Movin' stuff

Yes, I moved stuff today. I carried pieces of wood down to the basement for Dave. He didn't ask me to. I just figured it was a good way to get in some exercise. He was surprised when he arrived home!

I moved books, cookbooks to be exact. I kept half of my cookbooks, the ones that I love to browse through, and I gave the rest to a college student I've known since she was in kindergarten. It felt good to give a new home to beautiful books that I no longer use.

I was up early today, so I started an Ice Drop and tatted until Dave left for work. Once he left, I got to work moving wood. I managed to finish moving all the wood before breakfast, so I allowed myself some more tatting time after breakfast. As you can see, I chose another Doodle Ice Drop in Lizbeth Blue Ice. The shuttle is by Banyek.

The day passed quickly with odds and ends chores around the house. Since I was able to tat so much in the morning, I was able to finish this Ice Drop while dinner was cooking. All in all, it was a great day!

Wednesday?

I just looked at my phone, and I couldn't believe it's Wednesday already! Where does the time go?

I've been busy cutting fabric for face masks. My production isn't great, but if I'm helping even a little, I glad to do my part.

We had a pink moon last night. I've never heard of a pink moon before. It was still too light out for the pink to show well when I took this picture, but by the time it was dark enough clouds had rolled in. I could see a little bit of pink around the edges of the clouds, but I never did see the pink moon in all its glory.

Staying home has caused me to give in to the temptation of online shopping a little more than I normally do. I just couldn't help myself! I guess the only way to avoid buying things is to not go shopping. All of these are from Banyek on Etsy.

I've been playing some more with Lynne Urwin's Lilly's Star. We've been chatting back and forth about different ring configurations. It's really pretty fascinating!

I liked the purple variation so much, I decided to tat it again today. These aren't as quick to tat as my Doodle pattern, but I do love tatting them!

Knitting scrubbies

I've abandoned 365 Knitting Stitches A Year for now, and I've turned to Barbara G Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

Of course the first pattern in the book is Stockinette Stitch. Putting a garter stitch border around it really frames the stitches nicely.

In the paragraph describing the Stockinette Stitch is a description for Crossed Stockinette, a stitch I had not tried before. I like the way it looks.

Another variation is the Twisted Stockinette. It's amazing what can be learned by actually reading a book!

Next in the book is Garter Stitch. I love Garter Stitch!

I love it enough to knit it in two different yarns!

Next up is Seed Stitch.

I also love knitting Seed Stitch!

Moss Stitch is a slightly different texture that uses a four row repeat rather than the two row repeat of Seed Stitch. I think I might make some dishcloths with this pattern. The nubbiness would be great for cleaning dishes!

The best part of this experiment is that my grandchildren love the scrubbier and would like me to make some for them. They will have homes!

Don't worry. I'm not giving up on Ice Drops. I don't do much knitting once the weather turns warm, so I'm enjoying it while I can. Today's Doodle Ice Drop is in size 20 Lizbeth #696, Autumn Orange Med. The shuttle is from Banyek on Etsy.

I wore my Sanditon shawl to school today, and several girls admired it and asked me about it. Call me crazy, but I'm thinking of knitting another!

It's good to be back home!

We had a wonderful visit with daughters Andrea and Joanne and their families, but I'm happy to be home! I wish we all lived closer to each other, but I'm glad that my daughters are independent enough to live where they're happy!

I can usually get a lot of tatting done in the care, but not this trip. I fell asleep too often! I did finish this Spinning Wheel glass mat in size 20 Lizbeth #646, Purple Iris Lt. The shuttles are two of my newer ones from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

Andrea surprised with a gift card to Hobby Lobby, my favorite store!. Daughter Joanne looked for a shuttle maker on Etsy and found Banyek.

She had no idea I collect his shuttles! I guess my daughters are enablers! ;-)

I took a four day break from tatting Ice Drops. I had plenty to carry with me since we had Christmas gifts for all the kids.

