Fumble fingers

Daughter Joanne and family had planned to return home on Saturday or Sunday, but they decided to stay for another week. Yay! I really enjoy having them around. I wish I could have all four of my daughters and all seven grandchildren here all summer long. Imagine the fun we could have!

My friend Margaret asked me to test tat her Taj Mahal Ice Drop pattern. I was eager to get started, and I did fine until the 4th round. I've done SCMRs before, and I've done split chains without any problem... until yesterday and today. I've lost count of how many times I've retro-tatted this segment. It took me at least five tries to get the SCMR right, and now I can't do a split chain for anything. It's not the directions; it's just me. My fingers and brain just aren't working together.

I decided that a change of pace must be in order. After all, a familiar pattern can be so relaxing. I decided to tat Eightsome Reel by Mary Koniorin Marilee Rockley's Lantana Citrus hand-dyed thread. You would think I had never read a pattern before. Honest to goodness, this little section took me a good hour to tat. I'm blaming the humidity!

My knitting is also moving along slowly. I am making progress with Blue Jean Saturday, but I've had to frog quite a few rows because of mistakes. Maybe I'm having trouble because we're in the dog days of summer. That seems to be as good an excuse as any!