Krakow's Central Square

 These are the beginning of Andreas' photos from Krakow last October.  Since we're going back in three months, I thought it might be a good idea  to post these ones before we go again.  Krakow's central square is awesome.  It's full of people and life without being overcrowded.  The cloth hall sits in the middle and has been turned into a museum and market.  Very fun to wander around.

Velvet Cow Fur

The little bits of velvet for the border are still coming along.  Soon I can start on the banner across.

Just Across The Street

Not much to see in Iasi outside the mall, but we tried.  We crossed the street and found a locked church, then crossed back down the block and found two more churches.... at least they're pretty looking.

My First Richelieu

Last October, while we were in Krakow, I bought some Richelieu kits.  This is one of them.  It's a table runner, and it's going to be very hard  to photograph as it goes on.  It's also huge.  The stitching, though, is going faster than I thought it would.

Children At The Mall

 Children playing last September around the mall grounds in Iasi.

Presidential Challenge

At the May CyberStitchers meeting, I issued a presidential challenge to complete the Colonial Band Sampler in the next few issues of Needle Arts.  This is my start on the project - two months later.  I've already made a mistake, but I'm not changing it.  I placed the little blue bird on the upper left in the wrong spot.  It's made everything else off a little bit.  I'm just going to roll with it.  After this spot area is done, the rest of the sampler is bands anyway.

Moldovan Shopping Heaven

 When you live in Moldova, there really aren't many shopping options, especially actual malls.  There's a solution, though!  Merely two hours from Chisinau by road, there's Iasi, Romania.  It has the Palas Mall, which is shopping nirvana.  The outer grounds are also lovely, including the cultural palace (big old looking building), which is being remodeled.  That's about all that's lovely about Iasi, but it's enough if you've been shopping inhibited long enough.  It even has a Subway sandwich shop and an Auchan supermarket!