Christmas Green Mix

Another Thanksgiving is behind us. We had a wonderful time together, and of course we ate way too much food!

Now it's time to decorate for Christmas! Dave has worked on decorating the outside of the house for a few weeks, but the lights didn't go on until Thanksgiving night. He went way overboard this year, and I'm eager for him to take a picture so that we can remember what he did. It won't happen tonight. It's windy, wet, and cold outside... not good weather for taking pictures.

We've started on the inside of the house. With everyone coming here for Christmas, Dave is on a mission to make everything extra bright and beautiful. My husband is crazy for Christmas!

Even with all of the activity of the past few days, I've found time to tat two more Frivolity Ice Drops in size 20 Lizbeth #152, Christmas Green Mix.

It's been kind of fun tatting in groups of three. I nearly have enough for what I want to give as Christmas presents. I may even have time to tat a few for my own tree!

Red, white, and green

I had a very productive day today. I cleaned out a closet, reorganized some of my craft materials, and tatted two Ice Drops!

This is my third Frivolity Ice Drop in Lizbeth #151, Angel's Love.

My next trio will be in Lizbeth #152, Christmas Green Mix. I think this would also be a great color for St. Patrick's Day, but that's months away. For now, I'm focusing on Christmas!

I'm guessing I won't have much time for tatting tomorrow, and I'm not planning on spending much, if any, time on the computer. So, for all who celebrate, happy Thanksgiving!

Angel's Love

I chose size 20 Lizbeth #151, Angel's Love for my next set of Frivolity Ice Drops.

We had a short school day today, so I had time to tat two! I need one more to complete the set, but that might not happen for a few days. I have a lot to do to get ready for Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law is hosting, but I have sides to prepare and I need to get my house ready for company. Oh, how I wish I had a fairy godmother!

Christmas Delight

This is my third Frivolity Ice Drop in size 20 Lizbeth Christmas Delight. That means I'll be moving on to another color! Care to guess which one is wound on the shuttle?

Ready for blocking

Jennifer and I each finished knitting our Greyson Waves Lace Scarf by Marly Bird! I finished knitting by half time of the Bears game yesterday, and it took me the rest of the afternoon to weave all the ends in. All I have to do now is block it.

Since I concentrated on knitting and cleaning for the weekend, I haven't had much to show. Daughter Alison drove down to spend the night on Friday. Saturday morning, she and my friend Lilly helped me go through craft stuff in one of the bedrooms and the sun room. We accomplished a lot! Alison found some things she had been looking for, and Lilly went home with yarn and fabric that I no longer wanted. One bedroom is ready for a good cleaning and Christmas company. Dave helped me finish cleaning the sun room yesterday, and we came up with some Christmas decorating ideas. So, the sun room is not quite as neat as it was when Alison left on Saturday, but it is thoroughly clean and ready for some Christmas cheer. We are definitely ready to do some serious decorating starting the day after Thanksgiving!

Today I remembered...

Since I remembered my tatting bag, I was able to complete another Frivolity Ice Drop in size 20 Lizbeth #116, Christmas Delight. I'm going to have to tat a little faster if I'm going to complete all the Christmas presents I want to pass out at school!

I have 13 pattern repeats finished on my Greyson Waves Lace Scarf by Marly Bird. I only have 7 repeats to go!

And so it grows

My friend Jennifer and I are working on Marly Bird's Greyson Waves Lace Scarf. As of last night, Jennifer was two color repeats ahead of me, so I decided to focus on knitting before heading off to school.

What you see is my total craft progress for the day. Why? I restocked my carry-along tatting bag and then forgot to put it in my purse! I did crochet with my high school kids today, but tatting was non-existent today.

I'm taking the Scarlet O'Hara attitude... tomorrow is another day!

A question about blocking

One of the Ice Drop Addicts on Facebook asked me if I block my Ice Drops. The answer... it depends on the Ice Drop!

Today I tatted Frivolity in size 20 Lizbeth #116, Christmas Delight. As you can see, it is quite ruffled. This one definitely needs to be blocked!

It doesn't take long... just six little pins, a shot of steam all around, and...

a beautiful Ice Drop is ready for the tree!

