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!

Connie's Generous Exchange

About a month ago, Connie in Colorado contacted me about doing an exchange with her because she wanted things from Uruguay, having seen some of what I'd shown on my blog.  I agreed and sent her a bunch of beads and floss from here.  She, in return, sent me all this!  I'd told her that my real need was just plain cotton fabric because it's impossible to go to the store and get here.  Thank you, Connie!

First Picture

City Walk is an ANG correspondence course design by Linda Reinmiller.  I'm taking it with my chapter, San Bernadino.  I finally got all the materials together a week and a half ago and started it last week.  The first part is a lot of counting and gridwork, so that's what you see here.

Can You See?

More shutter, more of the bottom area.  It's coming along, but it's so big it's hard to see what I've done.

Groundhog Day in Uruguay

While people in the States were figuring out if there'd be more winter, here in Uruguay, February 2 is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea, Yemanja.  It had been threatening to rain all day, but held off for this event.  This first picture is of the rides at Parque Rodo, all lit up and going full blast.  It was a night of celebration.

 The idea of Yemanja is to give offerings to the sea.  Part of that is digging holes in the beach at Playa Ramirez and lighting candles in the bottom.  People spent all day on the beach making holes and other things - usually boats - for the offerings in the sand.

Not the best of shots, but it shows the size of the crowd and that it really was right on the shore.

Dressing in white robes seems to be part of the ritual for some, and here they're preparing a styrofoam boat to launch with offerings out into the river.

Here, a lot of lit holes in the ground.  They looked pretty dotted randomly down the beach, but were treacherous when the light went out.  I'm sure there were a lot of wrenched ankles before the night was through.

Communing, offering prayers, I don't know, but many people sat by their holes contemplatively.  A lot of the ones who did were stoned, so it might have been vegetatively.

This was one of the more elaborate set ups.  You can see the offerings of food in the front.

And this one was very big too.  It had a gathering of people all the way around it.  It was a very peaceful crowd with little jostling and such.  The sight of all those candles lit was just amazing.  This festival is held on different dates in places like Cuba, Brazil and some of the Caribbean islands.  If you get a chance to go, do.

Nearly Topped

Well, I'm nearly done with the top part of the biscornu now.  I average two needlesful of floss on it per day, and will have it done soon. 

Bargello Done

Yes, I posted that I had finished this in my One World One Heart post on the 25th of January, but it wasn't stitchy.  So this is the real finish post.  I worked it beyond the markings so I'd not have any blank areas once I mounted it.  Today is the big mounting day using a way I've never done before - a premade metal form.  Wish me luck!

An Antique Find

We were in Spanish class a week ago last Saturday when I found this in an antique market.  What?  Your language lessons don't include field trips?  For shame!  Our instructors believe in practicing the language you're learning, so we go on field trips.  This one was to Ciudad Vieja, the oldest part of Montevideo.  They have an antique market at Plaza Matriz every Saturday, and we were walking past after completing out asking people where things were, so we shopped before lunching.  My purchase was this purse, which I will be cleaning this week.  It's in excellent condition beading-wise, but the fabric's really dirty.  Hopefully it'll clean up neat.  You never know what you'll find there.

Leafing Out One Last Time

Still working on the last egg; this time, I got more of the acanthus leaves done and more of the black border.  I also was able to do more on the last line, getting part of it halfway done.  This last one is definitely going faster than the others.

More Momosapiens - Tango

More from the performance on Sunday the 24th at the Marine House.  They said this is a tango that represents a series of letters between two famous Uruguayan writers.  Me, I think it's just neat to watch.

Twelfth Part

Got the twelfth part done this past week.  I'm only a month behind now.  Catching up ever so slowly!  These are pretty big parts to stitch, and take quite a while, but I really like the piece.

An Ornamental Finish

I finished this last week, and it counts as my Ornament-of-the-Month for both Cyberstitchers and Friendly Stitchers!  Yes, I started it back in October, but I finished it this month, so it counts for this month.  I like the way the stitching turned out, but I'm not very drawn to these colors.  Perhaps at another time I'll do this again in black, white and gray. 

Momosapiens - Carnaval is Here

I've been wanting to get this video up all week, but we have a hard time uploading so much content over rather small bandwidth.  It finally worked today!  Did you know that Uruguay has the longest Carnaval in the world?  It runs a full forty days here, as long as Lent.  Anyway... to get on to what this is. 

Last Sunday, we went to the Marine House to watch a Carnaval group.  We were told it was a group of performers who would be competing for the top in one of the categories.  The picture was of the typical Rio de Janeiro thing - dancing girls with huge headdresses wearing barely anything.  What we got were the Momosapiens, a parodista group that's all male and fantastic.  Imagine, if you will two dozen plus men with regular day jobs who dance and sing as a sideline.  Then imagine them dancing at a concrete poolside that they've never danced on before - with a fence six to seven feet from the pool.  That's what you see here. 

