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.