April Tollway Tatters

 

We were a small group of four today, but we had great fun tatting and chatting! I managed to tat round 4 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I've been looking at round 5, which is very detailed and very pretty. I look forward to starting on it tomorrow!

This afternoon, I worked on my spiral knit tube sock. I managed to finish it early this evening. It doesn't look like much on the footstool.

It looks much better on a foot!

These are way too thick for wearing with shoes, but they'll be great for wearing around the house on a cold winter night. The next sock is started, so I will have a complete pair soon!

The pattern for these worsted weight socks can be found here: http://www.appleleeffarm.com/PDFs/Patts/spiraltubesck.pdf

Progress

 

I added a couple of inches to my sock. It's now a little over 13" long, with about 3" to go before shaping the toe.

Most of my free time today was spent working on round 3 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

Tomorrow we will be having our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting at 9 a.m. central time. My shuttles are loaded and ready for round 4 of Star of Bethlehem. It looks like an easy round, so I should be able to tat during our meeting. Sue posts the link to the Zoom meeting on our Facebook page. Join us if you can!

Slow crafting

 

I didn't get a whole lot done today. I did finish round 2 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz.

My sock is now 11 1/2" long. It needs to be 16" before I start shaping the toe. Somehow, this is a much easier pattern to follow than it was 20 years ago!

A new routine

I've been trying to take time for knitting, tatting, and reading each day, and so far it's going well!

My spiral knit tube sock is coming along nicely. I'm really enjoying these Prym ergonomic knitting needles. It took me a little time to adjust to the length, but that really was not a big deal. I think it's the tips of the needles that I like the most. I haven't been splitting my stitches since switching to these needles. That's a big plus!

This morning I started on my fifth doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This one is called Star of Bethlehem, and I decided to tat it in white just like the picture in the book. The pattern has nine rounds, so I expect this one to take me a couple of weeks. If I could focus on one thing at a time, it wouldn't take nearly so long. However, my mind flits from one thing to another, so I always have multiple projects in progress!

Elizabeth

 

I finished Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I'm so happy with the way this one turned out!

A little bit of progress

The day got away from me again, but I did make a little bit of progress with both my socks and my doily.

 

I switched knitting needles for the socks. I had been watching an Arne & Carlos YouTube video in which they were knitting with Prym ergonomic needles. I went shopping online, and the needles arrived today. The center of each needle is triangular, and the tips have a slight bulb shape. I've only knit one round with them, but they seem pretty nice.

I had some time to work on Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I had to rewind both of my shuttles. For some reason, that seems to take forever!

Not much to blog about

This past week has been kind of busy, so I really haven't had anything to blog about. The little bit of time I did spend tatting and knitting didn't amount to anything worthy of pictures. I think I'd have had more done if I hadn't spent so much time watching YouTube videos. Most of the ones I watched were about things I will probably never try. There were links on the right side of the screen, and I allowed myself to get pulled into watching all sorts of craft videos.

 

The call of the knitting needles was strong this morning. I've been wanting to knit a pair of spiral tube socks for a while. They're a great way to get me back into sock knitting mode. Denise introduced me to this style of sock way back when. I think the last pair I knit was for my grandson Aidan's baby shower. He'll be 18 in June. I know I have that baby sock pattern tucked away somewhere, but for now I'm knitting an adult pair in worsted weight yarn. I know these will be too thick for me to wear with shoes, but they'll be great for sitting around the house on a cold winter night. I know. I know. It's spring here in Illinois, but if I don't start knitting them now, I won't have them for winter!

I'm getting so close to finishing Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This last round is beautiful, but I have to pay close attention. I don't want to make a mistake this close to the end!

Down on the farm

This is the last of the baby quilts! The blankets are all made. All that is left to do is wash them and wrap them up for the baby shower. On to the next project!

Daddy loves golf!

 

I've only met the baby's daddy once, but I've been told he loves golf. So, I did a search on the Internet and found this adorable fabric. Only one more quilt to go!

Monkeyin' around

 

I spent yesterday hand sewing seam binding onto this adorable monkey quilt. I love giving these as baby gifts. They're practical, and they come in so many wonderful prints.

I haven't finished my morning coffee yet, so I haven't decided whether to work on another baby quilt or get back to Elizabeth. I'll know in a few more sips! 

Elizabeth

 

Yes, I have started the next doily in Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz! This time I'm using size 20 Lizbeth #688 Sea Green Dk. I had really planned on using a beautiful yellow, but this ball of thread was closest to me, so I decided to give it a try. 

