Livin' La Needle Loca

...and a finished object. I finally finished Tucson Twilight (needlepoint): Specs: Started 6/8/14 Finished 3/11/2021 Charted needlepoint design by Laura J Perin Modifications: Replaced the original Caron Watercolors and Wildflowers color (Bark) with Scheherazade with some strands of Amethyst; did not place all of the stitches in a couple of sections. This project sat in hiatus for a few years because I hated the colors called for in the design . The whole reason I bought this chart was because I liked the copper and purple combination displayed in its photo. As I stitched the project, it was too brown for my taste.  The Watercolors and Waterlilies color Bark had too much brown. Because these fibers were used extensively in the project. By replacing Bark with Scheherazade, I was able to have more  copper and purple. However, they were in short runs. Adding strands of Amethyst allowed me to add more purple to the piece.  I modified th...

...and I have a case of raging start-itis that I'm trying to curb. The Renaissance Mermaid is coming along: For some reason, I'm having trouble staying oriented in the pattern. I'm marking my working copy to indicate what I've stitches and using a post-it to highlight the current row. It's not like I haven't stitched a pattern from this designer before. Working on it... One of the projects that I "started" is Wee Seashore, a small cross stitch picture from Heart in Hand. The word start is in quotes, because I actually had stitched a couple of rows a few years ago and then put it away. I have no idea when I really started this, so I'm just going to go with a 2020 start date. Here's the current state of the Tucson Twilight needlepoint: These colors are working much better. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Working on row 10. ...

...and the weekend report. I took photos of the Baroque Hat [ Ravelry ]: Specs: Started 9/30/18 Finished 1/31/19 Pattern: Loosely based on  Slouchy Beehive Hat by Flora Cheung Yarn: Loops and Threads Soft and Shiny Ombres in Baroque I finally finished St. Charles! Specs:  Started 7/31/16 Finished 2/3/19 St. Charles design by Susan Portra I need to frame it, but that means a trip to the store to see if I can find a frame that matches the other completed needlepoint pieces. On Friday afternoon, I pieced the backing fabric for my mother-in-law's quilt. It took longer than expected because I had to match some horizontal lines. On Saturday, The Husband helped me move furniture in the living room to make space for the quilt sandwich. I vacuumed the area rug twice before laying out the backing fabric. I then placed the batting down and smoothed it out. Then came the top. It took quite a bit to get it smooth on the top and I did a gentle press to remove some...

...and a finished object! This is Afternoon of the Faun [ Ravelry ]: and a close up: Specs: Started 8/27/16; Finished 9/17/2016; Vervain Merino-Bamboo-Silk top from Mosaic Moon in "Pan"; 268 yds. chain-ply, 15 WPI I'm making slow progress on the Mother of Dragons shawl [ Ravelry ]: And I finally got an OK photo of the St. Charles needlepoint project. I have no idea why I can't seem to get a really good image of this project! *WIPs roll call* Worked on: Mother of Dragons shawl (knitting)  [ Ravelry ] Knit a few more rows No-Noro Hat (9/18) Working on the ribbing St. Charles (needlepoint) Working on the second part of the tramé stitches IDJ (It's Dead, Jim) Spiral Striped Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Works In Progress, did not work on: 4-shaft sampler (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Bear Paw pottery (needlepoint) Finishing work Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Be My Baby for M...

...and the weekend report. It's always a treat having a 3-day weekend. But when it's your birthday weekend, it's so much better! Mom sent birthday flowers that arrived on Friday. This was a great time to receive them because they had all opened up by Sunday. Saturday was a normal day, filled with some clean-up and laundry. I worked on the Afternoon of the Faun handspun [ Ravelry ], worked on St. Charles (needlepoint), and did a couple of rows on the Spiral Striped Hat [ Ravelry ]. Sunday was a perfect day. The husband made me Eggs Benedict (my favorite!) for breakfast. Since we planned on going out to dinner, he let me do whatever I wanted in between breakfast and dinner. I finished reading a book and worked on the spinning project. We drove to Oakland to meet The Daughter and went to dinner at Picán. We enjoyed several appetizers and I had their incredible fried chicken for my entrée. Of course, by the time we got to the entrée I was pretty full. The leftovers mad...

