Earlier today my co-worker snapped me holding hands with my new lover at the Hilton in Cincinnati.



Here's the basket I'm tatting so far. There is another round of chains that connects the outer motifs so they will stand up a bit more and then the handle. The pattern comes from DMC's Book of Charted Tatting Designs. I picked this site because it shows a picture of the book, 6th one down on the right. I wish now that I had blocked the center before I added the motifs around the side. It's going to be hard to get it to lay nice now, unless I can find something that it fits over perfectly.

I emptied off several shuttles while at the symposium and now have a bunch of butterflys and blossoms. Not all of the blossoms were done these last few days, but I've got them all collected together to keep on hand.

I added a blog to the links at the side. It may be awhile before it is updated, but I'm sure it will be great!

Someone asked me what I did for the ear..............I used a motif from DMC's Book of Charted Tatting Designs, on page 37 to be precise. It was a 5 sided motif in a collar and I liked the intertwining middle chains plus the clovers that would tie in with the other clovers in the elephant. Trouble was, I started out with an erroneous number of ds for the rings, so I just continued with it to be consistent. As I finished the 5th clover, I could see it wasn't going to join with the 1st one without the inside puckering up..........so I left it flat, which made a sort of ear shape (after all!) and improvised a chain edging on the curved side. It's hard to read some of those numbers in the diagrams.

The basket I'm doing for the exchange is also from this book. I've got the base done and am working on the sides - I just haven't had time to do much on it so far.

I found another beautiful shuttle on ebay that I really really liked.........only to be outbid again. I don't much mind anymore. It's not like I'm shuttle-less. I'm kind of partial to the ones that are made by people anyway.

Celticdreamweaver Sherry sent me a scan of a shuttle and bobbin she painted.


Isn't it gorgeous? Some lucky person won the bid on it some time back. She and I were talking about painting shuttles. I bought 5 blanks from Stuart Johnson a few years ago with the intention of painting them. Just gotta get my paints out. I haven't decided what I want on them but they won't go anywhere except in my own stash. I love painting as much as tatting, but it takes up room that I don't have handy at the moment. I like the feel of Stuart's shuttles. They are thinner than many I've seen, lightweight, and I think they'll be easy to work with. Postage overseas just about kills you though.

I'm debating on flowers for my basket. Maybe some of those tulips I learned from Kaye? I still haven't finished the one I was working on.

I finally got Maybelliene to my daughter last night and she liked the background. Now, I'll have to get it back from her to frame. They are having a presentation on archival framing at the Mooresville Lace Day so I may take it with me and get their input.

Winter made a last gasp this morning with snow all morning. It's not accumulating as predicted, but there was a serious accident that involved the son of a friend of our secretary.

I'm off to Cincy tomorrow. Plan to meet up with Gail Owens.
I'm so looking forward to it! We'll have fun catching up.

So, while I'm in Cincy, I probably won't have consistent access to a computer. That means we'll catch up at the weekend!

MAYBELLEINE

I'm not real crazy about the background, but I'll give it to my daughter and see what she thinks before I actually frame it. I may put it on a white background instead.

I started the basket for my basket exchange too.

I am soooooo tired.

The tusk is done. I'm working on an ear - don't think it's a good one though so I'll try a different one tonight. Redo the tail. I still haven't corrected the leg band either. I've been letting myself get sidetracked.............and it's time to get back in gear.

Tomorrow is my Lace Group meeting. We are bringing tools, so I'll bring some different shuttles, picot gauges, hairclips for thread balls, the retracting clip I hang my tatting hook from, my thread-winder (both of them) - and containers................good grief, we couldn't live without containers. They are tools too! From M&M containers, to Altoids tins, to little pouches. Beading needles and my spinning bead thingie, which I've yet to use effectively. Floss holders, post-its, paper clips, and safety pins.

I finished the last leg at lunch today but I got sidetracked this evening and haven't worked on it anymore. I plan to make the tusk before I go to bed. Which leaves the tail and the ear. It's just so sparkly - the scan doesn't really show it that clearly. The beads sparkle and the thread is shiny. Anyway, I thought it was time to post it again. It's getting so big, I can't fit it completely on the scanner. When it is complete, I'll take a digital photo of it.

I bought some teensy baby hairclips for the size 80 thread and some mid-size clips for the medium balls of thread. I don't have any big clips for big balls, but I'm sure the med or even teensy ones will work. I got sidetracked this evening on another project so haven't tatted or untatted, as the case will be. I stopped at Walmart earlier and got groceries and misc. stuff, like batteries for the toothbrush and some printer ink and eyeliner and a hepa filter for the vacuum sweeper. I'm wide awake for some reason, so I'll probably do the untatting yet this evening. That will make me sleepy!

I was digging around in my craft storage in the basement this evening looking for something and found a Barbie doll pattern with scrubs - exactly what I need for a new display for the safety window. I'm wanting to dress the dolls in medical attire at some point. I'll have to see what else I have patterns of that I've forgotten!

I feel like I'm procrastinating.

When I got home this evening, I saw 2 trees were down in the driveway, one almost blocking the drive. I broke off the branches so I could drive through. I'll have to see if the boys can show up this weekend and take care of that.

Okay, I'm off to untat.

I restrung the hearts so they were going in the right direction but I definitely don't like the way they are laying so I'm going to retro-tat back to the 1st silver heart and try something else. I'm going to put the silver hearts in the center join of the clovers and see how that looks. I think they might lay there better. I'll only do a few and see how it looks. If that doesn't work, I'll just sew them on later or forget it.


The ear is going to be heart-shaped or maybe a teardrop, but it will have clovers in it since that is a dominant design feature. Six days left!

Not too long ago, I put this doily on the photo page of the yahoo group site in the "rescued lace" file.



I found it's almost exact duplicate on page 12 of Tatting in Lace by Mary Konior. The sidebar says it was made in China and purchased in Cape Town. I'm thinking that means they were mass produced by cheap labor.



I have some lavander hearts and butterflys that I want to get appliqued on a square so it can go out in Saturday's mail. My granddaughter's birthday was yesterday. Once we get past this week, I can slow down.

HA! Like that's really gonna happen. I forgot momentarily that I'm traveling the week after......and on the weekend at the end of the month. Okay, April will be slower.

When I was looking through tatting books last night I was reminded that I want to tat a hat band for my straw hat. I'm tempted to get a felt one just so I can tat a band for it too.

And so it goes................

I got to the first silver heart bead during lunch. Back up, go to the books, and refigure. I'm going to check later the different ways to add beads on the ball thread. I have to restring it anyway, the hearts are pointing in the wrong direction, but I also want it on there without a thread passing over it. Both threads need to go through the hole or it will look tacky, to me anyway. So I'm off to pursue the bead lessons and/or see if I can find it in my material at home. This part is really standing out.

It's been a long evening with not a lot to show for it. I got the other side of the eye surround done. Then I had to string the beads for the headpiece,which amounted to close to 100 beads on the shuttle thread and almost as many on the ball thread. Plus I'm using some silver hearts on the front edge of the headpiece and so I had to count just right if I want them to fall in the right place. I hope I got it right. I was unsure about the direction of the hearts too, which end to string so that they end up with the point down when they are tatted in. It was almost 11:00 p.m. by the time I was ready to tat that part and I couldn't resist at least starting it, so I got a 2 rings, 2 chains, and the beginning of a clover done. I'll take it with me tomorrow and will get a little done, hopefully finishing it tomorrow night or Wednesday night.

I bought the little hair clips on Sunday and put a few on my errant balls of thread. They work perfectly. When I have time to go through my thread drawers, I'll clip them all!

I got the latest Anna magazine today. Time must be zipping by. It seems like I just got an issue. There are a lot of Easter themes in this one and it's the crochet course this month. There are some "three-dimensional flowers in the style of Irish crochet" that I found very pretty and a pineapple motif that also had a 3 D flower in it - an unusual combination.

