Another one gets away

I had a very busy and productive day yesterday, but blogging eluded me. I just plain forgot to post!

I started the second book in the Poldark series. I'm not rushing through these books. Instead, I'm making sure I savor every page!

I still have plenty of Lizbeth Jelly Bean left. It goes well with many of the glass gems I have.

It's also easy to find ribbons to coordinate with the thread.

It's been a while since I worked on Renulek's Wiosna 2017. I misplaced the pattern, and I finally printed out another copy. I do like this pattern!

School started this week, and Bella is coming over after school every day. Bella is now in 5th grade and wants to learn to weave. She chose the colors and is now set to start weaving next week.

Bella also started designing warping patterns for inkle bands. The second from the bottom is the patterns she followed for her first band.

I love sharing the little I know with others!

Rainy Sunday

It was another dreary day, and it looks like it will be a blustery day tomorrow. Luckily, I have plenty to keep me busy!

I started the day off with an Ice Drop, of course! I'm still working from the same ball of size 20 Lizbeth #124, Spring Garden.

I've been neglecting my sister-in-law's runner, so I picked it up again today and added one motif. If I would only take the time to work on one motif a day, I would have this done pretty quickly.

I managed to work three pattern repeats on my band. Each pattern repeat is 22 picks (rows), and the repeat is 1 1/4" long. I feel like I'm getting better with the band weaving. I've been checking the width  after each pick to make sure it's a consistent 3/4". I was very pleased that I made no mistakes today!

I've also been neglecting my Renulek doily. I did manage two pattern repeats today, so I'm a little more than 1/4 of the way around.

One last Ice Drop in Spring Garden finished off my day, which turned out to be pretty productive!

Ducks in the pond

Can you see them? In all the years we've lived here, this is the first time we've seen ducks in the pond. We've seen a heron a few times, but these are our first ducks!

I finished up the warp on Dad's box loom. I did a little experimenting with finishing off the ends. There's just a knot on the left side, but on the right I did a little bit of braiding before knotting it. I'm still having trouble with getting an even weave, and I'm wondering if it's because I don't keep an even tension as I'm holding the woven end. I think I'll go back to my Shining Glen loom to see if I can do better.

I subbed at the high school today, so I took some tatting along. I really only tatted a few rings and chains on this Spinning Wheel glass mat. I've been carrying it in my purse for several weeks. It needed a shot of steam, and now I'm inspired to work on it again. 😊

Today was a four Ice Drop day. Aren't these colorful? They're each done in Marilee Rockley's size 20 hand-dyed thread, Candy Mint. I think they look good enough to eat!

I finally started round 9 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017. I thought it would be complicated, but the pattern was really easy to memorize. It just will take a while to get all the way around!
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Variety is the spice of life!

I try to keep that saying in mind when I become distracted and flit from one activity to another. 😉

The big news for yesterday was that I finally finished round 8 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017! Round 9 looks much more complicated, and interesting. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

I only finished one Ice Drop yesterday. I'm still working with the sample skein of Afternoon Garden by Marilee Rockley. If you've never tried hand-dyed thread, I highly recommend it! There's something about the hand-dying process that makes the thread smoother and nicer to work with.

I started another band on the box loom that Dad made. As you can see, I still seem to pull to the right.  I think that might be why my right side edge is a bit wavy. I wound a longer warp this time. I'll be interested to see if my calculations are correct for the finished length. I'm hoping for a 60" band... no particular reason, just a number I pulled out of the air! I also tried Mom's idea of stretching rubber bands across the two rows of nail heads to keep the warp from popping off when I get close to the end.

Yesterday was sewing class. The girls had hoped to finish the aprons they're making, but making pockets for the aprons turned out to be a bit more time consuming than we had hoped. Next week we'll move on to the straps, and then their aprons will be finished!

Rainy day

I usually get a lot of reading done on rainy days, but today was a tatting day!

I started the day with an Ice Drop, of course! My friend Denise and I went shopping yesterday, and we found some great beads on the clearance wall at Hobby Lobby. I especially liked the colorful little beads that I put on the outside edge of this Ice Drop. The thread is size 20 Flora #216.

The rest of the day was spent finishing round 7 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017. It's now 10 1/4" in diameter. I really am enjoying tatting this doily!

Laundry day

I really enjoy laundry day! I set tatting goals between loads of laundry, and I always manage to accomplish quite a bit.

