Carol Amich's 3D Tatting

Knowing I'm not going to get a lot of tatting done for a few weeks, I thought it might be fun to interview a few tatters and feature their work instead of my own! My first victim...err...featured tatter is Carol Amich from Frankfort, Indiana who tats these lovely 3D critters in what is called "solid" tatting.

Me: What got you started on this type of 3D tatting to begin with?
Carol: On some site a few years ago, someone mentioned 3D tatting, and that you could possibly get the book by Angeline Crichlow from her daughter. (Angeline had passed away) I wrote to her and got it. It was a home-made type book, with ribbon binding. Many photos in the book were actual photos cut out and pasted on.

Me: Oh wow! An original. That has got to be a treasure! Is it about the technique only or does it have projects in it too?
Carol: It has the technique and a few "patterns". I remember the angel (though hers was bald!), Santa, pig, ball, and soldier.

Me: What inspired you to do the 3D Santa & Reindeer?
Carol: I love Christmas things, and had to have a 3d Santa. I had made one a few years ago, but it was one of the first things I did, so I thought I could do better. And, Santa must have a reindeer, so I made him a little pal..

Me: How long? How many versions?
Carol: It probably takes me 2-3 hours to do something fairly simple like the lizard. Because you are pretty much creating a tatted fabric. I think the elf I did took 3 weeks. The ones that are bigger, with color changes and embellishments, take longer. Trying to decide on the colors and add-ons is probably the hardest part. Each 3D creature is pretty much unique, because there is no set pattern, there is a technique, but no pattern. Each one is created as you go, almost like sculpting. I have even called this Sculptatting.

Me: Thread type and size?
Carol: I amost always use DMC 8. I like it because it doesn't twist or knot up, and it is the easiest for me to find.
Me: Plans for the future?
Carol: Oh, I am always planning something. I need to make a 3D version of my pet parakeet, maybe something mythological next. I also love Halloween, so I will need to make something like a spider or who knows? I am alway up for suggestions, too. Then, there is regular tatting. I always make orginal patterns for my exchanges, so I need to work on those too. Maybe make some other types of dinosaurs to go with my T-Rex. I have a little steno pad in which I write down ideas. I sort of draw it out, and then try to figure out how to tat it. This has always worked out for me.

Here's a quick post I started a few days ago.

Wonderful Tatted caps!


Here's the latest Romanian Point Lace project. After asking for input on CrochetLace, I learned that making the upper loops bigger would have helped. I followed the pattern dimensions and thought them small to begin with. I think it's more noticeable by using 2 colors too.

Now I feel like it needs ornaments! It's only about 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches though.

I'm currently working on my flower motif for the tin exchange. I got it done last night but what do I do now? Wire it or make it a wearable? I'll have to show it later. Somehow, I hope to make time tonight and tomorrow to tat 2 small doilies for the secretarys in my department.

Here's the little flutter designed by Kaye Judt that we tatted in tatting guild this morning. No simple little butterly! LOL! He's tatted using purl tatting and self-closing mock-rings. He's a bit off from the original too. I shall have to make him again.




After guild, I met a friend in Greenfield for lunch at Applebee's. Our waitress was named Regina and I mentioned that was my name too. She said she had never known another Regina. It was many years before I met one myself, but there are at least 2 others on campus now, and one also has the same last name as me. A chair vendor who came in to pick up a clipboard he left at a job was amazed to find that out (after he went to the wrong one to retrieve his clipboard). After lunch, Suzanne & I went to Riley's Emporium. I was sure the last time I was there that there was a sign saying they were moving to a new location...but they were in the same spot! I love this place. Right off the bat, I spotted this LARGE piece of teneriffe. It's heavily starched - I guess it was considered a doily all by itself. It was $2.00 and 20% off so I grabbed it to add to my lace group's lace collection. I'm not sure whether to try to reblock it or not. I think the way it is adds to its authenticity. I would also like to know how the maker knotted so close to the edge without concern for it sliding off the end? Interestingly, some of the diamond weaving involved 5 pairs of threads and some has 6 pairs of threads. I couldn't find a specific pattern to it so it must have been the maker's whim.

