Nancy Drew and the Case of the Missing MadelineTosh

Currently on the needles:
- Dragonscale Shawl

Our young detective, Nancy Drew Ashtan Albright, is trying to solve a case of a precious skein of Madeline Tosh that the USPS seems to have sent into a void somewhere. A knitter's worst nightmare, let me tell you.

But how did I get myself into this mess? Shouldn't I be on a yarn diet from all the beautiful things I brought home during the yarn tour?

Yes, I probably should, but saving money is a tempting mistress, my friends. The fact that I have to spend money to save money is completely irrelevant...

My birthday was this past Thursday and various retailers, bless them, sent me all manner of coupons and gift certificates to use. Not wanting to waste these precious things, I found myself looking for anything to spend my 20% off on Paradise Fibers. Lo and behold, they had two skeins of MadelineTosh DK in Stephen Loves Tosh.

The heavens opened up and the sky wept for me.

I had been searching for another skein of this yarn after finishing the Sugar High Cowl. During the course of making the cowl, I didn't think I'd have enough yarn to finish it and bought myself another skein. Well, not only did I have enough to finish it, I also had enough left over to make this.

Warm coffee is best coffee.

I figured that I'd make *something* out of the other skein at some point and sat it aside. 

Sometime around March, I got the notion in my head that I HAD to make a shawl with this yarn. I mean, it looks like a Van Gogh painting in yarn from. But that meant having to get more yarn. Oh, darn!

My usual supplier, Jimmy Beans, had two onsie skeins left in stock. Tossing both into the cart with a self-satisfied smirk, I completed the checkout process.

A few hours later, Jimmy Beans sent me an email, letting me know that my order had been cancelled because they did not, in fact, have my mythical yarn. My heart broken, I resolved to just shove the only skein I had into the back of the stash, until such time that I was ready to face it.

So imagine my delight when not only did I find the yarn and my order from Paradise Fibers went through, but they even stuck it in a box and actually shipped it out! I would have my shawl yet, damnit!

But the universe apparently doesn't think I am worthy of this yarn.

For two days, I've seen the exact same status on the USPS' website.

It does not take two days to drive from Cleveland to my house, USPS. You're making me nervous. Don't you understand how much I need this yarn? Please, please don't fail me in this. I don't think the tenuous relationship I have with my current skein of Tosh in this color will survive if it finds out it might have to be put away yet again.

In other news, I'm 25 now and up an age bracket on surveys. I also received tons of lovely gifts. My precious soul fam got me all the beautiful stuff you see below.

A mug with my initial (already have plans for a mug cozy for it!), a beehive cookie jar, a ceramic pour over coffee filter and bamboo filters to go in it, and some corn chowder mix.

She also got me some lovely copper rings. I fell in love with the top ring because, let's face it, it looks like some gorgeous yarn wrapped around it. But I had been wanting a thumb ring for a while and the flowered one fit. Being the generous soul she is, Renee insisted that I take both. I love that woman, let me tell you.

John and Alex got me the Lego Harry Potter Game Years 5-7, an ocelot Minecraft plush, and John managed to sneak one by me and stuck a Super Rare Tarrasque Dice Masters card into my deck. 

Emily got and assembled a 3-D crystal puzzle t-rex that promptly fell apart the moment I touched it. She, in a brilliant flash of patience and understanding, reassembled the whole thing, super gluing the pieces together. Rexy is solid now.

My mother got me a 2 foot by 3 foot t-rex skeleton wall sticker and a bone folder, which I desperately needed. The sticker already has a place picked out for it, but it means I actually have to paint the room it's going in. So, in the box it shall remain for a while.

If I wasn't cozied up in my bed, I might be bothered to take pictures of these presents. But alas, I am a creature of comfort, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

In knitting news, I'm still plugging away on the Dragonscale Shawl. I'm playing yarn chicken and hoping desperately that I'll have enough to actually finish. And, because I'm a masochist, I've decided to add beads to the final chart, slowing my progress down even more. 

