Livin' La Needle Loca

...OMG, tomorrow is September! I have not worked on anything since Monday. I just can;t seem to get into the swing of things. Oh, well. Here's the first look at the spinning I started over the weekend. This is Afternoon of the Faun [ Ravelry ]: Sorry, that's all I've got... *WIPs roll call* Worked on: Afternoon of the Faun handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Spun about one third of 4 ounce bump Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] A lot of two steps forward, two steps back, and two steps forward again. Spiral Striped Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the stripes St. Charles (needlepoint) Working on second section placement Works In Progress, did not work on: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Finishing work Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Celaeno Shawl (knitt...

...and the weekend report. I actually worked on the St. Charles needlepoint piece. Not a lot of work, but some. I found the kitchen floor and moved the island back into place. Still to come, moving the remaining kitchen items back into place so I can find the top of the dining room table (and change that dirty tablecloth!) I made my final visit to Purlescence Yarns on Saturday, I'm very sad to see them close, but I admit that I am a bit envious of the owners being able to retire and concentrate on creative things. Sigh...some day! I bought two cones of weaving cotton, two circulars, and a skein of Blue Heron rayon-metallic yarn in Rosewood (this shade reminds me of copper). I was making excellent progress winding the new warp. I was well on my way to finishing it when (you guessed it) I ran out of cotton...again! I seriously misjudged the amount that I needed. Arg! I need to get more from Jo-Ann real soon now. In disgust, I decided to spin something. I started Afternoon of...

...hooray for the weekend. The month is winding down and we are harvesting even more tomatoes and the occasional melon. Here's a cross-section of a pepino melon we harvested: Our herbs are blooming. Here is marjoram: ...and oregano: Our neighbor's oleander is going crazy: Up this weekend: Purlescence Yarns is closing on Sunday. I'm sad to see them go, but completely understand the need to retire. (I wish I could!) I'm going to try an make it in there one more time, but I'll have to see how the weekend plays out. The kitchen is done and it's time to move everything back into place. I want to take a pass through a couple of drawers to see whether there's anything else that can go to Goodwill or get recycled. We might have to replace one of our free-standing cabinets as it's very old and the wood seems to be deteriorating on one side. Craft-wise, I need to get back into the swing of things. I haven't worked on anything except t...

...and we now return to our regularly scheduled projects. I didn't make any progress on the Mother of Dragons shawl [ Ravelry ], but it's not because I've gotten bored with it. I'm having trouble getting motivated, which might be a sign of craft fatigue. (Say it isn't so!) Anyway, here is the current state of Mother of Dragons: I did get a few rows knitted on the Spiral Striped hat, but nothing else got any play since last week. *WIPs roll call* Worked on: Spiral Striped Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the ribbing. Works In Progress, did not work on: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Finishing work Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] St. Charles (needlepoint) Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the P...

...I didn't finish nearly as much as I planned. I did manage to eke out one last yarn. This is Gradient Violet [ Ravelry ]: and the close up: Specs: Started 8/20/16 Finished 8/21/16 Falkland top (4.1 oz) from Yarn Wench 113.5 yds. chain-plied, 10 WPI Ravellenic Games 2016 Summary: Finished 2 handspuns: Bad Wolf (on Ravelry) and Gradient Violet (on Ravelry) Finished 1 hat: Pine Hat (on Ravelry ) Started 1 hat, but did not finish: ( Spiral Striped Hat on Ravelry ) I think I'm done with [spin | knit | weave]-a-longs for a while. I'd really like to spend time with my Baby Wolf loom! .

...and this month is just whipping by! We've been harvesting tomatoes for a couple of weeks. The Husband has been making salsa and giving away many more. The kale is doing well: Today we harvested the strawberries: and figs: Up this weekend: The Husband is finishing the last few details in the kitchen, so I think it's safe to vacuum and mop the floors. It doesn't sound very exciting, but it needs to be done. I want to spin one more yarn for Ravellenics. The easiest thing would be to do an art yarn--it will be faster to spin and I have a better chance of finishing it by the end of the Games. I sort of resigned to not finishing the second hat I started. I'll just have to play it by ear... .

...it was just too busy at work and the day was over before I knew it. I meant to take photos of the current WIPs, but that didn't happen. Today wasn't much better, given that it is getting close to 5pm and I'm just now writing this post. After completing two Ravellenics projects, I've run out of steam. I did manage to start another hat, but I just can't summon enough motivation to finish it. It might have something to do with the 10 yarns I completed for Tour de Fleece. I might be able to squeak out another yarn before the closing ceremonies on Sunday, but I'm not holding my breath. In the interest of keeping my WIPs list up to date, here is the latest: *WIPs roll call* Worked on: Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] Worked a few more rows and tinked half of them  Spiral Striped Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the ribbing. St. Charles (needlepoint) Finished the cross border. Working on the section borders. Works In Progress, d...

...and I'm resigning myself to the fact that I am not going to get as much done for the Ravellenic Games as I planned. Before getting into the new finished object, lets take another look at the Pine Hat that I finished at Mom's. Here is Blanca modeling the hat: Over the weekend, I finished spinning Bad Wolf [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 8/6/16 Finished 8/14/16 Merino-Bamboo-Silk top (4.0 oz) from Mosaic Moon 186.1 yds. 2-ply, 12 WPI Ravellenic Games 2016 I did not get the vacuuming done as the Husband is still cleaning up the backsplash grout and getting the last piece of countertop installed. There is no point vacuuming until he's done. I did get the kitchen floor mopped, knowing that it would get junked up shortly thereafter. I just couldn't stand it anymore! I did manage to get the grocery shopping done, which was good as things were getting sparse!  The cats appreciated having food! :-) We watched a lot of Olympic events ...

