I love books!

When I was teaching, I would sing a song with the preschoolers...

I love books and they love me.
I get them free at the library.
Read them once. Read them twice.
Library books are oh so nice!
See you at the library!

I do love libraries, but I find it much more convenient to purchase books that I can read and/or refer to whenever I like, especially craft books!

This morning I ditched my hat pattern. I just didn't like the way it was looking. I decided to spend my morning looking for inspiration, and this is the book I turned to. I had this one on my wish list for a long time, and my sister-in-law gave it to me as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. I can easily get lost in a good book, and this is one I love!

No, I didn't choose a project for my beautiful alpaca yarn, but I did enjoy my reading time!

Continuing with my St. Patrick's Day them, I tatted a basic Ice Drop with a gold center today. Every leprechaun has his pot of gold, right?

The shuttle is one I blinged for a shuttle exchange several years ago. The package was returned to me, damaged by a postal machine. After seeing the package, I'm surprised the shuttle survived at all! It may not be my prettiest shuttle, but it's still usable. Besides, it's a good conversation starter!

It's Tuesday

I had to keep reminding myself that today is Tuesday. My days are off, and I'm not sure why!

Luckily, I was in tune enough to tat an Ice Drop!

I also started a new knitting project. No, I"m not finished with the scarf. This beautiful alpaca from my friend Jen was just begging to be knit into a hat. I've knit many hats over the years, and this one doesn't seem like it's coming together the way it should. I'm giving it a chance, but I have a feeling I may be unraveling my knitting and trying something different!

Thinking ahead

I made it to the post office today and mailed off Mom's Mardi Gras Ice Drops. I still have some Boysenberry Dk left, but I started thinking ahead to St Patrick's Day.

Lizbeth #187, Green Ice, isn't exactly what I had in mind for St. Patrick's Day, but it was the first green thread that caught my eye, and I decided to go with it. The center is a glow-in-the dark gem that I found at Hobby Lobby. I think these gems have to have a certain amount of sunlight in order to glow in the dark. Luckily, my jar that's filled with them is in the sun room!

I'm still knitting. I watched a lot of YouTube videos last night in an effort to improve my technique. I did a lot of experimenting! Because of that, my stitches are pretty uneven. I don't mind. I look at this scarf as a learning experience, and I'm hoping that when it's finished blocking will help even things out.

It's pretty chilly here tonight, so I stole Dave's blanket to keep my legs warm. He laughed!

And then there were nine

Yes, I now have nine Mardi Gras Doodle Ice Drops for Mom! I'll try to get them in the mail tomorrow.

We dealt with high winds today, and although I never felt the wind in the house, I feel very tired from listening to it all day. I made progress on my "Wortham" scarf from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro. There's something very comforting about yarn on a blustery day!

Mellow yellow

My goal yesterday was to finish knitting the yellow section of the Mandala yarn I'm using before moving on to something else. While I don't really consider these shades of yellow to be mellow, the song by "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan kept going through my head as I was knitting. There was more yellow on the ball than I thought, so I didn't finish the yellow portion until this morning. The scarf pattern is "Wortham" from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro.

A few days ago, my lovely new Valentine shuttles arrived from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. Rita has announced that she is no longer taking custom orders. However, she will still be listing shuttles in her shop as she makes them. After seeing all the beautiful guild shuttles Rita has created in the past year, I can understand why she needs to take a break from custom orders. I imagine it's great fun designing new shuttles, but a little tiresome to be making multiples of the same design.

I'm still busy making Mardi Gras Ice Drops for Mom.

I plan on mailing them off to her on Monday. I hope I have time to tat some more by then!

Knitting day

Today I totally focused on knitting.

I started with blocking my Reyna shawl. I love the way the pattern shows up!

Next, I spent a lot of time going through knitting books to choose a new project. I was really tempted to start another Reyna shawl. Instead, I chose to knit the Wortham scarf from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro. The yarn is Mandala Thunderbird. So far, the color has changed from light yellow to medium and then a darker yellow. I'm not sure if I like the way the color changes work in the scarf, but I think it will be interesting to see what happens.

