Happy Memorial Day!

Another month has passed since I wrote in my blog. I can't believe how the time just flies by. I have not really accomplished much in May but I did attend a super needlepoint workshop last weekend sponsored by The Sampler Guild of Ga of which I am a member. They had Carole Lake in for her Mary Queen of Scots lecture and to teach a canvas piece that she designed in honor of Mary's insignia. It is a fabulous piece which includes the four symbols that were most special to Mary aka Marie Stuart - the thistle for Scotland, the Tudor Rose to symbolize her joining (trying to join Elizabeth I), the Lily for her love and remembrance of France and the crown to show her reign as Queen of Scotland. It also includes her unique cypher in the center which spells Marie Stuart. We were in Marietta GA and visited Abcedarius a stitching shop while there. One afternoon after class we visited the old square in Marietta and some unique shops and had dinner at a great restaurant on the square called Sympatico. Got my thistle completed in class but had a real hard time with the buttonhole stitch used on the tudor rose. Didn't even attempt the long and short stitch for the lily but will get help from the local shop owner in the future on that one. I regretted that I was unable to visit the local yarn shop in Marietta and I understand they have a great needlepoint shop too - just not enough time to do everything I wanted to do.

In samplers - I am still working mainly on my Celle 1826 and my Long Dog design called Sarabande. Am dying to start a new design by Mariska, a belgium designer - it is called Nine Alphabets and is sorta a french alphabet type design. Still have not started my online class with Joanne Harvey - Hannah Prescott - need to get that underway - I think the colors are beautiful but would have been much more tempting to me if silk was included in the kit instead of cotton.

In rug hooking - man am I stagnant - In the beginning of May our local rug guild had our annual hook-in and I worked on the mermaid. I hope to spend some time on the mermaid again this weekend. If she never gets out she will never be finished. But she MUST be finished this year - must must must!

In knitting - I have had a lot of fun knitting in May. I picked up some lovely yarn while in Charleston in April along with a great simple jacket. After knitting along for about 4 inches I realized that the pattern stitch did not show up at ALL with this particular yarn. YIKES - So now I have purchased MORE yarn to go with my FREE pattern! I have restarted the jacket and am about at the same point I was at when I ripped out the first attempt. Need to get my Noro Silver Thaw jacket finished up so it will be ready for fall. Just need to do side seams on my ROwan Soft Tweed vest and it will be completed. Have several summer tops in progress or planned - better get busy on them. A leftover project from last year is a great looking summer cardi out of a hand dyed cotton from Peru with great buttons from the button shop in NYC I purchased while on a trip there in June last year. Better pull that to the top of the stack - it is close to completion and could possibly be used this summer or late fall.

Don't forget the moment of silence at 3pm on Monday to honor those who have served our country. Happy Memorial Day to all !!!!