Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...blog and run. Sorry no photos. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Morgana (cross stitch) The lower fins are taking forever! Starwoman (cross stitch) Started 4/23 No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion Cube Blanket (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  Website (other)  Queued for Starting Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting) Summer Typography (cross stitch)  Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month (cross stitch) Bring Us Good Cheer CATrina (cross stitch)  Cherub Garden (cross stitch)  Collector's Heart 2026 (cross stitch)  Ewe Can Build a Snowman pincushion (cross stitch)  Happy Pumpkin needleroll (cross stitch) Herding Cats quilt (quilting) Horrified! mini (cross stitch)  La Cat-trina quilt (quilting)  Making Spirits Bright (cross stitch) Peaceful Night (cros...

 ...and things are getting closer in the studio! Things are continuing to bloom in the garden. The nasturtiums are still going strong: The nemesia is popping up: The mock orange continues to bloom: And the Blenheim apricots are beginning to get some color.

 ...I'm off a day this week...sigh. I'm still working on Morgana. The lower fins are taking *forever*. There are not very many color changes. On the one hand, it's good that I don't have to work a bunch of confetti stitches. On the other hand, it's really boring stitching long swaths of one color, especially the light colors. I've queued up a couple of smaller projects to work on when I get bored of DMC 27, 156, and 3747. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Morgana (cross stitch) Still working on the lower fins.  No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion Cube Blanket (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  Website (other)  Queued for Starting Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting) Starwoman (cross stitch)  Summer Typography (cross stitch)  Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewel pictu...

 ...that week went fast! We had a couple of fire drills that sucked up some of our time.  For the studio, we had to quickly find flooring after we determined that the contractor thought we ordered the floor and we though they did. After finding our that our first choice (floors matching the rest of the house) would take 5 weeks to come in, we found another flooring that will work. It's in the same color range that we wanted and we were able to get it by today. Whew! The second, more worrying problem was a plumbing back-up that happened yesterday. We had Service Champions replace our old furnace and install a tankless water heater in the last 3 years. As a result, we joined their MVP program, which give us some free services during the year and reduced costs on some services and appliances. They were able to come out yesterday and snake the main and run a camera to check for issues. Whew! Today, I caught up with a bunch of photo editing that I...

 ...and a belated finish. I finally got photos of the Daisy Handspun that I finished last week: and the close-up: Specs: Started 3/26/2026 Finished 4/8/2026 Merino-Stellina (4.0 oz) from Greenwood Fiberworks 189.6 yds., 12 WPI I queued up a couple of projects, but just haven't had the energy to start anything new. In the meantime, there's plenty to do on the latest mermaid, Morgana. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Illusion Cube Blanket (knitting) [ Ravelry ]   Started another cube. Morgana (cross stitch) Still working on the lower fins and tail. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  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) Bring Us Good Cheer CATrina ...

...and I'm a little behind. I've actually finished two projects this week, but I've only photographed one. This is Stay Warm. Specs: Started 2/26/2026 Finished 4/7/2026 Free pattern from Barbara Ana Designs I'll take photos of the other when I get a chance. This week in the garden, we have a bunch of new flowers. The Husband and I went to a local nursery and picked out some colorful additions.  We have Blackberry petunias: Electric Purple Sky petunias: Classy Carmine Dahlias: and Havana Calla Lilies: There are more in my Flickr photostream .

...and it's April! The garden is coming along. We have baby Blenheim apricots now. More Dutch irises: A couple of tulips: And a new clematis:

 ...and a little progress here and there. Morgana, my latest mermaid from Mirabilia, is coming along. I'm happier with my DMC substitution of the Waterlilies Fir fiber, but I'm not totally convince with the design's overall color scheme. Even if I used the original Waterlilies fiber, the colors are off. The tail and fins are so much brighter than the body color.  I'm just going with it at this point. I don't think either the linen or I could take another frogging session to get the body color closer to the tail. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Daisy Handspun (spinning)  Started 3/26; finished singles and ready to ply. Morgana (cross stitch) Working on the lower fins and tail. Stay Warm (cross stitch) Working on motifs above the arms.  No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  Website (other)  Queued for Starting Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Lu...

 ...and our garden is blooming! In the front yard we have lavender poppies and shrub roses. In the backyard, we have cluster roses and gazania. I love this time of the year! 

 ...because I totally missed yesterday. Insomnia gets the best of me sometimes and it was that way yesterday. It wasn't until after dinner that I realized that I missed posting. Anyway, no photos today, sorry! The studio is coming along. They are starting the tile for the bathroom today! With the exception of the shower door (which is custom), all the materials and supplies that we know about are ordered and in. We bought the paint yesterday -- nothing fancy, just the same white that we used in the rest of the house. I'm looking at rugs and blinds to bring in the color. At some point down the road, I might paint an accent wall. For now, I just want to room done! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Morgana (cross stitch) I finally caught up replacing all of the old Waterlilies Fir stitches. I'm now working on the lower fins and tail. Stay Warm (cross stitch) Working on the arms and motifs around the head.  No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ R...

...Happy Spring! Our garden is blooming. We have wisteria: Buddha Hand blossoms: Daffodils: and Spanish bluebells:

 ...such as it is. Finished: 2/8 Melt the ICE Badges (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 2/8 Melt the ICE Badges - 3D (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 2/9 Meriadoc Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  4.0 oz Polwarth-silk from Into The Whirled 162.5 yds. chain-ply; 11 WPI 2/19 Waterlily Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] 4.0 Merino-silk (4.0 oz.) from Wonderland Dyeworks 145.8 yds. chain ply; 11 WPI 2/19 Midnight Amethyst Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-silk (4.0 oz.) from Wonderland Dyeworks 145.8 yds. chain-ply; 11 WPI Books: Newport Nana’s, Cindy Nichols Hex of the Witch, Heather G Harris Stolen in Death, JD Robb Coven of the Witch, Heather G Harris Familiar of the Witch, Heather G Harris Destiny of the Witch, Heather G Harris Charmed Nights, Kim Richardson The Beach Shack Promise, Cindy Nichols Mermaid in the Shot Glass, Hailey Edwards ...

