Livin' La Needle Loca

 and WIP-it Wednesday. I plied Spring Buds [ Ravelry ]: and the close up: Specs: Started 6/28/2021 Finished 6/29/2021 Falkland (4.0 oz.) from The Yarn Wench 88.7 yds. chain ply, 8 WPI WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry ] Still working on pattern number 4.  Peacock Tapestry Started 623/2021 No Work This Week: Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Malachite (needlepoint)  Mermaid and the Sea (cross stitch) Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]   Queued Ready to machine quilt: - Bean Me Up quilt (quilting) - Mermaid Songs (quilting) - Noche de los Muertos quilt (quilting) Ready to start - Lilith of Labrador mermaid (cross stitch) Waiting for Finishing: Beach Roses (cross stitch) By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Do You Hear ornament (cross stitch) Finishing work for some old...

 ...6/28/2021. I spun the singles for Spring Buds [ Ravelry ], a Falkland top from The Yarn Wench. I'll ply this today and then move on to the next fiber in the queue.

...6/27/2021. I decided to ply Ramillete de Flores Handspun [ Ravelry ] so I can concentrate on new fiber for the rest of the Tour. and the close-up: Specs: Started 6/14/2021 Finished 6/27/2021 Bamboo-Wool top (4 oz.) from Creatively Dyed in RMB7 colorway 196.3 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI Off to pick out today's fiber...

 ...69/26/2021. I modified my Tour de Fleece theme to be Garden instead of Flowers. There were a few items in the stash, like Ripe Fig, that I wanted to spin. The Garden theme will handle that. 😏 I decided to start the Tour with a completed yarn to get me motivated. This is Rusted Violet [ Ravelry ]: and the close up: Specs: Started and finished 6/26/2021 Falkland top (4.1 oz.) from The Yarn Wench Plied with Sesia Carioca in Tangerine and Coats & Clark Mercerized cotton thread in variegated purples #tdf2021 #spinofftdf2021 I have a yarn to ply and Im trying to decide whether to work on that today or tomorrow. It fits in the general theme, so I don't have to worry about doing something else for the Tour whatever day i choose.

 ...and a little sadness. First, the Finished Object. This is Beach Roses: Specs: Started 6/10/2021 Finished 6/23/2021 Pattern by Just Nan No modifications I started another project, but it probably will get pushed off to the side for Tour de Fleece, which starts tomorrow. Today, we mourn the loss of The Husband's mother. She was a wonderful woman with a feisty streak and a wicked sense of humor. We will miss her. She loved flowers, so in her memory here are Sissy Pink Oenothera: hydrangea and a zinnia.

 ...yesterday didn't quite go as planned. I knew I'd have to spend time dealing with the delivery of our new refrigerator. The delivery window was set for 1:30-5:30. I planned to empty the fridge at 1:15 in an orderly fashion. They never come at the front end of the delivery window, right? Wrong. They called when they were 30 minutes away at 12:30! Yikes! I hurriedly emptied the fridge and unlocked the gate. At the last minute, I remembered that I needed to remove all the pots from the hanging rack. Oops! Fortunately, I was ready for them when they arrived. When they removed the old fridge, I found Cassia's cache of toys. OMG! There were so many! Of course, nothing happens without problems. Apparently our GFCI outlets in the kitchen are not compatible with the refrigerator. Arg! I scrambled to fins a long enough extension cord to plug the new fridge into a non-GFCI outlet to begin the cooling process.  Then I finally sat down for the...

 ...man, where does the time go? Today, I'm prepping for the arrival of a new refrigerator. While I loved our old fridge, I was starting to have issues. First, the water connector in the fridge developed a leak. A replacement part didn't fix it, so we haven't been able to use the ice maker for almost a year now. Next, one of the latches on the French doors broke, so it no longer latched properly. The door wouldn't be open enough to set off the fridge's alarm, but open enough where we lost some items in the door. The third strike, was last week. It started throwing error codes about the freezer fan. The fridge is working, but it was the last straw. We had been holding off buying a new one, figuring that we would buy new appliances when we remodel the kitchen down the road. Welp, we need it now. I made sure to pick one that would go with my vision of the new kitchen so we don't have to replace it again. I've been working steadily on the Beach Roses mini. I...

 ...and we're melting, like most of the West. During my walk yesterday, I noticed that the roses were blooming at the local elementary school. There were buds and full blown roses. Today's plan is to stay as cool as possible.

 ...a little progress here, a little progress there. On the cross stitch front, I'm on a Just Nan run. After I finished Mermaid Heart last week, I started Beach Roses. It uses a lot of the same colors as Mermaid Heart. There is a third Just Nan project in the queue that uses similar colors. I have a lot more Just Nan charts in the stash. When I finish the third Just Nan, I'll take a look  at them to see what the next one should be. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Beach Roses Started 6/10/2021 Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry ] Finished pattern number 3 and started number 4. So glad to be done with the open weave pattern! Mermaid and the Sea (cross stitch) Working on the large mermaid Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Added another few picks Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Added another inch to the shawl collar Ramillete de Flores Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] No Work T...

