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.

Lunching, Leaving, and Kitties

Well, I've officially filled my Crazy Cat Lady stamp card.

We took in my mom's two cats, bringing our grand total to 7 felines. And while they are acting like they've always lived here, there are some rules that they're going to have to learn soon. Namely, WE DON'T EAT ASHTAN'S YARN!

Loki wasn't terribly happy when he got a gentle bop on the nose with a firm"no!" when he decided to dive into my lap to chase my yarn. He gave me that look of disdain that only cats seem to be capable of and sauntered off.

The prince of mischief himself.

OJ hasn't been much better. He only tries to bat at the working yarn, but his biggest offense is just to throw himself on top of my work and demand attention. He's a giant butterball of purring love.

Speaking of my mom, she's currently on vacation in one of the Carolinas. Which means that we've got to also take care of her turtle, Tank. Em decided she didn't want to go with me, so grandpa tagged along.

I decided to take him to Moe's for lunch, but we had to kill a couple of minutes before they opened, so we stopped by Harps and Thistles. He seemed enchanted by the place.

And in true grandpa fashion, he had slipped me some extra spending money, so I treated myself to a skein of Three Irish Girls from their trunk show.

We were the first customers of the day at Moe's. We had the whole place to ourselves, which was just lovely. He enjoyed his lunch and I think I finally can get him to admit that Applebee's no longer holds the title of best burger for him.

I think the end is finally in sight for Celestarium. I'm trying to set a goal of 7 rows a day for myself. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but 7 rows equates to over 4,000 stitches a day. I think another solid week of work will see it done. Then I have to block the behemoth.

I was also commissioned to make a journal by my grandma for one of her coworkers.

Which led to another one of her coworkers to ask if she could buy one. So I made this one for her.

I also made up some mini notebooks just for fun.

I did take a break from my crafting to spend a lovely day out with Miss Bethany. We found her dress for the vow renewal (which is a month from today!), as well as shoes for my outfit.

I found a few other things, as you can see, including my very first tunic (blue on the left). I found a pair of leggings to match them perfectly online, but couldn't buy them until this weekend. They were almost sold out, so I was kind of bummed. Well, a dear friend stepped in and decided to purchase them for me.

Seriously, I have amazing friends!

I plan on making her a journal as a thank you once I replenish my supplies.

I suppose I should get off my arse and actually get my daily knitting quota done. The sooner I do, the sooner I can get back to just doing fun projects.

*Vworp, Vworp* in the Valley

This post was supposed to be written over the weekend, but other things got in the way. Specifically, my anxiety and a new little obsession called Stardew Valley. I don't recommend it. It will consume your whole life.

But for the record, Elliot is a total hottie and my one true love.

Anyways! Knitting!

I ACTUALLY FINISHED SOMETHING!!!!! AND IT'S EVEN SOMETHING FOR THE VOW RENEWAL!!!

Specifically, the Time Vi-Tex shawl!

Knit with Dream Smooshy in Romeo Blue. I think I used about 750 yards. The pattern itself mashed two different shawls together with my own creative liberties thrown in.

Ravelry project link HERE.

Here's a close up of the Tardis pattern on the lower edge.

Isn't she pretty?

It seems I am incapable of knitting small things, though. She blocked out to a whopping 92 inch wingspan on the boards. It relaxed down a little after it came off, but not much.

That's a yardstick laying at the top...

Yeah.

I'm just glad that Vi loves giant shawls as much as I do.

Here's a comparison of Funkia hanging in front of Vi-Tex. It's actually bigger than Funkia.

Any bets on what Celestarium is going to look like all blocked out with double the amount of yarn than these shawls?

I can lie and say that I'm going to keep this short because I really must get back to knitting.

But you know better than that.

I'm coming for you and your luscious locks, Elliot!

Bonus sleepy birb pic! She enjoys the game as much as I do...