Livin' La Needle Loca

...we're almost ready for the 2 to 25 trick-or-treaters that will come to our door tomorrow night. I need to unearth a bowl or basket from the collection of kitchen stuff in the living room and then I think we're good. Because of the general disarray in the house, I have not put up my Halloween decorations. I usually put it on the coffee table, but that's been functioning as a desk for the Husband sometimes and a dining room table at other times.  Maybe tomorrow... The good news from the kitchen is that the microwave-hood is now mostly installed. I say mostly because the Husband still needs to put in the exhaust aluminum thingy (have no idea what it's called) and then it's done. The microwave part works though. Yay! Up this weekend: the Husband needs to finish the cabinet mods so we can move the range into place. And then I want to cook!! I'm thinking beef or pork roast... On the craft front, I want to finish the machine quilting for the Paint It Red qui...

...the kitchen is still the biggest WIP. The electrician did his thing yesterday and we have power outlets for the new range and microwave hood. However, the Husband still has a little cabinet work to do before we can install the microwave hood, which really should be installed before we move the range in place. Bottom line: still using the old microwave for cooking (or getting take-out, depending on how tired we are). At least i know I won't have to suffer through another Thanksgiving a Christmas with a barely functioning oven!  On the craft front, the only thing I've worked on is the mermaid. I'm at the point where I can see the end and I want to finish...everything else has fallen by the wayside!  Here's where I left off last night: She's getting close to having a face...and I'm almost done with the hair (thank goodness!). I'm not happy with the rectangular areas that were left open for the large beads that get attached to her body and tail. The b...

...that weekend went by fast! I pretty much lost most of Friday to the sinus headache from H3LL. Thankfully, it was mostly gone when I woke up on Saturday. My new range and microwave hood were delivered on Friday. They are sitting in the kitchen waiting for the electrical work to be done. The Husband got the dishwasher connected and we moved it into place. It was not fun...there is barely enough room for the dishwasher to fit under the cabinet and the insulation was not cooperating. We finally got it into place and after a little fiddling with the water pressure, we did a successful test run to check for leaks. I ran a real load Saturday night and it works great! Yay!! Squeaky clean dishes! The Husband spent the rest of the weekend preparing for the installation of the microwave-hood combo and continuing with the cabinet modifications. The electrician will do the outlet work on Tuesday and the Husband wants to be ready to go after that. We are getting a little tired of take-o...

...I'm home this morning, waiting for the electrician to come and do the rewiring for the new range. The range and microwave-fan thingy are scheduled to be delivered later today.  The dishwasher is still not installed because the Husband has been really busy with work ( you know, the thing that helps us pay for these new toys!). It looks like we'll get the installation done over the weekend. Until then we're making do. (I consider this practice for when we actually do the whole kitchen!) This week's eye candy is brought to you by the letter F ... The figs are ripening and they are yummy!! Up this weekend: do what we can to get the kitchen back together and then attack the layer of dust that has settled over everything. Any craft time will be gravy!

...as well as a construction zone. We now have our new dishwasher sitting in the middle of the floor, waiting for a part so we can install it. The old oven and range top are also in the middle of the floor, waiting to be taken away. The electrician is scheduled to do the outlet work for the range. The dining area now houses all the stuff from the cabinets that the Husband is modifying. It's a little chaotic, but nothing we can't live with for a short while. No pictures because it's not pretty!! I have been working almost exclusively on the cross stitch piece. Just not feeling the knitting mojo right now. Because I had to move my wheel and loom to another room so they wouldn't get covered in saw dust, it is not as convenient to work on those WIPs. Our garden is winding down. The tomatoes are almost all done, but there are still peppers to harvest. The Husband made a tomatillo salsa with the purple tomatillos and some chiles. It looks odd, but smells wonderful! W...

...not exactly what we thought we were doing this weekend, but it's all good. More about that in a bit. Pacific International Quilt Festival report: As expected there were many beautiful quilts, some spectacular quilts, and a few that were off the mark. While I appreciate all of the effort that it takes to produce a traditional quilt, I am more inspired by innovative or art quilts. I particularly love some of the quilts that come from Japan. Here's a detail view of "The Flower of the Wind" by Mariko Miwa. The use of metallic threads was stunning. The "Fossily" quilt by Karen Roberts of Germany was also amazing. Here's a detail of the beading in that quilt: While not a quilt, "Even Frogs Dream" by Thom Atkins was a wonderful beaded work: I did a little shopping in the marketplace, but didn't buy much. One thing I did get was a "Sugar Skull" quilt kit from 1/4 Inch Publishing . I love Day of the Dead stuff an...

...and it's time for a sky picture: This was taken the morning after the big storm. I live the combination of clouds. There's something about an October morning that is so appealing... I'm taking this afternoon off as the rest of my comp time for working last Sunday. I'll go directly from work to the Pacific International Quilt Festival. The Convention Center is only a 15 minute drive from here. I'll spend the afternoon admiring the handiwork of other quilters and spending a little money on fabric and thread in the marketplace. One thing I'll make sure to buy is the commemorative pin. Did I tell you I collect pins from the different events I attend? I keep my Stitches West pins on my name tag holder. The rest of the pins I keep on this chatelaine: I took a class for this Pin Keeper's Chatelaine at a Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival [now defunct], pre-2000. It took me a while to finish it, but it is the perfect thing to hold all of my pins. I'l...