Seeing red

Yes, I've tatted another Frivolity Ice Drop in red. I just can't help myself. It looks so festive!

My Greyson Waves Lace Scarf is coming along nicely. Normally, I would prefer a solid color scarf, but I'm enjoying the color changes. It's easy to set goals and complete them, and it's easy to see the pattern develop.

I did switch knitting needles today. I had been using Inox circulars that are probably at least 20 years old. At the time, they were the best knitting needles I could find. However, I've found that the cables on the newer needles are so much nicer to use. They don't kink up, and they cable part is thinner. I've only knit a few rows with the new needles, but I can definitely tell a difference!

November Tollway Tatters

We had a beautiful day for our Tollway Tatters meeting! A couple driving through Illinois from Wisconsin stopped to see what we were doing, and they walked away with an Ice Drop. It pays to stop and ask what we're all about!

We had such a good day, we decided to set our next meeting date: Saturday, January 11, 2020. We agree that if there is snow in the forecast or if it's bitterly cold, we will not meet. We all travel too far to take any chances with the weather. Last year, the beginning of January was extremely mild. Of course since we decided to try and meet, the weather changed and we had to cancel. We'll see what happens this year!

Mary brought Catherine with her today. Catherine is multi-talented; she spins, weaves, knits, crochets, and tats! I may have missed something, but I think that pretty much covers her list of skills!

Mary is working on a beautiful needle tatted edging. She also brought along some books for us to look at.

Catherine was working on some motifs in a beautiful grey crochet cotton.

Sue Anna and Glenda were super cheerful as usual! Sue Anna was working on Joelle Paulson's Astrila. I thought I got a picture of it, but apparently I didn't.

Glenda worked on and off as her arm allowed her. We were so glad she was able to join us. She had to miss our last meeting, because she had broken her arm right before our meeting.

Carrie was tatting tiny angels for a friend of hers. I think she managed to tat them all today!

Denise wasn't able to join us today. Luckily, Kathy was able to go along. The drive is much more fun with a friend or two along!

Kathy brought along some of her hand-made soap to share with us. I can't wait to try it out!

I worked on a Frivolity Ice Drop, but I ran out of thread. To top it off, I left my ball of thread at home! I did have a shuttle wound for a Curds & Whey bookmark, but I made a major mistake at the beginning of the second pattern repeat. So, I snipped off my tatting and gave up for the day.

When I got home, Dave and I headed off to Menards to buy some Christmas lights. Now, it's time to relax!

Marlene called

My friend Marlene from Minnesota contacted me yesterday to let me know how much she likes my Frivolity Ice Drop. However, she was a bit confused by the back and forth of the one pass method, and she wasn't clear as to when to switch shuttles.

I'm not a big fan of the one pass method. I think it looks nice, but I get confused trying to keep track of where I am, and it takes me longer to finish a one pass Ice Drop than one following my basic pattern.

I wanted to show Marlene that the Frivolity pattern can be tatted using my original basic pattern. Simply tat the basic Ice Drop, and then add the second and third rounds. As for switching shuttles, it's really not necessary until the last round. Even then, it would be easy enough to use the shoelace trick to tat the rings.

Here are the two together. The one on the left follows my basic pattern. The one on the right is the one pass method as the Frivolity pattern is written. As you can see, there's not much difference. The only difference is the extra round of chains surrounding the glass gem, a look I really like.

Because I don't have enough projects going, I decided to join a Marly Bird knit-along. This is The Greyson Waves Lace Scarf that uses three balls of Chic Sheep, which I just happened to have in the house!

Although I'm not a beginning knitter, I do appreciate the YouTube video that accompanies the pattern. It seems that every designer has a slightly different way of notating one stitch or another, and the video tutorial really helps clarify all techniques.

My friend Jennifer is knitting this one along with me. It's fun to keep each other motivated to finish a project!

Sticking with red

Lizbeth Christmas Red is so cheerful, I decided to stick with it. There are several staff members at school who I would like to give a Christmas gift to, and I think my Frivolity Ice Drop will be the perfect gift. So, you can expect to see various color combinations until I have what I need completed. I think I may need a few for my tree as well!