I almost messed up on round 2, because I wasn't paying close attention. It's really important to watch the stitch count on the chains. The stitch count does matter!

Imperial finished!

 

I finished Imperial just a few minutes ago! I wasn't sure I would like this pattern because of the open spaces. However, now that it's finished, I think it's one of my favorite doilies to tat. Now it's time to choose another from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz.

Our big excitement today was the delivery of my reupholstered channel back chair. My Aunt Dodie bought this chair for my grandparents before I was born in 1952. So, it's from the late 40s or early 50s. When my grandmother gave me the chair, it still had its original fabric, which was a beautiful shade of brown with embroidered flowers on it. The chair was too big for Grandma, so it was seldom used. When it arrived at our house, it became the favorite chair, and the old fabric quickly gave way. We had the chair reupholstered about 25 years ago. I loved the fabric, but the seat was sagging, and there was a hole in one of the seams. It was time to bring this chair back to life!

The little footstool was made by one of daughter Alison's classmates and her sister about 30 years ago. The girls had made it as a shop class project, and I love it.

Last summer Mom, Carol, and I took the two pieces to a custom upholstery shop. All three of us fell in love with this fabric, and we placed our order. Unfortunately, it took eight months for the fabric to arrive. I am thrilled with the way the chair turned out. The lighting wasn't good for taking pictures today. The fabric is beautiful shades of blue. I'm guessing that this will be the new favorite place to sit again!

Imperial round 5

 

Yesterday ended up being very busy, including a trip to daughter Alison's. So, I had to wait until today to finish round 5 of Imperial from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz.

I LOVE this round! It was easy to follow, and it was challenging. I kept close track of where I was in the pattern, and I nearly messed up several times. Luckily, I caught my mistakes before closing rings.

I think I will probably tat this one again. I think the Lizbeth #112 Carousel is very pretty, but Laura's beautiful design is lost in the color changes. 

There's only one round to go, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. I'm in the middle of two good books, and I'm eager to get back to them!

Pure laziness

It was out of pure laziness that I started tatting Imperial from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I'm using size 20 Lizbeth #112 Carousel. I was going to stop after round 2 yesterday, but my friend Stephanie emailed me that she is going to tat this one with me. So, I was inspired to start round 3. I had a spurt of energy when I thought I was ready for bed. With a little bit of late night (late night for me is 9 p.m.) and some early morning tatting, round 3 is finished!

There's a stomach bug going around school, so I'm going to get round 4 started just in case I get a last minute call to sub. If I don't get called in, I need to find the safe place I stashed my bias binding so that I can finish up the baby quilts.

Oh, and the lazy part... instead of looking for that bias binding, I reached for the shuttles, thread, and pattern that were close at hand and started tatting. I can be really good at procrastinating!

Celine

 

This morning I finished Celine from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I love the way it turned out!

I took it to school to show Julia and Shelby, and they both loved it. I've promised to help them re-learn tatting if they'd like to. Time will tell if I get them tatting again.

I probably won't have time to start another one this week, but I think I'm going to work on the next one in the book, Imperial. I'm hoping my friend Stephanie hasn't tatted this one yet so that we can work on it at the same time. 

For now, I'm back to making baby blankets!

Check!

 

I get to check another item off the list for Alyssa's baby shower! I had been avoiding working on the baby waffle stitch afghan with the weather getting warmer. Sunday morning I looked at the seven day weather forecast and decided that there aren't going to be many cool days left. So, I picked up my crochet hook and started crocheting.

I'm glad I started early on these baby presents, because each one is taking longer than I remember! I hope to finish up the baby gifts by the end of the week... better make that weekend!

Celine round 5

 

Yes, I did tat in public for International Tatting Day... public school, that is. I was asked to sub for high school math on Friday, and while the students worked on their assignments, I tatted. I was especially pleased when some of the juniors, both girls and boys, were excited to see me tatting. They told me they had just been talking about tatting and had pulled out their supplies. Imagine them keeping their treasures for seven years!

Two of the girls, Julia and Shelby, fell in love with this colorful little doily. Who knows? Maybe they'll take up tatting again!

Today I will tat

 

I finished the last of the flannel baby blankets last night. This one is daughter Carol's favorite. It is cute!

Tomorrow I will start on the pre quilted baby blankets.

But today, I will tat! Happy International Tatting Day!