Wednesday, June 29, 2016

WIP-it Wednesday...

...and the cold is still lingering.

The only thing with any significant progress is the Costa del Mar shawl [Ravelry]. I am on Section 7, a mesh panel. Only the garter border after that and the cast-off!

*WIPs roll call*

Worked on:
  • Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
    Working on row 219 of 233
  • Finishing work
    Stuffed all the fobs and pillow. Working on the mat board pieces.
Works In Progress:
  1. 4-shaft weaving sampler
  2. Arachne handspun (spinning) [Ravelry
  3. Needlepoint pottery picture
  4. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Sidelined...

...do you remember the line in Father of the Bride II (the Steve Martin version) where the assistant says, "I caught a cold from your house..."? Or (if you're old like me), the commercial with the jingle "A summer cold is a different animal..."?

Yeah, it's summer and I caught a cold from my office. The AC is way too high in this building and, yet again, I have no control over the thermostat. So I freeze all afternoon.

All colds are icky, but a summer cold is challenging. Usually, I just want to burrow under the blankets and ride the cold out. In the summer heat, that's the last thing you want to do.

Anyway, the cold hit on Thursday, so I was out of it on Friday and most of the weekend. Sorry for the lack of Eye Candy Friday.

My brain was foggy, the nose drippy, and just ooky overall. So, no photos and I did very little craft-wise, other than a little knitting and doing a small amount of finishing work. I did finish two books, though.

I'm feeling better today, so I hope to get back on track soon!
.


Wednesday, June 22, 2016

WIP-it Wednesday...

...client work took precedence on this week, so blogging had to wait until now.

A quick weekend report:
  • I made chocolate chip cupcakes to take to Spin-In. I started a new handspun using a Mosaic Moon top that I bought at Stitches West this year.

Arachne singles
  • I did not re-warp the loom, but at least I started winding the warp.
  • I made good progress on the finishing work. I stuffed all of the pillows and scissor fobs. I cut the mat board for 75% of the pieces that need it.
  • I picked the next counted canvaswork - St. Charles, another piece from Susan Portra.
  • I knit a few rows on Costa del Mar [Ravelry].
Costa del Mar shawl, as of 6/22/16

*WIPs roll call*

Worked on:
  • Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
    Still working on section 6
  • Finishing work
    Stuffed all the pillow and fobs; working on the mat board pieces
  • 4-shaft weaving sampler
    Started winding the new warp to replace the previous one
Works In Progress:
  1. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Eye Candy Friday...

...and summer plants are starting to bloom.

The yellow kangaroo paw plant is back:

Harmony Kangaroo Paw

The foxgloves are starting up:

Foxglove spire 2

We have some dahlias:

Coupe de Soleil dahlia

And (a big surprise for us) we have about 6 nectarines on the tree:

Ripening nectarine

We're completely surprised that the squirrels haven't made off with the fruit yet.!

Up this weekend: Spin-In on Saturday! I haven't spun in so long...it will be nice to get back into it, especially since Tour de Fleece starts on July 2nd.

Between Spin-In and my regular weekend chores, I need to wind the new warp for my loom and at least get close to rewarping it. Whether I continue with my original plan, or do a completely new project remains to be seen.

I figure I can make progress on the finishing work while I'm deciding what to do about the warp.

Guess I should start thinking what my Tour de Fleece goal will be. Hmmm...
.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Thursday is the new Wednesday...

...yeah, I didn't think you'd go for that.

I totally missed WIP-it Wednesday. I was a little distracted at work, reorganizing my workspace.I finally ordered the partitions to separate my area from the rest of the office and they arrived yesterday.

There was a small amount of assembly and they are now in place. Unfortunately, they have a "new" odor, which we hope goes away soon.

Now that I have a complete cubicle, I can pull things out of drawers and shelves that have been hibernating since we moved. For example, I have some small stuffed animals that I keep in my office. I couldn't have them out while the whole world could see my entire work area. Now that my area is not visible, I can personalize things. I started yesterday and finished up today. I still have some things to hang on the partition walls and I need to hang my white board. So 4.5 months after we moved and I'm finally getting my cubicle together.

*WIPs roll call*

Worked on:
  • Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
    Still working on section 6
  • Finishing work
    Sewed everything together. Need to stuff and do the hand sewing
Works In Progress:
  1. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
  2. 4-shaft weaving sampler
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

...and the weekend report.

I spent most of my weekend at the sewing machine.  I sewed the stitched pieces to their backing fabric.

Originally, I was going to make pillows of everything that wasn't a scissor fob. However, once I started sewing things together, I realized that I simply did not have room for that many little pillows. Instead, I decided to insert mat board into some of the stitched pieces to give them some body and to allow me to stack them. I can hand them if I want by attaching a ribbon hanger.

For the pieces destined to be a flat item, I sewed only 3 sides of each piece and turned them. After they are pressed, I will cut a piece of mat board to fit and then slip stitch the open end.  I'm still making pillows out of a few pieces.

Because of my new plan, I definitely needed more mat board. Since I also needed fiberfill, I ended up at Michael's. In addition to a bag of fiberfill and two pieces of acid-free mat board, I bought a two pack of foam core. I'm all set for the next large piece that needs to be mounted and laced.

I finished all of the machine sewing and turned all of the pieces. They are now ready for pressing. After that I'll stuff the pillows and scissor fobs with fiberfill and cut the mat board for the remaining pieces. Then it's all hand sewing from there.

I also knit a few rows on Costa del Mar [Ravelry]. I'm on row 188 of 233, just past the halfway mark for half-wedge #6. I still love this pattern!

I didn't work on anything else. That will change this weekend when I go to Spin-In. Also, I received my yarn order yesterday, so I can wind the replacement warp for my weaving project and re-sley the loom.

