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!

Blue Ice

Lizbeth Blue Ice is one of my favorite colors! I think it looks extra nice with this frosted glass gem.

I used it to tat another Coronavirus Button Cross, this time using a two hole button. I'm happy to say that the two hole button works well with the pattern.

If you're on Facebook, join the Christmas in Tatting page to access this free pattern by Laura Blanton. If you can't find the page, send me a message, and I'll send you an invitation. Can there be too many tatting groups? I think not!

October Tollway Tatters

We had a beautiful day for our Tollway Tatters meeting!

Sue Anna and Marilee are always a cheerful presence!

Sue Anna was working on one of Marilee's patterns. I think the thread color is Blue River Glades.

You may have seen Marilee's post on her blog or on Facebook about the grape earrings she's tatting from an Italian magazine. Marilee's pictures are wonderful, but seeing her beautiful tatting in person shows how talented she really is.

Marilee brought along her milkweed pods for us to see. They are incredible! The pattern is available in her Etsy shop.

Barbara brought along her new Japanese tatting book.

She loves Celtic motifs, and found one in the book that she just had to tat!

Nancy was our only needle tatter today.

She's working on an adorable pumpkin pattern. I like the way she has her finished pumpkin stored on the ball of thread!

Victoria Ong was able to join us again today. Victoria is a very talented Turkish oya needle lace designer and teacher. Denise and I took a class with Victoria about a year and a half ago. I've picked it up from time to time, but I wasn't getting anywhere. I was inspired to pick up my needle lace again after watching Victoria work her magic at our last Tollway Tatters meeting. She has a new book out, and she graciously signed my copy!

Victoria made this beautiful flower today with some of Marilee's hand-dyed thread.

Victoria sat next to me and gave me some tips to improve my lace. She also showed me how to identify my mistakes and fix them. The piece on the left is what I worked on this week. I knew it wasn't done correctly, but I couldn't see what I was doing wrong. The two green pieces are what I worked on today. There are mistakes, which is why they aren't finished, but I can see a great improvement already! Thank you, Victoria!

I finished tatting a Curds & Whey bookmark in size 10 Lizbeth Blue Ice today. I also started another in size 10 Lizbeth Wedgewood Blue Dk.

After dinner, I finished my Blue Ice bookmark. I now have eleven completed. I think I might reach my goal of 24 in time for Christmas in the Village!

Oops!

I was watching baseball last night, and I forgot to blog! What can I say? I guess I was distracted. 😁

I received two beautiful shuttles in the mail today. These celebrate Emiko Suenaga's one year anniversary of decorating and selling shuttles. Aren't they pretty?

I spent yesterday morning helping daughter Carol with costume selection for the middle school production of James and the Giant Peach. Most of the kids came in to school to show what they had from home, and then they looked for other items they needed from the Drama Club costume stash. It was a lot of fun watching them go through costumes!

I honestly don't know what happened to the rest of the day. Could running to the grocery store, putting together a meat pie, and talking to Mom really have taken the whole afternoon? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun!

Anyway, the baseball game started about 4:30, and I managed to tat one Ice Drop during the game. The Cubs lost, but it was still a good game.

I love the soft colors of this Ice Drop in size 20 Lizbeth Blue Ice. I think I might just have to keep it for myself!

Delima

I love Blue Ice! I think it's a fabulous color for snowflakes. The touch of blue looks wonderful to me... a touch of chill!

The pattern is Delima from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. 

Nilam

Well, I never did get around to putting all my toys away today, but I did manage to finish Nilam from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. The thread is size 20 Lizbeth, #163, Blue Ice. This is one of my favorite colors of Lizbeth. It's so smooth, and I love tatting with it!

I did manage to finish one other thing today, a book my grandson lent to me at the beginning of the summer. Aidan loves dragons, and his dad bought him the Wings of Fire series. I am not into dragons, but the first book, The Dragonet Prophecy, is very well written. It was so good, I started the second book, The Lost Heir. I think I'll do a little more reading before heading off to bed.

Good night, all!

Special request

My friend Kristine requested this snowflake in red. Isn't it pretty? I used size 20 Lizbeth, Victorian Red #670. I hope you like it, Kris!

I tweaked my snowflake pattern from the other day, using longer chains and smaller rings. The center rings are 4 - 4 + 4 - 4. The chains are 8 - 4. The outside rings are 4 - 2 - 2 - 4. I think I like this version much better!

Miranda's "Tat This!" Challenge ~ Complete!

I finished! I'm so excited! I really like the way this doily turned out. I think I may try it again with some different stitch counts. I did make a few mistakes, but they were ones that weren't obvious until I went to tat the next round, and I wasn't about to snip or retro-tat for minor errors in stitch counts.

Here's my finished piece in size 20 Lizbeth, color #163, Blue Ice. It measures 6" across.

This is the picture Miranda posted, the only "pattern" available. I chose to tat 10 rings in the center instead of 8. I think I may try 8 the next time. Now I'm waiting for the fabric to arrive so that I can make a matching Origami pouch!

Thanks for the "Tat This!" Challenge, Miranda! I really enjoyed this project!

Note: I just read on Miranda's blog that this doily is actually the first three rounds of Mom's Doily by Nancy Tracy. Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your wonderful designs! I hope I've represented your pattern in a way that pleases you.

Miranda's Challenge, round 2

I just finished round two of Miranda's Challenge, and I am thoroughly enjoying myself! If I tat this doily again, I think I'll play around with the stitch count. I did have to steam this round to get it to lie flat, but it wasn't too bad.

I love this thread! It's size 20 Lizbeth, color #163, Blue Ice. It is so smooth! I really do think the different color dyes make a difference in the feel of the thread.

Dave did take me to JoAnn's to look for the fabric yesterday. Unfortunately, they did not stock it. However, this morning when I checked my email, I had a coupon for $2.95 shipping. You guessed it... I ordered the fabric online, along with a few others that were calling my name! I might have to make some more Origami pouches. ; )

Note: I just read on Miranda's blog that this doily is actually the first three rounds of Mom's Doily by Nancy Tracy. Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your wonderful designs! I hope I've represented your pattern in a way that pleases you.

Miranda's Challenge, round 1

Miranda found some fabric at JoAnn's that looks like tatted doilies! She took some close-ups and challenged readers to tat the design. So...

I put the picture on my desktop and started tatting!

I really think the center of the doily is supposed to have 8 rings, but I like the number 5 and I wanted the doily to lie flat without a lot of pulling and pinning and steaming, so I tatted 10 rings. :-)

I'm using size 20 Lizbeth, color #163, Blue Ice. Dave and I are going to Kankakee later this afternoon. He wants to go to Menards for wood. Maybe I can talk him into taking me to JoAnn's for fabric!

Note: I just read on Miranda's blog that this doily is actually the first three rounds of Mom's Doily by Nancy Tracy. Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your wonderful designs! I hope I've represented your pattern in a way that pleases you.