Two down, eight to go

I think this is a good round for tatting in small bits of time. It doesn't take a lot of concentration, and I can finish a pattern repeat very quickly. Can you believe it? I'm 1/5 the way around!

Starting round 14

It was nice to have some time to sit and tat tonight. I've started round 14, and I can tell that this will be a very easy round to tat. Looking ahead at the rounds to come, I really think I'm on the way to finishing my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece by Christmas!

I love technology! Today I received some adorable pictures from daughter Joanne. Here's Sophia showing off her new hair do. I think she likes it!

Karolina appears to be totally unfazed by Jan's fussiness. Grandpa Jan is visiting from Slovakia. I'm sure he's having a wonderful time!

Catching up

It has been quite a hectic, but fun, couple of weeks. Because of all the activity, I've had little time to tat, let alone blog!

On Tuesday I helped out with play practice. Wednesday I fell asleep in my chair. On Thursday our soup club went out to celebrate Edna's birthday. Friday I fell asleep in my chair. Saturday we attended the wedding of two former students, and Sunday we visited friends. Whew!

The good news is, I finished round 13 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece! It looks like it could use a little shot of steam here and there, so I think I'll take care of that before starting the next round.

Three beautiful new shuttles arrived from La Cossette this week! I have fun decorating shuttles, but mine never look as beautiful as these. I love them!

Fox the enabler did it to me again... I just had to order these books from Rosemarie Peel. Fox told me to, and I'm glad she did!

Play practice is on my schedule for tomorrow night, so I probably won't have the chance to get any tatting or blogging tomorrow. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the week pans out!

Steadily growing!

My Jan Stawasz Masterpiece is growing bit by bit! In only have three motifs left to tat around, and I've already begun one of them. I hope I have the time to finish this round this week.

My shuttle addiction continues. Today's mail brought a beautiful purple shuttle from Alma Negrete. It's so much prettier in person. I can hardly wait to start tatting with it!

I forgot my picot gauge...

I had no time to tat or blog on Thursday or Friday because my help was needed at play practice... what fun!

Saturday morning at 3:30, Dave and I left for Minnesota to meet the twins. By the time it was light enough for me to tat, we were well in to Wisconsin, and it was then that I realized I'd left my picot gauge at home. I'm not very good about making my picots anywhere near uniform, so my picot gauges are my friends! I didn't want to mess up my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece, so I knit this trip.

I finished my Lyden scarf on the way up. All I have to do is wash and block it and it will be ready for winter!

I then started my next scarf, Piland. This is another Knit Picks Preciosa Tonal yarn, Duchess. I really am enjoying my knitting these days!

Even though our trip was only two days, we had a really good time.

Daughter Joanne looks terrific! Somehow, Daddy Jan managed to avoid having his picture taken... at least with my camera. Baby Jan was much easier to catch with the camera!

We were able to attend granddaughter Lily's double-header. Afterwards the whole family came over and we feasted on pizza, and we all took turns holding the babies.

Ella showed Sophia how to make cupcakes (made of wood), and the girls treated us to the yummy treats they made! ;-)

Of course the twins were the stars of the show. It was hard to leave them in Minnesota, but Mommy and Daddy wanted to keep them. I guess we'll have to wait until Christmas when we can see them again.

Going for a different look

I was too lazy to lay out my doily to show my progress, so I had Dave take a picture while I held it up... not the best idea I've ever had! You really can't see, but I've tatted around six of the ten motifs. This round is very easy. I just haven't had much time to spend on tatting.

However, I did manage to finish the baby quilts. The blue-edged quilt is for Jan. The pink-edged quilt is for Karolina. The purple-edged quilt is for big sister Sophia. I certainly don't want to leave anyone out!

Sophia has a big responsibility watching the twins in the back seat of the car!

The babies went for their first check-up today and passed with flying colors. Yes, Jan is bigger than Karolina, but his size is a little exaggerated in this photo as he is sitting a little higher. I can hardly wait to see these three! ... daughter Joanne and her husband Jan, too! ;-)

Play season has begun!

Last night was the first practice for the middle school production of Bugsy Malone. Daughter Carol was short-handed and the full cast of 45 was scheduled to be there, so I was asked to come help keep the kiddos in line. My help really wasn't necessary, because the kids are so well behaved, but it was nice to be included!

As a result, I had no time for tatting yesterday... sigh! Sometimes life just gets in the way.