I love going through the laces and linens but didn't have time to really comb through them. I bought a few embroideries but this drawn-work piece is one I love and only fifty cents. It measures about 13" x 20". I bought a blue table cover and 4 napkins with beautiful drawn-work the last time I was there. There are bins full of crochet work. I seldom see any tatting and none jumped out at me today. I did see rings, done in large thread and coarsely, around an embroidered doily in another booth but felt the quality poor and left it.


I found this ruby ring in a locked case in a booth where everything was 25% off. It's 14 caret gold so I presume the rubies are real - thought not necessarily. And the diamond chips. It also fit me. GRIN! My fingers are on the small side and most rings found in places like this are too big. I saw a few other pieces of jewelry I liked but felt like I was splurging just buying this one so I left them for someone else. Besides, I continue to wear my Black Hills Gold rings and that doesn't leave me much room for any others.

I also bought some used magazines on painting. Upstairs there was a room with sewing and craft books/magazines but they haven't really put it in order and after sifting through 3 shelves, I was bored with it. There were several Workbaskets there but my collection is fairly complete until the last few years and I no longer am desperate for tatting patterns so I left those too for another lucky soul to buy.

After the Emporium, Suzanne & I went to the root beer stand and had an ice cream cone and then pulled into the nearby park where they were having an art show. It was almost over and many had already taken their work down but we still got to see many lovely paintings. It made me want to run home and paint .....but here I am, keying instead!

Yes, I've been tatting! I'm working on this edging designed by a friend...and I wonder if she will recognize it? She passed it on to us a few years ago. I started it once and kept making mistakes so I gave it up for then. It's really very simple - I was just having a bad-tat day. Ever have one of those? LOL! The thread is a Sulky embroidery thread. It's about the size of 70/80 tatting cotton and nice and slick which makes it easy to un-tat or to open a ring. It will split if you prod it in the wrong place too, but I haven't had to mess with any one spot for so long that it frayed. I did accidently break it once and then when I attached the new thread, I cut the ball thread instead of the long end off so ended up winding a 2nd shuttle from the 1st to act as the ball thread and attached that to the 2 loose ends. Sounds like another bad-tat day, huh? I tatted another ring and chain and stopped at that point. I'll continue tomorrow.
Here's the upcoming project in the May Anna. I'm guessing that is a candle behind the paper. It looks like vellum. I'm wondering how they tatted the cord for the flower stems. They look pretty thick, don't they? And then, is the motif glued on or sewn on? Now wouldn't some beads add sparkle?

That reminds me.....I've been looking at some articles related to doing water color or acrylic painting for portions of scrapbooking. I saw a few clearance magazines at Hobby Lobby the other day but none of the projects in it looked interesting to me. I do want to use watercolors for some pages though. And why not add some tatting? THINK of the possibilities! Little tatted photo corners and frames. Blossoms and butterflies and critters and hearts and doilies and crosses and ....well....you know. Everything.
Here's my next Romanian Point Lace project. I've had the cord done for awhile. Finally got around to putting the pattern on the muslin tonight. Once you get the pattern on the muslin, you can use it over and over. I don't have a collection built up yet so it takes some time to make it before I can do the fun part - the filling stitches. I think I'll use the gold thread this time for filling.

Saturday, my daughter & I drove to Commiskey, IN to Stream Cliff Herb Farm to do a nature walk and floral wire basket. My birthday gift to her was her choice of which class to take and this was what she chose. They have a lovely little garden there with small water features, a pink playhouse, and plants and statues all over. This little water feature had several real live frogs sunning themselves on the moss.


We registered and picked up our nametags and walked around for awhile. They also have an enchanting little gift shop full of herbal soaps and creams and such, as well as books on gardening and fairies and many many other gift items. I didn't buy anything this time but much of it was tempting!

Then we gathered together and host Betty Manning gave us some history of the farm which has been used for four generations. She read a poem and talked about flowers and how meaningful they are in our lifes.


Then we had a DELICIOUS lunch - a chicken salad croissant (large) along with some wonderful pasta salad that we failed to get the recipe of, some herbed crackers, cantalope with strawberries and another fruit that I don't recall, topped off with lemon bar dessert. We had a choice of lemonade or mint tea to drink and I got the mint tea. I was so full I didn't eat again that day except for an ice cream bar!


We then took a walk to a nearby property of theirs that bordered a creek and Mrs. Manning pointed out wildflowers and plants and told us bits and pieces about them. The bluebells were lush and plentiful. Here's my daughter at one of the waterfeatures.


Returning from our walk, we moved to the porch of one large outbuilding where the wire containers were lined up on a table. We each had a pot of begonias, ivy, pansies, and coleus to put in the container. That part took maybe 10 minutes TOPS. LOL! But we each have a lovely momento for the summer. She told us how to take care of them to get the best out of the plants. It was a great day for both of us!

We got some hail yesterday but I managed to bring it in before it got too beat up.



Last night I finished another Romanian Point Lace motif. Yes, I will get back to tatting soon, but I have to return the books to the I.O.L.I. library so I'm doing as much as I can from them.




Got this thread at Hobby Lobby on Friday night. I've already stated a RPL cord with the multicolored one. It's rayon and a tad smaller than size 10 thread but bigger than 20.

Somebody stop me from buying any more of these! I had some to begin with, bought 2 packages in Australia, and then bought these at a flea market a few weeks ago. They look so inviting to tat in but I certainly don't need 50 of them! They are silver and gold metal bracelets in case you can't tell.



I tackled my Romanian Point Lace again. There was an angel and a butterfly I really wanted to do but decided to go for the super ultra simple motif first. This time I put clear plastic over a paper pattern and basted them both on doubled over fabric. Then I couched down my cord and hid my ends. That was interesting. I can never tell if my thread is going to show on the back.



I used the fillings recommended in the book by Thompson and Waller for the outer petals but I sucked at that one so I cut them out and tried the netting here. Then I used a filling of my choice for the center petal but I didn't have room to fit in all the pairs of threads to weave through so I adapted. LOL!




The next step was the center, a spiral, a star, a wheel. It's called many things according to the needlecraft. And then the leaf fillings. I hadn't practriced fillings for any other shape besides oval so the feather stitch was a challenge. I looked in every book I had and still found it difficult to define exactly what the feather stitch was. I was looking for direcitons for the basic feather stitch. There were lots of variations but how was it supposed to go to begin with?





Here it is off the pattern. I didn't have high hopes but it looks better than I expected. Not perfect but not too bad for a beginning project!

Well here's the "people pics"! These two were during one of Mark's classes. I think it was the Saturday afternoon class since he seems to be everywhere. LOL! This was a rose motif inspired by and looking somewhat like bobbinlace. It's the one I had so much trouble getting started properly. I hope to try again in a few days when I'm more caught up with other stuff. It's really very delicate and pretty. I noticed Tanya (Wonk) has a picture on her blogsite but I can't remember if you can see it clearly or not.





And who do we have here? Looks like Erin who is intensely focused on her work! The second one is Erin and Georgia deep in conversation. For some reason, I didn't get around to spending much time with Georgia.








More people pics. This one had Rita Cochrane right in the center. Kaye Judt is standing there too. Sherry has her back to us at the left while shopping. I'm not sure who the others are. Deb Arnold in blue is standing at her vendor table in the bottom pic.





Here's the Silent Auction items. I wanted the basket with the purple wine glasses and a bottle of wine but didn't pursue it very far. I always thought bids at silent auctions were hidden until the end. Knowing I was immediately outbid kinda took the fun out of it for me.



I managed to purchase a copy of Mark Myer's new book before I left. We'll see if it's helpful for the newbies I've been teaching.




I missed out on Ginny's first printing of her coaster patterns, but she brought in one additional pattern the 2nd day and I got that one!

My sister and I had a leisurely drive to Hector. We started off early afternoon on Thursday and stopped at an Amish restaurant in Ohio where we proceeded to waste a couple of hours between eating and exploring their two floors of fantastic gift items. As I drove by the Xenia, OH exit, I wished we could stop by and pick up Gail. We stopped somewhere in Medina County that night and drove the remainder the next day, arriving mid afternoon. That night we went to the firehouse, bringing a few goodies from the Amish resturant as well as a cheese/meat tray from Walmart. Familiar faces slowly trickled in and my sister and I spent some time discussing the ins and outs of dying hair purple with someone I thought my sister said was named Amy but I do not find an Amy in the booklet we got so apparently that is wrong! The tie-dyed goody bag came with registration in the morning.



