Saturday

I've spent the better part of today going through craft books, including tatting literature, in an effort to declutter via the garage sale way. My daughter is having a garage sale next weekend. I hadn't quite intended to get this extensive but the more I do, the more I see to do.

I've listed a few odds and ends on ebay....nothing tatting related...and have been continually reinspired to projects I've wanted to do but haven't yet. I'm pleased I've managed at least 1 filet crochet item the last 2 years. I might have to step that up a bit. I'm getting rid of a lot of general crafts magazines, most of the cross-stitch magazines, and I'm even giving up some things I never thought I would. I think I'll be motivated to give up even more later.

I have one tatting friend who doesn't have a computer so she only prints off a limited amount of what is available on the web. I have so many duplicates and I can't bear to just throw them away. Now I know why - I'll just hand off the extras to my friend. I already asked and she already said YEAH!

I also found 4 shuttles that I had used at Palmetos and then stuck in a bag and forgot. Whoops! How much more of that will I find?

I found a little bag of the Wade, England porcelein figurines that used to come in Red Rose tea. Do you know these are collectors items now? Ebay has several listed but they don't really look like they are doing that well. I'll watch a bit more before I decide to sell or Goodwill them. I'll give the elephant to my daughter. According to the official history site, the elephant was in the 1st series between 1983 and 1985. Others from that series are valued around $25.00 that I've seen so far. I have the giraffe from series 2 and it's listed at $20.

Sunday.....

Well...I have all of Jane Eborall's patterns printed out and in their protective plastic sheets and in their very own notebook, a 3 1/2" binder with about 1 more inch of space to fill, maybe 1 - 1/2". LOL! I think we need to have a Jane-a-thon next weekend....everyone tat and see how many motifs can be completed over the weekend. Details later.


Lest anyone think I've completely abandoned tatting, here's the mignonette shuttle bag I've been working on. I started it before I got phase II of the T.A.T. program, only to find there is a variation of it in the projects. I'm really glad I'm making this one. It's repetitive, so it helps perfect the technique, but it definitely takes a practice piece before doing the real project. I haven't actually started the 2nd phase....well, I did do 2 of the picot techniques....but they are so easy and there's something like 20 of them. Just little samples....don't get scared. I was watching "What the Bleep...." this evening while tatting, and of course, I joined in the wrong place. The thread shredded a bit as I opened the ring so I ended up cutting and reattaching. This is a Flora, size 50, variegated that always disappoints me when I tat with it. The colors don't flow the way I expect them to. I think it's the white. If the white wasn't in there, I would like it better. The beads are from an exchange with Sue Hanson. There are more purples highlights in them than the scan shows. I will say the striped effect would make a nice stocking. Now there's a design idea!


I brought home a couple more large binders this afternoon. I have another one crammed full of Georgia Seitz's online lessons. I believe I have as many more printed out and not in anything yet. I also have several other binders not as wide that are filled with patterns....and a storage tub too....besides all the books I have. I remember when all of my tatting "stuff" fit into a little wicker sewing basket. There is NO WAY I can use all this thread and all these beads and all these patterns before I die, but I'm gonna have FUN trying!

Celtic Dreamweaver, Sherry Townsend, has started a blog too, Celtic's Lacing and Whimsical Thoughts. Pretty eyecandy there already!

Today was perfect! The weather was perfect, the people pleasant, the scenery delightful, the drive was gorgeous....everything was perfect!




I went to Indiana Dunes today. I took my backpack and some travel watercolor paints and my camera ....I found this spot about a mile down the beach from the swimmers and sat amongst the tufts of grass as I ate my fruit bowl from Wendy's.






Yep, savoring the moment!








It's not that the painting is anything great - it's the process of doing it. I was totally lost in it for about an hour.








My painting doesn't look anything like it, does it? LOL! (added later...this is the actual lakeshore - not my painting. Sorry for the confusion.)





I think I could have kept at it for a few more hours but I noticed my legs and arms were getting a bit pink so I packed up and went up to the bathhouse.






Here I looked out the window, which seemed very lacelike and captured a colorful sailboat off in the distance.




It was a great day!

Well - this is cool, from the publishers of Threads Magazine, Knotted Fabric Buttons and Beads. There's gotta be a way to combine this with tatting!

The latest issue of CQ Magazine Online is available! Lots of dragonflies and beading in this issue.



