Day 20 ~ What I Read

I always have two or six books going at the same time. Currently, these are the books I reading. They are, in no particular order, Shine, Shine, Shine by Lydia Netzer, Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander's British title), The Shetland Bus by David Howarth and The Gourmet Detective by Peter King. I generally catch up on magazines and newspapers at the library. However, The National Geographic and the Smithsonian come to the house, so I am perusing them as well.

I troll Facebook on and off all day if I am to home, so I read numerous updates and articles linked by my friends. I also read, on the average, six to ten blogs a week. Again in no particular order. I regularly read Rebecca's, Erin's, Nic's, Celia's, Dave Lowe's, and Alan Doyle's.

Day 18 ~ In My Bag

This is just what's in it today. The bag is from Dolly as a Pay it Forward giftie. The embroidered zipper pouch (which contains things like a Swiss Army Knife, a nail file and such) is a gift from Peru. The amber necklace is a gift from my friend Kipp up in Estes Park. I really need to put that back in my jewelry chest. The knitting is the Outlander scarf in the Beauchamp colourway from Knitter's Brewing Company. What's missing is my current Moleskine as I was making notes in it last night and now it's sitting next to my sewing machine.

Sew Expo - I Actually Sewed Something

Today I met my friend, Judy Wisehart in Denver for lunch and to attend the Rocky Mountain Sew Expo. It's become a regular thing for us to meet up there and walk through and view what the vendors are flogging. Normally, when we go, it's too crowded and hectic to really see anything due to the crowds. We usually attend on Friday, however, this time we both able to attend today and it was perfect timing on our part. We ate lunch without waiting forever in line and actually got to see what the vendors had to offer. Judy scored some trims and tulle for making dresses for her granddaughters along with a super duper spiffy ironing board cover.

I also ran into my friend and customer from Great American Quilt Factory where I worked for 3 years. It was kinda of odd tho as she was the only person I ran into today, unlike past shows where I would get lost from Judy because I was talking to yet someone else I knew. That's Sharlene and me.

I also did a Make and Take of a table runner on gridded iron on backing. It was really simple to use. I definitely think I will buy more of the grid to make some table runners as gifts. The other picture is of the few goodies I bought. Mulberry silk yarn for Erin to dye up along with silk sari waste to spin into some woolen yarn for a novelty. The photo includes the table runner top and some cherry pins. I also scored some hook and loop tape to close some 1700s period jackets that I intend to make later on. I found yardage of one of the fabrics in the table runner but there wasn't enough for the size of napkins I want to make to go with the runner, so I will order it from the website of Contemporary Fibers.

The strawberry buttons and the novelty hooks and eyes came from Denver Fabrics where I stopped on my way out of town. I need to find a warm grey fabric to make my Mother of the Bride dress and thought I might luck out there, but alas no. The one fabric I found that was the right colour and weight was very short on yardage, sadly and there was no more to be had. The strawberry buttons are for an Outlander Swap over on Ravelry. Strawberries being one of the symbols of the Fraser Clan, which is the clan of the main male character in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.



I did actually spin today as well for the Tour de Fleece... Again more shall be revealed...

# 33 of 365 - Imbolc or Groundhog Day

Depending on how you celebrate, today is either Groundhog Day or the celebration of Imbolc. It's due to reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series that I got interested in my Celtic heritage. It also lead me to learn more about the seasons as expressed in Celtic Lore. Readers of the series will totally understand this statement. Here's Erin and I waiting to get the latest book in the series signed by Diana, herself. It's also a picture of me in another hat I wear...

Anyway, Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow but the other groundhogs, for the most part did not, so either Winter is over shortly or we have six more weeks... Good thing I am knitting all these shawls for MMX, then to keep me warm if necessary...