Livin' La Needle Loca

...can you believe it?!  Februaries always go by so quickly! Today's eye candy highlights the early spring we are experiencing. In our front yard, the lavender is blooming: In the backyard, freesias are popping up everywhere: And the Blenheim apricot tree is blossoming like crazy: Up this weekend: I need to catch up on some chores that were completely ignored while I attended Stitches West. :-) My floors, in particular, need serious attention! I'm an itching to start spinning some of the yak-silk top that I bought from Greenwood Fiberworks. However, that is the only new project I'm going to allow myself to start. I have not works on Be My Baby [ Ravelry ]in a while and I need to continue making progress on my Loopy Academy project, Irisa Cowl [ Ravelry ]. I wish weekends were longer! .

...blog and run style.  I've been knee-deep in Wordpress Builder, trying to customize a theme. I have two goals: One is to redesign my website and the other is to learn about Wordpress Builder, which we use for client websites. The more I learn, the more I can help on overflow work. I had hoped to take a photo of the new project I started during Stitches, but I ran out of time (and light). I'll get to it soon. WIP Roll Call Worked on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Continuing to work on scarf portion Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint) Continuing to work on the filling stitches Irisa Cowl/Scarf (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Started 2/19/15; about 5 inches completed Works In Progress, did not work on: Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Beyond Antares, aka Equatorial Nights (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Going Snow Global quilt (quilting) Peacock ...

...the short version:  I had a great class, shopped a lot, and had a good time with friends. The long version: I took the Beaded Knitting Sampler class with Betsy Hershberg. Betsy is organized and kept the class on track. I learned lots, and I finished the class sampler: Market preview was a blast! I visited my target vendors and bought lots of fiber. I bumped into a friend while I was shopping and we took a few minutes to catch up. On Friday, I walked the entire market with the goal of visiting every vendor. I didn't quite make it, but I got close. I was on the lookout for some undyed, black DK weight yarn for my boss (didn't find any) and brightly colored rattail for a co-worker (got some at Garden of Beadin'). I picked up a bit more and a little yarn. I made an early day of it and went home to take photos of my purchases. I processed the photos and got it all loaded into Ravelry . On Saturday, knowing that the Sharks game at the arena was going to cause all...

...yeah, yesterday got away from me. It's been happening a lot lately. I was productive during the long weekend and finished two things.  First, I finished the Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! project. I finished all of the stitching Sunday night. On Monday, I pressed the project, added the button, and tucked it into the pillow. Specs: Started 7/14/2014; Finished 2/16/2015; Cross stitch kit from Pine Mountain Designs On Saturday, I finished spinning the singles for Goat Rock [ Ravelry ] and let it rest until Monday, when I chain-plied it. Here it the finished handspun: and the close up: Specs: Started 2/7/2015; Finished 2/16/2015; Polworth-silver top (4.0 oz) from Royale Hare; 204.7 yds., 12 WPI I worked on the Tuscon Twilight needlepoint and discovered an error in a previously stitched area. The good news is that it was a pretty small area and involved no metallic threads. The bad news, of course, is that I have to re-do the area. Oh, well! I...

...and the weekend before Stitches West! The trees and plants are started to bloom in our garden.  We are starting to see daffodils: and nasturtiums: Our flowering plum tree always puts on a great show of blossoms: Up this weekend: It's a three-day weekend! Hooray! I need to do some housekeeping as it's been neglected lately. The cats will be a little perturbed when I pull out the vacuum monster, but it must be done. I'm going to gather my supplies for my Stitches West class. I think I have everything on hand. If not, there will be time to buy the remaining items over the weekend. I'm making decent progress on the Be My Baby project, but I'm getting a little bored with linen stitch. I think I'll start one of my Loopy Academy assignments just to have an alternate knitting project to take to Stitches. The other WIPs are not as portable, so it would be god to work on them this weekend. We have no plans for Valentine's day...maybe just...

