Finished!

New Year's Eve seems to be the traditional time to reflect on the past year and celebrate what one has accomplished. Although I have not been keeping up with the blog very well this year (it appears my last post was in June - oops!) I did manage to finish some projects that had been sitting for even longer.

According to my Ravelry notebook, I started the Fluid Velocity Shawl sometime in 2012. And for some reason it got set aside for awhile. Then this fall I decided I really should get around to finishing it, especially since I was only a few rows away from starting the knitted on edging.

I even managed to finish it in time to send to my mom for Christmas!

I also just finished a Big Trees shawl, which I started on 3/2/2014. I have been working on it off and on, and was excited to finally bind off all 396 stitches today!

Still needs to be blocked, but I'm excited to wear it in the new year :)

Now that I'm feeling accomplished I'm thinking about what I want to cast on tomorrow...

What have you finished recently? Are you planning to start a new project for the new year?

The magick of birthdays

My high priestess has said the first spell most of us cast is making a wish and blowing out candles on a birthday cake. There is a ritual associated with birthdays: gathering people together, lighting the candles, singing, wishing, blowing out candles, cutting the cake.

I couldn't tell you what I wished for on my first birthday, but it looks like there was a candle and a cake!
 Last week was my 35th birthday. It wasn't a super eventful birthday, but it did remind me of the magick of friendship, and birthdays in general.

I had a few close friends over; as in introvert, small gatherings are best! We sat around and talked and ate (Pagan gatherings always involve food). We didn't play silly games like most of us did as kids (though I may need to bring back that tradition next year), but there was something special about spending time with people I care about and who care about me.

And of course there was cake!

The grown-up version of birthday cake, was the Salty Dog from Decadent Creations. I'm not going to jinx it and tell you what I wished for this year, but the cake was delicious :)

And after the cake there were presents! As far as I know, none of my friends discussed this beforehand, but my birthday seemed to have an unofficial bird theme. There was a sparrow lantern from one friend, an owl figurine from another, an owl offering bowl from someone else, and even a flamingo card from my mom.
The owl has always been one of my main spirit animals, and this was the perfect time to update my personal altar:

The silver pentacle was a gift from another friend, and the malachite owl was a birthday gift from a previous year.

This year I also decided to give goodie bags to my guests. I don't remember the last time I did this, but I remember it was fun to get a small gift for attending parties as a kid. I have also been trying to do some spring cleaning, so it seemed like a good time to find new homes for items I no longer need. I recycled a few paper bags and put a couple of items in each: a pendulum and dream catcher in one, a book about chakras and a box of incense in another. Everyone randomly picked a bag, and it was amazing how well the contents suited each person. I couldn't have planned it better if I tried!

Birthdays are more special when they're shared, and I wanted to share some of my birthday magick with you. May your next birthday be as magickal as mine was!

Rose City Yarn Crawl 2015

I didn't mean to neglect the blog for this long, but what better time to dust it off than the annual Rose City Yarn Crawl?

This year's crawl lasted from March 5 - 8th. (I had hoped to post my recap sooner, but have been busy working to pay for all my purchases ;)

The first day of the crawl I visited Knit Purl, Dublin Bay Knitting Co., and Pearl Fiber Arts after work. I also managed to stop by Black Sheep at Orenco on the way home, thanks to their extended hours!

Day One purchases:

Already thinking about knitting more shawls ;)

Friday I visited a couple of papercrafting shops after work (more on that later), so no yarn crawling.

Saturday was a long day, which started out at the Knitting Bee, then on to For Yarn's Sake (where I admired the Spincycle Yarns, and ran into a friend I hadn't seen in awhile). Next was Northwest Wools and Wool 'N Wares, two shops I don't visit very often but both had fun trunk shows going on. 

Then it was over to Yarntastic! Fiber Arts, which was a new to me shop, so I couldn't resist getting  a special skein of handspun, handdyed yarn and a row count bracelet. Next was Yarnia, which is always fun to visit and I hadn't been to since they moved last year. The day ended at Happy Knits, where I had fun checking out the Three Fates Yarns trunk show. 

Day Two purchases:

At least I didn't just buy yarn ;)

Sunday was the last day, so had to make it to the remaining shops! First up was Littlelamb and Ewe, which is a cute shop but the furthest one from home, so I don't make it over there often. Next was Twisted, where I visited with pdxknitterati and showed my mystery shawl to designer Debbi Stone (though I didn't think to get a picture). 

Then it was time for a snack, so stopped at Pip's Original since I had heard about their mini donuts and chai:

A dozen mini donuts! So yummy :) I also had a heart of gold chai.

Then on to the final two shops: Close Knit and the Naked Sheep Knit Shop, which are both cute shops I don't get to visit very often.

Day Three purchases:

More squishy yarn! Planning a couple of cowls and maybe a hat.

Overall it was a fun weekend, with lovely weather for wandering around. Now to focus on knitting all this wonderful yarn! Already working on a new cowl :)