Silver gem

Still working with Boysenberry Dk, today I chose a silver glass gem. I think it looks white with slightly gray undertones. The thread really changes the look of the glass gem.

My Reyna shawl is finished, except for blocking. You can find this free pattern from Noora Backlund on Ravelry. The yarn is Malabrigo, which is wonderful. I would definitely buy it again. The pattern was easy to follow, and now that I've rebuilt my knitting confidence, I'm ready to start another knitting project!

A touch of red

I'm having fun putting glass gem colors with Boysenberry Dk. Today I thought I'd try red, and I like it!

My Reyna shawl (free pattern by Noora Backlund on Ravelry) is coming along nicely. I'm learning to find and fix my mistakes. Today I successfully fixed a dropped stitch and a missed yarn over without unknitting. I'm very proud of myself!

More Mardi Gras

I was called in as a last minute sub today. Luckily, I had my tatting bag packed and ready for Ice Drops. I really only had time to tat one during the school day. The other two were tatted once I got home.

The gold colored glass gems I used really picked up the purple thread, giving them a rosy look rather than gold.

Luckily, I found my matte gold glass gems when I got home. I wish you could see all of them in person. They're really much prettier than the pictures.

My ball of Boysenberry Dk is getting smaller, but I still have quite a bit left. I guess I'll have to explore more color combinations!

Getting ready for Mardi Gras

Mom lives in Alabama, and she loves the colors of Mardi Gras. So, today I tatted for Mom.

Mom keeps telling me that Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold.

I have a variety of green glass gems, so even though I used the same pattern, each one looks different.

Now I think I need to look for gold glass gems for a different look!

Grandparents' Day

Granddaughter Ella invited us to Grandparents' Day at school. How could we resist? We headed out early Thursday, but by the time we got to Cindy's house, Dave wasn't feeling well. He turned around and went home, and Cindy and I drove to Minnesota. Luckily, we get along really well!

We visited with daughter Joanne before heading to daughter Andrea's house.

Little ones just seem to have a way of making everyone feel loved!

I decided that daughter Alison's afghan would be my road trip project. I didn't finish as much as I thought I would. Cindy and I had too much fun talking!

I did take tatting with me, but I never got around to it. So, today I whipped up another Doodle Ice Drop. My tree is looking full, so I may start decorating another.

My Reyna shawl (free Ravelry pattern by Noora Backlund) is coming along nicely. I've now completed 104 rows, and I still have the correct number of stitches!

Daughter Andrea has been redecorating her living room. She saw two pieces of art work that she really liked, but they were $200 each. After doing a little research, she learned how to do her own. This is her progress so far. She still needs to distress it, and then husband Jake will frame them for her. I can hardly wait to see how they look in the living room!

Well, bad photographer that I am, I forgot to take pictures of Ella and Lily! Luckily, Andrea remembered to take a picture of us before we left. Yes, it's official. I now have three grandchildren who are taller than me!

A little bit of tatting

I managed a little bit of tatting today. First, I finished round 5 of Jon Yusoff's tat-along. For this round I used Lizbeth 624, Raspberry Pink Med. Have you guess that I'm using a Lizbeth thread pack? It's the easy way to have multiple colors in a project that go well together!

I'm still working with Lizbeth Boysenberry Dk for Ice Drops. I tatted today's Doodle Ice Drop with a shuttle from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I love this little logo shuttle!

Another icy day

School was called off because of ice today. It's kind of amusing to watch the news and see people commenting about schools closing because of ice. Yes, the main road in front of my house was clear. However, the back roads were sheets of ice, and it would have been dangerous to have school buses on them. Our drive was solid ice, and my car was sheathed in ice, so I had no desire to go out!

Instead of venturing out, I worked some more on my Reyna shawl (free pattern by Noora Backlund on Ravelry). I've now finished 88 rows, and I still have the correct number of stitches!

