A new tatting friend

 

Linda recently joined our Tollway Tatters group on Facebook and asked if anyone was interested in getting together to tat. Yes! We met today at Culver's in New Lenox, and spent about three hours together. A man stopped by and asked if we could make him some socks, which made us laugh. He was then kind enough to take our picture. We're both hoping we can get together again soon.

My scrappy afghan is now 24" long. I haven't measured the width yet, but I'm guessing that I will make it about 60" long.

I finished another Drapey Cowl before leaving to meet Linda. Yes, I have already started another!

Tollway Tatters

 

Tollway Tatters met on Zoom today! Sue was kind enough to get it set up for us, and we met for a little over three hours. It was so nice to spend time with tatting friends!

I worked on round 2 of Renulek's 2021 Spring Doily. I think I could have accomplished a lot more, but I accidentally tatted one motif too many. It takes a long time to untat one of those motifs!

Since we all had such a good time today, we've decided to try and meet the last Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. central time. It may be a while before we can get together physically, and meeting by Zoom is a pretty good alternative. If you'd like to join us, just visit the Tollway Tatters page on Facebook. Sue will post the link for the Zoom meeting a day or two before we meet. Even if you can just drop by to say hi, we'd love to have you join us!

Photo op

We chose not to have a Tollway Tatters meeting today because of the predicted weather conditions. It was very windy and wet here, and some of the ladies had snow to deal with. I think we made the right decision to cancel!

Sue suggested we all take pictures of ourselves tatting in our tie-dye t-shirts, so I asked Dave to take a picture of me tatting.

True confession time... I had the t-shirt on for less than five minutes. It was just too cold, and I couldn't wait to put my sweater back on!

Another true confession... I only tatted 6 ds today. Dave and I spent most of the day taking down and putting away Christmas decorations. We accomplished a lot, including deep cleaning the sun room, dining, room, and living room, but we still have more to do. The bannister is still decorated, and we haven't taken down any of the outdoor decorations. Once those tasks are completed, we'll be back to our normal routine.

The first side of Joanne's Sneak a Peek cowl is finished. I know I never would have chosen these colors, but I do like they way they look!

November Tollway Tatters

We had a beautiful day for our Tollway Tatters meeting! A couple driving through Illinois from Wisconsin stopped to see what we were doing, and they walked away with an Ice Drop. It pays to stop and ask what we're all about!

We had such a good day, we decided to set our next meeting date: Saturday, January 11, 2020. We agree that if there is snow in the forecast or if it's bitterly cold, we will not meet. We all travel too far to take any chances with the weather. Last year, the beginning of January was extremely mild. Of course since we decided to try and meet, the weather changed and we had to cancel. We'll see what happens this year!

Mary brought Catherine with her today. Catherine is multi-talented; she spins, weaves, knits, crochets, and tats! I may have missed something, but I think that pretty much covers her list of skills!

Mary is working on a beautiful needle tatted edging. She also brought along some books for us to look at.

Catherine was working on some motifs in a beautiful grey crochet cotton.

Sue Anna and Glenda were super cheerful as usual! Sue Anna was working on Joelle Paulson's Astrila. I thought I got a picture of it, but apparently I didn't.

Glenda worked on and off as her arm allowed her. We were so glad she was able to join us. She had to miss our last meeting, because she had broken her arm right before our meeting.

Carrie was tatting tiny angels for a friend of hers. I think she managed to tat them all today!

Denise wasn't able to join us today. Luckily, Kathy was able to go along. The drive is much more fun with a friend or two along!

Kathy brought along some of her hand-made soap to share with us. I can't wait to try it out!

I worked on a Frivolity Ice Drop, but I ran out of thread. To top it off, I left my ball of thread at home! I did have a shuttle wound for a Curds & Whey bookmark, but I made a major mistake at the beginning of the second pattern repeat. So, I snipped off my tatting and gave up for the day.

When I got home, Dave and I headed off to Menards to buy some Christmas lights. Now, it's time to relax!

October Tollway Tatters

We had a beautiful day for our Tollway Tatters meeting!

Sue Anna and Marilee are always a cheerful presence!

Sue Anna was working on one of Marilee's patterns. I think the thread color is Blue River Glades.

You may have seen Marilee's post on her blog or on Facebook about the grape earrings she's tatting from an Italian magazine. Marilee's pictures are wonderful, but seeing her beautiful tatting in person shows how talented she really is.

Marilee brought along her milkweed pods for us to see. They are incredible! The pattern is available in her Etsy shop.

Barbara brought along her new Japanese tatting book.

She loves Celtic motifs, and found one in the book that she just had to tat!

Nancy was our only needle tatter today.

She's working on an adorable pumpkin pattern. I like the way she has her finished pumpkin stored on the ball of thread!

Victoria Ong was able to join us again today. Victoria is a very talented Turkish oya needle lace designer and teacher. Denise and I took a class with Victoria about a year and a half ago. I've picked it up from time to time, but I wasn't getting anywhere. I was inspired to pick up my needle lace again after watching Victoria work her magic at our last Tollway Tatters meeting. She has a new book out, and she graciously signed my copy!

Victoria made this beautiful flower today with some of Marilee's hand-dyed thread.