Aren't these DROP DEAD GORGEOUS? Birthday roses from my daughter and her family.




I'm sorting through craft magazines for the garage sale so no tatting tonight. I tat a little during my lunch but don't get much done....obviously.

Well....that made me mad. I had to reload all my images again. Ever since blogger switched to a new image loader, I've had problems getting them to show up. It was fine until the very last preview and then they suddenly would not show up anymore.

Complaints are in order this time. For those who get the blog by email, you won't see the pics, but they are now on the blog. Just go to the link at the bottom of the email.

My apologies!

Break time. I finished the deviled eggs and cutting up the cantelope for tomorrow's cookout. I still want to make the stuff for bruschetta but I'll do that a little later.

I picked up my fair entries this morning. BTW, our Lace group member, Cathy Kozlowski, won two big ribbons. She also had an embroidered piece that won Reserve. I remembered seeing it after she told me but I hadn't seen her name on it. It is beautiful!

I was hoping to see some helpful comments on the back of my entry tags. I got 3 red and 2 blue. Forgot to pick up the actual ribbons since I was also picking up my grandson's projects - but I don't have much use for them anyway. In a drawer someplace. LOL! So here are the comments:

Filet Crochet mat: Blue "filet work is even and beautifully done. Delightful pattern."







Amulet bag: Red "Nice to see tatting and beads used in this pouch!"


Butterfly necklace: Blue "Intriguing use of tatting and beads. Lovely! And beautifully done."
Corner bookmark: Red "Pretty combination of colors. Lovely even work."
Garden Path Bookmark: Red "Very pretty edging. Orange adds a spark of color like a daylily in the midst of greens!"

LOL! I appreciate the compliments but they wouldn't help me prepare for next year's entry. Ah well.....all I really want is to make tatting visible. And there were tatted entries from 2 other people - YEE HAW!



When I got back home this morning, I found some lovely butterflies on my table. My youngest son, Jesse, had left them for me as a birthday present! He said he'd found them in March and managed to hang onto them all that time....without telling me. LOL!



So while I'm looking around for a place to put the butterflies and photograph them, I found some other things I haven't put out yet. Like this tea-for-one that I bought at a garage sale last weekend. It's a Pflatzgraf pattern. I have a nice winter holiday collection going now.





Here's a tea set I bought in French Lick this week. We ate at the hotel after a hot day of inspecting farms and then took a quick tour around a few nearby city blocks. I found this in a little gift store that also rented videos. The pot is only the size of my tea-for-one teapots, so you can imagine how little the cups and saucers are.





And this is the tea-for-one I found in clearance in the tiny back room of the gift shop in the French Lick Hotel & Spa gift shop. What a deal!





I'm still working on my hatband and the beaded shuttle bag. My house is a complete wreck so after the bruschetta fixings, I'm going to try to create some order here. I'm sorting items for a garage sale at my daughter's so it's CLUTTERED!

And don't you Fly Lady people try to help me out!


(I'm teasing!)

Yes! THIS is how I make a picot. I cannot, for the life of me, understand making a picot with the space between the 1st half and the 2nd half of the stitch.

Ooohhhh...look at this tatted anemone.

And what beaded promises are within the pages of this Japanese book, by Ikuta. It's a little pricey for me so maybe I'll put it on my Christmas list.

This bed cover is listed for $275.00. 96" x 110" Looks like the slip stitch crocheted edging of picots...which makes me wonder if this is mass produced. It doesn't say "one of a kind."

Here are some new items. Tatted Angels by Denise Munoz - I cannot find the Snowrose book by her that I love so much. A pendant, Tatted lace and booties, and they have instructions for the hanky bonnet! But if you want to print it out, it's better to copy and paste on a blank word document and then adjust the margins so it will print out correctly. My 1st printing cut off some of the right-hand margin.

I have this kind of tatting shuttle but this is the first time I've seen this site.

Whoo-whee! Someone has combined tatting and my other love, the metaphysical, in these bookmarks, or Celestial Pieces, as she names them. Cool!

The Butterfly Thimble and Needle Angel Pin The perfect unique theme gift for Crafters, Sewers, Tatting, Needle Point, Notion Gifts, Crocheting, Moms who love to Sew, Angel Lover etc... I'm not sure why it includes tatting but I can't really see the details that well.

oh...welllll....time to go home.

