Stitches West wrap-up...

...and my weekend report.

Despite my hopes for avoiding the majority of the cold symptoms (at least until after Stitches), it hit me full force on Saturday. I managed to get another couple of hours of shopping in on Saturday, but I just didn't have the strength to walk much more. I hoped to crash when I got home, but my sister's husband was in town and came over for a short visit. I wished I'd felt better while he was here as we don't get to see each other very often.

After he left, I did the laundry and took photos of the new stuff. Once the laundry was under control, I moved into the house and uploaded my photos onto my laptop.

I spent Sunday on the couch. I didn't do much other than coughing, reading, and catching the occasional cat-nap. The Husband was a trooper and did the grocery shopping and made dinner. I did manage to watch the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies, but I was pretty out of it.

On Monday, I was feeling marginally better, but the coughing was still bad. I worked half a day and went home to rest.

Today is much better. I'm hardly coughing and the congestion is so much better! I took my yoga class this morning and did OK. I think I'm on the mend!

Stitches West 2018 recap

I had a short list of things to buy. The number one item I wanted was a dye kit from the Abundant Earth Fiber booth. Unfortunately, their trailer with all of the inventory was stolen from their hotel during their trip. I felt so bad for them!! I made sure to stop by their booth and get their information and join their newsletter. I still plan on getting the dye kit because I love their concept and their instructions are very clear.

The other thing on my list was the Tensioned Tabletop Swift from Wild Stitchers. Now, I already have a tabletop swift, but I'm not happy with it. It wobbles a lot and the pegs tend to lean in when I wind handspun on it. I can probably fix the wobble, but it's not high on my list.  After seeing the demonstration at Wild Stitchers, I bought a swift from them. I plan on giving the other one away at some point.

My main purchases were fiber, followed by a little yarn, and some accessories. Despite the cold, I had a good time!

Here's the SW collage:

Row 1: Bountiful Glitter Roving (Greenwood Fiberworks), Carnival Camel-Silk (Greenwood Fiberworks), 7 Deadly Sins: Envy Merino-Silk-Black Welsh-Stellina (Homestead Hobbyist), Crime Scene: Examiner's Gloves Merino-Sheltand-Silk (Homestead Hobbyist)
Row 2: Turquoise Camel-Silk (Greenwood Fiberworks), my badge, Hawaii Camel-Silk (Greenwood Fiberworks), Grandma's Kitchen Merino-Tencel (Greenwood Fiberworks)
Row 3: Galapagos Merino-Silk (Dragonfly Fibers), Star Dust in Black + Simply Sock in Lagoon (Greenwood Fiberworks), Llama needle minder from A Needle Runs Through It, Cat Stitch markers from Stunning String Studio, Fantastic Cast On and Bind Offs class by Patty Lyons
Row 4: Mr. Darcy yarn in Bare Naked and Marie Antoinette yarn in Beneath the Waves (Yarn Love), Twinkle yarn in Charcoal from the Singularity Shawl Kit (Stunning String Studio), Ram A Llama Ding Dong mug (knitbaahpurl), Lo-Lo bars in Pink Grapefruit (Bar-Maids), Lay Flat to Dry T-shirt in red (knitbaahpurl)
Not Shown: Live Your Life in Stitches t-shirt in blue (knitbaahpurl); Tensioned Tabletop Swift (Wild Stitchers)
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Eye Candy and F.O. Friday...

...Stitches West style.

I finished my Ravellenic Hat:

Specs:
Started 2/9/18
Finished 2/22/18
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Ombre in Teal Zeal
Pattern: Slouchy Beehive Hat by Flora Cheung
For the Ravellenic Games 2018

In the category of Eye-Candy-Is-In-The-Eye-of-the-Beholder, here is a quick look at my stash haul from Thursday and Friday's trip to the Stitches West market:

I'l do a full-blown collage when Stitches is over.

This cold is sapping my strength. Yesterday was OK, but today, I couldn't really enjoy the market for very long. I came home mid-day and crashed on the couch. I've been here pretty much all afternoon. I just don't have the energy to work on anything.

I hope I get a decent night's sleep and that tomorrow is better.
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...and a finished object.

I decided to do an art yarn for Ravellenics after all. This is Peacock Shades handspun [Ravelry]:

and the close up:

Specs:
Started and finished 2/19/18
Purple and Teal Smooth batt (3.4 oz) from the Yarn Wench
63.3 yards, thread-plied; Bulky

I'm still trying to finish the hat I started for Ravellenics, but it's slow-going for some reason.

