Home alone

Dave and I are home alone again. Joanne and family headed home early this morning and arrived by mid-afternoon. I sure do miss them already!

I did take advantage of nap time and bedtime to get some tatting done. Sophia chose my tatting shuttles for me. She loves the blinged ones!

She was fascinated with this shuttle, because I used a different fabric on the front and the back.

I admit, this is one of my favorites.

Who am I kidding? I love all my shuttles!

Staying busy

We've been very busy the past couple of days. It's easy to forget how active little ones have can be when they're not around on a regular basis. Oh what I'd give for just a fraction of their energy!

Sophia did choose another shuttle for me to use, but it took me two days to complete the Ice Drop.

This is another one for Mom for Easter. I want her to have enough to share with her friends, so I'll be doing a few more!

My tatting assistant

Sophia wanted to tat with me this morning, so she chose a shuttle and thread and started winding. The shuttle was nearly full when Sophia told me her arms were tired. Being a good grandma, I took over!

Using the thread and shuttle that Sophia prepared for me, I tatted another Doodle Ice Drop for Easter. The thread is size 20 Lizbeth #127, Butterfly Breeze. I thin Sophia did a pretty good job of matching thread to shuttle!

Meal time has been interesting. Kara wanted a Nutella sandwich today. I think she had as much Nutella on her as in her!

All of the kids love spending time with Papa. Janko felt extra special tonight. He was able to play a game with Papa while the girls were getting their hair dried.

Because I did so much subbing this month, I allowed myself to go on a bit of a spending spree this week. I'm especially pleased with this new book by Susan J. Foulkes, and I'm eager to start weaving bands again!

Spring!

While it's still not warm, it is much warmer and my thoughts are turning toward Spring colors. I did give in to another thread pack sale, even though I have more thread than I'll ever use. With Easter coming soon, I thought it would be nice to use these colors for Mom and her friends.

I'm still lovin' my Doodle Ice Drop pattern, especially the variation with an extra round of chains and a larger picot cluster. This one is in size 20 Lizbeth #646, Purple Iris Light. The shuttle is one that I blinged a few years ago with scrapbooking paper, glitter nail polish, and Mod Podge. Although I'm not in to blinging any longer, I do enjoy looking at shuttles that I have decorated and remembering the fun I had!

The second thread in the pack is #159, Easter Eggs. I love this color! My friend Denise came up with the color name for Handy Hands. It certainly does conjure up visions of Easter Eggs! The shuttle is one I purchased on Etsy, although I can't remember who sold it. I love the chicken theme!

Changing my mind

When I first started Marly Bird's TOS, I chose five colors as suggested. As I started the shawl, I wasn't sure I liked the colors together, so I changed my mind and decided to knit it in two colors. This morning I looked at the progress others have made on their shawls, and there was one that had four of the five colors I had chosen originally! Luckily, I was only two rows into the slip stitch pattern. I unknit those two rows and started in with one of my original color choices. I'm glad I did!

I was able to resume my normal duties at school today. Still, I only managed to tat one Ice Drop. Joanne and the three little ones arrive for a visit tomorrow. I'll have to tat one more with a glow-in-the-dark center so that all three of them will have a special Ice Drop from Grandma!

Look what I found!

Last night I went in to one of shuttle cases to choose a few shuttles to show off, and I found this St. Patrick's Day shuttle that I blinged several years ago. I wish I had seen it before St. Patrick's Day! Better late than never, though... right?

I subbed again today, so I didn't have much time for crafting. I did manage to reknit the garter stitch section of my TOS shawl that I ripped out yesterday. I'm only about half way through week 1, and week 3 will be released tomorrow. I joined this Make-Along after week 2 was released, so I'm not feeling too bad about my progress. I will be paying closer attention so that I don't have to go backwards again. Marly Bird will be having a sweater knit-along beginning April 1. I'd like to finish this Make-Along so that I can join the knit-along without simply adding to my number of works in progress!

Fixed

I subbed again today. I wasn't expecting to, but I was prepared. I'm still tatting Doodle Ice Drops with the same ball of size 20 Lizbeth Green Ice. I love both the pattern and the color! The shuttle is one I blinged a few years ago using fabric from Origami pouches that I made.

This shuttle is one of the new Boye shuttles with the pick cut off. I do not like the pick on these shuttles. I've also found that they pop apart quite easily, so before blinging the shuttle I used super glue to hold the two halves together. I don't mind the shuttles once I've modified them, but straight out of the package I think they're terrible!