Busy as a bee!

I haven't accomplished near what I had hoped to, but there is always tomorrow!


I met a friend early Saturday morning and then hit a few garage sales before I came home. In one, I picked up this filet crocheted yoke. It needs some repair work at one of the front scallops but it's a beautiful example of this work. I asked the seller if they knew the maker but it turned out it was something she got at an auction....in Ohio. My plan was to donate it to my lace group as part of our collection, but I'd really like to have some history to go with it. Oh well....

There was also this hanky with the very nicely executed pineapple butterfly. Both pieces need to be soaked in a cleaner. I'm pretty sure the stain on the butterfly wing will come out.

My middle son wanted to have us all over for a cookout in honor of his birthday. Here he is with a friend who is showing her wedding photos. I didn't notice the cat until I resized the picture. That's Dillon....who was very onery while I was teaching my granddaughter to knit, playing with the needles and yarn!







And here is Bailey who helped me find my way from the apartment to the grill gang outside.

While the Grill Gang looks unprepared for photo shots...trust me, this was the only way to avoid scary faces and obscene gestures. Don't know what it is about boys......

There were other apartment dwellers cooking out too!






I was going to check my fair entries last night but a downpour started just as I dropped my granddaughter off. Not that the rain helped the heat today. It was pretty thick still this evening. I was disappointed at the lack of entries overall. One of my lace group members, Cathy Kozlowski, also the I.O.L.I. librarian, for those who are I.O.L.I. members, won SWEEPSTAKES!!!!!! Congratulations Cathy! Another friend, Tami, won Reserve with her tatted celtic doily. Another lace member's crocheted booties deserved better than they got, IMO.

For my own entries....I just had to smile. The two bookmarks from the T.A.T. program got 2nd places. LOL! And 2 other tatted items got 1sts. It really should have been reversed. I don't know what that judge was thinking of. I know when my tatting is not up to par, and it definitely wasn't for the ones that got a blue. The ones that got a red, were much better. But I haven't seen the comments. My filet crocheted placement got a first too.

I looked for a friend's photography entry but it wasn't to be seen. Guess he didn't enter. Then I popped over to the building for mini-4H and found my grandson's 2 projects, one on crystals and one of a volcano.

Then I stopped at the grocery store and came home. I'll be gone a few days next week, inspecting farms in southern IN. I have a couple of tatting projects to take with me. The hatband, of course, and I'm playing with filet tatting too...and the shuttle bag pattern from Palmettos.

I figured out today how to better arrange this room....now to find the time to do it.

Blogger has changed the way images are uploaded. I have less control but my options are more automatic.



Sue Hanson has been keeping us updated with her latest student's progress. How many techniques can you identify in this motif?


Lotsa news. If you are a member of I.O.L.I., membership renewal is due by September 1, 2005. This time they are sending the initial reminder by email. If you are a renewing or new member, go to the I.O.L.I. website and print out the membership form.

Georgia Seitz says Joy is conducting a beginners class for the summer online class schedule. You can email Joy at joyathome at gmail.com, change "at" to @ or contact Georgia about joining the online class for the fall startup. There's tons of good instructional material at the website.




Here's a challenge for you. A friend sent a scan of the directions for a project she is working on. The directions are in Spanish and to make the part she has circled, the instructions are: a ring with 1-1-1-1-1 and when uniting the four picots, it forms the "Drop", So...what exactly does this mean? Somehow the gathering of the 4 picots together forms a pointed ring, which she calls a "drop point". I'm not clear just when the 4 p are joined together and to what.

Well, I better hurry and publish while the pics are still here. Last night, there must have been a glitch with Blogger because the link was broken at first and then when I tried to reload them....they wouldn't. Nada.

County Fair!

I had my times wrong. Good thing I looked at the brochure today. Tonight I had to rush home and gather my stuff and take it in. I ended up with 5 items. Four were tatted and 1 crocheted. I had hoped to paint my shuttle and enter it into the fine art section but I didn't think I really had time to finish it.


I'm really tired tonight. Musta been that labor of 25 years ago. LOL! My middle son is 25 today. Wow!

Nell found a beautiful Victorian blouse on ebay. Turns out the seller has a whole store of vintage clothing.