I'm halfway through the final 16 rows, then have a 2 row bind-off. I have no bloody idea where I'm going to block this thing, though, because it's huge. Just in time for this wonderful cold weather we've been having.

Beeeeeaaaaadddddsssss!!!!!

I also made something for Renee and Kevin as a thank you for the lovely dinner they made us.

I'm especially proud of the bee box there. It's already hanging up in their kitchen, which, not going to lie, makes me a little proud.

Well, I do believe I'm going to go attempt to wrangle this shawl and get it done today. Some Arrow and a lot of caffeine should do the trick. Or it's going to distract me so much that I bungle the whole mess. One of those two options. 

Yarn Discovery Tour: Weekend Two

Currently on the needles:

- Dragonscale Shawl

- Victorian Cowl (pictures below!)

Recently finished objects!:

- Leydon Mitts

Apparently, whenever I go out for the yarn tour, the sky weeps mightily for my wallet. But rain aside, John and I had a fabulous day checking out two completely new to me yarn shops! 

Our first stop was at Knit-Wits Knits in Salem. We had some trouble finding this place. It's inside this seemingly unassuming building called Courtyard Square that is just incredible when you walk inside.

Photo courtesy of Courtyard Square facebook page.

The shop itself reminded me of Artist Gallery Yarns in Canton. It wasn't the light, bright yarn shop that I adore. The selection was fine, though it didn't seem to have a lot of the brands that I was used to seeing. There was a wonderful discount section, where I got all of my yarn from.

The shop also had a bit of a strange layout, but that was due to the construction of the actual building. 

All in all, it was a nice place to see and I could imagine going back, if only to sit in that incredible space outside the shop and knit for a while.

I found some more Berroco Vintage, this time in color Ruby. Vintage is a great alternative when you don't want to use straight acrylic. It's a 50/40/10 blend of acrylic, wool, and nylon and just a decent, mid-range yarn. I only paid $5.50 for this hank, which typically retails for around $8. I'm all about the deals, people.

Another deal I got was on some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in color Black Watch. It typically retails for around $14 a hank. I paid $7.50. Shepherd Sport is a 100% superwash merino with 200 yards per hank. These two lovelies will be used for my very first socks.

And I just couldn't say no to these! These are ChiaGoo limited edition painted bamboo knitting needles in the Blue Flower pattern. At only 9 inches in length, they are on the small end of needles. But I think they'll be great if I need a quick project, like a mug cozy, to take with me. 

After Salem, we headed to Boardman in search of lunch. We ended up at the Stonebridge Grille and Tavern. Quite apropo seeing as it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the high holy day of us Pastafarians.

We started off with some spinach and artichoke dip, and then each had a burger. I opted for the mushroom swiss and he for the bacon cheddar. We both asked for the horseradish mayo to be added and split a basket of fries, per the waiter's suggestion.. An excellent, decision, I might add. That basket was huge! Everything was delicious and very reasonably priced. $35 for everything, before the tip.

By the time we finished up, our dear friend, Caitlin, had finished her shift at The Flaming Ice Cube. Part vegan cafe, part knickknackery, and part yarntopia, Flaming Ice Cube is a very cool and wonderful mix of eclectic treasures. While it's not the largest selection in the world, there's enough variety to keep every yarn lover happy. It is a little cramped, but I like cozier places myself. The cafe is separated from the shop, but you still smell all the wonderful things cooking up there!

If I have to make a list of my favorite yarn shops, the only reason why Flaming Ice Cube isn't on equal footing with Harps and Thistles is due to distance. I also realized that I'm probably biased in this review.

There was wonderful shawl hanging up on display that I fell in love with. Rather than just buying stash yarn, I decided to get the supplies to make it. The store sample of Ridgely by Michelle Hunter was made with HiKoo CoBaSi. I'm not a big cotton fan, so I started looking for a different yarn. 

I swooned over Classic Elite's Fresco in color Passion Fruit. A 60/30/10 wool, baby alpaca, and angora mix, this sport weight yarn is the definition of luxury. But at $11 a hank, I wasn't quite sure if I should spend nearly $60 for the yarn, as opposed to the $30 it would have been for the CoBaSi. Well, Caitlin wasn't going to let me walk away from buying extra yarn, so she decided that she was just going to buy 2 of my skeins as a birthday present. 

