Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...and a finished object. I finished the latest Shepherd's Bush Christmas ornament, Dashing Through The Snow: Specs : Started 9/1/2025 Finished 9/8/2025 2023 Christmas Ornament chart from Shepherd’s Bush; buttons and beads from stash WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Mom's Recipes (cooking) Searched through photos for a suitable cover photo; cleaned up a few spelling errors. My Recipes (cooking) Continued adding recipes from my Christmas cookbook. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Website (other)  Queued for Starting: Cat-Trina (cross stitch) Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting) Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month (cross stitch) Happy Pumpkin needleroll (cross stitch) Herding Cats quilt (quilting) Horrified! mini (cross stitch)  La Cat-trina quilt (quilting...

...and some catch-up. Yesterday was my birthday and I decided to take the day off from packing things in the studio. I did a little stitching, a little puttering, and then we went out to dinner. I took a few photos in the garden before I asked The Husband to take my birthday photo. The yellow hibiscus is still going strong: The Husband bought a basket full of red verbena and calibrachoa to hang in the backyard: and the Marc Chagall rose is blooming again. It was a big birthday, 75, and a tough one to wrap my arms around.  I am blessed with good genes, but still the number gets to me. My mom looked great at 75: and here is my birthday photo: I'm rarely happy with any photo of myself. This one turned out pretty well. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: My Recipes (cooking) Continued adding recipes from my Christmas cookbook and research some of the sources. I wished that I had done a better job of keeping track of the sources, but it...

 ...it went very quickly! This is Horrified!, a mini from Just Nan: Specs: Started 8/26/2025 Finished 9/1/2025 Chart from Just Nan  I believe that there is a matching frame for this piece, but it might already be packed up in the studio. I have one place to check. If it's not there, then it is in one of the many boxes that I've packed up and it will have to wait.

 ...and it's Happy Gotcha Day for the girls! 5 years ago, we brought home two kittens to fill the cat-sized holes in our hearts. They were an early birthday present for me. 😊 We love them!! Now that our water is working better, the Husband is replacing some of the flowers that dies because he couldn't water the yard well enough. He planted a yellow hibiscus: and replanted the hanging baskets with petunias, vinca, and pentas. The gaillardia is going string: as are the Frida Kahlo roses:

 ...and I've got a few projects queued, finally! I started one of them, but I've only got about 20 stitches done. Not worth taking a photo yet. It is called Horrified, a Halloween-themed mini from Just Nan. My main WIP is packing up the studio. I discovered that I have way more yarn and fiber than I thought I had, plus a considerable amount of handspun. I already knew that I had too much fabric! 😁 I am having a great deal of fun researching potential furniture for the new studio. I'd like to replace some of the older items with real furniture. The current furniture is a mix of good pieces (Ikea Expedit bookshelves, Horn of America sewing cabinet, table top), workable pieces (Target bookcases and cloth drawers, Michael's cube organizers, 2 storage benches), and a couple of old pieces (bookcase from the Daughter's old room and an armoire). I also have a small recliner and a swivel Crate and Barrel chair that we bought at the consi...

 ...things are in a state of upheaval. We accepted a quote and have met with the company's architect, who will create the studio plans. Once we approve them, they'll pull permits, etc. In the meantime, I'm packing up the contents of the studio. As I pack things up, I'm purging the yarn stash of skeins that I'll never use. The less expensive ones will go to Goodwill. I've allocated some for friends and some for sale through Ravelry.  I've set aside some supplies and projects for spinning, weaving, and stitching, and I went through my office stuff to pull out the essentials (stapler, paperclips, etc.).  I finished Seaology, a chart that I purchased in 2005.  < Specs: Started 7/5/2025 Finished 8/24/2025 Chart from The Trilogy  I wasn't happy with the lack of contrast in colors of the fish. This happens with overdyed threads, no two skeins are exact;y alike. I ended up with darker colors of Scuppernong (Weeks), Seaweed (...