Mom noticed

When I was talking with Mom this morning, she told me that she noticed I hadn't blogged since last Thursday. My goal was to blog this morning by 9. Oops! I'm about an hour late!

Daughter Alison started moving in to her new home this past weekend, so Friday after school Dave and I loaded up the van with things that have been stored at our house the past couple of years.

Saturday, we left bright and early to help with cleaning, painting, and setting up the kitchen. It was a long, tiring day, but we all felt a feeling of accomplishment by the time we finished. This weekend will be the big move... great excitement for Alison and the kids!

One of the hens laid an enormous egg on Friday!

I fried it up for Dave's breakfast on Sunday. The two yolks at the bottom came from that extra large egg. Dave and I were very impressed!

Dave's been busy harvesting butternut squash. Right after I took this picture, he pulled up with another wagon full of squash.

He said there was more in the field. It looks like we have enough to feed the whole village! I made butternut squash soup for dinner last night. One medium squash makes enough soup for two meals for us. I guess we could live on squash, potatoes, and onions this winter. It sounds a bit boring, but maybe I'll find some more tempting recipes.

I did some more experimenting with bottle caps. The bottle cap on the left is a used one, and the one on the right is a purchased, unused, unlined bottle cap. I wanted to see what would happen if I did not use pliers to pull out the sides as recommended in the YouTube video I watched. As you can see, the sides folded under and the top became a huge dimple.

Here's a view of the back side. I'm sure this could be used for something, but this is not the look I'm going for, so it will be trashed. As you can see, it ends up being much smaller than the other bottle cap, even though they started out as the same size.

I'll also have to remove the seal from the used bottle caps if I want to decorate them. I think it's much simpler to purchase unused bottle caps without the seals!

Since this bottle cap is decorated on both sides, there was no need to add a cabochon or any other decoration. It's very light weight, and I do like the look!

The pattern is my Silver Crowns, designed for Liz Metallic. I used size 20 Liz Metallic #324, Christmas Red. When working with metallic threads, I prefer using a bobbin shuttle. I do love my pretty shuttles from La Cossette!

Liz Metallic Violet

I had a lot that I wanted to accomplish today, so I set little goals for myself. As a result, I accomplished a lot!

First, I wanted to experiment with another color of Liz Metallic.

I love this color! Violet is a beautiful, deep purple. I wish the color and sparkle showed up well on the screen. My tatting was a little off today, so I noticed some uneven stitches as I was adding the ribbon. That's totally my fault, not the fault of the thread.

I used my newest shuttle from La Cossette. I love the bright colors! I've read that other tatters prefer to use a bobbin shuttle when working with metallic threads, so I decided I should give it a try. I can see where winding and unwinding the thread could damage these threads. I'm happy to report that this shuttle was a perfect fit for working with Liz Metallic.

Talking to my daughters, my mom, and a few close friends is part of my daily routine. I don't talk to all of them every day, but I do spend enough time on the phone that it would be easy for me to feel guilty about wasted time. So, I worked on my granny square afghan while chatting. It's an easy way to make progress!

I'm starting to feel like I'm falling behind on Renulek's Wiosna 2018, so I spent a good hour and a half with it today. Just think, I could have been finished with round 9 if I hadn't snipped of round 8. It's okay, though. I'm much happier with the way the round is fitting the second time around.

I made a meat pie for dinner, and while it was baking, I worked on my Park Avenue afghan. I feel like this one's working up quickly!

In addition to all of this, I went to a retiree's lunch today. It's great to get together with people I worked with for so many years. After that, daughter Carol and I went grocery shopping, and then I headed home. I think I may fall asleep in my chair tonight!

Rainy Monday

What do you do on a rainy Monday? I caught up on household chores, did some grocery shopping, canned some beets, and even managed a little tatting!

My baggie of butterflies is growing, and I've barely touched the odds and ends of thread I have left on shuttles. It will be interesting to see how many I manage to tat!

Yes, I started another Spinning Wheel glass mat. This one is in Perfect Quilter Denim. Did you notice the personalized shuttle? It's one of my favorites from La Cossette!

Emptying shuttles

With all the Spinning Wheels I've been tatting lately, I have a lot of shuttles with bits of thread left on them. I've been reading about others "spring cleaning" so that they could reload their shuttles, and I decided to join in the fun!

It's nice to have a little baggie of butterflies in my purse to give away. Since I have several appointments coming up that will most likely involve some time sitting in waiting rooms, it's a great time to stock up on bits of tatting.