Did I mention that I have the best friends ever? 

And lest you think me ungrateful or spoiled, I had brought along a hank of Annadele Alpaca yarn that I had bought her at the Great Lakes Fiber Show. And I have other plans in the works now for her birthday...

Here it is, in all it's glory! And I'm not allowed to play with it until I get some other stuff done first, which is totally not cool. 

Feeling slightly guilty about not spending more money, I also picked up a skein of Malabrigo Rios in Jupiter. A silly name, I might add. This colorway looks like red rose petals. It's absolutely beautiful. Rios is a worsted weight merino superwash with 210 yards per hank. I was so excited by it, I couldn't help but start right away on a quick cowl. This is the Victorian Cowl by Amanda Reed. I'm already starting the fifth repeat out of nine. I'm hoping to have it done in the next day or two.

My biggest problem is that I have to choose between two sets of buttons. Both would be perfect, but which is MORE perfect?

See what I mean? I guess I'll just figure it out later....

I also got to do something at Flaming Ice Cube that I've never had a chance to do before: actually sit and knit in a shop! I've knit in movie theaters, restaurants, concerts and every other venue you could possibly think of, but never at a place that actually sells yarn. 

Usually, we have Alex in tow, so I'm not allowed to just sit and knit. But in a rare instance, it was just John and me. And he was happy to just sit and talk, especially when Caitlin brought Taylor (her husband and our other dear friend) to the shop. 

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day and a great way to end my Tour.

All of my goodies over two weekends.

Did I mention that John got a gift for being so patient and kind and generous? While he was busy talking, I picked him up a tea for one set. He adores it! And a happy John means a happy Ashtan. Who cares that I had secretly bought him the tea set for his birthday but gave it to him as soon as we got to the car?

I'm terrible at keeping gifts until the date when they're supposed to be given. I ended up giving Grandma Pat her Leydon Mitts on Saturday. She, I'm happy to say, absolutely loves them. 

I also gave my middle sister, Emily, her birthday gift a few days early. As I've mentioned before, I am starting to learn and do bookbinding. I made Emmy a leather bound sketchbook with a hand embroidered rose on the cover.

Showing off the actual binding here. I used Sea Lemon's long stitch binding tutorial. The leather is a scrap piece I picked up from Great Trails.

The rose was done in a silvery grey embroidery floss, while the stem and thorns were done in olive.

None of my remaining pieces of leather were long enough to make a tie, so I had to sew two of them together. 

For only being my second project, I think this came out quite nicely. Emmy certainly seemed to like it. Fun fact, it took me longer to do the embroidery than making the rest of the bloody book.

My victorian cowl is calling to me, so until next week, happy crafting!

Battle with the Brain

Currently on the needles:

- Leydon Mitts (pictured below)
- Dragonscale Shawl

A second post in the same week?! Unthinkable! But I feel the need to talk a bit about my brain.

My brain is a very strange creature. It seems to be made up of two parts: my logical, Spock-like part and the angry, rabid beaver that Spock is trying desperately to gain control of. I'll let that mental image sink in for a moment...

Spock tells me when Beaverly is acting up. Even in the middle of a severe panic attack, Spock is telling me over and over again that what Beaverly is doing is not logical. It's running rampant and it's hurting me. Eventually, when Beaverly has wore itself out, Spock can take back over, though the hurt and anger that Beaverly felt is still there like an echo.

Sometimes, Beaverly and Spock can take pleasant walks together, with only slight occasions of rabid episodes. This is what I would call an average day for us.

Why exactly have I anthropomorphized my brain? Well, it seems to actually be helping me to live with and tame my depression and anxiety.

For example, the other night, I was convinced that my neighbors (yes, those wonderfully kind ones I've talked about before) hated me. I mean, they were always telling me that I was creative and talented. That must mean they were just trying to placate me until they could figure out a polite way to tell me to shove off, right? Beaverly had broken its chain and was going on a rampage.