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Finishing work
  Picked the fabric for backing the needlepoint pieces; need to sew them together
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Beading the bubbles on the lower half of the project.
• Mirabel handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
  Transferred one cop to a temporary spindle; started the second cop
• Ravellenic Hat [Ravelry]:
  Still working on the body of the hat

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
3. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch)
5. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
7. St. Charles (needlepoint)
8. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
2. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
3. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
5. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

...and the weekend report.

One of the things on my to-do list was to sign up for a new gym. I don't think I've mentioned that my gym is closing at the end of the month. It's a bummer, because it's close to home and I really love the classes. Plus it's 99% women, so it's a comfortable environment.

Our yoga teacher has found a space so she can continue our twice-a-week sessions. As for the rest, I joined 24-hour Fitness because I get a complimentary membership through my Kaiser Medicare Advantage plan. (Yes, I'm that old...)

There are several gym friends who are going to different places and I'll miss seeing them on a regular basis.

When I got home on Friday, the Husband wasn't feeling 100%. As the weekend progressed, he developed a horrible cold - coughing, sneezing, fever - and felt miserable the whole time. He was coughing so bad all Sunday night that he kept me awake.

I immediately started pumping Wellness Formula and vitamin C. The last thing I want it to be sick for Stitches West!

So far, I 'm mostly OK. I have a sore throat and this morning I opted out of yoga class because I had a headache from congestion - downward dog would not have been fun. It's cleared up some now, but I'm still feeling a bit off. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is as bad as it gets.

For Spin In on Saturday,  I baked some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. I decided to take my spindle project to work on. It's been a while since I haven't had to wrangle my wheel to Spin-In and it was a nice change.

Speaking of Stitches West, I picked out the yarn and needles for my class. I had the right kind of yarn in my stash so I didn't need to buy any. Yay!

I located my badge holder and picked the bag I want to use for market on Thursday. The only thing left to do is find the small water bottle I like to use for classes.

I worked on the beading for the mermaid. I ran into a small issue with the white Mill Hill antique glass beads (#03021). They take up more room than the glass seed beads. It's a problem when they are stitched in columns - they use up more vertical space than the pattern specifies. I had to make some modification the the line of bubbles that arcs underneath her tail. It looks fine, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. One thing I notices about these white beads is that many are misshapen. Maybe I got a bad package.

I'm continuing to work on my hat for Ravellenics. I'm close to the end of the hat body and will be able to start the decreases soon.

I was feeling that I hadn't done enough for Ravellenics, so I decided to spin an art yarn yesterday. It's one of my Yarn Wench batts. I opted to autoply it with some purple rayon thread. I have named it Peacock Shades because it is teal with purple [Ravelry]. No photos yet.
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Eye Candy Friday...

...leading into a 3-day weekend and a short work week ahead because Stitches West!!

The daffodils are blooming in our front yard:

And the sunrises have been pretty cool:

For Valentine's Day, The Husband gave me a new plant for the garden. This is a Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana):

Up this weekend: Spin In tomorrow! I haven't decided what to make yet. I think I'll decide when I get to the store later today.

One thing I'll do over the weekend is pull together my stuff for Stitches West. I need to set aside some yarn and needles for my class on Thursday.

Then I'm just going to revel in having an extra day off! :-)
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...with slow progress.

Here's a progress shot of Mermaid of the Pearls:

Yes, there are loose threads. Leaving a long starting tail allows me to add in a bead on that end if I accidentally miss one. I'll bury both ends of the threads in the back when I get to the end of the floss.

Another progress shot, this time it's the Ravellenic Hat [Ravelry]:

I'm having trouble working on this hat while watching the Olympics because I get so caught up in the action! I have to keep reminding myself to knit...lol!

I don't know how much I'll get done tonight. It depends on whether the Husband wants to celebrate Valentine's Day. Some years we do; some years we don't.

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch)
  Working on the "C" square (row 1, square 1).
• Finishing work
  Choosing the fabric for backing the needlepoint pieces.
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Beading her tail.
• Ravellenic Hat [Ravelry]:
  Working on the body of the hat
• St. Charles (needlepoint)
  Still working on the center stitching.

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
3. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Mirabel handspun (spinning) [Ravelry] 
5. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
7. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
2. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
3. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
5. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

...and a Ravellenic Games update.

I started a hat (Ravellenic Hat on Ravelry) while watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. I finished the ribbing and started working on the body of the hat. This is my go-to project while watching the various events.

