14 years

It's hard to believe that I started my blog 14 years ago on my 55th birthday. Where has the time gone?

Today was bookmark day, and I chose to work with Daffodil Dell by Tatskool. This is the Workbasket pattern I love minus the picots.

When I want to work with just one shuttle, I love tatting Curds & Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.

Finally, I decided to try tatting Christina from  Tatted Bookmarks ~ cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. This time I left off the picots for a totally different look.

I still have a little bit of Daffodil Dell left, but I'm pretty sure I'll need to choose another color tomorrow!

Another donut day

Today was another donut day. I used up the last of my size 20 Just Daffodils by Tatskool. I'm always amazed out how much I'm able to tat from one skein or ball of thread. The partially covered donuts are from me using up thread left on shuttles. Waste not, want not!

Last of the Blue Moon

 

I used the last of my size 20 Blue Moon from Tatskool today.

Between buttons and donuts, I had a lot of fun!

This was a wonderful thread to tat with, and I'm glad I have some more in two other sizes!

When going through my thread stash, I found this beautiful hand-dyed thread left over from a previous project. I'm guessing it's size 40, so I was unsure about using it with a donut. I think it turned out great!

Starting over

I've put the snowflakes I've tatted from Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes by Robin Perfetti someplace very safe. I seem to do that way too often!

Rather than take time to look for them, I decided to start over and keep the finished ones in a baggie with the book. This is Robin's Sample Snowflake in Tatskool's size 20 Serendipity hand-dyed thread.

 Snowflake #1 is in size 20 Ljiljan. This time I think I'll tat a mixture of colors so that I don't get bored!

Doodle Ice Drops

Yesterday I tatted two Doodle Ice Drops. I just love this pattern! The thread is Tatskool's Serendipity, and the shuttle is by Rita Richmond's friend, Olga Fedotova.

Another beautiful and unusual shuttle that I recently added to my collection is from Jean Roux in France. I saw a YouTube video showing how this shuttle worked, and then I followed links and was able to contact him. I do not speak French, and he does not speak English. Thanks to Google Translate, we were able to understand each other, and I now have a fabulous new shuttle in my collection!

Sick days

I've basically slept away the past week. I've had a low grade fever and persistent cough. It seemed the best thing to do was sleep, so that's what I did. I did call the doctor's office, and they ordered medicine for a sinus infection. However, I was told that I had to have a COVID test, so I did. It came back positive, which seemed odd since I haven't been in contact with anyone other than Mom and Dave, and I had finished my vaccine two weeks before. I'm in quarantine until Friday. If I truly have COVID, it's a very mild case. Still, I will follow the protocols.

I'm on a hand-dyed thread kick again, and I had recently ordered some beautiful new threads from my friend Pamela aka Tatskool. I've been collecting hand-dyed threads for years, and I've decided it's time to do more than just collect. I need to enjoy this wonderful threads!

Yesterday was the first day I had energy to do anything in a week, so I tatted around four different donuts. I think the top left one is my favorite. The thread is Pamela's Serendipity, size 20. I do love tatting with hand-dyed threads!

Another addict

My dear friend Tatskool has started blogging again, and guess what her first post is? She's tatted an Ice Drop!

Please visit her page and see what she's doing...

http://tatsakoolchallenge.blogspot.com/2017/05/blogging-again.html#comment-form

I subbed in 4th grade yesterday, so I didn't have any time to finish an Ice Drop. Two are nearly done, and I will post pictures of them later.

I did take time to finish my green and gold Sami band last night. The top and bottom strips are the right side, and the two center strips are the wrong side. I think they're both pretty!

Too tired to post again

I did it again. I waited until I was too tired to post. It's good thing that I'm not getting paid to meet deadlines!

Daughter Joanne has AT&T cell phone service, which doesn't work well at our house. She posted pictures on Friday that didn't show up until this morning!

Sewing the Ursula tentacles was quite a challenge because of the bulk and the elastic.

It really did take both of us to get the tentacles sewn on! I didn't think to take pictures yesterday, but Carol and I managed to make lace gloves (black on top, purple on the bottom) so that her arms are two of the tentacles. They look really cool! I will take pictures of Carol in her full costume. It's hard to believe that the final performance will be two weeks from today!

Sophia gets very excited when Papa gets home from work, because she gets to go outside and help him with yard work and gardening. Last night she got to ride on the lawn mower just before bedtime!

