Friday, August 29, 2014

Eye Candy plus F.O. Friday...

...two in one post! First the Eye Candy.

The Husband continues to fuel my photographic needs by buying new flowers. This week, he brought home some carnations:

Dark Pink bi-color carnation

Double Lemon Calibrachoa (new flower for me):

Double Lemon Calibrachoa
Pentas "Starla Red":

Starla Red Pentas

and Flamenco Rumba Cuphea:

Flamenco Rumba Cuphea

For the Finished Object portion of the post, I finally skeined Deep Teal Dream [Ravelry]:

Deep Teal Dream handspun

and the close up:

Deep Teal Dream handspun, close up

Specs:
Started 6/21/14;
Finished 8/24/14;
Merino-Silk top (4.5oz) from Wonderland Dyeworks;
 294.1 yds. chain-plied, 14 WPI

Up this weekend: It's a 3-day weekend....YAY!

I have a few household chores to do, but they won't take long. My main goal is to finish plying Toulouse [Ravelry] so I can have another F.O. for the month. After I finish that, I'll cycle through the current WIPs list.

I need to piece the backing for the quilt and make the quilt sandwich. The piecing part won't be problem, but if it's too hot, I won't want to be crawling around on the floor pin-basting the quilt sandwich. We'll just have to see what the weather does.

I have a few more stash photos to take. I just keep attracting spinning fiber (looks away, whistling...)

I really need to get serious about the stitching projects, but they just haven't been able to hold my attention.

Is it the end of the day yet?
.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

WIP-it Wednesday...

...last one for August!

I finally got an OK picture of the Equatorial Nights scarf that I'm knitting.And you kniw I can't leave the name alone, so I've changed it. Here is Beyond Antares [Ravelry]:


Beyond Antares, as of 8/27/14

I'm knitting it in stockinette rather than garter stitch...I don't really like garter stitch and I like it less in the round. It's really more that I didn't want to purl 30+ rows (each 240 stitches long!) for the project. Yes, I know it will tend to curl up, but I can live with that.

WIP Roll Call
WIPs in Rotation:

  1. Beyond Antares, aka Equatorial Nights (knitting) [Ravelry]
    On Row 14
  2. Toulouse handspun (spinning)  [Ravelry]
    Plying in progress
  3. I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt (quilting)
    Top done; need to piece back and make the quilt sandwich
WIPs, no play this week:
  1. Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch)
  2. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  3. Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint)

UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Going Snow Global quilt (quilting)
  3. Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [Ravelry
  4. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  6. Stormy Affection (knitting) [Ravelry]

WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

...in no particular order.
  1. Spin-In was fun! The company was great, as always, and there were yummy snacks: heirloom tomato bruschetta, assorted cheeses, and some delicious bakery items from Paris Baguette. I managed to chain-ply almost all of my Deep Teal Dream singles [Ravelry].
     
  2. I finished plying Deep Teal just before the final episode of True Blood. I quickly set up the Toulouse singles [Ravelry] and started chain-plying that while I watched the finale. The Toulouse singles are very thin so it might take a while to ply. Oh, and the finale...it was OK. A little too much time was spent on Hoyt and Jessica. I like them, but I would have rather had more of Eric and Pam, and more Lafayette!
     
  3. On Saturday, I went to the local quilt store with a sample quilt square to find a compatible border fabric. I planned on going to two shops, but it wasn't necessary, The lovely people at The Granary helped me pick a lovely white-on-white fabric that echoes the shape of the flowers in the plain squares.
     
  4. I added the final border to the I'm Just Mad About Citron quilt. I didn't have enough time left in the weekend to make the quilt sandwich, so I'll do that over the 3-day weekend coming up.
     
  5. I'm totally loving my yoga class! I'm way out of practice, but I'm very happy to be back to a regular practice. In September, the gym is offering the class twice a week...yay!
  6. The only downside to changing gyms and adjusting my schedule is that I haven't been able to take as many pictures of sunrises as I'd like. I think it's just going to take a little time to work things out.
     
  7. I'm really looking forward to a 3-day weekend!!
.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Eye Candy Friday...

...is it time to go home yet?  I'm completely exhausted by the change in my fitness regimen (read: more than 30 minutes per day). Here's hoping that I get used to this really fast!

Today's eye candy comes from the courtyard outside my studio. There is a large pit of vinca right next to the door:

Vinca

The cleome is really enjoying the drip irrigation:

Senorita Rosalita Cleome


and the calandrina spectabilis is producing long stemmed flowers:

Calandrina spectabilis

The Husband is harvesting savina chile peppers...they are hotter than habaneros!

Red Savina pepper

Up this weekend: Spin-In on Sunday! I'm going to do a bunch of plying so I can finish something this month.

I'm still looking for a border fabric for the citron and gray quilt. I'm going to check my two local quilt stores and see if I can find something that will work. None of my stash fabrics will work...sigh.
.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

WIP-it Wednesday...

...in which many WIPs were taken out to play.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a serious attention span problem with my crafts. The good news is that I've made progress on many of the WIPs. The bad news is that it's not a lot of progress.

Here's a progress shot of a WIP that's currently in play:


Witches, Ghosts, and Ghouls, as of 8/19/14

This is Witches, Ghosts and Ghouls...oh my! by Pine Mountain Designs. It's a pretty simple piece, perfect for stitching in short hits.

I tried to get a picture of the Equatorial Nights scarf that I'm knitting, but it really doesn't look like much right now. Maybe as I get further into the project it will be more recognizable.

WIP Roll Call
WIPs in Rotation:
  1. Equatorial Nights (knitting) [Ravelry]
    On Row 11
  2. Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch)
    See picture above.
  3. Toulouse handspun (spinning)  [Ravelry]
    Finished the singles; ready to ply
  4. I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt (quilting)
    One border sewn on; waiting for my fabric order so I can do the second border.
  5. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
    Working on a fin
  6. Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint)
    Stitching the section separators
WIPs, no play this week:
  • Deep Teal handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]

    UFOs/Hibernation:
    1. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
    2. Going Snow Global quilt (quilting)
    3. Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [Ravelry
    4. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
    5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
    6. Stormy Affection (knitting) [Ravelry]

    WIPs To Be:
    • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.
    .

    Tuesday, August 19, 2014

    Top-of-the-waves Tuesday...

    ...the weekend report:
    1. Quilt top is not done. I'm not happy with the fabric choices for the border, so I ordered more of the yellow dotted fabric I'm using in the squares.
    2. I had a serious attention span problem. I worked on  my needlepoint, cross stitching, spinning, quilting, and knitting projects. I could not land on just one no matter how hard I tried.
    3. Loved the second episode Outlander!
    4. Sad that True Blood is ending, but, man, are they going to have to cram a lot of stuff in the last episode to even come close to tying up the loose ends. As long as it doesn't end the same way the book series does...hated that.
    I tried a yoga class this morning at my new gym...guess I'll have to stop saying "new"since I dropped my membership at the "old" one. Anyway, I loved it! I am so happy to be doing yoga again!

    I had been taking weekly yoga classes for 7 years when the California Yoga Center had to close their Mountain View location because of construction. It took a while for them to find another location. When they finally opened again, both the location and the timing weren't right. I've taken a couple of free classes, but never found a regular class that worked. It's been 4 years since I've had a regular yoga class that I could attend.

    I'm looking forward to feeling centered again!
    .

    Friday, August 15, 2014

    Eye Candy Friday...

    ...and not a moment to soon! With the 3-days spent at my Mom's for the family reunion and a concert on Wednesday night, I'm beat!

    So one picture from the reunion. Here are the Esquivel siblings that attended:

    Equivel Siblings (6 of 9)

    That's my mom second from the right. We never could get them to line up straight.  My mom is one of 9 kids, so you can see we're missing a few. I'm waiting for a cousin to send a picture of the whole crew. Obviously, I couldn't take the picture and be in it, too. Her camera was on a tripod and she used a timer.

    My mom has some pretty flowers in her garden. Here are a couple...a pink and yellow rose:

    Pink and yellow rose

    and a pink hydrangea:

    Pink hydrangea

    Up this weekend: I need to catch up with laundry and other things that didn't get done while we were gone.

    I need some serious crafting time.

    I'm hoping to finish the top of the quilt and then figure out what I'm doing on the back.

    I have a bobbin full of teal singles that need to be plied. I've been ignoring them for about a month and it's time to finish it. I need at least one finished object for this month!

    I have the Toulouse fiber to finish spinning. And I have a few stitching projects that are languishing.

    I predict a full weekend in my studio!
    .

    Wednesday, August 13, 2014

    yeah, I'm still here...

    ...just really busy with some work stuff. Here's a quick update.

    After a 3-day weekend away at our family reunion, I'm playing catch-up at home as well as dealing with work. I have to process all the photos from the reunion and may not get to them all until the weekend. Nothing to show there.

    WIP-wise, I managed to knit a few rows on the Equatorial Night scarf, but that's it.  I still have not taken a decent picture of the quilt, but here is a picture to give you an idea of the layout.


    I know, it's not great, but I hope to get a better one this weekend.

    WIP Roll Call
    WIPs in Rotation:

    1. Equatorial Nights (knitting) [Ravelry]
      On Row 9
    2. Toulouse handspun (spinning)  [Ravelry]
      A little more than a third left to spin
    3. I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt
      Sewed the blocks together; working on the borders
    WIPs, no play this week:
    1. Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch)
    2. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)

    UFOs/Hibernation:
    1. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
    2. Going Snow Global quilt (quilting)
    3. Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [Ravelry
    4. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
    5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
    6. Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint)
    7. Stormy Affection (knitting) [Ravelry]

    WIPs To Be:
    • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.
     .

    Wednesday, August 06, 2014

    WIP-it Wednesday...

    ...in which we have one real photo and one photo FAIL.

    Here's is a picture of the Toulouse handspun [Ravelry] that I started 7/7/14 (during Tour de Fleece):

    Toulouse handspun, in progress


    It is a thin single so it's taking quite a while to get through the 3.9 oz. of fiber.

