Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...don't let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out! As my last cross stitch finish of the year, I did the 2013 Shepherd's Bush ornament. This is I Saw: Specs: Started 12/29//2020 Finished 12/30/2020 Shepherd's Bush 2013 Christmas ornament, chart+button I'm trying to decide whether to whip out an art yarn or just continue working on my mermaid.  Decisions, decisions...

 ...last one of Hell Year. (edited to fix title...I've been sheltering in place too long) I managed to fend off the need to start something new (so far!). I finished knitting the sleeve of the Pure Comfort Cardigan [ Ravelry ]. Yay! I'm in the process of picking up the stitches for the shawl collar. I finished the upper part of the tail for the Renaissance Mermaid. Double yay! I placed a few stitches in the  hair before stopping yesterday. My working copy of the design is on the left. The pink highlights are where beads will be placed. I use colored pencils to mark off the areas that I've already stitched. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Finished the tail and working on the hair. Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Finished the second sleeve and started picking up stitches for shawl collar. Works In Progress: By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Look Through My Window qui...

 ...yeah, I'm behind in posting. It was hard getting into the spirit of things. Knowing that our Daughter was unable to visit was a serious bummer. However, we all agreed that it was for the best as we want to keep each other safe. We had a long FaceTime call with her, so that was good. We started our morning with coffee and holiday scones that I made from a King Arthur mix. We opened our gifts and watched the kittens play in the gift bags and tissue paper. Santa got them some catnip squirrels, which they thoroughly enjoyed. While the Husband went out for a walk, I read parts of the 2 new tapestry books he gave me. Im getting excited about warping my tapestry loom and trying some of the illustrated techniques. I'm working on both the mermaid and the sweater projects, both of which require a lot of time to finish. I'm trying hard not to start another small cross stitch projects, but I don't know if I'll be able to resist!

 ...and a finished object. I finished another Shepherd's Bush ornament. This is Do You Hear: Specs: Started 12/19//2020 Finished 12/22/2020 Pattern: Shepherd's Bush from the 2012 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue I spent a lot of time on the Renaissance Mermaid this week. I finished cross stitching the bottom half of the design. Now it's time to work on the upper half. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Finished the bottom half Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Knitted about 2 more inches on the sleeve Works In Progress: By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ]  Malachite (needlepoint) Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Tucson Twilight (needlepoint) Waiting for Finishing: Deco Royale (quilting) Do You Hear ornament (cros...

 ...and it will be a very different one. Because we are under a stay-at-home order, we won't be getting together with our family. We'll do FaceTime with our daughter and phone calls with other family members. Sigh. I'm keeping myself occupied with projects and will try to finish another cross stitch ornament by the end of the year. I walked to the post office this morning to mail my mom some cookies and to watch the Solstice sunrise. I love sunrises.

 ...and it's a week before Christmas. We have a little color in the backyard. and the cilantro is going to seed. I'm having trouble staying in the Christmas spirit. I kick-started it a bit by baking a few cookies. That helped, but like everything else this year, not quite the same. I've had to cut back on our decorations because the kittens are getting into everything, so it doesn't look as festive this year. I'm just so ready for this year to be over...

 ...again. Here's a look at the Renaissance Mermaid that I started in May. Mirabilia mermaids always take me a long time to stitch, mostly because I work on other projects at the same time. I'd hoped to be closer to "done" by the end of the year, but that's not going to happen!  One of the reasons this mermaid is taking so long is that I'm not happy with one of the overdyed silk fibers used in the project. It's resulting in some unattractive striping in large areas of the tail. I'm continuing to work on the rest of the mermaid, but might decide to pull it out if I still don't like the way it looks with the rest of the stitching. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Working on the tail fins. Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Still working on the 3rd increase set. Works In Progress: By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Look Through My Window...