On Friday, I finished spinning the singles for Denali [Ravelry] - my entry in WIPs Dancing. I let it sit overnight before plying it on Saturday.

and the close-up:

Specs:
Started 12/29/2017
Finished 2/10/2018
Alpaca-Silk (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks
186.1 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI

While I think the best thing for my stash would be to spin a Phat Fiber box next, I might see if I can do an art yarn first. I still have a couple of Yarn Wench batts that I haven't spun. They are perfect for art yarn.

The beading on the mermaid is progressing. I am slowly working my way up from the bottom. One side benefit of the beading is that I see where I missed a stitch or two and can fix the mistake before moving on to the next bead.

I broke out the Bead Butler that I bought many moons ago from Black Swan Designs. It is the best thing to hold multiple colors of beads when working on a project like the mermaid. It is essentially a flat, clear plastic box with foam lining both the inside top and bottom; one side has 6 shallow wells that hold a layer of beads. When I'm done beading, I simply close the box with the beads inside. It snaps shut, but I usually use a rubber band or hair band around it to keep it secure when not in use. It works for me!
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Eye Candy Friday...

...and the start of the Ravellenic Games!

The blossoms are starting to pop out in the garden. The flowering plum tree is usually the first one out of the gate:

The Santa Rosa plum is not far behind:

And the nasturtiums are also going strong:

Up this weekend: I'll cast on my hat and work on it during the [time-delayed] opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympic Games. I usually fall asleep at some point during the ceremonies, but this year the network is starting them at 5pm Pacific time. Nice!

I have a spinning WIP to finish over the weekend, too. Then I'll probably switch back to beading the mermaid. Between crafts, chores and watching the Olympics, I think my weekend is set!
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WIP-it Wednesday...

...pre-Ravellenic Games edition.

I chose two items that I am entering in the Ravellenic Games.  I'll enter the Hat Halfpipe by knitting a hat using some Red Heart yarn that I have in the stash. I'll also enter WIPs Dancing and finish spinning the Denali handspun [Ravelry] that I started in December.

I thought about entering the Mirabel handspun [Ravelry] in WIPs Dancing, but I know there is no chance that I will finish it by the 25th. If I really feel the need to enter a third thing, it will probably be spinning fiber from another Phat Fiber box in my stash.

The Mirabel has been on a back burner for a bit, only because I haven't felt the motivation to spin. However, there is some fiber on my spindle:

The mermaid has most of my attention. I just need to pull myself away from the stitching frame so I can work on some of my other projects.

WIPs Roll Call

Worked On:

• Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
  Figured out where I left off and knit a couple of rows
• Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch)
  Finished the solid red square (row 2, square 2). Started the "C" square (row 1, square 1).
• Finishing work
  Finished the scissor fobs. Next up is turning the needlepoint pieces into flats.
• Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)
  Started the beading at her tail.
• St. Charles (needlepoint)
  Brought this back into the rotation. Working on the center stitching.

Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
3. Denali handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
4. Mirabel handspun (spinning) [Ravelry] 
5. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
7. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
2. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
3. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
5. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Top-of-the-Waves Tuesday...

...and the weekend report.

First off, the Daughter's Birthday/Superbowl party on Sunday was a lot of fun! The present I made for her was a photo book with pictures that span her 40 years. I did the layout on the Walgreen's site and they printed and bound it. I was able to pick it up at a local store to save on shipping costs. I think she liked it because I didn't pick any of the "bad" photos from her childhood. (LOL!)

The Husband and I spent another few hours going through his mother's craft stuff. We found several more completed projects that he will photograph. A good chunk of this session was going through magazine pages that she saved, making sure that they weren't for completed projects that we'd already set aside. I also found a lot of Aida cross stitch fabric that she bought and never used.

With that motivation, I did a little finishing work for my own stuff. I found some scissor fobs that simply needed cording made and sewn on.

Pumpkin fob (stitching finished 8/2013):

Happy Wishes fob (stitching finished 7/2015):

This is the Sheep scissor fob (stitching finished 8/2015):

Scaredy Sheep fob needed rick rack instead of cording (stitching finished 7/2015):

I also decided that the needlepoint pieces that I originally planned on framing would be better off finished as flats - backing the canvas with fabric and sliding in a piece of acid-free foam core for stabilization.

I spent some time going through my own cross stitch fabric stash and decided that I need to cull that out son. For now, I pulled out anything that was still in the manufacturer's original packaging and unopened - it went into the Goodwill pile. Some of it is so old that I didn't feel like I could sell it to someone.

