Livin' La Needle Loca

...cuteness: How could you resist that face? This weekend, Sombra wanted me to spend all my time with her. Every time I sat down for a minute, she was there, patting me with her paws or just looking at me with that cute kitty face. Unfortunately for her, I had other things to do. I unraveled the Here There Be Dragons socks and put the yarn aside for the moment. I found Lagoon and Beryl in the stash and decided that Beryl is the right yarn to use for these socks. I wound up Beryl and divided it into two balls in preparation for the HTBD socks. I read through the "Knee High to a Grasshopper" pattern and decided that I would start those socks before I did any other socks. I wound Walking on the Wild Tide yarn and divided it. I cast on for the first sock, oh, maybe 4 times. I just could not get the hang of the toe-up thing the first few tries. I've tried toe-up before, but was never successful. I think I've got it now, though. However, I realized that I didn't have a...

...for your viewing pleasure, a Feijoa blossom. Feijoas are also known as pineapple guavas (and they're yummy!). I also received my Rockin' Sock Club installment, Walking on the Wild Tide. It's a gorgeous Merino-Silk yarn that just begs to be petted. I was expecting it to be delivered at work, but for some reason it was mailed to my home address instead. So it was a very nice surprise last night! I love the whole Tides theme. (Gee, can you tell? I have seashells in my fountain!) I love it so much, I made a quilt called " The Tides at Bodega Bay ," named for our favorite get-away, Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay. CA. I love it so much, I had to order more yarn from Blue Moon: OK, so the first one, Footzey Foo, isn't in the Tides group, but Lunasea, Socktopus, and Undertoe are! Lunasea is destined to become Mystic Sea socks (the second pattern up there). I haven't quite decided which yarn to use for Trickle yet. On the knitting front, I have completed two ...

...no kitties today, but I have more yard pictures. On Friday, I posted pictures of the front yard. Today, you get pictures of the back yard. Here's a picture of the largest part of the yard: And a view from the opposite side: Standing (pretty much) on the same spot, turning, and looking down the side yard (ignore the messiness): Like the front yard, the back is pretty small. And, yes, our lawn is nice and rectangular. That's because it used to be a swimming pool...it was a pain in the neck and we never used it because the gas heater was old and expensive (and the gas line corroded, and...) The best thing we did was to have it filled in and put in a lawn. As you can see, the Husband has crammed it full of plants, in and out of containers. We swapped out our wood trellises with metal ones this year and I really like how they look. This weekend was spent do a little clean-up. We went through our electronics gear and took a bunch of stuff to one of the Earth Day free recycle locat...

As I've mentioned before, the Husband loves to garden. In addition to the heirloom tomatoes and peppers, he's planted some snow peas. They are now blooming and producing pea pods (see them in this picture?) and, boy are they good! So much better than what you get at the grocery store! I've posted pictures of the roses, irises, poppies, and lavender in ou r front yard. You might be under the mistaken impression that we have a big yard. Well, no. Here's the whole thing: And another view (ignore the open car door!) The Husband manages to pack quite a lot in that small space. In addition to the flowers, there are 4 or 5 rose bushes 1 rosemary bush (several years old) 1 raspberry bush 2 and boysenberry bushes 1 rogue tree (don't remember what it is...we removed it several years ago because it "died" and replaced it with a tree that also died. Then this one decided to resurrect itself.) Some garlic and onion bulbs Assorted decorative plants He also has a few th...

...my secret project arrived at its new home yesterday. So now it can be revealed: OK, so maybe the picture is a little anti-climactic. "Secret" is a "Begin to Spin" kit for my friend Jane (one of the few people who actually reads this blog..LOL!) You might be wondering what took me so long to make this present. Well, what you can't see in the picture are the instructions, pictures, and videos that I made describing the process of spinning from my point of view. This part took a while to do. It's hard to take pictures and videos of yourself that you are "OK" with. I had to do some of them over and over again. The Virgo in me is still not totally happy with them, but you can only tweak so long on something! I started with a kit from Carolina Homespun that had a very generous amount of fiber, the Spin It book, and a Cascade Little Si spindle. So what's exactly in the kit? Cascade Little Si spindle. Lined drawstring bag for the spindle, in blu...

