Livin' La Needle Loca

...started it in November and put it off until I finished the Christmas project. This is Primrose Path: Specs: Started 11/7/2025 Finished 1/12/2026 Chart and charm from Just Nan I need to pick the next cross stitch project. It could be another Just Nan or another Christmas project from Shepherd's Bush. I like both designers. Or I could pick something else out of the stash. Decisions, decisions.

...in which I finalized the majority of my mother’s estate and we started a studio remodel. Finished: Baking, etc. Almond Fruitcake for my brothe Biscotti for my brother and for us A little sourdough, lots of scones Knitting 02/15 Balaclava Hood 05/12 Teal No-Noro Hat 11/16 Highland Cow toy 11/18 Wuzzie Highland Cow Toy 12/18 Highland Cow 3 12/19 Corgi 2 Needlework, All Cross Stitch 02/15 Sea Dandelion 05/22 The Sea Merchant's Wife 06/23 Happy Bluebird mini 07/01 August 1997 Hat-of-the-Month 08/24 Seaology 09/01 Horrified mini 09/08 Dashing Through The Snow ornament 11/3 CATrina 11/30 Making Spirits Bright Pin Cushion 12/21 Star 12/23 Ewe Can Build a Snowman pincushion Quilting 03/29 Herding Cats quilt top  05/13 La-Catrina Quilt top  06/11 Road to Chaos quilt top Reading Read 175 books; see Reading List below Sewing, Finishing 02/...

 ...some finishes, some reading. Finished: 12/18 Highland Cow 3 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/19 Corgi 2 [ Ravelry ]  12/21 Star (cross stitch)  12/23 Ewe Can Build a Snowman pincushion (cross stitch)  Books: Liza’s Secrets, Iris Glazner Leigh Wynn Harbor Inn: Wynns of Change, Hope Callaghan Captiva Holiday, Annie Cabot The Seaside Sisters, Pamela M Kelley Cheaper by the Dozen, Frank B Gilbreth Jr. Bookshop by the Bay, Pamela M Kelley Her Beautiful Life, Brianna Labuskes Wynn Harbor Inn: Winter Wonderland, Hope Callaghan Christmas at Cranberry Cove, Katie Winters Best in Show: Knit Your Own Farm, Sally Muir Sleigh Bells and Snowstorms, Claire Kingsley License to Curse, Kim Richardson Mendocino Island Promise, Nellie Brooks The Goblin in the Sink Drain, Hailey Edwards Started: 12/2 Star (cross stitch) 12/7 Corgi 2 [ Ravelry ] 12/12 Highland Cow 3 (knitting) [ Ravelry ] 12/21 Ewe Can Build a Snowman pincushion (cross s...

 ...first one of the year. Sorry, no photos this time. I'm not far enough into the latest cross stitch project to take a photo yet.  I like this project but I find that I get bored of stitching after a couple of hours. It might be because it seems to be the only craft I can easily move from one room to another while construction is happening. Today, I decided to spin something just for the variety. Spinning has a calming effect. Calm is needed right about now!  WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Gladiolus Handspun (spinning) [ Ravelry ] Started 1/7; spinning the singles Primrose Path (cross stitch) Working on the flowers. I had a small issue because the design requires a Kreinik metallic braid. I know that I have the color in my stash, but all of my Kreinik is stored in a box in the POD. When I looked this morning, that box is at the bottom of the stack in the back of the POD. I really didn't want to buy another spool so ...

 ...who knew that I'd still be doing this 20 years later? I joined Blogger in 2006 as a trial: In the beginning, I blogged about 10 times a month. As I got the hang of it, I blogged more frequently, usually 3 or 4 times a week. I did a name change after one year to more closely reflect my love of crafting with needles and fiber. I started doing month-end and year-end recaps that first year, but recap posts didn't evolve into their current format until the following year.  Books started appearing in the September 2010 recap, the month I got my first iPad and started reading digital books. I started posting for Eye Candy Friday in August of 2006. WIP-it Wednesdays started in 2008. Life interfered a lot the last 6 years and my blogging has become sporadic. I still try to post on WIP-it Wednesdays and when I complete a project. My posts for Eye Candy Friday are not as consistent anymore. So, 2,789 posts (counting this one) later, here we are: still Livin' La Needle Loca!

...and it's a cross stitch piece. This is To All A Good Night, a kit from Shepherds Bush: Specs: Started 12/24/2025 Finished 1/3/2026 Kit with button from Shepherd’s Bush This fabric came with the kit. I'm not a fan of how dark it is. The threads just fade into the fabric. This kit contained 4 shades of green and it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between the shades. I might have used the wrong shade in some places.🙄 I don't mind using Weeks Dyeworks threads as they have some wonderful colors. But sometimes the variations within the colorway make for some odd pooling. For example, the crescent moon is stitched in Olive (!?), which varies from gold to green. The gold is OK for the moon, but green? I was also unhappy with the gray used for the words. It varies from dark gray to very light gray. The very light gray is hard to read on the dark fabric. If I was using full versions of the threads, I could have controlled i...