I started beading the mermaid! I placed the mermaid cross stitch back on the stretcher bars. I found a DMC floss that matched the fabric color and started placing the beads. I'm starting at the tail and working up as it has fewer large beads that would interfere with rolling up the piece.

So progress on a few fronts...onward!
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January 2018 recap...

...a little of this, a little of that.

Finished:

• 1/6 All That Glitters quilt (quilting)
• Books:
  1. Deadly Storm, Skye Knizley
  2. Murder Games, James Patterson
  3. How to Save an Undead Life, Hailey Edwards
  4. The Passion of Cleopatra, Anne Rice
  5. Twist of Faith, Ellen J Green
  6. How to Claim an Undead Soul, Hailey Edwards
  7. Ancient Magic, Linsey Hall
  8. The Memory of Butterflies, Grace Greene
  9. Mirror Mage, Hailey Edwards

Started:

• 1/15 Mirabel handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]

Works In Progress:

1. 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [Ravelry]
2. All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting)
3. Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)
4. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry] 
5. Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch) 
6. Denali handspun (spinning) [Ravelry]
7. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)  
8. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
9. Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [Ravelry]
10. St. Charles (needlepoint)
11. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [Ravelry]
2. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
3. Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
4. Finishing work
5. Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)
6. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)

Eye Candy Friday...

...and only 20 days until Stitches West! LOL!

Today's eye candy is this morning's sunrise with two jet trails:

There are very few things blooming in the garden. The Husband gave me a bunch of flower bulbs with new-to-us varieties of squill, lilies, scilla, and other flowers. Come spring, there should be plenty of flowers to photograph.

Not exactly eye candy, but here is another project that I made for my mother-in-law. It was in the latest batch of items we looked through. This is Gems from the Sea:

Specs: 
Given as a gift on 6/16/1982.
It probably took 2 to 3 elapsed months to complete the project.
Sunset Needlepoint kit, designed to be hung from the top-left corner.

I did mostly needlepoint and crewel projects up through 1982. I didn't start cross stitching until 1983 and went almost exclusively cross stitch in 1987. I started going multi-craftual in 1997. (I wrote it all down in a needlework journal - pre-database/pre-blog days...)

Up this weekend: We celebrate the Daughter's 40th birthday It's hard to believe that she's 40! Inside, I don't feel old enough to have a daughter that old, but there it is.

One goal this weekend is to gather the supplies I need to make a hat for the Ravellenic Games that start on the 8th. I want to cast-on for the hat while I watch the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies.  I have to figure out what else I'll work on. I plan on finishing the Denali handspun [Ravelry] that I worked on at the last Spin-In. What I haven't decided is whether to knock out an art yarn or two before working on other stuff.

The other thing I want to do is get the mermaid back on the stretcher bars and start the beading. Given the massive amount  of beads that this project needs, I'll probably start in the areas with the fewest number of beads and work up from there. The beads and treasures in the foam area of the piece will be the last section that I'll bead.

So many things to do!
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Playing catch-up...

...somehow it got to be Thursday! I've been working on a secret gift and it's consumed most of my time.

We spent another few hours going through my mother-in-law's craft items. We filled a large Ziploc bag with sewing notions and another with knitting and crochet hooks.

We set aside the binders she filled with project and gift ideas. These were mainly pages she found in magazines and needlework charts. It would take quite a while to go through them, so we opted to put that aside for now. We sent through several boxes and found more completed projects. The Husband will take photos of theses newly discovered projects. We also found some charts for completed Christmas ornaments, a bunch of seam binding and hemming tape, and a lot of dead elastic. And there is still more to go through!

Anyway, after seeing how many projects my MIL made and left the finishing work undone, I decided I needed to do something about mine. I went into my studio and took a good look at what I have that needs finishing work.

• There are three scissor fobs that just need cording stitched around the edges. I made the cording and they are ready to be finished. 
• Several needlepoint pictures either need frames or need to be made into pillows or flat-folds. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to find frames that size, but I need to do something with them.
• I have one item that needs to be made into a pin cushion. I have the finishing kit. I just need to do it!
• There are 4 crewel panels that I stitched when the Daughter was a toddler. Maybe I can make it into a small quilt...

It's a good start.

In other news, I finished the stitching on Mermaid of the Pearls! And I washed and pressed her!

She is ready to go back onto the stretcher bars for beading. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to start that this weekend as there's this little thing called the Daughter's 40th birthday...
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