50/50

This is my fourth Curds & Whey bookmark (pattern from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior), and there's a mistake of too many stitches and one too many picots in the second large ring. I decided to keep going, and I think it looks okay. So, four bookmarks made, two with mistakes, two without, and that gives me a 50/50 record. I hope I can improve!

This one is tatted in size 20 Lizbeth #149 Peacock Blues, one of my favorite Lizbeth colors!

I subbed in the elementary school today, which meant I had very little time to tat. I did get a little done before school and at lunch time, but the majority of my tatting time was after I got home. I think I did okay! 

Saturday tatting and knitting

Dave and I accomplished a lot today... cleaning windows, sweeping floors, doing laundry, helping daughter Carol build sets for the high school production of Mama Mia! Some we did together, and some separately. It feels good to have accomplished so much!

My reward was to spend time this afternoon tatting and knitting. I really am enjoying tatting Doodle Ice Drops with slight variations in each one. I'm not sure that the changes are visible to most people, but it's enough for me to know that no two are exactly alike.

Isn't my new shuttle cute? It's from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I really don't mind winter weather, and I'm kind of looking forward to the possibility of snow at the beginning of the week. Still, I know that I will soon be craving the warmth of spring.

I'm happy that I've developed a rhythm with my Reyna shawl. The pattern is by Noora Backlund and can be found on Ravelry. I don't count stitches for each row, but I have been checking to make sure I have an odd number at the end of each row. I like that Noora gives a stitch count at the end of each pattern section. I'm right on track with 143 stitches at the end of row 72!

The big warm up

We managed to get up to 18℉ today. It felt wonderful! School was open for the first time this week. Our district was lucky... the buses all started and there were no broken pipes. The next towns west and south of us weren't so lucky. It felt good to be back at school.

Since my normal time at school is from noon 'til 3, I have plenty of time in the morning to do as I please. This morning I tatted a Doodle Ice Drop.

I enjoyed making it so much, I tatted another one when I got home from school. Yes, I have looked at my tatting patterns looking for a larger project to catch my interest, but I'm enjoying working with yarn as well as thread. So, large tatting projects just aren't doing it for me right now.

I worked on my shawl some more after dinner. While I do enjoy working with the Lion Brand Mandala, I kind of have an itch to work with the hand-spun yarn I purchased from my friend Jen. I haven't found just the right pattern yet, but I'm having fun looking!

I needed a bookmark

So I tatted this one from the back of my Moonlit tatting shuttle package in Lizbeth Peacock Blues. Now I'm ready for a new book!

Another small doily

I started this simple doily yesterday. It was a really quick one to make.

The color shows up better on the white page. I do love Peacock Blues!

The pattern is #31 from A New Twist on Tatting by Catherine Austin.

Peacock Blues Spinning Wheel

I finished this at the end of 4th grade library class today. I was able to show the kids how to switch from rings to chains, joining, finish off, and hiding the ends. I love demonstrating for the kids!

Tollway Tatters!

The Tollway Tatters will be meeting on Monday, January 18. It's been a while since we've all been able to get together, and I'm really looking forward to it!

If you're in the Chicago area and would like to join us, we meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Hinsdale Oasis. You can tell us by our tie-dyed t-shirts.

One of the little girls at school received a new mint green and gray coat for Christmas. She asked me to make her a scarf, so here it is. The colors don't show up well on the monitor, but I think they're a good match for her coat.

I'm almost finished with my latest Spinning Wheel, right on track for finishing one by every Friday in 2016! Maybe I'll just shoot for every Friday in January. ;-)

Peacock Blues

Peacock Blues #149 is one of my favorite Lizbeth thread colors. I knew I would be showing the kids some tatting today, and this color just happened to be right in front of me when I went in to my sewing room.

The kids are fascinated by rings and chains, and the Spinning Wheel glass mat just seemed to fall off my shuttles!

The twins were four months old yesterday. They're still little, but they've grown so much!

