A perfect Spinning Wheel?

Well, it may not be perfect, but it is made with Perfect Quilter thread!

It measures about 3 1/2" across, and I have the perfect place for it...

in my curio cabinet! Wait... what's that? Another tiny Spinning Wheel? I had totally forgotten that I tatted a tiny Spinning Wheel over a year ago in Sulky Blendables! I think my cabinet is looking a little bare. Maybe I should tat a few more tiny Spinning Wheels... food for thought.

Since I got a little carried away buying quilting thread, please email me if you'd like a sample. I know I have way more than I'll ever be able to use. If you have a specific project in mind, please let me know how much you'd like so that I send you enough. Also, if you have a favorite color, I can look to see if I have what you like. I'm happy to share!

Perfect Quilter comes through!

It's hard to imagine, but I managed to tat with quilting thread in the car for almost three hours without making a mistake.

Today, I had about five minutes to tat after finishing my lunch. I finished a chain successfully, but when I made the next ring, I managed to join the ring to the wrong picot. Of course I didn't notice it until I had closed the ring. Go figure!

After dinner tonight, I sat down to un-tat the ring. It was very easy! Thank you, Fox, for pointing me in the direction of this terrific thread!

I had a wonderful surprise in the mail today...

...a sun catcher and a thread sample from God's Kid. Thank you, Sue!

Hmmm... I wonder how she knew that I like blue?

Mustika

I love the triangular spokes of this snowflake! It took me a long time to make, because even though I didn't feel tired after school, I couldn't seem to concentrate long enough to tat more than a few rings and chains each night.

Don't look too closely. My twisted picots aren't right. I just couldn't seem to get the hang of twisting them. After fiddling with the long picots for about 20 minutes, I gave up and did a pathetic little twist in each picot. I could tell it wasn't right, but I wanted to see how the pattern worked up. Now that I know, I can go back and figure out how to twist two picots together!

I'll also have to remember to join the last ring. Yup, I forgot to join it, and I didn't realize it until I was hiding my ends. So, I just kind of sewed it together. I figure if sewing together was good enough for tatters in the 1800s, it's good enough for me!

My grandson had his first soccer game of the season today, and we drove up to watch him play. It's an hour and a half drive each way, so I took some tatting along, of course!

I don't like to try and follow patterns in the car, so I chose my favorite pattern, Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel glass mat. I've been very good about sticking to my ball of white for the snowflakes, but I don't have enough left from that ball to make another snowflake... good reason to try out my new Perfect Quilter thread! I had 17 spools to choose from, and of course I chose blue. Look how tiny this Spinning Wheel is going to be!

This really is a nice thread to tat with. Maybe they should have called it Perfect Tatter!

Galuh

Finished! Despite having to restart this one, I really like it! I have now finished six snowflakes from Elegant Tatting Treasures by Jon Yusoff. I think this weekend I may "chill out" by washing and blocking them. They're all pretty, but a little bit of water and a few pins will help them look beautiful!

Sometimes it takes two tries...

I was happily tatting Galuh from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff, when I realized that I had too many rings in the center. I wasn't sure why, so I kept on tatting. It wasn't until I finished the third cluster that I realized I had missed a join and created an extra ring.

I wasn't in the mood to retro-tat, so I just started over. This looks so much better!

Cintamani

I sure have been enjoying tatting snowflakes from Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems! I love the way Cintamani flows. It looks very complicated, but if you just follow Jon's wonderful directions, all turns out well!

School starts tomorrow, which means I'll have far less time to tat, read blogs, and write posts. Let's see if being on a schedule helps me accomplish more. I have spent a lot of time daydreaming about what I'd like to do this summer. I really do think I get more done with time constraints. I don't want to stress myself out, though. Maybe I'll set a goal of tatting one snowflake each week... and I need to work on Aidan's dragons... and finish Joanne's doily... and start on Christmas presents... and...

Maybe I need to just set aside a little time each day for my tatting and not worry about setting goals!

Because I needed it?

Nope... that excuse won't work. I have enough of each size to open a small shop.

Because Fox made me do it? Not really. She's very good at enabling me, but if I blamed her, she'd probably turn around and blame Liyarra. That just wouldn't be fair.

Because it was on sale? That's probably the best reason. Who can pass up a sale? Certainly not me!

But seriously, couldn't I have done without 17 cones (there should have been 18, but they ran out of one color), 300 yds. each, of Perfect Quilter thread?

