Pumpkin Patch Pickins'

Fall is FINALLY DANG HERE!

Cool weather, crunchy leaves, ACTUALLY GETTING TO WEAR MY NEW SWEATER, I'm embracing it all. Especially the pumpkin part.

I finally took the time to knit myself a new Fall basaur since I gave the original away.

And yes, you can just see it poking out there, but he also has a tiny scarf. too.

I'm also particularly proud the pumpkin. I wanted one of those knobbly ones that always get left behind at the pumpkin patch, so I used bobbles to give this one some texture.

And if knitting one pumpkin wasn't enough, I also had to make one for a special neighbor's birthday.

And OF COURSE it had to be pink.

I used up the last skein of the pink bulky yarn I had used for her sweater. And I mean I USED it. There's nothing left.

The leaf is completely improvised (like, I grabbed some needles and just went full free-form on it) and felted. I thought it'd add a nice little contrast to all the pink.

And if that wasn't enough pumpkin for you, we ALSO added this dude to the front porch.

And because I had to clean off the table anyway, I thought I'd snap a few pictures of the yarn I'm planning on using for a Knit Along.

Yu Ra, the amazing person who hosted the Quiet Queers Craftalong, has been releasing so many new and amazing patterns lately.

Her newest, Bojagi Shawl, is just lovely. I've been eagerly awaiting the release date AND IT'S HERE!

Even better? She's offering it for FREE!

A KAL is being hosted from now until December 14th, so y'know, you should totally join us for that.

And make sure you donate to her Ko-Fi account as a thank you for such an amazing pattern.

Now I'm sure you're ready to see the yarn, right?

Guess what, though?

It's NOT GREEN!

This is Valencia from Destination Yarn.

Jeanne had a trunk show at Harps & Thistles over the weekend, so I HAD to stop by for a visit.

This was like THE COLOR that jumped out to me.

(I don't know what the sudden obsession with pink is, either...)

BUT lest you be worried that I am forgoing green entirely, I'm pairing this with a deeply muted sage that is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph.

I tried in bright sun.

And pairing it with the pink.

NONE of them even come close to capturing it.

Oh well.

All you need to know is that:
1. It's pretty
2. It's stash yarn
3. It's lace weight held double

So, now that we have that out of the way, I'm going to go knit, okay?

"BUT WAIT!" you yell. "WHAT ABOUT THE VOW RENEWAL SHAWL?!?!?!!?!?"

Listen, I HAVE been working on it.

I'm through the first chart. And I've estimated that I have roughly 15 working days left on it. So it WILL get done in time, I swear.

Look, I'll even show you my progress!

Aww, dangit, seeing this makes me want to work on it right now, too.

Maybe I can do a two-at-a-time shawl?

Hey, it works for socks...

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Tidbits

I really haven't worked on any sort cohesive projects that require an entire blog post dedicated to it, so I thought I'd just kinda show the little things I've been doing and working on.

I did get one little knit project done a few months ago that I just never shared here.

I made a mini me in a black goat outfit!

I even have a lil tail.

But that's not all.

Afterall, who would I be without one of my signature shawls?

Yep! It's a mini Rainbomb!

And yes, I'm seriously considering making mini versions of all my favorite shawls.


John and I had fun with a quick bit of thrift shopping recently.

My faves were these incredible, brand-new boots.

And these two new purses.

We did our annual clean-all-the-crud-off-the-porch and, damn, it's looking so good.

We also discovered some new residents on said porch when we were cleaning. We're now playing host to a hive of carpenter bees.

If you look closely, there's one on the bricks to the right, as well as one in one of the tubes in the bottom right.

They don't really pose a threat, so we're going to let them do their thing.

We've also been busting our butts on our flower beds, especially the problem one in the front.

I ended up with some new color varieties of marigold in the planter boxes.

The left one is called Fireball and the left is Strawberry Blonde.

I also got these gorgeous petunias.

But my absolute favorite is the coleus we ended up planting in the front flower bed.

This seriously is my new favorite flower bed. Lets just hope that things actually grow like I want them to.


I got a fun new book to read.

I haven't had a chance to really dive in much. I want to take my time and really take it in rather than do my usual C O N S U M E style of reading, which allows me to just get lost in the book and process it all later.

What's that? The project underneath?

Yeah, okay. Teroldego has made it out of purgatory. I've made it to the lace section now. I haven't touched it in nearly a week, though, since we've been working outside so much.

As for Cloud Illusions (the shawl I said I wanted to wear to GLFS)... well, the more I thought about it, the more I kept looking at Rainbomb.

Rainbomb is an absolute spectacle and really friggin impressive. I *want* to show it off. And where better to do that than at a fiber show?

Speaking of fiber, want to see my newest wool pretties?

First up is what I ended up getting at the latest pj party, a pretty skein of TIG Adorn Sport.

I've seen this poor loner on the wall forever and I felt bad, so I brought it home. I just wish I could actually get a halfway decent picture of it. It's absolutely gorgeous in person, but was being particularly persnickety about showing that off.

