Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...my week was interrupted by a planned trip to handle the last item in my mother's estate. It was raining on the trip down and the clouds were really interesting. With the help of Siri, I was able to get this shot: At my mother's old house, there were a lot of weeds in the yard. Among the weeds were a couple of rogue gazanias: And there was a lone hibiscus near the front door: Here's the finished object. I finished stitching CATrina. As with most Barbara Ana projects, it was fun to stitch and I love the way it looked. Specs: Started 9/10/2025 Finished 11/3/2025 Design by Barbara Ana Design  When I finish stitching a project, I usually wash and press it. Because I mostly stitch on light fabrics, I want to make sure that I clean off anything that might have accidentally landed on the fabric. In general, I'm a clean stitcher - I wash my hands before I start stitching and I work in Q-Snaps or on scroll bars with a stand to kee...

...in which we are still waiting for the city to approve our permit so we can remodel my studio. Finished: 10/21 Summer's End Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 101.1 yds. chain-ply, 8 WPI 10/22 Morning Glory Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 4.0 oz. Polwarth-Silk from Greenwood Fiberworks 217.7 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI  10/25 Galapagos Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 4.0 oz from Dragonfly Fibers 175 yds. chain-ply, 12 WPI Books: The Wolf vs. The Dragon, Lauretta Hignett The Five Wounds, Kirsten Valdez Quade Saltwater Secrets, Katie Winters Ride or Die, Hailey Edwards The Beach Shack, Cindy Nichols The Beach Shack Summer, Cindy Nichols The Birthday, Carol Wyer Last Lullaby, Carol Wyer The Dare, Carol Wyer The Sleepover, Carol Wyer The Blossom Twins, Carol Wyer The Secret Admirer, Carol Wyer Somebody’s Daughter, Carol Wyer Started: 10/8 Galapagos Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 10/26 Sea Plaid Wrap (weavin...

&...finally took some photos. It's been mostly spinning around here with some cross stitch thrown in. Here are the latest completed spins. Summer's End Handspun [ Ravelry ] is another Falkland from The Yarn Wench: and the close-up: Specs: Started 9/26/2025 Finished 10/21/2025 Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 101.1 yds. chain-ply, 8 WPI Morning Glory Handspun [ Ravelry ] is a new, limited color from Greenwood Fiberworks: and the close-up: Specs: Started 9/28/2025 Finished 10/22/2025 4.0 oz. Polwarth-Silk from Greenwood Fiberworks 217.7 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI And finally, Galapagos Handspun [ Ravelry ] is a Stitches West 2018 purchase from Dragonfly Fibers: and the close-up: Specs: Started 10/8/2025 Finished 10/25/2025 4.0 oz from Dragonfly Fibers 175 yds. chain-ply, 12 WPI I was feeling like I was in a rut, craft-wise, so I started a weaving project on my Ashford Knitter's Loom. My Baby Wolf loom is in the POD co...

 ...because I forgot yesterday. I got caught up in finishing a couple of handspuns. I have a third one to ply and then I'll post them all together. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: CATrina (cross stitch) Working on the torso. Galapagos Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Finished the singles; ready to ply. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] My Recipes (cooking)  Website (other)  Queued for Starting 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) Peaceful Night (cross stitch) Road to Chaos (quilting)   Sea Dandelion (cross stitch) IDJ (It's Dead, Jim): Chaca II (needlepoint) UFOs/Hibernation: Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Illusi...

...with some progress. CATrina is coming along. I managed to get a photo of it this morning: It is still the primary project in the queue because it's easy to work on. I'd love to do some sewing, but I'll just have to be satisfied watching Great British Sewing Bee for now.   WIPs Roll Call Worked On: CATrina (cross stitch) Working on the side motifs. Galapagos Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Working on singles My Recipes (cooking)Entered a couple of recipes. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Summer's End Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Morning Glory Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Website (other)  Queued for Starting 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 (cr...

 ...because we spent some time making a path for our new washer and dryer that's being installed today. We were going to wait to get a new set until after the remodel was done. However, the set we wanted was on sale until October first and the price was too good a deal to pass up. You gotta do what you gotta do...  🤷 I still haven't quite got the swing of taking progress photos now that I'm out of the studio. Trust me when I tell you that the CATrina cross stitch piece is looking really great. I'm alternating between it and some spinning. While I was going through some old boxes, looking for things to purge, I found the hard-copy master for a cookbook that I created in 1994. It contains chocolate recipes that I collected from USENET groups up until that point. It was a gift for two co-workers who married their sweethearts that year. It's in FrameMaker which means that I either have to convert it to word (all 419 pages of it - ugh!) or make a PDF and load it into th...