Focus on tatting

 

After spending time with Linda yesterday, I decided to focus on tatting today. First thing this morning, I worked on my latest bookmark, "Wildflowers" from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. I'm using size 20 Lizbeth #112 Carousel.

The rest of the day I worked on Renulek's Spring Doily 2025. Round 2 is in size 20 Lizbeth #677 Lime Green Med. I haven't decided which color I want to use for round 3. I have colors chosen for the doily, but I think I might look at my threads again and choose something different from what I have set aside. I think I may have too many choices!

A new tatting friend

 

Linda recently joined our Tollway Tatters group on Facebook and asked if anyone was interested in getting together to tat. Yes! We met today at Culver's in New Lenox, and spent about three hours together. A man stopped by and asked if we could make him some socks, which made us laugh. He was then kind enough to take our picture. We're both hoping we can get together again soon.

My scrappy afghan is now 24" long. I haven't measured the width yet, but I'm guessing that I will make it about 60" long.

I finished another Drapey Cowl before leaving to meet Linda. Yes, I have already started another!

Asymmetry

 

I finished my Asymmetry bookmark from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. I really enjoyed tatting this one. I did notice that I managed to twist the last chain, but not until after I'd buried the ends. Somehow I think it will be okay.

I finished another Drapey Cowl this afternoon. I didn't think I'd like like the color combination, but now that it's finished I really like it.

My scrappy afghan is now 17" long. I haven't decided yet how long I'll make it. I guess I should measure the width and go from there.

The weekend is looking really busy, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done, but I'll be sure to post my accomplishments!

Project progress

 

I started off round 2 of Renulek's Spring Doily 2025 with a mistake. I thought the second ring looked strange, but I couldn't figure out why. So, I kept on tatting. When I started the second pattern repeat, I realized that I was short one picot and three double stitches. So, I snipped off the mistake and started round 2 again. It looks much better now.

My scrap afghan is now 16" long. It's nice to have something to work on that doesn't take much concentration at the end of a busy day.

Since the weather has turned warmer, I haven't had the urge to finish cowls quickly. This has been my take along project that I work on between lunches at school. It's only a total of about 30 minutes a day, but I do enjoy seeing how projects grow little by little.

Gettin' started

When I saw the release of Renulek's Spring Doily 2025, I went right to her Etsy shop and purchased it. It was fun choosing colors of thread and shuttles this morning. For round 1 I'm using size 20 Lizbeth #712 Kelly Green Med. The shuttles are from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. Round 1 is about 2.5 inches.

It sure is a pretty center!

 

Ready to turn

I managed to get a little tatting time in this morning, and I'm ready to make the turn on the end. I think I could have tatted quite a bit this morning, but I let myself get distracted looking at tatting patterns. I really need to maintain focus!

My scrap afghan is growing. I crocheted a bit before going to bed last night, and then again this afternoon. It's getting long enough that my lap is getting warm. I guess I'm hoping for some chilly weather so that I can continue working on it!

Feelin' productive

 

I'm feeling pretty good about today. I took my crocheting with me, and I was able to finish this Drapey Cowl while subbing. I actually pulled out my tatting, which is full of mistakes. Still, I had something to do with my hands while supervising students.

Mom had a dentist appointment this afternoon, which really didn't take much time. In fact, there was time enough to start another Drapey Cowl before dinner!

Scrappy

I tried to post last night, but the Internet wouldn't let me... again!

I spent quite a bit of time crocheting yesterday. I really am trying to use up my yarn stash, and these Drapey Cowls have been quite popular with my friends.

My basket of leftover yarn balls was getting pretty full, so I decided to start my scrappy afghan. I crocheted a foundation chain in groups of five, but I'm not sure how many stitches there are. I just wanted an easy way to make sure I didn't skip or ad any stitches, and five is my favorite number. 

Right now, my plan is to do the afghan in half double crochet, but I may throw in a few different patterns just for fun. We'll see how that works out.

There won't be much time for crafting today. I'm subbing this morning, and Mom has a dentist appointment this afternoon. I think I'll try posting again tonight, just to see if the Internet is cooperating!