Obviously, not!

Shuttle testing for Imoshen

Lucky me! I was chosen to test one of Imoshen's new shuttles!

The blue one never arrived, so Imoshen very kindly sent me another in white. When I opened the package, I gasped with joy! You know I love bling, and this little beauty is filled with bling. The camera just doesn't do it justice!

As you can see, it's not very big... 1 3/4" x 3/4". Imoshen also sent a sample of size 80 DMC thread, which I wound on to the shuttle immediately. I tatted my favorite one shuttle pattern, Leaf Braid from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. It was great to tat with size 80 thread again.

The shuttle has a beautiful raised pattern that is difficult to see in the photo. That raised pattern makes it very easy to grip the shuttle, but it also means that you have to adjust your tatting style so that the thread doesn't catch on the raised bit... not a problem for me, because I own several shuttles like this. I simply tilt the shuttle sideways as I'm tatting.

My next step... keep my eyes open for them to go on sale. After all, one can never own too many shuttles! ;-)

Baiduri

School starts Monday, and I've been there getting ready for the new school year this week. I love the start of school! The kids are enthusiastic about returning. The building is clean and shiny. Smiles are everywhere!

However, the start of the new school year means less time for tatting. I haven't accomplished nearly as much as I would have liked this summer, but I feel like I have been keeping a slow and steady pace.

This morning I finished Baiduri from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. I love this pattern! As I was  steaming it, I saw two twisted picots, and some of my chains don't lie right. I guess this one will need to  be properly blocked so that I can be happy with it... not a big deal, just one more thing to add to my "to do" list. :-)

Almas

My snowflake interest continues with Almas from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. Right now I'm using size 20 Lizbeth, but I can't help wondering how these snowflakes would look in size 40, 80, or even quilting thread. I'm determined to use up this ball of size 20 before moving on to a different thread, so I guess my mind will just have to wander for a while!

Snip. Snip. Knit

Maybe I was distracted by thoughts of Stitches Midwest. Maybe I was too involved in watching Wild at Heart. Whatever was going on, my tatting suffered.

A missed join... snip...

a ring with too many sections... snip...

so I picked up my scarf and knit! It's coming along. I'm not quite half way through, but I have a few months until I really need a scarf.

Yesterday I went to Stitches Midwest with Mom, Alison, and Eva. We had a great time! Alison showed tremendous self-control and only collected business cards.

Great-grandma Green bought Eva a beautiful silk chiffon scarf, and I bought her first circular needles, Addi Turbo size 7 (my favorite knitting needles). Eva made a quick cowl with a Read Heart yarn that I hadn't heard of. Alison bought her a skein of the yarn in purple, which Eva plans to use to make cowls for her friends... no knitting involved... cut off a section of yarn, roll up like you would a pair of nylons, stretch the ring to the size you like. Eva loved it!

Mom and I exhibited great self-control as well. Mom bought two books, several balls of yarn on sale, and a kit or two. Mom bought me a couple of kits,

one for a cowl

and one for some fingerless mitts.

I purchased a beautiful cake of hand-painted yarn, which I probably would have passed up if I had asked the price first. Of course, I had to have the perfect pattern to go with the yarn!

I also found a gorgeous square shawl pattern. The sample was done in silk, which I passed up. I love the feel of silk, but I don't like the smell of it...

and I had found this gorgeous lace weight yarn at the very first booth we visited. Shhh! Don't tell the guy in the kilt who sold me the pattern!

We spent some time talking with a man who invented a machine to wrap "ugly" yarns with pretty yarns. It was fascinating to watch the machine at work, and yes, he was selling the machine. I was able to pass it up, because I don't have the room for such a machine... or the interest! Mom and I searched through his stash to find wrapped yarns that appealed to us, and Mom was even able to purchase a partial cone of a beautiful blue yarn (yes, she beat me to the punch), which she plans to use for weaving.

I was thrilled to learn that there is now an iPad/iPhone app for The Knitters Handbook, one of my favorite reference books. The app is only $1.99, and now I have video at my fingertips. Yes, I know there are plenty of YouTube videos, but I've spent $1.99 much more frivolously.

My mind is still reeling with visions of beautiful lace and luscious yarns! It was a great way to spend the day, and I'm so glad that the focus this year was lace!

Adan

I must be in the mood for white snowflakes!