"Secret" was mailed today. I braved the lines at the post office (seriously, people...e-filing?) and sent it on its way . Speaking of e-filing, we found the last two pieces of missing data, finished our taxes (and the Daughter's taxes), and e-filed them all this weekend. Whew! Glad that's done! I knitted a little bit on the Here There Be Dragon socks last night. No picture because they don't look significantly different than the last picture I posted. I also spun more of the Grape Jelly roving. Look... ...it's coming right along. Here's a closer look: I think I mentioned before--1/2 a pound of roving is A LOT to spin with a spindle. It looks like I've barely made a dent in it! It's looking more and more like I might need a spinning wheel at some point. Really, I "need" one. Our garden continues to flourish. Our few remaining irises are blooming, the lavender is going nuts, and the other rose bushes are starting to bud. This week, I plan ...

...wrapped and ready to mail! I didn't get it done in time for today's mailing, so it will have to wait until Monday. It feels good to have it finished. On to more spinning and knitting!

...for Eye Candy Friday. The apple tree bloomed like crazy this year, which means we might see more than 3 apples on the tree. Not that we'll actually get to eat any of them..the squirrels are always stealing them. Our apricot tree has finished blooming and has set a lot of fruit. I'm told that we should thin the fruit, but, honestly, we got so little fruit last year that I don't want to do that. I don't really care if it is small...I just want the fruit! Had a minor setback on the secret project. I thought I was done, but, no. I need to redo part of it. Hmmpf! The good part is that the fix won't take very long to do, so maybe I can get this puppy in the mail tomorrow! On tap this weekend, more spinning and (gasp!) some knitting!!

...so I can recover from a sinus-TMJ-migraine headache. Funny how you don't even want to be around a computer when your head is pounding...and forget Pilates! It rained yesterday, so that took some of the pressure off my sinuses and the headache finally subsided. It was heaven! I reveled in the lack of pain. Today the weather is clear and crisp, and some of the sinus pressure is back. I'm hoping that Excedrin Extra Strength will keep it at bay. Needless to say, I haven't quite finished the secret project. I have one thing left to do and then I can send it off. I'm glad Jane is patient!

...so here's Sombra! She was helping me work on my taxes and secret project all weekend. Of course, most of her "helping" was to sleep next to me while I worked! A big birthday shout-out to my friend Jane...it's today! She's blogless, otherwise I'd tell you to give her your own birthday wishes. Happy Birthday, Jane! I managed to get the taxes to the "almost done" state. I'm missing a couple of numbers, but everything else is in. I had hoped to finish the secret project this weekend, but that, too, is in an "almost done" state. Patience, Jane...it's getting there! I did take a break and enjoy the back yard yesterday. The apricot tree is going full bore and my husband has been very busy planting seeds. Ever wonder what your significant other does while you're spinning, knitting, crafting, etc? This is what my husband does: He plants things, like heirloom tomatoes and peppers, salad greens, herbs, onions, and garlic. I'm not ...

. ..it's poppy season! Our roses are starting up, too. On tap this weekend: taxes (ugh!), finishing up my secret project, and working on whatever else catches my fancy. We have no plans for Easter at this point, but who knows what tomorrow may bring. Have a good one!

...there is something mesmerizing about that spindle going around and around. I'm loving this Northern Lights 100% wool top—I love the colors and I love how it feels! And it's pretty! It's becoming easier to produce a consistent yarn. Part of that is due to the well-prepped top. I've been busy working on my secret project, so I haven't knit anything in a week. But that's OK...I'm enjoying my project and I'm loving the spinning!

...this is what the moon-set looked like this morning: Kind of made up for being up that early in the morning! I took this picture as I was leaving for the gym. I haven't been sleeping well lately and as a result I am slowly losing the energy to do a lot of crafty things. I am still forcing myself to get up to go to the gym at 6:30am because I find that it improves my energy level for most of the day. However, by the time I get home, I'm zonked!! However, I am working on a secret birthday project for my friend Jane, so the crafty energy I do have is going into that. I'll post pictures when she finally receives it. Back to work...

Finished: Two Calorimetries (knitting) Five sample size yarns (spinning) Homemade Lazy Kate Worked on: Hydrangea socks (knitting) More spinning Started, but didn't finish: Keyboard Biologist's Here There Be Dragons pattern using Monsoon yarn from the BMFA Rocking Sock Club Spinning 1/2 pound of Northern Lights 100% wool top in Grape Jelly In progress, but didn't work on: Flip-top mittens (knitting) Just Nan 2002 Christmas ornament (cross stitch) Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Peekaboo mittens (knitting) Queen Mermaid (cross stitch) Sangria shawl (knitting) Seahorses pillow (needlepoint) Twinkletoes slippers (knitting) Violet Needle Roll (cross stitch) I think you can sum up this month in one word: spinning. I kind of got obsessed with it! The main advantage to it is that I can do a little at a time and not have to worry about losing my place in a pattern. Considering how intense work has been this last month, it was nice being able to do something that ...