As for the title of this post, I was referring to my TOS shawl. I just couldn't stand the mistake. It took me about 20 minutes to rip back, put the stitches back on the circular needle, and fix the mistake. It will take me a bit longer to reknit the rows I took out, but now I'm happy!

Slipping stitches

I was admiring my progress on my TOS shawl this morning when I noticed a missed slip stitch. I remember when I did it. I found one when I finished the row and I corrected it. I looked at the rest of the row and didn't see any mistakes.

Guess what? There were two missed slip stitches! I know it was getting late when I found the one mistake. Lesson learned... I should have set my knitting aside and rechecked it in the morning. Now I have to decide if I'm going to rip out and fix or just leave it be.

I was called in to sub again today, so I only managed one Doodle Ice Drop. The shuttle is another beauty by Middy Clark of The Knotted Vine. I do love my shuttle collection!

Where did the weekend go?

It certainly flew by quickly. I'm sure a big part of it was that I needed time to recuperate from a full week of subbing. I hope no one is out sick this week!

I was too tired to do anything on Friday, so I just browsed through some of my books. I called Denise on Saturday and we did some shopping. We only live a few miles from each other, but because our schedules are so different we don't actually do things together very often. It was nice to have a change of pace!

Daughter Joanne has been crocheting up a storm! I think the girls look adorable in their new sweaters, and Janko loves his new bunny.

Yesterday morning I saw a link on Facebook to the Tournament of Stitches Mystery Make-Along 2019. I was curious, so I headed on over to marlybird.com to find out what it was all about. I had not heard of Marly Bird before. I was in for a real treat! When Denise and I were out shopping, I found this beautiful yarn at Hobby Lobby. I thought it would be perfect for the asymmetrical shawl that is part of the TOS. While I love both the yarn and the pattern, they were not a good match.

This morning I went upstairs and raided my stash, something I probably should have done in the first place. I decided to use these two shades of Wool-Ease that I know I purchased eleven and a half years ago. The yarn was at a terrific price, and I think I purchased every color! Several years ago, daughter Joanne took enough home with her to make at least one afghan. I think I must have let her take all of my favorite colors. ;-) At any rate, these two colors are much better for showing off the stitches in the TOS, and I managed to knit as far as I did yesterday!

I had to tat one more Doodle Ice Drop in Green Ice in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The beautiful shuttle is from Middy Clark of The Knotted Vine.

Mother Nature decided to play a trick on us. This was our view out the back around 8 a.m.

...and this was our view around 2 p.m. March sure is a crazy month for weather!

Work, work, work

It's been a busy week for subbing. I filled in for one of the part-time teachers every morning so far this week, and then I spent the afternoon doing my supervisory job at the high school. She has three boys in school, and they took turns with the flu. I'm very happy to help out, but I'm hoping they don't need me to sub tomorrow morning. I'm just about worn out!

I've now finished with four skeins of Mandala Griffin for daughter Alison's waffle stitch afghan. I made this one 180 stitches wide. The ones I made for the grand children were 166 stitches wide. This one seems so much bigger!

My love of Doodle Ice Drops continues. These little cuties just seem to fly off my shuttles!

Thinking green

Back when I was in high school, there was a major snow storm in the Chicago area. Everything came to a stop, and we couldn't wait for Spring. It seemed that everyone was saying, "Think green!" in anticipation of warmer weather.

I was thinking of that winter and of the contests on the radio as I tatted today's Doodle Ice Drop with my new shuttle from Middy Clark of The Knotted Vine. My sister Janet entered a radio contest. Winning the contest meant listening to the radio, waiting for your name to be announced, and calling the radio station within a specified time limit. We were at home working on sewing dresses, Mom's way of keeping us from going stir crazy. Mom must have needed a break from the constant noise of the radio, because we had to turn it off for a while. When Mom let us turn on the radio again, we heard the dj say that Janet Green hadn't called in, so another name was chosen. We were thrilled to hear Janet's name on the radio, even though she didn't win the contest. That was big excitement for 1967!

Just for me

You might think I'd had enough of St. Patrick's Day themed Ice Drops, but I haven't. I decided I would tat some just for me. I'm pretty sure they'll all wind up as gifts to someone else, but for now I am enjoying tatting just for me!

Back to work!

Drama club took over my life for the last several days, and I loved it!

The cast of Mamma Mia! did a fantastic job! All three performances were outstanding, and it seemed to me that there was record attendance at each performance.

While tatting was not my priority over the weekend, I did manage to finish a couple of Ice Drops.

I mailed off all of the St. Patrick's Day themed Ice Drops to Mom today. I'm sure she and her lunch bunch will love them!

My shuttle collection increased over the past week... surprise! These pretties are from Middy Clark of The Knotted Vine. Aren't they gorgeous?

I'm very happy with my new goodies from Grizzly Mountain Arts: one pyrography doodle art shuttle, and two picot hooks (fine crochet hooks set into wood handles). Dave has another shuttle listed that I am really tempted to purchase, but I'm going to wait a day or two to give someone else a chance at owning one of these beauties!

My newest Lorraine Kolasa shuttle arrived from Tatting Corner. This one is textured with no pick. I only have one left to order to have a complete set! That will happen after I make sure I have all my bills paid.

I finally finished my Wortham scarf from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro. There are many mistakes in this scarf. If I saw the mistake within two rows I fixed it, but there were several mistakes I didn't see for a dozen or more rows. Those stayed!

Daughter Joanne has decided to pick up her crochet hook again. She's found that spending time crocheting helps with her writing process. Sophia is modeling her new sweater. Aren't they cute? I mean Sophia and the sweater! ;-)

Janko loves his new bunny blanket toy. Joanne had fun making it, so the girls will each get one too!

Busy week

It's play week again. This time is for the high school production of Mamma Mia! While I'm not directly involved in the production, I do help my daughter out in any way I can. Along with all the excitement of play week comes fatigue, both mental and physical. We love it!

I used my second brass shuttle from Lorraine Kolasa to tat another St. Patrick's Day Doodle Ice Drop.  This one has a smooth finish and no pick. I thought the finish might be too slick, but I was wrong. The finish is fabulous, and I had no trouble holding on to the shuttle. I have another one coming from Tatting Corner that should arrive tomorrow. Shuttle collecting is fun!

Shuttle love

I do love tatting shuttles! I love collecting them. I love using them. This new shuttle from Lorraine Kolasa is no exception. I love the weight, the feel, the color. The shuttle warmed in my hands as I tatted. I'm so glad I purchased it! These beautiful shuttles are available from Lorraine's web site and from Lisa Adams of Tatting Corner. The price is the same from both sites.

I'm still knitting away on my Wortham scarf. It's much easier to knit when my hands are cold, and my hands have been very cold for the past couple of days. I'm getting a lot of knitting done!

Found!

I went to school early this morning, and sure enough, I had left my knitting in the 5th grade classroom. Whew!

I didn't really think my knitting was lost, but there were a few minutes of panic when I couldn't find my bag!

Alison's waffle stitch afghan was my focus for the weekend. This shot is of three skeins of yarn completed for a total of 26". I also used a good bit of the fourth skein, but I haven't bothered taking a picture yet.

It was back to Doodle Ice Drops today! I want to send off some for Mom's lunch bunch in time for St. Patrick's Day. Guess what I'll be working on this week?

Today was a great day for collecting mail! This is my latest pyrography doodle art shuttle from Dave Stanbrough of Grizzly Mountain Arts. I was also thrilled to purchase one of his picot hooks (a fine crochet hook set in in a beautiful turned wood handle). I love working with beautiful tools!

Two beautiful new brass shuttles arrived in the mail today. These are from Lorraine Kolasa, an artist in Michigan. I've been eagerly awaiting the listing of these shuttles ever since Lorraine posted about them on Facebook. They're available in both a smooth and a hammered finish, with our without a pick tip. They're also available from Lisa Adams at Tatting Corner. It's nice to have options!

The packaging is wonderful. The shuttles are tied in place so they can't shift around in the shipping process. A plastic bag with a wooden dowel is included, along with instructions on shuttle care and how to loosen or tighten the tips using the piece of dowel. Lorraine suggests storing the shuttle in the plastic bag if it isn't going to be used for a while. The plastic bag will help reduce tarnishing.

Of course I started winding thread on to one of the shuttles right away! I decided to start with the one with the pick, because I find picks very helpful when I have to retro-tat. :-)

I like the way the tips flair, and the shuttle was very easy to wind. I've only tatted a couple of rings so far, but so far I really like this shuttle!