WIP-it Wednesday, a little damp around the edges...

...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 fabric. Working upside down allows me to stitch from left to right on those elements and helps keep the count correct, reducing frogging.
• I also tend to finish the color on my needle before swapping to another color.
• I usually do the back stitching after I've finished the cross stitches, but before I wash the piece.
• I do the beading after washing and blocking (somewhat) the piece.

The main thing I worked on yesterday was a new shawl. I warped the loom and started weaving this:

The warp is Rowan Purelife Organic Wool yarn in Onion (not Tea like I said on Monday) and the weft is Socks that Rock Mediumweight in River Rocked, the latest installment of the Rockin' Sock Club. (The pink yarn at the bottom is not part of the shawl--it's waste yarn that I used to spread the warp out evenly.) Here's another view:

The Rowan yarn color is very close to one of the colors in the Socks That Rock yarn, so they work very well together. This is the first piece I've woven where I did a test swatch before starting. My new mini-loom came in handy for that!