Frustration Station

You ever have one of those mornings (okay, well, it was after noon when I woke up, but the point still stands) where you just get flooded with frustrating/overwhelming/upsetting news all in one go?

Yeah, that's how my day's started off, so instead of the more thought-provoking and serious topic I HAD wanted to talk about, you get a list post instead.

1. First and foremost, the guy who was fixing my phone has entirely disappeared. Kiosk is gone. The mall office can't even find him. So... we're out the $160 we paid for the part. At least he didn't have my phone, right?

2. I don't think I ever showed off the second Destination Yarn subscription color I got.

It's called Carnival in Venice. It's hard to see, but there's gold sparkle in it.

2. We went to Local Yarn Shop Day at Harps and Thistles yesterday and my makeup was looking pretty dang good,

3. I came home with two skeins of Malabrigo Mechita in Carnival.

Look familiar? It should. It's the same color from Carnival in the Castle that I made last September.

4. I also went out with Bethany yesterday for a bit of shopping and by far my favorite find was a washi tape organizer.

5. One of the very first cactuses I ever got, Prickles, ended up getting blown over from wind. When I went to put him back into the pot, the plant separated, so now I have Prickles and Pickles.

6. My snowflake aloe are looking super happy and healthy, which makes me so happy. I was worried about them when we first brought them home.

7. All my babies in the bedroom also seem to be pretty happy.

8. I started on the shawl I want to wear to Great Lakes Fiber Show.

Yes, it's something lacey and beaded. Because that's all I know how to do apparently.

9. I really don't have much else to say, so have a pet picture to take us out.

10. Wait, no, I lied. I redid my shrine to Henry, so have a pretty picture with all the candles lit up.

Okay, NOW I'm actually done. Toodles!

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Good-Fucking-Bye

In a few hours, 20-I-HATE-teen will be a mere memory. Lost forever to time.

THANK ALL THE BLESSED BLOODY STARS

So, let's pour the champagne, put on the comfy pants, and take a quick look back at all the projects I managed to finish over the last 12 months.

First, my octopus hat.

My first blanket.

The first Rios Lace Tam.

Quite a few dice bags.

Cute little soft friends.

 

Soft friends wearing soft things.

The second lace tam.

A few odds and ends.

And most importantly, a few shawls.

The fact that I got so much done despite the absolute bloody disaster this year stands as a giant, defiant middle-finger to it.

So, goodbye, so long, and fuck you, 2018.

2019, you better be better. I'm fucking watching you.

Alright, friends. We made it. Let's kick ass next year.

Love you all. <3

A Farmer's Market Worth of Lemons

Today's blog post wasn't supposed to be like this.

It was supposed to be about how I triumphed in my mad dash of getting my shawl done in time to wear to Steph's wedding. There would be pictures from the venue, of loving friends, three of us sporting our shawls, of Mikayla and I happily knitting on our socks at the reception table, of us looking fabulous and amazing, showing off our new outfits, showing off our partners. Happy memories, joyous times...

But, the universe laughed and screamed, "FUCK THAT!"

I should have heeded the warnings.

Everything was going too well.

I found a fabulous dress in a color that I adored at a super deep discount. PLUS it matched a lip color that I had wanted to buy at Ulta (which I did) AND I found a matching eyeshadow.

I finished my shawl days before my deadline. It was easy to block out. Came out to the perfect size, despite me leaving off the last few rows.

The Red Tide even stayed away, which as a PCOS sufferer, is always a gamble.

It was all coming together.

Then Saturday dawned.

Everything went to shit Saturday. Everything was going wrong. But still, we made it out the door (extremely late, but not so late that we'd miss the wedding), looking good, makeup and hair perfect, and started towards the venue. We were about 40 minutes into the journey when our car decided that the rest of our day was going to go from bad to worse.

I'll spare you the details, but our car completely died on us. And there was no resurrecting it. We had to be towed back home.

Needless to say, we missed the wedding.

And, if that wasn't enough, it also ruined the surprise outing John had planned for today as my birthday present.

Yeah...

So, instead of the much lovelier post this should have been, you'll have to deal with just another regular finished shawl post.

What? We weren't about to waste looking this good by not at least going and taking pics.

So, I went back and forth about what shawl I actually wanted to do for this project. I knew I wanted to use my lovely speckled yarn, but was unsure of what I wanted to pair it with.

I just happened to stumble upon the newly released When You're Fast Asleep shawl pattern on instagram and knew I had found a winner.

The next issue was deciding what color I wanted to pair with it. Because the yarn had all manner of rainbow speckles, my choices were virtually limitless.

After much agonizing and deliberating, I decided on MadTosh Merino Light in Glazed Pecan. It was a good brassy gold, not too yellow, and not too muted. AND it was on sale.

The problem is that I took so long deciding that by the time I ordered the yarn and had it arrive, it was already Thursday the 6th. And I had to have the whole thing done and ready by the 15th. That, my friends, is a REALLY FRIGGIN TIGHT DEADLINE.

But, I got her done.

And she is rather lovely.

I decided to give my project the title of Carnival in the Castle for a few different reasons. One, the original pattern was based on Cinderella's castle. Two, the speckled yarn is the Carnival colorway from Malabrigo. And third, I'm just bloody clever like that.

It was a fairly straightforward knit, which was a blessing. The stockinette sections definitely got a little tedious, but the lace made up for it.

If I remember correctly, I came out with a 78 inch wingspan, which I was quite pleased about. Especially because my shawl is actually a few rows shorter than the pattern as written.

Yes, my friends. For the first time in my life, I KNIT A SHAWL SMALLER THAN THE PATTERN SAID TO!

Maybe I was just trying to get hell to freeze over since it's been so GATDAMNED hot here.

Orrrrr... maybe I was lazy and just didn't want to have to weave in two more ends.

Regardless, I really do love this shawl. And while I'm devastated about having to miss the wedding (the brain gremlins are being particularly nasty in that regard today), I figure I'll just have to find an excuse to wear this whole ensemble to some snazzy future event.

BONUS CONTENT!

Can't really leave off without showing off my hot-as-feck spouse.

He has fully embraced purple as his color and, I must say, the results are rather.... breathtaking.

..............................

I may have a case of the vapors.

ONE LAST THING

I had fully intended on getting my blog anniversary post done this weekend, but with my brain being all ridiculous and depression-y/anxiety-y right now, I'm going to hold off until I'm in a better state of mind.

I mean, I have yet to post one on the actual anniversary anyways. What's another couple of days?