Livin' La Needle Loca

...my second finished object of the year!  I finished the Husband's Jacques Cousteau hat [ Ravelry ] Wednesday night. Here's what it looks like: and from the top: Specs: Started 12/31/13; Finished 1/29/14; Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat by Lalla Pohjanpalo; Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Navy He's happy with it and wore it this morning. Yay! I plan on making a couple of hats for Halos of Hope, but I think I'll wait a couple of days before starting them. After knitting on the Cousteau hat for most of last weekend, I want to work on a different kind of knitting for a bit. Up this weekend: I need to catch up with some of the chores that we missed last weekend. I seriously need to vacuum before the cat hair takes over the world! I have a little clean up to do in the studio, too.  There are stray knitting needles and skeins of yarn that need to be put away. I need to vacuum in there, too, but it's mostly stray threads and fiber. After that, I plan on...

...I'm a little tired and a little behind on the blog, but we had a great weekend. As I mentioned, the Husband and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday.  The first thing we did was go outside to the Great Tide Pool area and take a deep breath. I love the sea air! There were several otters and porpoises in the distance. I used my camera to zoom in on a group of otters and got an OK picture of them. My primary reason for going to the aquarium was to finally see the jellyfish exhibit. This is a popular exhibit and it was sometimes difficult to get pictures because of all the other people. However, I did manage to get a few good shots.   Whenever we OD'd on people, we went back out to the Great Tide Pool area. This sea gull decided to hang out and people watch.   We like the shore bird area as well.   We had lunch at Cannery Row and went back for round two at the aquarium to see the sand dollars and anything else we missed.   ...

...and I can't wait for it to the weekend!  (I know...what's new!) Our plum tree has started to bloom. It hasn't figured out yet that it's only January. With all of our nice weather, the plants are very confused. I wish that it would rain because we really need it. It is so dry around here. Up this weekend:   Our 33/28 anniversary is tomorrow and we are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This will give me the ocean time that I sorely need. I want to see the jellyfish and check out the new-to-me exhibits. The Cousteau hat is the perfect car tip project. I've knit 5 of the 10 inches I need before starting the decreases. Really looking forward to tomorrow! .

...and there are several things in play. As promised, here's a look at the current state of Anasazi: Not my favorite color combination, but it's still infinitely better than Vegas (AKA: the Pink Nightmare). I have knit about 4 inches of the 10 inches that I need for the Cousteau hat. I have restarted the Rockefeller shawl and the Cat Bordhi method of hiding the wraps for W&T is working. Halleluja! Mediterranean Mermaid: the beading has begun! I found a few thread options at Jo-Ann's yesterday. I found a slightly thicker invisible thread, a light gray silk, a pale blue rayon, and a pale green rayon. The pale green matches the fabric very well and is easier to work with than the invisible thread. Here's what the tail looks like so far: It's going to be a long slog...this picture represents about 3.5 hours worth of beading. In stash news, I received a couple of club shipments this month. First is the December 2013 installment of the Rockin'...

....sciencejock! You win the skein of Socks That Rock Lightweight in Fleur de couleur. Send me email (marie_novicki at yahoo.com) and let me know whether you've changed your address since last year. I'll send it out as soon as I can. Congrats!! The quick weekend report: I finished the back-stitching on the mermaid and started the beading; I worked on Anasazi (needlepoint), which has been languishing in the UFO stack; and I decided that the Japanese short row technique didn't work for me either. The longer report... The Mediterranean Mermaid is in the home stretch! I finished the back-stitching on Saturday--the crown was a P.I.T.A. and I had to rip it out twice. I hope that it will show up better after I've added the beads. I gave the project a bath, ironed out most of the wrinkles, and hung it to dry overnight. Here's what she looked like just before the bath: I started beading her tail on Sunday. The pattern calls for invisible thread for the beads that ...

...and I have no new pictures to show today. The yard is pretty bleak right now and now with a drought emergency declared, it might continue to be that way. I feel the need for ocean, so I'm recycling some pictures we took in Carmel and Monterey in 2008. This is the beach at Carmel: and a lone gull: Up this weekend: No specific plans for me. The Husband has a day trip planned for Saturday, so I'll be in my studio all day. I'm making great progress on the mermaid and I want to keep up the momentum. I'll also continue to work on the hat an the new shawl. Because the hat is pretty mindless knitting, I've discovered that I can knit and read at the same time. Yes! I won't get as bored this way and make a dent in those 7.75 inches that I need to knit. Given that I really need ocean right now, maybe I try to convince the Husband to take a day trip for our anniversary next weekend. Monterey isn't that far away... CONTEST REMINDER!! Leave a co...

...in which I unveil the latest WIP, the Rockefeller shawl. Here's what I've knit so far: I need to knit 31 of wedges to make the top portion of the shawl. Each wedge calls for 3 wrap-and-turns...ugh! I'm trying the Japanese short row method for the next couple of wedges to see whether I like they way they look. I've done one so far and it's a little better than W&T, but a bit fiddly. WIP Roll Call WIPs in rotation: Mediterranean Mermaid (cross stitch): Working on the back stitching. Jacques Cousteau hat for the Husband [ Ravelry ] Knitted 2.25 of 10 inches Rockefeller Moon shawl  [ Ravelry ] Working on the top section Waiting to be rotated in: Anasazi by Susan Portra (needlepoint) Carbonized Zombie socks [ Ravelry ] Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Halloween Phat Fiber samples (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Hive cross stitch Love Scissor fob (cross stitch) Hibernating: Going Snow Global quilt (quilting) Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting...