End of the school year

The school year is winding down, and I am always amazed at how much there is to be done as we approach the last day, May 29.

My sister, her daughter-in-law, and granddaughter came down this weekend and we went plant shopping with Mom and daughter Carol. It was a fun filled day, but all the activity wore me out.

My sister requested a doily and chose Anastasia from Bonded with Tatting by Laura Bziukiewicz. Janet requested black, but I wasn't sure about an all black doily. I tatted the first three rounds in both black and white to see which Janet preferred. She liked them both! She liked these two pieces as they are, so she took them home with her. She plans on framing them. After I finish Renulek's Spring Doily 2025, I will tat the full doily in both black and white for Janet. The shuttle is from Grizzly Mountain Arts. 

As for my progress with Renulek's Spring Doily 2025, let's just say it's been very slow tatting. I'm not having any trouble at all with this round. I just haven't spent much time tatting for the past few weeks. Still, my goal is to finish by the end of the month, which I think I can do. Have you been setting tatting goals for yourself?

Cosmos

 

I finally finished Cosmos from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This took me almost a month to complete, not because it was hard or complicated, but because I've been working on multiple projects. Maybe I should start focusing on finishing one project at a time!

Finally!

 

I finally finished round 7 of Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I'm not going to complain about how long it took me to finish this round. After all, we do have other distractions in our lives, and I had a great long weekend with my mom and sister!

Movin' along

 

I finished round 6 of Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz right before heading off to bed last night. I didn't think I had accomplished much today, but when I took a photo it looked like I really had accomplished quite a bit. My morning was taken up with some necessary chores: laundry, banking, grocery shopping, and a little household organizing. 

My sister Janet arrived around noon. None of us had eaten lunch, so Mom, Janet, and I went out to eat and picked up some carry out for Dave. After that, there was dinner prep, kitchen cleanup, and then some well deserved rest on the front porch. I really don't know when I had time to tat as much as I did.

Janet's granddaughter has been doing quite a bit of painting on tiles this summer. When Janet was down visiting earlier this summer, she took my very faded garden gnome home with her and asked Abigail to restore him. She did a beautiful job!

Now that Dave is retired, we've decided to implement some of the ideas we've talked about over the past several years. Last summer, Dave updated our porch railing. There really was nothing wrong with the old railing. We just wanted a fresh look for the house. We talked about using the old railing as a garden accent in our hosts bed in the back yard. Dave started on this project Wednesday afternoon, and it looks like we'll get to check this one off the list tomorrow. Of course we then need to select the next project!

Sharing

Today I was reminded of the importance of sharing. I'm not talking about sharing patterns. That's a big no-no in my book. Instead, I mean sharing what I have learned from patterns, mistakes I have made and how I corrected them. So...

This is my progress on Cosmos from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. First let me say that I LOVE this pattern. The center (in blue) is the most intricate first round of a doily I have ever tatted. 

The only problem I have had so far, is that I forgot to tat the last section of chain on the first round. I did go back and add it, but it would have looked nicer if I had tatted it in the first place!

So, why the sharing part? A long time tatting friend asked me today for help with Jan Stawasz's Monster Doily. I call it the Masterpiece Doily, but since many in the tatting world call it the Monster Doily I am using that term so that others know what I'm talking about. 

My copy of the pattern is tucked away somewhere safe. I am in the midst of reorganizing once again, and I'm not quite sure where I placed it. However, when my friend sent me a picture of the part she found confusing, I knew just what she was talking about. I went back to my blog posts from July 2015, sure that I had made note of my problem and how I solved it. I had not!

Is it too late to start making notes of problems and how I've fixed them. I think not!

Harmony

The summer is flying by! Daughter Joanne and family arrived last Tuesday and will be leaving this Thursday. Dave and I are having great fun with all the activity.

Tatting time has been limited, but I did manage to finish Harmony from Bonded with tatting ~ doilies by Laura Baiukiewicz. I've been too lazy to through my thread stash, so these are still colors left from Renulek's Spring Doily 2024. I think I might tat this one again so that I can incorporate some more bright colors. 

On to the next project!

Time off

 

I took a little time off to spend a few days with daughter Alison. I did take my knitting along, and I'm making good progress with my Equinox shawl by Lisa Overby. I think I have 14 rows to go, something I should be able to achieve this week. 

I also have a good start on round 6 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

Reorganizing of the upstairs continues, which does cut into my crafting time. I'm finding long forgotten materials and projects, some of which I know I'll never finish. It's time to de-stash!

Round 5

 

I just finished round 5 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. Even though this round took great concentration on my part, I truly enjoyed tatting it. 

Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I hope I have time to start round 6!

Enjoying the weather

We had a beautiful Memorial Day here in northern Illinois. The temperature was warm. The sun was shining. The best part was, there was a glorious breeze all day long.

Tollway Tatters met via Zoom on Saturday, and I was able to make pretty good progress with my Star of Bethlehem doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

My sister came to visit Saturday afternoon and spent the night. She left early Sunday to work in her garden, and Dave and I left shortly after. We made a plant delivery and then headed up to visit daughter Alison for the day. My brother came down to spend time with Mom. They're collaborating on a heddle idea for Mom's band weaving.

Memorial Day was very low key for us. Mom and I spent the day knitting, reading, and watching movies. Dave worked outside planting vegetables and flowers. 

Today will be busy. I have three recent high school graduates coming over to help me organize upstairs. It's time to de-clutter!

Summer break

Today was the first day of summer break from school, and it was a busy one! Mom and I did laundry, went grocery shopping, and did a bit of crafting.

I decided that Kara's doll needed a couple of extra touches. So, I made a Yorkshire button bun to spruce up her hair.

I also gave her a little necklace. Kara loves both of the additions! I can hardly wait for the two of them to meet at the end of June.

It was nice to spend time tatting today. I'm a little more than halfway finished with round 5 of my Star of Bethlehem doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I plan on working on this during our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting tomorrow.

We have a busy weekend planned. I sure hope I'm as productive over the next few days!

Relaxing weekend

As expected, I didn't do much on Saturday. I did spend most of the day in my chair working on Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with Tatting - doilies  by Laura Bziukiewicz. I love the way this round is worked. It's like working on three rounds at the same time!

This is Dave's busiest time of year at work, so daughter Carol came over in the morning to help out with mowing. She also brought Mom's favorite dish to celebrate Mother's Day... homemade macaroni and cheese! My brother came to visit as well. It was a beautiful day!

After everyone left, I decided it was time to get back to granddaughter Kara's doll. Mom finished the body weeks ago, and I've been picking up and putting down the bits of clothing I've been working on. The apron is almost done, but Kara doesn't want an apron. The bonnet is almost done, but Kara doesn't want a bonnet. The shawl is finished, but that's the last piece to get added. Bloomers were next on the list, and I just wasn't enjoying making the bloomers. They're done now! 

I started the petticoat last night. After that, I need to knit the skirt, and then put everything together. I know Kara will love her doll!

Sunday visitor

 

Mom saw this chubby little guy peering through the sliding door to our deck. He scurried away when I headed toward the sunporch, but I managed to get a picture of him as he nibbled out back. You just never know what critters you will see when you live in the country!

I spent the day knitting yesterday, and I surprised myself by finishing the second spiral knit tube sock. 

I never really thought I could knit an entire sock in one day, even if it is in worsted weight yarn! 

I was tempted to start knitting another pair of socks, but I chose to work on the bloomers for granddaughter Kara's doll. I have too many works in progress, and I need to finish them up!

I've started round 5 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. It takes concentration, but it is so pretty!

April Tollway Tatters

 

We were a small group of four today, but we had great fun tatting and chatting! I managed to tat round 4 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I've been looking at round 5, which is very detailed and very pretty. I look forward to starting on it tomorrow!