Rather than keeping my feelings to myself, I messaged Renee and told her what my brain was telling me. I did not say that it's what I, as a whole person, was thinking. This problem was all Beaverly's fault. And therein lies the difference.

I'm starting to see that I am not the broken, useless, ugly human being that I thought I was. My brain is the one with the problems. It doesn't work like a normal brain should. It has been hurt and abused so much in the past that it sees compliments and genuine love as a threat to itself.
"How long will that love last until the person hurts us?"
"Do you really have talent or are they just going to turn around and make fun of you right behind your back?"
"You're not good enough to love, let alone actually like. Why would they actually ever want to be your friend?"

Beaverly has been in control far too long in my life and Spock seems to have been kept in cryogenic storage. I didn't know how to deal with the overwhelming beaver brain and actually take control of me. I would let the anxiety and depression take over completely. I felt like I was drowning with no hope of saving myself. I didn't feel like there was a way to reign it in. But that seems to be changing.

Now when my anxiety and depression flare up, I'm going to do my best to listen to Spock. I know that it won't be easy. And I know that Beaverly will always be there, causing chaos. And there will be times that I fail and I'll be hurting for a while.

I also need to learn to listen when Spock tells me that I'm at my limit. I need to learn to tell people when I'm uncomfortable and need to be out of the conversation or situation and not worry about them reacting badly. Yes, I will disappoint some people by not going to particular events and doing certain activities. But you know what? I focus so much on taking care of other people, I haven't left much for myself. And that's taken a toll on me mentally, emotionally, and physically. That needs to change. And it's probably what I'll struggle with the most.

I am a person who has anxiety and depression. I'm not a depressed and anxious person. I don't have to let my brain chemistry define me. I am a complex human being made up of many different thoughts, skills, and ideas.

I'm a person who has a family I was born into and has a growing family that I've chosen and I love and adore both.

I am also a crafty, creative person. I love to make things. I also love learning new crafts. I have this great curiosity of learning about and trying new crafts all the time. It's another skill to put into my arsenal. And it's fun to take all those different crafts and combine them in all sorts of different ways.

I'm also a secular humanist and atheist. I care a great deal about humanity and try to help out with no need for divine rewards. I believe every person has value and something to contribute.

I'm a sister, a mother, a lover, a daughter, a friend,  a granddaughter, a teacher, a student, and an activist. I am startdust, and molecules, and atoms, and elements.

But most importantly of all, I am me.

And I matter. I am worth something. And it's about time I start to learn that.

Yarn Discovery Tour 2015 and Great Tails (Warning! There be lots o' pictures here!)

Currently on the needles:

- Dragonscale Shawl
- Leydon Mitts in Swish DK Dove Heather
- Some super secret birthday presents!!!

Currently ZzzZzz....

- Celestarium
- Lonely Tree Shawl
- One Skein Lace Shawl

I've spent the last week just recovering from Great Trails and a minor cold. The remnants of Trail are scattered about my living room and dining room. Chests, beds, benches, baskets.... And the room we have to store it all in currently has a leaky pipe! So, scattered about my house, they shall remain. Thankfully, I don't do much in the way of entertaining, so no one but my family is subject to my messy house!

I took a few pictures from Great Trails to give people a glimpse into what exactly it is that we do year after year.

This is our set-up. We use a wall tent with a fly. Think of the tent as our bedroom and the area under the fly as our kitchen/living room.

We don't have a lot in the way of furniture yet. We're just starting out with our own set up. We don't even technically own the tent! 

The benches you see here are my aunt and uncle's old ones. They graciously gifted them to us. The table and chairs are my grandparents'. They're also the ones who have an addiction to canvas and the reason why we're not just sleeping on a blanket under their fly.

One of our lanterns. Specifically, the one I received last year as a birthday present. John's is a lighter colored wood.

I have quite a few family members that participate in rendezvous, my great uncle being one of them. He used to craft these lanterns himself, but retired last year. We have two of the last ones he made.

Our bed and some of our storage chests and baskets.

The other half of the tent. 

