs a cashmere stocking for their tree.

Anyway, it's Christmas Eve. So I'm going to leave off here for now. Get myself some sleep and then take the time to enjoy my favorite time of year.

The snows come back, the new year begins.

And we move forward.

Blobs and Blurbs

Well, we're getting close to the end, y'all.

Just 8 days left until Christmas. And then I can FINALLY show you all the stuff I've been working on!

Not that I've done much in the way of Christmas presents in the past few days...

Yeah, I've just been working on the "I-just-need-a-hit-of-lace" shawl.

I mean, I guess I can show you my progress on it.

I'm affectionately calling it The Blob.

I've got 32 rows left to do, but mah god, they are So. Damn. Long.

And it's a fixed-size shawl. So there's no Ashtan-ing it. Which is TERRIFYING!

But the pattern is gorgeous and winter themed and the shawl's being made with 100% cashmere, so really, I'm in heaven right now.

Also, I *may* have picked up some mohair at the last pj party because I have a cool idea for another shawl that I want to try out.

It'll probably turn into a nightmare, but what's life without a little risk?

In other news, my hair's been regreenified thanks to my lovely Kayla.

It feels good to be my emerald self again.

I also FINALLY got to put up my grandma's ceramic village that she gave me a few years ago.

I'll leave you with this comment I left on a reddit thread talking about knitting. I could have rambled on even longer about knitting and what it's done for me and some of my thoughts on it, but I still think this is a pretty good little blurb.

"Knitting has pretty much been a driving force in the stabilization of my mental health. It's given me an outlet for my anxiety, connected me with a great group of people, and taught me how to value myself as a person. It also drove me to start a blog about all my craft work, which I've been consistently writing and posting on for over 3 years. And that in itself is a huge accomplishment for me. I'm bad about consistency. 

I've learned that it's okay to make mistakes, for everything to not be perfect. There's value in those mistakes. 

I've also learned that there's something to that notion of, "If you set your mind to something, you can accomplish it."  I'm entirely self-taught. I learned crochet first and then discovered a knit shawl pattern called Celestarium. This shawl is a circular one with the constellations of the Northern hemisphere in the lace work. So I taught myself to knit just so I could make it. And I did. 

I'm actually known for my shawls now. And my seemingly supernatural ability to either make them very fast or very large. Usually it's both and it's actually become known as "Ashtan-ing" a project in my circle. 

Lace work speaks to me. It's my meditation and my craft. And the shawls I make become armor for myself when dealing with uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing situations. I'm wrapping hours and hours of work and accomplishment around my shoulders. How can anyone hurt me when I've made such an amazing thing?  They also become a shield of love for the people I gift my work to. My love and care made tangible and just for them. 

I will never sell my knitting. I decided that at the beginning. Knitting was to always be for myself before anything else. Never a job, never because someone demanded or assumed they'd get something. But I am always happy to gift people I love dearly with things I make. The people I know who value what I make and will take care of it. Because you really are gifting a piece of yourself every time you make something."

Let's Get Merry

My Christmas knitting is ALMOST done. Just a few projects left and then I am FREE! Free to do other projects! To knit miles of lace again! I've been so devoid of it in my life!

What's that?

No... I *certainly* did not knit myself another lace tam in the middle of my Christmas knitting to take the edge off.

Okay, fine. But that's been the only thing, I swear! I was dying from a lace drought!

What? No! That is NOT A SHAWL ON THE NEEDLES SITTING BESIDE ME! NOPE! NOT AT ALL!

Listen, I can explain...

Umm....

Uhh...........

WANT TO SEE MY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS?!

#OperationDestraction

We kind of went overboard this year because, let's face it, this year's been shit. And I need Christmas in a way that I never have before. I need the lights and the colors and the snow and the happiness this season usually brings me. So, my house it pretty dang merry right now.

We'll start in the dining room, above our window seat. (Also, apologies in advance for the not-great pictures. It's REALLY HARD to take good ones of all these decorations.)

This year's colors were originally inspired by peacocks, but as always, I added my own twist. I thought the coppery orange added a great pop of color next to all of the blues and greens.

We used gold as our main metallic accent color.

Next is the doorway going into the kitchen.

Not going to lie, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel of all my decorations for this one. It was the last one I did yesterday and I was pretty tapped. And John wasn't about to drive half an hour north to let me buy more stuff.

Next is the dining room arch, facing the living room.

This ribbon was my favorite find this year. It shifts from purple to teal to emerald green. I was so sad that I could only find two spools of it.

Because I'm an over-the-top sort of person, I decided that we were going to do two trees this year, too. So to finish off the dining room, here's the dining room tree.

This one is John's favorite because he did most of the decorating. Yes, yes, I finally relaxed control enough to let someone else do some decorating. And he did a fantastic job of it.

Moving along into the living room, we have the doorway going outside.

And the one going into our hallway.

This one is hands down my favorite of all the doorway decorations.

And here's the arch going into the dining room.

The mantle above the fireplace tends to be my centerpiece for Christmas decorating. It's usually the first thing I do and lets me play around with my colors and textures until I fall in love with it. Then that sets the tone for the rest of the decorating.

This year, I am particularly proud and enamoured with how it came out.

These poinsettias were my other favorite find. I only managed to grab two of them and I jealously guarded them from other shoppers while hunting for more. Sadly, they were apparently popular and I couldn't find like the 80 bushels of them that I really wanted.

I also wasn't able to find the peacock feathers that I wanted to have poking up out of all this. Well, couldn't find them at a reasonable price. But I'll have them for next year because for the first time ever, I'm planning on using the same theme two years in a row.  There's a reason why, but that'll come later.

For now, I just have my little glass friend tucked amongst the glitter.

And one last shot before moving onto the best part.

Our second tree is the one that I decorated. And, as expected, my favorite of the two. It came out so beautiful and wonderful that I'm going to have a hard time taking it down in the spring. (What? You don't leave your decorations up until after Easter? What kind of a person are you?!)

I went overboard.

I know I did.

But I ADORE trees where you hardly see the greenery. Where every time you look at it, you find something new.

To quote the younglings, I am "living" for this tree.

And lest you think that I forgot something, here are both of the trees all lit up.

And this is where we all agree that my tree is better because LOOK AT THE SPARKLE!

Well, I hear a certain scrap of lace calling to me, begging to be finished. And I'm not about to say no to 100% cashmere.

Listen, it's the holidays. Go spoil yourselves a little. I certainly am.