You know what they say about frying pans and fires.

Well, I lost the bid on the pattern I was looking at (now that I don't have to worry about mentioning it here and having one of my blog readers outbid me (!!), I can tell you that it was a Cinderella pattern I'd never seen before, by Bluebell Cottage. I wanted it mostly for the border, which I thought I could modify and use with one of the Lavender & Lace Celtic Maidens!).

BUT.....after living in this town for 5 years, I finally made it to my LNS for the first time on Saturday. The store hours are from 10-3 Monday thru Saturday, so Saturdays are really the only day I can get there. Also, my stitching coworkers told me that the woman who owns the shop was not very friendly, so I never made much of an effort to stop in. Anyway, it wasn't the most extensive shop I've ever been in, but it was nice! And the owner, while she was a bit "prickly", seemed nice enough once I demonstrated a bit of knowledge about stitching. She asked me what kind of patterns I was interested in, and I casually name-dropped..... "oh, Teresa Wentzler, Marilyn Leavitt-Inblum, Nora Corbitt..." hehehehe As I was browsing around, another woman came in and started talking about "working on the darned huge moon in that fairy pattern." My ears perked up, and I chirped from across the shop, "oh, you mean Maria van Scharrenburg's "Night" fairy? She's lovely!" Man, I was IN after that. *big grin* Also, there was woman in there who was evidently making her first foray into stitching. She picked out a little Lizzie Kate square pattern, and as the owner was getting her some fabric and floss, she asked me what I was looking at. I just happened to have MLI's "Baby in a Basket" pattern in my hand, and I said that if I knew someone who was having a baby, I'd love to stitch it. She peeked over my shoulder, then said, "my grand-daughter is pregnant...hmmm. How much harder would that be?" The shop owner and I both assured her that the principle was the same, but since she'd never stitched before, jumping into an evenweave or linen might be a bit intimidating. I'm such an enabler!!!!!

Anyway the damage to my wallet.
- TW's "Storyteller" chart. (the SAL over on the TWBB inspired me to look for the pattern!)
- Serendipity Designs' "Tapestry Dreams" chart. It was in the 50% off bin, I got it for $4.
- Just Nan's "Wintry Mix" chart pack.
- Just Nan's "Butterfly Lace" chart (also 50% off, cost me about $1.25).
- the Flutterbead charm that goes with the Butterfly Lace pattern.
- an end cut of green/brown hand-dyed 28-count lugana. Good for dragons and such!
- an end cut of 28-ct. flax linen - for the Just Nan patterns.
All told, I spent about $35. I guess that wasn't TOO bad.....but I won't be going back for a while! (and she does framing......yay!)