"But Ashtan! What are you going to do with a single skein of sport yarn? Also... they make sport weight yarn? I thought only bulky, worsted, fingering, and lace existed in your world..."

Yes, yes, I know. But I actually already have a plan in place! There's actually some other TIG yarn in the same weight that is going to pair beautifully with this. So, I got my next purchase already sorted.

The other yarn I got was a Limited Edition color from Leon Alexander Yarns. It was part of their May the 4th collection. It's called Eulogy and it's dedicated to our most beloved Rebel Princess and General, Leia Organa.

I'm kicking myself for not buying a second one. Isn't it just lovely?

And to finish us out, how about I show off the LAST FRIGGIN CHRISTMAS PRESENT I did last year? No, I still haven't managed to send it to Lily. But I at least showed her pictures! So, without further ado, behold! The spider cowl!

This really was a labor of love because there was So. Much. Purling.

But I can't really argue with the results.

I absolutely adore how each spider looks completely different and unique from the other ones.

I actually love it so much that I *may* or *may not* be considering making myself a matching one. Assuming I can convince my hands that all that purling is worth it again.

I think it is. Don't you?
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*Creative Pun Filled Title About Presents*

So! Presents have been gifted and now I get to show them off!

First off are the socks I made for my grandma.

Pattern is Traveler's socks on Ravelry.

They were done in Sweet Georgia Worsted in color Mink.

You know, for hating cables so much, I actually didn't mind these too much.

Next up is the pillbug for Emmy!

He wasn't supposed to be felted, but I was in the mood for experimentation.

He's done in Wool of the Andes Worsted from KnitPicks, though I din't recall the colors off the top of my head.

I *nearly* ran out of the dark purple I used for the shell. I was DEFINITELY sweating on that one.

Also in the cute and cuddly category is the crab in a jar I did for Mom.

He was mostly improvised, especially as the original pattern had you using FRENCH FUGGIN KNOTS for the legs. And that is NOT in my wheelhouse.

He was made with the little bit of Rios I had leftover from my hat.

A hat for my grandpa was next, which if I'm honest, was pretty dang boring.

BUT! BUT! LOOK AT THIS COOL THING I MADE!

SEE IT?

IZ A LIL BLACK GOAT LABEL!

And on the back...

I used a scrap of leather and my wood burner. I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

And rounding out the presents for the year is this wee little scarf for my Hufflepuff husband's Christmas present: a little plush badger.

I *technically* have one other present, but I can't show it because it hasn't made it to the recipient yet. But you'll see it next month!

For now, though, I'm going to contemplate the like 80 different things I want to cast on right now before I inevitably end up doing another shawl.

Creatively Untitled: A List Post Project

Do you know what D&D actually stands for?

That would be Dead and Devoid of all energy.

It's been taking up so much of my time and energy over these past two- wait, no three... yeah, three  months (we took that long for character creation, one-on-one starter sessions, and me personally working on the campaign setting) that I really haven't been focusing on much else. But we finally, FINALLY have started and from how well things are going, I think I'll be able to take a breather and  actually work on other things alongside this.

So, to get y'all caught up....

LIST POST TIME

*confetti cannons here*

1. First, let's talk about my knitting.

My intention was to have this finished in time to wear to the Destination Yarn open house later this month. Especially because this shawl would feature two different DY colors. 

But after doing the math and having a heart-to-heart with myself... well, for the first time ever, I'm not going to finish a shawl in time to meet my deadline.

I'm surprisingly okay with it. It had to happen at some point and I'd rather it be something that was more of a "this would be nice" thing than a "OH MY GOD THIS RUINS EVERYTHING" sort of deal.

2. I ended up making another moth.

She's quite a bit bigger than my first one. And yes, she does look a little like the Centipeedle in Steven Universe. It was unintentional at first, but as I went along, she kind of grew into it. 

I adore her and she now lives on my lovely new shelf along with my other plushies.

3. I made a mini dice bag for my miniature dice that I use for my crow companion for my character.

Yes, I know that the yarn obscures the cables, but I REALLY wanted to use only scraps for this. It's made mostly with the teeny little bit of yarn I had leftover from Polar Bear in a Snowstorm.

4. We ended up taking both Bethany and Vi with us to Origins last month and it was so much more fun like that. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

5. I'm SUPER friggin proud of this crow painting I did for Lily.

6.  John and I actually did something crafty TOGETHER!

These are traveler's journals we made. And I do mean "we." He did almost all the work on his own! My little crafty goddess heart nearly burst with joy.

7. I've been meeting real life mothy friends and I couldn't be happier. 

8. We've been playing Pokemon Go again. Vi and I have been painting the town yellow.

9. It's actually been a few days since I've started writing this and I'm now on the 5th color of my Fade shawl.

10. I may or may not be planning out the yarn for like a dozen more of these.

11. Yes, that's highly unusual.

12. No, I DON'T know what the hell is wrong with me.

13. And I TOTALLY didn't go off my cold sheep personal pledge and buy another skein of Rios just because the colors were singing to me.

14. NOPE NOPE NOPE TOTALLY DIDN'T

15. 

16. ..............................

17. Damnit...