Monday, October 13, 2008

Is it really autumn this time?

Has it really been less than a week since I was complaining about the heat? Actually it was only a few days ago. Now the only thing I have to complain about is not having the right jacket to wear on my morning walks. My one heavy coat seems to be too much and the windbreakers aren't quite enough. So it looks like it might be time for some sweaters. Huzzah!

There aren't any photos today. I made some progress on the mittens but it's pretty slow going, ten rows to the inch (2.5cm) and those ten rows can take over an hour. But truly the pattern is entertaining and I think the tweed yarn was a good decision. I told my friend Susan that I thought I would finish the first one sometime this week. That may be overly optimistic. We'll see what Saturday brings.

The shop where I teach a couple of days a week, A Stitch in Time, is primarily a needlepoint shop. Has been for something like thirty five years. We've been having a series of trunk shows and it's brought in a lot of people. There are group classes four or five times a week. Some of my students are also doing needlepoint. So it was only a matter of time until I decided to take it up again. After knitting for about three hours yesterday I went looking for one of my incomplete canvases. And then spent half an hour looking for the fiber that goes with it. My memory of where I put it was faulty but I did finally find it.

I used to think my stitching was pretty good. Now I'm not so sure. I'm working on a chair seat, just plain stitch, and it's not looking so smooth. I may have to sign up for one of those classes. I wonder if there are as many needlepoint blogs as there are knitting blogs. I'm glad though that I have a lot of canvases in my stash. The new ones are really pricey, and even though I understand why, I'm just not going to spend that kind of money right now. Especially since I've lost about 30% of my retirement money in the current fiasco.

But the weather is cooler and I have plenty of fiber to keep me going.

2 comments:

lexa said...

We carry some cross stitch stuff and needlepoint stuff. The only canvas stuff we ever had was stuff that was there when we took the store over. Not many around here do it, and it is expensive. We have a lot of "hookers" around. (rug hookers) We always have some cross stitch and needlepoint kits. I need to order some more before Christmas. The pillow case sets are always big sellers. We do custom framing, too, so we get a lot of cross stitching to frame.

Monika said...

It's nice to have several hobbies, so one doesn't get too boring over time.