Shamrock love

St. Patrick's Day will be here before we know it, so it's been easy to focus on greens!

This one was finished early this morning, and I'm tempted to keep it for myself!

I had fun playing with fabric again today, making a pin cushion and two more pocket tissue holders.

I finished the Masquerade motif from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.  I do like the way it turned out, but I got to thinking that maybe it's a bit too fiddly for a runner.

Rather than dwell on the motif, I decided to tat another St. Patrick's Day Ice Drop.

It's so much fun choosing charms for the backs of the Ice Drops.

In my search for a motif that's less fiddly for my sister-in-law's runner, I tried this one from Jan Stawasz's Tatted Treasures.

This is another contender for the runner, but I decided to keep searching.

My next test tat was Eightsome Reel from Mary Konior's A Pattern Book of Tatting.

I think I'll do a bit more searching and test tatting, but this might be the motif I choose. It's simple enough to remember (important for tatting multiple motifs), yet it has enough interest that I don't think I'd become bored with it. The best part of this project is looking through my books, one of my favorite pastimes!

Decision time

I finished round 7! The doily is now 17" across, the largest piece I've ever tatted.

Here it is on the dining room table, with lots of glare from the chandelier.

There's a little less glare with the table pad.

Now for the decision... do I stop here or go on? I can't help but wonder how I will manage to block this if I make it through 18 rounds, and then there's the question of where I'll use it. It is pretty as it is, but I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how large this will be. I think I'll go on!

Just a little more

I managed to tat a little before school and a little after school. I'm sure I'll finish this round by the end of the week!

My friend Ashley really liked the crocheted button flowers. I had just a little bit of thread left on a ball, enough for two more button flowers. I think I've found a new way of using up little bits of thread!

Making the most of the day

I think I could get used to four day work weeks. I have so much more time to do the things I love!

I started the day by tatting the next installment of Jane's TIAS. I think I made a mistake on the very first ring, but I'm hoping it will be all right in the end.

I finished the second round of Renulek's current doily tat-along.

One of the teachers at school asked if I could make some crocheted button flowers for her. She wants to make hair clips for her daughter. I think they turned out really cute!

After a little weaving, a little ironing, and cleaning up the kitchen, I took time to work on the Jan Stawasz doily. My goal is to finish this round by the end of the week. I think I'll make it!

Today's cowl is in Bernat Baby Blanket "Pitter Patter." This yarn is so soft. Maybe I'll make one for myself!

What's wrong with this picture?

Do you see the post just a little to the right of center? It's supposed to have a mailbox on it! Luckily, Dave found the mailbox in the ditch and was able to reassemble it. We had about 10" of snow today, and the wind is blowing right now. School has been cancelled for tomorrow, so it looks like I'll have little extra tatting time!

With all the white outside, I decided I needed a splash of color. So, I started another doily, Renulek's latest tat-along. I've decided to tat each round in a different thread, and rather than agonize over thread choice, I'm using one of the new thread collections from Handy Hands. The threads aren't new, just the idea of packaging five balls of coordinating threads in the same box. I can hardly wait to see how this turns out!

I did a little experimenting with wavy patterns on my loom today. I haven't decided if I'll leave the spaces open or do a little tapestry weaving the fill in the spaces.

I did manage to get some more pattern repeats tatted today. I'm sure I could have finished several more if I hadn't had to stop to fill my shuttles!

Good progress

I feel like I made really good progress on the doily today...

especially since I spent time crocheting another "45 Minute Cowl" that took me an hour and a half. ;-)

I also finished a knit scarf that I started over a week ago. This one is a simple k1 p1 ribbing in super bulky yarn. I love it!

Fixing another mistake

I was up early today, so I had some time to tat before school. Maybe that wasn't such a good thing, because when I sat down to tat this evening, I realized that I had tatted the wrong stitch count on the last ring of the previous "tree." I hadn't gotten very far when I realized my mistake, so I retro- tatted.

Now it's fixed, and I can move on!

My fascination with the 45 Minute Cowl pattern from Lion Brand Yarn continues. I still can't finish one in 45 minutes, but I do enjoy making them! This one is in Lion Brand Amazing "Violets."

This one is in Amazing "Mauna Loa." I guess I'm not the only one fascinated with both the pattern and the yarn. I sold two of them today!

Only one

Today wound up being very busy, so I only managed one more pattern repeat. That's okay... the weekend is coming!

14!

This is a terrible picture, but I was too lazy to clear off a pretty table to show my progress. I only managed three more pattern repeats today, but that's better than a poke in the eye with a stick!

A few more repeats

I could have had a lot more tatted, but I forgot that pesky section of chain again! This time I chose to retro-tat the five rings and corresponding chains. Of course that took a little while, but I didn't feel like snipping and rejoining thread this time. Maybe I'll pay more attention for the rest of the round!

Back to where I was

I'm finally back to the point where I was when Carollyn saw my mistake, and I'm feeling pretty good about how this round is going. I have a feeling it's going to take a while, but I don't mind. I really like this round!

I forgot to post my progress on Jane's TIAS yesterday. At this point, I think it looks like needle nose pliers!

Thankful for tatting friends

So, it turns out that my mistake wasn't fixed. Carollyn emailed me to let me know that I had made a mistake...

I skipped every other ring, and I was only supposed to skip the ring under the single ring in this round.

Thank goodness my scissors are sharp! Fox warned me that there would be lots of snipping.

Thanks for catching my mistake, Carollyn! Now I'm back on track, but I think I'll call it quits for tonight. My brain is getting tired from all this rethinking!

I took some time off from tatting this afternoon to crochet the "45 Minute Cowl" from Lion Brand Yarns.

Even though I made two of them, I could not make one in 45 minutes. It took me just over an hour for each one. The yarn is "Amazing" from Lion Brand.

With all the tatting and crocheting I did today, my wrist is worn out. So, I think I'll just turn on the t.v. and fall asleep in my chair.

Fixed

I didn't tat much today, but I did manage to fix yesterday's mistake. That makes me very happy!

I also finished the brown scarf that's been on the loom for over a week. I like the way it turned out, but I can't say that I enjoy weaving with super bulky yarn. It was an experiment, and now I know how  the super bulky looks when woven.

So, how did I spend my day? Catching up... grocery shopping, reorganizing kitchen cabinets, laundry... all the little mundane things that must be done. It's funny, though... I found it very relaxing!

My first mistake...

...of round 7!

The first pattern repeat went just fine, so I confidently started the second pattern repeat. To my dismay, I realized that I forgot a picot and 5 ds, so there was nothing to join to. I'm not very far along, so guess what? It will be snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, start over. I sure am glad this happened at the beginning of the round!

Although my Internet connection was very slow this morning, I did manage to finish Day 7 of Jane's TIAS. I have absolutely no idea what this could be!

14 inches!

That's how big the Monster Doily is after only six rounds. I can't believe there are 17 rounds to this doily. I think I'm going to have to clean the dining room table off so that I can keep taking pictures!

3 more repeats

That's all I have left of this round! It will take me about an hour and a half, and although it's still early, I think I'm done for tonight. I'll see what I can accomplish tomorrow.

Before school, I managed to get the next part of Jane's TIAS done. I'm glad that each day presents just a little of the design. It makes it very easy for me to keep up!

Chuggin' along

I'm always amazed at how much I can accomplish when I do a little bit here and a little bit there. I was really surprised when I set this on the table and saw that I've passed the halfway point. This round is going very quickly!

Starting Round 6

Honestly, I wonder how I manage to accomplish anything fun during a full work week. Since there was no school today, I took care of some long-neglected chores, including finally getting my shingles vaccine. It was expensive... no, insurance did not cover it... but if it lessens the chance of me ever getting shingles again, it's well worth the cost!

I did find time to begin round 6 today. I did check to see how long it took me to tat the rings and chains between motifs... a little over 30 minutes. I'm 1/3 of the way around!

Another round done!

I don't have much to say about round 5. It was really fairly simple, and now it's done. I'm feeling very accomplished!