Livin' La Needle Loca

...because I'm not sure when I'll have time to post again. The Southern Skies shawl has been getting the most play lately. It's been so cold that all I want to do is snuggle under a blanket. The shawl is easy to work on when I'm bundled up. I just finished edging repeat number 41 of 58. More than 2/3rds done...YAY! The Mediterranean Mermaid is on a temporary hold until after Thanksgiving. Here's what she looks like now: I'll stitch her face before going back to the hundreds of brown stitches in her hair.  I'm trying not to get bored with all that brown so I can continue forward progress. The biggest WIP of all is Thanksgiving dinner. Tomorrow's schedule is full. Go to the grocery store early to get all of the veggies and fruit I need. Get Mr. Turkey into the dry brine Make the sides: dressing/stuffing; mashed potatoes; sweet potato casserole; jello mold (The Husband's mom likes that); gravy Bake desserts: pumpkin pies; cranberry cake;...

...we'd trying to get the house together for our dinner guests on Thursday. Part of "getting ready" included replacing some dead flowers in the courtyard and cleaning up the backyard. Not that we think that anyone will want to hang out in the backyard because it's been a little cold. However, it might be nice if it didn't look like the lawn was taking over the world!. The Husband bought some replacement plants for the couryard. We have some bacopa flowers that will bloom for a while: Some salvia: and more salvia: The jade plant had decided to help by flowering as well: Up this weekend: Turkey Day preparation!  We have added 3 more relatives to the guest list and we're now up to 12 for dinner. It's a good thing I went ahead and bought 12 napkins, napkin rings, plates, etc.! We're very happy about it, though. It's the first time we've been able to have these relatives over for dinner, so it's very cool.  I have a mile-...

...in which we have an almost-finished object, and two new WIPs. The almost-finished object is the art yarn I did did at Spin-In. This is Verdant [ Ravelry ]: I haven't determined how many yard there are and I estimate the weight is Bulky. One of the new WIPs is Cazadero Mist [ Ravelry ] that I started at Spin-In: The other is a cross stitch piece. This is Hive by Shepherd's Bush: Here's the current WIP list:   WIPs in rotation: Mediterranean Mermaid (cross stitch) Still stitching her hair. I may work on her face to take a break from all of the brown! The Night is Purple and Full of Stars (Southern Skies) shawl [ Ravelry ]: Stitching edging repeat number 36 of 58. I'm trying to do a few rows everyday so there is more forward progress. Carbonized Zombie socks [ Ravelry ] I'm still knitting the heel flap, but I'm within 5 rows of completing it. Can;t wait to move on to the next part of the socks! Cazadero Mist handspun  [ Ravelry ] W...

...that was the name of the game this weekend. On Saturday, I fully intended on doing the laundry and working on the cookie list. Instead, I spent the day going through boxes and magazines that were in our loft. It started with the Husband saying we need to go to Goodwill with a couple of bags of clothes that accumulated. I agreed and asked him to hold off until I had a chance to look for a few things I knew were hiding in the loft.  Once I got up there, I had the urge to organize it. Whenever I want to organize, I know I won't rest until it's at least close to done! The end result: The Husband had to make a special trip to the recycling center to get rid of 100+ magazines and other paper items that we no longer needed to keep. Goodwill got  2 bankers boxes of books, games and frames, plus 5 large garbage bags full of clothes, shoes, baskets, and stuffed animals. I blocked the cats' hidey hole in the loft with items that we are keeping, but don't need to have in v...

...looking forward to the weekend! Today's eye candy is one of my entries for the company calendar. Every October, we have a contest to pick the pictures for our calendar. Employees and their spouses are allowed to enter three photos; the winner of the previous year's contest is not eligible. This was the best of my three entries, but it did not make the finals. Oddly enough, the picture that I thought was the weakest of the three did make the finals. I didn't win...oh, well. At least this time I was closer! Maybe I'll make my own note cards with it. Up this weekend: Nothing specific planned as yet. There might be a Spin In on Sunday, but nothing's been decided yet. Regardless, I will do some crafts at some point during the weekend. I want to peruse the cookie recipes and get closer to the final list. I also want to work on the Thanksgiving menu. Actually, it's more the appetizers that I need to worry about; the main meal will be pretty much the same-...

