Day 17

I was tired after the big Peel Stitch-In on Saturday so didn't do Day 16's six rounds of knitting then. I got caught up last night.

Most of my drive to Port Credit for the Stitch-In on Saturday went well. Just as I was getting onto the QEW, we all slowed down to a crawl because of 2 accidents which caused lane closures. I arrived almost 30 minutes late. Fortunately, Chris texted me to tell me where I could park as the parking at Clarke Hall is all on the street. Other than dropping into Gitta's several years ago, I've never spent any time in this area. Downtown Port Credit looks very cute and work exploring.

Once I got into the hall, I found Chris at the back and got set up. I worked a bit on the Christmas tree piece and got more done on Miss Hazel. This is what she looks like today after the stitch day and my Monday morning stitching.

As usual, the photo on the pattern doesn't do the stitching justice. I just adore the colour of her dress - WDW Twilight.

There were 7 vendors around the periphery of the hall. Kimat Designs, Tiny Modernist, some folks selling project bags and other sewn items, someone selling beaded items like zipper pulls, and a couple of folks selling hand-dyed fabric. Lots to choose from.

I purchased 3 charts from Tiny Modernist. Cardinal wreath - 42 x 44. with DMC and Anchor choices of thread.

These two animals were on display: Autumn Animal Pillows. Both about 48 x 72 on one piece of fabric.

I asked if she had the other three seasons and she did have Spring Rabbit Pillows. 44 x 70 and 56 x 70 respectively. They are so cute! 

There really isn't a lot of stitching on any of these animal pieces and happily, the outline is graphed - no guessing. It will also be easy to FFO them with the outline already stitched.

There were door prizes and a smalls exchange. The small I received was very disappointing - not what I would call a small, not decorative, not stitched, and not of any value. I didn't mind giving away one of my triangular scissor cases, though, as I have so many. I hope the person who received it enjoys it. I walked around the hall several times, trying to find who got it but never did find them. 

I added some 'bling' to snazz it up a bit but didn't get a photograph before wrapping it up.

For the way home when the traffic on the regular routes would be heavy, Kim suggested driving up Hurontario St. to get to the 407. There was a lot of construction and narrowing of lanes on Hurontario but we really kept moving at a good pace so I got home in reasonable time. Then baffed out for the rest of the evening. Apparently the construction on Hurontario is a rapid transit project that has gone way past its due date for completion. Regardless, it got me to the much less aggravating toll road in fairly short order.

I was anxious about getting a Christmas ornament finished for our guild's ornament exchange but just today realized it's not until next month's meeting - phew! I have the piece stitched I just need to FFO it.

Scooter came out for a visit yesterday, late afternoon and helped me put the deck furniture away for the winter (down to the basement) and loaded the winter tires into the back of the car for the tire swap tomorrow. As a reward, I fed him a nice, rotisserie chicken dinner with green beans, scalloped potatoes, and Häagen-Dazs chocolate and peanut butter ice cream. Then we watched the last 7 minutes of the Bills game when they beat Kansas City 21  - 30. It was the first time KC has allowed the opposing team to score over 28 points in the last 30 games!! Way to go Bills. It felt like Skip was right there with us. Kinda comforting.

On the way to stitching this morning, the radio folks were wondering why Taylor Swift wasn't at the Bills game to cheer for her boyfriend, Travis Kelse. Um, she's in the middle of a six concert stint in Toronto. Where, in over 3.5hours, she performs over 40 of her songs each night. I'm just guessing she was resting comfortably somewhere. I hope they don't speculate that the KC game was cursed because she wasn't there. Good grief. After Toronto's 3 concerts next week, she'll perform her last 3 concerts of the tour in Dec. 6 - 8 in Vancouver.

I couldn't name or recognize a single tune of hers but I really admire what an industry she has created. So many people are employed on her tours. 180 transport trucks were required for all the stage equipment. And the tour started in March of 2023! Granted she did take a couple of months off here and there but by the end of the tour next month, she will have performed 149 shows over 5 continents and brought in almost 2 billion dollars in revenue. And she's only 34 years old. Brava!

And finally, I'm considering Mary Corbet's Christmas mitten StitchALong. Again, I have everything I need in my stash. I welcome the opportunity to experiment with various specialty stitches.

Do make sure to print the corrected mitten template at the right size. Double check the recommended height of the mitten on the printout. I probably won't complete mine before Christmas but I'm in no rush. It will be nice to have festive things to work on between Christmas and the New Year.

Have you registered for the Jingle Ball? Lots of fun on the first weekend of December for only $10US. 

And now, time for a nap.