...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...

...this week has been a blur, mostly because I'm still trying to catch up on sleep that I missed on Saturday. Saturday, we drove to Sacramento to attend our niece's wedding celebration. We took the Husband's parents with us. We spent Saturday night in a hotel as they were not up to diving back home (2+ hours) in the same day and, frankly, I was happier that we didn't have to. (Photo of the clouds on the way to Sacramento.) The wedding celebration was great. It was good to see family member that we haven't seen in a while. Both sets of the bride's grandparents were able to attend, which made it very special. And the Daughter was able to be there, too! The lack of sleep came from the Husband's snoring and the various hotel lights and sounds. It was not a restful night for me. When we got home, I managed to get the laundry done and not much else. I was tired, but I can't nap during the day, so... I was so tried I couldn't sleep well on Su...

...and a couple of finished objects. On Saturday, the Husband and I headed out early for the Monterey Aquarium. My goal was to get there at opening so we could see the Baja exhibit before it got too crowded. This was our first time going as members. Two big perks of being members are getting admitted earlier than non-members and having a separate entrance. We got in at 9:15 and were able to see the Baja exhibit right when it opened at 9:30. Yay! It was still busy because it's a new exhibit, but not as bad as it would have been if we hadn't gotten in early. We then went to the Tentacles exhibit, which wasn't open yet the last time we were there. We have an early lunch at the aquarium's cafe and then did the rest of the aquarium. By that time, my ankle was getting sore and it was very crowded. We drove to Carmel to go to the beach. We both got our hit of ocean breezes and waves. It was much needed! It was a wonderful day. I took hundreds of photos, so it will t...

...last one for July! With the drought, it's harder and harder to find things to photograph in the backyard. Even with the drip irrigation system, some of our flowers are just drying up. Our cilantro plant bolted and now we have some nice coriander seeds growing: Our Asian Pear is doing OK: The Lion's Tail is blooming, just now as much as previous years: And our crazy berry plants are setting blossoms again. They haven;t realized it's almost August: In the F.O. (Finished Object) category, here is Santa Fe #5: Specs: Started 5/25/15 Finished 7/25/15 Painted canvas by Tish Holland DMC floss; DMC Medici wool; Kreinik metallics; Needle Necessities overdyed floss I also finished the stitching for the Happy Wishes scissor fob: Specs: Started 7/14/15 Stitching completed 7/30/15 Happy Wishes Fob kit from Shepherd's Bush It's now joined the other items that need finishing. There are 2 other fobs to finish, so now I can do all of them a...

 ...and the last F.O. for the Tour. Tour de Fleece, Last Day (7/26): Squeezed in one last art yarn. This is Clear Skies, from a batt by the Yarn Wench: and the close-up: Specs: Started and finished 7/26/15; Wild Card Bling Batt (4.3 oz) from the Yarn Wench; 55.8 yds, auto-plied with rayon thread; bulky Tour de Fleece, Finale: For the first time, I did not meet my goal of spinning every day. Life and house guests interrupted my normal TdF schedule. With my studio doubling as a guest room, my spinning wheel was in an inconvenient location. On Sunday, The Husband and the house guests went to San Francisco for the day so I was able to pull out the wheel and do one last bit of spinning. Total output: 6 art yarns, 2 chain-ply, 1 2-ply, 1 WIP Total fiber spun: 25.7 ounces Total yardage: 941.85 yds. Here's a collage of my TdF spinning: In the midst of rearranging our house, having house guests, etc., I managed to do a little stitching. I finished Santa Fe #5 ...