...and it's been a heck of a week. You know saying "When it rains, it pours"? That was this week. I'm glad it's almost over! Tomatoes are all that is happening in the garden right now. They don't look marginally different that the photos I posted last Friday. And there is nothing new in the flower department. There are a couple of photos that I took a couple of weeks ago and never posted here.  Our crazy strawberry plants don't know when to stop. They are setting blossoms again: And a nearly ready patty pan squash: Up this weekend: Since I've already made one unplanned trip this month, I don't expect to have to do that again anytime soon. I have a bunch of things that didn't get done last weekend, like grocery shopping and vacuuming, that I'll need to do. I'm way behind on Ravellenic Games projects. My plan was to spin at least 3 yarns and knit at least one hat. Well, I finished the hat, but I haven't finished any ya...

...I unexpectedly went out of town and, of course, the blogging suffered. My mom fell and dislocated her shoulder. She lives 238 miles from me, so I couldn't just pop over to see her. I left the Husband at home and drove to her house on Sunday. I spent a few days making sure she could get around and drove home on Tuesday.  She's handling the injury pretty well, taking her meds and icing it when necessary. What's driving her nuts is having to sit still - she likes to be on the go! While I was there, I finished a hat for the Ravellenic Games. This is Pine Hat [ Ravelry ], which will go to Halos of Hope: Specs: Started 8/5/16 Finished 8/8/16 Yarn: Wool-Ease Thick & Quick by Lion Brand Pattern: Based on Super Bulky Hat by Alba Cabrera Sorry about the photo quality. When I get a chance, I'll photograph it on Blanca, my head model. Before I left for Mom's, I had started a second project for the Ravellenic Games. I started spinning Bad Wolf [ Ravelry ]...

...and you can tell it's a Tour de Fleece month! Finished: 7/4 Arachne (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Vervain Silky Roving (4oz) from Mosaic Moon 214 yds chain-plied, 13 WPI 7/5 Surf and Sun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Wild Card Bling Batt (3.6 oz) from The Yarn Wench; 80 yds. thread-plied; Bulky 7/10 Turquoise and Coral (spinning) [Ravelry] Polworth-Silk top (4.3 oz) from The Yarn Wench 102.4 yds chain-ply, 8 WPI 7/14 Oxidized Purple (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Silk (3.9 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 163.8 yds. two-ply, 11 WPI 7/16 King Tut (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Tut Wild Card Bling Batt from the Yarn Wench 91.2 yds thread-plie, bulky 7/18 Taos (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino top (4.1 oz) from The Yarn Wench 122.8 yds. chain-ply, 10 WPI 7/20 Surprise Box (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Polwarth Surprise Box (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 228.9 yds. chain-ply, 14 WPI  7/21 Geode (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Geode Wild Card Bling Batt from the Yarn Wench 46.5 yds. plied with Berroco Que...

...and the start of the Olympics tonight means the beginning of Ravellenics! First the eye candy. This morning's sky was filled with clouds: We have entered the portion of summer where there are more vegetables than flowers in the garden. We are harvesting a few squash: and lots of tomatoes: and more: Up this weekend: Tonight we'll watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics and I will cast on my first project for Ravellenics. Because my knees were so sore after all that spinning for Tour de Fleece, I've decided not to limit myself to spinning for Ravellenics. Instead, I'll switch between knitting hats for Halos of Hope and spinning. Hats are a quick knitting project, so I should be able to finish a few. Plus, I still have the Mother of Dragons shawl in progress and I will rotate that in at some point. The Husband is starting the install of the backsplash tile tomorrow. I'm looking forward to how it will look in the kitchen! .

...and reminding myself that I need to do a recap of July. I tried taking an in-progress photo of the St. Charles needlepoint project, but it doesn't look like much. I did get an in-progress photo of the needlepoint pottery picture: I also took a photo of the backsplash tile that the Husband is installing in the kitchen (his WIP): I'll take a photo of the Mother of Dragons shawl when it's a bit longer. *WIPs roll call* Worked on: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Bought another ball of cotton and need to finish winding the new warp Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Working on the tan portions. Need to buy some dark brown wool. Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] Working on chart 1 St. Charles (needlepoint) Working on the cross border Works In Progress: Finishing work Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ R...

...weekend report, and it's August. I did not finish winding the warp for the loom. I was working on it on Saturday and was doing really well. I ran out of yarn. !@#$%  I knew I could get more at Joann or Michael's (it's Aunt Lydia's cotton), but at that point I was annoyed so I decided to wait until Sunday when I ran my errands. I worked on the needlepoint pottery picture while thought about which knitting project I wanted to start. I decided on the Mother of Dragons shawl [ Ravelry ]. I purchased the pattern and yarn at Stitches West last year (2015) and hadn't gotten around to it yet. I cast on on Saturday and got a couple of rows in when I realized that I needed a working copy of the charts. I like to note my progress on a working copy so I don't mess up the original. On Monday, I made copies of the charts and happily worked on the shawl during Craft Coffee. Since my new shawl was on hold, I decided to start the next large needlepoint project, St. Charl...