...after that huge storm yesterday, everything is damp! We've had a few rain showers this morning, but nothing like yesterday...it was wild outside. I took yesterday afternoon off as part of my comp time for working on Sunday. I used the time to work on my cross stitch mermaid and do some weaving. First though, here's the spinning I did during Saturday's Spin-In: This is Simpatico, a Falkland top from the Yarn Wench . The colors remind me of Halloween. Here is the current state of Queen Mermaid: Trying to get a picture of the whole thing without taking it off the stretcher bars is a challenge! In case you were wondering how I approach these large cross stitch pieces: I work most cross stitch projects from the center of the design outwards. I like to make sure the piece is centered on the fabric. I frequently work parts of the design upside down, which is what I am doing right now. A lot of Mirabilia mermaids have design elements on the left side of the f...

...we're supposed to get rain tonight. I don't think it's going to wait that long! This was taken early this morning. My weekend was short, as I put in some extra hours on Sunday for work. So I made the most of my Saturday! I decided to make lemon scones for the Spin-In and serve them with the Daughter's cream-cheese-pumpkin-butter spread. The scones came out OK (they would have been better is my over worked properly....grrrrr), but the cream cheese spread helped make up for the scones. Since Spin-In wasn't until the afternoon, I decided to take a trip to Purlescence and see if I could find a warp yarn to use with the latest Rockin' Sock Club yarn. I think I found the perfect tea-dyed wool to go with it. They also had the Second Heddle Kit for my loom; I got that and a second 10epi heddle. I also bought a Schacht Mini Loom Weaving Kit...I think it will perfect for doing samples when I'm trying to figure out how two yarns will work together. Spin...

...because I have a ton of work to finish by the end of the day. Today's Eye Candy Friday is the Falkland top I will be spinning tomorrow. It's time for Spin In and I'm realy looking forward to it! In honor of Autumn and Halloween, I picked this: This is Simpatico from the Yarn Wench . Up this weekend: Spin In tomorrow! And then sleep, cross stitch, and quilting, in no particular order!

...and Socktoberfest!  I haven't made much progress yet, but I've started! The actual color is a bit more rusty, but it was hard to capture this morning.  One thing about Sundara's patterns that I like is that she frequently does not include ribbing in the cuff. You cast on using two strands of yarn and then go right into the cuff pattern using one strand. The two-strand cast-on gives you the stretch to get it over your foot. It's a nice change. I'm pressing on with the Mermaid, but sadly it doesn't look marginally different than the last picture. Large cross-stitch pieces go so slowly! The Husband is off on a mountain bike trip with a friend, so the kitties and I are keeping each other company. I wish I could enjoy it more, but work it a little crazed right now. Next week should be better! (If you are so inclined, please ask the Universe to send oms and support to the family and friends of Ariel S., who passed away today. She was a vibrant young ...

...there is nothing significant to show you and I'm sure you're getting tired of garden shots! Which is not to say that I didn;t works on anything over the weekend. I went to Eddie's Quilting Bee in search of thread for the Paint It Red quilt and I found something that I thought would be perfect: a variegated thread in shades of red, with the darkest shade being very close to black. I also picked up a metallic silver with the thought of adding some metallic touches here and there. Well, I didn't like either one of them. The variegated one looked really good on the red fabrics and pretty awful on the black fabrics. The silver didn't look good on either...too much contrast. I went to plan B: I'm using a smoke colored "invisible" thread for the top and red for the back. I did stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around all of the blocks and in the seams of the borders. I still have to quilt around the center squares of each block and add the binding. Maybe ne...

...it's been a week and next week promises to be really busy at work! Just fair warning: the blog may suffer while I try to meet some release deadlines for a client. Today's eye candy is from (surprise!) the garden. The Husband is harvesting the cHile peppers now. Here is this week's haul. Habanero chile peppers Scotch Bonnet chile peppers Still Life with Chiles (There are a few more chile pictures over on Flickr...) On to the craft stuff...first off, I finished the Spooky Wrap cross stitch project: Specs: Finished: 9/30/09 Spooky Wrap kit from Pine Mountain Designs Cross Stitch No modifications made (The buttons aren't sewn on yet because I need to buy the right size pillow for the wrap.) And this week's view of the Queen Mermaid: Up this weekend: A trip to the quilt store to find a quilting thread for the Paint It Red quilt. I'm thinking that a rayon or metallic thread might give it a little extra zing, but we'll see. I c...

...yeah, well I didn't get a chance to post yesterday and today all you get is a recap. At least I have some pictures for tomorrow! Finished: 9/5/09 Under the Sea socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 9/13 Paint It Red quilt, top completed 9/29 Sandwiched and ready to quilt (With quilts, I figure there are two finishes: one for the top and one for the quilting!) 9/30 Spooky Wrap (cross stitch) Started: 9/22 Spooky Wrap by Pine Mountain (cross stitch) 9/30 Happy Pumpkin Scissor Fob by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch) 9/20 Coasters (weaving) Worked on: Wisteria Angora-Merino top from Tactile (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Sea Foam Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch)...this now back in the UFO pile Queen Mermaid by Mirabilia (cross stitch) Works In Progress, did not work on: Stranded Hearts socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] February Lady Sweater (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Corrugator scarf (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Morning Surf Scarf (knitting)...