Anniversaries, Alpacas, and Auchenorrhyncha

Outside, there is a symphony thundering throughout the woods. The 17 year cicadas are out in full force right now.

Let me tell you, there's nothing like the sound of ridiculously horny bugs to serenade you all bloody day long.

They are quite fun to watch, though. I've been having fun frolicing around, picking these guys up. We found them in every stage of their cycle yesterday, which was just absolutely fascinating. I took a bunch of pictures of one that we found just coming out of his shell.

This one never made it out of the shell.

Just coming out.

Isn't he so cute? :3

"Hi!"

You can see the color changing and his wings growing more translucent.

Sadly, his right wing never fully unfurled and he couldn't fly. 

This was another one that we found before he full hardened, Aren't those wings beautiful?

Besides chasing bugs around, I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show on Saturday.

But before I get to that, I have to tell you how I am a foolish person and shouldn't press my luck with deadlines.

I mean, Funkia was some sort of glitch in the universe. There's no way I should have been able to get it done. But I did.

So when I decided that I should finish Maori Shawl in time to wear for the show, I should have smacked myself upside the head and tell myself how stupid that is.

Friday night, I was ready to toss the whole thing away. The edging wasn't coming out right. Stitches were being dropped and lost like mad. It took me nearly 40 minutes to get through 1 beaded row.

I took it as a sign, I tossed it to the side in utter frustration, resigned myself to wearing Funkia instead, and muttered to myself darkly about how much of an utter failure I am as a knitter.

Yeah, right. I called John, had him bring me home some coffee, and I CONQUERED THAT MF-ER.

It was on the blocking board and drying by 1:30 am.

I had been so worried that it wouldn't be big enough.

Why do I ever doubt my curse? As surely as Wil Wheaton will fail a critical roll, I can only knit giant shawls.

Maori here came out to a 90 inch wingspan, making it wider than Funkia. The spine is only 31 inches, which is perfect on my short little body.

The pattern had nupps in it and I DESPISE doing them. So I did what another knitter did and replaced them with beads.

I also modified the edging quite a bit. I still love how it came out.

I had specifically started this shawl to match this dress. Yes, the dress has pockets. Best. Dress. Ever.

Anyway, on to the Fiber Show!

We ended up meeting with Mikayla. Who also finished her shawl at 1 in the morning right before the show.

And we saw Cindy running around, too. Who had some goodies that I can't wait to see in the shop!

The universe kind of decided to crap on everyone else.

We still had a lovely time! We got so many compliments on our shawls and Mikayla kept me on budget by insisting that we do a complete lap first and then go back for the things really caught our eye.

Which is why I blew almost half my budget on one skein of lace weight alpaca. I couldn't get it out of my head.

This one has nearly 2,500 yards in it.

Big skeins were my thing this year. This is also alpaca. 600 yards of worsted weight for a measly $28. It's SO SQUISHY!!!

I may or may not have been found napping on the couch, snuggling it...

This was my very first purchase. I have been wanting a gradient, with non-repeating colors. 400 yards of superwash merino and nylon.

And probably my newest favorite indie dyer, This is some absolutely gorgeous sock yarn in a colorway called "Stockholm" from Destination Yarns. I was eyeing soooooo many colors she had. I can easily see myself buying about 50 more skeins...

The Saturday before was John and I's 5 year wedding anniversary. We really didn't do anything special because the universe laughed at us and decided to dump everything on us that day. But that's okay.

We're still happy. Maybe even more so than we were when we started this journey.

So happy anniversary, my darling jerkface. Glad you haven't been scared off by the sheer amount of fiber that has invaded our home.

Mania, Maiming, and Mamas

Question. If something you see advertised as "Fiber Mania," you would assume that there would be lots of wooly goodness for you to play with, right?

Well, you'd be wrong. Fiber Mania in Alliance was a huge disappoint on the yarn front. There were more antique shops than anything else.

I did find a tabletop loom at a ridiculously good price. And I did get to spend the day with some of my favorite people, so I'll chalk it up to a win.

It also helps that my new leggings were waiting for me in the mail when we got back. And holy hello, they are the most comfortable things on the planet! Why didn't I start wearing these things sooner?!

No pictures of the whole outfit, though. Haven't had a chance to take any decent pictures.

Oh, I suppose that I should also mention that I bought a giant dragon statue for the mantle...

Yeah.

I also took a day with my grandma to Hollo's Papercraft. I was looking for some handmade paper for John's present (he knows about it now). I ended up finding these two.

I also bought a bunch more supplies for more journal making, including a ream of parchment. It's been lovely to work with.

On the yarn front, I received the last of my Madeline Tosh club colors. 

The color is called Sandstone and it's even more gorgeous in person. This one is fingering weight and included two skeins. Which means there's more than enough for a shawl.

I also fell in love with the fire color from the last round and ended up purchasing some from someone who didn't like it.

I can't wait to play with this one.

On my needles, I have Maori for myself. I'm using Malabrigo Lace in Water Green. I just purchased a dress to match it (and holy hell, it's the most comfortable dress EVER!) and am hoping to have the shawl done in time to wear to the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in a couple of weeks.

This one might be on par with Funkia for absolute favorite.

Mother's Day was this past Sunday. As you could guess, I haven't finished everyone's presents. I may be a terrible person.

Anyway, I did finally finish the shawl that I started for Grandma Pat for her birthday last year.

This is Passe-Partout in Three Irish Girls Springvale DK. 

And yes, before you ask, it came out huge. There were another 21 rows of garter stitch at the edge that I left off. And this still came out to 70 some inches. 

I also made her a note pad with a replaceable paper pad.

For my mother-in-law, I made a journal with some of the parchment that I bought.

We didn't actually go out and visit anyone that day. We decided to work on the yard since it was high enough that we were in danger of losing Chloe in it.

I planted flowers in the porch planters. We put some lovely smelling lavender in our large pots. When the wind blows it smells amazing. 

John took a little break from mowing and I decided he needed some proper decorations.

I also made my first ever fairy garden.

I even hid some little mice in there.

The house looks pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

My raging case of sunburn, however, does not.

Sunscreen, kids. Remember it.