We had plenty of time to kill before starting. Mark's plane had been late and Sherry picked him and Erin Holloway up from the same airport. I didn't know Erin was coming until I saw my roster of students and Erin was on there. Talk about confusion! LOL! I thought surely there was a mistake since Erin never peeped a whisper about coming, but arrive she did and with these wonderfully painted bobbins to boot! That girl is always full of surprises!



While waiting for the last to arrive, I talked....and shopped. The 2 Easter Eggs were freebies given to us to hold our thread. The bunny holds a good size ball of thread.




I bought the Hector Hat shuttle from Georgia and the handpainted shuttle from the Lacemaker. I got some threads there too but they were bland colors, purposely bought to help bridge other threads together.





I still don't have everything sorted and put away. Here are 2 of the 3 threads I bought from Rita Cochrane as well as a spool of neon thread from Walmart. Also got these sew on glitters from Walmart - I'd been meaning to check them out for a long time. You can see I did get my hook through the holes to attach my thread. A fun thing to tat later on when I ....HA! have time. The black bag is emery dust I got from Georgia Seitz in case I ever get to make a strawberry for a pincushion!





My first class with Mark hasn't gotten too far off the ground yet. I kept making mistakes and decided to wait for another day. The next day wasn't the day, though I did give it a try. LOL! Sunday I had Sherry with her 3D dragon....I got the 1st motif done...hope I remember everything she told us to keep in mind as we finished the other parts. After lunch, I had Mark again, this time with hairpin lace as a base for a motif and I've done hairpin lace before so that went a little easier, except I had my pins too far apart. I can still do something with it but I wanted the smaller ones so I made another one. Later that night I finished the first motif. This is repeated 3 times along with a center and all are joined together to go over a fabric bag. Mark's was very pretty. I re-tatted my center a bit differently. The 1st one looked ratty and I cut it out. The new one is joined somewhat differently. Mark's has a lot of free loops but I joined all of mine.

Photos of people will have to wait. They were on my other camera because the digital one didn't work when I first got it out. I took the other film in to be processed today.

Yee-Haw! I'll be home tomorrow with pics and scans! Last night I finished a motif from Mark's class....not the project but a section of it. Lots of goodies to share!

I started this yesterday and haven't had time to get back to it. I'm off within the hour to Hector - will have much to write about I hope) when I come back. Got both cameras.

Someone asked me about a pattern in the Lacis book, THE TATTED LACE DESIGNS OF EMMY LIEBERT so I was looking through it earlier this week. There are so many interesting motifs in there! I already have way too much planned this coming week or I would bring it along and attempt to figure out some of the patterns in the evenings.

Free hen & chicks pattern at the Yarnhaus. This is a wonderful rings only pattern for a beginner. I made this edging for cotton dishtowels one Christmas and as an edging on a drawstring bag another time. It goes fast once you're started and it's so lacy.

Only $4.50? This is a lovely guest towel with a tatted edging. I wonder if it is real tatting or machine made? Just about every other guest towel they have is more expensive. These are blank for embroidery but I still think the tatted edge towels are too cheap if that is real tatting.

Irish tatting? Don't think so.

And hand tatting unique to China? Don't think so here either!

Tatted yoke/collar on a wedding gown? I'm not sure about the sleeve trim. You can't really see it.

The heart on the right actually does have tatting on it but only $2.95.

An artist's statement?

This artist's piece has inspired some ideas in me!

And something else I saw also inspired another pattern....sigh.......

I'm still too busy to tat. I hope to get a few more hat linings in tonight. I started threading beads for a bigger hat a few nights ago. I won't have time tonight to do more but Friday night will be free. (started 2 days ago...it's Friday now)



Wednesday night Sally & I went to Bette's and worked a teneriffe motif. I finished it up during lunch today. I don't think my knots are right so now I feel driven to make another one so I can do them right. I also screwed up on the interlacing near the end. Bette pointed out where I skipped over a thread pair this morning.








It's that time of year! Tanya sent me this at Christmas .......will I get around to tatting something with it? I'm sure gonna try! And then I'll have to make a basket to go with it...and a bunny....and all those Easterly things. Oh wait! I have a lavander bunny - they will go together perfectly!






When I got home tonight, I had the County Fair booklet in the mail. I have a few things in mind to make to enter. It helps me to see the categories.










Here are the hats I'm making for Hector. I might not need any of them, in which case they will probably go on Ebay - with tatted trims, of course.







And what's this? Well....give me one minute of free time and I start a new project....like I have time to finish it in the next few days.

One of the most frequent tats of beginning tatters who are improving their skills is the bookmark. Once we move on to bigger and more challenging tats, we don't often tat bookmarks. My friend Gail Owens sent me this bookmark which is quite a beautiful example of block tatting. I immediately put it in a book I started reading and it is still there. I haven't had time to do much tatting on my own this week so it seemed a good time to showcase it. Thank you Gail!


I started this filet crochet edging a few weeks ago and finally got far enough to show something recognizable. Sometime back in the 70's when I first started quilting and there wasn't much available about quilting, I mail-ordered "700 Olde Time Needlecraft Designs & Patterns" which included 500 quilt designs, by House of White Birches. It has a bit of everything including tatting, crochet, knitting,hardanger, quilting, and so on. This filet crochet insertion is described as perfect for a child's pillowcase. It has the squirrel, then a tree, then a deer following. It is endearing and has been asking me to make it all these years. I haven't made up my mind yet what I will put it on. Do I really want to give it away? That's the big question! One friend just had a baby girl, another is due to have a boy in a few weeks and a coworker is due months from now. I have plenty of potential recipients. I think it's a squirrel - maybe it's a cat. What do you think?

From Beeton's Book of Needlework, this edging.

Can't you just see little posies in the center of those rings? The leaves are already there!

I spent most of my weekend sewing hats for my class in Hector. I may not need them if people bring their own, but if they don't, I'll have some...red, white, black, and one yellow. Maybe not the yellow - I didn't like the way it turned out.

I made this bookmark for my mother-in-law from my 1st marriage. Her 83rd birthday is Tuesday. The pattern came out of Tatting Special, a House of White Birches publication and was designed by Florence Anthony. I didn't realize this was a collection of patterns by different designers. I should look at these books closer! It was actually a "delicate edging" that I doubled back on itself and turned into a bookmark. The thread is Altin Basak, size 50, color 3053.

I tried to download it earlier today but blogger's upload feature was not working. This evening I managed to get the bookmark loaded but not the filet insert I'm working on. I have the squirrel motif done. Maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow night I've got 4 students. I didn't know until today that it would be tomorrow so I need to figure out what I'm going to prepare here shortly.

Memé Conzález C. has some lovely tatting on her MSN blog. I'll put her link to the side soon but not tonight. If you click on her "slide show" and then "full view" you'll see some eye candy.

Check out Jane Eborall's website for her latest pattern - an enchanting ballerina in two poses.

I was feeling a tad bit guilty about crocheting a shawl to wear for the Feast of the Hunter's Moon after someone reminded me that crochet was not period correct, so I was rummaging around for a knitted version in the Lionbrand yarn site and Knitty, where I stumbled into these Tit Bits, knitted boobies for those who have had a mascectomy. And here is a nosewarmer with tassels, a steering wheel cover, and several other strange things.

How's come I never see anything like that in tatting? LOL!
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Another busy week! I forgot I even started another entry. I have 3 projects going that I've barely been able to touch this week: a knitted shawl, a filet crochet edging, and a tatted bookmark. And Ebay.

LOL! I wanted to acquire some extra size 10 and 11 hooks to use in lace guild and bid on a group that also had some bone handled tools. It arrived today and I was so mad at the mail carrier! He/she stuffed the box into my mailbox - it JUST fit - but I couldn't pull it out. It was caught on the corners. I ended up tearing open the end and inching it out by pulling on the torn spot with one hand and pushing in the corners with the other hand. I'm certain it slid in there a whole lot easier than it came out.