 ...slow progress on the studio, so I'm still cross stitching. It's been a long haul with the studio. We started work on December 8th. We knew it was going to take longer than our previous remodel because we were adding a bathroom, but this is going on longer than expected. The good news is that they have passed every inspection - underground plumbing, above-ground plumbing, insulation, and sheet rock. They have installed the new slider, the pocket door for the bathroom, and the new exterior door. They have taped the walls and put on the edging. The room is shaping up, but a few weeks away from being done. Sigh. I'm cycling between Morgana (Mirabilia mermaid) and Stay Warm (which I keep calling Keep Warm by accident). Here's what Stay Warm looks like today: I may switch over to spinning again because I'm getting tired of cross stitching. I really want to quilt or do some finishing work. I just don't have enough room to do quilting in the house. As for th...

 ...still all cross stitch around here.  I'm alternating between the mermaid (Morgana) and the Barbara Ana piece (Stay Warm). Morgana is getting more play, but it's slow going.  Now that I've finished replacing the awful pooling of the Waterlilies Fir section, I'm working on other portions of the tail. I still hate the Waterlilies Fir color--it makes that portion of the piece look dull compared to the rest of it. It makes the piece less interesting for me to work on. I wish I could come up with an alternative for it. Sigh. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Keep Warm (cross stitch) Working on the face. Morgana (cross stitch) Working on the outer tail fins. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  Website (other)  Queued for Starting Moon Lets Sun Shine (or Luna y Sol) quilt (quilting) Ready for Finishing: Finishing work for some old crewe...

 ...and there are more flowers blooming in our garden! This is our garden path right now with the nasturtiums going crazy: The amaryllis is still going strong: The Marc Chagall rose is setting more blooms:  And a Dutch iris has appeared near the kitchen:

...and it's all cross stitch all week. I was having problems with my floor stand not staying together properly. It's over 25 years old and the wood screw connectors are loosening up, making the stand tilt more than it should. The Husband bought some epoxy and glued the worst offending connector to its wood part. While it was drying, I started a smaller cross stitch projects. This is Keep Warm, another Barbara Ana design. It's a free chart and so far it's going well. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Keep Warm (cross stitch) Started 2/26 Morgana (cross stitch) Still working on the tail fins. No Work This Week: California Red Poppy Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  My Recipes (cooking)  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) Bring Us ...

...and the garden is finally coming alive! We have yellow freesias Red freesias Apricot blossoms Nectarine blossoms For Christmas, my Aunt sent an amaryllis gift from Harry and David. The bulbs were barely peaking out of the soil when I received them. I've been babying them in the kitchen ever since. Anyone who really knows me understands that I don't do well with plants. The Husband is the gardener because I tend to kill everything. I managed to keep these bulbs alive and they finally bloomed this week! After keeping them in the kitchen for another couple of days, we moved the container to the backyard, where I can see them from the bedroom window.

 ...and I just today realized that I hadn't posted it. Oops! Finished: 1/3 To All a Good Night (cross stitch) 1/12 Primrose Path mini(cross stitch)  1/15 Cherub Garden mini (cross stitch)  1/16 Gladiolus Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Merino-bamboo-silk (4 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 200.5 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI 1/21 Bring Us Good Cheer ornament (cross stitch)  1/31 Melt the ICE Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Books: Witch on Probation, Kim Richardson Veiled Justice, Heather G Harris Mystic Justice, Heather G Harris Starlight at Midnight, Katie Winters Magical Misconduct, Kim Richardson Arcane Justice, Heather G Harris Witch Under Fire, Kim Richardson Beach Cove Home, Nellie Brooks Beach Cove Inn, Nellie Brooks Beach Cove Sisters, Nellie Brooks Beach Cove Secrets, Nellie Brooks Tears of the Falls, Elle Gray Shadow Witch, Kim Richardson No One Knew, Kendra Elliot Son Shine, Hope Callaghan...

... and it's another slow week of progress on the studio. It's getting there, but not nearly as quickly as I'd like.. They finally installed my new exterior entrance door, which makes it possible to lock the area. Before the door, they were covering the opening with a screwed-on piece of plywood. We talked about the recessed lighting last week and today they started installing it.   In the meantime, I've been going down many research rabbit holes in Google while I look at potential storage pieces to replace some of my old furniture. We discovered that we need to put my worktable on casters so it can be moved out of the way when we have guests in the room. When we open the Murphy bed, it will be too tight to leave the table in place. This is what my worktable looks like now. We can't add casters to it yet because it's still in the POD. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Morgana (cross stitch) Finished replacing the Waterlilies Fir st...

 ...and I really enjoyed spinning while watching ice skating. This is Midnight Amethyst [ Ravelry ]: and the close-up: Specs: Started 2/12/2026 Finished 2/19/2026 Merino-silk (4.0 oz.) from Wonderland Dyeworks Ravellenics 2026, Event: Freestyle Spinning I wouldn't exactly call its color "amethyst" as I thinks that it should be more purple than it is. However, with handspun, I usually keep the name that the dyer called the fiber. So, Midnight Amethyst it is.