Visiting and the Pastime Pieces 2025 Fall Retreat

I hit the road on Wednesday morning - headed for Stitch-It Central in London. I wanted to pick up some threads still missing from kitting up a couple of projects and something Judy R wanted.

Afterwards, I checked into my hotel. The traffic on Wellington Rd when I drove to the city centre was horrible. There are several construction sites where there would be one lane of traffic each way on one side of the road then we'd all veer to the other side of the road. This is a main thoroughfare to get to the 401 from the city centre. I have never seen so much construction on one road at one time.

I picked up Judy L at her hotel and we drove back down Wellington Rd (this time in the dark @#$%&) to dine at Red Lobster. Back at her hotel afterwards, I gave her the Persian Tiles blanket and a little buddy we thought should be named BUSTer - since Judy's receiving treatment for breast cancer. 

After a nice visit, I headed back down Wellington Rd (!@#$%&) to my hotel for the night.

I slept in the next morning as I didn't have to check out 'til 11 and I only had a bit of shopping to do at Len's Mills before leaving the area. Shortly after shopping there I headed to Petrolia to meet Tessa for coffee and a catch-up visit. We have kept in touch on Facebook over the years but I hadn't seen her since before I left the Sarnia area in 1989. We have a lot of acquaintances in common and had lots of life events to get caught up on. 

After that, I drove to my niece's  (Rosa's) place in Oil Springs. Her husband, Darryl, was home - having just taken a deer on their acreage and was cleaning it in the shed. I chose not to take a look. My other niece, Ana, picked up Chinese food on the way over. We enjoyed a nice supper and visited until bedtime.

Friday morning I was up and out before 9 to meet up with retired ladies I taught with when I lived in Sarnia. They get together for breakfast the first Friday of the month. I often try to time my visits to family in the area so I can join 'The Breakfast Club' and have a nice visit.

After breakfast, I headed back to London to the retreat centre to unload the car and stake out a table in the stitching room. Barb's train was arriving before 2pm so I headed downtown to retrieve her from the VIA station and bring her to the retreat. Before leaving for the train station I had to stop in at Dollarama and pick up a pair of reading glasses for stitching. I had cleverly left my stitching bag at home with them, my nametag, and rechargeable lamp. I also dropped into Michaels to pick up a lamp to get me through the retreat.

With Barb safely picked up, we headed back to the retreat centre and started in on stitching. Other folks we knew were Yvonne, Chris, and Blaire. Most of the other participants were folks who had also attended last year. There were 32 stitchers in all including the organizer, Marlene.

Our stitching room had great lighting. The arrow indicates where Barb and I sat. The problem with this room is all the surfaces are hard - nothing with sound absorption like drapes, carpeting, acoustic tiles so it is very LOUD when we're all talking enthusiastically.

Marlene set up a little popup up shop just outside the stitching room door. There were lots of lovely models to admire,

and lots of bins crammed with patterns for us to peruse.

I sent these photos to Jen1. She zoomed in on the models and asked me to pick up the pattern for one she coveted. Other than that, I didn't purchase anything for myself. There were lots of temptations but my existing pattern stash is so vast I really didn't want to add to the pile.

Over the 2 1/2 days I mainly worked on 5 projects:

I finished one of the big leaves on Newcastle Bouquet. I really must haul this out on a regular basis and get it finished up. I've been working on it for over 5 years.

I got most of the Buckeye Scarlet (red) filled in on 'Smitten'. There's a lot of stitching in this so I doubt I'll get it done for this Christmas.

I finished the third and largest house from the Hello from Liz Mathews Jingle Ball pattern, "Snow Globes". I want to do one more motif to go in front of the houses in the snowglobe.

I got a good start on 'Ginger', the Stacy Nash Jingle Ball pattern. This 36ct Aztec Red fabric is easier to stitch on than the blue I'm using for Smitten. 

Following up on my last post, I did receive the chart from Annie Beez and got the project kitted up. It will also be stitched on the Aztec Red fabric. 

Another long-neglected project that got some of my attention was the second of the 'Spring Green Pears' from Annie Beez. I like doing alphabets so figured this would be fun to stitch while gabbing at my table.

The first pear was completed a while back.

One of the things in our swag bag was this small, mesh project bag with a 'Create' chart. We also received a ball of #8 Aurifil variegated perle cotton intended for this project but instead, I used 6 strands of random DMC floss in various rainbow colours. I completed the stitching on Friday night.

Our lodgings were pretty comfortable. I had taken my foam bed topper, duvet, and pillow from home so was very cozy in my room. Toilet and shower facilities were down the hall.

Show and share on Saturday night was very inspiring. I didn't take anything this year but must make a note to take some things to show off next year. 

It started snowing on Saturday night. Sunday morning there was a light blanket of snow on the ground with temps just around 0C and it continued to snow. I made the executive decision to leave for home early so we packed up the car after some last-minute stitching after breakfast and got on the road shortly after 11. Rather than drive all the way down to the 402 or 401, I took the cross country route (pink line) until meeting up with the 401 at Drumbo. The route is slower but was WAY less annoying with no traffic or road spray.

We stopped for lunch at the ON Route past Cambridge then made for the 407. The roads were very sloppy - lots of spray on the windshield but not really slippery. I got Barb to her place in Ajax before 3 and I got home shortly after 3.

I was pretty 'peopled out' so very glad to get home to peace and quiet. To decompress, I got caught up on my Arne and Carlos KAL. 

I had planned to take this project to the retreat but forgot it along with my stitching bag. D'oh!

I'm happy I got to visit with so many people before and during the retreat. I haven't been back to Lambton County for visits for quite a while so it was nice to touch base with everyone.

There's still snow on the ground. I'm hoping we'll get a good west wind and all the leaves on my lawn from the neighbour's birch tree and the big one on my boulevard blow away. My boulevard tree holds onto its leaves usually until December. At which point, on a sunny, dry day I run around with the mulching lawn mower and get them bagged up in yard waste bags. Hopefully the lawn mower will start since the last time I used it a year ago. But that's 'future Geri's' issue.

Starting to Pack for the Retreat

Two of the projects I'm doing at the Jingle Ball require hand-dyed red fabric. Aztec Red is required for one of them and is an acceptable substitute for the other. 

Fortunately, Kimat Designs  had a fat 1/8th in stock (13" x 18") which would work for both projects.

I spent the rest of the morning, kitting up 'Ginger'.

I'm still missing a couple of threads that Kimat didn't have in stock so I hope to pick them up tomorrow at Stitch-It Central when I arrive in London. 

I went through all my stitching project bags and managed to empty a couple of them and reincorporate the threads into my stash. I also decided to update my hand-dyed thread inventory and identify where the threads are if they're currently residing in a project bag with a UFO. 

I have the lists (Weeks Dye Works, Gentle Art, Classic Colorwork) in Notes on my devices so when I'm shopping for floss I can see what I already have and where to locate it. 

I'm taking 10 projects including a couple I haven't started yet. They all fit in my basket.

At weekend retreats, I like to spend some time on each project. usually set my watch for an hour, and cycle through them. My rationale is that I loved them at one time, so I'm going to give them a little love again. 

I'm leaving some at home that I'm not interested in working on for one reason or another.

I'm still waiting to get the pattern information for the Annie Beez 'Christmas Pears' class. I emailed Jingle Ball central yesterday and got no response. 

I emailed them today as well as Annie Beez so hopefully I'll get a response before I leave tomorrow. I'd like to be able to print the .pdf  and if I need to buy a particular thread, pick it up tomorrow at Stitch-It Central. 

I completed yesterday's Christmas Stocking KAL rounds.

I took a peek at today's rounds and the yellow and white area will be completed before starting the heel tomorrow. I will be taking this knitting to the retreat to have something different to do. I can just knit from the chart on my phone.

I'm looking forward to this trip and will be visiting several folks before getting to the retreat. 

This morning while I was putting my Halloween decorations away, I happened upon this plaque from almost 40 years ago.

In a past life, when I used to live and work in Sarnia at the mouth of Lake Huron, I used to crew on sailboats that would race on Sundays through the spring, summer, and fall. Raider's owner and captain was my flute-playing friend, Tessa, who also taught high school music, is now retired, and is the music director of the Lambton Concert Band. We used to play in the pit orchestra for local musicals. 

I sent Tessa the photo of the plaque today and she had no recollection of the events or of giving her crew these plaques. I liked crewing on her boat because it was one of the smallest in the race class where all the boats were rated based on their hull length. The bigger boats always had to give us time (which would be subtracted from our actual time) even though we rarely, if ever, crossed the finish line first. The previous boat I crewed on was bigger and although we often crossed first, being in the same class as the smaller boats, had to give them time (add it to their actual time) and never actually won.

Anyway this evoked some good memories so Tessa and I plan to get together on Thursday afternoon for coffee while I'll be in the area.

So today, I'm getting organized to be away from home for 5 days. I have laundry on the clothesline. Lists of what to take for the retreat, what to unplug at home before I leave, what to bring to drop off with folks in Sarnia, etc. There is a list on my iPhone, one beside the sink in my ensuite bath, one on the kitchen table, etc. 

Some Progress ...

While stitching socially, I work on the Hello from Liz Mathews' 2025 Jingle Ball 'Snow Globe' project. It's on 32-ish count fabric and doesn't have a lot of counting. All that being said, I still erred from the original pattern.

I'm on the 3rd, and largest house.

The left and right walls should only be 1 column thick and I did 2. Now I'm widening the roof to compensate.

I didn't put it in my last post but I did get some filling in of the red on Smitten while I was at the Northumberland Hills retreat last week.

This is also a good project for social stitching - not a lot of counting and just a lot of filling in.

Now I'm having to decide what projects I'll take to the Pastime Pieces retreat this weekend. I'll have to have a look through my UFOs.  I have a couple of other projects I'd like to start, including 'Ginger' from Stacy Nash's upcoming Jingle Ball class.

I'm going to use fabric from my stash - probably 36 or 40ct so I only have to stitch with one strand. I'll definitely use hand-dyed thread for her dress and head/body parts. I need to get cracking and see what I need to kit this up. Change of plans - I found the perfect fabric in stock at Kimat Designs so have put in an order. I can also use it for the Annie Beez' Christmas Pears.

I also have to figure out what table gifts I'll take for the three other people at my table. I thought of something last night that will work; I just need to buckle down and make it.

I received some lovely gifts from a special friend who attended the Nicola Parkman retreat in England a couple of weeks ago.

A pair of scissors from Liberty of London. Very chi chi poo poo!

Three fat quarters from the Victoria and Albert fabric collection.

and three of the coveted Tilda Fabrics from this year's Merry Little Christmas collection. 

They will definitely be used for very special projects!

I finished Day 6 of the Arne and Carlos free Christmas stocking KnitALong.

There is no chart on Sundays. I've had a look at today's and we'll be switching colours again.

There has been a lot of night-time TV watching between the baseball games (so bummed out the Jays didn't take it all) and other shows. I've managed to crank out 10 granny squares and 8 octagons on my second Persian Tiles blanket.

I don't plan to take this project to the retreat for a break from stitching but that could always change.

I finished my latest Little Buddy. I think Ernest is a good name for one of the bears but I don't have any idea what other names I'd use for the other ones. This guy is almost smiling. His sweater is some leftover alpaca yarn.

He's also a supporter of breast cancer research.

Now I really must start crafting my table gifts...

A Hospital Visit

Today I visited a friend who is in hospital. I know there's not a lot of room for stuff in a hospital room and didn't know if she was in a ward or shared room. I wasn't sure if flowers were allowed so I took her a 'Little Buddy' to keep her company and hopefully make her smile.

I liked the expression on this guy's face and deemed him perfect for the job.The patient is well enough to be discharged but needs a lot of rehab due to being immobilized for so long. Otherwise her situation is fairly stable.  

This week has been busy! Monday and Tuesday were my usual stitching and crafting get-togethers. However Wednesday some of us had been invited to join the Northumberland Hill Stitchery Guild for their annual stitch day at the Elmhirst Inn near Keene on the north shore of Rice Lake. The 5 of us  decided to carpool so Barb picked me up, then Judy, Just as we got onto the 407, the car started thumping. I was pretty sure it was a tire issue and got out to inspect. I didn't see a flat tire (hard to tell with low profile tires) but the rear tire on the driver's side was hot and the odor of burned rubber was evident. We decided to limp the car back to Judy's, call Barb's husband to come and take care of the car (call CAA, etc.) and proceed to MaryK's in Judy's car. Once at MaryK's in Orono, Marilyn met us there and the 5 of us piled into MaryK's SUV for an uneventful rest of the trip. In spite of our aborted initial attempt to get there, we arrived right on the start time of 9:30.

When we got there we didn't see many other cars. Barb wasn't sure we were even in the right building. However, when we entered, the event coordinator met us and was relieved someone had finally shown up because she had 9am on her schedule. We were surprised no one from Northumberland Guild was there yet. 

