Oct 22/08

A little update on the stocking. I stithced a fair bit over the weekend, but have not done much during the week because my evenings have been sucked up with school work. I am working on a presentation about human rights and HIV/AIDS in the Canadian Aboriginal population and a paper on international aid and development and gender.


One of my friends that I met on my Habitat trip to El Salvador in November 2006 came into the Port City on one of the cruise ships last week. Suzy and her mom were here to see the fall colours of the East Coast. We had a wonderful afternoon driving around the countryside and taking in the beautiful colours with a wee stop at one of the local covered bridges. Apparently, it had been a long held dream of Suzy's mom to see the East Coast fall colours so it was a great pleasure for me to show the two of them the beauty of this region.

While I was searching through my research on the paper about development, I was reminded of kiva, an organization that I had heard about last year in my Global Issues class. There are some very interesting projects listed and I decided to spend $25 on 4 different projects to see how it all goes. Heck! I easily spend $100 on a pair of shoes without blinking so I figure that the money could be better put to use to help out 4 small entrepreneurs make their lives a little better.

Oct 11/08

My mom's stocking is coming along nicely. The chart is challenging by times to read because it is hand drawn and in black and white, but the design is worth the trouble! Plus, I keep reminding myself that I am making a huge dent in my thread stash with this project! A few years ago (six or seven), I bought out the overstock that we had at our drugstore from when my boss had dabbled in craft supplies and there were hundreds of skeins that came with the plastic display shelving!I was thinking the other day that I can finally get rid of one of the shelves because there are so few threads left in it, but I am still left with 17 more!


When I was getting out the stocking piece to photograph it, I came across this little scene in my living room. Not sure why she had to clear off the ottoman when there was a perfectly good and empty couch to sleep on right behind the ottoman. The joys of cats!

ETA: I bought the JCS 2008 ornament edition the other day. I have not had the time to read through it in depth, but there were several on the cover that caught my eye. So many beautiful projects to stitch and just not enough time in this lifetime!

Oct 5/08

There has been some progress made on the current stocking project. The camel heads are becoming more defined. Sorry for the fuzzy photo! I did not see the poor quality until after I had uploaded the photo onto my computer. This stocking is for my mother who as I write this should have arrived in Japan for a 3 week trip with her sister. I am SO excited for her because she is finally getting to visit the homeland of her mother. Now, I am sure that the Japan of today in no way resembles the Japan of the 1930s that my grandmother left behind to come to Canada, but there is something magical and profound about getting in touch with one's roots.


My neighbour did a wonderful job of fixing up these two pieces so that I can finally display them. The piece of embroidery on the left is a Fernando Llort inspired piece that I bought on my Habitat build in El Salvador in 2006 and the painting on the left was purchased in the Dominican Republic this year. Aren't they stunning? I just love the colours and I was absolutely amazed at the beauty of the embroidery. The back of the piece is almost as nice as the front!