I just finished round 17! My Renulek Spring Doily 2024 is now 24" in diameter. I really wanted to do round 18 in the same orange, Lizbeth 696 Orange Med, but I don't have enough for another round. So, I think I'm going to see how Lizbeth 695 Bright Orange looks. I'm pretty sure it will be perfect!
I tried something new this weekend. I made donuts for the first time. They were delicious. I did learn a few things. First, don't overfill the pan. The hole disappears, and they look kind of funny. Solution... I ordered another pan and pastry bags to fill the pans. Second lesson learned: spooning the batter into the pan is very messy! Third lesson learned: reading donut recipes can be lots of fun!
Remember the bejeweled trees I've been making? I've used tons of pearl head pins making them, and my favorite ones come on these little plastic disks. My sister Janet and I have gone through a tremendous number of these pins. We were just tossing the little plastic disks. One day, Janet said there must be something we could do with them. That got me thinking about what I've learned from making Dorset buttons and Teneriffe lace.
Daughter Alison is finishing up her master's degree in counseling, and we were talking about art therapy. I suggested warping these little plastic disks that her clients could use for weaving. Alison is giving a presentation to a group of counselors this week and asked if I would help her prep for the presentation. It only takes a few minutes to warp these little disks with crochet cotton.
I just finished round 16 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. Now I have to decide which color to use next, and I'm really thinking about the orange. I think I'll leave that decision for tomorrow!
This round was very simple, but it sure did seem to take a long time to get all the way around. It's time to move on to round 16 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024!
Happy International Tatting Day! I celebrated by finishing round 14 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. Yes, I nibbled on a little bit of chocolate today as well. How did you celebrate?
Spring break has been pretty restful for me. Mom and I have been enjoying our crafting time. With no real obligations this week, I've been able to get a lot of tatting done. This afternoon I finished round 13 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. It's now 20" in diameter. I love the way it looks agains the wood of my dining room table!
Last night I finished round 12 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 just before heading off to bed. There was much less tatting in round 12 than in round 11, but I just didn't find the time to get much tatting done last week. Hopefully, I'll do better this week. On to the next round!
I did not finish round 12 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 this past week. I did not remember to attend our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting. I did not do a lot of things that I thought I would. However...
I did start a new book, a gift from daughter Joanne. What could be better than an American girl trying to solve a murder in England in the 1920s?
I'm trying to use up my supply of pony beads and reduce my yarn stash, so I'll continue making these triangular bean bags.
My sister and sister-in-law were here this weekend, so I was able to finish my Christmas trees for grandchildren. Another mission accomplished... my Christmas presents are finished!
I made it my goal to finish round 11 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 by the end of this weekend, and I did it! Each pattern repeat took me about 45 minutes to complete. If I did the math correctly, that means 20 hours and 15 minutes for the round. Of course it took me longer because of mistakes that I needed to correct. Done in size 20 Lizbeth, it is now 17" in diameter. On to the next round!
12 of the 27 pattern repeats are finished on round 11 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I really thought I'd have more tatted by this time in the week, but I've been subbing at school and this is definitely not a take-along project. Still, slow progress is better than no progress!
Round 11 is going to take a while. Each pattern repeat takes me 45 minutes to tat, and there are 27 motifs in this round. I hope I finish this round by the end of this weekend!
This is a busy weekend for us. The high school drama club is performing the musical Catch Me If You Can. Dave and I attended last night, and we will be attending tonight's performance as well. It was nice to have a simple round to follow.
My long-time tatting friend, Stephanie, emailed me about mistake she saw in round 9. I'm so glad she did. It just so happened that the mistake was the motif just below where my next ring was to attach. I was able to cut out the mistake and finish the motif very quickly.
The next round is one that will need my full attention. I'm going to be sure and follow the pattern row-by-row and not think that I have the pattern memorized!
I just finished round 9 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 using Lizbeth size 20 #657 Ocean Turquoise Dk. I think I'll take the time to block this before moving on to round 10. This was another fun round to tat!
I spent most of yesterday tatting round 8 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. It's amazing how long it can take to tat such a simple round. I don't mind, though. I find it very relaxing.
This round is in size 20 Lizbeth #679 Lime Green. Now comes the hard part, choosing the next color!
That's right. I had three false starts with round 7 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I must have been overly confident when looking at the directions for this round, because I made the same mistake on the first pattern repeat three times!