We were shown to a lovely, sunlit room facing the lake and as soon as we go set up at a table, the others began arriving. 

Good thing we went as there had been some last minute cancellations from a couple of their members. Our group of 5 comprised 1/3 of the total participants.

Of course, I took one of my Little Buddies so he could be admired by the others.

I worked mostly on the snow globes project and also did a bit on the Smitten project. The natural light was great for stitching it.

Apparently we were well behaved enough that we were invited back for their next event.

Once back home after 5pm, I started preparing dinner. Through a scheduling error on my part I had invited my friend for dinner that evening, forgetting I was going to be out of town all day. I had a surplus of Chef's Plate dinners that I needed to start using. No worries, everything went well but I finally had to call an end to the visit at 9:30 as I had been up at 6am that morning and I was pooped. I had an early wake-up time scheduled for the next morning so I could attend my 9am yoga class. 

Yoga the next day (yesterday) went OK and I did a bit of shopping on the way home. I then got a message from my friend about being in Ajax hospital so I made the plan to visit her today.

Back at home, I got caught up to Day 4 on my Arne and Carlos Mystery KnitALong.

Day 1 was the entire toe. I had to look up a toe-up cast-on as no suggestions were given in the instructions. Arne's pattern calls for 4 needles and each round has 4 identical sections so it's easily converted to Magic Loop on one circular. The stitch markers indicate the centre of the two sections on each needle. I'm also knitting it inside out so the floats will be at their widest. The KAL is free on their blog. Each day, 6 more rounds are revealed.

As I write this, Day 5's rounds got posted so I'll get caught up when I'm finished here.

Tomorrow is our guild's monthly stitch day held on the first Saturday of every month. Then next Wednesday, I'm heading to London (ON) to visit a friend and go for dinner. After doing some shopping on Thursday, I'll head to Lambton County for an overnight visit at my niece's. The next morning I'll meet former colleagues from almost 40 years ago for breakfast in Sarnia (their 'Breakfast Club' meets the first Friday of every month for breakfast), then I'll head back to London to get set up for the Pastime Pieces stitching retreat until Sunday.

Barb is traveling to London by train and will meet me at the retreat centre. We'll carpool back to Durham Region on Sunday after the retreat.

I have several projects I need to finish before I leave for SW Ontario. Other than the stitch day tomorrow, I have lots of time this weekend to get all those tasks done. Then I'll start preparing for the retreat.

I also crocheted 9 granny squares for my second Persian Tiles blanket. I'll have to do more because I'm going to make it 5 x 6 again but they'll come later.

Tonight is Halloween. I have some decorations out.

I didn't eat all the Halloween candy I purchased earlier this month so I will be handing it and little bags of cheesies out until 8pm. That's when the lights will go out and I'll actually tune into Game 6 of the world series.

This is so exciting for Toronto.

LET'S GO BLUE JAYS!

A Busy Weekend and Lots of Fun Ahead

I spent Friday and Saturday getting the place ready for a stitching afternoon on Sunday and birthday celebration for Jeanette's '7-oh'. I'm not one to spend 3 hours straight doing housework. Rather, I do a bit, then sit a bit, do a bit, then run an errand, then do a bit, etc. etc. 

Saturday night I got everything ready and decorations up.

I already had the 'Happy Birthday' confetti that I just keep recycling after various celebrations.

I had been to the party store on Saturday to buy the dangly decorations. 

Sunday morning I had two errands to run. When I finished the first errand I had a total brain cramp about what the second one was supposed to be. I had driven halfway home when I remembered what it was so I got it done, too. Sheesh!

Jennifer and Poppy had other commitments and sadly could not celebrate with us. Jeanette, Marilyn, and Barb were scheduled to arrive at about 12:30. Unbeknownst to them, I had also invited a surprise guest - Jeanette's high school friend, Patty. She arrived shortly after noon. We first met Patty when we connected with her at Quilt Canada. Then again, she was one of the 3 quilters that joined us at our fall Elim retreat at the end of September. I was so excited that she could join us as I knew it would really be a surprise for Jeanette.

Jeanette arrived, not recognizing the blue car in the driveway. She was so surprised to see Patty - as were Barb and Marilyn when they arrived. It's possible I enjoyed setting up the surprise as much as it was a surprise for all of them.

Here, Jeanette is showing them something on her phone from the recent England trip.

