This past week I've been bouncing back and forth between crocheting and painting a lot. With a little bit of computer work thrown in. And reading, too! Brain needs a break sometimes.

I'm getting SO CLOSE to finishing the shawl with Ethan's yarn! I'm on the very last stretch now, with the last color.

And amazingly, I am not at all tired of this color palette yet!

I mean, I love green anyway, but these greens? These greens are my JAM.

That bright spring green, especially, just makes me so happy every time I pick it up! Verdant, I believe, is the colorway name. And it gets its own time to sing on the other end of the shawl!

Wish me luck finding the space to block this thing, though. It's just so luxuriously long!

I can't wait to see how it looks after blocking. Those pesky ends continue insisting on curling. I'll get them in line, though. Should I take bets on how many pins it will take?? 😆

Hopefully, I can get away without too many and embrace some organic swoopy shaping, lol. That's my favorite way to do it! Just pin those corners down and let it be however sassy it wants to be!

I just hope I have enough blocking boards. And enough floor space...

Speaking of floor space, the floor in my studio is a huge mess right now because of all the painting I've been doing! (And the tapestries, too, let's be honest—I really need to get those up on the wall.)

The Bloomtober challenge is coming along all right, though. I'm now seven paintings in!

And... I don't hate any of them, lol. Some of them I feel kind of meh about, but you can't get the good art without some bad art, too!

Kind of like NOs on submissions. Yes, I got yet another no. Womp womp. Don't let my flippant attitude fool you. It totally bummed me out for the rest of that day. But. Onward!

So what do you think about all these toxic florals??

I definitely have a favorite so far. Any guesses which one? Hit reply and tell me yours!

The next prompt is rhododendron and I'm just not feeling it. It's just too... much? I'm not sure how to simplify it.

Last time I talked with you about taking inspiration (like a beach/the ocean) and transforming it into art. I usually do that through painting or crochet, obviously.

But I've found that simplifying is a key concept for me.

Embracing imperfections.

Intuitive painting and color choices.

Organic lines, both in paint and crochet.

Looking for shapes and feelings rather than trying to draw or paint or design the whole thing at once.

I especially love the blurry eyed technique, ha ha!

Have I ever shared that with you before?? It's just looking at something squinty eyed (or, if you wear them, maybe just take off your glasses) and using that distorted view to help guide your decisions.

I use it when I'm arranging color fades with yarn.

I do it when I'm sorting and planning fiber for spinning many of my tapestries.

And yes, I even do it when painting! Usually when I'm trying to make a decision about what the next step or layer should be. Maybe flower placement or final linework to try and balance some of these guys out a little.

Of course, sometimes I end up with four moonflowers all facing the same direction (and why do they all have FACES!?) and it's too late to fix it and I can't unsee it...

But you know what? I can still totally see using this as inspiration for some handspun for a tapestry or a crochet design!

I could do a whole Toxic Florals Collection, ha ha.

...

Hmm.

I feel a rabbit hole approaching.

Wish me luck!

Though I do also really want to try to finish up that shawl, too. Oh, and with it being nearly done, the pattern is also nearly written (you should see me spreadsheet 😆😆😆), so once I pretty that all up and get some nice FO pictures, I'll be looking for some pattern testers. If you'd like to be on the short list for testing it, let me know! You can also join my testing pool on Yarnpond (it's free), which is where I usually hold my tests.

Cheers, y'all!

P.S. Attitudy Judy has struck out on her own! Or, actually, his, I think. That's okay, I'll still call him Judy if he turns out to be a rooster! (Any Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans here?) We'll see soon enough.