Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...and we're coming towards the end of the Tour. First, some eye candy. The Husband is buying flowers to put in the courtyard now that construction is done. He's also adding flowers to the backyard to brighten things up.  Lisianthus: Petchoa: Ivy-leaved pelagonium: and our canna lilies are blooming again: TdF 2026, 7/22 Chain-plied Olivia [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/21/2026 Finished 7/22/2026 Falkland (4.2 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 79.2 yds. chain-ply, 9 WPI  TdF 2026, 7/23 I decided to do an art yarn. This is Martha [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Falkland (4.1 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 83.3 yds., 9 WPI Single plied with Bernat Matrix in Browser Blue and Piedmont Yarn’s Skyline

...finally getting back in the groove. I spun the singles for Olivia [ Ravelry ], another braid from The Yarn Wench. I'll try to ply this one today.

 ...decided not to take a rest day this week. TdF 2026, 7/19 Chain-plied Tippy [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 7/14/2026 Finished 7/19/2026 Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 66.7 yds., 9 WPI The day before, I received the additional drawer organizers that I orders. I started putting them in place and re-organzing my supplies. I tested my new coffee maker. (It works!) TdF 2026, 7/20 I spun Aurora [ Ravelry ] as an art yarn. I plied it with a yarn from the stash. and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/20/2026 Falkland  (4.2 oz.) from the Yarn Wench 64.5 yds. chain-ply with Lala Berlin Shiny by Lana Grossa in color 8 In the studio, I washed the silverware for the coffee bar. I also put away more stuff in the new organizers. I rearranged some of the Expedit cubes so I could put away the puzzle mats. I also brought in the DMC floss chest. I'm still trying to put everything away so I can finally take photos ...

 ...it seems that posting is the last thing on the list that somehow doesn't make it to "done." TdF 2026, 7/16 Continued to spin the singles for Tippy. I was getting close to the end of putting things away in the IKEA cabinets when the coffee bar and mini-fridge arrived 2 days early. I had to stop and move things to make way for the huge boxes.  TdF 2026, 7/17 Still spinning the singles for Tippy. Sorry, no photo. We assembled the coffee bar and moved it into place. We need to rotate the worktable 90 degrees because the coffee bar sticks out further than I anticipated. I need more shelf liner and some more in-drawer organizers for this new piece. I ordered the organizers on-line and will get the shelf liner locally. The Husband continues to be a star in re-homing the furniture that we no longer need. One person came and took a 2-drawer filing cabinet, the remaining 4 storage cubes, and two nylon web baskets. Yay! TdF 2026, 7/18 Fini...

 ...the studio has drawn my attention away from many things, including posting. Yesterday, The Husband and I took a trip to IKEA to buy some replacement drawer units for my old cube storage. I bought two Alex units, which give me a file drawer for the remaining files that I have to keep and several drawers to store the remaining supplies that I can't find space for. I put them together yesterday and today I will get them in place. The last piece of furniture (for now) that I need has been ordered and will arrive tomorrow. It is a coffee bar cabinet that will house a refrigerator, glasses, cups, and utensils. On top will be my electric teapot and a one-cup coffee maker. The refrigerator will arrive next week. In the meantime, I am arranging my books on the bookshelves on the Murphy bed, using bookends to keep the books in place and museum putty to hold photo frames and small items TdF 2026, Day 8, 7/11 Continued chain-plying Gypsy Rose Lee [ R...

 ...yeah, I'm behind in posting. I was hoping by this point that be able to get back into the studio after the Murphy bed installation, but there was a glitch. Apparently, the piano hinges either didn't get packed with the shipment or (more likely) they didn't make the final truck. In theory, the final truck was supposed to unpack the pallet when they delivered it here. Instead, they unpacked the pallet, loaded it onto the truck, and then delivered it.  It was a tedious process to check off the large number of pieces that made up the bed. The Husband and I decided not to open the sealed boxes that came with the shipment so we didn't lose any of the hardware. We had 72 hours to report any damage or missing pieces, so we felt safe in doing so since the installers were coming the following day. The installers did as much as they could without the hinges. I contacted the company and they, in turn, contacted the installer to give them the part...