    The photo FAIL was a picture of the new quilt. It rained this morning, so the light in my studio was not bright enough to get a decent picture. I'll try again when I have more light.

    WIP Roll Call
    WIPs in Rotation:
    1. Equatorial Nights (knitting) [Ravelry]
      On Row 4
    2. Toulouse handspun (spinning)  [Ravelry]
      A little more than a third left to spin
    3. I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt
      Sewed the blocks together; working on the borders

    WIPs, no play this week:
    1. Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch)
    2. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)

    UFOs/Hibernation:
    1. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
    2. Going Snow Global quilt (quilting)
    3. Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [Ravelry
    4. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
    5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
    6. Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint)
    7. Stormy Affection (knitting) [Ravelry]

    WIPs To Be:
    • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

    Tuesday, August 05, 2014

    Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

    ...AKA: Short Hits 'R Us.
    1. Capuccino flavored potato chips: Yes, they are as weird (and as bad) as they sound.
       
    2. My knitting mojo is haywire. I'm knitting, but I'm not enjoying it.
       
    3. My stitching mojo is AWOL. Please send it home if you find it.
       
    4. Beadle Needle (Amazon): Very cool! I wish I'd had this tool for the Celestarium and Southern Skies shawls!
       
    5. I just can't seem to stop spinning. You'd think I'd had enough in July!
       
    6. Outlander on Starz: Love the first episode!! You can watch the first episode for free right now. I have high hopes for the series.
       
    7. Normally, I dislike yellow. However, I'm loving the yellow (citron), gray, and white quilt that I have in progress.
       
    8. Our family reunion is happening soon. I hope we can keep the dramaz to a minimum.
    .

    Monday, August 04, 2014

    July 2014 recap...

    ...a typical Tour de Fleece month with lots of spinning.

    Finished:
    • 7/26 Tropical Fish art yarn (spinning) [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk (3.8 oz) from the Yarn Wench;
      120.9 yds thread-plied and autowrapped; bulky
    • 7/20 Renewal handspun [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk (4.2 oz) from the Yarn Wench;
      294.1 yds chain-ply, 14 WPI
    • 7/18 Cinder handspun [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk (3.9 oz) from the Yarn Wench;
      180.5 yds chain-ply; 11 WPI
    • 7/14 Bejeweled [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk (3.8 oz) from the Yarn Wench; 
      184.25 yds chain-ply, 12 WPI
    • 7/13 Ember Indigo [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk (3.9 oz) from the Yarn Wench;
      258.7 2-ply, 12 WPI
    • 7/12 Stuck in Neutral wall hanging (weaving) [Ravelry]
    • 7/10 Plum Honey light [Ravelry]
      Merino-silk top (4.2 oz) from the Yarn Wench;
      199.1 yds chain-ply, 11 WPI
    • Books:
      1. Red Velvet Cupcake Murder, Joanne Fluke
      2. How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back, Diana Rowland
      3. Tasting Home: Coming of Age in the Kitchen, Judith Newton
      4. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
      5. Video Kill, Joanne Fluke
      6. Rain Girl, Gabi Kreslehner
      7. Priceless, Shannon Mayer
      8. Immune, Shannon Mayer
    Started:
    • 7/26 Tropical Fish handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
    • 7/21 Equatorial Nights (knitting) [Ravelry]
    • 7/17 Renewal handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
    • 7/16 Cinder handspun [Ravelry]
    • 7/15 I'm Just Mad About Citron quilt (quilting)
    • 7/14 Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch)
    • 7/12 Bejeweled handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
    • 7/11 Ember Indigo handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
    • 7/7 Toulouse handspun (spinning)  [Ravelry
    • 7/5 Plum Honey light [Ravelry]
    Worked on:
    • Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint)
    Works In Progress, did not work on:
    • Love scissor fob by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch)
    • Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
    UFOs/Hibernation:
    1. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
    2. Going Snow Global quilt (quilting)
    3. Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [Ravelry
    4. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
    5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
    6. Stormy Affection (knitting) [Ravelry]

    WIPs To Be:
    • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

    Friday, August 01, 2014

    Starting August off with an Eye Candy Friday...

    ...and I'm so ready for the weekend!

    Today's eye candy comes from the local elementary school. They have some beautiful rose bushes.

    Gradient pink rose

    and another

    Orange roses

    In a previous post, I showed you a detail of the their ocean-themed mosaic. Here are a few more pictures of the mosaic.

    Left:

    Nimitz Elementary School Mosaic, left

    middle:

    Nimitz Elementary School Mosaic, middle

    right:

    Nimitz Elementary School Mosaic, right

    Up this weekend: I have no clue! Now the Tour de Fleece is over, I'm having a major concentration problem. I can't seem to spend more than a few minutes on a project! I hope to spend some time on the new quilt, but we'll see how that goes.

    There are always household chores that need to be done; errands to run.

    Yeah, that doesn't sound that interesting to me either.

    Maybe I'll just read.
    .

    Another Finished Object...

     ...yay! I finished the first yarn on my new Lendrum DT. I tried a 2-ply and it turned out OK. Using the plying head was not as smooth...