I was really pleased with the contents. I was a little concerned that I had paid too much for them but these in particular are intriguing. The two hooks at the far right are double ended hooks. I've heard of these in much larger sizes for yarn, but not for thread. "Double-Ended - also known as Travel Hooks. One hook size on one end, and one hook size on the other. Saves carrying around too many hooks at once." I found this reference at Karp Styles. It doesn't tell me if they are talking about steel hooks or the bigger ones. This looks like a good question for a very knowledgeable crochet group I belong to.

The 2 hooks in the middle had interesting shafts. One looks like it is part of a set with one of the double ended hooks. I did email the seller to ask if he had any history on this auction item. The hook at the far left - when I made the scan, I was fascinated by the tiny shaft - like steel knitting needles, in 0000 size. After I scanned, I discovered there is an EYE at the other end. I've NEVER seen or heard of a hook like that! Another puzzling question.

As much as I would like to work some lace, I'm not sure I'll get much done tonight. I'm dog tired. My weekend will be spent sewing hats and if I get those done, I'm going furniture shopping. Sent in my taxes this evening!

Apparently, I've been busy. I thought I published this last Friday but I see I didn't - so I just added to it!

Japanese tatting. Scroll down and you'll see some of Inga Madsen's animals. All the tatting on this site is beautiful, but since I just tatted some of the animals, I thought the way she has done them all in the same thread quite nice to look at.

One of the doilies here uses a motif that reminds me that I have some from a coworker that I need to fashion into something for her. They are from a deceased aunt - in black.

It's been awhile since I visited many of these Japanese sites. I'm pleased to see there are some key English words so I know where to find the photos. Here are the records of one tatter's exchanges.

Click on the tiny pink box to the left where it says tatting elephant to see this tatter's version of Pam Palmer's elephant. I was just showing a friend last night the elephant I made for my daughter - who is today 2 years older than when I gave it to her. (Friday March 10)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURIE!!!

Now, at that same site, scroll down to where it says "shawl" and click on the little box below. Isn't that stunning? She also has some knit and crochet items further down the list.

The only tatting I did this weekend was wire tatting at our lace group. I only did a few tiny blossoms. Several members made quite a few florals and some leaves. A few even got little butterflies done! I think they all enjoyed it very much.

They're here!!!! I came home tonight before going to my sister's house for craft night...had to see if Carol's animal motifs arrived. As soon as I saw the package I thought one of them must be a 3D one! And then, before I even got into the house, I was wondering if it was a sock monkey! YES, YES, YES!!!!!

Not only a 3D monkey but a 3D lizard and a 3D owl! She really outdid herself on these. I told her I was taking them so my sister and daughter could see them tonight but I would probably have to handcuff them to me in a locked container if I wanted to be sure to come home with them. Aren't these just incredible?

Thanks so much to Carol Amich!

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I'm not really much of a statistics person but one statistic I do enjoy is looking at the location of visitors to this site. Besides US viewers in 17 states, the following countries had also visited this blog before 9:00 p.m. Wednesday. There was more than one location in many states and countries but I only listed the country once.

Australia
Austria
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Italy
Japan
Korea, Republic of
Netherlands
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Taiwan
United Kingdom
Venezuela


It gives me goose bumps knowing there are that many tatters AROUND THE WORLD! Don't tell me that tatting is a dying art. Clearly it's alive and well globally! While the names aren't on this day's listing, I've also seen visitors from Ireland, South Africa and Spain. I know there are more than I can think of right now.

One of the things I love about the internet is the way it connects us all. It spawns even greater creativity than we could have possibly dreamed of a decade ago. I know that at least half of the books in my tatting library did not exist 10 years ago - not even 5 years ago.

I started this part about the visitors last night. Not much more to say other than I'm thrilled to know there are tatters worldwide!

I signed up for a Round Robin Animal exchange on Maus's site a long long time ago. That site is now defunct I believe. Another person who signed up for it contacted me about a private exchange since we didn't get to follow through on the round robin and she already had hers tatted up! We agreed to exchange 3, so I was busy this weekend trying to catch up!

The dolphin is from Becky Dempsey's Bugs & Beasts! I couldn't find an online site for her book but I'm sure it's still available. I think you can buy it directly from Becky. The giraffe is from Tatted Animals by Inga Madsen. I've made him before....the block tatting is a challenge but fun. I remembered to put the eye bead on the thread before winding the shuttles! The (blue?)robin is from Tatting for 2005 by the Ring of Tatters. The design is by Anthea Rowley. I was quite intrigued by the photograph and was just looking for an excuse to make it. It came out a little larger than I first expected, about 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" tatted from both perle cotton size 12 and Finca size 16. I forgot to string my bead on that one and had to attach it later. It's not in the instructions to tat it in, but I had seen it was needed before I started and meant to add it while tatting instead of later. It did seem to involved hiding a lot of ends, but I think it's worth it, one of the best bird patterns I've seen to date.

I was holding off on publishing this entry until I knew Carol A. had received it. I rushed home after hearing she got it hoping to have hers in my mailbox because I knew she mailed on the same day - but it's not here yet. Sigh...... LOL!

I'm thinking of taking a nap right now, if I can keep it under an hour so I don't stay up until 2:00 a.m. I was drying my hair this morning and did one of those twist/turn things apparently in the wrong way and put a nice kink in my neck. I just used a heating pad on it, but I think a little snooze might be just the thing!

Romanian Point Lace.....I finally finished the strip I am practicing with. The mistakes are mostly at the beginning and the end. At the end, I forgot to connect the last 2 loops. The weaving is best in the middle when I was well into it. It's been a few weeks since I worked on it - forgot half of what I knew. It looks better off of the muslin than on it. I'm anxious now to make a real piece!

I scrunched it up too so it wouldn't make such a big scan.

March already! It was a busy week.

Two days at a safety conference where my ride picked me up at 6:45 a.m. I was grateful for that. Otherwise, I had to be in at campus to leave by 6:30 a.m.

Then 2 work days that were packed. Thursday night was craft night at my sister's and we also celebrated my granddaughter's 13th birthday. She liked loved the tulip bag!

On Friday, I visited a friend in Indy before I went to the tatting guild in Greenfield. It was her birthday the day before so I took her to a birthday lunch and gave her a CD and this kitty cat bookmark tatted from Dianna Stevens' Animal Bookmark book.



I met her at the Half-Price Bookstore, one of my favorite bookstores to shop in. There are none in Lafayette, so it's always a treat.

I browsed while waiting for her and almost immediately stumbled on this Tatting Book! A book I've never seen or heard of before! It's by Bernadett Baldelli and translated from French into English. It has about 20 patterns in it, skill level from * to *** which I assume is beginner, intermediate and advanced. It was published in 1999. I think it would be a good beginner book. It has drawings of several different stitches, diagrams and written directions and would give a beginner something to shoot for with some experience without being overwhelming. There are no split rings or split chains but there are beads in a few projects. I don't really see where any of the projects are advanced.

After leaving my friend, I headed over to Zig-Zag corner where Lily Morales and Ruth Perry were hanging out for the day. I met Lily last year at Palmetto's briefly, and of course, I've seen Ruth often in the past few years at more local tatting events. Lily was signing copies of her book, Labor of Love, and she taught a sort of mini-class, a motif that was a variation of one in her book. No, I'm not showing it here - I got my colors goofed up and didn't quite finish it but I got some practice doing the lark's head picot join and tatting in a button. I don't particularly like tatting in buttons myself, at least not this kind, but it was a fun diversion. Both she and Ruth had lots of beautiful and fascinating tatting for show and tell.

And for those who remember I had lost the motif from one of the earrings Bette C. tatted for me for Christmas, I found it in the car, in the cupholder of the console. How it got there, I have no idea. Must of been when I leaned down to pick up my bags from the passenger side.

Unfortunately, I left the house in such a hurry that I forgot my camera which I had specifically set out to take with me.

This evening and tomorrow I have to sew and tat. Oh Woe....I HAVE TO TAT....LOL! The sewing is for Hector and the tatting is for a private exchange I said YES to. So, here it is...evening already...and I've not started!