Mail Bag

I've gotten a lot of fun things in the mail recently that I've just been dying to show off.

(We won't discuss how this is also a super low effort post, which is exactly how much I can do right now...)

First up is the amazing skein of yarn I won from Desert Panda Fiber Arts. It was part of the Quiet Queers Craftalong. And I am in LOVE.

LOOK IT!

It's sooooo prrreeeeeettttyyyyy.

Speaking of winning things, I ALSO won the giveaway for the #KnittingAndIceCream contest hosted by the wonderful Jacqui.

(And no, I don't know how I won two contests so close together, either... O-o)

The whole point was to say a giant "fuck you" to fat phobia and fat-shaming companies.

This was my entry.

View this post on Instagram

What? You don't coordinate your knitting with your ice cream? But seriously, fuck your fat phobia. My body is exactly that: mine. You have no say on how it looks or what it should do. I get to decide that. Just like I get to decide what I want to knit. (Image Description: A fat woman sits on a upholstered bench holding a bag of knitting with one hand and a pint of ice cream in the other. #fuckfatphobia #knittingandicecream

A post shared by Ashtan Albright (@blackgoatknitting) on Jul 24, 2019 at 7:27pm PDT

It was also what inspired the blog post that I wrote recently, too.

The prize was 9 skeins of yarn that Jacqui herself won from a yarn retailer who posted some rather problematic, fat-phobic things.

It IS a lovely shade of grey (my favorite neutral) and I can't wait to make something particularly fitted for my body with it.

And if winning two giveaways wasn't enough, I was gifted this GORGEOUS lace gradient yarn by my fellow all-things-lacy-and-beaded friend, A. Llama.

I have PLANS for this.

But alas, all my plans really do have to wait until I get this dang ceremony shawl done.

Let's see, what else?...

Oh! I also got a couple of new pins for my project bag, both of which happened to be bee themed.

This adorable little beekeeping hedgehog from The Clever Clove...

And this BEEEE20!!!

This one is from Monstrous Incantation.

And after a glowing recommendation from a dear instagram friend, Yelley, I bought a new project bag from Tomboy Femme Bags.

Isn't it lovely?

Look at the pretty lining!

It's a great addition to the collection and is holding my new scrap project quite nicely.

Oh, I suppose you'd like to see that, too, huh?

I'm kinda at a standstill at the moment because I'm nearly out of the ivory yarn. But a new skein is on its way, so hopefully I can get back to it soon.

In the meantime, I'm working on getting the pattern written up for it. And I'm doing so in my new bullet journal dedicated just to my knitting projects.

I actually originally ordered this as my next bullet journal (I've almost finished my first!), but it was a little too big for my everyday journal. So knitting journal it is!

I'll finish up with a little sneak peek at my latest finished object.

Full post about that later this week!

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Bliss, Twist, Pissed... So List

So, a day... A SINGLE DAY... after posting about how great my new phone was, I picked it up off the desk AND THE SCREEN WAS CRACKED!

I hadn't dropped it, tossed it... indeed, I was being purposefully careful and gentle with it since our cases hadn't come in yet. Needless to say, I was pissed.

And through a bunch of bullshit, we have to pay a bunch of money to have it fixed.

So a comprehensive blog post isn't really something I can do today.

List post it is.

1. First and foremost, I want to take a second to acknowledge the conversation happening about racism in the knitting community. I apologize for my lateness in saying anything about this on here.

This article from Vox gives a good overview of the situation.

Please take a few minutes to read it and understand what's going on.

I'm working on a longer, more in-depth blog post about the whole situation, including links to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color) artisans who have been generous enough with their time and energy to help us white yarn crafters as we start to acknowledge and work on unpacking our own racial biases. I'll also have links to resources to help in that regard.

As you can imagine, it takes A LOT of emotional and mental energy when you really start digging into biases and racism that you didn't realize you were participating in. So it's taking longer than I like, and I apologize for that.

But I'll leave you with this statement: I refuse to be part of the "silent majority" that some of the worst perpetrators of the racism shown in the knitting community claim I am a part of. I will work on unpacking my own biases, do my best to listen to BIPOC when , apologize and change my behavior when I stumble. I will also do my best to amplify and support the voices and businesses of BIPOC yarn crafters.

2. I got some amazing squish mail today from Knitcraft & Knittery including this indigo test skein...

And these GORGEOUS skeins of her fingering weight in a fun AF colorway name, Drunk Mosquitoes.

These might actually be contenders for my ceremony shawl because...

3. I'm changing shawl patterns... again.

I KNOW, OKAY! I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON WHO CAN'T EVER MAKE A DECISION!

But to be fair, I also JUST found my dress, and it was not I expected I would end up with.

There are some minor changes I'm planning on making, but I am SO in love with it.

But you can see how having my super large cape-like shawl is going to cover up and overwhelm the dress.

So I've decided on a Boo Knits pattern instead. Still gorgeous, full of beads, but a better compliment to the dress.

But that means that I'm going to have to decide on what yarn I want to use.

Joy.

4. I'm still cranking away on Teroldego. I'm through the colorwork section and am on the striped section before the big lace section.

I was hoping to maybe have it done in time for the next pj party, but I don't think that's going to happen. Especially because my wrists have been bothering me, so I've been trying to give them a break.

5. I GOT MY BULBASAUR FUNKOS!

I want like 80 more, but John says no. :(

6. In addition to the new phones we got recently, we were able to get an iPad tacked onto our plan for just a couple more bucks a month, so I've been having fun playing with Procreate and the Apple Pencil.

7. I'm particularly proud of how this bujo spread came out.

8. It was hair color time for us. Saturday, John went to a purple with more blue undertones.

As for me, mermaid is officially out.

And witch is in.

I am SO in love with how it came out. I can't wait to see how it fades.

And in case you were wondering what I look like as a blonde...

9. And here's a picture of Oj to finish out the post.

If you'll excuse me, I have about a billion different green yarns to look through. 

Until next time.

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Taking a Bullet at Journaling... Wait a Sec...

So, if any of you know me half as well as you think, you could say that I'm... less than organized. That may be the kindest phrasing.

I like the idea of organization and keeping my life on track, but I'm shit at it. "Daily journaling" becomes "day of journaling," and then is never thought about again.

Well, at least until I see a new pretty journal that I HAVE to have, as the basket of mostly empty ones beside my bed will attest to.

So when the bullet journal fad kept popping up in my social media, I thought "ooooooooh, new thing!" immediately followed by, "for a week."

I wasn't going to participate. Nope, not me! No sense in it!

But it kept nagging me. That little voice in the back of my head started really trying to convince me. And then it pretty much sold me when it pointed out that we could rope John into it, too.

I had bought myself one of the famed dot grid notebooks a while back, intending on using it for knitting projects.

For those of you not in the know, you always have to give the 'specs on your set-up for your fellow bujo junkies. This baby right here is a Dingbats A5+ Dot Grid Notebook in Green Deer. And it's been serving me well.

My first weekly spread (spread is the lingo for them fancy cohesive layouts you make across a pair of page) was inspired by one I saw on reddit.

Of course, I put my own spin on it. The original was black and white and the doodles were completely different. But I was still pretty impressed with myself.

Then I started buying all the bits and bobs that go along with it, including these adorable cactus stamps.

I also got a nice set of fine liners in 36 different colors off of Amazon. I was a little nervous about them, especially for being so cheap, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

This week's spread was done entirely with them.

But it's not just weekly planning that I'm using my journal for. Take a look at my Fade spread.

Which, by the way, is now OUT OF DATE!

That's right! I finished the monster. But you'll have to wait for that one.

If the weather holds up, I'm hoping to be able to take pics this weekend.

Guess I should go add that to my bullet journal now.