Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...fewer completed items this year, but not bad. Finished: Baking, etc. No Christmas baking this year Made 1 batch of Grand Marnier biscotti for my uncle’s memorial Occasional sourdough bread loaves Lots of scones Design 10/1 Mexican Angel Knitting 8/1 Marionberry Shawl 8/16 Catnip mice - 2 8/30 Catnip mice - 7  10/10 Pure Comfort Cardigan 12/9 Easy Star Shape Ornament   12/25 Red Voodoo Wrist Warmers Needlework Cross stitch unless otherwise specified. 1/12 Best Things (crewel) 2/27 Renaissance Mermaid  3/23 Blue Moon mini  3/20 Peacock Majesty  3/21 Tucson Twilight (needlepoint) 4/3 By the Sea Sampler  5/17 My Fair Ladybug  6/9 Mermaid Heart  6/23 Beach Roses mini  7/12 Peacock Tapestry  7/21 Signs of Summer  8/2 Summer Stroll  9/9 Sirens of the Sea Sampler  9/13 Scare Ewe 9/30 Dreaming Frida 10/4 Me...

 ...and I managed to catch the sunrise. I'm trying to get back into the swing of my "normal" activities, but I'm having an attention issue. I'm bouncing from project to project and can't seem to land on one for very long. Since Wednesday, I've done a little spinning, a little stitching, a little knitting...you get the picture. I spent a few hours yesterday rearranging storage containers in my room. I love organizing, so I enjoyed the process. But it was simply a way of choosing which project to work on!

 ....it's been a while. Sigh. I just never get to any craft stuff when I'm at my mom's. There are just too many things to do while I'm there. Before I left, I made a quick pin cushion. I wanted a pin cushion that I could use to separate different sizes of needles. I saw a couple of videos about the process of sewing a pin cushion with separations. I pulled some scraps from my stash and some pearl cotton. This was easy and fast to make and gives me the separation that I needed: Specs: Polka Dot Pin Cushion Started and finished 1/16/2022 No pattern I also assembled the Pocket Pet - cat (knitting) [ Ravelry ]. It's supposed to be a cat, but it doesn't look like one. Hmmm. No photos yet. I also started the next Mirabilia mermaid, Lilith of Labrador. This represents about 3 hours of work: WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Bankhead Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Still working on the body. Lilith of Labrado...

 ... a little of this and a little of that. Finished: 12/5 Up On the House Top Christmas ornament (cross stitch) 12/9 Easy Star Shape Ornament (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/12 I'm Dreaming Christmas ornament (cross stitch) 12/20 Shades of Winter quilt (quilting) 12/25 Red Voodoo Wrist Warmers (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Books Golden in Death, JD Robb Shadows in Death, JD Robb It Started One Christmas, Susan Mallery Faithless n Death, JD Robb Forgotten in Death, JD Robb Bad Medicine, Laken Cane  Write my Name Across the Sky, Barbara O’Neal Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, Diana Gabaldon Bridgerton Collection Vol. 2, Julie Quinn Started: 12/6 Cat Pocket Pet (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/7 Easy Star Shape Ornament (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/7 I'm Dreaming Christmas ornament (cross stitch) 12/13 Bankhead Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/14 O Tannenbaum Christmas ornament (cross stitch)  12/16 Shades of Winter quilt (quilting) 12/22 Red Voodoo Wrist Warmers (knitting) [ Ravelry...

 ...finished! Here is a collage of the finishing work that I completed 1/14/2022: Row 1: Dreaming Frida by Barbara Ana Designs; The Mermaid and The Sea by Examplars From The Heart; Scare Ewe Pillow by Shepherd’s Bush Row 2: Mexican Angel ornament by me; Hark 2014 ornament by Shepherd’s Bush; O Little Town 2015 ornament by Shepherd’s Bush Row 3: Up on the House Top 2016 ornament by Shepherd’s Bush; I’m Dreaming 2017 ornament by Shepherd’s Bush; O Tannenbaum 2018 ornament by Shepherd’s Bush

 ...first flower photo of the year. The paperwhite narcissus are blooming in our backyard: I hope to complete some finishing work today so I can move on to another project.

 ...and an F.O. First, the F.O. This is Winter Silver and Gold.  Specs: Winter Silver and Gold Started 1/7/2022 Finished 1/12/2022 Silver and Gold Limited Edition kit from Bent Creek WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Finishing work Dreaming Frida (cross stitch) Hark Christmas ornament (cross stitch) I’m Dreaming Christmas ornament (cross stitch) Mexican Angel Christmas ornament (cross stitch) Mermaid and the Sea (cross stitch)  O Little Town Christmas ornament (cross stitch) O Tannenbaum Christmas ornament (cross stitch) Pocket Pet - cat (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Scare Ewe Pillow (cross stitch) Sirens of the Sea (cross stitch) Up on the House Top Christmas ornament (cross stitch) Winter Silver and Gold pillow (cross stitch) No Work This Week: Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Wi...

 ...one more off of my plate! This is my modification of The Mermaid and The Sea. I did not like the antique style of the motifs and the way that the colors were pooling. The more I stitched it, the less I liked it. I decided to finish the large mermaid that I had started. Then I added another fish in the lower left corner and added 4 stars at the top. Specs: Started 4/4/2021 Finished 1/6/2022 Design by Examplars From The Heart Overdyed linen fabric from an unknown vendor Modifications: Did not complete the sampler as written.

 ...first one of the year. This month, I'm trying to reduce the number of WIPs in my rotation. One of them is the Effortless Cardigan [ Ravelry ]: I'm using yarn from my stash. I overbought this Lion Brand yarn when I was working on another project. This pattern semed like a good way to use up a lot of yarn! I need to set aside some time to do a bunch of finishing work. That will reduce the list of things to do! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Bankhead Hat (knitting) Working on the body. Mermaid and the Sea (cross stitch) Decided to finish the large mermaid and call it done. When I do the finishing work, I'll make it into a small pillow. No Work This Week: Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Malachite (needlepoint)  Noche de los Muertos quilt (quilting)  Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ ...

 ...I'm on a mission to finish a few things before I allow myself to start something new. This is O Tannenbaun, another Christmas ornament from Shepherd's Bush. Specs: Started 12/14/2021 Finished 1/2/2022 Shepherd's Bush 2018 Christmas ornament, chart+button

...and the last finished objects from 2021. Here is the first photo of 2022 - the sunrise: The Daughter prefers a white and gray color scheme for her home. That includes her Christmas tree. I've been wanting to make her something for her home, but hadn't figured out anything until I ran across some  fabric in my stash. I found 1/2 yard of a cream-based Fairy Frost and 1/2 yard of a white-based Fairy Frost. After a quick trip to the fabric store, I had some Moda Grunge fabrics in whites, silvers, and grays. I kept the pattern simple as she prefers clean lines and since Christmas was just 9 days away, I kept the machine-quilting simple as well. This is Shades of Winter: Specs: Started 12/16/2021 Finished 12/20/2021 Fabrics from the Moda Grunge By BasicGrey and Michael Miller Fairy Frost No pattern It's hard to take a good photo of a mostly white quilt so this was the best I could get after about 30 tries (gotta love digital cameras!) ...