I can't believe how much time I've spent napping today! I napped and tatted and napped and tatted. The basket itself is done and I'm working on the handle now. I blocked the basket first, turning a shake container upside down and covering it with plastic wrap. Then I wet the lace and fit it over the container. After it dried, it held it's shape nicely but I'm pretty sure it would collapse in a very short time so I used a solution of Stiffy Fabric Stiffener with just a little water added and painted it on. I wanted to stiffen the bottom before I added the handle because I wasn't sure how to do it all at once..........and I'm still not sure how I'm going to stiffen the handle. I'll have to find something to set inside the basket which will support the handle evenly in a nicely rounded arch.

By shaping it this way, I made the sides more perpendicular than is shown in the book. I could have joined in another chain of the side motifs to help it hold that shape too, but if you wanted it to flare out more softly, then it should be tatted like the directions say.

I hope I didn't send Ethel the link to this blog. She won't be surprised when she gets the basket if she's reading along.

I'm using size 20 thread and it looks like the diameter across the bottom is 3 1/2" and the height is 2 1/2". I don't think I'll have time to go to too much trouble with tatted flowers but there are some buttercup-like blossoms in Konior's book that I might hazard tatting for a finishing touch.

A tatting book from Russia came while I was gone and I had to pick it up from the post office this morning. Well bummer - I don't have an alphabet available to write the title correctly but it's something like this: Yyaechble Kpykkeba. I got it on ebay. The diagrams are a little tricky - you have to figure out what symbol stands for ring, chain and picot, but once you do, you can translate it. There are several collars and medallions, necklaces and trims, and I even see a basket. There is a vest and mats, as well as tatting how-tos. I see onion rings too. The picture on the front has a lady wearing a tatted crown/tiara/hair decoration and a tatted necklace. Beads are also explained even though I can't read the text, I can see from the pictures. There is one blue doily whose shape intrigues me. Oh, a pretty tatted bag too. There were other editions on ebay when I got this one, with different patterns. I'll make something on down the line to see how clear the directions are.

Then in today's mail, I got a CD "Royal Society Tatting and Crochet Lessons" This was also offered on Ebay. I wasn't sure what was on it, but if you have any of the Royal Society booklets, you wouldn't be surprised. This one is mostly crochet, but it does have tatting on it too. It's in pdf format and you get it with a password. You can open it up and view it on the computer and print out whatever you want to work with. I'm not crazy about online reading, but it sure doesn't take up as much space as a book. Not that easy to access though, if you are just flipping through pages looking for something.

I'm considering what to do next, after the basket. I think I'll finish a UFO - a table topper I started when I went to Ireland 2 years ago. About time, huh?