Tollway Tatters

Tollway Tatters met yesterday via Zoom. Zoom has been wonderful for us, because we now have people join us from all over! I was only able to be part of the group for about 45 minutes yesterday morning, so I'm not sure if others joined in later. While I was on, our group included Bernice and Deana from Canada, Mary from California, Sue Anna in Alaska, Robin in Wisconsin, and me in Illinois. Although I truly miss our meetings at the Hinsdale Oasis, it's fun to meet tatters who live so far away from me.

I worked on "Asymmetry" from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. Now that I'm joining my rings correctly, this pattern is very easy to tat!

I finished my double crochet cowl the other night. This one isn't as big as some of the others I've made, but it still does the job.

I chose a pattern from my Mix & Match afghan book for another cowl. The finished piece doesn't look the same as the photo in the book, because this is crocheted in the round rather than back and forth as I would crochet an afghan. I knew that would be the case, but I wanted to see how the pattern would change. This pattern, "Neat Sweet Ribs",  is all half double crochet and slip stitch. It's very cozy!

Dave and I had lots of errands to run yesterday. We were gone for about six hours, and I was exhausted when we got back home. While we were gone, Mom was busy knitting.

She finished this beautiful scarf for me! Mom has given up her machine knitting and gone back to hand knitting. Can you tell she loves knitting cables?

Deleting files

 

I spent most of my time yesterday and today deleting unnecessary files from my iPad. It's amazing that I've accumulated so much clutter on my iPad in the past year.

I did take a little time to work on a new double crochet cowl. With any luck, I'll finish it tomorrow.

Our Internet connection continues to be sluggish. I guess I should call our provider to see what's going on, but I seem to have better things to do than make a phone call... hahaha!

More cowls

As I had hoped, I finished my Drapey Cowl in Nevada Dusk.

The cowls don't look like much on my footstool, so I decided to take a selfie to show what they look like when worn. They're really cozy!

I had a good size ball of yarn left from another project, so I decided to see how far it would go. I used a combination of single, double, and treble crochet. I think it looks pretty nice!

Fully loaded

 

I gave up on the Internet last night. I don't know what's going on. Does severe cold affect connectivity? I tried to access a variety of web sites, and they would only load partially. This morning, all seems to be good. At least my Blogger page fully loaded!

Yesterday was one of those days that somehow flew by. The only thing I accomplished was to finish my gradient black Drapey Cowl. I'm not attracted to black, so I'm not sure why I purchased this yarn. It's I Love This Yarn! from Hobby Lobby and it was very nice to work with. 

Yes, I've started another Drapey Cowl. The color is Nevada Dusk. I plan on finishing it today, and if the Internet is working, I'll post a picture tonight. 

Today is an e-learning day because of the cold weather. The expected high today is 4° with a wind chill of -25°. So, I have the day off! I have plenty to do around here, so there's no chance of getting bored. 

My main goal today is to stay warm!

Giving up

Sometimes a project just isn't worth finishing, and I found that to be true with the Mix & Match afghan I started several months ago. After spending a couple of days trying to figure out the best way to join the panels, I gave up.

My sister and I tried laying out the panels to figure out an afghan layout. Nothing looked good to me, so I gave up. I'm donating the panels to Goodwill. Someone will enjoy using the panels as scarves, and that's fine with me!

Rather than figure out another afghan pattern to work with, I decided to keep crocheting cowls. I have an idea for using the leftovers from each skein, but I'm not ready to reveal that idea yet!

Sub day

 

I don't sub very often any more, but I was needed today. As a result, I had very little time for crafting. I did manage to finish a dish cloth!

In and out

Our internet has been in and out for the past 36 hours. I hope it stays on long enough for this post!

I finished Jennifer's cowl yesterday morning and gave it to her at school yesterday.

I finished Stephanie's cowl this morning and gave it to her today. Oops! I forgot to take a picture of the finished cowl!

It's still too cold for me to tat. Stiff fingers work better with yarn. So, I pulled out my Mix & Match crochet blanket. This pane is all treble crochet, so it will be finished fairly quickly.

Well, so far this post has taken 20 minutes. Let's hope it uploads quickly!

