Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...my first time at the Sacramento location. ...the short story is that I did not buy as much as previous years. I attended Thursday and Friday. After looking at the vendor list and reading that two (Liza Souza and Stunning String Studio) of the three vendors I wanted to visit had to cancel because of bad weather. Thursday: Arrived 2 hours before the market opened, which gave me plenty of time to check into my hotel and pick up my registration. I organized myself and then headed back to the convention center to knit until the market opened. My primary goal was to purchase fiber from Greenwood Fiberworks. There were lots of yummy fibers and I bought a few. Then I explored the other vendors, looking for more interesting fiber to spin. Seattle Sky Dyeworks was a new vendor for me and I bought a bump of fiber there. I missed seeing both Liza Souza and Stunning String Studio. I planned on spending a lot of time in both booths. :( I got back t...

 ...been out of commission for a few days. Since my last post, my sore throat turned into a full-blown head cold. It's been pretty nasty. At least my COVID tests came out negative and I don't have to deal with that! I've been camped out in my bedroom or on the living room couch. Not a lot of crafts happened, but I did get my Stitches West homework done. Yay! The weather has been rainy on anf off. I managed to caprute this phot of the daffodils that are starting to bloom in our backyard. I'm not sure how blogging is going to go while I'm at Stitches West later in the week. It couldn't be any worse than normal!

...the short story is that I did not buy as much as previous years. I attended three of the four days, I skipped Sunday. I had a great time and met a lot of very nice people! Thursday: Picked up my registration; knitted and chatted with several new friends; met an old friend for drinks; and attended the market preview. One thing I wanted to do was talk to the people at the Calpaca booth. My brother-in-law and hie wife gifted me with two alpaca fleeces. Since I have no idea how to deal with raw alpaca fleece, I asked them lots of questions.  Both people n the booth have experience spinning raw alpaca fiber and made many great suggestions. I feel like I have a plan now. Friday: I did some shopping in the morning and spent a couple of hours knitting before my Macro Yubinuki class at 2pm. The class was very challenging and I really need to practice to get the hang of the technique. It was only a 3 hour class and I think a longer class might have been better. This is what I ma...

...and I'm getting ready for Stitches West tomorrow! I'm making good progress on the Pure Comfort Cardigan [ Ravelry ]: And I've finally gotten the lace edging finished on the Saratoga Calypso Shawl [ Ravelry ] The next few days will be all about Stitches West--I can't wait! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the second sleeve. Earthdancer (cross stitch) Still working on the knee. Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Continuing to rearrange squares Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] I've knit about 4 inches of the cardigan body Saratoga Calypso Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] I finished the lace edging--hooray! I'm now working on the shawl curve. Works In Progress, Did Not Work On This Week: Finishing work for some old crewel pictures (sewing) Malachite (needlepoint) Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Bear Paw pottery (ne...

...yeah, I disappeared for a few days. It was a little crazy at work on Monday and Tuesday while I caught up on things that happened while I was out for Stitches. So here's a recap of what happened since my last post. Stitches West, Thursday: It was a very busy day. Because it was going to be a late night (ending around 9:30pm), I got to the convention center early so I could park as close to the building as possible. I didn't really want to walk in a dark parking lot late at night. My class wasn't until 1:30, so I chatted with people, knitted on a charity hat, and had my lunch. Class was only 90 minutes long. I learned a lot about lace edgings from JC Briar. Market opened at 5pm and for the first time ever, I did not line up to go inside. I waited until 5:15 - by then there was no line. I headed straight for Greenwood Fiberworks and bought fiber. My next stops were knitbaahpurl for a t-shirt, and Bar-Maids for hand and feet creams. I checked out Crafty Flutterby...

...and my weekend report. Despite my hopes for avoiding the majority of the cold symptoms (at least until after Stitches), it hit me full force on Saturday. I managed to get another couple of hours of shopping in on Saturday, but I just didn't have the strength to walk much more. I hoped to crash when I got home, but my sister's husband was in town and came over for a short visit. I wished I'd felt better while he was here as we don't get to see each other very often. After he left, I did the laundry and took photos of the new stuff. Once the laundry was under control, I moved into the house and uploaded my photos onto my laptop. I spent Sunday on the couch. I didn't do much other than coughing, reading, and catching the occasional cat-nap. The Husband was a trooper and did the grocery shopping and made dinner. I did manage to watch the Winter Olympics closing ceremonies, but I was pretty out of it. On Monday, I was feeling marginally better, but the coughin...

...Stitches West style. I finished my Ravellenic Hat: Specs: Started 2/9/18 Finished 2/22/18 Yarn: Caron Simply Soft Ombre in Teal Zeal Pattern: Slouchy Beehive Hat by Flora Cheung For the Ravellenic Games 2018 In the category of Eye-Candy-Is-In-The-Eye-of-the-Beholder, here is a quick look at my stash haul from Thursday and Friday's trip to the Stitches West market: I'l do a full-blown collage when Stitches is over. This cold is sapping my strength. Yesterday was OK, but today, I couldn't really enjoy the market for very long. I came home mid-day and crashed on the couch. I've been here pretty much all afternoon. I just don't have the energy to work on anything. I hope I get a decent night's sleep and that tomorrow is better. .

...and the weekend report. One of the things on my to-do list was to sign up for a new gym. I don't think I've mentioned that my gym is closing at the end of the month. It's a bummer, because it's close to home and I really love the classes. Plus it's 99% women, so it's a comfortable environment. Our yoga teacher has found a space so she can continue our twice-a-week sessions. As for the rest, I joined 24-hour Fitness because I get a complimentary membership through my Kaiser Medicare Advantage plan. (Yes, I'm that old...) There are several gym friends who are going to different places and I'll miss seeing them on a regular basis. When I got home on Friday, the Husband wasn't feeling 100%. As the weekend progressed, he developed a horrible cold - coughing, sneezing, fever - and felt miserable the whole time. He was coughing so bad all Sunday night that he kept me awake. I immediately started pumping Wellness Formula and vitamin C. The last thing I...

...leading into a 3-day weekend and a short work week ahead because Stitches West!! The daffodils are blooming in our front yard: And the sunrises have been pretty cool: For Valentine's Day, The Husband gave me a new plant for the garden. This is a Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana): Up this weekend: Spin In tomorrow! I haven't decided what to make yet. I think I'll decide when I get to the store later today. One thing I'll do over the weekend is pull together my stuff for Stitches West. I need to set aside some yarn and needles for my class on Thursday. Then I'm just going to revel in having an extra day off! :-) .

...it was a blast! Thursday: The opening day Spotlight talk by Franklin Habit was even better that I thought it would be. He is an engaging and humorous speaker.  The Teacher a la Carte luncheon was fun and the meal was very good. (Any meal that ends with flan for dessert is a winner as far as I'm concerned!)  One of my former neighbors sat at our table and we were able to catch up a bit. We see each other once a year at Stitches, so it's something to look forward to. Market Preview was a whirlwind. First, I turned in 5 hats to Halos of Hope,then it was shopping! I didn't have a specific project in mind, so I just visited the booths that I knew would have stuff I liked (Hello, Greenwood Fiberworks !). I had a few tools on my list, like the Sock Ruler., that I wanted to check out. Friday: The Dye Your Own Yarn class was very interesting. We learned about different methods to apply the yarn and how that affects the knitting. Playing with the dye was both intimidati...

... and tomorrow is Stitches West!! Yay!! While I still don't want to post a photo of the finished baby quilt, I think it's OK for me to post a photo of the Baby Camo Hat [ Ravelry ]. It's so cute! Specs: Started 2/12/17 Finished 2/18/17 Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Camouflage Pattern: 1-2-3 Baby Beanie by Lisa Seifert Tonight, I will gather the things I need to take to a full day at Stitches West. First up is the Opening Day Spotlight followed by the Teachers Luncheon. Then I'll spend the afternoon knitting until it's time to line up for the Market Preview (YAY). On Friday, I have the Dye Your Own Yarn class at 8:30am, followed by more time in the Market. I can't wait!! WIPs Roll Call Worked on: Camo Baby Sweater (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on the ribbing. Works In Progress: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] All That Glitters Christmas quilt (quilting) Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] Macaw Hat (knitting) ...

...and a finished object! This is Friendship Star: Specs: Started 4/10/16 Finished 5/30/16 Friendship Star kit by Laura J. Perin It was very satisfying to stitch one of her more straight-forward pieces. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from Tucson Twilight. It might take me quite a while to get back to that piece. Originally my weekend plan was to weave as much as I could. I assembled my bench and attached the Baby Wolf trap. I tried out a few picks of weaving and decided that this new setup would work well. Before sitting down to what I hoped was several hours of weaving, I knew that I had to clean up my studio. I put away the items that had been pulled out to save them from rain damage and didsome general straightening up. Much better!  I still don't have a clear plan about where to store my loom when it's not in use, but I'm not going to worry about it anymore. As I was putting away the skirt and top patterns (from the outfit I made), I remembered t...

...in a nutshell: I saw lots of pretty things, bought some of them, and had a great time. The longer story below. Thursday I didn't find any classes that called my name, so I signed up for the Opening Day Spotlight-Teachers Luncheon combo, and convinced my friend Loretta to do the same. I had never attended the spotlight or the luncheon, so it was something different to do. Plus, I still got into Market Preview that way. :-) The big draw for us was that our weaving teacher and one of the former owners of our local yarn store were two of the panelists. The topic was "Working Fiber Arts into Your Wardrobe." We enjoyed hearing about the process each panelist used to create their garments. My favorite was the garment created by our weaving teacher, Deborah Jarchow. My least favorite was the felted garment, but I don't like felted things in general. Lunch was fun, but very quick. I had never taken a class from any of the teachers who visited our table, so it was ver...

...blog-and-run style. Today was my second day at Stitches West. So far, I've purchased some wonderful spinning filer and yarn for two weaving projects. I've managed to take photos and create stash entries in Ravelry for everything I've purchased so far. As a result, I'm a little tired and almost forgot about Eye Candy Friday. I'll post a Stitches West when it's all done. On to the photos. The nectarine blossoms opened in the last week: In the neighborhood, the almond trees are blooming: And we have some cyclamen that are going strong: Up this weekend: two more days of Stitches West! Hooray! .

...I am so ready to immerse myself in 4 days of fibery things! I have my Stitches West stuff gathered and in one place. I need to stop at the grocery store to buy a few snacks and something for lunches. Tomorrow will be a full day, but so worth it! The mini-cupcakes that I made for Spin-In. I went back to my roots for spinning and started a Falkland top from Yarn Wench.  I managed to get 75% of the singles spun. I'll finish up the singles in the next week and then ply it. I spent several hours fixing my Canto de Sirena shawl [ Ravelry ]. There were several issues and at first it seemed like I would have to pull out two rows to fix them. I really didn't want to do that as each row is 362 stitches and it takes me a long time to knit that many stitches. Fortunately, I read this post from the Yarn Harlot about fixing errors in lace projects. And, to top it off, she was working on the same pattern that I am. I used her method to correct my errors and although it to...

