As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm starting to build up a stash of motifs to dye again. Today really wasn't a good day for tatting. This is my third attempt at Totus Mel's moth. First I tried it with the inverted picots but I didn't like the joins in the middle of the body. That wasn't where I made my mistake though. I think I forgot a picot on one side of the body. Then in the second attempt, I had the picots, but right off the bat, I joined in the second one of the body which made me think I'd forgotten a picot again - til I saw the first one hiding. Then I did this one which seemed to be going okay but I was nearly out of thread by the final join and when I went to pull the shuttle off the thread, it snapped. So I tried to get by with hiding only one end. That probably would have been okay except I left the house after that and by the time I came home and tatted the heart motif and got to the scanner, I forgot that I only had one thread hidden. I kept thinking that side looked short for some reason so I tried to even out the chain and as I tugged, I was pulling the hidden end. ARrrgghhhh!

I didn't do so great with the heart either. It's from Pam Palmer's Twelve Days of Christmas. In my first attempt, I joined the next to last ring in the wrong place but didn't figure it out until I was done. So then I tatted this one. It has a mistake too but it's very minor. I started off in the wrong direction so I had to twist the first ring to get the second ring (outer rings) in the right direction. So...no more tatting tonight!

Realizing early on that I wasn't doing so well on the tatting front, I decided to shower and get myself out of the house. I needed cat food and it was a good enough excuse, plus I picked up the mail. I had absolutely no intention of going to JoAnn Fabrics, but daggone if that car finagled me there anyway! Well...I need a pattern for a grandson and I was hoping they were on sale but they weren't. I did find a few things that it felt like I needed though.

The gold plated tapestry needles claim to slide through fabric easily and given how my tatting was going today, I need all the help I can get in needlearts. The package also says it is resistant to humidity and body oils. Summer is still hanging around in spite of the official onset of Fall. AND it says it is allergy resistant! I didn't know needles were prone to allergies but see what you learn??? Frankly, I bought them because they are gold and shiny and it will be easy to differentiate them from the regular needles in my pincushion.

There was some Gutterman machine embroidery thread on sale which comes in so many lucious colors that I thought I really should take advantage of the opportunity. After much studying and sighing and rocking from one foot to the other, I plucked three beautiful shades of yellow from rows and rows and rows. I carried them all over the store while I picked other things up only to return them to their original slots. Instead, for the price of one spool, I got a skein of yellow rayon floss and a skein of yellow/gold cotton floss. I may use the cotton to make a pear for the partridge.

Beads and jewelry findings were 40% off too so I wandered up and down the isles, trying NOT to buy anything but I did get a tube of size 6 beads that I want to use for beading. There is a bracelet I've been wanting to make for a long time. I didn't scan them but it's a rich color combo of copper, gold, brown, and beige glass (except for the copper and gold which are probably metal). I also bought those round wire thingies. I buy shapes like that all the time with the intention of tatting on them and never seem to get to it.

I've actually separated them so I can take this back to my tatting chair. I have a rather large snowflake hanging by my computer that I received in a Christmas exchange a few years ago. I held up the wire round thingie and it fits perfectly in the center. Well THAT gave me ideas! No...I won't even attempt to tat on it tonight but I will let the idea ferment overnight and give it a go tomorrow.

I hope everyone else fared better with tatting today than I did!