WIP-it Wednesday...

...some progress, but getting tired of cross stitch.

I can't wait until the Ravellenic Games start in a couple of days. I'm ready for some spinning.

The construction guys working on the studio remodel have been doing a lot of noisy work, making it difficult to work in the living room. I can't hear the TV and I can see them working in my peripheral vision. It's very distracting, so I work in my bedroom. The set-up there is not ideal, but I do what I can.

Because I need the lighted magnifier to work on the mermaid and it's a pain to move from room to room, I leave the mermaid in the living room. I work on small cross stitch projects and knitting when I'm in the bedroom.

I finished knitting my first Melt the ICE hat [Ravelry]:

Specs:
Started 1/23/2026
Finished 1/31/2026
Pattern:  Paul S. Neary, Needle & Skein in Twin Cities, MN
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Harvest Red 

This hat has been promised to a friend. I've started another one. I've also started some Melt the ICE badges that I will offer to my friend.

The small cross stitch piece that I'm working on is the Collector's Heart 2001, which I've renamed to 2026. It doesn't have a lot of cross stitches. I'm not fond of the satin stitches because the require a lot of fiddling. Once it's pressed, they will flatten out.

As for the mermaid, I started stitching with the new silk that I received last week and I really dislike it. The DMC blend that I created shows up well, but next to the new silk stitches and everything looks muddy. I'm frogging the silk that I stitched and will restitch it to control the pooling better. I love the Mirabilia mermaids, but I liked them a whole lot better when she relied on DMC and Kreinik. The overdyed silks have too many long repeats that look weird to me.

WIPs Roll Call
Worked On:

1. Collector's Heart 2026 (cross stitch)
   Working on the satin stitches
2. Morgana (cross stitch)
   Working on the upper portion of the tail.

No Work This Week:

1. California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [Ravelry] 
2. My Recipes (cooking) 
3. Website (other) 

Queued for Starting

1. Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting)

Ready for Finishing:

1. Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing)
2. August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month (cross stitch)
3. Bring Us Good Cheer
4. CATrina (cross stitch) 
5. Cherub Garden (cross stitch) 
6. Ewe Can Build a Snowman pincushion (cross stitch) 
7. Happy Pumpkin needleroll (cross stitch)
8. Herding Cats quilt (quilting)
9. Horrified! mini (cross stitch) 
10. La Cat-trina quilt (quilting) 
11. Making Spirits Bright (cross stitch)
12. Peaceful Night (cross stitch)
13. Primrose Path (cross stitch) 
14. Road to Chaos (quilting)  
15. Sea Dandelion (cross stitch)
16. Star (cross stitch) 

UFOs/Hibernation:

1. Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint)
2. Illusion Cube Blanket (knitting) [Ravelry] 
3. Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)
4. Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [Ravelry] 
5. Sky Lanterns Shawl (knitting) [Ravelry]
6. Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch)