Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...yesterday didn't quite go as planned. I knew I'd have to spend time dealing with the delivery of our new refrigerator. The delivery window was set for 1:30-5:30. I planned to empty the fridge at 1:15 in an orderly fashion. They never come at the front end of the delivery window, right? Wrong. They called when they were 30 minutes away at 12:30! Yikes! I hurriedly emptied the fridge and unlocked the gate. At the last minute, I remembered that I needed to remove all the pots from the hanging rack. Oops! Fortunately, I was ready for them when they arrived. When they removed the old fridge, I found Cassia's cache of toys. OMG! There were so many! Of course, nothing happens without problems. Apparently our GFCI outlets in the kitchen are not compatible with the refrigerator. Arg! I scrambled to fins a long enough extension cord to plug the new fridge into a non-GFCI outlet to begin the cooling process.  Then I finally sat down for the...

 ...and Inauguration Day.  I've made good progress on Tucson Twiligh: I'm also making good progress on the  Renaissance Mermaid: I've been watching the inauguration coverage since I woke up this morning. While I watched, I worked on the shawl collar for the Pure Comfort Cardigan [ Ravelry ]. I'll probably keep the CNN coverage playing as I move on through my day. I have hope again. 🕊 WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Pure Comfort Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Knit more of the shawl collar - 8.5 inches completed Summer Solstice Phat Fiber Sampler Worked on another sample Renaissance Mermaid (cross stitch) Working on the hair and arms. Tucson Twilight (needlepoint) Finished the large motifs and getting ready Works In Progress: By the Sea needle roll (cross stitch) Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting)  Illusion hexagons [ Ravelry ]  Malachite (needlepoint) Marionberr...

...I've been out of commission for a week with a bad cold. It was so bad, that I couldn't do anything for 3 days except rest on the couch and watch junk TV. It's still not completely gone, but at least I can now move around and take a shower without completely draining me of energy. Needless to say, all forward progress on my projects came to a complete halt, as well as blogging and reading. At least I didn't have to worry about work. I did manage to finish the Avocado Cozy 3 [ Ravelry ] once I was feeling better. However, I didn't actually step foot into my studio to work on projects until yesterday. I'm taking it easy, trying to get back into some sense of normal. I hope that happens soon! .

...everything went well and I can see well enough to not wear my glasses for computer work! I have to restrict my activities for another two days (no lifting anything more than 10-15 lbs, no bending over further than my waist) , but then I can get back to normal. I haven't attempted to do any stitching, but I am able to spin without any problems. I can also knit as lit's not too intricate. One I get my new glasses in 3.5 weeks, it will be much better! Until then, I'll be limiting the amount I drive at night, just to be on the safe side. I can see fine during the day, but night-time driving might be a challenge. I spun most of the weekend. I finished the project I started as Spin-In. This is Twilight [ Ravelry ]: and a close up: Specs: Started 3/8/14; Finished 3/14/14; Glitter roving (4oz) from Greenwood Fiberworks; 178.7 yds chain-py; 10 WPI It nice and springy even before being washed. After I finished Twilight, I started the next one. I'm spinnin...

...I probably won't be posting again until Friday, if then. A lot depends on how I'm feeling by then. I worked on the mermaid over the weekend. I scared myself, thinking I'd lost some of the Mill Hill Treasures for her. After a lot of searching, I finally found the bead packet. Whew! I really didn't want to order another packet because it would take too long to get here. At Spin-In, I started spinning a Sparkle Roving from Greenwood Fiberworks [ Ravelry ]. I bought it at Stitches West 2014. I spun about 2 ounces I've been working on a stealth project. Enough said... I finished spinning something I started at January's Spin-In. This is Denim: and a close-up: Specs: Started 1/11/14; Finished 3/9/14; Alpaca-Merino top (5.5 oz) from Ranch of the Oaks; 275.4 yds. chain-ply; 11 WPI Nothing else has received any play. I hope to get back to a rotation schedule within the next couple of weeks. I'm going to try not to freak out as much with t...

...it's been a week.  I still have a cough, but I feel fine. Gotta love those summer colds. :( No pictures today as I had nothing new to photograph (read: nothing I haven't already taken 50 million pictures of). Up this weekend: One of my maternal aunts is giving a family reunion and we are going tomorrow (at least for a while). I might have mentioned these are 4-day affairs...I'm lucky I work. Otherwise I'd have to be there a lot more than Saturday! I really need more sleep more than anything, but my mom expects me to be there. It's 60 miles from here and in a part of the valley that's usually a lot hotter than home. The camera is going with me and I hope to get some family pictures. Hmmm, I wonder if I can work on the Southern Skies shawl in the car. Sunday will be my day to catch up with things at home and rest. Yeah, that will work. .

