Thursday, July 4, 2019

We were up and out the door yesterday in plenty of time to catch the first ferry to Comox. While we waited in the ferry line-up we checked to see if there was any shopping in the area around Pat’s doctor’s office. There wasn’t so when we got to Nanaimo he dropped me at the Michael’s store. I can spend a lot of time at a shop like that and, if necessary, I could cross the street to a Chapters.

One of the first aisles I went down I spotted the project bins; I can always use more of those. I decided right then that I would only purchase what could fit in one of the bins. Two bins would be too much to carry and those bins hold quite a lot.

As I wandered through the artist’s supply section I spotted a couple of notebooks filled with graph paper. Our “new” Thursday stitcher uses a graph paper notebook to sketch out all of her quilts. The rest of us thought it was an excellent idea and when I was headed to Saskatoon I said I would look for something. Of course I forgot so I was happy to get these on sale. This morning Bonnie Hunter came out with a new Leader and Ender project so I used my notebook to sketch out the block.

It is always a challenge for me to go through the yarn section – so many colours, so many soft yarns. And who can resist a Croquette?

They had a great chart on the wall showing the various weights of yarn and estimated amounts needed for various projects. I went back and referred to the chart so many times that I finally asked if I could have a copy. It will be useful when I’m using up scraps of yarn to know if I have enough for a hat, a scarf or maybe a shawl.

A quilting friend, who also knits, has often spoken about these gloves. Knitting and crocheting can cause my wrists to ache and I thought I’d give them a try.

My final purchase was some ribbon. I’ve had trouble finding the right size and colour of ribbon for some of my projects. I think with these colours I’ll be ready for Christmas.

After an hour and a half at Michaels I cross over to Chapters. Of course there are so many books that I could have picked up but I’m better (obviously) at resisting books than I am yarn. I was also surprised at how many of the books on display I had already read. Wasn’t it lucky that I had just enough room left in my bin for this new quilting book?

After all that lovely shopping we drove back to Comox and did a Costco run – not as exciting but we stocked up on some staples for home and Texada. We were meeting Peggy and Bill for dinner and just before the checkout, as I turned down the last aisle, who should be coming down the aisle from the other end but Peggy and Bill! We had a nice dinner and a lovely chat before heading back to the ferry and home.