...it's been a busy day and I just ran out of time to photograph one of the WIPs.  The sun has set so it's too dark to try now. Sorry about that! WIP Roll Call Worked on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Successfully increased by 4 stitches; knit 8.5 inches of the 67 inches required for the scarf portion. Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch) Working on the bottom half of the design Goat Rock handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Spun almost 2 ounces of the 4 ounces in the bump; this polworth-silk combination is harder to draft than other fibers I've spun. I wonder if that's just the way polworth is or if only this particular bump is difficult. Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint) Completed the diamond areas; working on some of the filling stitches Works In Progress, did not work on: Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Beyond Antares, aka Equatorial Nights (knitting...

...and some random stuff. Here is the first look at my I'm Just Mad About Citron quilt: Specs: Started 7/15/2014; Finished 2/1/2015; No pattern; most fabrics are from Michael Miller's Citron/Gray fabric collections Machine quilted Not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea. I'm still struggling with taking pictures of things that contain a lot of white. I decided enough was enough and I signed up for a Craftsy class "Shoot it! A Product Photography Primer." It has a lot of positive reviews for photographing knitting pattern photos. I hope that there will be some useful tips that I can use to photograph quilts. Top of the waves: Spin-In was fun! I started spinning Goat Rock [ Ravelry ], a Polworth-Silk that I purchased from Royal Hare at last year's Stitches West. I'm not happy with the way the polworth is drafting--it's very sticky. But, I made decent progress and have a little more than 2 ounces let to spin. Be My Baby...

...hooray!! We desperately need the rain! This morning's sky showed the promise of the rain that arrived a few hours later: And because I can't have an eye candy post without a flower, I joined the Rockin' Sock Club for 2015, its 10th anniversary. I only missed one of those years (last year) and I figured the 10th year was a good one to be in. The first installment arrived at the beginning of the week. I'm not putting it behind spoiler picture...I'll just make it small. We finally caught one of the rodents that have been lurking in our backyard. It was huge...how it fit in the car engine, we have no idea. One down, 50 million to go. And let me add: EWWWWWWW!! Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow!  I'm going to make a dessert that uses up some of the leftover ingredients from the Christmas baking...chocolate chips will be involved! I have some stash photos to take: there's the first Pro-Verbial club installment for 2015, the Loopy Academy ...

...in which not much was finished due to Rodent Wars. I did read a lot, though. Finished: 1/31 Walking on the Sun handspun [ Ravelry ] Sea Monster top (4 oz) from Dragonfly Fibers; 204.7 yds chain-ply, 13 WPI Books: The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff Blackberry Pie Murder, Joanne Fluke 1st to Die, James Patterson 2nd Chance, James Patterson 3rd Degree, James Patterson 4th of July, James Patterson The 5th Horseman, James Patterson 7th Heaven, James Patterson The 8th Confession, James Patterson The 9th Judgement, James Patterson 10th Anniversary, James Patterson 11th Hour, James Patterson Started: Nothing Worked on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt (quilting) Works In Progress, did not work on: Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! (cross stitch) Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Tuscon Twilight (needlepoint) UFOs/Hibernation: Beyond Antares, aka Eq...

...and whoa, it's Wednesday already! I was planning on posting yesterday, but the day ended before I could get to it. Over the weekend I actually finished two projects. On Saturday, the last day of January, I finished the Walking on the Sun handspun [ Ravelry ]. and a close up: Specs: Started 1/10/2015; Finished 1/31/2015; Sea Monster top (4 oz) from Dragonfly Fibers; 204.7 yds chain-ply, 13 WPI I tried very hard to finish the quilt on Saturday, but it didn't happen. I finished I'm Just Mad About Citron quilt on Sunday, the first day of February...oh, well! No photos yet because I need to find a location with good lighting to get some decent pictures. I'm making slow progress on Be My Baby and I actually worked on a cross stitch piece!  With Stitches West coming up in a couple of weeks and Loopy Academy starting up again, it would be good to make progress on my existing projects before I start something new! WIP Roll Call WIPs in Rotation: Be My ...