Victoria sat next to me and gave me some tips to improve my lace. She also showed me how to identify my mistakes and fix them. The piece on the left is what I worked on this week. I knew it wasn't done correctly, but I couldn't see what I was doing wrong. The two green pieces are what I worked on today. There are mistakes, which is why they aren't finished, but I can see a great improvement already! Thank you, Victoria!

I finished tatting a Curds & Whey bookmark in size 10 Lizbeth Blue Ice today. I also started another in size 10 Lizbeth Wedgewood Blue Dk.

After dinner, I finished my Blue Ice bookmark. I now have eleven completed. I think I might reach my goal of 24 in time for Christmas in the Village!

September Tollway Tatters

We had a wonderful time on the Tollway today! We had so much fun, we've set our next two meeting dates (weather permitting): Saturday, October 12 and Saturday, November 16. We'd love to have you join us if you can!

There were seven of us today: Barbara, Mary, Victoria, and Glenda were to my right.

Thea and Sue Anna were to my left. Hmmm... I guess I should have taken pictures before lunch! Sorry, ladies!

Thea finished one side for a satin ball ornament and made a good start on the second side.

Sue Anna worked on her necklace to go with her earrings.

Barbara worked on her heart.

The talented Victoria Ong was able to join us today and worked on her needle lace flowers. She has a new book coming out soon, and I can hardly wait!

I am determined to make lovely needle lace flowers some day!

Mary worked on a beautiful lace edging today. Some day I may get the hang of needle tatting, but not today.

Glenda and I worked on Mary Konior's Curds & Whey pattern. I forgot to take a picture of mine. I sent it home with Glenda so that she would have a sample to see the joins more clearly. Somehow, seeing the actual piece of lace is so much more helpful than seeing just a picture!

I took along my Lagniappe doily to show my progress. I haven't gotten very far this week, and that's okay. I'm enjoying the process!

My friend Jeanne sent me a sample of some ribbon. The goal is to try an Ice Drop with it, but I wanted to get a feel for it first. The ribbon is very slick, and I had to pay attention to make sure I closed my rings all the way. I think this is going to be fun!

Stormy weather

We had a rude awakening about 2:45 yesterday morning. A severe thunderstorm blew through and woke us up. After about 10 minutes of watching and listening to the rain, wind, and hail, I went back to bed. Dave, however, couldn't get back to sleep.

As it started getting light, Sophia looked outside and said that a tree had fallen down. We couldn't believe it. It was right outside our bedroom window, and we didn't hear it fall!

It landed on our gazebo, but luckily it didn't do any damage.

As it got lighter out, we were able to see that a pine tree east of the tree house had fallen down. There wasn't anything I could do, so after breakfast I headed out for Tollway Tatters.

Sue Anna was all smiles, as usual!

She was working on one of Marilee's earring patterns. I think Sue Anna has tatted more of Marilee's patterns than anyone I know, except for Marilee!

Barbara was Sue Anna's travel companion for the day.

She was working on a heart pattern. Barbara is very particular about her work, and she would rather take the time to undo a couple of rings than have her project look less than perfect. I think I know a few tatters just like her!

Glenda traveled all the way from Iowa to be with us again! We love having her with us. It's hard to believe that she would drive six hours just to spend time with us!

Glenda like to make notes as she's tatting. I think that's a habit I should develop!

Thea and Gail met at a tatting class that Gail taught. I met Gail at Tatting Corner Tat Days last summer. These two ladies are a wonderful addition to our group!

Thea was working on Christmas ornaments. I should start thinking about Christmas ornaments also!

Gail was working on a pattern from a class she took at Tatting Corner Tat Days. The class was taught by Kaye Judt, and the two patterns Gail had from the classes she took with Kaye will be in Kaye's new book, which will be available soon.

I worked on an Ice Drop. It seems to be the only project I can do while talking!

By the time I returned home, Dave and our son-in-law Jan had taken care of the biggest tree. However, both chain saws died, so they stopped much sooner than they had planned. I took this picture today. I guess we'll be relocating hostas. I'm pretty sure they can't take that much sun.

Initially, we thought we had lost two or three trees. However, as Dave and Jan cleared away debris, it was clear that at least seven trees need to come down because of the damage done to them. As Dave and I were driving home from purchasing a new chain saw, we could see that although we had a lot of tree damage, there were others west of us who had been hit a lot harder. Luckily, we didn't see any damaged buildings, just downed trees and flattened crops.

Joanne and family headed back to Minnesota about 6:45 this morning. It's a good thing they left when they did. The rain came pouring down about five minutes after they left. It would not have been fun trying to get three kids into the car during a downpour. Joanne said it rained until they were well out of Illinois and into Wisconsin.

As soon as they left, I set a few goals for myself. The first was to finish the Ice Drop I had started at Tollway Tatters.

Nest, I finished an Eightsome Reel motif by Mary Konior. The thread is Marilee Rockley's Lantana Citrus. I'm hoping I have enough thread to tat a nine motif doily. I think I should be okay.

As I was cleaning up my tatting space (I don't know how it gets messy so quickly), I found a few Ice Drops that needed ribbons.

I usually am very good about attaching ribbons right away, but somehow these were left undecorated.

I'm starting to feel like my Ice Drop stash is growing again!