Someone also found this gorgeous tatted hummingbird pattern. The designer has several tatted patterns. Too bad they aren't all in one package. And on paper. Personally, I'm not a fan of e-patterns, where you pay and then download. These are very nice designs though. Very tempting if there weren't so many for so much. Worth it, I'm sure.

I need to get to bed.

Tonight I went to see Bewitched with some coworkers. A cute comedy. Then we went over to Scotty's Brewpub for dinner and talk.

I've had very little time to tat lately. Here's my hatband so far:


I have to make the beaded tassels for my fair project too....not tonight, but hopefully tomorrow night. They are due on Thursday night.

Tomorrow is my middle son's 25th birthday. It's amazing how time flies.

Decorate your knitting with needle felting. This is an article from a new online knitting newsletter, Southern Cross Knitting. I was looking for some simple patterns for my granddaughter.

Gotta get some sleep!

Thread Warnings

This morning I made it a point to get to my lace meeting a bit early since I'm the new Prez and responsible for opening the door. I got in the main door and got the key out of the box...only to realize I didn't have a clue what it was for. Good thing there are directions posted.

Myself and one other member showed up. Several were on vacation and I don't know about the rest. So while a part of me was thinking "I coulda slept in!". I was glad for the opportunity to do the door thing and get to know Dagmar better.

I decided to empty a shuttle I won on Ebay a month or so ago along with another shuttle by trying out Mary Konior's filet mesh pattern on page 14-15 of Tatting with Visual Patterns.



Whoops....published when I meant to preview.....

Anyway, the black shuttle had some pinkish thread on it in the same size as the blue shuttle. I've tried this filet tatting before but ran out of thread before I got very far. This time it looked like there would be plenty of thread to get a nice size sample done. I learned quickly that the joining picots needed to be VERY tiny. Tension and snugging up the chains are important aspects to the design also. At one point, I thought the thread on the black shuttle was variegated instead of solid and thought the repeats must be very far apart. Guess what? The pink thread was tied to a white thread! Not only was it a different color, it was a different size! Wait...that's not all....it was also a very bad thread for tatting, with hardly any twist or sheen to it. ATTENTION NEWBIES! This is a wonderful example of why you should invest in a good tightly twisted thread. The white thread did not want to slide easily and my stitches kept flipping back so I would have a knot. The tension was impossible to control. I found myself getting more and more frustrated until it was finally time to go.

I won't finish this sample. I did get the hang of the filet mesh with this method. I think there is another method out there somewhere.

Here's a fun page!

I couldn't find a way to save it and use it in any helpful way, but I sure wasted a nice bit of time trying to. LOL!

Temporary Fix

I got tired of the mumbo-jumbo and switched to a new template today...and it's minus some of the stuff from the last one because I have to put it all in again and figure out where to put it. It took me awhile just to get the colors in.

Then I get an email from Blogger saying if it isn't already fixed, that it will be soon. So I'm going to wait a few days and then test the old one again and see if it really is fixed.

In the meantime, I've been looking at blogskins. I found one I adore, but it's the wrong color. It has music. A butterfly floats over to the side and occasionally flaps its wings. But I would like to make the swirl on the side with the goddess logo sliding down it or around it and I would have to change the color scheme....wish I had the computer mojo to figure it out.



It occurred to me today to enter some of my T.A.T. projects into the county fair - the deadline is next week. I can put 2 items in tatting and 2 in "other" and sometimes I can enter into the Christmas and jewelry categories, but I won't this year. I may enter some of my painted shuttles into the "collections" category. Hmmmm...well, I don't see a category for that kind of collection, except in "Tools - 1 tool, 25 years or older". Okay, I could enter into the fine arts division. The last shuttle I'm doing is in acrylic so far so I could put it in beginning painting or in decorative art, which is "art work on something other than canvas or clothing." I'm not excited about putting a boye shuttle in the "tool" category.

I'm not much further on the hat band. One more rosette and one in progress. I only made 3 listings on ebay for my craft magazines. I hope to enter several more this weekend. If they don't sell, they go into a garage sale and if they don't sell there, to the library freebie table. I refuse to throw them away.

oh...just had an idea.



I have several macrame leaflets and booklets that I've listed before and NO ONE ever bids on them. I think I'll look at them with an eye towards converting to tatting. Maybe something will work out.

I'm so glad it's Friday. I'm glad I've heard from several in the London area and that they are okay and families are okay. There are a few more I haven't heard about yet.

