When you have some “idle” time how about checking out Pinterest–Ladies stitching thru history – https://www.pinterest.com/shirleyrapp/art-of-ladies-stitching-thru-history/

Of note is Madame Defarge shown below as she records in her knitted registry the names of people. She is a fictional character in the 1859 novel “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens.

A  ringleader of the tricoteuses, tireless worker for the French Revolution, and the wife of Ernest Defarge.  Defarge knits, and her knitted stitches secretly encodes the names of people.   All day Madame Defarge sits and listens to conversations in the wine shop. Wearing a lace hat she stitches a “Hit List” of the people she wants eliminated during the Revolution.

Hmmm, so how important is a hat. The term “THROW YOUR HAT IN THE RING” comes from boxing. Today, throwing a hat in the ring indicates a challenge to political candidacy.  I wonder as the ballots are still being counted, will we hear a “Time to Throw in the Towel” by one of the candidates of the 2020 election.

STUDIO NOTE:  In 2010 as part of my “Hay” series, “Straw Vote” shown below was juried into the international The ArT-QuILT ExPERIENCE show at Cazenovia College Art Gallery, Cazenovia, New York. (It must have been timely, as it sold at the opening.)

Well, I guess it’s time to get out of my studio and do some on-line shopping! Hats, Masks, Knitting Needles, Towels, hmmm, what else!         STAY SAFE . . . Smith Stitch Studio!