...and I have progress to show on my needlepoint project. As you can see, I'm almost done with the long stitches on the arch. Next I will stitch a row of continental stitches in a metallic on the inside of the arch. Then, I'll stitch the white background inside the arch. The white background will take the longest. I have several other painted canvases in my stash--some more Tish Holland, several Tuoti, and a few small  ETA (Ellen's Tribal Arts) canvases. When I'm done with this project, maybe I'll start one of them. I also did a little work on the Equatorial Nights [ Ravelry ] project. I'm having some trouble keeping track of where I am because the chart is on 3 pages and I'm working on 2 circulars. Even though I have markers to indicate the when to change chart pages, I still get lost. I'm going to cut chart page 2 in half and tape things together to match how I'm knitting it. I hope that this will help me avoid having to frog back to fix ...

...and I'm all alone at work, holding down the fort.  At least I can play my music out loud without bothering anyone! This flower caught my eye yesterday morning. This is a Gloriosa lily that was partially hidden by the blackberry vines: This Mandevilla vine started blooming this week: And the gladiolas are coming along: Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow. I already know that I'm making something with apricots because we have a ton of them!  Not sure whether it will be muffins or bread yet. It really depends on how much energy I have in the morning and if I have all of the ingredients (read: don't have to go to the store!). I need to get back to the commission projects and stop getting side-tracked by reorganizing by stash. I'm close to having the top layout done. I need to take a few pictures of it and look at them to see whether anything should be shifted around. I'm still making good progress on the needlepoint project. I should get back to my...

...I'm making progress on the needlepoint project, but not much else. Here is Santa Fe #5 as of this morning: His blanket is coming along nicely. Fortunately I found enough purple DMC Medici wool in my stash to do this project. DMC discontinued Medici a while ago, so I'm happy for the small amounts I have in my stash. If I do another one of Tish's canvases, I'll have to find a Medici substitute and order what I need. WIP Roll Call Worked on: Beyond Antares, aka Equatorial Nights (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Working on row 18 of 62. Stealth Commission Project (quilting) Still working on the layout of the top. Santa Fe #5 (needlepoint) Finished the pottery, stitched the neck and leg (tan), and finished the first color in the blanket he's wearing. Works In Progress, did not work on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Scardy Sheep Scissor Fob (cross stit...

...and an F.O.! I finished Sochi [ Ravelry ] on Sunday: and a close up: Specs: Started 5/16/15 Finished 6/7/15 Camel-Silk top (4.0 oz.) from Greenwood Fiberworks 176.8 yds, 14 WPI It's a much more balanced yarn than I've been spinning lately, so I'm very pleased with it. I just love the Camel-Silk top from Greenwood Fiberworks! Randomness from the weekend: I got completely sidetracked and spent a good deal of Saturday going through my cross stitch and needlepoint stash. I really wanted to put away the "keeper" charts in something other than bankers boxes that won't fit in my room. I managed to cull out many more kits and kitted projects that need new homes. I now have 5 bankers boxes full of cross stitch and needlepoint stash to cycle out. Wow! There is no way I can take individual photos. That's a lot of charts to list out...at least 400 if not more. And I don't want to do the eBay thing. I think I need to sell them in lots! I ...

...and this month just keeps rolling along! For Mother's Day, The Husband got a bunch of flowering plants. For the courtyard outside my studio, he hung a basket filled with striped petunias: The rest of the plants are going in the backyard. This Gypsophila Gypsy is very nice: and I like the these delicate Godetia: I love the color and intensity of these Gilia Tricolor flowers: Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow! Since it's going to be a small groups, I'm baking some cookies rather that making any thing big. I'm trying to decide whether to take the Wild Turquoise handspun that is on the wheel or take something new. I'm leaning towards the something new as it might be difficult to transport the fiber and auto-wrapping thread without breaking either, or both. I need to do a few household chores before I can get back to my WIPs. I need to decide what to do about Tucson Twilight. My choices are Try to work through the brown and just finish it. Gi...

...I finished my last Loopy Academy project! Hooray!! I'm really glad to be done with it. Here is the Irisa Scarf [ Ravelry ]: and a close up: Specs: Started 2/19/15; Finished 5/11/15; Pattern: Irisa Cowl by knittedblissJC Yarn: Socks That Rock Heavyweight (Blue Moon Fiber Arts) in Dip-It-Us; Mods: Made it a short scarf instead of a cowl, added fringe I had second thoughts about turning it into a scarf, so I tried seaming it. Nope...the seam was too bulky and I hated it. So, I stuck with the scarf. At 36-inches long, it's a short scarf, but it might be good for a small person (read: kid). I did a little work on the Tuscon Twilight needlepoint piece. I'm really not into the colors on this project—it's just too brown . As a result, it's going very slowly. I might have to put this one in hibernation for a while. To compensate for the brownness, I started spinning the Turquoise rolags [ Ravelry ] that I bought from the Yarn Wench last month. I...

...with some actual photos for a change! Here is the current state of Tucson Twilight: See the bottom left of the piece with all those little square-like things? That's the part that is making me bored out of my mind. And this isn't all of them. I just couldn't face stitching that pattern again for the next section. The Parritch Bonnet is coming along: I have about 10 more rows in the current section before I can start the decreases to the crown. The Mermaid Bling singles are waiting for me to finishing spinning Lilac so I can switch to the jumbo flyer: And here are the Lilac singles that are currently on the wheel: I decided not to twist the fringe for the Dreams of Amethyst shawl. I'll secure the tops of the fringe using knots and then give it a press. This project is very close to done! WIP Roll Call Worked on: Dreams of Amethyst shawl (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Knot the fringe and press. Lilac handspun [ Ravelry ] Singles in progress Mer...

...so far, so good. Spin-In was held at a different location this month. We got to see Amy's new home, taste some wonderful food (yay for the gluten-free muffins and and the iced minty melon drink!). I baked some triple-chocolate brownies to share.   At Spin-In, I started spinning Lilac [ Ravelry ], a Merino-Bamboo-Silk top from Miss Babs that I bought at Stitches West 2011. I've spun about 2.5 ounces of the 4.0 oz. in the bump.   I finished hemstitching the Dreams of Amethyst Shawl [ Ravelry ]. I cut it off of the loom and gave it a bath on Saturday. After it was dry, I trimmed the fringe. I started to twist the fringe, but stopped as I'm not sure whether I like the look. I'm still thinking about it.   I spend a little time on Tucson Twilight (needlepoint). I'm a little bored with this project as it uses the same stitch pattern for a large portion of the piece...the only difference is the color of the fiber. That's not enough to hold my interest.   I knit...

...and the last day of March. I made the sun-dried tomato and pesto torta on Friday night so it would have time to set-up.  I hadn't made it in quite a while, so I couldn't remember which recipe to use. I combined 3 or 4 recipes to come up with this one: It was quite tasty!  I made the biscotti on Saturday. The baking was not a problem, but it was a very warm day and the chocolate never did completely dry. They were still good, though! The company party was so fun and the food was great! Our hosts made several appetizers that were quite yummy. My favorites were the deviled eggs with Fleur de Sel: I did manage to get the laundry done on Saturday, between the biscotti baking and chocolate steps. However, not much else got done. On Sunday, I had very little energy, but I did manage to get to the grocery store and Target. I made a batch of chile in the crockpot and baked some cornbread and called it dinner.  :) I wove a bit on the Dreams of Amethyst and worked a ...

...with some progress pictures. This is Tucson Twilight as of today: Sorry, it's not a great picture, but you can see all of the completed borders and separators. Now I can start the more interesting stitching. Here's the Lilac Rose of Sharon handspun: I bought this at Stitches West 2011 from the Miss Babs booth. I haven't decided yet whether to chain-ply it or make it a 2-ply. I spun this a bit thicker than my last handspun adn I think it will make a nice 2-ply I won't show a picture of the Alcea Cowl [ Ravelry ] because it looks basically the same as the last picture, just longer. WIP Roll Call WIPs in Rotation: Alcea Cowl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] I've knit about 25 inches--past the halfway-point! 24 more inches to go. (unless I decide to make it longer...) I'm Just Mad About Citron Quilt (quilting) Machine quilted the 4-patch squares; still trying to find a good motif for the 1-patch squares and the border. Lilac Rose of Sharon handspun...