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

Joyous Natal Felicitations!

Well, today is the Queen Mum's birthday.

No, not that Queen Mum.

THIS Queen Mum.

Even more specifically, MY Queen Mum.

It has been claimed that we look a lot alike.

Frankly, I don't know what people are talking about.

(Also, yes, I was a blonde at one time.)

My mom's definitely been best friend more than anything, being confidant, consoler, and advice giver throughout the years.

She was one of the very first people to teach me and my sisters what it meant to be creative beings.

Her and my grandmother were among the first people who let us all explore whatever craft or hobby we girls could come up with, imparting their wisdom and offering what advice they could.

That creative freedom turned into life skills and crafting abilities that have helped define and shape who we are.

Mom's always good for a laugh, with us usually all trading quips and jokes that eventually leave us all crying on the floor, clutching our sides.

She also put herself through years of schooling to become the kickass paramedic that she is today. Not only did she pursue this career path, but did so as someone in their 40's. That takes a hell of a lot of dedication, energy, and time. 

And it's probably the thing that I'm most inspired by. That it's never too late to tackle an all new life path and become the person you want to be.

So happy, birthday, mom. I'm so proud of the things you've accomplished in your life. Love you dearly. <3

An Eggstraordinary Dozen

Twelve years.

A whole dozen of them. Into the second decade.

It's a long time to have someone in your life. Especially as friend, companion, and lover.

A dozen years means a lot of changing and growing when you get together at such a young age.

It means expanding your world views, discovering who you are as a person.

Not everyone's relationship can survive such reinventions of the individuals involved.

But we have.

We have not only survived, but have thrived.

We have been through the fire and the flood. We have overcome obstacles and challenges that we've never even dreamed of.

We are completely different people than when we started this relationship. Vastly different. Our entire relationship itself has changed.

We're a little older, a little wiser. Way more secure in our individuality.

And somehow, someway, we're still head-over-heels for each other.

We still love waking up next to each other and falling in bed together every night. We can still talk for hours, laughing and carrying on. We're still each others greatest support, cheerleader, and constant companion.

We spent this past Saturday celebrating our anniversary at the Cleveland Art Museum. And in front of the Van Gogh's they have on display, John reaffirmed what I already knew: that he was committed to us and what we've built together. Even through all of our life changes, he was still in love with me.

We're finally at the point in our lives that we feel happy and content with the people we've become. And we want to reaffirm and recommit ourselves to each other, to our new selves.

So, next February, we've decided to throw one hell of a party. Something we're calling a recommitment ceremony.

Not a wedding. Not a vow renewal. Something new and different. Something to celebrate who we are, what our lives have become.

Which means I have one hell of a year of planning and crafting in front of me.

So, happy anniversary, my love. Hope you're ready to bust out the glue sticks and glitter. Because we're in for one hell of a ride.

Life's a Truck... And I've Been Run Over

Well, it has been a little bit, hasn't it?

I haven't gone this long without a post in a very long time.

Life kind of bowled us all over and not in any sort of good way.

I suppose I'll start with the latest finished project, then go on a bit about what else we've been up to on this unintentional hiatus.

In exactly 3 weeks, I was able to knit an entire blanket, much to the astonishment (and maybe annoyance?) of some of my knitterly friends.

The pattern is Alistair's Rose Pi Shawl, with some special Ashtan tweaks.

It's done in worsted weight yarn instead of lace. (6.5 skeins of Malabrigo Rios in Liquidambar) 

I stuck an extra repeat of one of the earlier charts on instead of an edging and had only went up to (I think) row 26 on the final chart.  I didn't want it to be too open and lacy.

I also stuck tassels on the points because I'm extra like that.

It came out to a diameter of roughly 6 feet, which I suppose is a decent enough size. I kept envisioning a 9 foot monster, but that's because I always have unreal expectations of my knitting.

I managed to finish it in time for the next pj party, which was my entire goal. I had planned on taking pics that weekend, but we ended up being super swamped.

Saturday, we had gone to John's late grandmother's house to take what what we wanted of her possessions. I ended up with a gorgeous antique vanity and dresser.

The dresser will probably become more yarn storage, because, let's be honest, I kind of need it.

The vanity I was more excited about.

I had a beat up, chipped paint, uneven legged monstrosity serving as my makeup storage. The dogs regularly knocked the supports we had under the legs out and I was just waiting to hear a giant crash in the middle of the night as hundreds of dollars worth of makeup broke apart on the floor.

