On retreat

 I'm just back from a nice weekend away in Sheffield, on a cross stitching retreat.  I really only dabble at cross stitch so I felt a bit of a fraud in a room full of 50 very serious stitchers - some of them with all the gear to prove it.  But everyone was really nice and I had fun - albeit getting very tired both days because I am not used to concentrating on something as fiddly as stitching for several hours.

We were sat in tables of eight in a large room with decent lighting and I was lucky to have a good group of  table mates.  There were also some mini workshops: I learned some tips for keeping the back of my stitching neater (always an issue for me), how to make a tassel from one skein of embroidery thread, a bit about choosing needles and which types to use, and a workshop on how to attach stitching to a vintage spool or bobbin.

For no reason given, I was upgraded to an enormous room - the hotel is a bit tired so it wasn't luxurious, but I could have invited all 50 stitchers in if they had all brought their own chair. Two king-size beds and not visible in the photo was a foyer with the ensuite and wardrobe off of it.   I had a couple of swims in the hotel pool as well, so it was a nice getaway

I was working on the fourth house from the CrossStitcher magazine Buildings of Britain series from last year, I think there are twelve altogether.  I also took along an embroidery panel from a French designer that makes up into a zippered pouch once the embroidery is done, and I made a start on that.  For the evenings, I have started knitting another hat.

I'd not been to Sheffield before, so I had a bit of a walk around the centre before going to my hotel.  Lots of monumental Victorian buildings on a sloping compact centre that didn't seem very lively, perhaps the shops and cafe area is somewhere else.  I did like the Winter Garden though, a sort of mini-jungle underneath wooden arches.

During the week I tried out a new project on my loom, experimenting with weaving with strips of fabric.  I already had some scrappy 1.5" wide strips of quilting cotton in my scraps bin, so I used those. They were a bit difficult to handle, I think thinner strips would work better.  But I'm pleased with how my placemat turned out even if it is a bit wider than I intended.  I might cut up some yardage on purpose to make matching mats.

I made up the other three Lori Holt small zippy bags and took one of them along to the retreat to hold tools. And I sewed together the blocks from the Checkered Dresden Plate but haven't cut fabric for the border yet.

I also tried out a project to print off and assemble a journal.  A papercraft designer called VectoriaDesigns does a lot of Youtube tutorials and free printables, which are a gateway to being tempted to buy things on her Etsy shop.  I was rather taken aback at how much printing ink it used up to print the components for the journal, which made it a pretty expensive project (more below on that) but the end result is very cute.  I don't know if I will actually write in it because my handwriting is really terrible. I took these pictures at night so the lighting isn't very good.  The tutorial shows you how to assemble and decorate the cover, and how to assemble the printed pages into signatures that you stitch into the spine.  The envelopes are optional but can be attached inside the covers or left loose.

Printing this project used up basically all three cartridges of ink for my Canon inkjet printer at a cost of around £12 per cartridge.  I went back over my order history and it turns out that I have spent, just for ordinary printing tasks because I don't print many photos, over £400 on ink since buying the printer in August 2023!  The printer itself was only £80.  It's ridiculous.  So the plan is, when I get a chance, to ditch this printer (might offer it to my son) and get a tank printer which apparently are hugely cheaper to run.  The Epson Eco-tank printer has been recommended to me.  

The dollshouse room excavation has continued.  We took a car load of various items including a dollshouse kit and a bunch of cheap furniture to the charity shop.  I finally put away a lot of clutter that was on the the countertops (in some cases for years).  I sold one small house for  less than I wanted but still a decent offer.  There is still a lot in the cupboards that I need to go through.  I also decluttered a lot of Japanese language learning notes and papers left over from the evening classes I took before COVID, so the study looks a lot better as well.  I am getting drafted in to help clear my elderly m-i-l's sewing and quilting stash (comparatively small) as she is beyond being capable of doing it herself, hopefully not much of it will come back to my house if we can find places to donate it.  I've contacted Project Linus for her area but haven't heard back yet.  We will also have the fun job of clearing out their shed.  My sister-in-law is determined to get them moved out of their terrace house and into a retirement flat this year, really they should have done it years ago.