Since some new shuttles arrived in the mail this week, I guess I really didn't have to use up bits of thread. Isn't this a beauty? It's a Celtic shuttle from Grizzly Mountain Arts. I love Dave Stanbrough's shuttles and needlework tools. I just happened to get lucky and see this one before anyone else did!

A day or two later, Dave listed another Celtic shuttle. I wanted it so badly, but I decided to wait a half hour to give someone else a chance at purchasing it, and it sold in less than half an hour. I'm not surprised!

I also purchased another Handi-Wind Shuttle. I really like these with size 80 thread. That little screw-in handle really helps.

Look at my new La Cossette shuttle! I love blue, and I love paisley, making this the perfect shuttle for me!

Snowflakes and shuttles

A while back I posted that I had an idea of something I wanted to do. That idea is to post pictures of my shuttle collection, using the shuttles with snowflake patterns. I have no clue how long this will take me or how regular I will be with my posts, but I'm starting today!

I was chosen as a lucky test tatter for Frivole's 2015 snowflake. Isn't it pretty? I should have used the blocking template that comes with the pattern, but I was so excited to finish it, I didn't take the time. Luckily, I can re-block it! The blue shuttle is a Clover that I decorated a few years ago. I think this may be one that I used in a shuttle give-away, but I'm not sure. The reindeer is one of my La Cossette shuttles, which I am really enjoying using!

Early this morning I finished round three of the Heart Doily from Land of Laces. I'm finding the pattern very easy to follow!

Today my goal was to finish my pink scarf. I had fringed one end last week, but I just didn't feel like fringing until today. Since I was on a roll, I decided to finish the scarf that I had on the loom. Dave really likes the pink scarf, but the beige one is much softer!

Joanne sent me this picture of the twins today. Look how strong Karolina is! Joanne said that Jan can lift his head well also, he just wasn't cooperating for a picture! In this picture, Karolina looks just like her Auntie Carol at the same age... lucky girl!

Sneak peek...

I started test tatting a pattern when I got home from school today. Can you guess the theme? The mitten shuttle is a Clover that I decorated a few years ago. The bobbin shuttle is a La Cossette decorated with a Christmas tree on one side and a reindeer on the other. Now can you guess? ;-)

I took my Heart Doily from Land of Laces to school with me today. I still have some third and fourth grade students who are interested in tatting. In fact, they asked me to bring some "crochet hook shuttles" to school for them. I did, and they are very excited! Of course I spent some of my lunch time tatting. Between that and my demonstrations for the kids, I managed to get about half way round the doily today.

Round 16 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece is off to a good start. I'm 1/10 of the way around!

Round 15... in the books!

That's right, ladies and gents... round 15 is finished! Round 16 looks super simple, so we'll see how quickly I can crank that one out. There are 18 rounds in the Jan Stawasz Masterpiece, so I really am feeling that the end is in sight! I'm really starting to get the hang of my bobbin shuttle from La Cossette. I don't know what my hangup was in the past, but I'm having no problems now.

I spent some time working on my Heart Doily from Land of Laces. The shuttle on the left is mother-of-pearl on wood from Veronica. The beauty really doesn't show up in the picture. The shuttle on the right is one of my Tatting Shuttle Addicts shuttles from NAGStudio. I really like this shuttle. It is so smooth and easy to work with, and I was able to get it engraved with Lace-lovin' Librarian!

One more!

I managed to finish one more pattern repeat today, so I only have one more to go!

My newest La Cossette shuttle arrived in the mail today. Isn't it a beauty?

Back to the bobbin shuttle

One of the advantages of working on a really large project is that I can use a variety of shuttles. I do love my post shuttles, but I'm finding that the more I use my La Cossette shuttles, the more I like them. I think I've finally gotten in to the groove of tatting with a bobbin shuttle!

I've tatted 1/5 of this round... I'm practicing my math skills. ;-)

Catching up

It has been quite a hectic, but fun, couple of weeks. Because of all the activity, I've had little time to tat, let alone blog!

On Tuesday I helped out with play practice. Wednesday I fell asleep in my chair. On Thursday our soup club went out to celebrate Edna's birthday. Friday I fell asleep in my chair. Saturday we attended the wedding of two former students, and Sunday we visited friends. Whew!

The good news is, I finished round 13 of my Jan Stawasz Masterpiece! It looks like it could use a little shot of steam here and there, so I think I'll take care of that before starting the next round.

Three beautiful new shuttles arrived from La Cossette this week! I have fun decorating shuttles, but mine never look as beautiful as these. I love them!

Fox the enabler did it to me again... I just had to order these books from Rosemarie Peel. Fox told me to, and I'm glad she did!

