Livin' La Needle Loca

...and it's raining too much to even try to get a picture of something other than wet plants. So I decided to just go with it: Taken in the courtyard at work. This is one of the many low places that collect rain water during storms. I'm about two-thirds done with the thread burying task for Jungle Songs. Man, are there are lot of ends! I definitely will not finish this quilt in November, given that tomorrow's December. But at least I got close! Last night I did the first grocery run for my December baking-Trader Joe's.  I buy most of the nuts, dried fruit,  and butter at TJ.  The checkout guy commented about the amount of butter in my cart...you should have seen his face when I told him that the 8 pounds I bought was just a start! I typically use 12-15 pounds of butter for baking. Up this weekend: I need to make a Smart and Final run to get flour, sugar, chocolate chips, eggs, and the takeout containers I use for packing cookies. Next is a Safeway or Nob Hil...

...the rain must have thrown me off. LOL! I'm still burying threads in the back of the Jungle Songs quilt. I'm making progress, but I'm starting to get bored. There is a reason I tend to do geometric machine quilting: there are far fewer threads to bury and they are rarely in the middle of the quilt!  And I'd be done by now. Besides Jungle Songs, I am playing with the layout of the Christmas Yellow Brick Road quilt I discovered in my stash. Because several of the fabrics contain snow globes,  I have named it "Going Snow Global." The fabrics are all from Moda's Nick & Rudy fabric line that was released in 2006 (or before), making this WIP a lot older than I thought it was. Time flies... As with all Yellow Brick Road quilts, I need to adjust the layout to make sure the same fabric isn't touching and to avoid too many reds and greens touching. It's obvious from the picture that I need to do a lot more rearranging. I'll adjust it a fe...

...I finished two things! The first is the knitted cowl I've been working on: Midnight Botanical Cowl [ Ravelry ] Started 11/3/12 Finished 11/23/12 Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Midnight Derby Pattern: Botanical Cowl by Megan Goodacre It was a good on-the-go project. I really enjoyed this project! The second is the Heather merino-silk handspun I started in 2007: and the close up: Specs: Started 10/15/2007 Finished 11/24/2012 Chasing Rainbows top in Heather: 2 oz. Merino-Bombyx and 2 oz. Merino Skein #1: 320.1 yards, 2-ply, 15 WPI Skein #2: 46 yds singles, about 13 WPI I finished machine quilting the Jungle Songs quilt and am in the process of burying all the loos threads. I need to finish that process before I can sew on the binding and declare this quilt done. And not a moment too soon...so ready for this one to be off my list! While I was putting stuff away, I found a Christmas-themed Yellow Brick Road quilt I started a couple of years ago. Al...

...we had a great meal and great time with family yesterday. I hope you all did, too. Here's a peek at our holiday tables: and the star of the show:   The daughter brought some beautiful tulips a that we placed on the buffet:   We just got back from our annual trip to the Crest Family Christmas tree ranch in the Santa Cruz mountains. It was a gorgeous and incredibly warm day. Usually, it's on the cool side, frequently very cold, and sometimes rainy. So this was a treat!  Good food, good friends...it was a great day, Up this weekend: I want to make progress on the quilt and I have a yarn to finish plying. I also have a knitting project to work on.  Other than a couple of errands and laundry, I plan to craft as much as possible for the next two days. Heaven! .

...my last day at work until Monday. This morning's sunrise was pretty: Over the weekend, I managed to accomplish a few of the tasks on my list: dusting, cleaning out the cupboards, doing the first grocery run for the holiday meal, and make the cranberry sauce. I also wanted to vacuum, but that didn't happen. That will be added to tomorrow's task list. The cranberry sauce is chilling in the refrigerator. This year I added fresh pomegranate juice, raspberries, and brandy to the mixture. It was pretty tasty before aging, so I think it will be really yummy on Thursday. I plan on adding fresh pomegranate seeds to the mixture before serving so it will have a little crunch to it. After Craft Night tonight, I'm going to do the last grocery run so I have everything I need for prep on Wednesday--it will be a full day. I need to: Cook the giblets for broth Make the stuffing (dressing) Assemble the yam casserole Make the desserts Make sure the turkey is defrost...

...the madness called The Holidays. First, the eye candy. I was playing with my camera's fish-eye feature the other day and took this: The Husband has planted new flowers. Mona Lavender Plectranthus: Coralberry Punch Superbells: Lemon Slice Superbells We have a Junco nesting in one of our hanging baskets. She's laid four eggs: She is a protective little thing. If you go in the backyard when she's around, she yells at you to stay away from her nest. A true mighty mite! Up this weekend: finish cleaning the house in preparation for the madness. We got part-way there when we freshened things up for the appraiser (re-fi in progress). Now we just need to finish the job. I need to do the first wave of T-Day shopping, including buying the turkey so it can defrost by Tuesday, when I get it into the dry brine. I'm still debating whether to make a trip to Williams-Sonoma and get their dry brine mix (which I love) or try to make my own. I suppose it...

...sound off! (Because I have no new pictures today.) WIPs, in current rotation: Chasing Rainbows Heather: 2oz  Merino-Bombyx plus 2oz Merino wool (spinning)[ Ravelry ] Botanical Midnight Cowl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Jungle Songs quilt (quilting) Recipe for Summer by Pine Mountain Designs (cross stitch) WIPs, candidates for rotation: Anasazi by Susan Portra (needlepoint) Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Happy Pumpkin Scissor Fob by Shepherd's Bush (cross stitch) Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Mediterranean Mermaid by Mirabilia (cross stitch) Natural Dyes batts from Yarn Wench (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Oriental Dragonfly, Dimensions kit (embroidery)  Pilgrim top, 2 oz (Merino-Tussah Silk) top from A Verb for Keeping Warm (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Royale top, 2 oz (Merino-Yak-Silk) top from A Verb for Keeping Warm (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Sea Foam Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Hibernating, candidates for IDJ (It's dead, Jim): Pe...