LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH

Alright, let's be honest here. This post is nothing more than a photo dump of a bunch of stuff that I wanted to share here, but never really fit into other posts.

I had two more of my prickly babies surprise me with flowers this year.

Pinky up there decided to give me one last one this morning after being moved back inside for the winter.

Actually, I just went to check and BOTH of these lovelies will be putting out more blooms!

Kevin and Renee bought me these new lovelies for my birthday.

There was an orchid, too, but...uh... I already killed that...

Listen, I'm good with cactuses, okay?

I wanted to buy all these pumpkins at Petitis.

We ended up just buying standard pumpkins at Target.

But we had fun carving some of them!

I sat right by these pretty things all dressed up in my Halloween best for the local Trick-or-Treat.

Our trees put on a good show this year.

And we'll round things out with a heaping dose of pet pics.

---------------------------------------------------------
Like my writing? You can help support me and future writing projects directly by donating through the links below!

Ko-fi link: ko-fi.com/blackgoatknitting

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/blackgoatknitting

From the Archives

Things have been pretty quiet on the Finished Object front. I've mostly just been working on my vow renewal shawl, which ended up being a good thing because yours truly is going to need a 4th ball of yarn...

Anyway, rather than just show you progress pictures of that (it's not that interesting, I promise), I thought it'd be fun to dive into the archives of some of my earliest projects.

I've now been knitting for over 6 years. I learned how to crochet a year before that. Needless to say, I have a few older projects hanging around here.

Why don't we start with my very first shawl ever?

I'm sure it comes as a shock to you all that this thing is MASSIVE.

It was crocheted using a mixture of random yarns, most of which I couldn't tell you weight they were. But somehow it all worked out.

I had no idea what gauge was. The eyelets in this thing are big enough to fly a damn plane through.

I also messed up the pattern, adding so many extra stitches that I can wrap this around me completely at least two times.

But it was an important first step in my fiber journey, so as many flaws as it has, I still love it.

Speaking of important steps, let's look at the shawl where I discovered (much to my horror) that I'd been knitting the COMPLETELY WRONG WAY for almost TWO YEARS!!

Yep, I'd been twisting my stitches in every project since the beginning. I guess it's fairly common with people who go from crochet to knitting, but I was frustrated and annoyed with myself when I found out.

I pretty much had to relearn how to knit after this, which wasn't exactly easy. But I did it, and haven't had too many problems since then. *snort*

Looking back, I've also realized that I never really liked following patterns to the letter. This hat, my first, looks so completely different from the pattern that it's comical.

It's... umm... grown just a *wee bit* over the years and is just slightly slouchy now.

And the last project for the day is another shawl I crocheted.

This one was a lesson in patience, with having to frog back a few times, which is SUPER FUN with very fuzzy yarn like this angora.

I hope you enjoyed this trip into some fuzzy memories (heh) with me. I've got plenty more hanging around here, so don't be surprised if this becomes a semi-regular post topic.

For now, though, I should probably get back to the vow renewal shawl. I'm thinking that I'm going to need two more skeins for it, so y'know, if you want to toss some ko-fi's my way, now is the time.

Cheers!

---------------------------------------------------------
Like my writing? You can help support me and future writing projects directly by donating through the links below!

Ko-fi link: ko-fi.com/blackgoatknitting

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/blackgoatknitting

Pumpkin Patch Pickins'

Fall is FINALLY DANG HERE!

Cool weather, crunchy leaves, ACTUALLY GETTING TO WEAR MY NEW SWEATER, I'm embracing it all. Especially the pumpkin part.

I finally took the time to knit myself a new Fall basaur since I gave the original away.

And yes, you can just see it poking out there, but he also has a tiny scarf. too.

I'm also particularly proud the pumpkin. I wanted one of those knobbly ones that always get left behind at the pumpkin patch, so I used bobbles to give this one some texture.

And if knitting one pumpkin wasn't enough, I also had to make one for a special neighbor's birthday.

And OF COURSE it had to be pink.

I used up the last skein of the pink bulky yarn I had used for her sweater. And I mean I USED it. There's nothing left.

The leaf is completely improvised (like, I grabbed some needles and just went full free-form on it) and felted. I thought it'd add a nice little contrast to all the pink.

And if that wasn't enough pumpkin for you, we ALSO added this dude to the front porch.

And because I had to clean off the table anyway, I thought I'd snap a few pictures of the yarn I'm planning on using for a Knit Along.

Yu Ra, the amazing person who hosted the Quiet Queers Craftalong, has been releasing so many new and amazing patterns lately.

Her newest, Bojagi Shawl, is just lovely. I've been eagerly awaiting the release date AND IT'S HERE!

Even better? She's offering it for FREE!

A KAL is being hosted from now until December 14th, so y'know, you should totally join us for that.

And make sure you donate to her Ko-Fi account as a thank you for such an amazing pattern.

Now I'm sure you're ready to see the yarn, right?

Guess what, though?

It's NOT GREEN!

This is Valencia from Destination Yarn.

Jeanne had a trunk show at Harps & Thistles over the weekend, so I HAD to stop by for a visit.

This was like THE COLOR that jumped out to me.

(I don't know what the sudden obsession with pink is, either...)

BUT lest you be worried that I am forgoing green entirely, I'm pairing this with a deeply muted sage that is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph.

I tried in bright sun.

And pairing it with the pink.

NONE of them even come close to capturing it.

Oh well.

All you need to know is that:
1. It's pretty
2. It's stash yarn
3. It's lace weight held double

So, now that we have that out of the way, I'm going to go knit, okay?

"BUT WAIT!" you yell. "WHAT ABOUT THE VOW RENEWAL SHAWL?!?!?!!?!?"

Listen, I HAVE been working on it.

I'm through the first chart. And I've estimated that I have roughly 15 working days left on it. So it WILL get done in time, I swear.

Look, I'll even show you my progress!

Aww, dangit, seeing this makes me want to work on it right now, too.

Maybe I can do a two-at-a-time shawl?

Hey, it works for socks...

---------------------------------------------------------
Like my writing? You can help support me and future writing projects directly by donating through the links below!

Ko-fi link: ko-fi.com/blackgoatknitting

Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/blackgoatknitting