Livin' La Needle Loca

...and a finished object! I finished the Citrus Hat [ Ravelry ] last night! Here is the lovely Blanca modeling the hat: and another view: Specs: Started 2/18/16; Finished 3/29/16; Pattern: Citrus Hat by Laura Treadway; Yarn: Red Heart Soft Touch Solids in Lavender Made for Halos of Hope I finished tying the fringe for Mermaid's Tale [ Ravelry ]! The only thing left to do is give it a press and take photos. I'm declaring it done as of today. I'll post photos as soon as I take them. With two projects completed, I need to take a look at the remaining WIPs and UFOs to see whether any projects should be promoted to the rotation or declared IDJ (It's Dead, Jim). *WIPs roll call* Worked on: Costa del Mar (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Works In Progress, did not work on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Empress handspun [ Ravelry ]  Linda's Dream mandala (canvaswork) Old WIP from 1996 Cross Stitch Festival class Valley of the Heart...

...and the weekend report. I finished the weaving portion of Mermaid's Tale [ Ravelry ]. I hemmed the end and took it off of the loom. I gave it a bath on Sunday and it should be dry by now. I need to bury the ends and decide how to handle the fringe. The shawl/wrap is pretty light-weight, so I'm leaning towards just knotting the fringe instead of braiding it. My goal is to finish it by the end of the month (which is rapidly approaching!). I started knitting the decrease section of the Citrus Hat [ Ravelry ]. I didn't get as far as I wanted, but it's still progress. I'm hoping to finish it this month, but... The Daughter came by on Saturday and I worked on Costa del Mar (knitting) [ Ravelry ] while we chatted. As it turned out, that was a mistake because I was enjoying our visit too much and wasn't paying close enough attention to the increase rows. I had to rip out 3 rows because my stitch count was off by one. Sigh.  On Sunday, I took a camera walk. A ...

...it's been a week! I'm so ready to go home and enjoy and adult beverage! Spring is all over the garden now. The anemones have been blooming for a few weeks: The rannunculus are starting. We have yellow and orange ones: and pink ones: And the roses are starting up. These orange roses are in our backyard: Up this weekend: I have no idea. We haven't done anything for Easter in many years, not since the Daughter left home. I would like to walk over to her old high school tomorrow. Every year, they plant tulips along the front walkways and they are beautiful!  I'd love to get some photos before they are all gone. Of course, there are plenty of crafts to keep me busy (LOL). We'll see what catches my fancy! .

...I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the week, not to mention Eye Candy Friday last week.  I can blame it mostly on a work project that keeps me heads-down.  I've surfaced for now, so let's play catch-up. Eye Candy Friday: Spring is everywhere in the garden. The irises are starting to bloom: Weekend report: Worked on Mermaid's Tale (weaving) [ Ravelry ]  Looked through my queued needlework projects and found a canvaswork piece that is nearly finished. I had totally forgotten about it! It's time to add that to the rotation. Officially put Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] into hibernation. I'll put it back in rotation when I'm ready to face it again. I cast on the Castra shawl. I bought the pattern and yarn at Stitches West this year. I named my project Costa del Mar [ Ravelry ] because the yarn reminds me of the coast. I tried spinning on Sunday and it worked. I had to take lots of breaks so I wouldn't overdo the hurt ank...

...I was too busy to blog yesterday because of a work project, so you get a weekend report and a WIPs report combined in one. Saturday was Spin-In. I took two knitting projects with me: Canto de Sirena shawl [ Ravelry ] and Citrus Hat [ Ravelry ]. The shawl and I are going to have serious words. I was off n the pattern again ! This makes the third time I've had to tink back a section and reknit it. I redid the bad section and started knitting again...and it was still off by one! Arg!  I marked where the error occurred and out it aside to work on at home. Thank goodness i brought the second project. I think the main reason I'm having so many problems with this shawl is that there are many yarn-overs at the beginning or end of a pattern repeat, right where you want to place stitch markers. The yarn-over slips under the marker and you have to be very diligent about making sure that the yarn-over is on the correct side of the marker. There are 362 stitches per row. There are 22...

...I got totally soaked this morning! My shoes and socks have finally dried out, however the cuffs of my slacks are still a little damp. At least my hair didn't too wet. Yesterday's sunrise was pretty spectacular: It's great to see raindrops on the plants: The nasturtiums are going wild with all of the rain: And the cherry tree has set its blossoms and is already losing some of the petals: Up this weekend: Spin-In tomorrow! I need to decide which project to take with me. I might just stick to either knitting or cross stitch. I think I'll skip the spindle spinning. I can't wait for my ankle to feel better! For snacks, I decided to just bring crackers and cheese this time--green cheese in honor of St. Patrick's Day next week. One disadvantage of all of the rain is that it's kind of pointless to mop the floors. They'll just get junked up again. However, there a few other chores to do that aren't affected by the rain, like laund...

...I totally spaced on WIP-it Wednesday yesterday. I'll just post it today, 'K? First, here's a photo of the in-progress Citrus Hat [ Ravelry ]: I finished the ribbing and I'm now knitting the main part of the hat. I haven't worked on it yet this week. My goal is to get a few rows knit tonight while I watch Face Off. **WIP Roll Call** Worked on: Leaf Monthly Musing (cross stitch) Mermaid's Tale (weaving) [ Ravelry ] Works In Progress, did not work on: Be My Baby for My Baby (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Canto de Sirena shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Citrus Hat (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Empress handspun [ Ravelry ]  Sweet Heat handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design (cross stitch) UFOs/Hibernation: Celaeno Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Mermaid of the Pearls (cross stitch) Peacock Pomatomus socks (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Peacock Majesty by Just Nan (cross stitch) Tucson Twilight (needlepoint) WIPs To Be:...