Needlework cruise was a success!

We’re back from the needlework cruise! I say we, because this time The Husband came with me, which was lovely. The Reader and The Gymnast had a holiday at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, which they did enjoy, but they missed us (and we missed them!).

From the beginning, this was a different sort of travelling than we usually do. Apart from the fact that the girls weren’t with us, usually we take cabin baggage only, as it is so easy to get around that way. But look at all our luggage this time! We needed to take the kits for my classes, all my stock to sell, and all our many and varied clothes to wear.

There were 21 tutors on the cruise, and each taught three projects. That meant 63 different classes for people to choose from! What a lot of choice!

I taught three projects: Elizabethan Strawberries, Sardinian Whitework Hand Towel and Portuguese Whitework Biscornu.

In my classes the work was quite slow, not because the students were slow, just because the work was painstaking and demanding. In both the Elizabethan Strawberries class and the Sardinian Whitework Hand Towel class there wasn’t a lot for me to teach, but there was a lot for the students to master. They did very well with the amount they got done. The Portuguese Whitework students also did well, with two students – Susan and Anne – getting quite close to finishing the embroidery for their biscornus.

Teaching Elizabethan embroidery

Teaching Portuguese whitework

Teaching Sardinian knotted embroidery

I was really pleased with how all the students went. I hope that they had a fun time and learnt new things that they will be able to take with them. It will be lovely to see some photos of finished projects in time. (Hint, hint to cruise participants!)

Apart from the 6 days of classes, which were scattered throughout the cruise on the at sea days, there was also time to relax, and we had a few ports of call. As I have reported in a previous post, we visited Port Hedland, but we also had stops in Bangkok and Saigon (locals call it Saigon still, and it is quicker to write than Ho Chi Minh City!). The cruise finished in Singapore.

On board, after classes I usually took the opportunity to read on a deck chair and generally ended up having a snooze! There were also shows to watch and we saw an iceskating spectacular (yes, there’s an ice rink on the ship!) and a guitar virtuoso playing classical guitar. There was a lot of eating to be done!

Simon, one of the organisers of the needlework cruise arranged for all the needlework participants and their partners to visit the ship’s bridge. He was just having a chat with the ship’s captain one day and asked, and Captain Ryan said yes. I don’t think he realised that there were about 300 of us! So over two afternoons, all of us who wanted to received a 10 minute tour of the ship’s bridge. It was a wonderful opportunity!

Me and The Husband on our tour.

On two of the non-class sea days, we had sale events where the tutors displayed their wares – fabrics, kits, patterns, books etc – for needlework participants and general cruise people to come and buy. These were hotly anticipated, and Simon, who was manning the door outside the room had to hold people back. When the time came, they streamed in the door!

Streaming in the door, ready to purchase!

Thanks so much to Simon, Maureen and Clare of Needlework Tours and Cruises for organising this fantastic needlework cruise. I was so privileged to again be part of it. If you’re interested in doing one of these needlework cruises, the 2016 cruises are ready for booking!