Last Eye Candy Friday for July...

...and The Husband is back from his travels, so I guess vacation-time is officially over!

Not much happening in the garden. There are lots of green tomatoes and ripening chile peppers. One of last year's dahlias decided to bloom again this year:

Sorry, that's all I have photo-wise. With all the Tour de Fleece photos and updates I had to do, I'm sort of tired of taking photos. Hopefully that will pass quickly!

Up this weekend: The Husband and I need to do a few things in my bathroom. The Husband left for vacation the day after the plumber fixed my shower and we need to take care of some leftover screws and patch some holes. I temporarily covered the holes and screws so no water would get behind the tiles, but it needs a more permanent solution. I also want to get a new shower head - we just put the old one back on so I had a functioning shower.

On Sunday, I am going to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles to hear Luana Rubin speak. She is fabric designer and one of the owners of eQuilter.com, where I buy a lot of my fabric. I've been buying fabric from eQuilter since 2000 and get their e-newsletter every week. I couldn't miss the opportunity to hear her speak about international quilt trends.

Spinning will go a small hiatus while I recover from TdF. I'm going to concentrate on stitching and other crafts.

On the quilt front, I need to make my final decision for the block sashing. I keep looking at the fabric I purchased and my feature squares trying to imagine them together. I think one of the fabrics is too light. I need to do a couple of trial squares to see if I'm right.
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...and it's back to work for me.

And now that I'm back, my craft time at home is limited mostly to weekends again. The lighting at night isn't quite good enough for cross stitching the mermaid in the evenings. I try to work on some of my other projects, but I've been known to fall asleep in the middle of knitting a row!

The quilt is coming along. I haven't cut the sashing pieces yet, but I have cut out more feature fabrics. Here's a quick look at them:

As for the mermaid, I am working on the metallic sections of her upper tail and back fin. The metallic is slow stitching and a little frustrating because it's so thick. I've double-checked to make sure that I'm using the thickness called for by the pattern and the right fabric thread-count. It's just a P.I.T.A.

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Tour de Fleece Spinning - done!
• Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
  Cut out a few more squares; purchased some appliques and buttons to use on the quilt
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Nearly done stitching the green metallic thread for the current section.
• Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch)
  Working on row 3, square 1 - it's the last one!
• Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  Moved back into the rotation. Working on the last contrasting color for section 2.

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [Ravelry] 
4. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
5. St. Charles (needlepoint)
6. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
2. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
4. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Finishing work
7. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
8. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
9. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Wrapping up Tour de Fleece...

... and my Craftcation.

Tour de Fleece, Day 21
Craftcation Day 7:

Finished spinning Estrella [Ravelry]:

and the close up:

Specs:
Started 7/20/17
Finished 7/21/17
Estrella Falkland (4.1 oz) and Estrella Firestar #5203 (2 oz), both from The Yarn Wench
81.9 yds.,  2-ply auto-plied with teal rayon thread, super bulky
Tour de Fleece Days 20 and 21

Tour de Fleece, Day 22
Craftcation Day 8:

I did a little shopping at Target, replacing the blender that died during my smoothy a few days earlier.

Then I spun Rio Carnival [Ravelry]. I used a Falkland from The Yarn Wench in Flowerchild and plied it with Luna in Silver-Multi from Trendsetter Yarns.

and the close up:

Specs:
Started and finished 7/22/17
Falkland (3.9 oz) in Flowerchild 1 from The Yarn Wench
Plied with Luna (trendsetter yarns) in Silver Multi
80.1 yds, super bulky

Tour de Fleece, Day 23 - Last Day
Craftcation Day 9:

My knees were giving me little trouble...22 days of spinning can do that! My plan was to do one more art yarn and then make my tour-end collage.

I pulled another Yarn Wench Falkland and plied it with a yarn that I got in a swap. This is Firepist [Ravelry]:

and the close up:

Specs:
Started and finished 7/23/17
Falkland (3.9 oz) in Flowerchild 1 from The Yarn Wench
Plied with a mohair-metallic - no label, presumed to be Wildwood from Valley Yarns
46.5 yds, super bulky

Tour de Fleece 2017 finale

The tour recap:

• 12 new yarns (1,455.4 yards)
• 1 yarn plied from singles spun before the tour (204.7 yards).
• All fibers are from The Yarn Wench, except Robin's Egg which from Greenwood Fiberworks

Craftcation Day 10:

I made a quick trip to Jo-Ann's to scope out some appliques, buttons, and to buy needles. I caught a 40% off sale on batting, so I picked up 1 queen-sized Warm & Natural package.

I spent the rest of the day working on the cross stitch mermaid.

Craftcation Day 11:

Today is the last day of my vacation. It's back to work tomorrow...sigh. My plan is to just chill out and do whatever craft appeals to me.

So ready to retire...
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Eye Candy Friday...

...and a Tour de Fleece update. First, the eye candy.

The sweet pea bush in our front yard is continuing to bloom:

The tomatoes in the backyard are ripening:

and the plumbago is peeking out through the tomato vines.

Tour de Fleece, Day 19
Craftcation Day 5:

The vacuum monster and I attacked the studio. We tamed the fiber bunnies that were gathering around the spinning wheel and found the rugs again!

I spun Inner Fire [Ravelry], a Wild Card Bling Batt from the Yarn Wench:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started and finished 7/19/17
Wild Card Bling Batt (3.5 oz.) from The Yarn Wench
41 yards, plied with Ritratto Yarn in color 63; Super Bulky
Tour de Fleece Day 19

Tour de Fleece, Day 20
Craftcation Day 6:

I started the day with a wonderful yoga class, followed by a nonfat latte from Starbucks. I registered for a cast-ons and bind-offs class at Stitches West (Feb. 2018). I'm little bummed that they are not doing the opening day and teacher's luncheon this year. I used to be able to take the opneing day events if I couldn't find a class I liked.

I started spinning Estrella [Ravelry]using Estrella Falkland (4.1 oz) and Estrella Firestar #5203 (2 oz), both from The Yarn Wench.

Up this weekend: Finish out the Tour on Sunday and then give my knees a rest!
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...and Tour de Fleece update.

Tour de Fleece, Day 17
Craftcation Day 3:

Today's cleaning chore was vacuuming the living room and straightening up. Then I was able to concentrate on the fun stuff!

Technically, it was a rest day, but I went ahead and finished spinning the singles for Ember Indigo Silk. Then I moved on to the mermaid cross stitch. When I write it out it doesn't sound like much, but it filled my day!

Tour de Fleece, Day 18
Craftcation Day 4:

Before I went on vacation, I had ordered some fabric for my quilt. I expected it to arrive before my vacation, so I sent it to the office. Of course, it came after. Since I wanted to use it for the quilt, I dropped by the office to pick it up and then went to the grocery store to get more fruit.

I spent the day plying Ember Indigo Silk [Ravelry]:

and the close up:

Specs:
Started 7/15/17
Finished 7/18/17
Merino-Silk (3.8 oz.) from The Yarn Wench
236.4 yds., 14 WPI
Tour de Fleece Days 15 through 18

I did get about an hour's worth of stitching on the mermaid. Here's what she looks like so far:

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Tour de Fleece Spinning
  various
• Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
  Cut out a few more squares
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Filling in all of floss stitches in the midsection of the tail - this will make it easier to stitch the metallic thread.
• Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch)
  Working on row 1, square 3 and row 3, square 2.

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [Ravelry] 
5. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
6. St. Charles (needlepoint)
7. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
2. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
4. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Finishing work
7. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
8. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
9. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

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Tour de Fleece catchup...

...and an overall update. Let's take this by Tour de Fleece days.

Tour de Fleece, Day 12:

Finished spinning the singles for Tidal [Ravelry].