I did take my knitting with me to play practice. I have to tell you, the theory behind Sequence Knitting has been eye opening for me! I'm on my fourth scarf, and I'm still on page 9 of the book! Sometimes it just takes the right combination of instructor and student to make things click!

I belong to the Tatting Shuttle Addicts page on Facebook, and Monica Braxton is the current official shuttle maker for the group. One side of the shuttle has the TSA logo.

The other side can be engraved with your name... always a draw for me! This is Monica's "Eddie" shuttle, and it can be ordered with or without a hook. I may have to order another with a hook, just so that I can say I have one! ;-)

Sandra Pellerin of Elite Creation asked me to post a comparison of her large bobbin shuttle with a regular sized bobbin shuttle on the TSA page. I thought it might be interesting to those of you who do not belong to that group. As you can see, it's slightly longer than my LaCossette shuttle.

It's also thicker!

The larger bobbin holds a full 15 yards of size 10 thread.

Although bobbin shuttles are not my favorite to use, I do enjoy collecting them and I do use every one at least once! After all, I want each of my shuttles to feel loved! ;-)

And now there are 7!

Grandchildren, that is...

Karolina Alexandra, born 12:47 a.m., Sept. 12, 5 lb. 5 oz.

Jan David, born 12:50 a.m., Sept. 12, 6 lb. 15 oz.

Mother and babies are doing well and should be going home today. We're so excited!

Chuggin' along

I'm almost halfway around the sixth motif! I feel rather decadent posting a picture of lace that just seems to have been discarded, but I kind of like the look of a pile of lace.

I spent a little time on my Lyden scarf last night. I really like this pattern from Sequence Knitting, and I like the way the shades of color flow in this skein of Preciosa Tonal from Knit Picks. It just seems to fit the pattern. I wonder if it will continue through the whole scarf? Time will tell!

Almost halfway!

I'm moving around row 13 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece slowly but surely. There's something special about making lace. I feel a connection with others who enjoy making beautiful things, even if the lace seems to have no purpose other than to look pretty. Sometimes we just need something really pretty to brighten our days, and this doily sure has been making me feel happy!

The large bobbin shuttle quest, part two

My large bobbin shuttles from Elite Creation arrived today, and they are beautiful!

Yes, I did test drive one using size 10 Aunt Lydia thread. This shuttle has a wonderful feel, and although I prefer post shuttles, this is one bobbin shuttle I could get used to!

Martha Ess's new book arrived in the mail today. It makes me want to start some Christmas tatting!

Remember the screwdriver that came with Laszlo's shuttles? I went searching and found the Thumbprint 4 in 1 Screwdriver on eBay for $10. This one is a little different from the one Laszlo sent in that it has two sizes of screwdrivers. The horizontal line you see in the screwdriver is a smaller head screwdriver for repairing glasses... very handy!

Movin' around

I'm making slow progress around the motifs not because it's difficult, but because I've been occupied with warping my loom and working on baby quilts.

I only made it about half way around this quilt today, but the twins haven't been born yet, so I think I'm okay. :-)

Busy weekend

Despite the fact that we were incredibly busy this weekend, I did manage to work on some of my favorite projects!

While Dave was busy working outside at daughter Alison's house, I stayed cool inside and worked on round 13 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece. I managed to tat around two sections of motifs, which can be tricky with two grandchildren vying for attention! ;-)

I finished knitting my Morant scarf from Sequence Knitting. It was too short for a scarf, so I finished it off as a cowl. The yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage. The color is Baltic. I'm kind of hoping for some chilly days so that I can enjoy wearing this luxurious cowl!

Continuing through the book Sequence Knitting, I started Lyden in Knit Picks Preciosa Tonal, Bonsai. I really like both the yarn and the pattern!

Daughter Joanne's twins are due any day, so I decided I'd better get working on the baby quilts I bought weeks ago. These are just prequilted panels that I bind. I love giving them as baby gifts, but they're getting harder and harder to find. The lady who helped me at Walmart told me that she thinks they're discontinuing these panels. I purchased the last three that they had, and I'm going to be very sad if I can't find any more. They get softer with age, and they're a great size for tummy time on the floor. Maybe I should do some searching online. Otherwise, I may have to start piecing baby quilts... what torture! ;-)

I guess I should have vacuumed!

It's been a busy week, so I haven't felt compelled to post about my tatting progress until tonight.

I finally finished round 12 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece... only 6 rounds to go!

It now measures 26" across. The picture would look better if I had vacuumed first, but tonight was Open House at school, and I was more excited about taking a picture than vacuuming!