Tatting Tea Tuesday 7/20/10

Most likely, by the time you read this, I will be on my way to or in Southern Indiana. I might be inspecting a farm or eating an Amish lunch or enjoying a German dinner. I'm sure tea will come into play at some point. I'll probably take a tall glass of iced tea with me to begin with.

I haven't decided whether to take tatting or not. I usually do but by the time we get to our accommodations on Tuesday night, rest, eat and return to our respective hotel rooms, it's pretty late. I do plan on taking my laptop which now has my drawing software loaded on it and hope to find some time to play around with it. I also intend to take some of my patterns to diagram. Whether I will or not is another matter. I'll probably take a book to read too although there is generally lots of conversation in the car (4 of us) and I'm too busy when we're out of the car to do anything else. I always end up thinking I packed too much so I'm trying to be very spartan this time. I just finished cutting off some black slacks and hemming them into Capri's. I'll wash them out at the hotel and wear them again the next day. I always take something nice for the restaurant. A fresh top for the next day's inspection too. I don't mind wearing black pants several days in a row, partly because I have several pairs, but I really like at least a different top for both days. If it's as hot in the South as it is here, I'll probably need it.

This wasn't my year to do the inspections but my coworker is having some health issues and couldn't so it's me. Good thing I love to do them, right?

So to post a bit about tea - I bought this tiny teapot at Goodwill a few weeks ago. The name badge is one made by Georgia Seitz. It's the same size as a shuttle and has my given name on it. I think she still makes them and it was at such a reasonable price I had to have one. I've had it for years now....and forget to wear it at tatting events. Not that I've gone to any this year.

Oh hey, since I'm digressing, my sister & I have been talking about a trip to Oregon next year to visit relatives. I said that would be great, especially if we could plan it around the time of the Spokane Tat Days and Bobbie Demmer's tatting event. I've been trying to find a way to justify the expense of going to Spokane so that might work out just right. But we'll see.

Back to tatting and tea....I was on my way back from the fairgrounds and in a funk so I was trying to think of a way to distract myself. Shopping! Well...not a lot of money to be spent now, but Goodwill is always good for a cheap thrill. LOL! Actually, I remembered that the car we take on the inspections does NOT have cup holders in the back. Have you ever heard of that? It's such a pain to hold your cup all the way, so last time I said we'd have to get a portable cup holder for the next time. I've seen them in Goodwill before so it was worth a stop. Didn't find any (I'll check the other two later) but I did find the black slacks that are now Capri's and in the washer and these two teapot picture frames!

Okay, they might be coffee pots but I'm saying they're teapots! One of the things I thought about putting in the fair this year was the flat tea set I tatted of Martha's patterns. But I'd already picked all my pieces and I still haven't framed this vignette the way I want to. Maybe another time. Unfortunately, it's too big to fit in either of these frames. I'll have to tat something especially for them, don't you think?

One last thing about traveling - I almost always take the teabags from the room. I don't fix them while I'm there, but I bring them home to try. If it's winter, I have one of the flavored teas with my continental breakfast. What do you do with hotel room tea?

Got 'er done! And this time, I got the eyes in the right place and twisted the picot ears before blocking, like I was supposed to! Hmmm...can't remember the thread but it is size 20 and had some beads already strung from some other project. My guess is Lizbeth but I'm not sure since I'm not home. I think I got this and another solid to work with a variegated all at the same time. The beads weren't exactly planned out so I forgot to put them in a few places. Still...I'm happy with it!

If you haven't already noticed, I've added/changed some of my patterns to direct links. You do have to sign up at the site (free) to access them. The others that are in Esnips will eventually be changed to direct links too but this was all I had time for last night. I also plan to review/retat every pattern and make a diagram for it. Obviously that is going to take some time. I'll also make them all pdf files. I didn't realize so many were word documents. So..if you have or do tat one and find issues, please email me privately and I'll attach them to the pattern at home so I can address them when I redo it. I know Jeff had a problem with the gingerbread boy and someone else made some adaptations, which might have been personal preference or might have been a result of a problem. Anyway, I would like to know about them. Some are quite old now and need to be updated and it's very possible my wording or order of doing things could be improved.

I had a chiropractic adjustment yesterday (which is helping my hip issues greatly!) but I was done a bit too early to take things to the fair so I came home instead. In fact, I thought I'd wait until this morning to take my fair items in, but after eating dinner and catching up elsewhere, I realized I still had plenty of time to take the stuff in so I did. It pays to wait, I guess. Not a person in line! It was no problem to substitute the booties for the dragon. I'm really anxious now to see what else is entered but I'll have to wait for the weekend for that.

So on my way home, I was in the mood to wander Goodwill. There is a nice clean one on my way and so I stopped. Besides, Wednesday's are senior citizen discount day (one discount I do take advantage of). I don't need a stitch of clothing but I have sort of been on the lookout for a simple summer dress to wear at home. I have one that I love but it gets dirty and has to be laundered. LOL! Dresses are sometimes cooler than shorts and tops. But it has to be loose and comfortable and with pockets.

I did find one and it also had a red tag which meant it was 50%off. Then I found another dress, in linen, that I'll never wear but it was also red-tagged and for that, I couldn't pass up the fabric. I've got one book about linen crafts and some of the embroidered bags in another frequently use linen. There's plenty of fabric for that! I'll admit I buy an awful lot at goodwill just for the fabric or buttons or trim. When it's 50% off plus the senior citizen 30% off - well, hey, I'm smiling all the way home! That linen fabric only cost me about $1.75!

I also got this little bird pulling a basket wagon. I've been trying to figure out what to put in the wagon. Make it a pincushion? Dried moss and miniature flowers? Pretty buttons (or beads)? Chocolate? So many choices!