Round 7 is in size 20 Lizbeth #623 Raspberry Pink Lt. I think I'll go back to green for round 8. It's a simple ring and chain sequence, so I think I should be able to do it correctly!
I finished round 6 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 this morning. It's in Lizbeth size 20 #696 Autumn Orange Med. I haven't had much time at home this week, so it was nice to have an easy round to pick up when I had an extra few minutes!
Dave and I are not very adventurous. Every once in a while we get together with his sister and her husband and go to a fabulous restaurant. Karen and Larry know how to choose the best places. Last night we went to Rosebud Steakhouse in Munster, Indiana.
I didn't take pictures of everyone else's meals, but I did take pictures of mine! This is Buratta Salad. After tasting that fresh mozzarella, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat a mozzarella cheese stick from the grocery store again.
For the main course, I chose Rigatoni Vodka, which I had never heard of before. Oh, my goodness! It was so good!
Karen and Larry insisted that we get dessert. I chose Butter Cake with Caramel Gelato. It was heavenly. No, I did not eat all of it. I have enough leftovers for two more meals, and I know I will savor every bite.
When we arrived home, we were both too full and sleepy to do anything. So, I waited until this morning to finish round 5 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I forgot to post the yellow thread. It's size 20 Lizbeth #170 Pineapple Parfait. For round 5 I used size 20 Lizbeth #679 Lime Green.
I have my shuttles wound for round 6, but I don't expect to get much tatting done today. I have a routine doctor appointment this morning, then my longer day at school. Daughter Carol asked if I could do some alterations to costumes for the musical Catch Me If You Can, which is in a week and a half. So, I'll be heading off to play practice to check out costumes. I'll bring them home with me, and hopefully get the alterations done in time for Wednesday's practice. It will be a busy day!
We had a very busy weekend. I managed to pop in for the Tollway Tatters for a few minutes on Saturday. We had people coming over to pick up some furniture that we no longer needed. Also, my sister was down visiting for the weekend, and we had bejeweled trees to make!
I managed to finish four trees for grandchildren. I only have two left to finish for Christmas presents. After that, I will be doing them just for fun. Janet is working on a black and gold tree for a friend. Today was especially fun, because Janet's daughter-in-law and granddaughter came down to work on tress with us.
Renulek's Spring Doily 2024 is coming along nicely. Round 4 took quite a bit of time, and I made a couple of big mistakes that took me a while to fix. On the next to the last motif I decided that I had the pattern memorized, so I tatted without referring to the pattern. That was not a good idea. Rather than take the time to retro-tat the whole motif, I cut it out and started it again. I was ready to tat the last motif when I noticed that I had joined a chain to the wrong ring. Luckily, that didn't take long to fix.
On to the next round!
This morning I started Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I know the pattern is available for free on her blog, but I chose to purchase the pattern on Etsy.
I have five colors chosen, but I may change my mind. This is size 20 Lizbeth #623 Raspberry Pink Lt. Now I have to decide which color to use next!
All of the reorganizing I've been doing for the past week got me to thinking about Ice Drops. So, I pulled out my pattern book and started with the Basic Ice Drop that got me into tatting with cabochons. This is the original pattern with a chain around the edge of the glass gem.
I have nothing to show. For the past week, Dave and I have been building bookcases and organizing. I knit a few rows on a dishcloth when I'm at school, but it's been all about the house when I'm at home.
I hope to have something to share soon!
My three youngest grandchildren asked for St. Patrick's Day gnomes.
So, I cranked out bodies and hats yesterday.
I also worked on beanbags for the social workers at school.
Since today is Tuesday, I'm going to focus on my test tatting project. I do miss reading about Tatting Tea Tuesday, even though tea is not my favorite drink. I much prefer coffee!
Dave and I spent the weekend shopping for bookcases, putting them together, and sorting through craft supplies. There's still a lot of sorting and storing to be done, but we accomplished what we set out to do. There's nothing picture worthy yet, but I'll share once more of the clutter is out of the way.
Test tatting is going slowly. My hands just don't seem to want to hold on to the shuttle for very long.
The big news is that despite all the activity around here this weekend, I finished my Valentine gnomes!
I finished my Valentine gnome bodies on Thursday and Friday, and then I got to work finishing them off. Six are done with nine to go!
