Weekend Adventuring (and Spending!)

On Saturday I decided it was time to take DH up on his offer to take me to the stitching shop that is going out of business, a little over an hour away. (I wouldn't normally ask him to do this, but road tripping together is fun, and we had agreed on this as "payment" for my assistance with his poster presentation - which was a big hit, BTW.)

Honestly, I wasn't as impressed with the store as I'd thought I'd be, after hearing my coworker rave about it. They did have a large selection of patterns/fabbies/flosses/doodads, but the organization (or lack thereof) was driving me batty. They had everything arranged by subject, which works in theory.....until you realize that the categories are defined by the employees. So there were some dragon patterns under "Animals", some under "Fantasy" and some under "Childrens". Ack. And when I asked if they had an Iowa state sampler by Eventide Designs....forget it. It *might* have been in the "U.S./Travel" section, or perhaps the huuuuge "Sampler" category. If the patterns had been alphabetical by designer within the subject categories, I might not have been so overwhelmed.

But I DID manage to spend some money! I got:
- a card of Wisper for Mira's "The Scent of Old Roses."
- some DMC - still more expensive than at the craft store chains, but they were there, and I only needed 3 or 4 skeins, so I grabbed 'em.
- Silk 'N Colors "Snow Creme". I needed 4 or 5 other colors as well, but the specialty floss drawers had already been picked pretty clean.
- a handful of Kreiniks.
- a 21" long piece of 6" natural stitchband for a Christmas sampler design I have.
- a piece of 28-ct. Wood Violet jobelan (11"x 21", I think)
- a piece of 28-ct. Prairie Grain jobelan (13" x 24")
- just 3 patterns - Lizzie*Kate's "My Secret Garden with charms, "Ireland" by Heartland House, and "Romeo and Juliet" from Heritage Stitchcraft's Writer's Gallery.

(Sorry if the pics aren't great.....I used my Flickr account, since Blogger is evidently being bratty this morning.)

Everything I bought was 1/3 off, and I spent about $50. I think DH was a little shocked! Ah well. The poor boy spent most of the afternoon 1) walking around the teeny little town, 2) doing homework in the car, and 3) napping......

When we got home Saturday, I dove into the Woodland Sampler pattern by Something in Common. It is really cute, and the verse by Robert Frost is one of DH's favorites, so I know he'll be as pleased to display it as I am to stitch it. Sunday I worked on OUAT, and finished all of the gold border. The browns are coming along slowly, although it doesn't FEEL like I've accomplished much. I'll try to remember to post a pic sometime this week.