*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.

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.

The Battle Begins

Alright, y'all.

It's that time of year again.

Unending dinners with family members who are closed minded and bigoted at best, and LITERAL FUCKING NAZIS at worst.

Some of us are in the position to be able to fight against them, to call them out, damn the repercussions. To cut them out of our lives entirely with nary a moment of regret.

And some of us, unfortunately, are not.

This is for you in that position. When family members won't use the right pronouns, refuse to acknowledge your partners, tell you that you're "crazy"... all the bullshit we face. And we're just expected to take it because FAAAAAAMMMMMMILY!

Fuck That.

You. Are. Valid.

You. Are. Worth. Everything.

You. Deserve. Happiness.

Respect.

Love.

You will always have a safe place here.

So, if things get bad today, tomorrow, whenever... You are ALWAYS welcome here. Reach out on Instagram, Twitter, wherever and talk to me. I'll be your support, your champion. I'll be the Best Mom Friend you've ever had.

I love you all so much!

Good luck out there. We'll get through this because we've got each other.

"Courage, my dear lion."

Christmas Hi-hate-this

First and foremost, another apology for another absence. We no sooner got Bee healed up when Jass decided that she needed a turn for an emergency vet visit.

Yep.

She's fine now, but it was another cone and isolation period.

Anyway in better news, I have been knitting a fuckton of stuff! I've managed to finish three Christmas presents already.

Like this one.

[Image Redacted]

And this one.

[Image Redacted]

And don't forget these!

[Image Redacted]

Yeah, it's about to get really boring around here since I can't really show ANYTHING I'm currently making.

JUST PERFECT SINCE THIS HAS BARELY BEEN A KNITTING BLOG THIS YEAR

*sigh*

Literally the only thing that I've done that I can show you are two rows on my Cobweb shawl.



That's it. That's the only non-Christmas knitting I've done.

I can also offer up the few Halloween pics we took on Trick or Treat day in town.

Maybe I can start reviewing yarn or tools or something? Offer up Christmas present ideas for the fiber lover in your life? Suggest some good last-minute present patterns?

I don't know, y'all tell me what you want to see while we're in lockdown mode.

But now, I'm going to go take a much needed shower and then dive right into the next project...

Or just maybe do a few more rows on a shawl for myself. I've earned it.