Two Weddings and a Frog Pond

Sometimes people get married

Sometimes people get married and I know them

Sometimes people get married, and I know them, and they want me to knit something for them.

This is happening to me right now- one of my friends is getting married in March, and a cousin is getting married in May. For my dear friend, I started on her project first, but I have a feeling that I won't be able to finish it due to the scale of the project and the face that the wedding is in two weeks! I wanted to make something that she and her future husband would both enjoy, so I decided to turn the wrap into a throw by casting on a lot more stitches in a heavier yarn in purple, her favorite color.
So far I've used up 3 balls of yarn, and I'm about a quarter of the way through. Of course I plan on blocking this out so its nice and lacy, but its become the monkey on back. The pattern is simple enough, but its starting to feel like a chore instead of something I enjoy. The purple is nice and bright and the Yorkie is to help show scale. This is my roommate's dog, who is happy to pose for pictures, since my dog is a little camera shy.

As for my cousin's wedding, I won't be able to fly back to the States for it, probably, but I know that she is doing something with peacock feathers/theme. I've picked out a few shawl patterns that I like, but I am having trouble narrowing it down. The ones I am looking at are Pretty as a Peacock, Gail, and Gwendolyn. Suggestions? I guess this means that I will have to learn how to read charts.....

And then there is the frog pond. The projects shown here are probably never going to get finished in their current state, either because I hate the yarn with the pattern, or I don't have enough. The two hideous sweaters are from a clothes swap and I am currently ripping them apart so I can recycle the yarn into something less.........hideous. (I don't understand Hong Kong fashion sometimes)