Tour de Fleece, Day 13:

Because my time was limited, I spun an art yarn using a Wild Card Bling Batt (4.1 oz.) from The Yarn Wench. I plied it with two threads, one gold and one copper. This is Kraken [Ravelry]:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started and finished 7/13/17
Wild Card Bling Batt (3.5 oz) from the Yarn Wench
57.7 yds plied with gold and copper metallic threads; Bulky

Tour de Fleece, Day 14:

Day 14 was also our last day of work before vacation. The Husband was leaving early Saturday morning, while I was going to start my Craftcation (AKA Staycation). However, my shower faucet decided to give up the ghost - it would not turn off! I had to shut off the water to the house to avoid wasting gallons of water. The Husband called a plumber and spent the day at home while the plumber fixed things. Not what The Husband wanted to do, but at least he was able to finish packing for his trip. The shower works now.

When I got home after work, I working on my spinning. It wasn't until I went to bed that I realized I had completely forgotten about Eye Candy Friday.

I did manage to finish spinning Tidal [Ravelry]:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started 7/11/17
Finished 7/14/17
Falkland (4.2 oz) from the Yarn Wench
161.9 yds 2-ply, 12 WPI
Tour de Fleece Day 11, 12, and 14

Tour de Fleece, Day 15
Craftcation Day 1:

The Husband left early in the morning for his trip. I spent the morning putting my bathroom back in order and doing a little cleaning. While I did the laundry, I started spinning Ember Indigo Silk, a merino-silk from The Yarn Wench. I did a little stitching in the evening and had leftovers for dinner. I just didn't have the energy to do much else because it had been so hot during the day.

Tour de Fleece, Day 16
Craftcation Day 2:

Today's cleaning chore was the kitchen. I put away all of the dishes, cleaned the counters, and mopped the floor. I did a grocery run and planned a nice dinner for myself.

I spun more of the Ember Indigo Silk, but had to stop when my knees started bothering me. I switched over to working on stitching the Mermaid.

I watched the East coast feed Game of Thrones (Go, Arya!) and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of steak, zucchini, and rice.

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WIP-it Wednesday...

...and the Tour de Fleece report.

Tour de Fleece, Day 10:

I took the rest day...I really needed it!

Tour de Fleece, Day 11:

I started spinning Tidal [Ravelry], another Falkland from The Yarn Wench. (Yes, I have a LOT of Falkland from The Yarn Wench. I haven't made a dent in it yet!)

I'm going to finish as much of the singles as I can tonight so I can ply on Thursday. It will be pushing it, though - it's 4.2 ounces of fiber, which is a little more than normal.

Worked On:

• Tour de Fleece Spinning, various
  Took a rest day
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Still working on the mid-section of  the tail
• Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch)
  Finished all of row 2, square 3; worked on row 3, square 2

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting) 
3. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) 
5. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [Ravelry] 
7. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
8. St. Charles (needlepoint)
9. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
2. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
4. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Finishing work
7. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
8. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
9. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

June 2017 recap...

...6/11 was apparently a great day to start things!

Finished:

• 6/30 Rivendell handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
  Glitter roving from Greenwood Fiberworks
  188.0 yards two-ply; est WPI 11
• Books:
  1. Lynchpin, Shannon Mayer
  2. Invisible, Jame Patterson
  3. The Destroyer, Shannon Mayer
  4. All the Secrets We Keep, Megan Hart
  5. Only Skein Deep, Maggie Sefton
  6. Naked in Death, JD Robb
  7. Glory in Death, JD Robb
  8. Immortal in Death, JD Robb

Started:

• 6/11 Rivendell handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
• 6/11 Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch)
• 6/11 Unnamed attic windows quilt for me (quilting)

Works In Progress:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) 
4. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [Ravelry] 
6. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
7. St. Charles (needlepoint)
8. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
2. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
4. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Finishing work
7. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
8. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
9. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

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Tour de Fleece weekend report...

...and, yes, I'm posting on a Monday.

Tour de Fleece, Day 7:

Finished spinning the singles for Moss Ros.

Tour de Fleece, Day 8:

I took Day 8 as my Challenge day instead of Day 9. My challenge was to finish Moss Ross and to finish spinning the singles for Lava.