This afternoon, I worked on my spiral knit tube sock. I managed to finish it early this evening. It doesn't look like much on the footstool.

It looks much better on a foot!

These are way too thick for wearing with shoes, but they'll be great for wearing around the house on a cold winter night. The next sock is started, so I will have a complete pair soon!

The pattern for these worsted weight socks can be found here: http://www.appleleeffarm.com/PDFs/Patts/spiraltubesck.pdf

Progress

 

I added a couple of inches to my sock. It's now a little over 13" long, with about 3" to go before shaping the toe.

Most of my free time today was spent working on round 3 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. 

Tomorrow we will be having our Tollway Tatters Zoom meeting at 9 a.m. central time. My shuttles are loaded and ready for round 4 of Star of Bethlehem. It looks like an easy round, so I should be able to tat during our meeting. Sue posts the link to the Zoom meeting on our Facebook page. Join us if you can!

Slow crafting

 

I didn't get a whole lot done today. I did finish round 2 of Star of Bethlehem from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz.

My sock is now 11 1/2" long. It needs to be 16" before I start shaping the toe. Somehow, this is a much easier pattern to follow than it was 20 years ago!

A new routine

I've been trying to take time for knitting, tatting, and reading each day, and so far it's going well!

My spiral knit tube sock is coming along nicely. I'm really enjoying these Prym ergonomic knitting needles. It took me a little time to adjust to the length, but that really was not a big deal. I think it's the tips of the needles that I like the most. I haven't been splitting my stitches since switching to these needles. That's a big plus!

This morning I started on my fifth doily from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This one is called Star of Bethlehem, and I decided to tat it in white just like the picture in the book. The pattern has nine rounds, so I expect this one to take me a couple of weeks. If I could focus on one thing at a time, it wouldn't take nearly so long. However, my mind flits from one thing to another, so I always have multiple projects in progress!

Elizabeth

 

I finished Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I'm so happy with the way this one turned out!

A little bit of progress

The day got away from me again, but I did make a little bit of progress with both my socks and my doily.

 

I switched knitting needles for the socks. I had been watching an Arne & Carlos YouTube video in which they were knitting with Prym ergonomic needles. I went shopping online, and the needles arrived today. The center of each needle is triangular, and the tips have a slight bulb shape. I've only knit one round with them, but they seem pretty nice.

I had some time to work on Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. I had to rewind both of my shuttles. For some reason, that seems to take forever!

Not much to blog about

This past week has been kind of busy, so I really haven't had anything to blog about. The little bit of time I did spend tatting and knitting didn't amount to anything worthy of pictures. I think I'd have had more done if I hadn't spent so much time watching YouTube videos. Most of the ones I watched were about things I will probably never try. There were links on the right side of the screen, and I allowed myself to get pulled into watching all sorts of craft videos.

 

The call of the knitting needles was strong this morning. I've been wanting to knit a pair of spiral tube socks for a while. They're a great way to get me back into sock knitting mode. Denise introduced me to this style of sock way back when. I think the last pair I knit was for my grandson Aidan's baby shower. He'll be 18 in June. I know I have that baby sock pattern tucked away somewhere, but for now I'm knitting an adult pair in worsted weight yarn. I know these will be too thick for me to wear with shoes, but they'll be great for sitting around the house on a cold winter night. I know. I know. It's spring here in Illinois, but if I don't start knitting them now, I won't have them for winter!

I'm getting so close to finishing Elizabeth from Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz. This last round is beautiful, but I have to pay close attention. I don't want to make a mistake this close to the end!

Elizabeth

 

Yes, I have started the next doily in Bonded with tatting - doilies by Laura Bziukiewicz! This time I'm using size 20 Lizbeth #688 Sea Green Dk. I had really planned on using a beautiful yellow, but this ball of thread was closest to me, so I decided to give it a try. 

I almost messed up on round 2, because I wasn't paying close attention. It's really important to watch the stitch count on the chains. The stitch count does matter!