A bit too chilly

We had a high of 18° today, and normally the cold weather doesn't both me. Today, however, I could not get my hands to warm up. That meant that my fingers would not cooperate with my thread and shuttle. Still, I did manage to tat a little.

Since my hands weren't cooperating, I decided to try crochet. It was slow going, but I did manage to finish the cowl I started the other day.

Since the crocheting was going so well, I decided to start another. It's been fun giving these away, especially since it's been pretty cold here!

 

 

False start

I started a new bookmark today, but something was wrong and I couldn't figure it out. So, I snipped the threads and took a break.

It wound up being a very long break, because I decided to decorate another tree. This one took about six and a half hours to make. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

When I returned to the bookmark pattern, I realized that I was joining in a place I didn't need to join. Now I can move on! The pattern? "Asymmetry" from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. The shuttle is from Grizzly Mountain Arts. I love tatting with beautiful shuttles!

A craft day

 

Today I felt like making a Christmas button tree, so that's how I spent my morning. I love the way it turned out!

This afternoon I felt like finishing up projects. So, my Drapey Cowl (pattern from Yarnspirations) in "Dakota" I Love This Yarn! from Hobby Lobby was first on my list. I highly recommend this pattern. It is so easy!

Next up was finishing my Curds & Whey bookmark from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konnor. I love this pattern, because the only thing I need to carry is my shuttle and the work in progress.

I wonder what I'll be inspired to work on next?

Cowl day

 

I was determined to finish my cowl this morning, and I did with 10 minutes to spare before leaving for school. I gave it to a teacher who has been fighting a nasty cold this week, and she loved it. However, I forgot to take a picture of the finished cowl. I didn't realize it until I returned home and saw the little bit of leftover yarn. Oh, well!

I took a new skein of yarn to school with me and started right away with a new cowl. This one is going to be for our art teacher. I was enjoying working with this color way so much that I worked on it until dinnertime. I think I might just relax this evening.

Progress

 

Once again, I didn't have much time for crafting. However, I did make progress with my Curds & Whey bookmark... just two and a half pattern repeats to go!

Slow craft day

Today turned out to be incredibly busy, but I couldn't begin to tell you how!

I did manage to start a Curds & Whey bookmark. I didn't get much done, but every little bit counts!

It's Joanne's fault!

I really don't feel like I accomplished much today, and it's all Joanne's fault!

 

She asked her sisters and me if we wanted to read Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros together. This is the first book in the trilogy, and the third book will be out this month. I'm not a huge fantasy fan, and I could do without the foul language. Other than that, the story line has really caught my interest. 

I did do other things today besides read. One of our p.e. teachers gave me a sampler pack (4 mini loaves) of his wife's sourdough bread. We had them at Christmas, and they were delicious. I had told him about my cheddar cheese and black pepper bread, which is wonderful for a grilled cheese sandwich. He asked for a loaf, and I took it in to him today.

I finished "Fern" from Robin Perfetti's Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks. I think I could have done one more pattern repeat, but I'm very bad about judging how long to make something. 

That was it for crafting today. Dave took down the Christmas tree in the sun room. I took down the ornaments from the living room tree. When I was finished, Dave put away the tree and the nutcrackers. There are two small trees upstairs, the decorations on top of the entertainment center, and the garland going up the bannister. I imagine Dave will put those away over the next couple of days.

There are still lots of decorations and lights outside. I think they will stay up until the weather gets a little warmer. 

It's beginning to look a lot less like Christmas around here!

Patience

 

All it took was a bit of patience. This morning, I finally managed to open up the ring that I joined in the wrong place weeks ago. It's time to make tatting part of my daily routine again!

After spending time with my tatting, Dave and I put away lots of Christmas decorations. We still have quite a bit to do, but soon our house will be back to normal.

Part of my morning routine this past week has been to crank out three gnomes. I then assemble them in the evening while Dave and I watch television. I've lost count of how many I've made since Christmas, but the numbers don't really matter to me. I'm just having fun!

I'm also enjoying cranking out ornament covers. I've been looking at ideas for embellishment online. I haven't seen anything that inspires me yet. I guess I'll just have to keep looking!