Livin' La Needle Loca

...my first full week at work after vacation has been busy. With it getting dark earlier in the evening and the light not quite right when I have the time to take photos in the mornings, I have been unable to take new shots in the past week. When we do the time change in a week, I hope to get back to my regular photo schedule (assuming there's something I can take photos of). Our first full day at the Grand Canyon ended in a spectacular sunset. Unfortunately, our plan to be at a good location for said sunset was thwarted by the transit schedule being less than clear on what constituted "30 minutes before sunset." They meant 30 minutes before the minute that sunset started, which is not what we and 6 other people thought - 30 minutes before full-on sunset. Since we missed the last shuttle, I took photos at the transit station. There are a bunch in my Flickr group . Here's a sample: We did get to a viewpoint for the next day's sunset, but there weren'...

...this week has gotten away from me! The quick hits: I spent a happy weekend working on the mermaid and doing some spinning. Processing our vacation photos is taking forever, but I finally finished day 1! Only 5 more to go. LOL! It's a good thing that I didn't take any photos on our first and last day! Work is keeping me busy and I wind into open enrollment time.  The cats are still letting us know that they are happy we're home.  I'm so ready for the time change! I keep waking up way too early and falling asleep at odd times in the evening. I hope that things will even out when it changes. Here's a look at one of the Grand Canyon photos. There are more in my Flickr album . Just to catch things up, here's the latest WIPs list. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting) Ordered and received 2 more feature fabrics; will cut those this weekend Crocus handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Spun about 3/4 of the bump Mermaid of ...

...it was a great vacation in Arizona! We visited the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, the Sunset Crater area, Walnut Canyon, and several pueblo ruins and cliff dwellings.  The new camera worked pretty well and I used my old camera as well. I took a lot of photos...I'm going to be processing them for quite a while! I had planned to work on my knitting projects while we were driving from place to place. However, that didn't happen very often. I did manage to get a few rows in on the latest hat, but that's all! So I have no new progress on any of my projects. I hope to get back into the swing of things this weekend! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Confetti hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the body of the hat. Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)  Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch) Crocus handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of...

...from the Grand Canyon. We're taking a vacation trip through Arizona with the Grand Canyon as our first stop. As you can tell, blogging is not a high priority right now. More when I can! .

...and a finished object. Here is the Blue on Blue hat  [ Ravelry ] that I finished on the last day of September. Specs: Started 8/27/17 Finished 9/30/17 Pattern: Slouchy Beehive Hat by Flora Cheung Yarn: Red Heart Soft Essentials Stripes in Maritime Stripe Cast-on 80 and shortened the ribbing to 2 inches As promised, here is a progress photo of Mermaid of the Pearls. She's going to take a short nap while we're on vacation, but I'll get back to her as soon as I can. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Still working on Section 3, contrasting color #2 Confetti hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the ribbing Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Working on the tail. Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)  Christmas 9-patch Pillow (cross stitch) Crocus handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] ...

...at least I finished something this month! Finished: 9/17 Peek a Boo pillow (cross stitch) 9/30 Blue on Blue hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Books: Born in Death, JD Robb Innocent in Death, JD Robb Creation in Death, JD Robb Secrets in Death, JD Robb I Know a Secret, Tess Gerritsen Strangers in Death, JD Robb White Trash Zombie Unchained, Diana Rowland Salvation in Death, JD Robb Promises in Death, JD Robb Kindred in Death, JD Robb Fantasy in Death, JD Robb Started: 9/9 Crocus handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 9/24 Christmas 9 Patch pillow (cross stitch) Works In Progress: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Attic Windows quilt for me (quilting)  Charred Teal Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch)  Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Phat Fiber box, Indian Wedding (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Rosewood Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] St. Charles (needlepoint) Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross st...

...and Happy October! While I got a few things done over the weekend, it's not as much as I wanted. I did a Jo-Ann's run to buy foam to make camera inserts for my new backpack. When I was using a large bag to carry my stuff and I only had one camera, it was easy to put the camera bag inside the bag. Now that I have the DSLR and the point-and-shoot, having 2 camera bags inside the bag worked OK (sort of). However, for vacation I want to carry a backpack for the cameras and the camera bags inside it just don't work. I cut a thicker piece of foam for the bottom of the backpack to provide extra padding. I cut thinner foam to wrap around the cameras - one for each. Then I covered them all with a nice wave-patterned fabric and added some velcro for easy adjustment. They fit nicely into the backpack. I'm not completely happy with the size of the DSLR wrap, so I might make another one if I have time.  I definitely want to make a top cushion so I can add something light on ...