Frivolity in red

It felt good to get back to school today. Yes, I am tired, and I'm pretty sure I'll sleep well tonight!

Today's project was another Frivolity Ice Drop, this time in red. It took me most of the day, and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I'll bet you've guessed that this one will probably go to Mom!

Ready to go!

Enough of this sitting around feeling sick! Today I am ready to go! I won't take on any extra duties this week, but I will be happy to get back to my routine of supervising kids eating their lunch. I know my job is pretty mundane, but I like it. Daughter Carol told me that some of the kids have been asking about me. It's kind of nice to be missed!

My big achievement today was to tat a Frivolity Ice Drop. One of the Ice Drop Addicts asked for clarification, and I was happy to oblige. It's been a while since I've tatted this pattern, and I'm glad I took the time to tat it again!

Another one of the Ice Drop Addicts members asked to see the back side. I often forget that the back is just as pretty as the front!

Of course checking out Facebook meant that I also spent quite a bit of time checking up on blogs. Boy, am I behind! I don't think I have time to read AND comment on everything that's happened in the past week and a half. Please don't be offended if I haven't responded to one of your comments or haven't commented on your blog posts. There just isn't enough time in my day!

After dinner, I managed to tat a basic Ice Drop. My table for Christmas in the Village is going to be very sparse this year. I guess that happens when you give all your tatting away!

One more day

I've been home sick with what turned out to be a sinus and ear infection for well over a week now. I finally managed to get to the doctor over the weekend, and I'm on four different medications. I do feel better, but Dave asked me to stay home and rest for one more day, so that's what I'm going to do.

As you can imagine, I wasn't really in the mood to do much of anything. Still, I managed to finish a Curds & Whey bookmark with what I had left of Marilee Rockley's Beach Cafe. I would have preferred one more pattern repeat and a tassel out of the same thread, but this one's for me and I'm happy to have it!

Ice Drops still cheer me up! I love that I can tat one so quickly and have something pretty to hang on my tree.

On Thursday I received my newest roly poly bag from Jane Eborall. I love these little bags! They're perfect for carry-along projects. Yes I could, and probably should, make something similar and start using up my fabric stash, but this one suited me perfectly and I was thrilled to be able to purchase it!

Yesterday I was feeling quite a bit better, and I decided a red ribbon would finish off this Ice Drop perfectly. Red is my mom's favorite color, and I think of her whenever I work with it. If you want it, Mom, this one's for you!

Sick day

I stayed home with a really nasty cold yesterday and today. It's been a long time since I've been this stuffed up and practically voiceless. I'm getting tired of drinking hot liquids, but I'm about to brew some more tea before heading off to bed.

Since I stayed home, I had plenty of time to tat. I finished this Curds & Whey bookmark that I had started last week. The pattern is from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. I've given most of my bookmarks away, so I'm repeating colors with the hope of having enough for Christmas in the Village.

Today I worked on Motif #3 from DMC Festive Tatting. This is the first round, and I think it looks great just like this. This round is actually six motifs joined together, so there's a lot of cutting, tying, and hiding ends. I'm sure someone with more brain power than I currently have could figure out how to tat this more efficiently.

The pattern called for a second round. I finished it, but I prefer the motif without the second round. Which one is your preference?

If at first you don't succeed...

I was very proud of my first attempt at Joelle Paulson's Astrila, until I realized I'd missed a join! I felt I had nothing to worry about. After all, I had successfully joined on the second half of a split ring, and I had managed to make a picot on the second half of a split ring.

Feeling bold, I started over... and over... and over. Three times I tried, and I could not get that join on the second half of the split ring.

I was tired, and too lazy to watch a YouTube video, so I just made the center the old fashioned way (cut, tie, hide the ends, and start round two). That didn't work well, either. On round 2 (there is no round 2 in Joelle's beautiful pattern), I wasn't following the pattern carefully, because I thought I knew what I was doing. I was so wrong. I made a mess of it!

Luckily, my next attempt worked out perfectly!

I liked it so much, I tatted a second. I feel like I'm on a roll!