It will be a busy weekend!
.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Eye Candy Friday...

...just a couple of more hours before I can head home.

As the garden switches over to summer mode, there are fewer flowers to photograph.

The Verbascum chaixii is blooming again:

Verbascum chaixii is blooming again

We have some yellow pansies in one of our containers:

Yellow pansies


We still have berries:

Berries in June

and the sweet pea bush continues to bloom:

Sweet pea bush

Up this weekend: My replacement yarn still hasn't arrives, so no weaving this weekend. It's just as well. Now I can concentrate on completing the finishing work I started last weekend.

I will need to make a run to Aaron Brothers or Michael's. I need more acid-free mat board that I plan to use as stabilizer for some of the smaller stitched pieces. I know I can find it at Aaron Brothers, but I might not have enough fiberfill for the pillows. I need to check my stash. If I do need it, then it's off to Michael's to get the mat board and fiberfill.

Since I've completely ignored my knitting this week, I should spend a couple of hours on the shawl in progress.

Before July 2, I need to do a spinning fiber stash dive. Tour de Fleece is coming up fast and I need to pick the fiber to spin!
.

May 2016 recap...

...finally!

Finished:
  • 5/30 Friendship Star (needlepoint) 
  • 5/30 Appliance covers (sewing)
  • 5/22 Quilt hanger for The Hawaiian Shirt Off Your Back quilt
  • Books:
    1. Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire
    2. 15th Affair, James Patterson
    3. Like That Endless Cambria Sky, Linda Seed
    4. The Obsession, Nora Roberts
    5. Storm, Skye Knizley
    6. Killing Land, Laken Cane
Started:
  • 5/29 Appliance covers (sewing)
Works In Progress:
  1. Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
  3. 4-shaft weaving sampler
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Thursday, June 09, 2016

Wow, it's Thursday...

...what happened to the rest of the week?

Here's a quick recap of the weekend and the week so far, followed by a WIPs list.
  • Since I didn't receive my replacement yarn, I didn't do any weaving.
     
  • I haven't done any spinning in too long.
     
  • I haven't done any knitting since Sunday.
     
  • I found a cache of small needlepoint canvases (4x4 inches, I think). They are all of Southwestern pottery, one per canvas. I had already finished one and started another. I hadn't touched them in years.

    I'm out of one of the wool colors, so I started another that didn't use the missing color. No photos yet. Here's the finished one:
Kokopelli pottery

  • I've read one book and I'm halfway through another.
     
  • I spent the majority of my time doing finishing work. Typically, I save up a few pieces of needlework (read: 3 or 4) and do all of the finishing work at once. This time I put off the finishing work way too long. I had accumulated a lot of items that need finishing. I prepped a bunch of them for the next step (sewing, lacing, whatever). There are several more that aren't prepped yet.
      
    So far I've prepped:
    • 4 scissor fobs (like little pillows)
    • 2 Christmas ornaments
    • 6 Halloween pictures (may turn into pillows)
    • 8 seasonal pictures (may turn into pillows)
    • 6 needlepoint picture
     
    The photo shows the prepped stacks.

Finishing work, in progress

Still on the list is a May recap.

*WIPs roll call*

Worked on:
  • Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
    Working on section 6
  • Finishing work
    Trimmed cross-stitched pieces and cut backing fabric. For the needlepoint pieces, I cut foam core to size and pinned the canvases to the boards.
Works In Progress:
  1. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
  2. 4-shaft weaving sampler
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

Friday, June 03, 2016

Eye Candy Friday...

...why is it that short work weeks always seem longer than regular weeks?

This weeks eye candy is all over the board.  I've been testing the camera on my new iPhone to the quality of its photos. This photo of Tica turned out really well:

Silly Tica

On the other hand, the sky photos that I took this morning weren't worth keeping. This hibiscus photo is OK:

Hibiscus

The Husband's tomato plants are starting to produce baby tomatoes:

Baby tomatoes

And I had fresh apricots for breakfast:

Freshly-picked apricots

Up this weekend: No specific plans.

I'm not going to attempt weaving on the big loom until I receive the yarn I ordered.  I saw a pattern on the WEBS site that looked interesting, called Santa Fe Summer Towels. The basic structure is twill and I liked the color combination. I ordered the unmercerized yarn it specified for the main color (a red), but they did not have the lighter color (yellow) available. I decided to just get a lighter shade of yellow, which I'd like better anyway. So I'll just be patient and wait for that to arrive.

I have a ton of finishing work to do for my needlework and I just haven't gotten around to it. That's a possibility.

Another thing to work on would be spinning. I haven't started a new handspun since February. I have a few more braids from Greenwood Fiberworks that I'd like to spin.

And then there's finding the next needlepoint project. I have a few to choose from!
.

Wednesday, June 01, 2016

June is busting out all over...

...and it's going to be a hot month.

I have another finished object to show. Here are the appliance covers I made over the weekend:

Appliance covers

Specs:
Started 5/29/16
Finished 5/30/16
Fabrics: Cote D'Azur Sea - Michael Miller - aqua, mocha and brown on white
              Soleil - Michael Miller - aqua white flower on mocha
Used a previous cover as a pattern. Machine quilted before assembly.

*WIPs roll call*

Worked on:
  • Costa del Mar (knitting) [Ravelry]
    Finished section 5; working on section 6
  • 4-shaft weaving sampler
    We have hit the two (or more) steps backwards part of this project.
    Researching which yarn I can use to rewarp the loom and get this back on track.
Works In Progress:
  1. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)
UFOs/Hibernation:
  1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
  2. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  3. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  5. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
  6. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
  7. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)
WIPs To Be:
  • A peacock or mermaid quilt for me.

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...