A Break

Okay, listen, I know. I am notorious for heartlessly abandoning projects.

But I HAD to take a break from Teroldego.

So I've been painting just a wee bit on my fancy new iPad.

It's not much, but it's at least kept me from eating my unfinished shawl.

Though tomorrow is a new month. Which means a new WIP to finish.

Suddenly, Teroldego looks much more appealing...

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Painting Palooza

You would think with all this pressure off me to get a project done every month, I'd be drowning in FO's. Things just flying off my needles, right?

Yeah...

I've all but abandoned my needles at this point. (HA! Point! I kill me.)

But seriously, I've only done a few rounds of Mystic Star (it was heartlessly abandoned last year) and made a lil spidey bro. I do have a MKAL that starts at the end of this month, but in the meantime, I've found that I just can't commit myself to any project.

So, to keep myself from slowly descending into a pit of knitless misery  occupied, I've been working on just a *few* watercolor paintings.

And by few, I mean over a dozen.

So here they are in no particular order.

I'd say I've been a little busy.

And I haven't even shown you the best and my favorite.

For a size reference, this is about two feet wide. It's now living happily in an antique frame that belonged to John's late grandma.

And it's now the centerpiece of the living room.

And because this is a knitting blog after all, I will at least tease you with the MKAL yarn.

Any guesses at the theme? Let's just say, I'll be over the moon with it. ;D

374 + 374 And a Couple More

As is tradition, I've missed my blog-iversary by several days. *coughnearly2weekscough*

I'm sure you're all fed up with the mushy, lovey-dovey posts, so I guess I'll do what I did last year and do a pure numbers post.

Let's start with pageviews.

My most popular post was A Comedy of Errors, which sits at 428 pageviews.

Of course Orchid Thief would be my most popular post, the disaster that it was. Let's be honest, it's more entertaining when things go wrong, huh?

A couple of other posts made it well over 150 views, another awesome surprise.

I'm averaging more than 50 pageviews on almost every post, another increase.

To date, I've had 9,008 pageviews to the blog itself. I was right around 3k last year.

I've managed to double my view numbers. In a friggin year.

Like, holy crap, people.

It still blows my mind so may people actually care about what I have to say enough to come here and read it. Truly, deeply, thank you for that. I can't even begin to tell you what this blog has meant to me.

Sorry, sorry, I promised no mush.

My goal was to write at least one post a week. I've happy to say that not only did I average that, but I BEAT IT! I've written 61 posts over the past year at the time of writing this.

As for projects, I didn't actually knit as much this year as I did last year.

Hats

• Neon Ski Bonnet
• Obnoxiously Cheerful Hat
• Pussy Hat Project

Sweaters

• Autumn Lace Shrug
• Grandma's Lace Sweater

Miscellaneous

• Mismatched Socks
• String Bean Fingerless Gloves
• Owl Mitts
• Deep Sea FLower Dice Bag

Amigurumi

• Prickly Bulbasaur
• Fallbasaur (I actually have two of these done, plus commissions for 5 more!)

Shawls

• Age of Brass and Steam
• Orchid Thief
• Art and Coffee
• Grey Skies
• Rainshine
• Yarn Wife (My very first completely original design)
• Kelp
• Steam Bells
• Gem In Eyes

I did release my first paid pattern on Ravelry, though. The lace panel I designed for my sweater up there.

Normally, I think I'd be disappointed with myself for not knitting more. But this past year I found my definitive Second Craft. 

I started teaching myself watercolor painting in November of last year. And I think I've devoted almost an equal amount time to it this past year as my yarn and needles. A rough count in my head gives me a rough estimate of 30+ paintings that I've finished this year. And that's not including all of the pendants I've done.

This was my very first attempt, if you remember.

And this is the latest.

And I'm pretty damned proud of that.

Well, I tried hard to avoid it, but we're going to have to get gross for a second. I know, but it'll be okay. Just find a cuddle buddy and we'll get through this together.

Once again, I have to thank each and every one of you who have stopped here and taken time to read one (or several!) of my posts. 

I started this blog on a whim after reading a bunch of Yarn Harlot's archive. I wanted a place to share and talk about my knitting. Ravelry project notes aren't really that great for that. So having a blog, I could really get down to the knitty-gritty of things. *sorrynotsorry*

But this has been so much more than that. 

I've undergone so many life changes. Losses, gains. Through hell and back, through battles, through love. 

And I've been able to share that all here. I've been able to put myself out into the world. I've learned how to more effectively communicate with the people around me. 

Jamie told me once that she loves reading the blog because it allowed her to see a different aspect of me. And until that moment, I didn't really realize how true that is. This blog has given voice to the things that I want to say, but never quite manage to in person. 

Thank you. 

Thank you for your support. Your patronage. Your love.

And here's to the next 374 days. 

Struggle

This month has kicked my ass. Hard.

I've only managed to get two blog posts done.

I've barely done any knitting, or painting, or much of anything.

Today has been the hardest, mentally, because an emotional scar got ripped open. And I was not in the best place to deal with it.

Right now I feel raw. Stripped to the bone.

So forgive me, but this is just going to be a short list post. I need to get my butt back in gear and put the effort back into this that it deserves.

1. I did manage to get a shawl done for August, but I haven't had the energy to write the post. But here's a little preview.

2. Jamie and I have been together for a year now. And this deserves so much more fanfare. But again, I haven't had the energy.

