This weekend was the annual Celebration of Needlework convention. I go with my mom, and it's something I look forward to every year. Frustratingly, I couldn't go during the day on Friday because of work, but I headed down there as soon as I got out of work, bag of projects in hand. The night before I took the time to repack and semi-organize my needlework...what I could find of it, that is. I was unable to locate some of it, which means there's a box (or bag) in my closet or the attic that I somehow overlooked.
Mom and I had dinner at the hotel with a group of our friends, then we went up to the Stitcher's Lounge for a few hours to stitch and talk and look at the projects of everyone else there. Lots of fun. In other years we've taken the Friday night Round Robin class, but this year mom and I both decided that we'd rather just stitch and work on the things we have. So of course, the first thing we did this Saturday was to look at the kits for the Round Robins and buy a few that we liked (they're more expensive individually than the class, but you get to see what you're getting beforehand, and you can mix and match between the session kits).
Then it was on to the merchandise mall! They modified the way it was set up this year, and I think it worked better than in past years. The flow of traffic was certainly better, and it didn't feel crowded and packed like it has in previous years. I tried to make a complete circuit before I bought anything, but there were a couple of charts and/or kits I bought the first time I saw them because there was only one copy left of the chart.
I did have one thing I
knew I would be picking up this year: a Doodler Lap Frame from
Images Stitchery Design. They've been coming to Celebration for two or three years now, and each year I would look at their lap frames and tell myself "maybe someday" or "next year". The frames aren't exactly cheap, but they are
very much worth the price. I decided that this year
would be the mythical "next year" from previous years, and I am now the pleased owner of a gorgeous lap frame suitable for most of the projects I am most likely to be doing (read: large and rather unwieldy to work on in hand). It's more piece-friendly and posture-friendly than the Q-Snaps I've been using for years, and I'm very excited.
In addition to the lap frame I picked up several kits and charts, spending overall somewhat more money than I had originally intended to (but not by a huge amount). I shall have to be very good about spending money until my trip to CA in July (and continue to be good after said trip, but not quite as strenuously perhaps), but that shouldn't be
too difficult as I have plenty of things to keep me occupied in all of my various hobbies!
Shopping was broken up by a lunch break, and after we'd finished shopping mom and I settled down in a couple of the nice chairs in the hotel lobby. There was, sadly, no stitcher's lounge during the day, but the lobby afforded us excellent light and good company. It was full of stitchers, and that was a lot of fun. I am
so glad they went back to the Marriott this year. The Sheraton Tera/Radisson we were in last year had
horrible light for stitching, and it lacked the comfortable closeness of the Marriott.
Mom and I packed up around 18:00 to do some grocery shopping and see about dinner. We had every intention of going back for a few hours after our errands were completed, but it got later and she and I both thought that stitching in a warm room with a fire in the fireplace (yeah, I know it's May and it shouldn't be this cold, but it is so the fire sounded lovely) while drinking herbal tea and watching a comfortably familiar movie/show sounded absolutely
wonderful. So we had dinner at Panera (one last little treat for Celebration), stopped by Barnes & Noble so I could pick up a book that had come in for me (
Don't Hex With Texas, the fourth Katie Chandler novel by Shanna Swendson, which I have been excited about for a year), then headed home for needlework and herbal tea.
While at the bookstore I realized that you know you
might be going there a lot when the clerk 1) knows your name, 2) knows your purchasing habits, and 3) ends the transaction with a cheerful "see you next week."
I don't know whether or not I will actually be into the bookstore next week. But it is very likely that I will be back there before too long, and I'll probably be greeted with the same cheerful remembrance.
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Things I did today in which I am well pleased: Stayed mostly within my budget at Celebration. Got close to finishing one of my older Round Robin pieces. Planned what I'm going to bring to Break the Fast tomorrow. Spent less than $20 in B&N.
Things that make me happy: needlework, knitting, temari, books, friends, Celebration, sleep