Pick up sticks

Not the game, the yard work! Yup, Dave and I spent time picking up sticks in the yard today, that was after a trip to Menards for mulch, a couple of new bushes, cat food, and a couple of fans. This is the weekend to get things done, because Dave's super busy time begins this week and will go until the beginning of June.

All of the shopping and yard work must have been too much of a distraction for me, because my latest Spinning Wheel glass mat has a big blooper!

Can you see it? I forgot the chain section at the beginning of one of the spokes. I don't know how I managed to do that. I have plenty of thread, so I will fix it. I'm not sure I'll do it right now, though. I'm itching to start another color. 

Crocus Spinning Wheel

It was a busy day around here. Daughter Joanne and family were on the road back to Minnesota by 8 a.m. I met daughter Carol for lunch, and then we went to see the KVTA production of Aladdin Jr. I made it home by 4, and managed to finish my Crocus Spinning Wheel glass mat!

I love the way this turned out! The pattern is from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. The thread is size 20 hand-dyed thread from my friend Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. Marilee was the first person I knew of who hand-dyed thread, and I eagerly awaited the release of each new color. Hand-dyed thread has a special feel that I love!

Before heading off to meet daughter Carol, I started crocheting a beaded bag for our new second grade teacher who is getting married in September. I've made this bag many times, and I love giving it as a wedding gift! The pattern is by Jacqueline Young and can be found in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. I hope to have time to finish it before school is out, in addition to working on my weekly Spinning Wheel glass mat and my Concentric Rectangles doily.

There never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything on my list!

Calmer weather

Yesterday was a bizarre weather day. We had segments of time where it was bright and sunny, and then we would see dark, ominous clouds. At times there were gusts of wind mixed with snow that were so strong, we couldn't see the road in front of our house. We also had a couple of rounds of tiny hail. I guess I don't need to tell you that our Internet service was very spotty yesterday!

Luckily, everything is calm this morning. It's 27˚ right now, and we're supposed to reach a high of 64˚. That's spring in Illinois!

Since there wasn't much else to do while the babies were napping, I was able to tat quite a bit. I should be able to finish my Crocus Spinning Wheel glass mat today. Marilee's thread is so cheerful!

Joanne and family will be heading back to Minnesota this morning, so I guess I'd better start tending to my morning chores!

Happy International Tatting Day!

We celebrated at school today! At lunch time I told each group of students that today is International Tatting Day and that we celebrate by tatting in public and eating chocolate. Then I gave each student a Hershey's Kiss. The kids seemed really excited... about the Hershey's Kisses! ;-)

My fourth graders spent time tatting after our library lesson...

...and I managed to get a little bit of tatting done today as well!

My newest Spinning Wheel is in size 20 hand-dyed thread, Crocus, from my dear friend Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. Isn't it gorgeous?