Checkin' in

Sorry, I have no pictures to post! We had Thanksgiving at our house, and I forgot to take pictures. I'm busy working on Christmas surprises, so I can't post pictures of those. If I do anything that I can share, I'll be sure to let you know! 

More cookies

This morning I decided to try making biscotti. Dave usually makes the biscotti, using his mother's recipe. The cookies are always delicious, but the recipe calls for 10 cups of flour and a dozen eggs. That's way too much dough for me to handle!

I did some searching on the Internet and found a recipe that was close to my mother-in-law's, but in a much smaller amount... 2 cups of four and 2 eggs. I combined my mother-in-law's list of ingredients with the quantities of the new recipe. They turned out pretty good, and Dave even liked them! It's a good thing I wrote down what I did!

Mom and I went out to lunch, and then this afternoon I finished another button ornament. I'm happy to say that I definitely have enough thread for the set of six that I wanted for Christmas!

Cookie day

 Mom and I have been doing a pretty good job of eating cookies, and with Thanksgiving only a few days I knew it was time to replenish our stock! These should be dry enough to bake after dinner. I'm eager to try the new flavor I've tried, caramel!

I now have four green and gold button ornaments ready for Christmas gift giving. I need a minimum of six, and I'm running out of this color thread. I hope there's enough for the final two!

My collar is progressing slowly. I really don't think I'll have time to finish it in time for Thanksgiving. There's just too much I want to get done! Maybe Christmas? 

2021 Christmas ornament

This is definitely my 2021 Christmas ornament! I love the way it looks, and the pattern is pretty simple. Please feel free to try it out, and if you find any mistakes in the pattern, please let me know.

Because I'm so poor with choosing names, I'm using the date that I designed the ornament. It works for me!

 

November 17, 2021 Button Ornament

Materials:

3/4" four hole button

size 20 thread

Shuttle and ball

Symbols:

+  join

-  joining picot

Round 1:

Ring 4 - 4 + 4 - 4, reverse work (join to button)

Chain 5 - 5, reverse work

Repeat around button with three joins in each hole

On final ring, join to base of first ring instead of making a picot

Round 2 (with right side of button facing you):

Chain 5, lock join to picot

Chain 5, lock join to same picot

Chain 5, lock join to base of ring in previous round

Chain 5, lock join to picot

Chain 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1- 1 (7 picots), lock join to same picot

Chain 5, lock join to base of ring in previous round

Repeat around.

Tie, cut, and hide ends.

For hanger:

Unwind about an arm's length of thread from shuttle. 

Join to any 5 chain ring. 

Lock chain 50 stitches (flip first half of double stitch, do not flip second half).

Join to same ring.

Tie, cut, and hide ends.

Button ornaments

Today I played with a new design, and I think that it will look good once I'm consistent with the outer rings. I have four different stitch counts going on there, not intentionally! I was kind of daydreaming as I tatted and kept making mistakes. At least I have a good idea of which size ring looks best to me!

During our Tollway Tatters meeting this morning, I played around with this design that I tried the other day. I finally have it the way I like it, and I think this will be my Christmas ornament for the year. I don't think I'll go crazy and try to design a different ornament each day in December, but I may have a few new ideas this year... no promises!

Keepin' it simple

 

I wasn't in the mood to tat anything fancy today, so I simply added a small picot to each chain. It looks good to me!

I made a little more progress on my collar today. I'm really enjoying this pattern!

New buttons

 

There's no hope for me. I see something. I get inspired. I buy.

It all started with a search for buffalo plaid napkins. Yes, I found the napkins... and then, magically, all sorts of items in buffalo plaid showed up as suggestions. How could I resist buffalo plaid buttons?

The buttons arrived yesterday, and I couldn't resist getting started on ornaments today!

I didn't get much done on my collar today, but every little bit counts!

Time flies!

Time did fly by today! I sprayed clear coat on all of the ornaments decorated by students and staff, and I worked on adding hanging cords to them. I still have quite a few that need hangers. I started hanging them on one of my trees so that I can determine how many trees I need to take with me to Christmas in the Village. It's too dark to take a picture now, but I'll try to remember to take one tomorrow.

While waiting for  the clear coat to dry (I put three layers on the front and back of each ornament), I worked on another Dorset button set. The ornament looks okay, but I didn't have enough thread to make the center as dense as I like it. I might add more to the center tomorrow.

I also worked a little on my collar. I'm feeling a little worn out from the day's activities, so I think I'll take a break tonight!

Little by little

 

It makes me feel good to accomplish a little bit every day!

Finishes

 

I finished two ornaments today. I love the way this button ornament turned out!

It took me several days to finish this Dorset button and ornament set. Somehow, it just kept getting set to the side!

One more spoke of my collar is finished. This is going to be so pretty!

Collar progress

I really am enjoying working on this collar! I didn't get a whole lot done today, because Mom and I went to visit daughter Carol for lunch. She made macaroni and cheese, something the three of us love! Dave is not a macaroni fan, so Carol takes care of us.

My sister is visiting and spending the night, so I'm finished tatting for the night. Tomorrow is another day!

Duplicate... almost

I made a little progress on my collar today. I didn't get as much done as I could have, because I spent a lot of time looking at patterns!

While looking through my books, I remembered that these are two versions of the same book! The one on the left is the original. The one on the right is a reprint with additional patterns. There was a time when this peacock was all the rage among tatters. I was too timid to try tatting this beauty back then, but I may be ready to give it a try soon!

