Progress update

So! Another week has flown by. "The Princess" has put me through the proverbial wringer this week by choosing not to eat much of anything and still vocalizing every other second. I had a blinding flash of the obvious and broke out the higher calorie food I got for her brother and she ate a good portion of that, so I hope that things are making a turn for the better.

House projects continue to move slowly along, but I love, love, love the porch!!! Even with the ridiculously high temps and humidity, it has been nice to sit under the fan in the evenings and early mornings.

On the crafting front, current projects in progress....projects for me....projects for class....projects all around. Top to bottom, scribble lace, "when cowls fly", m fairy, and merino silk on my greensleeves spindle.

And because I love this stuff, a closer look

Not a ton of progress, but progress nonetheless. I have a vacation coming up and hopefully that will allow me to make some headway on some of my UFOs. But in the meantime, I have to make some serious progress on the house!

Surfacing

It has been a crazy month adjusting to a one-cat household.

I think the princess (the name fits, believe me) loves being an only cat, though I worry that she is going to be lonely with my hours. In the meantime, she has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I am hoping that the medication will bring it under control soon, as well as her "extra-talkativeness" - as it is to new levels!

But wait! This is a crafting blog! Of which, there has not been much.

Here is my "M" fairy, I committed to finishing this as part of my EGA Chapter UnFinished Object Challenge - supposed to be completed by our meeting on September 11. But I suspect I will be coughing up the $5 I pledged if I didn't finish it.

On other craft-fronts, been working on potential classes. Sadly, not much to show. But I hope to have some soon!

Oh! And here's my porch! I finally got the porch screened in and found some wicker furniture that actually fit. THAT was a bit of a scavanger hunt. And I think the hunt for cushions and an outdoor rug have come in for a landing. Though I think I need another small cushion or two.

Now if it will just get cooler!!! I have a bunch of work and appts this week, but am hoping to be off at the end of the week (nothing fun, just house repair appts). So maybe more progress soon!!

Busy bee

I'm coming up on some vacation time, and I am sooo ready!

The studio is pretty much "done" for the time being. I am still working on furniture and decor, but the primary goal was met: all of my stash currently lives in this room. My needlework has not been sorted yet, but all yarn and fiber have been looked at and sorted.

The full set can be seen on my flickr page here. The short answer is that I have a very large stash of yarn and fiber. I am hoping to work through it some, now that I truly know the scope of it.

I think I want to join the Tour de Fleece (rav link). But I do so horribly at knit-a-longs and spin-a-longs! Regardless, I have been training on the matchless:

This is a wool blend from Spunky Eclectic, in Pine from the semi-solid series. I've got 2 ounces and have done about an ounce.

Stitching and knitting continue. Right now, I am working on a shawl that I started when I first started knitting:

And my Mirabilia fairy now has part of an arm!

The monster cats have been enjoying the studio as well.

The big guy and I are heading back to the specialist at the end of the week. His recent bloodwork has apparently gotten the vet concerned. So we shall see how things go.

The rest of my vacation will be some more house projects and hopefully some shopping trips, catch up on some movies, and maybe make a beach day trip (cross fingers). Oh yeah, and my birthday is next week!

The light at the end of the tunnel?

Still buried with work. Still feeling overwhelmed and overloaded. But I've been stitching!!

EGA Silk Ribbon Pond



I am officially "behind" on this group correspondence project with EGA. This project has several steps before actual stitching begins - stitching the silk to muslin (thanks mom!), fastening it to stretcher bars, and tracing the pattern onto tissue paper. I made significant progress at the last meet-up, basting the tracing paper to the silk and stitching the outlines of the pattern. Next steps is to remove the tissue from the silk and then I can begin stitching!!

Mirabilia - M



Sadly, the M has gotten put aside for the other projects. I still hope to finish this in the next month.

Mirabilia Cherub



I found this little project while sorting through my stash. There are several in this series, but I'm not sure when I will get around to the other ones!

The LYS hosted a "yard sale" this past weekend, so when I haven't been juggling work assignments, I have been pulling out yarn from all corners of the house. I did a little bit of editing from the stash, most of which found new homes with other knitters. Sadly, there is still a bunch of stash at the house, so I guess I'd better get knitting!

It is hard to say that work is easing up when you work a 13 hour day, but I think this week will wrap up a lot of activities.

Well, the cats are demanding attention, so I will have to post more later!

Pollen Overload!

Spring has come to the south as has the pollen! I can't spend too much time outside right now without coughing or sneezing for a while after coming back in. Think I'm overstating? I'm considering renaming my pilot a bumblebee!



And this is what has ended up at the lakeside:



Between the pollen and being sidelined this week with an out-of-place ribhead, I made some progress on my Mirabillia "M".



M - Madeline
Letters from Nora/Mirabillia
Progress as of 4/3/10

And I got some lovely spinning stash from Holly EQQ. This is all the fault of the Flickr photostream! I saw some of the silk as she was preparing for a shop update and had to have it!



And now, I am in search of my allergy meds!

Drive by blogging

Even though I technically had a three day weekend, Monday came far too soon! I am ready to head to bed, but wanted to post some progress pics.

I am starting a new embroidery project shortly, so I am really hoping to finish up this needlework project. I love this cute little pattern. Some parts of it are car-friendly, so made a fair amount of progress on this piece riding in the car to the vet on Friday.



Cat by the Hydrangea Bush
Rowandean Embriodery
Progress as of 3/19/10

I remember seeing projects from Rowandean in a stitching magazine years ago. Imagine my shock to walk into a local needlework shop and find several of these kits while on vacation. Straight stitch, detached chain, bullion knot, satin stitch, and my archnemesis, the french knot. I've used them all in this project and have lived to tell the tale.

On the spinning front, a small progress view of the Mjolinar. Louet Merino Silk. A bit darker than it shows, but it is very very lovely.



And to close out this post, random cat picture. This is what happens if you get distracted while cleaning out your purse.



The monster cat is doing well, the tumor has decreased in size again and the infection has cleaned up.. So hopefully we will maintain the course.

That's all for tonight! Night!

rain, rain go away......

It is a gloomy day in the South today. Rainy most of the day, now just gray and damp. I just want to sleep and catch up on my NCIS watching! My wheel is calling me, but I am still able to ignore it for now. My stitching is my obsession for the moment, so here are some progress pics.


M - Madeline
Letters from Nora/Mirabillia
Progress as of 3/15/10


Cat by the Hydrangea Bush
Rowandean Embriodery
Progress as of 3/16/10

I watched Judith Mackenzie McCuin's Wheel Mechanics while I was down with a stomach bug. It was great!!! It and some other recent happenings got me inspired to do a little bit of shopping on etsy. Gale's Art is an indie dyer in Georgia - I got some merino silk and alpaca silk. She was running a special that included some silk hankie butterflies that are just beautiful!!!




In noncrafty news there has been lots of wildlife sightings...."water turkey," turtles of all shapes and sizes, and of course the geese. No sign of baby geese at this point.



There's just something about watching a cat sleep.



Her brother will be heading back to the doc at the end of the week for another checkup. It is really hard to tell how he is doing, he hides it pretty well. But he is still eating and demanding attention, so I really can't complain.

Hopefully another update this weekend!!

Little progress but lots to watch anyway!

One more day in the work week! It has been a busy week and I am really looking forward to the weekend. Not a ton of fiber craft news to report, but there is some.

Last week, Interweave had a coupon so I went a little CD/DVD crazy!!! Two years of Interweave on CD, one year of Spin-off, Judith Mackenzie McCuin's Wheel Mechanics, and Jacey Boggs' Spin Control just arrived.



I have been wanting to take classes from Judith and Jacey for quite a while. While these videos are not the same, hopefully it will substitute for the near term since my traveling ability is uncertain at this time.

My hands are still bothering me, but it doesn't seem to impact my stitching these days thank goodness! Here is my latest progress on my "M" fairy from Mirabilia. I'm really enjoying watching the design come together.



My baby Mjolinor is getting a light workout as well. Spindle spinning lightly bothers my hands, so I am having to take it easy. I miss my knitting, but I know that I will be back to it soon.

And the butt kicking continues!!

Since this is actually a crafting blog, here's the good stuff at the top. Updates on life in general, the house, and cats are after the pics of the monster cats. Sorry for the less than ideal iPhone pics, my camera has gone into hiding so until I find it or buy a new camera, it will just have to do!

First I'm declaring myself as sidelined from the kitting olympics due to injury. The carpal is just not letting me working on Laminaria very long each day. I spent some time in the car with it and it is still in the transition chart stage.



I am still going to limp along on this project though. And am also planning to start the Evenstar Mystery Shawl at some point very soon....using Skacel Merino Lace. This one will truly be a challenge, a round lace shawl that measures about 5 feet across. Many knitters have already begun this mystery, and the knitting is truly lovely.

Luckily, my "oh shiny" crafting distractability can give me some other things to do while my hands heal up from my carpal flare-up.

My stitching mojo is definitely back! Went to the not-so-local shop today and picked up the missing color for one of my stitching projects. I am working on Mirabilia's "M" fairy. Upper body is completed, moving down her skirt and the "M". I also picked up a few goodies at the shop!



I will also have some stitchalongs starting soon. My EGA chapter will be doing a silk ribbon group correspondence course and we are also embarking on an intro brazilian embroidery project. Updates on this coming soon.

Spindle spinning is also becoming almost a daily activity. I turned a little bit of this Paigewood Fiber Puffs into this little length of navajo-plied yumminess.




I have a Damsel Monique spindle in my desk drawer for some breaktime spinning with some merino-silk blended beauty, but I am strongly considering putting these puffs in a bowl on my desk with my Hound spindle. It is not the easiest for spindle spinning or for plying on the spindle, but it is a lot of fun to look at and fondle.

