Livin' La Needle Loca

...another WIP bites the dust! Here is Tiffany: the close-up: and some singles: Specs: Started 3/17/12; Finished 10/24/12; Tiffany Wild Card Bling Batts (5.5oz) from the Yarn Wench; 147.0 yds chain-ply, 11 WPI; 26 yds single ply, 16 WPI These batts contain merino wool,  hand-dyed Firestar nylon,  Romney lamb locks, and Cotswold locks. There were are matching Cotswold locks placed on the surface. I started spinning this fiber as singles using all of the components and discovered that I really didn't like spinning the locks and how they looked. I stopped spinning at 26 yards and wound off the singles. I started spinning the rest of the batts without the loose locks and much of the Romney locks. I liked the resulting singles much better! I have cycled the Pomatomus Socks out of the rotation because I keep falling asleep in the middle of a row. Bored much? Ha! Up this weekend: Some necessary housework...vacuuming is at the top of the list, followed by du...

...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 have rugs!  Home Depot turned out to be a winner. I found a rug I liked, they had all 3 sizes that I wanted in stock, and together they cost the same as the one 5'x8' I found online. Score! The only thing left for me to do is hang some pictures. Here are a few photos. There are more in my Flickr group . My studio chair and the new rugs: My work table: The sewing area: It's almost ready for company! .

...this week seemed to have dragged! Maybe it's because I'm counting down the days until I can get a new prescription for my glasses. Or because every time I turn around there's something new I discover that I need to update.  At any rate, TGIF! Today's eye candy comes from Pacific International Quilt Festival. I concentrated on detail pictures rather than whole quilt pictures. One reason was that it was hard to get whole quilt pictures with so many people milling about. Another reason is that I need a bit more practice! First up, a quilt made by a friend and former co-worker, Radial Sonnet by Randa Mulford: a medallion close up: and detail of one of the corner circles. I loved this mermaid quilt, Mermaid Magic by Donna Blum: and face detail: I was intrigued by this quilt, The Dead Sea by Gisha Wogier from Israel: and a water detail: There were many more that I won't include here. Go to my Flickr Set, PIQF to see more from thi...

...as promised, here is a picture of the Jungle Songs quilt in progress: I love the fabric, but I'm not wild about the quilt pattern. Some of the sashing is too narrow. The border fabrics have wavy lines making the sashing look crooked when it's not. The corner squares have no sashes at all and really need it. Because this was a kit, I was limited to the amount of fabric it contained. Had I started the quilt when the fabric was still available as yardage, I probably could have modified it, but, of course, this kit had marinated in my stash for a while. LOL! At any rate, I just want to finish it and move on to the next WIP. I'm also working on the Peacock Pomatomus socks . Now that I have them on separate sets of needles, things are going well. I did find an error on one cuff that I'm trying to decide whether to fix. Since the socks are for me, I'll probably leave it, but it offends my need to be perfect. HA! Progress...it's a good thing! .

...I'm on a roll! On Saturday, I finished all of the cushions for the storage benches in my studio.  These benches flank my quilt wall. Left bench: Right bench: I started with four 24x24x2-inch foam from Jo-Ann. My bench seats are 48x15, so I cut the foam down to 24x14x2. Then I glued them together to make two 48x14x2 cushions. I covered each cushion with two layers of batting and then made the cushion covers to fit. They have a Velcro closure so I can easily remove the covered to be cleaned. I had these four leftover pieces of foam and I had leftover fabric, so I turned them into cushion backs for the benches. Because I was running out of fabric, I did not cover them in batting before making the covers, nor did I use Velcro closures. I just whip stitched them together. I had to piece the covers for two of the benches with another color of the fabric. You can't see it in the pictures, but two of the cushions have a lighter panel on the back. After finishing t...

...I have another Finished Object and not much eye candy. The garden has very few flowers this time of the year. Many of the plants and trees are getting ready for winter, so things are looking a little scruffy out there. We do have these succulents thriving in one corner: I finally finished plying the Schoppel-Wolle singles. This is Plum Sauce: and the close up: Specs: Started ?? Finished 10/11/12 Plum Sauce top and pencil roving from Schoppel-Wolle (150g) 308.9 yds, 2-ply, 13WPI The singles continued to break through the rest of the plying. I was quite relieved to be done with this yarn last night! When I get home today, it is going to the bottom of my storage bench for a time out! I received two sock club installments this week. From the Cookie A Sock Club, I received a specially spun sock yarn by Green Mountain Spinnery. It's totally not my colors, so I'm not sure what I'll do with it: I also received the Rockin' Sock Club installment ...