 ...or more properly, F.O. and Finishing Work Monday. I finished stitching the Christmas ABC's ornament 2011 (cross stitch): Specs: Started 12/3//2020 Finished 12/11/2020 Pattern: Shepherd's Bush from the 2011 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue When I finished that, I spent a couple of days doing the finishing work that had piled up since October. Here is a collage that shows what I completed: > All designs from Shepherd's Bush Row 1: Meadow Sheep pillow; Hocus Pocus Sheep pillow; Joy to Ewe Pillow Row 2: Starry Night ornament; Santa's Flight ornament; Earth's Delight ornament Row 3: Christmas ABCs ornament; Merry Christmas scissor fob, front; Merry Christmas scissor fob, back You can find individual photos of the completed objects in my Flickr photostream .

 ...another week has flown by! This morning, the sunrise was gorgeous, with lots of color and clouds. I need to finish decorating the house for Christmas. I've been doing it gradually so the cats get used to seeing new things on the tables. So far, they haven't destroyed anything, but they are mighty curious!

 ...and it's still all about the small cross stitch projects. Finished: 11/2 Winter Snowy Days pillow (cross stitch) 11/7 Twilight handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-Silk-Cashmere (4.0 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 206.25 yds. chain-ply, 11 WPI 11/9 Happy Holidays pillow (cross stitch) 11/12 Elf masks (sewing) 11/16 Starry Night ornament (cross stitch) 11/22 Merry Christmas scissor fob (cross stitch) 11/27 Santa's Flight ornament (cross stitch) 11/28 Christmas stockings for the cats (sewing) Books Brimstone Bound, Helen Harper Infernal Enchantment, Helen Harper Open House, Katie Sise Midnight Smoke, Helen Harper Death on Nantucket. Francine Mathews Her Final Words, Brianna Labuskes The Silence, Kendra Elliot Pack of Lies, Hailey Edwards Started: 11/1 Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 11/2 Twilight handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 11/4 Happy Holidays pillow (cross stitch) 11/11 Elf masks (sewing) 11/11 Starry Night ornament (cross stitch...

...and an F.O. After finishing the advent calendar ornament conversion, I decided that the calendar needed a sheep ornament.  Specs: Started and finished 12/7/2020 Beads and sequins applied to white felt; stuffed with fiberfill WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ] Finished another hexagon. Picked the next colors Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the 3rd increase set, about 6.5 inches long Christmas ABC's ornament 2011 (cross stitch) Started 12/3/2020 Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Malachite (needlepoint)  Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Tucson Twilight (needlepoint) Waiting for Finishing: Deco Royale (quilting) Earth's Delight ornament (cross stitch) Finishing work ...

...not what I expected to finish, but I'm happy nonetheless. I finished converting my old Christmas beaded motifs into Advent Calendar ornaments. Specs: Beaded motifs mid-70s. Finished 12/5/2020 Backed with felt and stuffed with fiberfill I'm working away on another Shepherd's Bush Christmas ornament and trying to compile a wish list so the Husband knows what to order for my gift. I'm [im]patiently waiting for the Daughter to tell me what she wants. Christmas is going to be so weird this year. We won't be able to share our Christmas Even cioppino dinner with the Daughter or open gifts with her on Christmas day. It certainly wont be the first Christmas without her as she was in Costa Rica one year and there might have been at least one other Christmas we might have missed.  I feel blessed that we've been with her for 40-ish Christmases, so I'm not complaining too much.

 ...and I don't have much to show other than the sunrise. I can't believe it's already the 4th of December!

 ...and I missed WIP-it Wednesday. I finished another Christmas ornament. This is Earth's Delight: Specs: Started 11/29/2020 Finished 12/2/2020 Pattern: Shepherd's Bush from the 2010 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue I resurfaced a very old WIP from the mid-70s. My ex-husband had a special Christmas stocking that was covered with Christmas motifs and animals. They were beaded and sequined - it was beautiful. I wanted to create one for myself, so I started making Christmas motifs to stitch onto my own stocking. I created several, but realized that it was going to take forever to make it. I put them away and made myself a different stocking. Over the years, I'd run into the motifs and wonder what to do with them. This year, I decided to turn them into ornaments for my advent calendar. I've done 3 so far. I think they will be a nice addition to the calendar and I'll finally put all that work into use!