Purchases and Plans

This weekend was the annual Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster and, like always, I HAD to go there to surrender to the wool fumes.

Caitlin and Mikayla joined me on my quest for wooly wonders, and did we ever have fun.

And by fun, I meant that we were all practically melting from the heat.

I broke Mikayla's rule of no buying until we see everything, but I HAD to snag a skein of Destination Yarn's show exclusive colorway, County Fair.

Yes, a single skein. Not my usual two-for-big-shawls.

I had a limited budget this year, and I knew a big chunk of that was going to go towards the yarn for my ceremony shawl, so I mostly bought single skeins.

But rather than let them just languish as "stash yarn," I did something rather clever. I went ahead and paired it up with some other stash yarn and picked out a pattern. In this case, I grabbed my new Leon Alexander yarn and a skein from Bare Naked Wools that I purchased like 3 or 4 years ago.

The 3 skeins are all put together in a canvas drawstring bag and the pattern has been recorded in my bullet journal. Makes for easy project planning!

The next thing I bought were a couple of minis from Redbird Studios.

And these were paired up with the skein of speckled pink Three Irish Girls and some Shepherd's Wool fingering that I had laying around. In fact, the Shepherd's was one of my first purchases from Harps and Thistles FOREVER ago.

Speaking of Redbird Studios, remember the blue skein I bought last year?

Okay, you probably don't, but that's okay!

Anyway, I decided what I was going to pair with that, too!

The pattern I have in mind for this combo I'm so ridiculously excited about. I'm going to get to try mosaic knitting for the first time!

It's another colorwork technique, but you only use one color at a time. It uses slipped stitches to create the designs.

Like I said, really excited to try that.

My last purchase before we get to ceremony shawl yarn (yes, I actually did find some) is the only thing I haven't paired up with anything yet. Mostly because I think I want to just buy a second skein and make something spectacular out of it.

You can't really tell from the above picture, but the yarn is *sparkly*.

You can kinda see it a little bit here. But in person, it's just *shinyshinyshiny*.

I mean, I guess one stash yarn out of everything I bought really isn't that bad.

But let's move on to the purchase we've all been waiting for.

I give you...

The Ceremony Shawl Yarn!

*fanfare and trumpets and glitter and confetti*

I ended up buying these three skeins from Bewitched Pigments in their Magic fingering weight base. The color is called Into The Woods.

It was love at first sight, really. I tried looking at other yarns, but this color just completely captivated me.

Now I guess I need to sit down and actually design the thing.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

I changed my mind again.

But now that I have the yarn, I have a solid plan in front of me and just need to dive in and get working.

Oh, I also picked up my first dyer pin!

Now I just have to find one of them fancy canvas bags that everyone has and start placing my badges of honor on there.

Well, that's all I got. Catch you later and all that!

"WAIT!" you yell. "Did or did you not get Teroldego done in time to wear to the show?"

Listen...

I did.

It was really easy to finish, surprisingly.

But...

I...

Didn't wear it...

I KNOW!

But I didn't have any good outfit choices to compliment it.

So I ended up wearing Celestarium.

And I was stopped every other booth by someone wanting to see it, which is great and fun and totally ego-inflating.

But lest you think this was a unique thing, Mikayla wore that gorgeous purple Boo Knits shawl of hers and was stopped just as often as I was.

Caitlin was the only smart one and didn't wear wool in nearly 90 degree heat.

We stupidly waited until we were about dead from heat to take a picture together, so I'll spare you from that sight.

Instead, I'll leave you with some new flower pictures from around our yard.

If you'll excuse me, I have some yarn to play with.

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Destination: Yarn!

Now, this may come as a wee bit of a shock to you, but I kind of have a *thing* for yarn.

I know, I know. Color you surprised.

And when it's yarn done by an indie dyer?

My little heart just goes wild.

And when that indie dyer is, in fact, just a short little jaunt up north?

That sound? That was my heart exploding.

A couple weekends ago, I got to attend Destination Yarn's open house for their new dye studio.

Yep, it's not just another yarn shop. It's a whole new world.