Princess Sophia loves them!

15 yds

That's how much size 20 Lizbeth I was able to wind on my new Sunlit shuttle. As you can see, there's plenty left on the shuttle for another Flower Fragment or two.

Here are the three fragments together... size 3, size 10, and size 20. Can you guess which thread size I'll try next? ;-)

7 yds

That's about how much size 10 Lizbeth I was able to wind on my new Sunlit shuttle. Not bad... I can tat a lot with 7 yds!

As you can see, I even have some thread left on the shuttle. There's quite a difference in the size of the finished motif (Flower Fragment from  A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior). Size 3 thread is on the left, size 10 on the right.

I think I might have to try size 20 next!

Practicing picots without a gauge

After seeing Tatting Marie's gorgeous tatting at our last Tollway Tatters meeting, I decided to try tatting without a picot gauge just as she does. My picots are not consistent, but I guess that just like everything else, it takes practice!

Another thing I need to practice is reading patterns! I goofed on the very last ring. Yes, I checked and double-checked before closing the ring, but I didn't see my mistake until I was sewing in the ends. Sigh! I guess I'll have to try this one again.

The pattern is Maria from Tatted Bookmarks - cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. I'm still working with the size 80 Lizbeth. I do love Peacock Blues!

Saturday only?

I hope not! Now that Open House is over, I hope to settle into a routine so that I can tat and blog on a more regular basis. For some reason, it just hasn't happened so far.

This week I worked on "Christina" from Tatted Bookmarks - cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. I love this pattern, and I have tatted so many it feels like an old friend. I used size 80 Lizbeth #149, Peacock Blues. It's a present for a very special little girl (not one of my granddaughters) who loves blue. I guess we're kindred spirits!

I was pleasantly surprised to receive Martha Ess's new book, Flights of Fantasy, in the mail yesterday. I really wasn't expecting it to ship until after Tat Days. I am not disappointed. This is a fabulous book, especially if you love dragons, unicorns, and Pegasus!

Thanks for publishing another fantastic book, Martha! Now I just need to choose my threads, load my shuttles, and tat... or should I finish up the projects I've already started? Decisions. Decisions.

Have you seen?

Clover has a new 3" shuttle! When I saw the announcement from Handy Hands, I ordered mine right away. It was a bit pricey, but how could I resist? The package holds two shuttles, a blue and a green. As you can see from the picture, it isn't much larger than the original size, however it does hold twice as much thread. I really like the feel of this shuttle, and I think it could be my new favorite. ;-)

The motif is #2 from Minitats by Patti Duff. the one on the right is a mistake motif. I didn't make my center picot large enough to join a sixth ring, so I settled for 5. It works, but I do prefer the motif with six rings.

She's at it again!

Daughter Joanne has been bugging me about posting on my blog. She reminded me again that I haven't posted since Tuesday. Since her baby is due any day, I guess I should do my best to keep her happy!

I needed something simple to take in the car yesterday, so I decided to once again set a goal of tatting all 69 motifs from Minitats by Patti Duff.

This is #1 in size 20 Lizbeth #149, Peacock Blues. It measures 1 1/2" across.

I'm making progress on the second side of the beaded bag. For those of you who are interested, the pattern can be found in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, a fantastic crochet reference!

I have started the next round of Doily VI from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. I hope that with having the week off for spring break I'll be able to make more progress with this beautiful doily!

Peacock Blues Krzyz

Our friends Gus and Irene have a new grandson. His baptism is next week, and I decided to tat a cross to commemorate the occasion.

At first I planned on using Turquoise Twist, but Denise and I got talking about blues, and Denise mentioned Peacock Blues. I just couldn't get it out of my head, so Peacock Blues became the thread of choice!

I think this is my favorite cross so far!

Pattern: Krzyz from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz

Thread: size 20 Lizbeth #149 Peacock Blues

Gold tone doodad from Fire Mountain Gems