Livin' La Needle Loca

...and it's Easter weekend.  While I'm not a big fan of Easter, I love this time of the year because we have tulips in the garden! Here's what I can see outside of my studio window. A pink tulip: and a few days later it looked like this: an orange tulip: and containers full of tulips and flowers: Up this weekend: I'd like to finish the cats' quilt. I'm about 50% done with the machine quilting, so I think that it's doable. I will probably finish the last few rounds of the Celestarium shawl--I'm on round 150 of 157. I have a couple of more edgings to audition and I hope one of them will be the one . I'd also like to get back to my spinning wheel! I have a wool sample to ply and I'm itching to get back to the Camel-Silk I started at the March Spin-In. We have nothing special planned for Easter. There are just too many bad memories for me with this holiday. If the Daughter was in town, I might consider making a special din...

...yeah, I'm still here. I did manage to get the cats' quilt top finished. I sandwiched and pin basted the quilt on Saturday and started the machine quilting on Sunday. I have to keep reminding myself that the quilt is for the cats and it does not need the same level of quilting detail that I'd do for my other quilts...r-i-i-i-i-ight. I think the Celestarium shawl is finally getting to me. I am on round 144 of 157 (before edging)--the home stretch of the main shawl. I still haven't found an edging that I really love. And I'm ready to work on something else. There is no point in posting a picture at this point since it looks the same as last time. I'm waiting for a couple of books that have edging patterns to see if I like any of those any better than the ones I've tried. I hope to pick one soon! One the home front, the Husband fixed my bathroom sink so it is no longer leaking. Yay! I have almost moved everything back into the vanity. There are a ...

...looking forward to a nice weekend! (Who am I trying to kid? I'm looking forward to the weekend, nice or not!) The garden continues to bloom as the weather gets nicer.  the superbells are doing well: and the freesias are popping up everywhere. Front yard: Backyard: The nectarine tress have been going full force: while the cherry tree was a little late to the party: Love in the Mist is an odd little flower that is in one of the planters on the shelf outside the kitchen window: Up this weekend: We've had a little set back with the new faucet installed in my bathroom. It decided to leak from the highest connection point. The Husband will try to fix it tomorrow. If he can't get it to stop, it's time to call in a plumber. I ordered some polka dot fabric for the cat quilt from eQuilter.com . I received it yesterday and I think I can finish the quilt (or get very close to finished) this weekend. I've auditioned 4 different edgings for ...

...Happy Spring! As I mentioned yesterday, I'm auditioning edging for my Celestarium shawl. I added another pattern repeat to the sample last night, and I'm not in love with it. I think in a lighter weight yarn it would be fabulous, but I don't like the way the sock yarn looks in it. It's partially the yarn that I'm using for the sample. I really don't like the color combo. I think I'll do another repeat and then block it to see how it turns out. In the meantime, I'm on the lookout for another border, just in case. I finished round 133 of 157, so only 24 more round to go before the edging! Woo hoo!  It's getting a little heavy to deal with at this point, but not too bad.  Here is what it looks like now: I have included a tape measure so you can see its approximate size. The pattern says it's 46-inches in diameter when complete. My shawl might not be that large, but I have no idea how it will block out. I'll just have to wait and see!...

...not as busy as last week, thank goodness! Spin-In on Saturday was productive. We were spinning the Jacob bump in our Spin-In sampler. I took some Corriedale fiber to share and someone else brought some BFL and South African wool to share. So now we have more samples to spin!  When I finished the singles for the Jacob fiber, I started a Camel-Silk top from Greenwood Fiberworks. It is a lovely, soft top and spins easily. Sunday was taken up my errands, laundry, and cleaning. I did manage to research more lace edgings and found the bird's eye edging in a free shawl pattern. I printed it out and set it aside for after dinner. I managed to knit two rows on the shawl before I had to stop. After dinner, I found some spare yarn in roughly the same weight as the shawl yarn. I started knitting the first border repeat and it became apparent that I was not able to follow the written instructions for the edging. Part of the problem is that one of the instructions wasn't completely ...

...and I'm ready for the weekend! I mentioned that the Husband bought flowers last weekend for the courtyard are I can see from my studio window. Here are some red snapdragons: an English Daisy: and Bacopa: He also shared this picture of the cats enjoying themselves in the backyard: Tica has camped in the pot that contains catnip. Either Sombra is 'nipped out or is waiting for Tica to move. :) Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow! I'm not sure what munchie to take as I'm feeling uninspired at the moment. Cupcakes are easy, but maybe I'll take some cheese and crackers. We'll see how I feel in the morning. One thing I plan to do is to audition some borders for the shawl. But first, I need to learn how to do a knitted-on border!I'm sticking to free charts for now, but I have my eye on a couple of pi shawl patterns that I might have to buy is I can't fins a free one that I like. A little clean up...a few errands...a walk on Sunday....

...counting it out! Active WIPs in the rotation: Lacy in the Sky with Diamonds (Celestarium) shawl [ Ravelry ]: 60% done Pilgrim handspun [ Ravelry ]: Moved from spindle to the wheel over the weekend; 50% done Spin-In Fiber sampler: continuing. This is a group spin, so it will take a few months. Caterwauling quilt: new to the list. This will replace the cats' bed quilt that is getting ragged. Here's a peek at the top so far: Waiting to be rotated in:  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) Royale top, 2 oz (Merino-Yak-Silk) top from A Verb for Keeping Warm (spinning) [ Ravelry ]  Sea Foam Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Candidate for IDJ (It's Dead, Jim) Violet Needle Roll (cross stitch) Hibernating Going Snow Global quilt (quilting) Peacock Pomato...