It's true, you can't go home again - October musings

I went to my brother's last weekend. I had a lovely visit with him and his family. My SIL, Barb, and I are like sisters and we have such a great time together. On Friday evening, we went to Barnes and Nobles where I met Barb's good friend, Kim. A lovely lady. We spent the evening sipping Starbucks and shooting the breeze. I bought Patricia Cornwall's new novel, The Book of the Dead. Scarey stuff.

On Saturday, we went to the Covered Bridge Needlearts in Bridgewater. What a lovely store!!!! Shelley is such a hoot!!! She has goodies and coffee waiting for her customers and since it was the weekend before Halloween, she made up treat bags for her customers. Great customer service! She made us feel so welcome and I really wish her store was in my neighborhood. I'd become a fixture there.

Barb and I must have spent 4 hours visiting and oohing and aweing over all the lovely models hanging all over the shop, pawing through racks and bins of patterns. Shelly has such an extensive inventory or needlework and she has decorative items, punchneedle, rughooking and all the stitching accoutrements to make any needleperson feel like they've gone to stitching heaven. What a treasure trove. If you get to Western PA, run to her shop. You will not be disappointed.

I thought I was going to be good but true to form, I overspent. But I only bought a couple of patterns, The Sewing Circles, Soldier Boy and Little House Needleworks, Blossoms and Blackbirds. I mainly spent my $$ on thread (GAST, Weeks, Caron Waterlillies and a skein of Belle Soie silk just to give it a try) and, are you ready, punchneedle supplies. I bought this little halloween kit, a CTR punchneedle and since I didn't have any appropriate thread, the WDW for the pattern. I love how punchneedle looks and after having an impromptu lesson from Shelley I decided to give punchneedle a whirl. Then Barb and I went to Panera bread for lunch and to the Mall just to browse.
Then we went back to my brother's to watch movies and mess with the punchneedle. Unfortunately, the hoop that I brought with me was not a locking type so we basically watched movies and I started my book.

On Sunday, we went to Joann fabrics for hoops. We also went to Wallyworld for groceries, then home again. Off to try punchneedle again...hmm...not as easy as it looks or explained. As much as I tried and tried, I could not get it to work for me. Frustration reigned!! So it went into my bag and maybe when I am less irritated by it, I'll give it a go again. Barb had difficulties too. She's going to stop by one day after work to have Shelly show her the correct way to punch. I'll probably stop down to Stitchery Row for a quick lesson after work too.

Well, the last thing I did was go back to my old home. I took a walk past it. Fortunately, the only neighbor that would have recognized me wasn't out and about so if I ran into anyone they probably wouldn't have recognized me and if they did they probably wouldn't have remembered my name. As it was, I felt like a stranger, a stranger on the street that I grew up playing hopscotch, riding bikes and pretending that I was a cowgirl with my horse. What a weird feeling to know that I spent 22 years living on that street but now was an intruder. I felt like a stalker but I really wanted to see what the new owners have done to the place. The new owners put in a flowerbed around the front porch and side of the house and put up a privacy fence around the back yard. I was really sad to see the house and my heart ached knowing that I couldn't go in. You would not believe how badly I wanted to do just that. I wanted to sit on the front porch steps. It took all I could not to go around the back of the house and go in the kitchen and call for my Dad. I thought that I was past the entire thing but I guess I really wasn't...but now, I think that I've put it past me and I could go home again and not even go down the street past the house. Closure.

As far as stitching goes, usually when I am at my brothers, I can get a lot done. Not this time. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be and the lighting in the evening wasn't terrific. During the day, we were not home alot to even break out the needle and thread. So really, I didn't stitch at all even though I brought most of my Wips with me. Hey, you never know what's going to strike your fancy right?

On Monday, I traveled and Tuesday, it was back to work...and back to my life here in good ol' Bingo...it was good to be home again. I missed the DH a lot and even the cat must have missed me cause she stuck to me like velcro.

So stitching wise, I've mostly picked up what's screamed at me the loudest. I worked a little on Blackbird Designs, Merry Hallo'een. I started it last year and I am now finished with the border. It's an easy stitch but it won't get worked on again for awhile because I want/need to work on Christmas-y things. I also worked a little on Maria Short. I've stitched the upper left quadrant of the sampler. It's very pretty. Also, I've stitched a little on Hallowed Gameboard, Prairie Schooler's Autum Winds (past the center motif now!) and I was fortunate enough to pick up an old JCS magazine with Mary Garry's, Spring Sampler and Pins & Needles, so I've worked the border and the words on Pins and Needles. And this weekend, I picked up my Stitcher's Wallet for the first time since September when Patti and I worked on it. I am 3/4 the way through the second panel. Like Sue, I don't like the verse on the third panel and I am searching for something to replace it. I will be skipping that panel and moving on to the 4th panel and to the sampler which I am SO looking forward to stitching!

I am no where near a finish on anything. So it's not worth pictures.

Looking back on the year, once again, my starts far outweighed my finishes. Who cares?!!!