 

A new venture

I've decided that I should probably start tatting patterns from the many books I own. It's about time!

Years ago, back when I spent most of my days doing thread crochet, I loved making collars. Can you believe that I never kept one for myself?

This morning, I decided it was time to start tatting a collar. I am really enjoying this pattern!

This afternoon was spent making more air dry clay ornaments. I'm starting to get the hang of this!

No tatting

No tatting was done today. Mom and I worked on the house today. Mom cleaned in the kitchen, and I worked upstairs boxing up craft items that I no longer need or want.

After dinner tonight, Mom and I laid out the ornaments that have been decorated by GP students and staff. I'll be adding ribbon/rattail hangers as soon as all my supplies arrive. These will be for sale at Christmas in the Village on December 11, with all sales benefiting the Drama Club. Mom and I have already selected the ones we want to purchase!

Playing with clay

 

I had the urge to play with clay again, so I pulled out my cookie stamps and molds to make some ornaments.

Some of the impressions are better than others. It will be interesting to see how they look when they're completely dried.

The clay ornaments took all morning, and then I headed off to school. I did manage to tat one button ornament this afternoon. It sure was a busy day!

Deep cleaning

The last few days have been busy and interesting. On Saturday, I drove up to daughter Alison's house and we sorted, packed, deep cleaned, and reorganized one room. We worked for about six and a half hours, and we were very pleased with what we accomplished!

It takes about an hour and 40 minutes to drive to Alison's, so I truly had no energy left for tatting when I arrived home!

On Sunday morning my brother came to visit. He usually visits about every other week. While we were talking and drinking coffee, I worked on a Dorset button. When I finished, I went to set it on the table next to my chair. Somehow, I lost my grip and the button went flying. I still haven't found it!

After David left, Mom and I watched an episode of The Mountain Detective. There's no crafting while watching this show. It's in French, so reading the English captions is a must. I think that's a good thing, because the scenery is fantastic!

I did look again for the Dorset button, not very long or hard, but I did look! I finally gave up looking and just made another.

I really dislike the time change. It will take me several days to adjust. I feel so tired after dinner that I just don't feel like doing anything. So, one Dorset button is all I have to show for Sunday.

Today was dentist day. After getting my teeth cleaned, I loaded up the car with things that Mom and I decided we didn't want any longer and headed off to Goodwill. Then, I headed in to school. I did a little reading this afternoon, and Mom and I watched a little t.v. 

Dave will be in for dinner soon. Then I'm going to do my best to stay awake until 9 p.m. We'll just have to wait and see if I have any energy left for tatting!

Another one button day

 

I spent the morning working on my sweater. I only have three rounds to go before dividing for the sleeves!

Since I spent so much time knitting, I only had time to complete one button ornament. Still, one is better than none!

At last!

 

I finally achieved the look I was going for, 10 spokes on the Dorset Crosswheel button and 10 tatted rings and chains. Now I can move on to a different color!

High school art students are helping me get ready for Christmas in the Village.

Every item on my table will sell for $5, with all proceeds going to the Drama Club. I don't know who's having more fun, the kids or me!

Carry-along tatting

 

I did not succeed in making my Dorset button ornament yesterday. I started the morning by tearing apart my bedroom closet. I was about halfway through reorganizing it when I received a call asking me to sub. The clutter was left on the bed while I fixed a quick breakfast and lunch, and 20 minutes later I was out the door. Luckily, I had my carry-along tatting in my purse!

Subbing in art class gave me plenty of time to tat. It seemed natural for me to be working on my projects, while the kids were working on their assignments. It's been a while since I've used these wooden two-hole buttons. The gold thread I had with me seemed like the perfect accent!

Cookie day

I need to get back to blogging at night. It's getting too hard to remember what I did yesterday! ;-)

I've started baking cookies for Christmas. I don't know what inspired me to get on a cookie kick. It's probably been ten years since I've baked cookies. I definitely out of practice. There are a lot of burnt edges and uneven thicknesses. Still, I'm determined to have cookies for Christmas!

I love the simplicity of this ornament! I don't remember where the ring came from, and I'm not sure I have any more. This one may have to stay in my collection!

I only managed one Dorset button yesterday, the one on the left. The one on the right is the one I posted about yesterday. That small size difference meant that I couldn't tat 10 rings around yesterday's button. My goal is to make another 13mm Dorset button today so that I can tat the 10 ring ornament, but I first have some household tasks that need attention!

A wonderful weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend! Saturday morning I was able to attend our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting for about an hour. Then we headed up to Elgin to see granddaughter Eva in Hello, Dolly!

Left to right: grandson Aidan, daughter Carol, daughter Alison, granddaughter Eva, me, Dave

After the matinee, we went back to Alison's house for a wonderful dinner. We were home by 9 p.m., tired but happy!

I'm almost finished with The Trouble with Tulip by Mindy Starns Clark. It's light reading, and I'm picking up some great household tips! ;-)

I finished the first of my Dorset button ornaments using my "Holly" perle cotton pack. I used a 13 mm knitting stitch marker, and the traditional 12 spokes. The outer edge has 10 tatted rings, so I decided to try another using 10 spokes instead of 12.

Oops! I grabbed a slightly larger brass ring, so I needed 11 tatted rings around the outside. I think I may give this one another try!