Livin' La Needle Loca

...leading up to a long weekend! Hurray! I only have one thing for eye candy this week. These care canna lilies that are blooming in the back yard: I'm hoping to get some photos of tomatoes, but either the squirrels or the rats are getting them before we do. They've already eaten all of our apricots. Boo! Up this weekend: Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow! I've joined Team Spin-Off for this tour and look forward to meeting new spinners through this group. I am spinning all Yarn Wench fiber, hoping to make a dent in the stash. I have 159 unspun items tagged as Yarn Wench in my database. I need to make a serious effort to reduce this number! When I was only buying Yarn Wench fiber, the number didn't seem to bad, but there are so many cool fibers from other vendors. The most I've ever done for Tour de Fleece was in 2013 when I spun 16 art yarns. In the last 3 years I've managed to spin 9 yarns, mostly chain-plied. I'll try to increase my volume this y...

...and a couple of spinning photos. I have two handspuns ready to ply. This is Robin's Egg [ Ravelry ]: and this is Rivendell [ Ravelry ]: Both are from Greenwood Fiberworks. My goal is to get one of them plied on Friday, and start Tour de Fleece with the other on Saturday. I'd rather have them both plied and out of the way before the Tour, but there simply isn't enough time, nor will my knees allow that much spinning in an afternoon. My Tour de Fleece plan is to spin completely from my Yarn Wench stash. I'll need to take "before" photos for many of them as they are not in my Ravelry notebook. Many were purchased before I joined Ravelry, and I didn't add fiber to my notebook until I was ready to spin it. Now I add it as soon as I receive it! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting) Cut out approx. 20 feature fabrics; auditioning the names: "Look Through My Window" and "She Came in Through the Attic ...

...and a progress photo (finally) of the current mermaid cross stitch. First, a little bit about this mermaid pattern. Before I [re]learned how to knit and before I ever dreamed of spinning and weaving, I did a lot of cross stitch and needlepoint. The most complicated thing I'd done was modify and stitch a Christmas stocking for the Daughter. (You can see a photo here .) I think it was in the rec.crafts.needlework USENET group that I learned about Mirabilia's first mermaid design, Mermaid of the Pearls , shortly after it was released in January 1997. I fell in love with the pattern and bought it. When I looked at it, I was completely intimidated by the number of pearls and treasures that it needed - I really didn't want to mess it up! I filed it away, thinking that I needed to tackle a less complex pattern first. Mirabilia's next mermaid was Waiting for Ships in 2/28/1998, followed by Deepest Love 1/26/1999. I bought the patterns and the supplies for both of them....

...and I'm almost ready to call it a week. Today's eye candy is brought to you by the colors orange and pink. The Lion's Tail is blooming: and the Oriental Lilies have appeared: Unfortunately, the heat wave has claimed several plants and the squirrels have absconded with the apricots. These two flowers and the green tomatoes on the vine were the only new things in the garden. Up this weekend: Make progress on my quilt and work on some of my other projects.

...with a couple of progress photos. This is the current state of St. Charles. In real life, it's a bit more purple. And the current state of the Charred Teal Shawl [ Ravelry ]: WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting) Located fabric for a couple of key squares, ordered additional fabric, and still auditioning names. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Section 2: finished the 3rd contrast color and working on the separating section before contrast color #4. Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Spun and plied 4 samples. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Still working on the back fin. Rivendell handspin (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Finished spinning the singles; letting it rest before plying. Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch) Finished the center section (square 2, row 2); started on the center square in row 1. Works In Progress, Did Not Work On: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [...

...and I haven't melted yet! It was so hot this weekend! Fortunately, my studio stays relatively cool until about 2:30 or 3:00 pm. While it's not cool enough to machine quilt (read: wrestle a quilt through the sewing machine), I can do many other things until it gets unbearable hot. Quilting: I found the fabrics that I had purchased for my personal quilt. Two fabrics are particularly important: the John Deere tractor fabric and the Hereford cattle fabric. My father drove a John Deere tractor when he was foreman of a ranch in Gilroy. It was a beef cattle ranch that ran Hereford cattle. These fabrics represent a precious time of my life. With them, I found the monster movie fabric I wanted to use and several others. I now have a bunch of fabrics to cut! Cross Stitch: The Mermaid of the Pearls project is coming along. I got a little list in some of the pink fin areas, but I'm back on track. I was very happy that I didn't have to restitch anything! Cross Stitch: I fin...

...and I'm ready for the weekend to start! Just a couple of photos today. I started taking two back-to-back classes at the gym on Fridays. While that's better for my health, by the time I get back home, the sun is way too bright in the backyard and I don't have enough time to take them anyway. The sooner I get to work, the sooner I can leave! This is a scarlet runner bean in the backyard: and a clarkia concinna called Pink Ribbons: Up this weekend: The same-old-same-old...chores and crafts. We plan on going out  to dinner to celebrate Father's Day with the Husband. Although he's technically the Daughter's step-father, he's been her dad-at-home since she was 3. And I couldn't ask for a better father for my kid! .

...and I forgot to take photos of the stuff in progress. Rats! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting) Cutting out feature fabrics and auditioning names. Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Back on track, working on section 2 Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Extending the back fin Rivendell handspin (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Robin's Egg handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Finished spinning the singles; letting it rest before plying Spring 9-Patch (cross stitch) Started the center section St. Charles (needlepoint) Finished the outside border; working on the area borders in the main section Works In Progress: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ]   Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting) Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) ...

...and the weekend report. I know it seems odd to do a weekend report on Tuesday, but Ive discovered that blogging on Mondays is very hard to do. There are so many other things that have to happen on Monday. Quilting: I started pulling feature fabrics for my attic windows quilt. It's been so long since I started collecting fabrics for it that I have cleverly filed some of them in places not yet discovered. Sigh. I know I bought some fabric to represent the ranch we lived in and other items. I need to do a serious stash dive to find them. In the meantime, I started cutting out the fabrics that I did locate and have about 10 ready to sew into blocks. Cross Stitch: I spent a few hours on Mermaid of the Pearls, but not as much as last weekend. I'm avoiding the metallic braid for now. I'll get back to that this weekend.   I needed something mindless to work on when I got tired of the metallics in the needlepoint piece, so I started a small Pine Mountain pillow kit called Sp...

...is it time to go home yet? We have hollyhocks growing in the garden: and Mega Monkey flowers: It rained a bit yesterday and this morning so everything is covered with a light layer of raindrops. These tomato flowers looked very cool with all the little drops: And the Lucky Lantern abutilon had a few drops: Our berry harvest is out of control: While I love the berry galettes that the Husband has been baking, I'm afraid my waistline can't handle too many more! Up this weekend: Some household chores and then crafting. I'll continue rotating through the crafts, keeping needlepoint and knitting as the TV crafts and working on the others during the day. I also want to choose the block size for my attic windows quilt so I can start cutting out the feature squares. I'd like to see some progress on this quilt soon! .

...sorry, not photos today. I ran out of time this morning! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Charred Teal Shawl [ Ravelry ] Ripped out most of section 2 and restarted with the right contrast color. Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Working on the back fin and the back part of the tail Robin's Egg handspun [ Ravelry ] Spun about 1 ounce of a 4 ounce bump St. Charles (needlepoint) Working on the highlights for the outside border. Works In Progress: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ]   Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting) Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Finishing work Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Tucso...

...and the weekend report. It was a "do as many crafts as possible" weekend! General: I fussed around with my sewing machine and I think I got it back to sewing properly. I'm going to test it on another small project this coming weekend. If it whacks out again, I'll take it to the shop. Quilting: As I mentioned, I'm going to make an attic windows quilt for myself. I decided that I need to get the frame fabric before I started cutting anything. I also need to look up the specs I used for the daughter's attic windows quilt that I made for her college graduations (17 years ago!!). I visited my two local shops ( The Granary and Eddie's Quilting Bee ), looking for either teal or purple fabrics with some sort of textural pattern. I found a light and a dark purple from the same fabric line at Eddie's. Cross Stitch: I put in several hours on Mermaid of the Pearls. I am still working on her back fin and have now started on the back part of her tail. And I ...

...June is busting out all over! (Cue the singers and dancers from Carousel...) Black and Bloom salvia Tuberous begonia Hydrangea Pink German Catchfly Up this weekend: There are some new flowers in the garden that I need to photograph. After that it's chores, followed by all manner of crafting! .

...on time for a change! Finished: 5/29 Dragonfly Wings project bag (sewing) 5/27 Tiger Lily handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Stellina top (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks (Stitches West 2016) 270 yds 2-ply, 15 WPI  5/21 Sunset handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Bamboo-Silk top (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks (Stitches West 2017) 215.9 yds 2-ply, 15 WPI 5/7 Puget Sound handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Tencel top (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 314.5 yds 2-ply, 16 WPI 5/4 Teal It To The Bees hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Books: Blade Bound, Chloe Neill Snared, Jennifer Estep 16th Seduction, James Patterson Cold Reign, Faith Hunter Banana Cream Pie Murder, Joanne Fluke Before We Kiss, Susan Mallery The Substitute Millionaire, Susan Mallery The Hundredth Queen, Emily R King Started: 5/6 Charred Teal Shawl [ Ravelry ] 5/29 Dragonfly Wings project bag (sewing) Works In Progress: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearl...