Nope, I didn't get dropped off at the turkey farm and left for good. Sure has been busy lately though, getting ready for Thanksgiving. I barely got any tatting time in until Friday night! I remembered I had promised a relative that I would tat something she could give to her mother for Christmas. I tatted some of the rose snowflakes from Denise Munoz's book and then odds and ends from other places, mostly Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage. The flowers were my shuttle endings. I'll let her figure out how she wants to present them. The colors were picked according to the wall colors in her house.



I found these vintage crocheted bags on Ebay but I didn't bid on them. The one on the right is very similar to the one I just recently made. Mine has a fringe and an edging at the top but the center design is very similar. The vintage one also has the "baubles". I have a real life one with baubles...meant to offer it for our library display but couldn't find it at the time. I've found it since.

Ebay isn't the only place to find tatting for sale. Try Etsy and put "tatting" or "tatted" in the search box. Lots of unusual stuff there.

See the beautiful tatted shawl at Tatted Webs. I really like the heart in the glass at the very top. Very elegant.




Look at this gorgseous tatted book spine by Nina Libin. You can contact her at the link for a price. Can you imagine your whole library studded with these?



And don't forget cafepress.com when shopping. Here's one for Wintertat. I also have 2 shops, one with the Tatting Goddess logo and another with my tatted gingerbread boy. Yes, a shameless advertizement! LOL!

The bathroom is coming together slowly. I painted the walls on Sunday and put the curtain up today. The ceiling, vanity and door will have to wait. I like it though.

Saturday my son came over and was a big help in cleaning. Mostly what I needed was someone to move boxes downstairs and help me move furniture. I still have stuff to do, but the bulk is done. Sunday was the paint day although I did not decide to paint for sure until just after noon. Gotta take advantage of motivation when it strikes me!

Last night I started tatting for my SS elf

And then tonight, I found the perfect touch for the I made her. I still haven't shopped for . This is FUN!

Well, there you are....I am just so pleased with myself that I probably can't get my head through the door! I decided to try left-handed tatting yesterday. I'm right-handed. I can write well enough to read the writing with my left hand but it is slow and cumbersome - so I only do it when I'm bored in meetings. (shhhh....don't tell!)

Anyway, someone who would like to learn to tat is left-handed and figured I wouldn't be able to teach her because someone tried a long time ago but her left-handedness seemed impossible to deal with at the time.

I had some knots initially, yes, but I was amazed at how easily my left hand knew the motion. My second attempt tonight (the green rings) went exceptionally well and it seemed like the knots flipped themselves. And I could swear the tension looks better than my right-handed tatting! It is still slow and I had a load of trouble joining the rings together. My fingers did not want to cooperate with that, but the actual tatting part is easy enough that I can show a leftie how to do the stitch and that's what I was going after. Well...haven't tried chains yet and that might be a different story. I did find I had to wind my shuttle the opposite direction because the thread comes over my shuttle hand in the opposite direction.

And here is my not-so-mellow yellow bag! I'm working on the drawstring now, crocheting a braid and will put tassels on the ends, I think. I still need to make the lining...so how does hot pink measure up with black? LOL!
My granddaughter thought purple might be good...or was it green? She's 13 and likes those funky color schemes.

I don't have a victim....errr....recipient picked out for it yet. That bright yellow really limits my choices. Maybe I should just raffle it off - oh, there's an idea - I could put it in our Lace Day Raffle!

Oh...just realized a CD would fit in there perfectly if it weren't for the narrow top. I used a size 20 thread instead of the size 10 called for...and I could change the beading at the top.....so then it would make a nifty CD gift bag! I'll have to keep that in mind if I tat it again.

LaLa-LaLa LaLa-Lala....

I can't say who but someone's Secret Santa is doing some embroidery________and ooooh, that was such a pretty_______on ______. Many thanks to _______ for showing it to me!



Here is the Treasure Pouch I started in Lace Guild this morning. Bette's sample was exquisite. Mine leaves much to be desired but I'll work on it. It's from an old Piecework and is done with a needle. I wish I could find a suitable thread besides waxed linen. I don't like the feel of it on my hands, but it's better than something dry and coarse.


The motifs are drying on the blocking board. It was only after I scanned that I noticed the centers really did not look as good as I thought they did - as far as blocking. They will shift around quite a bit as I tat around the edges and add a lining though.

While I was gone from home, I'd forgotten how much I needed to do! I have less than 2 weeks to get ready for Thanksgiving. I cajoled one son into coming out and helping me clean next weekend. In the meantime, I would really like to get the bathroom painted. I still don't have my bedroom put back together!

Shuttle Ponderings

I started collecting shuttles shortly after I learned to tat in 1997. I hated the metal shuttles, which were the only ones available to me in my city. I read about David Reed Smith's shuttles from an online list I was newly subscribed to (new to the internet too!) and I ordered a small wooden shuttle, thinking the smaller size as well as the wooden surface might fit my hand better. It did. Then I stumbled on a tortoiseshell shuttle in a second hand store and I LOVED the feel of it in my hands. I ordered another shuttle or two from David. I found an ivory shuttle in an antique store. I ordered another shuttle from David. Clover produced its multicolored shuttle and sold them in packs of 5. I ordered online as that was the only way I could find them. Then I discovered a little place called The Heirloom Corner in Pendleton, IN and my sister and I traveled there one weekend, taking the scenic route (wink)but falling in love with the town when we got there. It was the first of many, many such trips. It was also my first meeting with other tatters! There were books and shuttles and threads in every nook and cranny. I know at least half of my tatting library came from there. And I discovered Ebay......and more shuttles.

I really don't know how many shuttles I have. I have a wooden case that holds 50 or so but many, many more are scattered all over the house. I probably have 50 of the colored clovers alone if I were to detach them from all of their projects.

Something I have learned over time is that the ones that were gifted to me are the most precious of all. I've purchased some very unusual shuttles, but the ones that mean something to me are the ones that were given to me.




I saw this unusual shuttle on Ebay the other afternoon. The metal heart one from Rosita. She certainly does have a lot of unusual shuttles. I finally won a few of them but I had come to the conclusion that it would be easier for me to go to Barbados and find my own! So I was looking at this shuttle that was already $41 (it finished at $102.50). It looks like copper, etched copper. Not really too difficult to make. I could probably have a sheet metal worker make one for me. In fact, I know a superb sheet metal worker. I decided I would rather get one made if I am to have one at all. Painting and decorating my own shuttles has been far more satisfying to me than buying the others. If I could make my own, that would be even better!

So I'm not likely to be bidding on shuttles these days. I have more than enough and if I get anymore, I want them to be meaningful, you know?

Here's the Irish Crochet Bag I've been working on. I finished it the other night. It still needs a good soaking in Oxyclean and blocking but it was easy and turned out nicely. I'm currently working on the 2nd half of the yellow tatted bag.

Well....I forgot to change the date on that last post. I started it on Friday but finished it on Sunday!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Are you a Susan Branch fan? I love her cards and books, although I have none of her books, I might just have to put them on my Christmas list. I found her website by following one of the links from a link from a link from one of those links over to the side...I think it started with Turkey Feathers - oh, yes, her Oct. 20 entry. Before I got to that entry, I had already gone to her stuffed mini-pumpkins and her PatternBee vintage embroidery transfer site (got sidetracked there mightily!) and then back to where I found the link to Susan Branch. I found a needlecase on Turkey's site that gave me a fantastic idea! Like I need any more ideas!

I LOVE following the links of crafty blog persons! Here's Molly Chicken, who reminds me of a doll I made for my daughter years and years ago. I have no idea what happened to that doll. I made it from a pattern in Woman's Day - you know, the kind you have to make up a grid and transfer the pattern to the bigger grid. No Xerox machines that enlarged or decreased back in those days. I believe I still have the magazine instructions. Don't think I have the pattern I created from it though. It just made the sweetest little baby doll. I loved it! She has a tutorial for this raggy flower too that is quite intriguing!

And look at what I found at OhSewPretty on LiveJournal! A teensy crocheted monkey! I mean, really teensy!

From Kreative Kismet, there is a button bracelet tutorial - buttons made from polymer clay. And another idea explodes in my noggin! I have some very small leaf cookie cutters and they would make some delightful buttons like this...with perhaps a tatted border? ooooooohhhhhhh.....I need TIME!

You know, it's clearly a symptom of Murphy's Law...everytime I get really busy and have no time to spare (I am still not studying!) I get some of my best ideas.


There's a nice little tutorial on how to put a zipper into a pouch at Twelve 22. There's also a nifty kanzashi tutorial on Flickr by Spangly Spangle. The order in the slide show appears to be backwards but you get the idea. The video shows the petals much better.

Okay. Time to quite procrastinating. Think I'll go crochet. ROTFL!

I have a thing for buttons - absolutely adore them. This is only one of many unique buttons at Susan Clark Originals.









CQMagOnline is out - which is where I saw the button that led me to Susan Clark Originals. And see what Pat Winter did with a wooden cigar box! That reminds me that I bought one several entries ago. I don't think I want to cover up the wood though. Pat has a website to drool over, by the way. And she lives close enough I could make a road trip sometime and see her studio!








I had a delightful surprise in the mail the other night! Kaye's book is done! This is a book of techniques with small star motifs that will help a beginner or intermediate tatter bridge their skills to more advanced techniques without taking on a huge project. I really like this concept of praticing on small stuff. Amongst the techniques in the book are front side tatting, up and down joins, twisted joins, tatting in 2 colors, shuttle or lock joins, tatting with beads, rick-rack tatting, josephine rings, floating rings, overlapping tatting, Self-closing mock rings, double picots, measured picots, split rings and split chains, dimpled rings, block tatting, shoe lace trick, pearl tatting, roll tatting, clunies, and a few others. You've seen the samples in past entries. We had fun doing these and I think this would be a great book for a class or self-instruction. I had hoped to hear back from Kaye before I posted this because I don't see it listed yet at Zig-Zag Corner, and I don't know the cost, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.



I started a tax course after it was already in progress this week so I've been busy catching up there and will spend the rest of the day studying for 2 make up quizes tomorrow night along with the regular homework. I'm also staying with my grandkids Monday through Friday while their parents are out of town so it's not likely I'll be posting much here - which is pretty much how it's been going lately. Time is at a premium. Anyway, I finally got to work some more on this Irish Crochet Bag, finishing the rose this morning. I still have 6 leaves to crochet and then sew them on the bag and finish the edges of the bag. As I'm moving along on this, I can see how to adapt it to tatting and I've challenged myself (when time allows) to make a tatted version.





And in spite of the busy busy week, I've been picking up a few for my secret elfin. I can't make up my mind what I'm going to tat though.....I made a decision late last night...apparently too late, because I'm not certain now what I decided. I see I have a collection of beads and thread sitting on a footstool so I guess it has something to do with that.

HO! HO! HO! I know of a Secret Santa who is having fun with beads! I hear that ___________ is thinking about making something like this for ________!!
Who do you suppose the lucky recipient will be? Or the tatting beader?

The Countdown!




I started another Irish Crochet bag,this one in white. It has a bigger rose and leaves,more like the traditional 3D but I don't think it really is. The 1st 26 rows are the same....they will go fast but it's not too engaging for the mind so I can watch TV or listen to a CD or something at the same time.















I'm still tatting the yellow bag. I don't think I can "soften" it but a strong contrast, like a black or dark brown liner, will create a different effect. I wish now I had added beads but what color? These bags are a good size for a bar of soap. They would also hold a cell phone, now that I think about it, or - gasp - a shuttle and a few small balls of thread! hmmmm.....that thought racheted up the brain waves......I need to check out my Secret partner's preferences.



The 25 Motif challenge is still going strong. I love looking at all the motifs! And the ideas - whoo whee! I made up a list of url's that still aren't on my blog...I don't know - there's a bunch of them. Not sure I have room for all of them. LOL!

I'm also thinking about what to add to the current mask I'm working on the RPL mask I plan to make too. The full face mask fits my eyes perfectly so that's the one I'll put the most effort into but the others are for playing and practicing and should be able to stand on their own as examples.

I started this days ago and then when I tried to upload photos, it wouldn't let me, so I left it for another day or two......old news now.

I started a tax course last night - 2 weeks after it started so this coming week will be a crunch while I catch up.

I was surfing one of my crochet lists today, Antique Threadwork, when I saw a link to the Ferosah Crochet Design Studio. The online book shown on the left is crochet tatted lace. Ferosah also has online pdf files showing you how to do crochet tatting and a motif is included. She also had a free filet crochet fairy chart which I adore and hope to do one of these days soon. I thought the doily on the cover looked especially nice - a combination look of Irish crochet and tatting. Come payday next week, I just might get it!









I love this beaded button....unfortunately, I can't find the website I got it from but it's by Amy Clarke, one of the authors of Beaded Embellishment by Amy C. Clarke and Robin Atkins. It was a tutorial for this specific button! It's not about the embroidery stitches, which are in the book, but it's about preparing and finishing off the button.



And here is the drawstring bag I've started. Quite YELLOW, isn't it? The pattern is in Old-Time Crochet, Autumn 1992, page 30 by Rebecca Hollenbaugh. There is also a tatted yoke. I like the motif for the yoke but probably won't do the yoke itself. I'm on my 2nd set of fully loaded shuttles and haven't even finished the front side. I'm using size 20 Manuela. The pattern called for size 10 crochet cotton, but the finished size is approximately 7" x 7" and I wanted it a bit smaller. Doesn't look like it will be any smaller though. I haven't decided what color of fabric to line it with yet. Or what I will do with it when it is done.

I was just browsing Consumer Report's ShopSmart, a quick and easy quarterly guide to shopping. Credit cards are turning into a nightmare, IMO. If you are one of the fortunate ones who can pay off your card every month, the deadline for doing so has shrunk...down to 20 days in some cases. You have to read the fine print in every one of those annoying mailings to be aware of interest hikes and deadline changes. Late payment fees are as high as $39 now. So what is convenient about having a credit card now? Even online payments might not be credited for 3 days. I think the credit card companies (banks) have become so greedy that they are going to crash. No one will be able to afford them.

Oh, an article on Scooba, the robotic floor cleaner. The $14 mop and bucket beat it out, hands down. Save your money.

I posted all the previous stuff yesterday but didn't come back to finish it ....I was too busy working on this bag. It turned out nicely. I love it. My sister commented that it would hold a bar of soap perfectly. I carted it off to Charlotte today who is setting up a display from my lace guild at the West Lafayette Library this weekend for the month of November. My elephant and garden doily will be there...had to borrow them back from my daughter and sister. I can't find the baby bonnet I have tatted.

Today I got an Old Time Crochet that I won on Ebay. It mentioned some tatting patterns and the cover didn't look like any I have. There are quite a few in there and I'm working on a drawstring bag from it now. In bright yellow. I wanted to work in color after working with ecru for so long but the yellow almost seems gaudy now. I'll have to find a way to soften it. I managed to bridge out of the first few rounds with split rings and chains but I finally had to end off and start the next round independently. The author never says to RW....so I ended up retrotatting a section because the ring was going the wrong way, I think. I stopped because it's not clear where things are to join. I need to read it again when it's not so late.

