Livin' La Needle Loca

...and it's a WIP-it Wednesday. This morning's sunrise had no sun, but I took a photo anyway. About an hour after the photo, the rain started. I put streamers on our Christmas tree and it's ready to celebrate the new year. I'm hoping to make it until midnight, but i haven't been sleeping well the last few days, so I'm not sure if I'll make it. Happy New Year! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: To All A Good Night (cross stitch) Started 12/24; about 50% done. I had hoped to finish it by the end of the year, but there are two hills in the design that needed to be filled with stitches. It took a lot longer than I anticipated to complete them. My Recipes (cooking)   I added a few more recipes from the scanned  hard copies. I now need to scan more to continue this project. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Primrose Path (cross stitch) Website (o...

...and Mother Nature provided this: I was grabbing a cup of tea from the kitchen and saw this rainbow peaking up behind our back wall. It didn't last long and I'm glad I caught it. We're still a few days away from the new year,  so this might not be my last post of the year. Close, though!

 ...and Merry Christmas Eve! Our Christmas tree this year is not our usual 9-footer. As I've mentioned before, it's a little chaotic in the house with my studio stuff everywhere. We decided to use the Star Trek tree instead. There is one Star Trek ornament on the tree as a nod to its normal purpose. I added some of my favorite ornaments and it looks pretty good. We’ll go back to our normal tree next year! I have a couple of Finished Objects. This is Star: Specs: Started 12/2/2025 Finished 12/21/2025 An Occasional Musing pattern by Shepherd’s Bush I'm not fond of the color for the stars - it blends in too much with the fabric. But, this is the last "Musing" pattern I own and I just want to finish them! This is Ewe Can Build a Snowman: Specs: Started 12/21/2025 Finished 12/23/2025 Kit with button from Shepherd’s Bush  Assembly of both projects is in the queue for finishing, once I can figure our where (when) I can actually ...

...I finished two things and I'm showing them even though they are gifts. They are too cute for words. First up, is Highland Cow 3 [ Ravelry ]: and another view: Specs: Started 12/12/2025 Finished 12/18/2025 Pattern: Clara’s Critter Crew Cow Modified the pattern to make Highland cow version The second is Corgi 2 [ Ravelry ]: and another view: Specs: Started 12/7/2025 Finished 12/19/2025 Pattern: Corgi by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne Modified pattern to reduce the body length I declared Corgi 1 [ Ravelry ] as IDJ (It's Dead, Jim). I didn't like the way it was working up and didn't enjoy the pattern.

 ....in which I have been working on a couple of small knitting projects. They are things that I can't show yet. The short story is that they are fiddly, but cute.  I've also been working on a cross stitch project. I'm not completely happy with the colors selected. At this point, I'm just going with it. 🙄 WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Corgi 2 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] All knitting is done. Doing the final attachments and embroidery. Highland cow 3 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Started 12/12; working on muzzle. Star (cross stitch) Working on the the items surrounding the word. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)   Primrose Path (cross stitch) Website (other)  Queued for Starting Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting) Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month (cross stitch) CATrina (cross stitch)  H...

...AKA catching up because I keep forgetting to blog. :) It's still way too chaotic for me to keep a regular schedule for pretty much anything. The workers have been jack hammering for 5 days. Fortunately, they did not work on the weekend, so we had a couple of days without the noise. However, they started up again yesterday. There's a trench outside our front door and the studio floor has a trench through it. I know that another bathroom will be great in the long run, but right now the cats and I are on edge most of the day. So, catching up on eye candy, here is our garden path this month: Our lemon tree and orange tree have gone a little nutso: When it rained in November, I took a few photos of rain drops. Raindops on our dragonfruit plant: < Raindrops on a rose petal: I had a craving for mincemeat pies after Thanksgiving and made some mini-pies from commercially-prepared mincemeat and crust. They are yummy! I froze some...

 ...in which the city finally approved our permit. Remodel will start in December. Finished: 11/3 CATrina (cross stitch) 11/16 Highland Cow toy (knitting)[ Ravelry ] 11/18 Wuzzie Highland Cow Toy (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  11/30 Making Spirits Bright Pin Cushion (cross stitch)  11/30 Sea Plaid Wrap (weaving) [ Ravelry ]   Books: A Skirl of Sorcery, Helen Harper Newport Harbor House, Cindy Nichols A Newport Sunrise, Cindy Nichols Newport Beginnings, Cindy Nichols A Newport Christmas, Cindy Nichols Newport New Moon, Cindy Nichols Newport Arrival, Cindy Nichols Newport Nuptials, Cindy Nichols Newport Negotiations, Cindy Nichols Newport Unpacked, Cindy Nichols The Lost Heiress, Elizabeth Klehforth Sunkissed Memories, Karie Winters Trouble in the Falls, Elle Gray Nantucket White Christmas, Pamela Kelley Nantucket Neighbors, Pamela Kelley A Nantucket Affair, Pamela Kelley Nantucket Weddings, Pamela Kelley Nantucket Threads, Pamela ...

 ...because yesterday was busy. We had a couple of appointments, plus trying to write anything while the workers are using a jack hammer is difficult. The cats are understandably disturbed. We've been hanging out in the back bedroom that is as far away from the noise as possible. Construction for the studio remodel started Monday. Before they started I took a photo of the empty room.  The dangling things and holes are artifacts of the water heater replacement (new gas line) that we did in August. We're adding a bathroom in the new studio, plus new flooring, lights, etc. In the meantime, I'm making do (sort of) with the stuff I have stored in the main house and trying not to dig through the POD for anything else. That might involve a trip or two to Michael's to pick up a missing floss color or yarn in the right color. 😉 WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Corgi 2 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Started 12/7; second attempt at a mini corgi using a d...

 ...yeah, it's been a while. Between trying to empty the studio for a remodel that keeps being delayed and Thanksgiving, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Our Thanksgiving celebration was small, but wonderful. Given how crowded the house is right now with things from the studio, we couldn't host this year. We took the feast to The Daughter's house and spent an enjoyable day there. The studio is now empty, with the only remaining items being the washer/dryer and the Ikea Expedit bookcase that is too heavy and unwieldy for us to move. In theory, the remodel starts on Monday. Keeping my fingers crossed for that! I did manage to finish a couple of things before November ended. This is Making Spirits Bright, a pin cushion kit from Shepherd's Bush: Specs: Started 11/8/2025 Finished 11/30/2025 Kit from Shepherd’s Bush Shepherd's Bush makes my favorite Christmas minis, but I sometimes wish that they didn't use so many ...