After the vendors room, I attended a presentation about organizing your tatting (Sample Books - Keeping Track of Threads) featuring Irene Woo, Hope Green, and Terry McGuffin. IMHO, these people are way too organized! LOL! Truly, they have beautiful sample books and from what they say, it makes their tat-life easier, but I have to admit that I will never be in that category. I don't have a clue how many ds's it takes in size 20 of ANY thread to equal 1" nor do I know personally how one thread tats up next to another unless I actually do it at the time. I have an overall idea about which threads are soft and limp and which are crisp and which fuzz up and what compares in size but to go to a book and pick what I need from it....nah, will never happen. I will never be in the Tatting Hall of Fame but fortunately we have tatters who are very good at this and deserve to be. Now you know who to go to when you want to know what kind of thread to use for a project!



I'm not sure what I was doing a this point but I missed the introduction of competition judges. I might have gone back to my room to make sure all my stuff for class was ready. Then we had lunch. The 1st class was 1-3, but I didn't take one from this time slot. I know I was checking my class stuff at this point and ....in the vending room again. You got a bag and put your anticipated purchases in it with your name on the outside. I didn't check out until later in the day.

My own class started at 3:30 p.m. and I wheeled my little cart and my display board over to Fisher Building. Then up to the 2nd floor. I was a little early and was setting my stuff up, including a portable stereo for background music. While I enjoyed having the music, I decided not to bother the next day. I had 15 students signed up - most eventually showed up. I realized long before class that we probably would not have enough time to cover everything thoroughly but I knew my hand-outs were graphic intensive and could probably help with anything we didn't get through. Oh....did I forget to say that on arrival Thursday night I found out my handouts weren't printed yet - and maybe not even received? We did find all but one and they were sent off for printing, arriving about 1/2 hour before my class. I spent 15 minutes sorting them.....only to realize half-way through class that I was still missing some. In fact, missing the one I thought most needed a visual explanation. I had a couple of students who had trouble with split rings but I hope they are able to follow the instructions later when they get split rings down. Anyway, it seemed to go well, but more time really was needed - or one less technique.

After that we had dinner -the banquet- including a skit with Mark and Tina dueling over which method, shuttle or needle, was the best. Georgia refereed. Advantages and disadvantages of both were pointed out, but in the end - it's whatever you feel comfortable doing that counts.

The time after that was for tat and chat and I'd told people from my class that I would help them that evening or the next day. As it turned out, I was really tired and begged off - I still had to put my display back together and make final preps for my morning class.

In between all this, I talked with tatters newly met and those I've met before. Oh!
I had a lovely surprise from Erin! Several months ago I mentioned how much I loved those colorful crochet hooks I'd seen in the stores. Well....Missy Holloway made sure I got them! LOL! I was completely taken by surprise! Thank you so much Erin!



BTW, I never did participate in the late night or early morning events. I know I miss out on some fun, but I also know my limits of physical endurance.