Now, everything has its place and the dogs can't really knock it over.

The stool had to be recovered because it was... "scary" might be the kindest term.

Did you really expect anything less from me?

I've only had one chance to actually sit at my vanity and use it. We had yet another funeral/memorial service to attend. We've gone to so many in the last 6 months that I have a go-to makeup look for them now. That's something I never thought I'd have to say.

Anyway, we came home from that and I had started coughing a little bit.

The next day, I had been knocked flat on my ass with some sort of cold that made me feel like getting hit by an actual truck may have been preferable. AND my ulcer decided to act up. AND my body decided that I needed a bloody cherry on top of the already shit pie.

Needless to say, I haven't been doing much of anything since then. Yesterday was the first day that I actually felt well enough to get out of bed. And I managed to shower without feeling like I was going to pass out. And I made dinner. Praise me!

I also managed to finish John's last anniversary present, which was a little unexpected.

I missed the opening of the Ravellenic Games, so I thought I'd just use his triangle scarf as an easy-ish way of still doing a project for the Games without pushing myself. Expect I managed to do it in two days and I'm already stash diving for something else to do.

Yikes, I look a sight.

Better pics when I can convince him to actually model it for me.

For now, though, I think I'm going to start working on a giant scrap blanket.

Because I don't understand the words "break" or "relax."

Slice of Life, Slice of Pie

Listing, listing, listing all the day!

1. I had to set aside the mindless knitting because it was just too dang boring.

2. So I made a hat for myself instead. Much pie was had.

3. The aforementioned pie would be a big ol' helping of the humble variety for this rather cocky knitter. For the first time in years, I actually had laddering issues.

4. Much embarrassment was had by me.

5. I fixed the problem and happily shoved it on my head where it's pretty much remained.

6. Yes, my necklace is an octopus. Yes, I made it myself.

And yes, I'd be willing to make a couple at some point to sell.

7. Continuing with the octopus theme, I made myself a new ring.

8. I've also made two new Henry pieces.

9. The one Christmas present I knit this year was a cabled dice bag for John.

My own pattern, of course. I'm not sure if I'll release it or not since it involved crocheting a bottom.

10. I've been diving back into the journal making territory for a Particular Purpose. 

11. No, I'm not telling you yet.

12. Sometimes I make something really adorable and small from scraps.

13. And then I make something smaller than that.

14. I've really missed getting to stretch my creative muscles and work on something other than big knitting projects.

15. Of course I have a new big project on my needles.

Lace weight circular shawl pattern using worsted weight yarn.

16. Yes, it's going to be a blanket. The thing I swore I'd never make.

17. Malabrigo Rios in Liquidambar, in case you're wondering.

18. Yeah, the yarn looks familiar.

19. No, this was not the intended project. But I have no regrets.

20. Damn, this blog really has just been about the shawls for the last few months. 

21. No cat pics this time, but have some food porn to close us out.

22. Yes, that's homemade mac and cheese with sauteed broccoli in a breadbowl.

23. Yes, I know you're jealous.

24. No, I'm not sharing.

Great Expectations

There's a time after finishing a big project that feels like a giant black hole of feelings. Pride because you just finished something awesome. Sadness that the project is done. Anxiety because your brain hasn't caught up to the fact that no, you don't have another deadline to meet at the moment. And the urge to dive straight into the next Big Thing.

I had fully intended to do another year long project with monthly goals. It was going to be focused on repaying favors to people. I had my list of projects and was thinking about starting it, but... I just don't want to.

I know, I know. It seems selfish. Why can't I just do what I said I was going to? You're a terrible person... and so on.

But I am so burned out.

Exhausted.

The Twelve Shawls project nearly did me in mentally. And physically at some points.

And I can't get my brain back into the headspace of being able to take time on projects.

Trying to do another year long thing is just going to reinforce that mindset of "OMG HAVE TO HAVE IT DONE NOW!" And I don't want that. I want to be able to relax a bit and not have such stringent deadlines.

So, I'm taking the year off from my Big Things. I'm going to make what I want when I want to. And take as much time as I need to.

Sure, there are definitely things that I plan on accomplishing this year. Including a very special shawl for a very special party. (You'll have to wait until next month to find out!)

But for now...

... For now I'm going to kick back and just enjoying some mindless, slow, easy knitting. Take my time and savor it.

After all, it's all about the journey, right?