It's been such an incredibly busy week! We barely got through the Feast of the Hunter's Moon when Pam Myers and hubby, Alan, made it into West Lafayette. They arrived just as my work day ended and I rode over to their motel with them so they could find it faster, and then we came back to West Lafayette and browsed in Von's for awhile, drooling over beads. Bette met up with us there and after much looking and a little buying, we walked over to The Parthenon, a Greek restaurant in the Village
After a delicious meal, we sat and talked tatting. Bette is on the left and Pam is on the right. I don't have a clue what we were laughing about but the white tatting in my hand is what Pam had tatted of Mark's bobbinlace-look-alike bookmark. It just dawned on me that I'm so red because I got a little sun at the Feast. I'd forgotten about that!

Pam and Alan were a pleaure to meet. I wish my week hadn't been so crammed and that I was leaving on Thursday. I would have enjoyed showing them around but we had a great evening! She's convinced me that I need to go to Ireland again!

Thursday I left for Kerrville, Texas with my sister and her husband. Our flight landed in San Antonio and we rented a car there and drove the rest of the way, a little over an hour's drive. We got there in time to see the deer that come up from the woods behind to get a daily corn snack from my uncle. This was a routine we watched every day during our visit with sometimes as many as 25 or more deer. My sister got all the good pics of the deer - my camera acted up when I snapped photos. We went to Fredricksburg on Friday and darted in and out of stores like monkeys! I found a parasol in one store, took it down off the mantle to look at the lace covering closer and discovered it was TATTED! And an antique at that! In fact, it was falling apart, so I quickly put it back on the mantle. I don't know why I didn't think to take a photo. I was so stunned to find it there, in a dress shop, and then I was afraid I'd damage it - I left it pretty quickly! I bought a tea-for-one in one of the shops but remembering I didn't have any room in my luggage, I kept purchases to a minimum. No thread or beads or such to tempt me here.

The next day we went to Wildseed Farm. They sell all kinds of wildflower seeds and herbs and gardening supplies. They also had a tea shop, which my sister and I love to go to, so we managed to secure a place inside the busy cottage that had just seated a busload and expected a wedding party later. We were lucky to get in. We had a wonderful meal there. My Uncle Ray is on the left, me, Aunt Mary, Rich & Linda. Ray's salad had flower buds in it and our dessert had edible flowers garnishing it too. The host was exceptionally pleasant considering how frazzled he was with all the unexpected business. He also kindly took our picture for us!



They also have a beautiful butterfly garden there. It was raining so they said the flutters weren't flying. We went in anyway and found some activity. Here are 2 beautiful ones!


I tatted a small doily for Aunt Mary while I was there, but didn't take a photo of it before I gave it to her. It's been so hectic catching up since I got home that I haven't done much else. This evening I finished up this motif that is part of an Irish Crochet bag. I will crochet the other side and then put them together. I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends up. It has a fring on the bottom and a floral strip along the top.

And it looks like it's bedtime already. The days seem to get shorter and shorter!

Pig Poop
Very clever advertising!

Oh, this is fun! Go to The Pink of Perfection and click on the video to watch how to reupholster a 50's style vinyl chair. Not that I want one....at least not a RED one! LOL! But they make it look so easy!

Scroll on down on their site to see more crafty videos. I might have to add them as a link!

I started this entry several days ago - life got busy and I got sidetracked. As I've mentioned elsewhere in this blog, my lace group demonstrates at the annual Feast of the Hunter's Moon, which was last weekend, and a good deal of my free time was spent in relation to that or working around it getting other things done. Just the normal stuff - and trying to make arrangements (cats, mail) before I leave for Kerrville, TX on Thursday for a long weekend visit with an aunt and uncle. I got a stupid Crafter's Choice package that I had to return today. They would save a whole lot of money if they'd only send a selection if you requested it. That reminded me to go online and decline my current choices before they send me yet another package. The post office has told me time and again that it's a scam and they get umpteen packages to return - as long as you don't open it, it's CC's cost to return. I do like to browse through their selections and I might even be more inclined to order from them if they didn't operate the way they do. I can usually find the books cheaper elsewhere.

Okay...now to the good stuff! It was largely last minute all the way around. I found out Pam M. from Cork, Ireland (a fellow tatter) was going to be in Chicago with her husband at a symposium last weekend but I only found out a few days before she was to leave so there was a flurry of last minute emails about how we might get in touch. I didn't know my Feast hours at the time and she wasn't sure where she would be when so it was hard to preplan anything. Then I got so busy that I kept forgetting to try to call her. Turns out my calling card would not process calls to their cell phone. And there was a problem using their wireless laptop so until they got access to the hotel public computer, we weren't in touch. I found out Sunday night that they were coming Monday. On Monday, they had lots of mix-ups about the rental car they hired...but eventually arrived here at 4:45 p.m.! Pam's blog shows the beautiful tatting and beading she did for her daughter's wedding and you can get an idea of her talent. I got to see 2 different pairs of earrings she has tatted from Nina Libin's patterns and the beginning of a bookmark she is tatting from Mark's pattern that resembles bobbinlace. Beautiful work! We went to Von's Beads in Chauncey Village and Bette, a lace group member, fellow tatter, AND employee of PU joined us there. Afterwards, after drooling over beads and feeling utter overwhelment over what to buy, we went to a Greek Restaurant, The Parthenon, nearby and had dinner and talked the rest of the evening away. We learned all sorts of stuff about geckos from Alan, Pam's husband, who is also a delight. I was so tired from the weekend and a poor night's sleep that I started flagging earlier than usual but I held out as long as possible. Pam gave me a booklet which highlights an award winning exhibit put together by her lace guild! I wanted to visit a lace museum in Cork during my last visit in 2002 but had to abandon it as we ran out of time. Obviously, I have to go back! And now that I know a tatter there, you better believe I will.

I am so pleased and honored that Pam and Alan went out of their way to come visit me. If I weren't leaving for TX on Thursday and already crunched for time, I would've tried taking a day off and showing them around more. I hope they enjoy the rest of their visit. Pam took lots of photos - or rather, Alan did - so look for them to show up eventually, either on her blog or here. (You were going to send me one, weren't you Pam?)

My house is such a wreck! I plan to spend a lot of time cleaning when I return from vacation. I haven't tatted hardly at all...not sure how much to take with me to TX. Oh...I was going to see how far away the Texas Bluebonnets were.

So..chances are....there won't be any entries til I return. Oh but hey - want to see my group at the Feast? A new member, Kelli, took some wonderful photos! Thank you Kelli! And yes, she caught me being a wanton woman by not wearing my head covering - I put it on afterwards. LOL!

I'm working on TAT 2 again. I'm doing the hanky edgings. One is tatted on and the other 2 are sewn on. I still have a curds & whey edging to tat for this and then attach and label the motif and I'll be done with this particular project.


My lace guild has invited members (and neighboring lace guilds who may attend our Lace Day on April 14, 2007) to a mask challenge. A mask that somehow fits on the face must be embellished however the maker wants and must include hand-made lace. I'm playing with several ideas and this one is mostly an example that can be used for the upcoming program on how to decorate a mask - what kind of materials work and what doesn't. I've used nail polish to paint this mask. The eye motif is Vida Sunderman's crystal teardrop ornament in Tatting for Tomorrow. I may make changes to it but for now, I'm pleased that it fits so nicely around the eyehole. I will need to bridge across the nose somehow when I make the second eyepiece. There will be lots of other embellishments too but I wanted to see how the tatting would fit.




I sewed these pillows while I was on vacation - they are upholstery remnants I bought at JoAnn Fabrics on clearance 2/$1. The colors fit so perfectly. I wouldn't mind drapes from the floral fabric...but it's discontinued so that's not going to happen.


I can think of better things to crochet than these bodysuits. I understand it's an artist's statement, but it's not one I would make.

It's been a busy week or two at work. This weekend is Feast of the Hunter's Moon plus I'm attending an auction at my 1st husband's mother's house. Next week I will be in TX from Thursday til Sunday so I've got a lot to get done between Monday and Wednesday.

Wally has a cool slide show of motifs on her tat-a-long blog. I really want to know how to do that! I know how to make a slideshow with powerpoint but not how to post it and have it automatically start. AND...the next motif in the tat-a-long is there. Guess I'm a little late! I noted Wally used those sew on gems I bought some of...but haven't played with yet. They are in the center of some of the motifs!

I spent some time this evening looking at 25 Motif Challenge blogs. I was intrigued by Arizona tatter Jan who watercolored her mini-tat motifs. That gives me an idea - I've been wanting to tat motifs to frame in my living and had started - with a lovely thread in greens and purples - but ran out of thread after only 3 motifs. Maybe I should just tat them all in white and then paint them in the shades I want to use?

Then I visited our Irish friend Pam from Cork and saw the beautiful beaded fuschia earrings for her daughter's wedding. Pam's daughter also had a white fuschia necklace and earrings - click on the photo and you'll see them better - isn't she gorgeous? And don't forget to look at Pam's feathered tatted beaded headpiece! Or all the beautiful tatting she did for the wedding.

Looks like I wasn't the only one to find a vintage treasur this week! See the doily on Gail's blog.

I was so excited posting about the undies and goddess amulet I find last night that I forgot about the corner bookmarks we tatted in guild yesterday. Kay expects to have her star book out in November. Here's hoping!

I actually sewed last night. Made a throw pillow for my sofa. I had to go get more filling today and finish the opening up but it's so pretty. I have another one to do........maybe later! I mowed this afternoon. It was sunny and comfortable when I got home from errands but by the time I got back outside and on the mower, it was overcast and the wind kept getting cooler and cooler. I did get done. Not really that much growth but we just had several days of rain and it will be really cold by the time I can mow again. I'll probably be mowing leaves when I do it again!

The doily is done! I really am not a doily person. This one measures 7" and it's the largest I've made so far. If I were keeping it, it would be framed. I do like the design in this one but I've always liked hen & chicks in tatting. I started it on Sunday and finished Wednesday for roughly 14-15 hours of work including the blocking.


I also tatted these crosses for the Feast. The ecru one is from Mary Konior's book and the white one is from Cathy Bryant's book. Each one took 2 hours or a little less. I may put a tassel on the white one - haven't decided yet.

I spent Friday with my sister, mostly at an antique store and Half-Price Books in Indy. I got 19 books at Half-price! Four of them will go to other people. Some of the others are on sewing, quilting, vintage linens, painting, and a cookbook.




At the antique store, which I love for its vintage linens especially, I found this wonderful culotte undie with tatting! There are a few spots in the tatting that have broken and there is a hole in the front of the skirt part that needs to be mended, but I absolutely adore it! There were no stains although it appears there are stains in this photo - but really, there weren't.



Here you can see the bodice - there are tiny snaps at the top and buttons along the side. The stitching is machine stitching but the buttonholes are handmade. I'm not sure about the embroidery in the front and back. Someone in my tatting guild today also noticed tiny pintucks at the top of the bodice and I see they are at the waist too.

Here you can see the waist better - a simple insertion...and such a tiny tiny waist! There is a simple ring edging at each leg hem. I am just so pleased to find this! What will I do with it? I have no idea. I may eventually donate it to my lace guild. We also saw a little bag of some pieces that I recognized at Irish crochet. Fine work - but it was yellowed and very high priced. They were pieces for clothing and it wasn't clear exactly what kind of clothing so I passed on that one.




I could hardly believe my eyes when my sister & I found this mini-goddess at a New Age bookstore! I've emailed the company to find out where I can get them. What a delightful surprise! Gotta say....it was a GREAT DAY!!!!