Jeanne has opened a studio to teach people how to dye their own yarn and fiber. It's really incredible!

She also had a beautiful display of all of her current stock of yarn for sale.

Mikayla, Steph, and I were practically kids in a candy store and had to go squish it all.

This was, of course, after I had a minor meltdown about what the hell to wear. Which caused us to be late. Yay, mental illness!

But really, if you're going to a Yarn Thing you need to show off a bit, right? And I have a closet full of shawls to wear. So I got overwhelmed with trying to decide which one was The Right One for the day.

I ended up with my usual "I-Need-To-Impress-Fellow-Knitters" shawl, Celestarium.

A good choice, I guess. Wish I could just get my nerve up to wear them all a bit more often...

Anyway, Steph was on the hunt for a skein of yarn for a Very Important Thing, I promised myself that I just wanted a single skein of heavier yarn for a hat, while Mikayla was trying to be good and only get ONE skein to make socks since she's currently on a sock kick. (heh...)

And because we're all terrible enablers, most of those plans went out the window.

Steph ended up with two yarns to make two Very Important Things, Mikayla bought yarn for another shawl, and I... well... I decided that the yarn I had originally bought for my ceremony shawl wasn't quite perfect.

This, however...

Yeah. I brought them both home. And I have absolutely no regrets.

The color is called Pine Forest. Absolutely perfect for a winter ceremony.

We won't discuss the fact that this also means that I had to change the pattern AGAIN! But I think we really have settled on a winner this time.

I plan on buying both colors that Steph and Mikayla also got because I loved them so much. They can join the ever-growing hoard of colors I have.

Left to right: Irish Bog, Stockholm, and Shark Infested Waters.

Alas, we had to tear ourselves away from the yarny goodness and seek out some sort of caffeine for poor John, who had been dozing in a corner of the shop.

We ended up at Blackbird Baking Company, coincidentally right next to River Colors Studio.

The yarn shop had closed a little bit before we got there, which, honestly was probably the best thing for us. But we did get to meet a lovely fellow knitter in the cafe who happily showed off her Find Your Fade shawl.

I wasn't really impressed with the coffee at Blackbird, but their baked goods were on a whole 'nother level. I had a blue cheese and onion focaccia and thought I was going to die from happiness.

We arrived in time for their happy hour, where everything is half-off. Do you know how tempted I was to clear out their remaining stock? John, the blighter, wouldn't actually let me take it all, but we did get a big bag of goodies to take home for later.

Mikayla had to get going, so we all parted ways, yarn and baked goods in tow.

John and I were trying to decide if we wanted to go check out anything else before heading back home.

We took some adorable selfies...

And decided to at least go drive past the lake. It just doesn't feel right to go to Cleveland and not see it.

I managed to finish Vi's dice bag on the way home.

We're going to ignore the knot in the bind off since some dumbass was so tired that she bound of half her stitches, thought she was done with the whole thing, broke the yarn, pulled it through the last stitch, tried to take her needles back, and became very confused when they wouldn't separate from the project because, you know, HALF THE STITCHES ARE STILL ON THEM!

When you fail, fail spectacularly, right?

I am super in love with the way the colors worked out for this one. It reminds me of something out of my current favorite game, Subnautica.

I just might have to make myself one in this colorway.

But, that'll have to wait since I have to dive headlong into Mojito.

It's a wee bit bigger than this picture shows (I had intended to write this post a cfew days after my last...) I now only have 4 rows of the double sided lace section and the edge chart to go.

But most of those rows...

... are beaded.

And I had to order more beads because I actually didn't have enough of these in my hoard of shiny things.

I couldn't buy more from the place I got them because it closed down. And my usual bead supplier didn't have them. So I had to order them from a company I've never dealt with before, which is always terrifying.

It needs to be done before the 26th for my 10 year class reunion, so I *think* I'll be okay.

But if I'm not....

Well, Celestarium looks pretty good with my dress.

Insert Creative Title Here

This past week has seen a rapid amount of up and down swings for me. It's left me feeling emotionally and physically drained and I just don't have the energy to write a long and witty post. So, list it is.