Play practice is on my schedule for tomorrow night, so I probably won't have the chance to get any tatting or blogging tomorrow. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the week pans out!

Palmer's Posy Shuttle

My newest shuttle arrived today, Palmer's Posy from La Cossette. Isn't it pretty? I could hardly wait to try it out. This is a modified Aerlit shuttle, and I was eager to see if the modifications improved the shuttle. In my opinion, they did!

I do have several of the Aerlit shuttles. My only complaint about them is that the bobbins seemed stiff and slightly difficult to move. I'm sure it's possible that some shuttle and bobbin combinations work better than others. That said, I'm happy to report that this shuttle works beautifully!

The motif is "Flower Fragment" from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the motif is actually a pale pink, size 20 Lizbeth #621.

I think I could tat these little Flower Fragments all day long! 

Beads for the Bride

My niece Phoebe is getting married! Phoebe and I share a special relationship. When she was born, Dave and I were among the first to see and hold her. My nephew Eric was born three months to the day after Phoebe. My daughter Carol was born three months later, although she missed the special date by two weeks! Phoebe grew up in Virginia and now lives in Washington D.C., so I've only seen her a handful of times through the years. When Eric asked her to marry him, she called me to share the good news. Phoebe is a bright and beautiful young lady, and I wish the two of them all the best!

I asked Phoebe if she would like a beaded crocheted bag for her wedding, and she replied that she would be thrilled to have one! That warms my heart. When Phoebe was visiting last summer, she told me she was interested in tatting, so she will receive a hanky as well. I started with the beaded bag so that I have plenty of time to consider which hanky edging I want to tat!

I've started on Round V of Doily 6 from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. This is a very easy round, and now that I'm using my new shuttles from La Cossette, I'm sure I'll have plenty of thread to complete the round!

Switching shuttles

I was almost to the end of Round 3 of Doily VI from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz, when I ran out of thread. Rather than wind thread onto the empty shuttle, I decided to load up my new altered Starlit shuttle from La Cossette. It holds an incredible amount of thread, and it is a joy to use!

As you may know, I've been blinging shuttles for a while now. However, none of my shuttles have the smooth finished look and feel of La Cossette's. I would love to take a workshop with her so that I could refine my technique.

What do you think tatting friends? Should we have a shuttle blinging workshop at my house this summer? ;-)

Pattern: Doily VI from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz
Thread: size 20 Lizbeth #168 Latte Foam
Shuttles: altered Starlit from La Cossette and post shuttle from Grizzly Mountain Arts
Size after Round 3: 7 1/2"

Christmas Decoration Ring

I love this little motif! The pattern is by Barbara Pannell, and can be found in Tatting for 2005: 25 Years of the Ring of Tatters. Doesn't it make a darling snowflake?

The thread is size 20 Flora #64. The shuttle is one of my favorites from La Cossette. There's nothing like tatting with a pretty shuttle!

Ending the year on a positive note!

I finished tatting Doodad Snowflake #1 in Snow White last night...

placed it on the tree this morning...

and then started a Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal!

I do like this color, Lizbeth Snow White #601.

I'm thinking of keeping this little tree up for the month of January so that I can fill it with beautiful snowflakes!

We did get a dusting of snow today, but not enough to make me think it's winter in the midwest!

I had to go to the post office to pick up the mail that collected while we were away, and I was thrilled to see what arrived in my absence!

The shuttle on the left is one that I purchased from eBay. The back says Christmas 2012. Can you guess who made the bobbin shuttle? If you guessed La Cossette, you're correct! She also sent me the beautiful blue snowflake... lucky me!

I re-subscribed to Ring of Tatters, something I had neglected to do for a couple of years. I decided to treat myself to three new books.

What's really great is that the patterns in each book are different!

Now that I'm all set with patterns and shuttles, I guess I'm ready for the new year to begin!

Sulky Blendables #4028 ~ Storm Clouds

The name Storm Clouds really suits this thread! I had a hard time keeping going on this one. The color just wasn't interesting to me. Maybe if it had been named dolphin...

The shuttle is one of my newest from La Cossette, and I love it! The name of the shuttle is Grape. Perhaps La Cossette should be the one to name Sulky colors. She always seems to get it right!

This is the last week of school. Today was the last full day with students. Tomorrow is Teacher Institute day, when we wrap up all of our end-of-the-year chores. Thursday is report card day, and then I'll be free to tat to my heart's content! I'm also planning on spending some time with my bobbin lace and quilting this summer. Mom is coming up to visit in June. Other than that, we have no special plans for the summer, and that suits me just fine!