Parodistas are one of five categories of performers who compete in Uruguay.  They have a huge following, and are groups that do three things - dance, sing, and pantomine.  All of it is supposed to be a comment on modern life.

I hope you like watching these guys as much as I did.  I'll try to put up a couple more of their videos in the next week.  All were from the said party at the pool.

Faster or the Same?

I don't know that I really am, but it feels like I'm going faster on this side than I was on the other.  Perception is everything, they say, so if I feel that way, it means I'm not getting frustrated with myself for going so slowly!

Poled

The Lady's coming along, though I'm back to brown again.  I also finished off the bottom of the flagpole.  That's definite progress. 

Waving Along

Caela Conn Tyler calls the stitch I'm using now a wave stitch.  It's just nice and easy to do.  I like the way it's looking here, and it doesn't take long to get a whole needleful done.

And on to the Next One

I finished up See the Stars and went on to my next Marquoir stitchalong this week - the German Group Mystery by Kelly Searles.  In this picture, I'd just worked on it one day.  I think I'm now rotating through things faster than they're coming out, at least!

Another Charity Start

Cyberstitchers is in charge of the favors for the Share a Stitch regional meeting of the Tennessee Valley Region of EGA in June.  We're making biscornus for it.  This is the beginning of mine.  I hope to have it done in a week or so to send to the collector.

It's an Albatross

Caught an albatross in flight over the river.  Those things are huge!

Rounding It Out

Yes, I know, there's a picture of this finished in the OWOH post.  Here is where I was on it last Saturday afternoon.  As you can see, I just decided it had to be finished, so I did.  Now to put it into ornament form real soon.

Moon Over Montevideo

This is a picture of the moon over our back yard a few weeks ago.  We have some spectacular sights here.

Birds on the Rocks

These birds were down on the rocks at the end of the street, across the Rambla.  For some reason, a huge flock of several different kinds gathered there. 

More Winter in Summer

I've decided to do all the cross stitching before I go on to the specialty stitches.  I might change my mind later, but this week I did some of the inner outlines.

One World One Heart Blog Giveaway

I've decided, after discovering it today, to participate in the One World, One Heart giveaway from way down here in Uruguay.  Since it's a spur of the moment decision, I've not got things nicely made up for it, but they -will- be completely finished before sending to you!  With that in mind, I'm offering three prizes: a bargello ornament that I just finished stitching today, a cross stitched ornament, and a picture from Andreas.  The picture will be 8x10 inches and printed on archival paper.  Each of the prizes will have more information below their pictures.  To register for my drawing, just leave a comment with a way to get back to you.  You -must- leave a comment before February 15th, as I will draw the winners then.

Here's the photo I picked:

This is a low resolution picture of it.  It will be in much higher resolution.  The picture was taken here in Montevideo, a few blocks from our house.  There are several species of birds in it, and I think it's a neat shot.

This is the second prize:

I stitched this a while back and never got around to making it into an ornament.  Now you get it made into one if you win.

And here is the final one:

I have the finishing materials for this; it will be going on a circular metal form.  I just finished it today, and I think the bargello came out pretty well.

Edited 2/7/10: I added a picture of the finished bargello ornament.  Now you know exactly how it will look!

Remember, if you want any of these, to leave a comment on this post before February 15th.  I'll be drawing a winner at nine in the morning Montevideo time on that day.

Purple Finish

I finished the Weihnachtsmysterie!  It's not getting made into anything yet because my sewing machine is broken, but all the stitching is done.  Thank you, Tam, for making this pattern available to the Marquoir group!

Egging It On

Only work on the last egg this week, but a lot of progress on it. 

Parrots and Teros

These pictures were taken in a field in front of the engineering school just a few blocks from the house.  This first one is a flock of parrots.  They gather in huge groups in the trees and are rather a hazard.  For example, in November, when the figs in the back yard were ripe, the parrots ate all the figs or dropped them to the ground on top of the pigeons.  Fun to watch, but messy and noisy.

This second picture is of a tero, the national bird of Uruguay.  If you notice, its legs are jointed in the same way a flamingo's are - backwards.  They're pretty birds, but shy.

More Stashification

These pictures are still more stash from the mercerias I found on 18 de Julio and at the market.  Yes, the pendant is the one on the necklace from the previous post.

More Dragon or Salamander?

I'm still unsure whether it's a dragon or a salamander, but whichever it was, it grew this week.  I did more black than red, and managed to get the critter done by another couple of rows.

New Necklace

Andreas made me this necklace and found the exactly right pendant for it at the merceria at the market about a week ago.  It just fits perfectly with the copper links. 

Still Feeling Good About Seven

More work on part seven, with a couple of colors that haven't been used much so far.  I'm so relieved to be done with part six that I'm working a bit more quickly on seven.