....I got to go around the other large bookshops looking for 'Inspirations 66', but it seems not to have arrived in Taiwan at all, so I've given up on it.
....I got around to going to the 2nd nearest library and borrowed 3 books - 2 stories and 1 guidebook on Japan, where we go in just about 2 months.
....I've got around to starting revising and developing my Japanese language in earnest. I even bought the CDs for the course I've had hanging around for the past 6 months!
....I got on with the backstitching on the Field Mice, but I'm not showing that off until it's totally finished. I've done all the blackberries now and also about two thirds of the rose leaves.
....I bought two of the 'local' stitchcraft books. I put 'local' in inverted commas as they're not Taiwanese at all, but translated from Japanese books. There's an enormous collection of patchwork and quilting titles in several series', many of which are the muted 'country' style, which doesn't float my boat much, but seems rather big in Japan! Anyway, these are the two I bought, one on simple Japanese embroidery and designs and one on patchwork items decorated with embroidery and ribbon work.
Below are some spreads from the Japanese-style embroidery book, which I thought were rather nice, although I know they'll seem terribly over-simplified to those who've been taking the specialist JE courses!!=)
And here are some spreads from the patchwork/ribbonwork book. There are some really lovely things in this book and, despite the instructions all being in Chinese, the diagrams look pretty clear and I should be able to make good use of it - in good time!!
Aren't they all lovely?