After we unpacked and put everything away, I got right back in to Ice Drop mode! I'm feeling very festive this year, so the Christmas decorations may stay up just a little bit longer!

Winding down...

Well, at least at school. I can't believe we only have three weeks left! This week is filled with straightening shelves and reminding kids to bring their books back. Next week inventory will begin in earnest, my 31st and final inventory. I can hardly believe it!

I did take time to tat this morning. I'm enjoying using this Manuela thread. When I'm finished, I'll show this red compared to the other red I used.

Two new shuttles arrived in the mail today from Hungary. I'm a sucker for plaid and paisley! If you like these two, I saw that Banyek still has them available on Etsy.

I took my mermaid tail afghan to school today to show the kids. They loved it! Now I hope they show up the play and convince their parents to buy raffle tickets! ;-)

Last night I started the medium sized mermaid tail afghan. This one is in blues and greens. I think I'm really going to like this one!

In search of a large bobbin shuttle

Earlier in August, Frivole posted about her interest in finding a larger bobbin style shuttle. Although bobbin shuttles are not my favorite, I felt the need to find one! I contacted several bobbin shuttle makers, and will post my findings as they're available. If you make bobbin style shuttles and I didn't contact you, please don't be offended. I'm not sure I can remember who I contacted!

The first shuttles have arrived! They're from Laszlo in Budapest, Hungary. He actually contacted me on the Facebook Tatting Shuttle Addicts page when he read of my search. If you're interested in his shuttles, you can find him on Etsy (Banyek) or Facebook (Coin Smal).

As you can see, this shuttle is just about 3" long.

It's about 1" thick.

The screw holes are recessed and very smooth.

The bobbin itself seems huge!

The bobbin is about 1" wide.

It's about 1/4" thick.

It holds 12 yards of size 10 Aunt Lydia's.

It's ready to go!

Just in case there's a run on these shuttles, I ordered three! Laszlo included this nifty little screwdriver. Can you guess what my new quest is?

I'm making progress on my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece. I think I will finish round 12 this week!

Success!

I completed round 9 and marked where I need to join round 10... perfect! Now I can proceed with confidence.

I just can't help myself when it comes to tatting supplies, crochet hooks, knitting needles, yarn, fabric. I guess I'm hopeless! The wood shuttles are from Banyek. I love the size, weight, and design of these shuttles.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I love Clover shuttles, so I decided to try their crochet hooks as well. I ordered them from handicraftjp. I've ordered from this Etsy shop before, and I'm amazed at how quickly my orders have arrived!

I worked some more on Eva's scarf. I'm really enjoying the pattern, and it's working up very quickly. I hope to finish it by the weekend. Although I prefer the look of finer yarns, I enjoy the speed with which I can finish super bulky projects!

Tatting with Myra Piper

One of my favorite little tatting books is Tatting by Myra Piper. The directions are not written the way I like, and there are no diagrams, but I find the patterns easy to follow.

This is the first pattern in the book. Myra called it a snowflake, which I have difficulty doing. The perfectionist in me is looking for 6 or 12 points, not 9! ;-)

The thread is size 20 Lizbeth, #171 Green Coral Sea. I purchased tins online, and then found them available at Hobby Lobby. I'm trying to organize my tatting life, not very successfully. I used my newest shuttle from Banyek. This one is made of birch root, and I give Fox all the credit for my newest purchase!

Shuttle purchases have been booming! I'm sure there are parents wondering why their children "need" so many shuttles, but I haven't heard any complaints yet.

I'm so pleased that the kids keep practicing and choosing motifs from the treasure tins.

Alicia has taken to blinging shuttles, and I think she does a wonderful job! What's even better, she lends her shuttles to friends who have left their shuttles at home!

I give students a floss bobbin with each shuttle. That way they can have plenty of thread to work with when they get home.

Some of the kids have asked if we can have some after-school time for tatting. I guess I'd better put in a request to use the library so that we can have some more tatting time!