The final join

I'm ready for the final join on my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece! We're on the road, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm so excited to have the end of this mega project in sight!

Five!

While Dave's been busy making ravioli, I've been busy tatting! I can hardly believe that I'm half way around. With company coming, I'm pretty sure I won't finish by Christmas, but it might be pretty close!

Mom was doing some organizing and found this picture of my sisters and me. From left to right... Janet, Diane, Lisa. I'm guessing that I was about 9 years old at the time. Janet's a year and half younger than me, Lisa is 4 years younger than me. Good times!

Carol, Bella, and Dave were busy making ravioli yesterday. Dave is working on his own today. I'm still coughing from bronchitis, so I'm not allowed in the kitchen.

Following tradition, Dave made fatties (fried ravioli dough) for dinner last night. Yum! I'm really glad to have holiday traditions from both of our families!

Four!

I'm very happy that I've managed to tat around four of the ten motifs of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece. I really don't think I'll finish by Christmas. Like many of you, I have some last minute Christmas work to finish.

Last night a made a double batch of ravioli filling. We always have ravioli for Christmas Eve. Daughter Carol will be coming over to help make a batch today. We'll finish the second batch tomorrow. I know I won't have to cook tonight, because we always have fatties (fried ravioli dough) for dinner on ravioli day.

I still have Christmas presents to wrap, as well as a few to make. So, I'm off the get ready for Christmas!

Whee! Three!

I finished the third section of the last round of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece! That means only seven more to go. I think I just might finish by Christmas!

I did take a quick detour from tatting after school. My Secret Santa gave me a skein of Lion Brand Thick and Quick Stripes. I knew it just had to be a cowl! Now, if the weather would just turn a little colder, I could actually wear it!

Lovin' my thread markers!

As I was reading my favorite blogs tonight, I realized that the only thing I have to contribute tonight is that I love my thread markers! First, they're helping me keep track of my pattern. Second, they help me see achievable goals. Third, and best of all, they're bright little spots of color in this huge white doily!

I didn't get much tatting done tonight, because I fell asleep in my chair. Going back to school wore me out! However, I do have my other obligations cleared up for now... candy cane covers are crocheted, Secret Santa gifts are ready to go, veggies from our greenhouse are cleaned and ready for cooking... so, when I can stay awake, I can tat!

Once a week?!

The long and the short of it is, I've been ill. I thought I had the flu, but a trip to the doctor let me know that I have bronchitis. I hate bronchitis. It seems to take forever to go away, but I've been taking my medicine like a good girl, and I am feeling much better!

All things considered, I've accomplished quite a bit this week...

I've tatted around two of the ten sections on the last round of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece. Now that I've developed a rhythm for this round, I think it will go fairly quickly. Somehow, it always seems to take me a while to catch on to the flow of a pattern.

My friend Karri asked if I could crochet some light saber freezer pop cozies for her Star Wars loving son and his girlfriend. I found a pattern I liked at The Cookie Snob. Again, once I understood the pattern, these were super simple to make.

I'm experimenting with ideas for woven bags. This one has a little flap. I'm not sure I like it, but I had fun experimenting.

Since I'm retiring this year, I wanted to do something special for my co-workers. I had intended to tat snowflakes for everyone, but that never happened because of my focus on the JS doily. However, I did find this adorable candy cane cover at crochetmemories.com. I can make one in less about 15 minutes, so I should I have enough for all my friends before I head off to bed tonight.

Here's to feeling 100% and completing all of my holiday goals!

That was an easy fix!

It really didn't take much time at all, and now I'm ready for the final round! My Jan Stawasz Masterpiece is now 32" across in size 20 Lizbeth. I sure am glad I bought a cone of thread for this project... no worries about running out of thread!

Pride goeth before a fall

I've been working really hard to finish round 17 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece this week. I was very proud of myself for finishing early this morning, then I went to the ironing board...

Will you look at that? An extra ring two times in a row! I keep asking myself how this happened. I checked and double checked each section. The offending part has been snipped, and I will finish this round today. I think I'll check all the way around before starting round 18!

Only four to go!

I just finished tatting around another motif section, leaving only four to go! I'm going to miss this round when I'm done. I really like the way the pattern flows.

Some new shuttles arrived from The Shuttle Brothers yesterday. My friend Denise met Randy at a lace event at Zig Zag Corners a couple of weeks ago, and she showed him the large bobbins I had. Randy said he was sure he could make shuttles for me, and all but the one in the center were made just for me! The center shuttle is elk antler. Denise raved about Randy's antler shuttles, so I had to have one, of course!