We had a fun afternoon stitching, gabbing, and celebrating. After they left and I got stuff put away, I enjoyed the tidy house - a rarity unless I have company coming. 

It was so fun planning and executing the get-together. We have deemed Patty 'one of us' and the 'crossover friend' from their other friend group from high school.

This morning, Barb hosted stitching. Jeanette was feted yet again with yummy carrot cake.

I also brought 'the guys' with me to show the others what I worked on last week before the Persian Tiles kit arrived.

Leaving Barb's I marveled at the beauty of her street - resplendent with red maples - stunning this time of year. 

On the way home I stopped into Dollarama to see if they had any fake snow for my Jingle Ball snow globe project. I wasn't that impressed with their fake snow. It just looked like chunky, shredded plastic bags. Will keep trying. What I did see, though, were candidates for the actual 'globes'.

The round one on the left is actually designed to contain water, if desired. I bought two of each and now have to decide which ones I'll use.

I have completed the medium-sized house (top) and got quite a bit done on the small house (bottom) at stitching today.

They're not very big but there is a LOT of stitching to each one as well as backstitching. I need to get more of the yellow floss - DMC 728 to complete the small house.

Yesterday, while the gang was here, I did a bit more work on 'Smitten'.

It's slow going but I persevere.

Between fits and spurts of activity, I've cranked out some octagons and granny squares for my second Persian Tiles blanket.

I plan to make it 5 x 6 again - using up the maximum  amount of the yarn from the kit as I did last time. This time, I ordered extra so I could also do the border with the Stylecraft Special DK yarn.

Barb and I are now getting excited for the upcoming Pastime Pieces Simply Stitching Retreat. I've decided to head to SW Ontario on the preceding Wednesday, do some shopping en route, and visit and have dinner with a former student who is undergoing cancer treatment in London and who stays in London Monday - Friday these weeks. It will be so nice to see her. I've booked a hotel in London for that night and will do more shopping the next day (Thursday) before heading to Lambton County to my niece's for the night in Oil Springs - south of Petrolia. 

The next morning I'll head to Sarnia to have breakfast with 'the Breakfast Club' (retired ladies with whom I taught from 1978 - 1989) that meets the first Friday of every month. For once, the first Saturday is a week earlier so I don't have to hightail it back to Whitby for the guild stitch day. After breakfast in Sarnia, I'll head to London, stake out a table at the retreat and pick up Barb at the VIA station when she arrives by train at 13:38 (or so). 

This Wednesday some of us were invited to the Northumberland guild's stitch day at Elm Hirst Resort on the north shore of Rice Lake. We're meeting at MaryK's and 5 of us will carpool there. It will be nice to be chauffeured.

Then this Saturday is our monthly, first-Saturday-of-the-month Stitch Day. Some of us will be doing a workshop on an embroidered, illuminated letter. 

Squishy Parcel

This finally arrived from England today.

I placed this order on September 22 - a month ago today. It was supposed to arrive by October 8 but the postal strike thwarted that.

It's another Persian Tiles kit plus an extra ball of Buttermilk which I had planned to use on the first blanket.

I am a yarn snob, usually preferring animal fibre over synthetic yarns, but for blankets and afghans, synthetics work better. They're washable. I cannot say enough good about this Stylecraft Special DK yarn. It's non-pilling and very soft to the touch - not 'crunchy' at all like some acrylics often are.

It's a light DK - and a pretty close match to Patons Astra which is available here in the New World. These balls are 100g balls - better value than most DK yarns commercially available here. For example, Patons Astra is about the same price for 50g balls.

I haven't found a source for this yarn in Canada but ordering from the UK has not been a problem. Shipping for this parcel was only £4.99. My first order arrived in a week.

The Eastern Jewels colourway booklet comes with the order. You can also add the Persian Tiles pattern to the order if you haven't already downloaded it. The kit including the colourway booklet was £39 or $73CAD.

Guess what I'll be starting this afternoon.

Yesterday I started and finished another Little Buddy.

His sweater is some lovely, soft alpaca yarn - a remnant from some project or other that I knit in the past.

These are the LBOCs (Little Bears On Campus) just hanging around the quad, scoping out the scene.

Now that the Persian Tiles kit has arrived, I'll be taking a break from knitting these guys. However, they have been a big hit on my Facebook and Instagram pages. They certainly have brought me a lot of joy.