Summer Colds Suck - An Update

Yes, as the title implies, I have a horrible summer cold. Had it since last week, and doesn't seem to be letting up at all. Don't feel really bad, just from the chin up, kinda feeling full of concrete - wet concrete :) Oh well, as soon as all of us get it, we can move on :) the next person who goes to California and brings a bug back with them is in BIG trouble!
Well, on to the stitching - no soccer worth mentioning this week (bad tourney, bad refs, ejections - that kind of thing). I was able to finish the Needlework Shop section of Nancy's RR!!!! I put the last bead on it Friday night!! I LOVED working on this, and hope to work a little bit on one of the other sections that wasn't quite done - don't know if I'll get to beads again, or not, but I'll get it closer :) Here it is:
I took this to my local stitching group meeting on Saturday, and it got LOTS of ohhhs and ahhhs and what a great idea!!

My main focus of the week was that small Foursome Reel piece, but due to my head, I only worked on it a few nights - if I had another whole Sunday afternoon, I'd have it done - so in September, I fully expect a finish, and hopefully a good start on Anatolia (unless I'm working on Halloween stuff :) ). I did get the corners to meet up, so that's good:
I also did some work on Lyne's wedding sampler, working my way down to those doves, finally - well, one of them, anyway :) I need to get situated to backstitch these as I complete rows, so I don't goof up those wings - the colors are reallllllyyyy similar, so I see myself getting lost a time or two :) Though there are a lot of color changes, it really is a pretty nice piece to work on - the roses have a really nice flow to them when you get to a grouping of them.
And because I really am in Halloween mode right now, I went ahead and started 6 Bats and a Witches Hat, from Blue Ribbon Designs. I was going to start it at the stitching group Saturday, but as soon as I took out the 40ct fabric, I knew I wouldn't be able to see it in there, so I didn't even frame it up. I started it as soon as I got home :) You know, it's been a while since I used Weeks Dye Works threads; I have since remembered how much I really don't like them. Especially Mascara (the black) - it is thin, brittle, and if you have to frog more than 1 stitch, it just shreds. I am SOOOO glad I am converting Boo Club to Carrie's Threads! WDW have jumped right to the top of my avoid-at-all-cost threads, and really, they don't give me a look I can't duplicate with DMC - they aren't heavily variegated, so not missing much by going DMC if necessary. Anyway, I will struggle through - it is a fun stitch, aside from that!

And lastly, my travel project, Iris, got some decent progress, especially at the stitch meeting Saturday (though, with my head combined with cold drugs, it's a wonder I put any stitches in anything correctly). The left iris, the solid one, is 98% done now, and then just a bit left on the upper middle one, and lots & lots of backstitching to figure out :)And that's it for last week :) This week, I plan to finally knock out the last of that top row of pages on Lady & unicorn - I'm trying to get out of practice this week, as we have this last weekend off before the season really starts with the big Atlanta Cup tourney over Labor Day weekend, so I plan to take full advantage - if I can shake this cold - of my last free week, essentially, until ???? January? Anyway, check back next week to see what I actually accomplish!! Happy stitching this week to everyone!!