This is my collection of pottery from the wonderful Catherine Kendrick. She is as beautiful and kind as her wares. If you get the chance, you should really see her works in person!

John in his frontiersman attire.

Me in mine! I'm actually wearing a snood here that I crocheted myself.

Because who doesn't love an adorable picture of us?

Enough with the camping stuff! This is supposed to be a knitting and crafting blog, right? 

Currently, there is an event taking place in Northeast Ohio called the Yarn Discovery Tour. A collection of 21 different yarn shops are participating this year. Crafters can purchase a passport for $5 from any of the stores. Then, the goal is to try and stop into as many shops as possible. When you make a purchase of $10 or more in any of the shops, you get your passport stamped and are entered into that store's prize drawing. For every 5 shops you visit, you get entered into higher level grand prize raffles. Every shop also has a free pattern that you receive when you make your purchase.

Over the weekend, I managed to make it to 3 different shops. And let's just say that I spent more than the minimum amount. But, be proud of me, my fellow knitters, crocheters, and yarn addicts: I only purchased 2 skeins for the stash. Everything else already has a project assigned to it!

On to the pictures!

Here you see everything fits nicely into the tote bag that I received with my passport for being one of the first 700 to register. I also got that nifty little tape measure in the middle right of the picture.

The patterns that I got are all for knitting. Only one shop had offered a crocheted one, which disappoints me.

The patterns are cabled mitts, a beaded cowl (not pictured), and a very cool reversible shawl that has a cabled lace edging.

My first stop was to Bare Naked Wools in Canton. Tucked away on a side street, BNW is a new-ish shop opened by the incredible designer, Anne Hanson. 

I picked up this lovely hank of heathered grey yarn. It's their Better Breakfast Fingering in color Warm Coals. It's 450 yards of a merino and alpaca blend, with a touch of nylon for the extra stretchiness you need for socks. Very soft, too!

The next stop was My Sister's Yarn Shop in Green. I'm going to be completely honest here, it's not my favorite place. She has a nice selection and a great discounted area, but I've never found the place to be comfortable. I couldn't see myself wanting to sit there and knit for hours, like I do at other places. But that could just be me! Check it out for yourself and make your own decisions.

I just grabbed a couple of skeins of Berroco Vintage in Caramel. I need a honey colored heathered yarn for a special project. I'm breaking the rules of knitting, though. The pattern calls for fingering weight held double, and this is a worsted weight. The pattern is simple enough to change, though, so I'm not overly intimidated.

Our final stop was to my favorite place in the world, Harps and Thistles in Cuyahoga Falls. This is my perfect yarn shop! The only downside is that it's a 50 minute drive to get there. But it's well worth the trip! The owner and her daughter are absolutely lovely people and very knowledgeable. And if you have impatient family members, Harps and Thistles is located along a street lined with other shops that they can go peruse. Including a popcorn store! Guess where John and Alex were?

The first thing I grabbed was a ball of Universal Yarn's Deluxe Worsted Superwash in Charcoal Heather. Very soft and with many lovely colors, it's a good workhorse yarn. This particular ball will be used for a special Christmas project.

The dark blue you see is Malabrigo Silky Merino in Mares. I have 3 hanks of this already at home for a shawl, but I like having extra in case I want to make the shawl a little bigger. The silky merino is my new favorite to work with! My dragonscale shawl is made with the same yarn, just in a different color.

The two lighter blues are more skeins of Berroco Vintage, this time in Aquae. Alex actually picked this yarn out. She wants me to make her a new hat for this winter. And of course she wants a Splatoon pattern. 

This yarn. Oh, this yarn! This is Dragonfly Fibers Pixie in Starry Night. It was love at first sight! 

Sarah, the owner, Cindy's, daughter, recommended this one to me. They had just gotten it in. For those of you who don't know, I'm a total hipster and I adore Van Gogh. And, of course, Starry Night is one of my favorites. I don't think I can accurately capture just how incredible the dye job on this yarn is. I highly recommend checking it out for yourself!

As for the hank itself, Pixie is a superwash Merino yarn coming in at 475 yards. It's not the softest Merino I've ever felt, but it's still quite nice. I'm already making plans for this skein, let me tell you, even though it was purchased as stash yarn.