I also got Sharon Brigg's latest Tatted Lace Pattern Collection. The celtic eyeglass case looks interesting but I think I would use it for something else. What? I don't know but it's not strong enough to protect eyeglasses unless it has a plastic or cardboard insert.

Well, I need to get to bed. I gotta quit staying up so late!

Got my shuttles from Ms. Heart! I've been wanting to get one of her flat shuttles for a long time. Then I found out she made the post shuttles too so I had to have one of those. I got mine personalized - I wanted to have Tatting Goddess put on them but I knew it would be too big - especially when I found out she burnt the name into the wood! She has her mark on the other side so it's uniquely branded. If you want to order one, contact Bethann Heart and she'll let you know the prices for what you want. I've always liked her tatting hooks too, but I have several already. Okay........I have more than several tatting shuttles too, but there's always room for one more! LOL!

I love hand-crafted tools! I'm not likely to use the flat shuttle but I love the way it looks and feels.



Here's the new eye surround. There will be another piece on the opposite side of the purple similar to the little motif on there now. I like the way the rectangular bead worked out. The 2 long picots will hold another rectangular bead.

I made it to the Tatting Guild in Greenfield today! Nice to see everyone again! Somehow, I managed to leave one of my petals behind so I was hurriedly tatting another while there - except I didn't have the right thread with me. As it turns out, I forgot to attach at a side picot when putting the 2nd petal with the first so I am currently un-tatting. I found the other petal under my desk chair once I got home, so I'll start that 2nd petal attachment with the right one. It's an interesting little trick to use the fishing line. It's used as the core thread while doing chain stitches and that makes the edges firm. I think Kaye said it was a technique used by Lindsey Rogers. The tulip will be in a tatting book being cooked up by Kaye. No word on when.

After I left Greenfield, I went to Half-Price Bookstore in Castleton Square in Indy. I think someone needs to do an intervention with me and books. Even though more than half of what I got was only $1 and $2, I still managed to spend more money than I wanted to. Bummer! Then I stopped by home briefly to check the mail, both snail and E, and then moved on into Lafayette. I had a book on hold at the library that came in and I wanted to be sure to get it. Then I ate somewhere, and then I stopped at Hobby Lobby. Simplicity patterns were $.99 each....................................sigh....................... but I also got something my daughter said she wanted.

What I forgot to get though..............

were the hair clips that Helen gave us the tip on! Those simple hair clips will slip on a ball of thread and keep the loose thread from hanging around and getting tangled. I'll try to remember tomorrow.

I got to see Celtic Tatting! I especially like the butterfly on the cover and there is a little heart inside that I liked too. I didn't get it for now. My excuse was that I was saving my money for Tatting Day by Circle City Lacers in March. I think I blew that excuse at the bookstore. There were only a few copies available though and I think they were spoken for. I saw Tatted Animals too and also did not get that one.

On the other hand, at the library, at the freebie stand, there were a bunch of old crochet and knit leaflets. Yep - I picked them up! It think there are 20 or so there, from the 40's through the 60's. I already had 4 of them once upon a time, now that I look through them.

Tonight I'm probably going to read. I'm part way through Crossing Over, the true story of a young Amish woman's experience with leaving the Amish way. I want to finish it fast so I can start on the book I got from the library. Besides, I may have my grandson over before the night is over.

I'll put my tulip up when I get it done. May be awhile.

Last night I finished the last of the petals for the tulip that we're doing in Saturday's class with the Tatting Guild. I didn't realize until I had a smaller petal done that it was in a different color.......and until I had all 3 done, that it was a smaller size thread. That's what happens when you grab things at the last minute on the way out! I think it might add a realistic touch though, to have 2 different shades to the petals. They go pretty quick so I might even make up another color before Saturday.

I started the elephant headpiece last night too. I figured out a way to add these rectangular beads from Walmart that seemed just the right touch......but I'm having trouble with the eye surround. The diagram looks like there is a space between rings but it doesn't say anything in the directions and I thought maybe it just looked like it due to the drawing. After completing it though, it doesn't lay flat, so I'm going to have to do it over and leave some space between rings. I also can't figure out for sure how to add the silver beads along the front of the headpiece. I know how to - I'm just not sure how it will look.

There are some new books out: Dreamy Winter by Wally Sosa and Celtic Tatting by Rozella Linden. I don't have either of these books yet but I hear they're interesting. I still haven't tatted anything out of the last book or two I got so I'm going to wait a bit before I buy any more.

I love it that we have so many to pick from now! When I started tatting, patterns were at a premium. I think we all hoarded Workbaskets and picked the internet clean for anything we could find. Out of that need, and with the help of internet sharing, a whole new generation of tatting design has been birthed. We use techniques and fibers completely unknown of before. We keep finding new ways to use them, to put them together. What's more, there seem to be people out there designing and creating that we never hear from. I think it must be time for Georgia to put together another book of patterns from cyber tatters! I love the variety. I know there are several individuals who are putting together books - but I think the market is beginning to feel a glut. It might make more sense if they could somehow collaborate. I'm at a point where I definitely want to see the book before I buy it. I already have too many that just sit - there is maybe one thing in it that I want to make - and I can find something similar in another book. I really like it when all the animals are in one book and all the flowers in another, square motifs, round motifs, triangular motifs - devote entire books to one aspect of tatting. I'd like to see all the sunbonnet or pinafore ladies in a single book. But for a beginnner - a variety in a single book is best.

I'm rambling! LOL! It's beautiful outside if still on the cool side. I can't wait to do something with the garden!

The hiney is done! I'm going to redo the tail later. It wasn't actually to be done until the very end but I wanted to see how it would look. I didn't do the purl tatting like the instructions say. Instead, I did a lockstitch chain which makes it straight, but I only used 2 strands of the floss and I had meant to use at least 3. I may even use 4 if I need a bit more thickness, but I'll try a sample or two when I get to that point. It's easy to cut out and doesn't take long to do.

Someone commented on lace pieces on ebay recently. I think I did get some off ebay not too long ago, but most of the time I think they are too expensive from there. I usually rely on garage sales and second hand stores. I've gotten some real beauties there for far less than ebay. There is a length of pointed lace, tatted, that I put in a file titled "rescued lace" in the group photos. It's about 6 inches wides and several feet long. I think I paid $5 where I found it. On ebay, I wouldn't have been able to touch it. In this case, it would be worth the extra dollars, but many pieces on ebay are not. There is still a lot of mislabeling, although not as many misidentified pieces of tatting as there used to be. And there are other pieces that don't get near what they are worth.

Shuttles are sometimes called something else because the seller doesn't know what they are. I have almost everything I want at this point anyway. There was a scrimshaw shuttle I really really wanted - because of the design on it - but someone else got it. I've seen a few scrimshaw ones since, but they aren't what I want. I wanted a cedar shuttle too - still haven't got one. The maker sells other wooden shuttles but I wanted the cedar one. I'm afraid to use my laser cut shuttles now, ever since I had one break. The Shuttle Shop replaced it - that's not the issue. It's just the concern now that they might break. I love the feel of wood but I haven't found a wooden shuttle as convenient as my colored clovers yet. I got one at I.O.L.I. with the tiny hook which I love, but the way you have to wind it is a pain. It's not the post - it's got the slits that you have to go through. I think it's hard on the thread. Bone shuttles too, because they have such sharp edges, I know they have to cut the thread or weaken it every time it's pulled through.

Well, I'm going to start tatting the elephant headpiece.........my goal is to have the headpiece and front legs done next weekend. That will only leave the ear!

Also gotta tat the petals for the 3D tulip at the Tatting Guild meeting next Saturday. Maybe I'll do that tonight instead. It won't take long and they'll be done.

This morning I was touring the photo albums at Tatting!~Tat's It! on MSN groups.
I didn't realize they had so many! The one that got me started was of their Valentine hankie exchange. I really liked the hankie that was made into an envelope for a Valentine card. Then I got to looking at the other albums. Oh my! There was a tatted bag exchange, a card exchange, and numerous individual albums full of tatting! One person had tatted several fans and after my fan-tatting spree last year about this time, I was wondering why I'd never seen a tatted fan exchange? If you put "fan" in the search box over there on the right, it should bring up those entries, plus the tatted hairpin lace fan I designed. I was mightily impressed by all the tatting on that site. There were some Dorset bags in there too. Seems like that was something I was going to do around Christmas time for someone and never got to.




Here's the heart I tatted for my sister's birthday. I love Betsy Evan's heart for this. This one is tatted with size 20 cebelia and I added picots to the outer chains since they weren't being attached to one another. This heart is bigger than the red one in a smaller size thread. She loved it and it just so happens that she has just decorated her guest bedroom in lavander so I suspect it will end up in there.

I was in Barnes and Nobles tonight, checking out the latest issue of Piecework. I decided not to buy it but next month's issue looks like it will be interesting. I also looked through the 2 heirloom sewing magazines, Sew Beautiful.......don't remember the second one now. Martha Pullen likes to use tatting to embellish her creations, I've noticed.

Well, I've been gone since mid-afternoon today and not a bit of tatting done. Or much of anything else so I guess I better get to it. LOL! Even if it is late!

I got another ebay win today, a January 1917 issue of Needlecraft. And of course, my dirty little mind immediately found something .......questionable. There it was, on page 14, with the heading "Needlecraft's Valentine Gift-box". No. 1061 D. "A Case for Rubbers will Interest Everyone."



ROTFL! Those up and coming Flapper Girls knew how to have fun! I'm going to make one of these for each of the single girls at work...........................kidding! Honestly, I don't know what this is. I know jar rubbers for canning jars were called rubbers but this doesn't look like that kind of container. LOL! I'm getting way too much mileage out of this. My grandmother was born in 1903 or 1904, not sure which now. I have a feeling if she were alive and I were to ask her about these - she would be mortified by my mirth.
But I would never have been that insensitive to her feelings. She was my favorite.

............clearing throat.....................ahem............there were some other tatted goodies in this issue also. The pincushion was on the same page - hen and chicks edging! I thought this other edging intriguing, of tatting and picot braid. The directions start off with "commence by joining to a picot of the braid" which suggests that the braid is purchased or such a common item in the sewing box that everyone had it. I've not seen it mentioned before, so I doubt that it was common.

Yikes! I just realized why some of the pics in the old tatting book I got yesterday looked familiar - I already have The Tatted Lace Patterns of Emmy Liebert, a collection of this designer. So that's cool - I have an original now.





The hankys arrived tonight and I attached the edging. Fortunately, I had not cut and finished off the ends yet because I needed another inch. Then it was just a matter of pressing, tacking, and voila! I added the flower buttons to cover the tacking of the ribbon. It really is simple to turn it back into a hanky. Snip where each tie is and the gathering at the back. I take it into Mary tomorrow. I believe it totaled between 10-11 hours of labor, with tatting and sewing together. The hanky was $3.25 - an excellent quality fabric, btw, from Hanky Blanks plus postage and thread, of course.

I got teneriffe directions from Wilma tonight too! Another goodie to try out after the elephant.........providing I can hold off that long!

A late night last minute entry before I hit the hay..............

I started the hind end of the elephant this evening. Got the leg band done and a section of 6 rings/chains - which will be 8 when I attach it to the leg band. I have a bandaid on my thumb for a little split that keeps opening up. It makes the slick thread even more slippery. And I had trouble even getting the stuff to knot. I think I'm going to use the metallic black floss for the elephant toes and eye. That might be a little tricky which I change threads.

I told Mary I had the lace for her bonnet done today and am just waiting for the hanky. She was thrilled. She commented that this baby was special - the mother had lost other children - she didn't elaborate and I didn't ask.

Another ebay win arrived today. A book from Germany, from another Regina.

It's a very old tatting book - Schiffchenarbeitl Frivolitaten bon Emmy Liebert. I have trouble reading those letters. Some designs I think I've seen in reprints, others I haven't.

I started typing the butterfly collar out. I'm maybe 1/4 of the way done. I'm typing it as is, but I can see it needs to be reworked. I found a beading website today that has a tutorial as well as more extensive instructions for sale on how to make diagrams with MS Powerpoint. I contacted the owner and asked her how she thought it would work with tatting diagrams and she was so helpful! I had given her the links to some sites to show examples of diagrams and tatting, and she wrote up a walk-through for one of the patterns. I started it it, just to test if I could do it and it was going along pretty good untiil I got to a curve and I couldn't figure out how to use it. After I deleted what I had done, I think I figured it out. LOL! I might have to give this more effort.

The skeins I soaked are all dried now and waiting to be wrapped into balls. A few of them seem to have some darkish areas where the ends were exposed. Those would be especially good for dying or hand painting.

This is such a busy week - next week is much much calmer! Oh, I just remembered someone asked a question on the group site that I didn't answer.

And I need to get to sleep!

Ah! I just had a brain-gurgle! I wanted to say brain-fart but I'm becoming very conscientious of my audience.

The butterfly collar in the painted graduated 3 color-threads technique!!!! Wouldn't that be GORGEOUS????????

And...............I just bought 4 beautiful pastel shades of ultra-twist sulky thread........think how much stronger it would be to use 3 strands of that thread, which is actually sewing machine thread with only a 35# strength. It doesn't take a whole lot to snap it when it's a single thread.

oooooohhhhhhhhhhhh, it's taking a passle of willpower to not just drop everything and give it a try..............

I've got something like 45" of the edging done. 3 more inches and it's done. About 1/2 hour's work. Then attach and tack and another goodie done! 'cept I probably have to make a smaller hanky than what I've got.

Here I am again, twice in one day!



As I've mentioned before, I have a passion for antique needlework patterns. I received the February, 1914 issue of Needlecraft today from an Ebay win. To my delight, these tatting projects were in this one. If you click on the thumbnail, you will see a bigger version. I reduced it some, to make loading time less, but I tried to keep it big enough to see some of the detail. These were all on the same page, I'm assuming Mrs. M. M. Stoddard is the designer as well as the author. When I saw the doily, I thought the butterfly was the same one that is on the Handy Hand stamp and at the end of Tatting No. 6, Forty Original Designs, but it is not. That really is an interesting doily. I'll transcribe the directions someday in the future when I have more time.

The second thumbnail shows a butterfly insert, 2 different sizes. And then the 3rd one! It's a collar and it's described as "Rose-and-Fernleaf Pattern" but it has butterflies too - different from any of the others! I just might have to make this collar! In color!

I'm currently soaking the vintage Lily thread I mentioned a few days ago in Oxy-Magic. What I didn't tell you was that I got 4 skeins of it! They were $.50 each and there were more, but the others were tangled so I got the ones that looked in the best shape. They are a little discolored on the ends so I'm soaking them to see if it will come out - they're looking pretty good. I just hope they aren't too tangled! I also have a skein of "Virginia Snow Sufficient Glove Twist to crochet one pair gloves....See book No. 44 for other styles." This looks to be about size 30. I wonder how old these threads are?

Well, I'm off again. This is cutting into my tatting time!

The elephant blanket is done. I even removed and retatted 2 of the pink motifs. They look better but they still don't form the petals as smoothly as I would like. Last night I wet it so I could block it. As soon as I wet it, it got stiff, like I'd put a stiffener in it. I thought...........oh-oh.................but I finger shaped it and steamed it and then laid it on the countertop to completely dry. Surprise, surprise! This morning it's so slinky...............just like any beaded item. The thread is again soft and slick. It looks better than it did before I shaped it. You can see where it's got a bit of a downward slant on the right - that's to shape the back side of the elephant, not a mistake. Later today, I hope to start the body. I'm also feverishly working on that edging - which is just at 20". I need at least 40". I'm more concerned about running out of thread now than getting it done.


I went to Hobby Lobby hoping they had some size 30 Cebelia in pink since that's where I originally got it. Nope. But I did get this:



I've seen double-eyed sewing machine needles, but none for hand sewing before. Then the teensy plastic rings reminds me of Jane Eborall's numerous designs involving larger rings. And then the measuring gauge! It's metal. It has a hole in it, so I can hang it on the same retractable clip I have my tatting hook on. It's a handy, dandy picot gauge now. Now I can tell Hope that I didn't find another one like the one I left her! LOL! Which explains why I found it on clearance to begin with. I think this one will work every bit as good though and it will be attached. I can't wait to have some PLAYTIME!

My lace group met this morning. At our next meeting, we are bringing "tools" so at least one of these gadgets will go with me then. We had a knitting instructor this meeting to help us with lace knitting. I ended up tatting because I didn't really bring a knitting project with me that I wanted to work on but I picked up a few tips from the instruction anyway.

I see Mark Myers is enticing us with pics from his upcoming book featuring a Spring Garden theme. All it needs is a flower basket or a flower pot! And who knows, he may have that in the plan too.

Well, off to do chores and make phone calls, and other mundane necessities of life.

I started tatting Nell's edging and felt the time crunch to get it done for the bonnet, so I've opted for an even simpler edging. I switched from 3 ds,p,3ds on the chain part to 4 ds, p, 4 ds, and it seems to lay a little straighter. The hanky I'm using is 16" square so that means 4 x 16 = 64" of tatted edging! Almost 2 yards. One set of directions calls for a 13" square and another says 10" square so I could probably make this smaller. I may just make a new square from some fine white fabric. The nice thing about hankies is that they are already hemmed. The link I used earlier is to an updated site that uses an electronic sewing machine to do some fancy stitchwork on it. I found the original directions I had which no longer exist on the web but they are much simpler.

This one used a 10 x 10 hanky and attached an edging. Lay the hanky flat and fold one end back about 1/2" and press the fold. At the opposite end, fold the edge back about 2 1/2", then fold that edge back 1". It makes a little accordian fold which is the front of the bonnet. Using a needle and thread and long basting stitches, gather up the edge with the 1/2" fold and pull it up tightly, securing the ends. This can be snipped to let it be the bride's hanky (something old) in future years. Ribbon ties are tacked at the front fold which helps secure them ............and voila - you have a baby bonnet! I have a slightly different poem that goes with it that I like better too. I'll try to get that on here later.

As you can see, I've only got about 8" of edging done. And I told the girl a week to 10 days. What was I thinking of!



I made a stop in St. Vincent DePaul's today and found some vintage thread. One bag of assorted threads for $.39! Most of it is size 30 and six cord from this bag.



I can't find this particular thread around here. The Elgin Maid is a perle cotton, size 12. I also got a bag of size 30, regular 3 cord J.P. Coates Big Ball but you don't see size 30 around here much either. There was another bag of white and ecru which had one ball of 3 cord size 50. None of the bags was over $.50. I also got some circular knitting needles there, about 4 different sizes, for $1.00 each. Our lace group is having a knitting instructor this Saturday and using circular knitting needles is one feature of the instruction. I thought I'd bring a few extras in case someone forgets or doesn't have any.

I always have fun in this store. I got a small gavel for one of my committee chairmen who commented jokingly that she needed one this morning. She is a friend and I'm teasing her with it. I got 2 Barbie dolls with the jointed legs and arms. I use them in the display window at work and the joints help me pose them. I need to find a few more male dolls though. I got a dark skinned doll somewhere else recently. Two of them - now that I find them again. They don't have joints but they do bend a little. One is more exotic looking - I'm trying to represent the different cultures in my display a little more. Again, I need a darker male, jointed. When I went to look for those dolls, I found another stash of vintage thread that I got at the same time. I can't find what cord it is, but I assume the No. 50 means it is size 50. I got about 4 of these 1000 yard skeins. Wouldn't this be great to try some hand-dying or painting on thread with????