Life's A Beach

Well-I am back home but not recovered. I am just too old to be away from home for 6 days, overeating, not sleeping well and generally out of my routine. But don't get me wrong-we had a blast and I enjoyed every minute of the trip. My travelling companions were the best, the quilt show and vendors were top notch and the side trip to Galveston went off without a hitch. Tomorrow I head back to work and I am sure by the end of the week I will be back to normal and all will be fine.

We headed out Tuesday morning for Houston and immediately I got lost trying to pick up Melissa out where she lives in the Boonies!! But we hooked up and hit the road bright and early. We stopped for lunch outside of Dallas and managed to do some real damage at a great quilt store near by. We stopped for dinner on the north side of the Houston area at a Mexican place that we had also stopped at 2 years ago. The meal was just as awesome as last time so we were pleased.

After a good night's sleep in our hotel, Wednesday morning brought early classes at the show to most of us. I did not have a class at all that day but I played chauffeur to several other of the ladies. I MapQuested yarn shops and picked one out that seemed fairly close to where we were situated. I dragged one of my non-knitting pals with me and she was a great sport. The shop I chose was Yarn 2 Ewe near downtown Houston. The store front was nothing to look at, in fact it did not even look open. But I was determined and went in. Boy am I glad I did. It was the largest, best stocked shop I have ever been in. I was overwhelmed but I managed to buy some great lace yarn and of course, my staple purchase, sock yarn. I did not spend a ton of money but I would definitely be dangerous if that was my own personal LYS!!

Wednesday night was preview night at the quilt show and we managed to run thru and shop like crazy women. Thursday we had more classes on slate. I took a silk screen class in the afternoon which was just an OK experience. I am not sure I will do alot with her method but it was fun to learn. I managed to do most of the rest of my shopping before my class but I still had not really gone in and seen the show. I figured to save that for Saturday.

So Friday I had my side trip to Galveston all planned. I could not convince anyone to go with me but that did not deter me a bit. A while back I Googled "Visit Galveston" and they talked about events coming up in the Bay area. One of those was something that I was not sure I wanted to be around for but I did not remember exactly what that was. Well when I got there it did not take long to figure it out. It was the Texas Biker's rally!! So there were bikes and biker's everywhere and they even had alot of the seawall section closed off. But I headed out to the beaches to the SW of the city and they were clean, wide and quiet. I got to walk for hours in complete peace(Ok, an occasional Harley revving in the distance!!). The weather was to die for, warm, sunny and calm winds. That is the best for beach walking but not for beach combing. They had not had a storm in quite a while so there was very little good shelling to be done. So I just took alot of pics and enjoyed getting my feet wet and sandy. I wish I could have stayed longer but maybe it will be enough to last me till I can go see the dear grandkids and walk the beaches of N Carolina.

Saturday I hit the show with a vengence. I had all the quilts to see and a few odd things to pick up in the vendor area. I was sure I was not going to have enough time to do it all. But the show itself only took a few hours and that was going slow and looking at everything. This year they split the show floor up into vendors on the east and quilts on the west. It flowed so much better and made things easier for the public. The folks who only got to come on Saturday hit the vendors early and the show itself was not all that crowded. As usual there were a few great quilts but I never agree with the judges on who should win the big prizes. My favorite quilts this year were almost all from Japanese artists. None of them looked particularly oriental but instead tended to be fairly traditional in block design but modern in the fabrics and interpretation. There was only one crazy quilt in the show and it was done by Judith Baker Montano with her new fabric and ribbon lines. I was not all that impressed with it at all but then again my history with her probably flavors my reaction. All in all the show was good and the company could not be beat. Since it will probably end up as my last Houston show I was more than happy with our group excursion.

On the knitting front I managed to start a new pair of socks while I was gone. The argyle experience is done for now and maybe forever. Instead I just took some self striping yarn with me and planned on doing a plain jane magic loop sock. I knitted alot in the evening while chatting with the other girls in the room. The magic loop method is now my favorite way to knit socks and I will not hesitate to make more complicated designs this way. But that said...these socks are the most boring ever made. The stripes are large and chunky and the pattern I used for the socks don't have alot of excitement either. But they will be warm and comfortable and will be worn plenty. I didn't take the Tomten with me due to it's large size and bulk but did manage to get some knitting done on the sleeve tonight. I am almost done with the 2nd sleeve and still have to fix the 1st one but maybe by next weekend I can get the hood started. Then I will feel like the end is in sight and I can start to plan a new project.

I guess I better get the rest of my weekend chores squared away. I don't much feel like going back to work tomorrow but maybe that is just what I need to get back into my routine. So while I work on that, the rest of you keep up the creative energy and I will see you next week.