I'm still hoping to hit 2 more shops before the official end of the Tour on the 26th. I'm hoping my wallet can handle it. 

~*~

I didn't actually get a lot of knitting done last week, between the cold and working on some other non-yarn related projects. But here are a couple of WIP pictures to make up for that.

This is the One Skein Lace Shawl I'm crocheting for my grandmother. It's currently hibernating until I can get some other more time sensitive projects out of the way. If it's done by Christmas, I'll be happy.

My Dragonscale Shawl. I have no idea how many repeats I've done so far, but I'm on ball number 2 of my silky merino. This is my personal stress relief project for when I need a break from the time sensitive stuff.

My lovely Celestarium! I need to order some longer cables before I can go much farther with this one. It is coming along beautifully, but I discovered this yarn has a dark secret! The dye bleeds! So, when I get the whole thing done, I'm going to have to set the dye and hope that none of my beads shatter from the heat! I'm already terrified!

Well, I suppose it's back to the needles so I can get some more birthday presents done! I'm surprisingly ahead on some of them! Don't worry, my dear reader, that won't last very long.

Until next week, happy yarning!

So much to do....

Currently on the needles:

- Dragonscale Shawl in Malabrigo Silky Merino in colorway Lettuce.
- Celestarium in Knitting Notions Classic Merino Superwash Sock in colorway Midnight.
- Lonely Tree Shawl in Malabrigo Merino Worsted in colorway Butter.

Currently on the hook:

- One Skein Lace Shawl in Loops and Threads Woolike in colorway Cool Gray.

October is going to be a bad month for me. There are so many birthdays and not enough time to get everything done. I am also seeing some friends that I only get to once a year, and they need presents, too, damnit!

This is, of course, on top of the 50 million projects that I've already promised people.

For any other crafter out there, this is nothing new to you. You promise all your friends and relatives that you'll make them something. You make the to do lists, buy the supplies, and gleefully get started. Soon enough, though, you find yourself drowning in projects. You decide to take a little break and maybe do some selfish crafting. Fifty new patterns later, you've added 8 more projects to your queue and they seem a lot more fun than what you were already working on. So you find something new for a friend to work on... Repeat until the end of time...

I'm trying hard to limit myself to only having a couple of active projects, but it doesn't seem to be working out. I was only working on the Dragonscale Shawl and the One Skein Lace Shawl. A project for me and a much overdue project for my grandmother. But then I realized it was already September and I have 80 thousand people I have to have something done for by next month, on top of a secret thing, and planning our next D&D session.

So, I'll be casting on at least three more projects and hoping that my loved ones forgive me when birthday gifts end up as Christmas gifts.

And since I currently don't have a phone with a functioning camera (thanks, Samsung!), I can only post  some old WIP pictures. I get my new phone tomorrow, though, so I won't be out of comission for long!

The Dragonscale Shawl.

Here, you can see the pattern a little better. As well as my addiction to a certain caffeinated beverage.

And for those curious as to what the bit of lace loveliness is in the picture above, this is a journal I made for my beloved neighbor and "other parent."

Now, speaking of my neighbor, let me tell you about these beautiful people that live behind me. My family has known them for years. They are honestly and truly some of the most kind, wonderful, and sincerely nice people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Renee is into all manner of antiques and old objects and has a passion for thrifting and repurposing things. She's a very craft lady, too. In other words, we get along famously.

Her husband, Kevin, is just as crafty and will talk to you about anything. Discussions with him are never boring, let me tell you.

Renee and I meet up once a week and have a day to just make things and solve the world's problems. It's great therapy for both of us. These visits have become one of the best parts of my week and I don't think I can truly express how grateful I am to have these people in my life. They genuinely care about us and I don't ever have to worry about being anything other than myself around them. They really are like another set of parents to me.

She's actually the one who encouraged me to start blogging again. So, to make her proud, I'm going to give it another go. I'm hoping to update at least once a week.

Now, time to go tackle some of those projects. Woo?