To continue my Greensleeves Spindle addiction, I finally picked up the spindle that has been yelling at me at the shop for months - a Connie's Mjolinor. Yet another laceweight spindle. On it is a small sampling of the northern lights roving from louet. Now it is working through a merino/silk blend in a lovely blue. Pics on that later!







And now for the non-crafting component of the post. I truly want this to remain a crafting blog. But as you know, real life tends to interfere with all crafting all the time - so no blogging material. And while a lot of real life I want to leave unblogged, there are aspects that I want to share. So here's a (mostly) quick catch-up:

The "other busy season" at work begins next week. So I have been frantically running errands to stock up on essentials, catching up with friends, and trying to accomplish just a few more house projects.

My carpal continues to be a problem. After too much caffiene and regular knitting, my hands and wrists are not amused. I have taken pain killers and plan to break out the ice packs shortly.

The homefront....is still in flux...many projects this weekend and a post to follow involving geese, beavers, decluttering, and my ridiculously huge stash.

And now for the true butt-kicking component of the post.....I should know better than to be more than cautiously optimistic on the cat's progress. His check-up was less than positive, an infection has returned and his tumor has not shrunk further. In fact it appears to have grown, though the vet acknowledge that it may be related to the infection rather than the tumor. So we have another med added to the mix and a follow up in 3 weeks.

2010 has been kicking my butt!

No time or energy to blog this year.....Between daytrips to the out-of-town vet, work ramping up again, house stuff, and carpal flareups....I have been too tired to be much of a conversationalist....just ask my friends and family! So blogging has been very far down on the list.



While not a happy traveler, the monster cat has been fairly good traveler. His tumor has responded very well to the meds. His hair has still not grown back much, the shaved spots on his jaw and legs are covered in almost a fine down. But the abscess has healed up, he is acting and eating as normally as he ever has. His weight is back up over 13 lbs, so I think the oncologist will be pleased when she sees him at the end of this week (though needless to say he will be less than thrilled to see her).

The medication schedule is mostly manageable for me, though I need to give him a test run at my parents or find a sitter before I feel comfortable leaving town for anything. He is unpredictable with his willingness to take them and given his size, I'm not sure that even my mom can manage him. So I have pretty much written off going to Convergence this summer. After this check up, I plan to ship him off to mom for a test run.

For some insane reason, I decided to sign up for the knitting olympics and cast on Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman (ravelry link). I am making a shawlette of sorts using one skein of Handmaiden Mini Maiden. I seriously doubt I will finish it before the closing ceremonies, but we shall see! In the meantime, here's a bad picture.



While I like this yarn and the pattern so far, I am not totally loving this yarn. The single spun yarn tends to get a little shreddy, for lack of a better descriptor. Maybe I rub my hands too much on it, or my hands are just too warm, but there is a definite halo to this.

I think I have my stitching mojo back....I finished Iris Window Garden by Calico Crossroads today! This has been a longterm work in progress, which is sad given its small size. I worked this on linen using silk threads and a black metallic for the back-stitching.



I still need to date it and attach the charm, but it is essentially done! So I have picked up my Mirabilia initial project, when I should be working on my Olympic knitting project. But that's what I am in the mood for right now!

Hopefully more later this week....

I love weekends!

This weekend was unusual....I didn't have anything scheduled!!! And it was a beautiful day, so I spent some time at the LYS and then on the deck. One of my great black hunters decided to join me. She was entertained watching and listening to the sounds made by the lizards, song birds, and squirrels.



I also completed the ribbon embroidery project I am assisting with at EGA next week. It was a pretty quick project, even though I have never done ribbon embroidery before!

Stitching update

A while back, I signed up for my Embroiderers' Guild correspondence project - a crossed stitch band sampler by Dakota Rogers. I finished up lesson one on Saturday!



I was not liking the color choices so much, so I found a variegated silk I liked and then picked my mom's brain on colors to match. Mom was also kind enough to let me raid her stash of silk threads to replace the cotton color recommendations. It is a much more muted color palette than what Dakota recommends, but I think I will like it much better.



So I will hopefully get stitching on this today!

Stitching in Public!

Saturday is National Stitch in Public Day! My guild is getting together to stitch at the library most of the day. I'm not sure how long I will be there, but I'm looking forward to it!



Stitching has been the craft that I have done the longest - I have no clue when I started. I think I was probably 5 or 6 when I started toting around a little project bag to places where I needed to basically sit still - as an only child and youngest kid in the family, family visits usually required me to sit on the couch a lot. When I was older, but stuck in bed due to illness, cross stitching saved my sanity.



While cross stitching has long been a favorite technique, I've adopted other needlework techniques over the last ten years or so. I joined the local guild to get me back into the stitching habit, but other events have really stalled those plan.



But there is just something about stitching that has always appealed to me. There is such a wide variety of pattern types and styles, from simple samplers to elaborate reproductions of artwork.



So if you have never tried stitching, do try it sometime. Or if you stitch, share the fun with someone. Most of all, if you haven't stitched in a while, pick up a needle sometime!