Livin' La Needle Loca

...wow, that month went fast! Today's eye candy is a mix of vegetables from our garden and flowers in our neighbors' yards. The husband picked carrots yesterday: And some of them looked like aliens: He also picked a couple of zucchini: and a beet (he loves beets; I hate them). Now that Flickr is mostly back to normal, I finished uploading the photos from my 5/5 camera walk. This dandelion looked cool: Several yards had pink valerian flowers: Morning glory This peach iris was in a parking strip: And this Erysimum "Bowles's Mauve" was very pretty. Up this weekend: Errands. Chores. Weaving! .

...I ran out of time yesterday to post. I was trying to make my Ribbet app (Mac OS) talk to Flickr again, but it just wouldn't connect. I use Ribbet to edit all of my photos and it's usually easy to save edited versions directly to Flickr. However, with Flickr's latest upgrade, many things are still not working correctly. I gave up and went through the browser version of Ribbet to upload my photos. The majority of my 3-day weekend was spent working on the Shimmering Points Wrap [ Ravelry ]. I finally threaded all of the heddles. I had set-aside the number of heddles needed for each shaft according to the iWeaveit program. As it turned out, the number wasn't quite right, but that was no biggie. As it turned out, I found a couple of empty heddles in the mix, where I pulled 2 over instead of one. Fortunately, the pattern is correct, so the empty heddles can just hang out where they are. The pattern calls for 2 threads per slot in a 12-dent reed. I started sleying the...

...and due to Flickr's server upgrades, I don't have any new garden photos for the post because I can't upload them yet. May be next week. In the meantime, here's a photo that I took of a neighbor's flowering bush: My Google searches failed to discover what kind of bush this is. It's pretty, though. If I ever find out what it is, I'll add the description to Flickr. Up this weekend: It's a 3-day weekend...hooray! My plan is to finish threading the heddles for the weaving project and start threading the reed. If all goes well, I might even finish that...who knows! In April, I received my camera assistant (Arsenal) that I purchased on a Kickstarter campaign. I have not had enough time to play will it yet. It's on my list of things I might do this weekend. Just having an extra day to do things will be heaven!! .

...Yeah, I know, it's been a week since my last post. I actually started a post yesterday and got sidetracked. We went to a family wedding over the weekend in Sacramento. The wedding was at 4:30pm, which meant that we had to spend the night. Add that to the extremely rainy weather both days of the weekend and you get time-off that wasn't very long. Friday I was busy doing laundry for the things I had to take with me for an overnight. Saturday morning we packed and set-up food and water for the cat. Fortunately, she is fine for one or 2 nights. The automatic feeder with ice packs ensures that her food is fresh. It took longer than normal to drive to Sacramento because is was pouring rain. The wedding was held in an outside courtyard (!) so it was very wet. Each member of the bridal party had a clear umbrella and there were awnings over the guest seats, but still... The reception was inside (yay!) and we were able to hang our wet coats and umbrellas on racks in a covered wa...

...how is it Wednesday already? Here's a look at the new weaving project that I'm working on. This is Shimmering Points Wrap [ Ravelry ]: I took this before I started threading the heddles and ran into the crossed-heddle issue. I hope I can spend some time on it this weekend - before and after the family wedding. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Editing photos from my camera walk on 5/5 About 50% done Estrella Marina Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on 4th large triangle. Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Threading the heddles In the Queue Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing)  Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by...

...and the weekend report. We had an early Mother's Day with the Husband's mother on Thursday. Her facility is very good about having special luncheons for their residents and their families to enjoy. I gave the Seaside Dreams quilt to my MIL as her Mother's Day gift. When I got back to the office, my new 12-dent reed had arrived...hooray! Friday afternoon and Saturday were spent doing the laundry and working on the Shimmering Points Wrap [ Ravelry ]. I spaced the warp out across the raddle, trying to keep all the threads untwisted. I didn't have wide enough paper to wind the warp, so I went through my collection of paper bags and found 3 extra large craft bags that I cut apart to use. I wound the warp onto the back beam, keeping the threads straight. It looks good! Then I cut the ends to be ready to thread the heddles. Sunday, we met The Daughter for lunch at our favorite Peruvian restaurant. We had a wonderful meal and a great time catching up with her. She...

...blog and run. Some photos from my walk last Sunday. Climbing roses Cape Mallow Fortnight lily Sea Lavender and Salvia spathacea Have a good weekend! .

...and no WIP photos of the new project yet. But here, have a photo of the orange watsonia that's blooming in our front yard: It's only one of the many photos that I took on Sunday. I worked a little on the Estrella Marina Shawl [ Ravelry ] last night while watching an episode of Fosse-Verdon. On the whole, I'm enjoying the series, but Fosse in womanizing mode in hard to watch. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Editing photos from Sunday's camera walk Estrella Marina Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Finished 3rd large triangle and started a small triangle section. I'll alternate between 3 large and 1 small for the entire shawl. Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Finished winding the warp and started dressing the loom. On hold until I receive the 12-dent reed. In the Queue Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing)  Look Through My Window quilt for me (qui...

....I know, I know. A post on Monday is unusual (at least lately). Most of my weekend was spent working on the Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ]. It took a while to wind the warp, mostly because of the way I have to use my warping board. Right now, I do not have a place to hang it. I have to prop it up against a piece of furniture or a step stool and sit on a low ottoman while I wind the warp. It's hard on the shoulders and the back, resulting in a lot of breaks. Technically, I could make my quilt wall do double duty and hang the warping board there. However, then I'd have to move the storage baskets that sit in front of the the wall so I could reach the warping board. And I don't have a good place to move them to. Having the baskets in the front of the wall is not a problem with a quilt-in-progress because I can reach the wall to hang a square or section without moving them. To wind a warp, I need to stand closer to the board than the baskets allow, and for ...

...and I'm ready for the weekend! I'm still trying to get back to some sense of normal after the last few weeks. That includes trying to get into the habit photographing things again. Based on my photos, you might think that we have a decent front and backyard. The truth is, they are pretty small - the Husband just packs in as much as he can in the space we have. Here's what the front yard looked like when I got home last night. Except for a narrow parking strip on the other side of the driveway, this is the entire front yard: Here's what the backyard looked like this morning. This is not the entire backyard - it's L-shaped and I can't get far enough back to take a photo of the whole thing. Currently, we have scilla blooming: Foxgloves: Starfire cuphea: and a whole bunch of other flowers. Up this weekend: My plan is to finish winding the warp for the Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ]. And if I get that done, maybe star...

...lots of reading due to interrupted sleep patterns and insomnia. Finished: 4/7 Seaside Dreams quilt for MIL (quilting) 4/27 Rose Banderos handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Alpaca-Merino-Bamboo (5.5 oz.) from Ranch of the Oaks 332 yds. 2-ply; 14 WPI 4/27 Malibu handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Yak-Silk (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 194 yds. chain-ply; 13 WPI Books: 4th of July, James Patterson  5th Horseman, James Patterson 6th Target, James Patterson 7th Heaven, James Patterson 8th Confession, James Patterson 9th Judgement, James Patterson 10th Anniversary, James Patterson  11th Hour, James Patterson   12th of Never, James Patterson  Unlucky 13, James Patterson  14th Deadly Sin, James Patterson   15th Affair, James Patterson  The Perfect Dress, Carolyn Brown  16th Seduction, James Patterson  The Liar, Nora Roberts Lakeside Cottage, Susan Wiggs Winter Cottage, Mary Ellen Taylor Beach Rental, Grac...

...Happy May Day! As I mentioned yesterday, I am making progress on the Estrella Marina Shawl [ Ravelry ]: It doesn't look like much yet, but so far it is a much more enjoyable knit than its predecessor! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Estrella Marina Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on 2nd Large Triangle section. Shimmering Points Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Winding the warp. In the Queue Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing)  Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Tucson Twilight (needlepoint)