3. I finally managed to give Bethany birthday presents on time for the first time in about 5 years. She got a painting and a little knit cactus.

4. Al started high school. This is still terrifying.

5. Great Trail time is upon us again, and of course, I made my way to the spinning house and picked this up.

6. I FINALLY made myself some fingerless gloves after making some for like everyone else. I should have used different yarn and moved the owl pattern over a few stitches, but I was frantically trying to get them done to wear at Great Trail. And I'm glad, because it was effing cold.

Yarn is some random alpaca blend that I actually bought at Trail a few years ago.

7. I saw this at Joann's and need somebody to buy it for me as a birthday present.

8. And we found this guy shoved into the ivy in the floral department at Pat Catan's. I couldn't say no. It was too cute. So he's living in my library now.

9. Yes. I have a library. Yes, it's as awesome as you think. Yes, there will be a blog post about it in the future. But there are a couple of key components I'm waiting on before it's truly done.

10. Renee found this notebook for me and it's pretty much the best thing ever.

11. I harvested a bunch of herbs and now my hallway looks delightful.

12. This guy's pretty cute.

13. Ending on cat pictures because internet.

Total Eclipse of the Art

Yes, I went there. I made that joke. And I regret nothing.

Because what's better than spending the entire day outside, watching the eclipse, and painting something amazing?

That's exactly what I did.

Here's like the one super crappy picture I have of the whole thing.

The painting, however, came out marvelous.

Here's another shot with the colors a little bit more accurate, though it is still much more vibrant in person.

It was an amazing experience getting to sit out there, seeing something so strange and wonderful, all the while making a beautiful thing. I'm already counting down the years until the next one. Maybe we'll make that one an art party. Sounds fun, yeah?

A Change Will Do You Good

It seems that lately, my creative endeavours are shifting.

I mean, I'm still knitting and painting. Let's not get wild here.

But I seem to be branching out and trying new things within those crafts.

For one thing, I'm trying color work again.

It's a bag with the Gryffindor crest on it. (hashtag nerd alert)

Don't get me wrong. I am absolutely loathing actually knitting it. It's a struggle to convince myself to work on it. This is definitely a product project rather than one I'm doing for the joy of making on it.

Color work knitter I am not.

But at least I'm trying.

As for my painting, I finally figured out something I've wanted to do for a long time.

Paint some space, yo.

This was my first attempt. It was based on a photo of the Milky Way that a quick google search yielded.

These have quickly become an addiction.

This one I just did by playing around with colors.

And of course I had to make one for John's desk.

I suppose the biggest news about my painting though is that I FINALLY have my pendants up in my etsy shop.

That's right. You can head right over and buy one of my watercolor painting necklaces.

Black Goat Crafts on Etsy

More will be in there soon, so if you don't see one you like now, be patient!

Lest you think I've completely abandoned all my ways, I did start on a new shawl for April.

Except, it really wasn't scratching the right itch.

So....

This beauty gets to come out and play.

And let me tell you, the change did me good.

Sunday Scramblin'

List posts are such a great way to add content to your blog! No need for a set topic to tie the whole thing together! In my opinion they are superio-

Yeah, okay, fuck it. I'm feeling lazy.

List posts = the McDonald's of the blogger arsenal.

It's a good thing I like me a Big Mac.

1. I've decided that small paintings are great and all, but I really need to torture myself by doing a mandala on a sheet of 18 x 24 inch watercolor paper.

2. I also did me a quick little piece to satisfy the mandal urges when the big ol' one up there proved to be more than I felt like tackling at the moment.

It's on these nifty little scroll things I found on clearance at World Market.

3. My tattoo is healing really well. I've had no problems with it being itchy at all. I never have with any of my three.

4. I'm scared that the fact above will make my tattooed friends want to rage at me for not having to endure what I hear is one of the worst parts about the tattoo healing process.

5. These are apparently the new rugs that I got for the hall right outside of the bathroom. They don't seem to appreciate me trying to dry my feet off on them after stepping out of the shower.

6. I found a REALLY HECKIN COOL travel watercolor set.

I snagged it for a mere $16 once I used my 60% off coupon. (All about them deals, yo.)

7. I HAD to do a side-by-side comparison of these paints (dry blocks) and my typical ones (tubed).

Old on the left, new on the right.

8. We built a cardboard playground for the cats. 

Yes, they had as much fun as you would think. Also, it's really fun to watch your dog try to jump through boxes to get the toy that you mercilessly threw in one. 

9. Alex rolled herself into a burrito on the couch and looked so cozy that I had to try it myself. Mine was superior because it contained a cat.

10. This round of Tsuro of the Seas got super interesting. It ended with a dragon crashing on John's head.

11. This conversation happened with Jamie. Atheists eat babies: confirmed. 

12. Knitting? What's that? Gryffindor bag? I don't know what you're talking about. *hurriedly shoves half-finished project under something*

Okay, okay. I haven't worked on any knitting since early last week. Which is bloody great when you run a damn knitting blog.

I do plan on picking it up again here soon, but hate colorwork so fucking much and can barely bring myself to look at the damn thing have been busy with other things. 

13. I was feeling pretty damn hot over the weekend. I mean, I managed to look like this whilst only functioning on 4 hours of sleep.

Saturday looked just as good.

14. Lest you think that I am feeling a little too full of myself, I was firmly reminded tonight of my actual place in the world.