...they keep multiplying, falling out of cabinets, and appearing where you least expect them! I found two more WIPs when I was looking for my cache of DMC floss. I was looking for the floss because I was hoping that I already had the colors I need for the mermaid's hair. I opened and emptied all of the cross stitch storage boxes. I didn't find the floss, but I found the partially completed Watercolour Cats and Watercolour Lighthouses. The designs are by Sekas & Co.--you can see pictures here . I bought the chart packs in 1999. I have no idea when I started the projects as I did not write it down. I know: " Bad crafter! Bad!" At any rate, I took a good look at both projects and decided that they were no longer my taste and I would not finish them. Two more for the IDJ (It's Dead, Jim) pile. Apparently, there is a Watercolour Dragonflies project hiding somewhere. I wrote that one down as a UFO in January of 2001. It will turn up when I least expect it, I...

...because it's already the end of the day. I knit two more edging units for the Southern Skies shawl. I knit a little on the bird's eye heel for the Carbonized Zombie socks. I stitched a bit on the Mediterranean Mermaid. I would have done more, but Sunday was taken up by a migraine. It was so bad that I couldn't think straight. I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for lasagne and forgot to buy cheese. Right...my brain was that messed up. Saturday was a kick! We took BART to San Francisco to see the Daughter teach her class for the Under Armour event at Macy's in Union Square. I don't think I said much about this, but our daughter has a sponsorship with Under Armour. Occasionally they ask her to teach at events, like the one on Saturday. Since it was so close to home, we went to watch. It was energetic, inspiring, amazing, and very loud! Everyone seemed to enjoy it, though. Here's a class picture--our kid's the one with the microphone: ...

...TGIF! Today's eye candy is brought to you by the Autumn color-range--you know, oranges, yellows, golds. This time of the year, we have lots of pansies blooming in the backyard and not much else. and a waning pansy: A white pansy: and a yellow verdolaga flower: Yesterday's sunrise was interesting: Up this weekend: The Daughter is teaching a free class for Under Armour at Macy's in San Francisco. I'm going to cheer her on! The Husband and I have some planning to do as we found out last night that my mother, brother and his wife, and my nephew are coming for Thanksgiving. This is very cool as it's been years since my mother has come to us for a holiday and this nephew hasn't been to our house since he was very small. However, it means that we need to rearrange furniture and make sure we have enough plates, silverware, etc. for 4 more people. We have plenty of time to prepare and are really happy that they will join us. I have no worr...

...the end of the year is fast approaching! The one WIP that is getting lots of extended play if the Mediterranean Mermaid.  For some reason, I find it more enjoyable to cross stitch than knit, at least for now.  Here is what she looks like: Sometimes I wonder about cross stitch designers and their color choices. In addition to the odd blue color in this mermaid's hair, the designer uses two shades of brown that have such subtle differences that it is hard to distinguish them even under the Dazor magnifier lamp.  Seriously?  If I can't tell the difference under high magnification and bright light, will it really make the finished picture that much better when it's hanging on the wall? All it's doing right now is making me crazy while I try and figure out if I've stitched it "correctly." Guess I shouldn't care if there is a stitch or two in the wrong brown... I've made a little progress on the Carbonized Zombie Socks. I'm working on the...

 ...a little of this, a little of that. One more month to get something finished before the baking frenzy begins! Finished: 10/2 Bunnies and Duckies and Bears, Oh My! baby quilt (quilting) 10/5 Pretty in Pink handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Pink Layered batt from Caliope's Fibre; approx 50 yards, worsted weight 10/13 Bulb by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch)  10/23 Be a Witch by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch) 10/27 Windsor Denim and Chocolate handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Tencel top (4 oz) from Royale Hare; 134 yds chain-plied, 12 WPI Books: Maddy's Oasis , Lizzy Ford Close Knit Killer , Maggie Sefton Always Running , Luis J. Rodrigues The Next Always , Nora Roberts Rebel Heart, Lizzy Ford Forever, Jacquelyn Frank Forbidden, Jacquelyn Frank Darkness Rises, Dianne Duvall Burro Genius, Victor Villasenor Started: 10/5 Carbonized Zombie Socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 10/16 Be a Witch by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch) Worked on: Anasazi...

...NOVEMBER!!! I can tell when it's almost winter because the office air conditioning goes into overdrive. Everyday, it gets colder and colder. And nothing we can do about it as the ancient heating/cooling system in the building sucks...the thermostat that controls my half of our suite is in someone else's office controls. It actually controls 2.5 suites on this floor. Good luck getting everyone to agree on a temperature! Today's eye candy is from my studio...well, from the courtyard outside my studio. I hung a birdseed sock from an arm of the patio umbrella. Lots of finches and sparrows come to feed at different times of the day. This guy was a little pig: And I never saw the front of the bird hanging sideways of the sock. He was probably the bird I saw hanging from his feet at the bottom of the sock, completely upside down,  later in that day. Up this weekend: Originally I wanted to take a quick trip to the Monterey Aquarium, but they are having their Jell...