Hot spell

We're having a bit of a hot spell here in Illinois, and I don't deal well with heat. Still, I managed to tat an Ice Drop today.

I also managed to finish up four more Origami pouches that I found when I was cleaning up my sewing room.

I spent a lot of time looking at all sorts of things dealing with honey bees: fabric, cross stitch patterns, jewelry, honey, bees wax. I really didn't have a reason for looking at these things. It just seemed like a natural choice for a hot and lazy day!

And then there were nine

Yes, I now have nine Mardi Gras Doodle Ice Drops for Mom! I'll try to get them in the mail tomorrow.

We dealt with high winds today, and although I never felt the wind in the house, I feel very tired from listening to it all day. I made progress on my "Wortham" scarf from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro. There's something very comforting about yarn on a blustery day!

Mellow yellow

My goal yesterday was to finish knitting the yellow section of the Mandala yarn I'm using before moving on to something else. While I don't really consider these shades of yellow to be mellow, the song by "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan kept going through my head as I was knitting. There was more yellow on the ball than I thought, so I didn't finish the yellow portion until this morning. The scarf pattern is "Wortham" from Sequence Knitting by Cecelia Campochiaro.

A few days ago, my lovely new Valentine shuttles arrived from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. Rita has announced that she is no longer taking custom orders. However, she will still be listing shuttles in her shop as she makes them. After seeing all the beautiful guild shuttles Rita has created in the past year, I can understand why she needs to take a break from custom orders. I imagine it's great fun designing new shuttles, but a little tiresome to be making multiples of the same design.

I'm still busy making Mardi Gras Ice Drops for Mom.

I plan on mailing them off to her on Monday. I hope I have time to tat some more by then!

Silver gem

Still working with Boysenberry Dk, today I chose a silver glass gem. I think it looks white with slightly gray undertones. The thread really changes the look of the glass gem.

My Reyna shawl is finished, except for blocking. You can find this free pattern from Noora Backlund on Ravelry. The yarn is Malabrigo, which is wonderful. I would definitely buy it again. The pattern was easy to follow, and now that I've rebuilt my knitting confidence, I'm ready to start another knitting project!

A touch of red

I'm having fun putting glass gem colors with Boysenberry Dk. Today I thought I'd try red, and I like it!

My Reyna shawl (free pattern by Noora Backlund on Ravelry) is coming along nicely. I'm learning to find and fix my mistakes. Today I successfully fixed a dropped stitch and a missed yarn over without unknitting. I'm very proud of myself!

More Mardi Gras

I was called in as a last minute sub today. Luckily, I had my tatting bag packed and ready for Ice Drops. I really only had time to tat one during the school day. The other two were tatted once I got home.

The gold colored glass gems I used really picked up the purple thread, giving them a rosy look rather than gold.

Luckily, I found my matte gold glass gems when I got home. I wish you could see all of them in person. They're really much prettier than the pictures.

My ball of Boysenberry Dk is getting smaller, but I still have quite a bit left. I guess I'll have to explore more color combinations!

Grandparents' Day

Granddaughter Ella invited us to Grandparents' Day at school. How could we resist? We headed out early Thursday, but by the time we got to Cindy's house, Dave wasn't feeling well. He turned around and went home, and Cindy and I drove to Minnesota. Luckily, we get along really well!

We visited with daughter Joanne before heading to daughter Andrea's house.

Little ones just seem to have a way of making everyone feel loved!

I decided that daughter Alison's afghan would be my road trip project. I didn't finish as much as I thought I would. Cindy and I had too much fun talking!

I did take tatting with me, but I never got around to it. So, today I whipped up another Doodle Ice Drop. My tree is looking full, so I may start decorating another.

My Reyna shawl (free Ravelry pattern by Noora Backlund) is coming along nicely. I've now completed 104 rows, and I still have the correct number of stitches!

Daughter Andrea has been redecorating her living room. She saw two pieces of art work that she really liked, but they were $200 each. After doing a little research, she learned how to do her own. This is her progress so far. She still needs to distress it, and then husband Jake will frame them for her. I can hardly wait to see how they look in the living room!

Well, bad photographer that I am, I forgot to take pictures of Ella and Lily! Luckily, Andrea remembered to take a picture of us before we left. Yes, it's official. I now have three grandchildren who are taller than me!

A little bit of tatting

I managed a little bit of tatting today. First, I finished round 5 of Jon Yusoff's tat-along. For this round I used Lizbeth 624, Raspberry Pink Med. Have you guess that I'm using a Lizbeth thread pack? It's the easy way to have multiple colors in a project that go well together!

I'm still working with Lizbeth Boysenberry Dk for Ice Drops. I tatted today's Doodle Ice Drop with a shuttle from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I love this little logo shuttle!

Commemorative shuttles

You may have guessed that I love collecting shuttles! I especially like commemorative shuttles, because I hope that at some time in the future there may be a tatter somewhere who gets excited about finding one of my little beauties and cherishing it as I do.

This morning I decided to join Jon Yusoff's tat-along, which is posted on Facebook.

Round 1 is in size 40 Lizbeth #618, Magenta Dk.

For round 2, I used Lizbeth #683, Leaf Green Lt.

It's been a while since I've tatted with size 40 thread, and I'm really enjoying it.

I really like the way the Boysenberry Dk looks with the crackled glass gem. This is the basic Ice Drop with three picots instead of one. The shuttle is another beauty from Veronica of TattingShuttles on Etsy.

I found my box of shawl pins this mornings, so I decided to wear my new Garter Lace Triangle Shawl to school today. I couldn't believe the number of compliments I received!

Daughter Carol took the pictures for me after school. Maybe I'll knit some more shawls!

Crochet day

I spent a little bit of time going through craft supplies today, but I spent most of my free time working on Alison's waffle stitch afghan. Today I finished the second ball of yarn... only six more to go!

My day wouldn't be complete without an Ice Drop, so I opened up a package of Lizbeth Boysenberry Dk and tatted the basic pattern. The basic pattern still makes me happy!

Berries and Chocolate!

I really like this Boysenberry Dk thread. My only problem is, I have a strong craving for boysenberry pie! This doodad snowflake took me two evenings to complete. I really like the way it turned out, but I have some ideas for making it just a little better. If my ideas work, I'll post the pattern. If not, I'll keep on trying!

For inquiring minds... the thread is size 20 Lizbeth, Boysenberry Dk #644. The doodad is from Hobby Lobby, and the hook is from www.wirestormcreations.com.

We celebrated December birthdays at school yesterday, and one of the second grade teachers brought in a Whitman's Sampler tin. I asked her where she found it so that I could purchase one. At the end of the day, Aimee put the tin on my checkout counter in the library, with a few chocolates left in it! Thank you, Aimee!

I'm already starting to fill it with snowflakes and ornaments for next year!

Dear Jane...

I couldn't wait until the weekend to try and figure out a solution for tatting the Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal using a larger doodad, so here's my initial attempt...

Don't look too closely. It's really not very good. I only changed the inner rings: 7 - 5 + 5 - 7. You can see that some of the rings are really stretched. The chains are really stretched too. I managed to get it to lie fairly flat by using a little steam. I've tried some other stitch counts, but have quickly snipped off the ring and started over.

I think I may take this with me to Tollway Tatters on Saturday. Maybe we can figure something out together. When I/we figure something out, I'll be sure to post the solution!

Because people have been asking...

thread ~ size 20 Lizbeth, Boysenberry Dk #644
doodad ~ from Hobby Lobby (thanks Sue and Carol!)
S hook ~ www.wirestormcreations.com 

'tis the season to be jolly!

...and boy, do I feel jolly! Look what arrived in the mail yesterday...

two new Pop-A-Bobbin shuttles, and one of Jane's wonderful button brooches... in blue! I can hardly wait for school Monday, when I will wear my new brooch. Thank you, Jane!

I finished my snowflake for the day, Kira's Star by Birgit Phelps, beaded this time. I decided that I needed to use one of my Christmas Origami pouches with matching shuttles for this project. There's nothing like combining tatting and suitably decorated holiday tools!

Doesn't it look pretty on the tree? It won't be staying there long. This one is a gift. I may have to make another beaded one for me. Blue maybe?

Speaking of blue, Fox the Enabler forced me to go thread shopping today. She just had to post about a pretty new blue thread she found. I admit, I am drawn to shiny, glittery objects, especially blue ones. After seeing Fox's new thread, I just had to have some beautiful new playthings. I'm not sure how these threads will work, but I'm willing to give them a try. Wouldn't they make pretty snowflakes?

Snow Crystal

I had an idea for a snowflake...

but I'm not very good at envisioning my ideas, and I'm terrible at math! So, instead of a snowflake, I created a snow crystal.

I read Snowflake Bentley to my students every year, and we spend time looking at snowflakes and snow crystals online. Luckily, I remembered that there are images of triangular snow crystals!

What do you think, Allison? Can I count this as a snowflake for the challenge?

December 6th Snowflake

So far, so good! I'm keeping up with Allison's Snowflake Challenge!

Can you tell that I really like the first round of Kira's Star by Birgit Phelps? I'm thinking of trying it with beads. I know... very daring!

I really like this Boysenberry Dk. Berries and Christmas trees seem like a natural pairing to me!

Doodad Snowflake #3 ~ Boysenberry Dk

Here's my snowflake for the day! I do like my little doodad snowflake patterns... they're quick, easy, and achievable... important for this time of year!

The shuttles are two of the first ones I blinged. I love the jewel tones, but my decoupage technique was not as finely tuned as it is now. Still, I do like my shuttles!