Desfiles des Llamadas - All Drums, No Pipes

 Crowds gathered for the Parade of the Calls Saturday night near downtown Montevideo.  The parade was supposed to take place on Friday, but was rained out.  We were lucky enough to be on a rooftop on the parade route - food and drink included.  This parade has been split up into two nights because there are so many drumming groups that want to take part.  We went to the second half.  It was awesome.

The group from Maldonado, near Punta del Este, had a representation of a famous piece of architecture in Uruguay.  An artist has a work in progress on the coast.  It's an all white house with no right angles and is constantly being added to. 

La Melaza is the only all woman candombe (drumming) group in Uruguay.  This is a picture of them.  Most of the groups have no women whatsoever.  You can also see the crowds encroaching on the street.  There are no real barricades and policing, yet the parade goes through.

Like Brazil, Uruguay has its share of scantily-clad dancers in its parades.

Sponsors for the groups and the groups themselves have huge flags that they wave over the crowds lining the streets.

Yet more dancers.  Even though this is technically an Uruguayan black history parade, most of the participants aren't.  On the other hand, they all have a good time.

And here you see the very first group we saw.  Yes, their hats are sunflowers.  The sound from these candombe groups can be heard blocks away as they march up the street.  When they're right in front of you, it's a wall of sound.

If y'all want to see more pictures of this, comment.  I have more that I'd love to use, but I don't want to overwhelm you!  Oh, and we're going to at least two more Carnaval events this week, so expect more pictures...

Still Crossing Down

I've resisted doing aught but cross stitches again, and I am getting a bit farther along.  Now to find more time to stitch.

Twirling About

The last thing I added to my rotation was a UFO, as I try to alternate between new and old to clear out started but not finished things.  So, I came across this small one - Pirouette in Purple from The Sweetheart Tree.  It'd been started quite a while back and not much else, so I worked it into the rotation.  It shouldn't take too long.

Kaleiding Again

I've started working on the Kaleidoscope Mandala again from Tracey Horner with Marquoir.  This time I have five squares to complete, so it's going to take a while.  It's still looking pretty good, I think, and people who see it in person really admire it.

Janet P's Bees, Butterflies, and Beetles Block

Here is a picture of Janet's naked block.  I was the first to work on it.  It's approximately 15 inches in diameter.

And this is a picture of the beetle I put on it.  The model was a picture of a Pink Sand Beetle off the Utah Wildlife site.  I drew it freehand. 

This one is at the same scale as the top picture.  It's after all the work I did on it.

And this is a closer picture of the work I did.  The ladybugs at the top are some kind of seed from around here that has been turned into beads.  I don't know what kind of bug I made up for the conga line, and the butterflies are SRE.  I hope Janet likes it and that the next person who works on it is able to add more to the piece.

Last Part of the Alphabet

The last third of the alphabet is done, as is part four.  It looks good, I think, but now I have to wait to stitch part five until I am done with the other stitchalong parts.

Guest Blog Post

I wrote an article for Subversive Stitchers this week, and you should read it.  It's about what happens to those kids' hearts I stitch.  You can read it here.  Maybe you'll even stitch a heart too!