Livin' La Needle Loca

...a  Celestarium [ Ravelry ]. shawl picture as promised!  I have finished the Ursa Minor constellation (on the left). This pattern has several charts for the placement of YOs and beads. Other that making sure they are in the proper place, this is a pretty simple pattern. I am on the "D" charts, round 31 of 157 total (not counting the edging). I know each round will take longer the bigger the shawl grows. For right now, I am totally enjoying this project! As for my other WIPs, here's the latest list of the WIPs I'm thinking about while I knit Celestarium. Violet Needle Roll (cross stitch) - Started February 2007 I worked on this over the weekend.I remembered why I put this one aside: I really hate the linen that was included in this kit. the edges unravel easily and it's very thin. If I didn't already have a lot of stitching time invested in it, I'd IDJ (It's Dead, Jim) it. Inkle training project [ Ravelry ] (weaving) - This project migh...

...or Catch-up Tuesday, if you prefer. The short story: dinner was great and the weekend was productive. First, our dinner at Cascal om Friday was yummy!! The sangria was a good as I remembered and the flan was extraordinary. The rest of the meal (black bean soup with sherry, mushroom empanadas, chile relleno, Spanish flatbreads, tacquitos) was great, too, and the company even better.  We discussed going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in a couple of weeks, so I have that trip to look forward. I should be able to walk better by then. The Husband had a few activities that kept him out of the house for a good part of the weekend. After doing a few chores, I spend most of my weekend in the studio.  Saturday was devoted to laundry and finishing a couple of stitching projects. Originally, I just wanted to finish the small embroidery project I'd started last Mother's Day. I knew there was just a little stitching to do. When I finished the stitching, I searched for the framing mat...

...it's our 27th wedding anniversary and our 32nd year together.  The Husband brought flowers to my office this morning, which was very sweet.  Unfortunately, I can't get a decent picture of the complete arrangement in here so I'll try to to that at home tomorrow. I did get a few macro pictures though. The vase is very cool--it looks like 3 bud vases that were melded together. in the left container are two gerbera daisies: In the center is some heather with a red bow: and on the right are two red roses: It's a very unique vase that I'll probably keep in my studio because it looks artistic. (LOL!) Up this weekend: We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate our anniversary. We are going to Cascal , a tapas restaurant in downtown Mountain View. There will be sangria and flan involved... Other than that, I have no specific plans. We wanted to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium to see the jellies, but my toe is still very unhappy. The Daughter has been...

...but I have an F.O.! I finished Recipe for Summer. I know, I know, I said I wasn't in a summer mood. However, when I compared this project to the Violet needle roll, I decided to finish the summer one. Here it is: Specs: Started 6/19/12; Finished 1/20/13; Kit from Pine Mountain Designs No  modifications. I haven't made much progress on my other WIPs. I did move a knitting project into the rotation: the Sea Foam Wrap that I started in 2008 [ public Ravelry link ]. It's slow going only because there are so many yarn-overs in the pattern. It's very pretty, though, and I love the yarn color I picked. I'm really itching to spin, but I stubbed my little toe a week ago and I think I broke it. I am still hobbling around and I'm having trouble wearing regular shoes. The thought of treadling does not thrill me. I should probably pull out one of my spindle spinning projects and work on that. If it's not one thing, it's another... .

....and the winner is (drum roll...): Congrats, ScienceJock!! You have won a project bag and a set of stitch markers. Please email your bag selection—abstract (on the left) or birds (on the right)—and your snail-mail name and address to: marie_novicki@yahoo.com    I'll send your prize to you ASAP. Thanks to everyone who entered! FYI: things are a little scattered today. If things settle out, I'll do a regular Eye Candy Friday post. If not, have a good weekend! .

...because Wednesday got away from me! As promised, here is the current state of Violet Needleroll (by Shepherd's Bush), one of my cross stitch WIPs: I'm having a heck of a time getting into this WIP, or any WIP for that matter. When it's cold, all I want to do is curl up in several blankets and watch TV. No way am I putting my hands out in the cold air! It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't I freeze all day in my office. All I want to do when I get home is get warm! There's a reason I live in California...I don't do cold. Here are the top 10 WIPs that I should be working on instead of watching TV: Violet Needle Roll (cross stitch) - Started February 2007 (see picture above). Midnight Rose Mitts [ Ravelry ](knitting) - I’m debating whether to complete this project. Originally I started it to use up the yarn leftover from the Midnight Botanical Cowl that I made for a friend. Now that Christmas is over, I can’t seem to get back into knitting them. ...

Leave a comment on my 1/7/13 post by midnight TONIGHT 1/16 to enter the contest. The winner will be announced on Friday, 1/18. The prize: One of these project bags and the set of 5 stitch markers. Good luck! .

...it was a somewhat productive weekend.  So here we go in no particular order. I baked Mexican Chocolate Brownies to take to Spin-In on Saturday and for a get-together on Sunday. They turned out very well and I'll be making them again sometime. I finished the 10 project bags that I started a week ago. I shared some of them with the spinners at Spin-In, which was my original intention. (Another hide-in-plain-sight project!) Here are the 10 bags I finished: I worked on a cross stitch project that has been hibernating since 2007. I'll post a progress picture tomorrow. I made the stitch markers for the Blogiversary prize (see below). I started spinning Navajo Turquoise, a merino top from the Yarn Wench .  I just realized that I don't have it logged into Ravelry yet. (oops!)  You can see it on her etsy site here . It's a lovely combination of turquoise, brown, and a bit or rose. ***7th Blogiversary Contest Reminder*** Leave a comment on my 1/7/13 post...

...at least for us. It's 43°F outside, way too cold for me; There's frost on all the plants and cars, and many plats are dead or dying. The only plant that seems to be happy are the paperwhite narcissus. They are still blooming away. This picture is from a couple of days ago: I like how the dew drops are highlighted at this angle. Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow! I need to survey my left-over Christmas baking supplies and make something to take. Also, I need to go through my 2012 fiber-y accomplishments and select some items for show-and-tell. I'm taking the project bags to Spin-In and have my fellow spinners select which bag to offer as the Blogiversary prize. I love all of the bags and can't make up my mind! I'm not quite finished with the project bags, but they will be close enough to done by tomorrow. I'm in the top-stitching phase and am really enjoying how they are all coming together. I love fast and easy projects! Yes, I'm ignoring my ...

...in which we talk about the new WIP I added to my already-long list of WIPs. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm making a bunch of project bags, one of which will be a Blogiversary contest prize. I'm using a bag pattern that I got from the Happy Things blog, which is no longer active (very sad as she had some great tutorials). You can find the pattern archived at The Quilting Bees of Murfreesboro site. ( PDF ). I finished sewing together all of the bags. I need to sew the opening closed and then push the linings into the bags. From there, I need to top-stitch to make the casings and thread the ribbon ties. Here's a picture of the bags ready for hand-sewing. The fabrics at the top of the picture are the linings; those at the bottom are the outside of the bags. I bought some coordinating ribbons at Jo-Ann yesterday, but I may use cording for some of them. I'm also working on: Midnight Rose Mitts [ Ravelry ] (knitting) Inkle training project [ Ravelr...

...technically it was Saturday, but I don't often post on the weekends.  I'm usually too busy running errands and trying to get in some quality crafting time. Before I dive into the weekend report, here's a late entry in the Christmas cookie display. I had to wait until these cookies arrived at their final destination before I could show them. Yes, they are for the same couple for whom I made the marzipan bees! I need a little practice decorating the bees, but I think they turned out OK. Moving on... I was essentially housebound on Saturday while I waited for a delivery (which never came!). I took advantage of the time deconstruct Christmas. I packed 95% of the Christmas decorations and put them back into the storage closet. The remaining 5% are the chile pepper lights and garland that hang from the loft railing. After going up and down the stairs multiple times to get the boxes for the decorations and then put them away, I just couldn't face going up the stair...

...and there are few things blooming at the moment. My default is the sunrise: There is one silly rose bush that thinks these chilly mornings are perfect to bloom in, but even it's giving up the ghost. Frost is not its friend! The paperwhite narcissus are going strong, but they are hard to photograph in the early morning light. The lavender seems to be doing well: Up this weekend: Finish deconstructing Christmas. I want to get the tree out of the living room and put the furniture back where it belongs before the Husband takes off for a mini-vacation. While I can move it by myself, it's faster with the two of us. The other big thing I want to do is get my kitchen back to its normal configuration. I still have it partially in Christmas baking mode. I need to put all the leftover supplies away and remove the remaining extra table. After that, it's craft time! I want to go through my WIPs and pick the top three to work on. the three will probably include the fin...

Those not on Ravelry can see pictures of these items in my Flickr photostream and sets: Knitting , Spinning , Quilting/Sewing , Needlework , and Weaving . Short Story: It was the year that my dream of a studio came true. I did mostly spinning and reading because of my vision issues. Finished: Christmas Baking, etc. 540 biscotti; 845 cookies 12.6 pounds of chocolate (fudge and chocolate bark) 10 lbs of flavored nuts 24 mini-fruitcakes; 19 pumpkin bread mini-loaves; 12 lemon mini-loaves; 5 gingerbread mini-loaves Knitting Midnight Botanical Cowl [ Ravelry ] Nefertem Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Jane's Mini Mochi Scarf (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Quilting/Sewing/Beading/Other Jungle Songs quilt Reading Read 98 books (list at the end of the post) Spinning Adele Stackhouse; Arcadia 1 from The Yarn Wench; 124.7 yds. chain-ply; 11 WPI [ Ravelry ] Avila Beach from Wolf Creek Wools; 275.4 yds 2-ply, DK [ Ravelry ] Bill Compton; Smoke and Mirrors from The Yarn W...

Finished: Baking: Biscotti (7 kinds): 540 Cookies (13 kinds): 845 Fruitcakes: 24 mini-bundt Pumpkin bread: 19 mini-loaves Lemon bread: 12 mini-loaves Gingerbread: 5 mini-loaves Marbled peppermint bark: 2.75 lbs Rocky Road bark: 3.25 lbs Pistachio-Cranberry bark: 3.6 lbs Macadamia Lime Fudge: 1 lb Grand Marnier Orange fudge: 1 lb Amaretto Nuts: 14 cups Grand Marnier Nuts: 12 cups Chile-Lime Nuts: 16 cups 12/29 Jungle Songs quilt (quilting) 12/31 Natural Dyes Wild Card handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Natural Dyes Wild Card #4968 batts from Yarn Wench 169.3 yds single, energized Books: Archangel Rafe, Lisa Hughey Ashes of Honor, Seanan McGuire One Salt Sea, Seanan McGuire Late Eclipses, Seanan McGuire An Artificial Night, Seanan McGuire A Local Habitation, Seanan McGuire Blood and Mistletoe, EJ Stevens Shadow Sight, EJ Stevens Started: 12/4 Midnight Rose mitts (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/27 Inkle strap training project (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Worked on: ...

...first post of the year and first day of work for the year.  I wasn't ready to go back to work yet, but what can you do? I have to earn the $$ for more craft stuff somehow! I finally got a somewhat decent picture of the Going Snow Global top: I also pieced the backing fabric for it. All that is left is to make the quilt sandwich and machine quilt it....later. I'm out of quilting mode for now, so I've put this away. I managed to squeeze in a final finished object by the end of 2012. Here is Natural Dyes Wild Card handspun: and a close up: Specs: Started: 6/5/10; Finished: 12/31/12; Natural Dyes Wild Card #4968 batts from The Yarn Wench 169.3 yds singles (energized); bulky I found this to be a difficult spin on my hands, which is why I went with a single. I don't know if it's because my hands were way overworked from all the baking or what, but I just wanted to get this one done quickly. I will probably use this in a weaving I plan on doing ...