Maybe I'll get some tatting done tonight.

There has been some ongoing conversation lately about Mr. Monkey and his antics at Palmettos.

Mr. Monkey is a crocheted sock monkey I included in Riet's Christmas Goodie Bag last season. She treated him to a trip overseas with her and he apparently got into trouble everywhere he went. LOL!

This reminds me how gratifying it was to see my work or a connection to my work so many times at Palmettos. Not only did Riet have the bag and monkey I made for her, Mary Donohue had the bag I made for her, and Jane Eborall had the denim bag she made embellished with all the buttons I sent her in our button exchange. And I had others' work with me. I had the bag Mary made me. I had the Froggie needlebook Gail made me. I had the shuttle Sue Hanson gave me as part of her exchange. I had the shuttle and butterfly from the exchange I had with Sherry Townsend. Many things I never had a chance to get out and show even.

Today it was back to work after a long weekend! It was a short day!

I had to run to the post office during lunch so I didn't get to tat. I haven't had time since I got home but I'd like to at least do one rosette before I go to bed. Got my July Anna today. No tatting, but many other projects worth looking into. Also go the I.O.L.I. bulletin. I also managed to pick up several 1990 and 1991 McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazines at a 2nd hand store today. I think they are the only ones I didn't have. A friend also sent me a magazine loaded with tatting patterns that I'll go through more tomorrow. Tonight was a quick skimming through. Already I am yawning so I don't think I'll get to the tatting tonight.

And you folks think I get so much tatting done!

I can't stand that mess at the top so if Blogger doesn't answer me by tomorrow, I'll go with a new template - which means I have to redo all my links and extras. Yuck!

Today I went to Delphi and looked at the museum - it was a Canal Days Festival. There was a woman inside the museum tatting....so I talked with her and another lady - and do you know, I forgot to ask their names? I gave them my business card since that's all I had with me. They knew about Lafayette Lacers, but both live far enough away and have trouble traveling so they didn't join. This woman had a beautiful bonnet there that a granddaughter had tatted - seems she has taught a few of them to tat. LOL! She also had some of the Shuttle Brothers' SCMR butterflies done. A few items were tatted in size 100 thread. I wish I'd gotten her name - well, maybe she will call me.

Then I stopped at an antique store on the way home. Looking for shuttles, of course. None, of course. LOL! But I did see one hankie with tatting. No I didn't get it. Also a big doilie tatted in red and white #10 thread. Kinda ugly, but the tatting was very good. I did buy 2 hankies with embroidery but no edging.

My son moved to a new house on Friday. I cried. For 3 days. But I'm fine now. He is only 10 minutes away. All of my children live within 15 minutes drive, so I have nothing to cry about, but I sure do miss him.

His moving got me motivated to do some cleaning though. I moved all my scrapbooking supplies and photos to his old room. I'm going to list a bunch of old craft magazines on ebay. And what I don't sell there will go in a garage sale and then ...who knows? They are mostly cross stitch, which I never mastered, and some old misc. craft magazines that are either duplicates or have nothing I will ever make in them. HA! I sorted these out over 2 years ago.....it is not good for me to go through them again, but I am. Already pulled some to look at ONE LAST TIME!

I bought a new printer but have not hooked it up yet. I thought I would get it done this weekend...but I didn't. I only have about 6 rosettes done for my hat. I tried tatting the copper metallic thread and beads and it simply does not slide well. I don't know how I ever made the earrings from it that I did. So I'm not sure how I will embellish the copper colored shuttle now. I've base-coated another in white and plan to paint little roses on it. I've only got 10 days before the County Fair so I'm not expecting to get the hat done. I could enter my shuttles in the collections segment though.

Well, I'm in the middle of a rosette - decided to take a break and now I should fix something to eat and get back to it.

Actually, nothing happened when I made the changes because I did see the blog after that, I think. Anyway, I checked the template with a copy I have printed out and nothing is out of place, so I contacted blogger. Sorry for the mess.

hmmmmm.....I somehow buggered up the template when I deleted some wannatats. I remember deleting something else that I thought I didn't need. Didn't preview - I always preview when I play with the template. So now I gotta hunt down the print out at home to compare what's there and what's missing. Maybe I should just go with a whole new template - except I'm not that crazy about what blogger has to offer now.

sigh.....