 ...and enjoying my alone time. Don't get me wrong, I love my Husband and enjoy being with him. It's just that when I'm on my own, I'm able to recharge my batteries without worrying that I'm ignoring him. I'm not totally alone because I have the cats. Yes, I'm one of those people who talks to their cats. LOL! Someone asked me whether I had any special plans for my days alone. My immediate answer was that I wanted to mop the floors and vacuum! Yes, I can do that when The Husband is home, but I get a certain amount of enjoyment from mopping the kitchen floor and having it stay clean for a few days. He does all of our gardening, so there is always a certain amount of dirt and leaves that follow him inside even though he takes his shoes off before coming in. I know, I'm weird. 😁 I haven't been spinning for a couple of months, so I decided to get back into it this week. Tour de Fleece is coming up at the end of the month...

...and I'm looking forward to a weekend on my own for the first time in 18 months. Yay! I've been trying to take more walks in the morning I completely got out of the habit about 6 months ago. I'm walking a lot slower that I did a year ago, but at least i'm moving! This morning, there was a low cloud cover, making a sunrise photo impossible. In the mast few minutes of my walk, the sun broke through: Our cherry trees don't normally produce a lot of fruit because of the squirrels and bird. Right now we have 4 or 5 cherries on the tree and they are almost ripe. Our apricots are almost ripe, too. Since I like my apricots on the green side, I've been enjoying them the last couple of days. We also have a few squash blossoms: The Husband is going on a camping trip with his brother, leaving me and the cats to entertain ourselves. I've stocked up on Trader Joe's salads and snacks, so I won't have to waste time gr...

 ...finally! I've been so set on finishing this project that most everything else has been ignored, including blogging. This is Mermaid Heart: Specs: Started 5/20/2021 Finished 6/9/2021 Pattern by Just Nan Modifications: Used a greener color of Kreinik Blending Filament I can finish it as a flat piece or a pillow, but I haven't quite decided which way to go. I did manage to put in a few minutes on the shawl and tapestry during the week. Since I missed WIP-it Wednesday, here's the current list. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Added another few picks Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry ] Tinked back another patter section and started it again. My main problem with this shawl is that I have too much time between sessions and it's tough getting back into a rhythm. No Work This Week: Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting...

...and there are a lot of beautiful flowers in the garden! We have zinnias... Petunias... Asiatic lilies: Sweet Kate: And dianthus.

 ...fewer books read and fewer projects completed. Trying to get my mojo back! Finished: 5/17 My Fair Ladybug (cross stitch) Books Winter Street, Elin Hilderbrand 21st Birthday, James Patterson Scorched Heart, Helen Harper Pack of Lies, Linsey Hall Rising Moon, Linsey Hall Herringbones and Hexes, Nancy Warren Started: 5/15 My Fair Ladybug (cross stitch) 5/20 Mermaid Heart (cross stitch) Works In Progress: Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ] Malachite (needlepoint) Marionberry Shawl [ Ravelry ]  Mermaid and the Sea (cross stitch) Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Queued Ready to machine quilt: - Bean Me Up quilt (quilting) - Mermaid Songs (quilting) - Noche de los Muertos quilt (quilting) Ready to start - Lilith of Labrador mermaid (cross stitch) Waiting for Finishing: By the Sea needle roll (cross s...

 ...progress is slow, but sure. Here's a look at the Just Nan Mermaid's Heart project that has had the most play this week: I've been toying with the idea of getting a new magnifier lamp because my Dazor is nearing the end of it's life. The light bulb went out a few months back and I replaced it with one from my mother-in-law's Dazor. I have been unable to find a replacement bulb after exhaustive searches, Google and otherwise. Once this second bulb blows, the lamp portion will be unusable. The magnifier still works, but it is a 25+ year-old item with typical wear for something in regular use. When I bought the Dazor, I got the rolling stand, which is incredibly useful. It is metal and very heavy, and stays where you move it. It is also incredibly painful when I run into it. I have banged my toes and foot on this stand so many times that I've lost count. The last time, I bruised my foot so badly that it took a few weeks before ...

 ...and the garden is thriving. I'm having trouble getting motivated to work on some of my long-standing projects. While I was at mom's, I was working on the cardigan and found an error that resulted in frogging about two inches of the collar. Sigh. As a result, I lost any motivation to work on it. I've been concentrating on Mermaid's Heart by Just Nan (cross stitch).  Because it's a smaller project, it's easy to see how much progress I've made. The tapestry is on hold until I decide whether to incorporate some recycled sari ribbon or only use handspun.   I really need to get back to spinning before Tour de Fleece rolls around!