My Ice Drop today is another basic one, this time with five picots... such a bold choice! ;-) The shuttle is another by Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I'm still tatting with Lizbeth Boysenberry Dk.

Round 4 of Jon Yusoff's tat-along is complete! This round is in Lizbeth #668, Green Orchid Dk. Somehow, I managed to purchase two shuttles commemorating Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday. Guess what? I don't mind! These wonderful little shuttles are not expensive, and I really do like them. You can check them out at Roseground.com. I see there are two Christmas shuttles that I don't have in my collection. Do I dare order them?

Commemorative shuttles

You may have guessed that I love collecting shuttles! I especially like commemorative shuttles, because I hope that at some time in the future there may be a tatter somewhere who gets excited about finding one of my little beauties and cherishing it as I do.

This morning I decided to join Jon Yusoff's tat-along, which is posted on Facebook.

Round 1 is in size 40 Lizbeth #618, Magenta Dk.

For round 2, I used Lizbeth #683, Leaf Green Lt.

It's been a while since I've tatted with size 40 thread, and I'm really enjoying it.

I really like the way the Boysenberry Dk looks with the crackled glass gem. This is the basic Ice Drop with three picots instead of one. The shuttle is another beauty from Veronica of TattingShuttles on Etsy.

I found my box of shawl pins this mornings, so I decided to wear my new Garter Lace Triangle Shawl to school today. I couldn't believe the number of compliments I received!

Daughter Carol took the pictures for me after school. Maybe I'll knit some more shawls!

Crochet day

I spent a little bit of time going through craft supplies today, but I spent most of my free time working on Alison's waffle stitch afghan. Today I finished the second ball of yarn... only six more to go!

My day wouldn't be complete without an Ice Drop, so I opened up a package of Lizbeth Boysenberry Dk and tatted the basic pattern. The basic pattern still makes me happy!

Saturday tatting and knitting

Dave and I accomplished a lot today... cleaning windows, sweeping floors, doing laundry, helping daughter Carol build sets for the high school production of Mama Mia! Some we did together, and some separately. It feels good to have accomplished so much!

My reward was to spend time this afternoon tatting and knitting. I really am enjoying tatting Doodle Ice Drops with slight variations in each one. I'm not sure that the changes are visible to most people, but it's enough for me to know that no two are exactly alike.

Isn't my new shuttle cute? It's from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I really don't mind winter weather, and I'm kind of looking forward to the possibility of snow at the beginning of the week. Still, I know that I will soon be craving the warmth of spring.

I'm happy that I've developed a rhythm with my Reyna shawl. The pattern is by Noora Backlund and can be found on Ravelry. I don't count stitches for each row, but I have been checking to make sure I have an odd number at the end of each row. I like that Noora gives a stitch count at the end of each pattern section. I'm right on track with 143 stitches at the end of row 72!

Frills

Today was one of those days when I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so I went back to the basic Ice Drop. It had to be a little bit fancy, so I added loads of picots. I do love frills!

I also love my little Halloween shuttle from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I see no reason to use it only in October!

My Reyna shawl is coming along nicely. I did have to unknit two rows three times. Each time I made the same mistake. Somehow I added a yarn over on the purl row. Unknitting a lace pattern is a lesson in patience!

Getting forgetful

I don't know if it's the weather, my age, trying to do too much, or something else, but I forgot everything today! I left my Kindle at home charging. I packed my tatting bag and left it on the bench next to my chair. I packed my crocheting and left it in the bag next to my chair. I didn't realize that I had left everything at home until I'd been at school for nearly two hours. I'm only there for three hours and a quarter hours, so I guess it wasn't that big a deal.

I made up my tatting time before dinner. I do like the look of the Doodle Ice Drop with extra picots on the chains.

I enjoyed knitting on my shawl this morning. I'm developing a rhythm with this pattern, and it seems to be going along smoothly.

Alison's waffle stitch afghan is coming along nicely. I'm still at the stage where it feels like it's going slowly. I know that it will suddenly feel like I'm almost done!