Tuesday, January 07, 2014

heat wave in Chicago


Wow - it's up from 18 below to +5 today.  Temps are going up and by the time I leave on Friday, it is supposed to be a balmy 36 degrees.  Will believe it when I see it (or feel it, as the case may be).

I must admit I was flattered that a group of hearty souls dragged themselves out in this cold to hear me speak this morning.  Not sure I would have done the same, had the shoe been on the other foot.  The North Suburban Needlearts Guild is a group of diversely talented women, all of whom do something with a needle -- beading, felting, sewing, knitting, weaving, book arts, etc.  Many of them do surface design or make jewelry - and almost all of them do more than one thing - and do it well.  

Some of the members belong to a group called Womens' Journeys in Fiber and their work is amazing!
I just spent an hour on their website, http://www.womensjourneysinfiber.com -- completely awed by their talent.  You really need to go there.

After taking me out to a lovely lunch, my host for the afternoon took me to a place in Chicago called American Science and Surplus.  Oh,mygoodness -- what fun to browse.  Here are just a few of the things I resisted buying.





It did make a rather amusing afternoon.  My favorite stop was at an independent bookstore, where I purchased at least three novels to keep me occupied. Yes, I have some books on myiPad but I am not in the mood for any of them.  And there is nothing like paper reading matter to make me happy.
Tomorrow - Can this Fabric be Saved?

4 comments:

Cate Rose said...

My goodness, what an unusual assortment of merchandise. Hope your trip goes well -- I don't envy you the cold, though! xoxo

Linda Hicks said...

Oh dear, and you are running around in that weather as I am getting ready to go into a bee in Cambridge. Brrrr! I also find myself choosing paper except for art books. Surplus store are fun but I am dismantling my own ;-) And thanks for the link...will go there!

Eva said...

You would love it over here. 50° F and green pastures.
I'm just glad to hear that you did not get stuck anywhere -- in places like airport lounges... Winter journeys can be tricky. At least I'm sure that you are being taken care of very well by your students. Guess they know what it means to see you turning up under such circumstances.
(Of course, we see the most dramatic pictures on tv.)

Natalya Khorover Aikens said...

They are a great group of women aren't they! I thoroughly enjoyed visiting them last November!

soup weather in June and a little more

DISCLAIMER: Blogger is giving me grief tonight, which you will see by the varying sizes of the type. Ye p, soup weather and it's ...