...were waylaid by a summer cold.  I started feeling bad on Saturday and by Sunday afternoon,  the cold had hit full-force.  It's in my chest and throat...and I feel like some one has kicked me in the ribs. I'm still getting some cycles of fever, so I'm not working full days. Maybe tomorrow. .

...hooray for the weekend! The tulips from last week opened up with the warmer weather we had for a few days.  Here's an orange tulip: a white tulip: and a yellow tulip: One thing about taking macro photographs is that you can't always predict what will show up in the picture. The world is full of tiny bugs that you can easily miss. Like in this tulip: There are a bunch of little guys feasting on the flower, including the one in the upper left that has pollen all over his legs. Up this weekend: Taxes need to be finished, so I have some work ahead of me. I always say that I'm going to log the Goodwill donations immediately into ItsDeductible.com, but I never do. I need to get those figures and have the Husband do his piece. Thankfully, for tax purposes anyway, my business did not make a lot of money last year--that should be a simple thing to finish. When I'm not working on that, I'll be knitting the edging on my shawl! I finished the set up...

...as I've spent most of the day getting my glasses instead of working. First I went to Kaiser for my post-cataract-surgery optometrist visit. I'm happy to report that my eye has recovered nicely from surgery and I've been cleared for contact lenses. However, the optometrist thinks that I might want to do surgery on my left eye within a few months as it's not good. Since Kaiser could not make my glasses today, it was off to Lenscrafters. I hadn't planned on going back to them, but they are one of the few places around here that can make glasses quickly.  Quick is relative, however. It takes so long to get through their process and their computer system is very slow. And I had to convince them that I didn't want their super-duper lenses that work great, but can't be done in less than 5 days.   I haven't been able to see well for too long...I wanted the new glasses today! My new glasses are awesome! I can read street signs again and I don't feel...

...I'm here. I have a hugely dilated pupil in my right eye, but I'm fine. The procedure went well. The Husband, bless him, was with me through all the prep until they took me away for the procedure. Love that man! Things went quickly, so there wasn't too much time to dwell on what what going to happen. The worst thing was not knowing whether I'd see an instrument coming towards me or what during the procedure. All I saw was bright lights, which made me relax a bit. I didn't feel anything except at one point and they quickly added another numbing drop. I have a metal eye shield that I have to wear at night. I feel a little Borg with it. LOL! Also have lots of eye drops to use for the next several weeks. I hope that my old glasses will allow me to drive until I can get a new pair. I won't know for sure until the dilation goes down, Right now, they are OK for watching TV, but don't work for the computer or iPad. That might be an issue for work since I c...

...I'm still coming down form the chocolate high of my birthday desserts! The Husband bought 4 mini-desserts as my birthday "cake" and it took us 2 days to eat them! They were super rich and super good! So I got a few things for my birthday. :) Here's the plant that the Daughter gave me: and the flowers my mother sent: The Husband went to the Kings Mountain Craft Fair on Saturday and he bought this fiber for me. It's from Schafenfreude Fibers. It's 4 ounces of  Polworth in the Preppy colorway: That was icing on the cake as he'd already given me this for my birthday: My new iPad! I spent part of Saturday setting it up. The retina display is amazing and I love watching movies on it! I was already a big fan of the iPad, but this is off the charts. Yes, I am spoiled! (...and your point is? Lol!) .

...it feels like it just started and now it's almost over?? Normally I'm all over September, it being my birthday month and all. I like to celebrate as long as I can. :) However, this September is a little different.  Over the past few months my vision has been getting worse, making it difficult to do some crafty things, like knitting, and making it almost impossible to do others, like stitching and needlepoint. Even worse, it's becoming difficult to read text on the computer screen, which I need to do for work. Now, it's not unexpected...I knew I had cataracts in both eyes and at some point I'd need to do something about them. Well, I've reached that point for my right eye. So in September, I'm going to have my eyes measured (or whatever they call it), go to my pre-op class, have cataract surgery on my right eye, and go to my post-op visit. Then I'll have to get new contacts or glasses for the vision change. So September will be filled with trips to...

