Merry Christmas to ME

Do you buy yourself a Christmas present?

I don't usually aim to, but I do buy myself a lot of stuff generally.

This year, I thought I deserved a treat.  It's been a rough December at the very least.

So, I bought myself some crochet patterns!!  SO FREAKING EXCITING.

Ok, so I've bought patterns randomly during the year, so why is it special this time?

Mainly becuase I'm trying to restrict my new crochet project quota.  I've only finished one of these projects, so how can I justify starting something new?  I'll tell you how:  Christmas!

Christmas is all about peace on Earth, spreading joy and good cheer (which I think are the same thing, but who splits hairs at Christmas?) .  What better way to spread joy than by letting go of the anxiety associated with having all these UFOs over my head (dramatic huh?), and letting myself just enjoy the excitement of a new project?  If there is a better feeling in the world than starting something new I have yet to experience it.

Dudes, why didn't you tell me to stop rambling?!?!

I'm sure you'd like to see the present I have bought myself...

Drum rollll (kinda, I couldn't actually find a drumroll gif, plus I just wanted to put ponies on my blog.  Sue me)

Legendary Shawls by Aoibhe Ni!!!!

I have been coveting Venus for so so long, but all of the shawls in the ebook are so great, I thought, if I'm spending 8 bucks, I may as well spend 25 for 7 more patterns.  And that is my story.

Part of the me-present is that I am allowed to start it before I finish anything off so I will be using some of my Christmas break to learn tunisian crochet and starting this shawl!  I am going to use this 'fine silk noil' I picked up dirt cheap a while ago.

I have learned (thanks Rav) that silk noil is made up of the leftover short fibres of silk, giving it the nubbly appearance.  It's also not very strong, so depending on how it works up I may have to use my Ms Gusset pure silk laceweight instead, and wouldn't that be a tragedy ;)

Caturday: Catmas edition

You may (or may not, whatevs) be wondering what on Earth happened to Caturday.  If you'd been counting, we made it to 34 Caturdays (35 counting this post!)  Anyway, I'm continuing Caturday but am dropping the Mr Linky, mainly because I can't be bothered most of the time.  A big shout out to Beadknitter, who participated in Caturday most often, thanks so much xox.  Y'all are most welcome (and encouraged) to include your kitty posts in the comments below and I will def check em out!

This is the ChristCatmas edition of Caturday!  Wooo!

This morning, The Kitten was at her finest in modelling *cough*beingtortured*cough* her Santa hat.  Thanks for getting into the Catmas spirit!

Have you ever seen a happier feline??

And to keep the Catmas spirit going, here and here are more festive furry friends!

Merry Catmas xox

Live a Life That Matters

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame, and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, dreams, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that seemed so important will fade away.  It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.

At the end, whether  you were beautiful or brilliant, male or female, even your skin colour won't matter.

So what will matter?

How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built.  Not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice, that empowered, enriched, and encouraged others.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter how is not how many people you knew, but how many people will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those that loved you.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

- Author unknown