Adan is the second pattern in Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems. 

I don't think I'll ever make it to Tatting Marie's number of snowflakes. If I remember correctly, she has made approximately 2,000, and there were more than 900 on her Christmas tree last year. That's a blizzard!

Looking back to that Christmas season post, I can see that I have tatted white snowflakes. Who knew? ;-)

Welcoming guests!

Today we had some very special guests at our Tollway Tatters meeting... my mom, my sister, and Tatting Marie!

Janet and Mom don't tat, but they did come spend about an hour with us. It was so nice to have them meet some of my tatting friends!

Mom and Marie chatted for a while, and since they both retired to the Deep South after living in the Midwest, I'm sure they have a lot in common.

Marie brought along some of her gorgeous tatting to show us. Apparently she loves Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel glass mat as much as I do!

Isn't this one of the most stunning doilies you've ever seen?

Marie had lots of tatted jewelry with her. Each and every piece inspires me!

I brought along my collection of Sulky threads, and Barb, Marie, and Marilee chose to wind off some of their favorite colors.

Marie spent time helping Marilee and Sue Anna learn Clunies. The picture I took with Sue Anna didn't turn out. It was dark and blurry... sorry girls!

Alison worked on a shrug she started to knit a couple of years ago.

Eva took knitting lessons from Great-grandma Green.

I was bold enough to ask a man to take a picture of us when he finished his lunch. Look at Marilee peeking at us between Janet and Sue Anna!

Marie gave each of us a colorful little bag with a tatted motif stitched onto it. Inside, we each found a bookmark with an explanation of the symbolism, a beautiful Cluny snowflake, and a sand dollar. She also gave us each a printout of the legend of the sand dollar. Right before Mom and Janet left, Marie had us each choose an egg with a tatted sand dollar attached. Inside was a piece of paper. All but one of us had a picture of a sand dollar inside. Alison had a blank piece of paper, which meant she won a special prize... a real sand dollar!

Thank you, Marie! Your generosity is astounding, and I know I can speak for all of us when I say it was a great joy to meet you and spend the day with you! I sincerely hope that you can join us again, and that maybe next time all of the Tollway Tatters will have the chance to meet you!

Adiratna

It was hot and humid today, so when I returned from a morning of working at school, I decided to tat a snowflake.

"Adiratna" is from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. I was so flattered when Jon asked me to test tat patterns for this book a couple of years ago, and I do love every single snowflake. I've lost track of how many snowflakes I've tatted from this book, but I know I haven't tatted them all, and I'm pretty sure I've never tatted any of them in white... what a strange concept... a white snowflake! ;-)

Winding down

I can't believe that my summer is almost at an end. It has been wonderful, but it has just zipped by.

Joanne, Jan, and Sophia headed home to Minnesota on Sunday. We took Mom up to my sister's house on Sunday. I am very lucky to have been able to spend so much time with my family this summer!

Mom and I were looking through her Handwoven magazine, and I saw that Schacht now makes a floor stand for the Cricket loom. Mom bought one for me and it arrived yesterday. It was very easy to put together. I did have to have Dave drill holes in the loom, but a template came with it, so it didn't take him long. I plan on warping it today. Thank you, Mom!

I finished Sophia's doily this morning. I love the way it turned out! The edging pattern is "Butterflies" from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. The fabric center is about 8 1/4". With the edging, the doily is about 10 1/4". I used size 20 Lizbeth, #119, Jelly Bean... perfect for a little girl! I chose to attach the edging with crochet, as Frivole has done with some of her hankies. I'm so glad I used this method. I found that by the time I reached the end of the doily that I had left too many spaces between the butterflies, and I needed two more butterflies to finish. It was so easy to pull out the crochet and rejoin. Thanks for sharing your idea and method, Frivole!

I didn't measure the thread to see how much I used, but I did fill my large Clover shuttle two times to complete the doily. This is how much thread I had left on the shuttle... talk about cutting it close!

My next big project is to pack my tatting bag for our Tollway Tatters meeting this Thursday. We're going to have a special guest, and I want to be sure and bring along some of my favorite items to show everyone, including my two newest tatting books and my newest Grizzly Mountain Arts shuttle. I anticipate a wonderful day!

School starts two weeks from yesterday. I've started working on lesson plans, even though I have no idea of how many sections I'll have of each grade or what my schedule will be. I love getting ready for a new school year!