...yup, spent most of the weekend doing tax-related things. No matter how hard we try, we always seems to manage to misplace one or more pieces of vital information. In 1020, I has set aside one entire drawer for nothing but tax information. Most everything was in there, but I was missing one of the DMV pieces and the property tax paperwork. I knew I could look up the DMV thing online and get the information that way and I had the check copies for the property tax. But it was drving me nuts not knowing what happened to the "real" paperwork. Ask me about Virgos who can't find things where they belong... After several hours of obsessively sorting through all of last years papers (and generating a huge bag of paper recycling and another of shredded paper), I found the missing information. I need to check with the Husband about one thing and then I can file our taxes online. That was Saturday. On Sunday, I did a few chores and went to the grocery story. After a late lu...

...Miss Kayla passed over last night. Poor little kitty's kidneys were failing...that happens when you are an almost 16 year old cat. She was the Husband's cat and spend part of everyday in his lap. Naturally, he took it particularly hard. He couldn't stay with Kayla as she crossed over so I did. I wanted her to have someone telling her she was loved and that she was a good girl. sigh... .

... don't bother coming back another day. No WIP-it Wednesday today 'cuz I'm home with an icky cold.  I don't have the energy to take pictures and get them posted. The recap will have to wait, too/ Want this to go away now...

...yeah, didn't think that would fly. For some reason, I never did get a chance to blog, even though I had 4 days off!! Wednesday afternoon and evening were busy as I prepped as much as I could for T-Day dinner, got the turkey in the brine, and did a little cleaning. Thursday was a blur, with the meal preparation and the final house cleaning. The meal was good and the company was fun. The Daughter was a great help with the clean-up. Friday is normally our day to go to the Christmas tree farm with friends, but they had to reschedule this year. Instead, I did a little weaving and a little spinning. The Daughter and I went to the movies in the afternoon and saw Burlesque. Loved it!! But then, I do love Christina Aguilera, Cher, and musicals... Saturday was another laid-back day. More weaving and spinning, and not much else. Here's what the wrap looks like so far: Sunday was the postponed Christmas tree farm trip. Our hosts asked me to bring a side dish to go with lasagna...

...because this day has completely escaped me! Never schedule your car's routine maintenance for Monday morning at 8:30am. Between the parents dropping their kids off at school and people who have forgotten how to drive over the weekend, it will take you longer to get to the car dealership than it will take them to do your oil change. Ask me how I know... Take pictures when you think of it over the weekend, because you might have done #1 above and ran out of time to take them before you left home. (Sorry, no pictures!) Thanksgiving is next week, people! Visited the brand new mega-Safeway over the weekend, along with 50 thousand other people (there's another "never" for you). This puppy is huge! They have a much larger produce section and a large prepared food/cheese section than any other Safeway I've been to. But, their selections in the meat area are still limited to the same stuff and the beef is expensive. Finished spinning my Swamp Merino-Bamboo yarn...

...spent 5 days on the East coast and arrived home late last night. Will blog when I have two brain cells to rub together...

...it was busy, and not in a crafty way. It was Extra Dump Weekend for the city, which meant we could get rid a bunch of stuff that didn't (or couldn't) go into our regular trash pick up. We managed to accumulated several old mops, some plastic litter containers,  and a bunch of things that weren't good enough to donate anywhere and couldn't be recycled. In the course of trying to clean up the loft for my brother, I went through the books that live up there. I culled out 4 banker's boxes of books. AND I logged them into GoodReads as I went. Yay! The Husband pointed out that we could just put my brother in The Daughter's room, so I didn't get much further with the loft clean up. But it really felt good to go through the books. I still have far too many, but at least it's a start. I set up the Daughter's room—made the bed, dusted, and cleaned the floor. I cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, and mopped and vacuumed the floors. I'm pretty happy...

...because you really don't need to see my incomplete socks, incomplete needlepoint, and incomplete scissor fob again. Trust me, they don't look significantly different from the last time I showed them to you. I have actually worked on the needlepoint project this week. After I received the turquoise silk I ordered weeks ago, I immediately completed the turquoise borders. Big sigh of relief that I finally could finish them! The last few days have been so hot that knitting has just not been appealing. (Vegging out on the couch, watching TV, and drinking Diet Pepsi has been much more appealing...) Usually when it's this hot, there are no clouds in the sky. Seeing these was a pleasant surprise yesterday evening: I really need to get back into my knitting. The next Blue Moon Fiber Arts sock club installment will be arriving soon, and I know it will be tempting to cast on. I don't want to have more than two pairs of socks on the needles, so I better finish something...