1. I finally got brave enough to put some bright color on my hair. It's purple now.

2. Because of the above, I've turned into a selfie monster.

3. No, I don't see this as a problem. And yes, I'm rocking green lipstick. Jade from Coloured Raine. Highly recommend it.

4. Orchid Thief is still not done. I had to buy ANOTHER damn skein for the edging. And if my calculations are correct, I'll be binding off 595 stitches.

5. Yes, my Christmas decorations are still up. No, this doesn't bother me. No, I have no plans on taking them down any time soon. Yes, because I am lazy.

6. I did a lot of painting this week.

The last one was a challenge to only use the paint I had left over in my palette. Not my best work, but a fun exercise.

7. I accidentally bought more lace weight yarn. And by "accidentally" I mean I did so with full comprehension and no regrets.

8. I may have also bought beads to go with it.

9.  I stumbled upon this is my stash and think it would look fabulous with my hair, so this might jump to the top of the queue after Orchid Thief.

10. I played Minecraft with Jamie, John, and another friend from 5pm yesterday to 3am this morning. It was hella fun, I've built a lovely little home and will grab a screenshot to share next time I'm on the server.

11. I'm doing the Yarnlove Challenge on instagram. You should go check it out.

Yarnlove Challenge Day 2: Close Up! A beautiful shot of my Celestarium that I finished last summer. #yarnlovechallenge #knit #knitting #knitter #knittersofinstagram #yarn #yarnaddict #yarnporn #shawls #lace #happiness #blackgoatknitting

A photo posted by Ashtan Albright (@ageeksgirl08) on Feb 3, 2017 at 8:29pm PST

That's all I've got in me today, folks. I'm going to go try and slog my way through a few more rows of Orchid Thief so today isn't a complete wash. 

Thanks Be

I don't currently have the brain capacity to write out a well-thought out and witty post. Have yourself a merry little list-mas.

1. I made two entire Thanksgiving dinners two days in a row. Stress nearly ended me and my marriage. But my turkey came out perfect, the ham was delicious, and everyone stuffed themselves silly. The problem is that now I have to cook for *every* holiday.

2. I had a glorious Friday night, though, with John, Vi, and Jamie (via skype). We laughed until we cried. My stomach actually hurt and I thought I was going to toss cookies. But I can't even begin to describe how much I needed it.

3. Saturday and Sunday were supposed to be my relaxing days. Well, Saturday was spent pretty much in the bathroom. Because my body finally broke from all the stress of the past month.

4. Today, however, I felt much better and actually had a productive day. We started cleaning and organizing the downstairs to prepare for the onslaught of Christmas decorations that I am about to unleash upon this place. We also decided to pack away all the useless fancy dinnerware in our built-ins in favor of turning it into a boardgame/D&D display cabinet. The house is starting to show signs of a bunch of nerds living here.

5. Speaking of Christmas, I'm doing an entirely new theme this year that I won't be unveiling until closer to Christmas. Which means even more projects that I can't share here, yet.

6. My stress levels will not be dropping anytime soon. I'm starting this next week by having to get up at 5:15am to take my grandma to her doctor appointment. And she's got two therapy appointments. And there's a pj party that I may or may not attend Friday. And dinner with my mom on Saturday. Plus, having to go buy supplies for the house at some point.

7. It's really hard to not just jump on a bus and head straight back to Athens until after Christmas.

8. I'll leave you with my little Instagram thankfulness post.

Decided to jump on the #thankfulness train. I'm thankful for the two people who love me the most in the world. I'm thankful for all of my friends, and would require many, many more posts to get them all. I'm thankful for my sisters who have always been there through thick and thin, though more often than not, I'm the one supporting them. :P I'm thankful for the family I have that love and try to understand me. I'm thankful for all of my kids, feathered and furred. And I'm thankful for this creative ability in me that seems to manifest itself into wonderful things in a wide variety of mediums. #thankful #poly #love #family #knit #knitting #knittersofinstagram #knitter #bookbinding #crafter

A photo posted by Ashtan Albright (@ageeksgirl08) on Nov 27, 2016 at 9:05am PST

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...