Camp Report, Version 8

D.D. and I have completed our 8th Camp Session. Fun as ever! Though the older I get the less sense it makes to stay up until 2 am three nights running. I can't help it! I had to in order to work on these projects:

Chessie and Me's Ewe Under the Willow, front (l) and back (r). This pattern encouraged a bit of friendly competition in the crowd. First D.D. thought of stitching grass and putting color in her tree. (You can hardly see it, but I've got some gold French knots in the tree--I thought needed to pull some of that color in since my wool was gold.) Then I decided to use a grassy color and stitch my initials. Then someone else stitched grassy initials forwards on the front and in reverse on the back! A couple of people at our table used beads instead of French knots to bring color to the tree. Lots of creativity on this one. (We also got those clay pins stuck in the pincushion. And a miniature wooden hornbook--scroll about halfway down.)

Samsarah, Happy Fun Day. Crazy colors starting with WDW Calypso (used for the lettering). Metallics, Frosty Rays, and Fyre Werks were provided for stitchers to choose. It was a gaudy buffet of threads. I had completed the words and then on Sunday morning decided it should say Happy Birthday rather than Happy Fun Day. One woman at our table used overdyed browns to make it a chocolate cupcake. She also only stitched the heart, the star, and the swirl (ie no confetti pieces) and it came out pretty; not as garish. Lots of people stopped by to photograph it. Still, I kind of like how fully over the top this piece is (will be). Totally not my usual thing. This will be finished as a flat fold, and I have the Magic by Mona kit to go along with it. Look for the finished goods in posts to come.

Fourth of July--Quaker Style by Aury who blogs at Acerca del Bordado, stitched in Belle Soie silks. This will be mounted on Week's Dye Works felt (I chose a dark blue houndstooth) and made into a pocket to hold the mother of pearl Kelmscott Heart Threadkeep. (But just a note: please, patriotic at every spring camp? People, I live with a Brit. He loves this country but you see how so much American flaggy business might be a bit much in our house? How about a Christmas in April piece? Please.)

I didn't get to this project at camp. I stitched this on my interminable journey home. (Left Tulsa at 2:00 pm for Houston. Left Houston at 6:50 pm, arrived Philadelphia 11:05. Collected my luggage and car and arrived home to a barking guard dog at 12:15 pm. Couldn't wait for my head to hit the Tempurpedic!) The Temple women's gymnastics team was on our very full flight home--you should be happy to have a gymnastics team on your very full flight. We had a little peanut of a girl in the middle seat. And she was sweet--took an interest in my stitching and in the needlepoint (Janlynn kit) of the woman on the aisle even though she's in college and has much more interesting things on her mind.

Lindy and Mona deserve special recognition this year. Not only were the projects adorable, every single one of them had all the materials you would need and more! Well done, ladies. For a minute, we worried. What would be the charm of our rustic camp if everything went smoothly?

Not to worry, I've come away with a serious case of stitch-ass. No joke, I feel like someone implanted a tennis ball in my left hamstring. I can't wait to go to Pilates tonight--I've been thinking about it since Saturday.

It did become clear this weekend that we may need to establish new camp rules. By now we've all internalized the basic rules: quiet in the hallways after people start going to bed, don't let your door slam, etc.

New Rule #1: BRA WEARING I know wearing a bra for 15 hours grows increasingly uncomfortable but we need to establish some kind of rule so we are not assaulted by old boobs after 11:00 pm. By all means, change into your pajamas but either keep your bra on or wear an extra layer so I don't have to see just how far gravity has taken things. A robe, perhaps? Not sure if you need it? If you can see the outline of a nipple, you need to cover up. The only person who wants to see that didn't come to camp with you.

New Rule #2: SNORING Attend a sleep clinic to establish whether you have a snoring problem. If you do, get treatment. If your next door neighbor (me) is listening to An English Lady Mass on the iPod and she can still hear you snoring (through the wall!), you've got a problem that needs medical intervention. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the packing list for future camps. On it you will find "earplugs." I am thinking, however, noise canceling headphones may be in order.

Okay, the only vegetables I ate in the last four days were deep fried pickles, I need to put some of this in me: