Relaxing

We had a very relaxing day today. Dave worked on some outdoor projects, while Mom and I enjoyed indoor activities. 

Mom and I both worked on our Orenburg warm shawls today. I finished another pattern repeat, and Mom is zipping along with her second border panel. After making mistakes on three rows, I decided it was time to take a break from knitting.

It's been a long time since I've worked with doodads aka jewelry findings, and I decided today was as good a day as any to get to work. I didn't find the ones I was looking for, but I did find these acrylic flower findings that I had completely forgotten about.

After playing with the flower design, I decided to try the acrylic flower as the center for Laura Blanton's Coronavirus Button Cross. It worked pretty well!

Mom and I finished watching the seven seasons of Endeavour that are available and decided to watch Inspector Morse. I had watched the series a long time ago, so long ago that I really can't remember the plot lines. I've been working on my Granny Stripe afghan while watching the show. The pattern is so simple, I can follow the show and not mess up my project. Tonight I was able to crochet four rows while watching an episode. 

Today was far more productive than I could have imagined!

Let it snow! Day 4

Another Doodad Snowflake #1... this time I used the doodad, but replaced the Josephine rings with beads. I think I'm done with this snowflake for a while... time to move on to something more interesting!

Let it snow! Day 3

Here's another version of Doodad Snowflake #1 (see pattern link above). This time I only used on bead for each picot in the center. I think I like this way better.

The arm of my chair is sure a handy place for photographing little snowflakes!

Let it snow! Day 2

For the second day of Margaret's challenge, I chose to replace the Josephine rings and the doodad from Doodad Snowflake #1 with pink beads (see the tab at the top of the page for the pattern). I think the three beads for the Josephine rings are fine, but the three beads for each center picot seems to be a bit much.

I'm not overly fond of pink, but with four granddaughters, I'm pretty sure the pink will be a hit!

Let it snow! Day 1

Margaret asked me to join her in tatting one snowflake a day until Christmas. I do love tatting snowflakes, and I've decided to do some experimenting with the doodad snowflakes I designed last year. If you're interested in my little patterns, check out the tab at the top of the page.

This is Doodad Snowflake #1 in size 20 Lizbeth, Snow White. The pattern can be tatted without the doodad. I found my doodads at Fire Mountain Gems. The S hooks are from Wirestorm Creations.

I spent Friday cleaning up after Thanksgiving, not a big deal since everyone helped clean up after the feast!

Right now the house is in a bit if disarray because we're in the middle of decorating for Christmas. Dave tends to get carried away, especially when he knows the grandchildren will be here for Christmas! I enjoy the decorations once they're up, but I get all tense when I see boxes of decorations spread all over the house. Hopefully, Dave will get it all out of his system today! ;-)

Getting ready!

We've cleaned up from Thanksgiving, and today we are getting ready for Christmas! Dave has been busy washing windows and putting lights on the tree. I'm sure that the people driving by our house at 55 mph will be able to notice that the windows are clean. ;-)

As soon as the tree is in place, I'll start decorating. That's our deal... Dave does the lights. I do the ornaments.

In anticipation of today's activities, I decided to get in the Christmas spirit by tatting a Christmas tree.

This is Ruth Perry's Tatted Christmas Tree 2013, a great little pattern! Ruth has beads at the base of the tree, but I decided to try a doodad because they were sitting right next to me. My next one will have beads just like Ruth's. Oh, yes... there will be more Christmas trees! Thank you, Ruth!

I used size 20 Lizbeth #601, Snow White. I purchased doodads from Fire Mountain Gems, item #H20-8942FX. This is a multi-pack of 500. I know... that's a lot of doodads!The S hooks are from Wirestorm Creations. Some day I'll be brave and try some of the colored S hooks!

What's in your basket of Christmas tatting?

Caribbean Krzyz

Believe it or not, this is my fifth Krzyz! I do enjoy tatting this pattern from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. This time I used size 20 Lizbeth Caribbean #122.

I think it may be time to move on to another pattern. I made a major mistake on this one... I forgot the very first join, and I didn't notice it until I was almost finished with the cross! There was a time when I would have chucked the whole piece because of that missed join, but not this time. Instead, I did a little creative sewing. I figure if sewing picots together was good enough for tatters in the 1800s, it's good enough for me now!

Here are the five crosses together. I like each and every one of them! I think I should really get to work setting up a photography area... the Apple logo does detract from the beauty of the crosses!

Krzyz by Jan Stawasz

Thank you to Alicja for pointing out that I had the wrong word for cross! I guess that's what I get for looking at my enlarged copy instead of the book. I'm so sorry for the mix-up!

I love tatting this pretty little cross from Tatted Treasures! When the Tollway Tatters met on Monday, I borrowed a doodad from one of my buddies to see if it would fit in the center of the cross. It did, so I decided to give it a go.

It didn't take too much extra time to add the doodad. However, since the doodad has a domed shape, this would not make a good bookmark. Wouldn't it be pretty framed?

The thread is size 20 Lizbeth # 168, Latte Foam. I love the soft color variations in this thread, perfect for this cross. The shuttles are gifts from my tatting buddies, Sue Anna and Denise. They totally understand my addiction to shuttles and threads!

Use it up or throw it out!

Well, I couldn't throw out the leftover hand-dyed thread from my latest Spinning Wheel. So, I tatted a doodad ornament and three butterflies. Now I am free to move on to a new project!

...or finish up a work-in-progress. ;-)

Slowly but surely...

I'm managing to get some of this pretty Hen and Chick edging designed by Mary Konior done. It's amazing how delicate size 70 thread is, especially after working with size 20!

I still have a little Raspberry Sorbet left, so I'm working on little projects. I sure like the pink next to this doodad!

Doodle, doodle, doodle

That's all I did today... doodle. Well, not all... I did do the laundry and the grocery shopping, but whenever I had a little free time... doodle, doodle, doodle!

The top piece isn't a doodle. It's Mary Konior's Leaf Braid from Tatting with Visual Patterns. I used size 20 Lizbeth for all of my tatting today. The green is #167, Jungle Greens. The pink on the left is #621, Dusty Rose Lt. The pink on the right is #628, Salmon Med. The doodads in the center are from Hobby Lobby.

Maybe I had a little too much fun today!