...I'm ready now, but have a couple more hours of work to get through. Today's eye candy is all blossoms. The nectarine is starting to set blossoms: The apricot is a little further along: and the Santa Rosa plum trees are going nuts: Up this weekend: Spin In tomorrow!! I plan on making some red velvet mini-cupcakes to take.  I need to find something pink or red to spin to keep things in a Valentine's theme. I'm going to spend a little time cleaning up around the house. We need some serious vacuum monster action in the living room. There are little bits and pieces that have accumulated on the tables that need to be put away. I discovered a mistake with the Canto de Sirena shawl [ Ravelry ]. Given that it's in row 3 of the pattern repeat and I'm supposed to be working on row 5, I need to figure out the best and easiest way to fix  it.  A certain amount of brain power is required, so I'll tackle it Sunday or Monday morning. I need to t...

...the short version:  I had a great class, shopped a lot, and had a good time with friends. The long version: I took the Beaded Knitting Sampler class with Betsy Hershberg. Betsy is organized and kept the class on track. I learned lots, and I finished the class sampler: Market preview was a blast! I visited my target vendors and bought lots of fiber. I bumped into a friend while I was shopping and we took a few minutes to catch up. On Friday, I walked the entire market with the goal of visiting every vendor. I didn't quite make it, but I got close. I was on the lookout for some undyed, black DK weight yarn for my boss (didn't find any) and brightly colored rattail for a co-worker (got some at Garden of Beadin'). I picked up a bit more and a little yarn. I made an early day of it and went home to take photos of my purchases. I processed the photos and got it all loaded into Ravelry . On Saturday, knowing that the Sharks game at the arena was going to cause all...

...yeah, yesterday got away from me. It's been happening a lot lately. I was productive during the long weekend and finished two things.  First, I finished the Ghouls, ghosts, and witches...oh, my! project. I finished all of the stitching Sunday night. On Monday, I pressed the project, added the button, and tucked it into the pillow. Specs: Started 7/14/2014; Finished 2/16/2015; Cross stitch kit from Pine Mountain Designs On Saturday, I finished spinning the singles for Goat Rock [ Ravelry ] and let it rest until Monday, when I chain-plied it. Here it the finished handspun: and the close up: Specs: Started 2/7/2015; Finished 2/16/2015; Polworth-silver top (4.0 oz) from Royale Hare; 204.7 yds., 12 WPI I worked on the Tuscon Twilight needlepoint and discovered an error in a previously stitched area. The good news is that it was a pretty small area and involved no metallic threads. The bad news, of course, is that I have to re-do the area. Oh, well! I...

...and the weekend before Stitches West! The trees and plants are started to bloom in our garden.  We are starting to see daffodils: and nasturtiums: Our flowering plum tree always puts on a great show of blossoms: Up this weekend: It's a three-day weekend! Hooray! I need to do some housekeeping as it's been neglected lately. The cats will be a little perturbed when I pull out the vacuum monster, but it must be done. I'm going to gather my supplies for my Stitches West class. I think I have everything on hand. If not, there will be time to buy the remaining items over the weekend. I'm making decent progress on the Be My Baby project, but I'm getting a little bored with linen stitch. I think I'll start one of my Loopy Academy assignments just to have an alternate knitting project to take to Stitches. The other WIPs are not as portable, so it would be god to work on them this weekend. We have no plans for Valentine's day...maybe just...

...and some random stuff. Here is the first look at my I'm Just Mad About Citron quilt: Specs: Started 7/15/2014; Finished 2/1/2015; No pattern; most fabrics are from Michael Miller's Citron/Gray fabric collections Machine quilted Not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea. I'm still struggling with taking pictures of things that contain a lot of white. I decided enough was enough and I signed up for a Craftsy class "Shoot it! A Product Photography Primer." It has a lot of positive reviews for photographing knitting pattern photos. I hope that there will be some useful tips that I can use to photograph quilts. Top of the waves: Spin-In was fun! I started spinning Goat Rock [ Ravelry ], a Polworth-Silk that I purchased from Royal Hare at last year's Stitches West. I'm not happy with the way the polworth is drafting--it's very sticky. But, I made decent progress and have a little more than 2 ounces let to spin. Be My Baby...