Today will be perfect weather for me, sunny with a high of 77°. The last two days have been miserable with high humidity and temps in the mid 90s... not my kind of weather! However, Sophia loved it! She spent most of the day in her puddle pool, and she didn't mind the cold water from the hose.

Spinning Wheel glass mat, Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior
size 20 hand-dyed thread, Raspberry Ripple with Real Vanilla by Tatskool
shuttles from Shuttle By Design

Yes, I did finish last week's Spinning Wheel glass mat (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior). Have I mentioned that I love hand-dyed thread? I'm not normally a fan of pink, but I do love this Raspberry Ripple with Real Vanilla from Tatskool!

Not much on the tatting front...

...just one more spoke on my Spinning Wheel.

However, I did manage to register for Palmetto Tat Days! I'm very excited to be able to go this year. I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my tatting friends in person!

I also managed to sort through a ton of craft supplies that were in my sun room. Some of it was junk and has been tossed. Some of it I will use, and most of it has been organized to give away. Tomorrow, Joanne and I will be able to clean the room and enjoy it for the next two weeks!

Ready for the tail

8:45 p.m. and I just finished the main part of the mermaid tail afghan! All that's left to crochet is the tail, and I should be able to complete that and sew it on tomorrow. :-)
Spinning

I pulled another skein of HDT (hand-dyed thread) from my stash for my next Spinning Wheel glass mat (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. This is size 20 Raspberry Ripple with Real Vanilla by Tatskool.

I guess I  need to check my blog feed. Every once in a while I come across a blog that I used to read regularly, and I see that the person has posted and I never received notification. That happened with Tatskool's blog. I've now re-added her to my blog feed, and I can happily keep up with what's happening across the sea!

Small Tatted Heart

When I saw this adorable little heart on Allison's blog, I just knew I had to make it! The pattern is by Betsy Evans, and it is a very easy tat. I used some of the Raspberry Sorbet from Tatskool. I have very little left of this pretty thread. I sure have enjoyed working with it!

Saving Beatrice

Poor Beatrice! She's been on hold since November 9, when I ran out of thread! Luckily, Tatskool had some of her luscious Raspberry Sorbet left, so I quickly ordered the last two skeins. For some reason, the mail system took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! ...a whole month to be exact! By the time the thread arrived, Dave had begun decorating for Christmas... he goes way overboard, and I have to put tons of my favorite stuff away. Naturally, I put Beatrice in a very safe place... too safe! When the thread arrived, I couldn't find my precious little doily anywhere! I dutifully wound the thread onto my dragonfly thread winder, knowing that Beatrice would show her pretty little face at some point.

When we were putting the Christmas decorations away, I found my beloved Beatrice! However, I had put the new thread in a very safe place, and couldn't find it anywhere! So, I put Beatrice in a very safe place, knowing that the dragonfly would flit my way sometime in the future.

Saturday, I decided to do a little organizing in my sewing room. Guess what I found... my dragonfly filled with beautiful thread! But where had I put Beatrice? I just couldn't find her. I won't tell you my sewing room is now organized... that would be a complete lie! However, I did find myself drawn back to the cluttered mess several times on Saturday and Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, I decided to give up on tatting for a little bit and work on my lace scarf (in the works for two years now). When I opened my knitting basket, guess what I saw smiling up at me... Beatrice! Luckily, I had placed the dragonfly next to my chair so that I could work on Beatrice as soon as I found her!

End of the story, right? Wrong! I happily tatted along, and when I thought I was finished, I realized I had one pattern repeat too many! So, I carefully un-tatted my precious HDT to the necessary point and prepared to finish my lovely little doily. Now are we at the end? No! I discovered that I made a mistake at the very beginning of the doily! I joined the second cluster of rings to the wrong picot on the first cluster of rings. I almost cried! But, I didn't... instead I carefully looked at the doily to see what I needed to do. I cut out the first ring, and carefully unpicked the second ring. I finished Beatrice about 9 last night, and now you can see her in all her glory!

Poor girl... she's been through a lot! I hope to carefully wrap her up and send her off to a friend this week. What!? I'm not keeping her for myself? No, she was started with a particular friend in mind, and that friend will receive her... better late that never! Luckily, I have enough Raspberry Sorbet to make a second one for me!

By the way, Beatrice, designed by Iris Niebach, is about 8 1/2" across in size 20 Raspberry Sorbet from Tatskool. Have I ever mentioned how much I love HDT? Oh, and even with retro-tatting, I finished this little beauty in 10 days... woo hoo!