Steam Fever

No, I was not abducted by aliens or trying to move myself out into a cabin in the woods, going completely off the grid. I came down sick with something that can only be described as steam fever.

I found out two weekends ago that the day we were supposed to go to Ren Faire just so happened to be the Steampunk theme weekend. I am a steampunk nerd (steampunk fiction is my favorite genre). I've had a character built up in my head for a few years at this point. I was practically quivering with excitement. Until I realized that I only had a week to come up with a costume.

So, that's what I did.

Well, what we did.

With my grandma's help, we put together a costume that, while not entirely what I had in mind, would at least serve as a nice base. I can build on it and improve as time goes on.

We made a skirt out of the fabric that was supposed to be a tunic. With the scraps, I swore, yelled, and fought my way to make a sort of faux bustle. Because everyone Victorian lady needs a butt pouf.

I also remembered that I had my crinoline from the wedding hiding in the back of the closet, and let me tell you, it made all the difference to my costume.

I took a plain, black felt mini top hat form and transformed it. And promptly decided that I would never make another hat again. Between the velvet being a pain in the ass to work with, having to dye two-thirds of my trim, and burning myself with the glue gun, I was about ready to shove the damn thing out a window.

Came out pretty awesome in the end, though. Especially because I did the entire thing with craft stash. Yep, I didn't have to buy anything for this other than a comb to keep it in my hair.

I did a bit of knitting, too, because I wanted a pair of lace gloves. The pattern that I had originally picked was just not working, so I did what I am so good at doing and improvised.

I used the lace pattern from the Fir Cone Wrap on Ravelry and went from there. Keen eyed observers will see that I was watching Pokemon while working on them. ( #TeamInstinct4Lyfe!)

I ordered a lovely lace parasol that arrived with a broken handle, but a little bit of glue fixed it right up.

I already had boots and stockings. I had a plan for my hair. John was even going to be kind enough to carry my essentials so I didn't have to worry about finding room in my costume for them. Everything was going to be perfect.

Friday rolled around at it was hot. Stupidly hot. The kind of hot that makes it hard to breathe outside. A feeling of dread hit my stomach. I checked the weather report for the next day. It was supposed to be over 100 degrees.

There was no way I was going to survive in my costume in weather like that.

So, we didn't go.

But all of that work won't be for nothing. We've decided to head up there in a few weeks instead. And I'll be wearing my costume, theme weekend be damned.

Guess that means I can get back to the important things.

Little Things

A coherent blog post with lovely flow doesn't seem to be happening today. Instead, we'll go with a handy-dandy numbering system to bang out the particulars.

1. Since finishing Celestarium, the universe seems to have imploded and rained all kinds of shit all over my friends. This is my sincere plea for it to knock it off.

2. A few weeks ago, I decided to start getting a rough idea of Christmas presents. I picked up this skein of TIG in Ewe Rock My World to make a pair of Christmas socks.

3. Yes, the pictures are crap because it was much too hot and muggy to go take pictures outside today. And also because I got sucked in to continuing my foray into the Yarn Harlot's archive. I'm up to November 2010.

4. Celestarium was a hit at the yarn tasting. And I discovered that if someone tells me that green yarn is almost never purchased in the shop, I have an immediate emotional connection to it and bring all of it home. Two skeins of Dragonfly Fibers Valkyrie in Dragon Wagon that just so happen to match my Dragonscale Shawl. Maybe a hat and mitten set to go with it?

I also picked up a few skeins of Dovestone DK, which is ridiculously pleasant British wool blend. It's destined to be a lovely and thick cabled shawl.

5. Yes, I am playing Pokemon Go (Team Instinct 4 lyfe). No, I am not ashamed. In fact, I am so enamored that I decided to pick up a crochet hook for the first time in forever and crank out this little bulbasaur.

He's got a little surprise hiding in his bulb.

I was inspired by a Tumblr post that had a bunch of Bulbasaurs with different flowers blooming on their backs. My flower, as you can see, is knit rather than crochet, but I think that just adds to his charm.

He's so friggin sweet.

6. I ended up with a whopping 258 page views on my Trekking post. That blew me away. Thank you so much, you beautiful people. You make a girl blush.

7. My grandma's neighbors were replacing all of the windows in their home. Which meant that I managed to score 31 beautiful, old wood windows that set my grubby little heart aflutter.

I can't feel my arms due to loading an unloading all of those.

8. My mom made my nails all pretty.

9. I fell in love with the Split Back Tank pattern from Knit Picks and was tickled when I discovered that it actually went all the way up to my size. I ordered the suggested yarn, Lindy Chain, in the Tumeric colorway.