This is Moss Rose [Ravelry]:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started 7/5/17
Finished 7/8/17
Falkland (4.4 oz.) from The Yarn Wench
119.1 yds. chain ply, 10 WPI
Tour de Fleece Days 5 through 8

Here are the singles for Lava.

Tour de Fleece, Day 9:

Chain-plied Lava [Ravelry]. There is only one photo for Lava because I accidentally left the other at home.

Specs:
Started 7/7/17
Finished 7/9/17
Falkand (4.3 oz.) from The Yarn Wench
206.6 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI
Tour de Fleece Days 7 through 9

My knees are very sore, which is why I'm going to actually take the rest day today. Normally, I spin every day of the tour including the rest days, but not this year!
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Eye Candy Friday...

...and a Tour de Fleece update. First is the Eye Candy.

Our spider lilies are blooming:

The tomatillos are starting to come in:

and this summer begonia looked wonderful in the morning sun:

Tour de Fleece, Days 5 and 6:

With my limited craft time on work days, I'm happy to get an hour's worth of spinning done in the evenings. I started Moss Rose [Ravelry] on Day five and continued to spin it on Day 6. I'll finish the singles today and probably ply it tomorrow.

Here's what it looked like last night:

Up this weekend: More spinning! When I'm not spinning, I'll be working on the quilt and the mermaid. It should be a great, crafty weekend!
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...first, a Tour de Fleece update.

Tour de Fleece, Day 4:

I finished plying Kilkenny [Ravelry]:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started 7/1/17
Finished 7/4/17
Merino-Silk (4.1 oz) from the Yarn Wench
180.5 yds. chain-ply, 12 WPI
Tour de Fleece, Day 1-4

I spun another art yarn. I plied it with a novelty yarn that I had in the stash. This is Antoinette [Ravelry]:

and the close-up:

Specs: 
Started and finished 7/4/17
Merino-Silk (4 oz) from the Yarn Wench
120.9 yds. 2-ply, bulky
Plied with Bernat Matrix ladder yarn in color 02315

Spinning will slow down now that I'm back to work after the holiday. I'll gear up again on the weekend.

I cut out a few more feature fabrics on my quilt. I'm now up to 50 feature fabrics. I figure the limit is 80, which was the total I used for the Daughter's quilt (see it here).  I've pressed hand hung the cut fabrics on my quilt wall.

I have a couple of ideas for more squares. I'll hit the stash first to see if I have appropriate fabric. If not, I'll have to check out the quilt stores.

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
  Feature fabrics total 50; still auditioning the names: "Look Through My Window" and "She Came in Through the Attic Window".
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Working on the tail
• Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch)
  Finished the main stitching of row 2, square 3; started row 3, square 2

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [Ravelry] 
5. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
6. St. Charles (needlepoint)
7. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
2. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
3. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
4. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
5. Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Finishing work
7. Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [Ravelry]
8. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
9. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Tour de Fleece report...

...I've been busy!

Before the tour started, I plied the Rivendell singles [Ravelry]:

and the close-up

Specs:
Started 6/11/17
Finished 6/30/17
Glitter roving from Greenwood Fiberworks
188.0 yards two-ply; est WPI 11

Tour de Fleece, Day 1:

I plied the Robin's Egg singles [Ravelry] that I finished in June:

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started 6/4/17
Finished 7/1/17
Camel-silk (4.0 oz) from Greenwood Fiberworks
204.7 yards chain-ply; est WPI 14

I also started spinning Kilkenny, a merino-silk from the Yarn Wench.

Tour de Fleece, Day 2:

I finished spinning the Kilkenny singles [Ravelry]:

Tour de Fleece, Day 3:

I spun Grape Fizz [Ravelry], a bulky single plied with rayon thread:

and the close-up:

 
Specs:
Started and finished 7/3/17
Merino-Silk (3.9 oz) from the Yarn Wench
122.8 yds., bulky, 2-ply
Plied with variegated rayon thread

When my knees started bugging me from all of the spinning, I switched over to work on the mermaid or on my quilt.

I kept myself entertained with the Game of Thrones marathon. I loved seeing it all over again!
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