So folks, this weekend is the big Three-Oh for me. Thirty years old! Gosh, I remember when that sounded so old. By 30 I thought I’d have everything figured out, I’d have a settled career path, I’d maybe even have kids and a house! Thirty just seemed so far away and intangible. Now that it’s here, I’m realizing that 1) I don’t feel ready for half of those things anyway and 2) I’m totally ok with that. I’ve got fuzzy goals and even fuzzier plans, and I’m feeling pretty relaxed and flexible about if and when they come to fruition.
Darwin, demonstrating the way in which I should approach life.
As much as I’ve loved the past 30 years, I’m expecting the next 30 to be even better. My 20s were full of more than their fair share of upheaval and angst, and I’ve recently been making strides towards living a healthier, less anxious, more joyful life. I’ve also realized that many of the people whose work I admire didn’t do their great [whatever it is I admire them for] until they were middle-aged or older. When I start to feel the pressure of time on my back I stop and remember that I really have no idea what I’ll be accomplishing or experiencing over the next few decades, and that there is still plenty of time.
… for yarn. Always time for yarn.
You know how I really know that I’m 30, though? I’ve caught myself, on more than one occasion, making small talk with the poor, bored high school cashiers at the grocery store. Those kids don’t care what an old lady like me has to say, and I know that, I can remember that feeling, yet I still find myself doing it as if it can’t be helped. (When did I start small talking with strangers anyway?) To those kids, I’m just another old-ass adult with old-ass adult stories, and that just blows my mind.
Use code ’30BDAY’ at checkout.
In celebration of my birthday weekend, all purchases of lotion bars or lip balms at Sweet Sheep Body Shoppe are 30% off with use of the coupon code ’30BDAY’ at checkout through January 27th. Be sure to tell your friends, and thanks so much for your support! Here’s to 30!
I finally started knitting them at the end of May, and finished them up in the first week of July. So, I had to knit one of these each week. I used my swatch to determine how many to cast on to fit in an 8×10 frame. It’s a good idea to underestimate how many stitches you need as your yarn will likely stretch and you want the fabric to be taught. I used a totally luscious yarn for this: 
The frame requires a little work before you attach the knitting. We (I say we, since the FiascoHubs helped) used the matting from the frame as a base, then cut out quilt batting to the same size and plain fabric about an inch larger. Then you make a little batting sandwich and use double-sided tape to fold the fabric over and secure it to the back of the matting.
Finally, you do the utterly unthinkable and take a stapler to your silky, luxurious knitted fabric. You carefully staple all around the edges of the piece to secure the knitted fabric to the fabric backing. Not gonna lie, this part was painful.
But the results were so worth it! I love how these little frames turned out and I know at least one of my friends is already using hers. I didn’t want to just give these frames, however, so I also made some earrings to go with it (no, I don’t know what came over me).
These things came out better than I had expected and were surprisingly easy to make! 
Oh yeah, that’s a bride knitting
Here’s where we sealed the deal with a kiss! Note, if you will, the crocheted doily under the unity candle (thanks, Mom!) and the presence of the 
Here you can kinda see the jewelry I made for myself: necklace, earrings, and bracelet. I decided to make jewelry for myself since I made a bunch of earrings as part of my bridesmaids’ gifts, but I’ll talk more about those later this week on FO Friday since they also involved some knitting!
We kept our table decorations simple with basic table runners, some color-coordinated votive candles, and beribboned mason jars full of glass gems and flowers. The Fiasco (or should I say, my new husband!) wrote, printed, and hand-cut Mad Libs for each table, as well!
I did not actually make anything on this table, but other people did! One of my best and oldest friends crocheted amazing bride and groom horseshoe crabs as a shower gift, which obviously had to make a wedding appearance. (The Fiasco and I met when I hired him as an assistant for my horseshoe crab research.) Our adorable little 
Our biggest DIY project was putting together all of the flowers for the bouquets and centerpieces. I ordered wholesale flowers from 
Squeeeeeee!
Woolen Diversions 