10. With the yarn also came the THIRD PAIR of sock needles. Which meant I started working on my socks again.

And actually managed to finish.

Well, one of them at least.

I find it rather fitting that I finished my very first sock while reading through the archive of the traveling sock queen herself. She's rather inspired me to try and push myself outside of my comfort zone with my knitting. I mean, a year ago, I wouldn't have even imagined that I'd be willing to do projects like socks and actual garments. But now, I'm finally understanding myself better as a knitter and just what I'm able to accomplish.

I'd like to think the Harlot would be quite proud of my first sock attempt. Even if it is a little loose around the leg.

Trekking

I have a confession to make.

I was not born into my nerdom. I didn't find it by accident as a small child. I had never heard of Zelda or played Super Mario Bros. I didn't own a NES or a Genesis. My first console was the original Play Station, which I played many an hour of Spyro on. And nothing else. I've never beaten a Pokemon game. I've never gotten past the first gym.

I hadn't heard of Star Trek, never watched Star Wars, and was only vaguely familiar with some of the most well-known superheroes. I only read books I knew I would like (mostly historical fiction) and never branched out to sci-fi or popular fantasy.

All of that changed when I met John. Like many a person before me, I decided to try and make myself more appealing to him by pretending to be interested in the stuff he was. So, I picked up Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap for my Gameboy Advance. And I fell in love with it.

As John and I's relationship progressed, he introduced me to more and more awesome things. One of those things was Star Trek. He had watched The Next Generation with his father as a kid. It seemed to kickstart a life-long love of all things space and sci-fi related.

He shared that love with me and encouraged me to check out the series. So I did. And I, too, fell in love.

Nowadays, we both belong to so many fandoms and factions, I can no longer keep track. We're Trekkies, Bronies, Whovians, Sherlock lovers, Dungeons & Dragons players... The list is endless. But Star Trek has a special place in our hearts. Just today, we rediscovered a picture of us sitting together, he wearing his TNG hoodie, and me with my Star Trek t-shirt on.

We also have an unhealthy obsession with astronomy and all things NASA related. We stayed up late to listen to Curiosity land, something that John considers to be one of the best days of his life. We watch almost every launch from SpaceX, grinning madly when they make giant leaps forward in space travel.

A few years ago when I first discovered the fiber arts, I stumbled across this pattern. I became obsessed with it. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to knit! But I knew I HAD to make it. So, I set out to learn how to wield two pointy sticks and some string.

A year ago, I finally felt confident enough to start Celestarium. It was slow going. I would work on it in bursts, but then would feel my attention wandering towards something small and quick, or anything with a more intricate lace pattern.

I tried to have it done in time for our vow renewal. When that didn't happen, it got tossed to the side again. But it was always there in the back of my mind. I knew I HAD to push myself to get it done.

So I did.

Yes, after a year of incubation, my baby has finally hatched. 

And it's everything I could have dreamed of. The yarn wasn't very soft to work with, but after I washed and blocked it, it's done a complete 180. It's buttery soft now. I had to be talked out of cuddling this thing all night.

The Orion constellation is the one constellation I can find without fail every time. It's always the first thing I look for when I'm out at night. So, I decided to do it in a copper colored bead to make it stand out from the rest. It's hard to tell in photos, but in person, it's quite lovely.

You can see the color a little bit better in this photo.

It is a massive thing, though. It blocked out to a 62 inch diameter.

But let's talk about the edging. So, all the talk of Trek stuff earlier? Yeah, I ended up with the completely bloody insane brilliant idea of completely writing and charting out a Star Trek com badge lace pattern. And while it's not exactly how I pictured it, I'm still quite proud of it.

When I finally pulled it off the blocking boards and laid it out on our bed, I broke down sobbing. It was hard for me to register that "I" actually made something like this. Having no confidence in my abilities makes it hard for me to see when I do actually make beautiful things. At that moment, I had physical proof sitting in front of me.

I really don't think I can properly explain just how much of an accomplishment this is to me. Suffice to say that I am proud of myself for doing it and proud of the completed project itself, which if you know me, is a groundbreaking thing for me to say.

But now I find myself at a bit of a loss. This thing has been with me for a year, a project to work on, an old friend always waiting for me. What project do I devote myself to next? What is going to be my next knitting milestone?

Maybe this? I always did love the crazy projects...

Knit, Knit, Knit

I want to take a the time to show you the pretty new sock yarn I bought last week. And to tell you about Alex's new knitting project demands. And show off my really cute new shoes.

But I don't have time.

My white whale nears completion.