In the mood for something a little different, I chose my Blue Fudge Ice Drop pattern. The thread is size 20 Flora #216. The glass gem doesn't show up very well in the picture. The domed side has a silver mirror finish.

I actually like the color of the glass gem on the flat back better. It's blue!

My sister-in-law's runner is growing. It's now 6 1/2" x 10 1/2". So, it's about 1/4 finished. The pattern is Eightsome Reel from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. The thread is size 20 Lizbeth #693, Linen Med.

I also worked on round 7 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017. Round 7 has not been posted on the blog yet, but I'm working off the pattern I purchased from her Etsy shop.

I decided to finish my day with another Blue Fudge Ice Drop. This one is in size 20 Lizbeth #124, Spring Garden. I think I see butterflies around a flower! 😄

A chill wind

The wind was blowing from the east today, making the house very chilly... perfect weather for sitting under a blanket and tatting!

I finished round 6 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017. I'm ready for round 7!

I also took time to play with stitch counts for my thinner coin beads. Going back to size 20 Lizbeth, I changed the ring and chain count for the second round only. The chains are 7 ds, which is a little snug. I think I'll try alternating chain counts of 7 and 8. That should give a little extra space without making it too loose. I changed the ring count to 5-6-5. This does seem to be a better fit for these thinner coin beads. However, too much of the pretty bead is still hidden.

I also played with my idea of using a mock ring to show off the entire bead. That did not work well at all! The bead is just too large for it to work well. Still, I'm sure there must be a way to show off these pretty beads while surrounding them with tatting. I think I just don't have enough experience in designing to come up with a plan. Maybe I need to give in and try something with split rings, as Jane has suggested!
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The occasional blogger

That's what I feel like! I get up in the morning and have good intentions for how my day will go, and somehow I get lost in details. The end result... I forget to blog!

Yesterday my new Celtic shuttles from Meng's Crafts came in the mail. I'm looking forward to trying these new beauties!

I did a little experimenting with size 40 thread. Some of the coin beads I purchased are much thinner than the glass gems I've been using. I changed the stitch count for the first round to 5-5-5-5 for the rings and 9-1--1-9 for the chains. For round 2 I changed the ring count to 7-7-7, and the chains to 10. It's a little snug, but I think it the size 40 works better for these thinner beads. The shuttle is one of my new ones from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. Rita's shuttles seem to sell as fast as she posts them. The good news is, she takes orders!

I got a little further with Renulek's Wiosna 2017. Round 6 has now been posted!

Progress! Each square motif in my sister-in-law's runner means progress to me!

I don't see much tatting ahead today. I'm subbing for music, so I will be having fun singing and dancing with little kids! Luckily, they don't care that I'm off key when I sing or that I look goofy dancing. 😊
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Keepin' busy

I've had so much fun the past few days, I forgot to post yesterday!

I've ordered so purchased so many glass gems and coin beads, I can't remember where they came from! I believe this pretty bead was on eBay.

 Yesterday, I finished round 5 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017.

You know my fascination with blue! The thread is size 20 Lizbeth #603, Ecru. I'm not normally a fan of ecru, but I do like the Lizbeth shade.

This morning I started round 6 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017! Round 6 has not been posted on the web site yet. The complete pattern is available in Renulek's Etsy shop. I purchased the pattern when it first became available, because I wanted to be able to keep it in a more condensed version than it would have been if I printed out each individual round. Plus, I like supporting designers!

I know I said I was only going to post pictures of my sister-in-law's runner as I finished rows, but I found that I wasn't taking the time to work on it. So, I think I'll post my progress whenever the mood strikes! 😉

I haven't done any weaving in a while. I was kind of stuck, because I was trying to come up with a neat project. My mom is always coming up with great ideas, and I strive to be just like her! Yesterday afternoon I got to thinking about weaving, and it dawned on me that I really enjoy weaving scarves. I have loads of yarn that I purchased specifically for making scarves. What was I waiting for?

Isn't this a pretty yarn? It's from Hobby Lobby, and I love the way it works up. I'm sure I'll have lots of scarves on hand, and I'm guessing that my family will not be interested in all that I make. So, I'll have to find a home for them. I'm sure I'll find some takers!
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Today...

I worked on Renulek's Wiosna 2017.

After round 4, it is now 6 1/2".

Although I enjoy seeing colorful doilies, there's something about white doilies that I find really attractive!

Peacock options

This weekend was very busy with the high school Drama Club performance of Big Fish. If you have never seen the musical, I highly recommend it!

I did find some time to tat, first by finishing round 3 of Renulek's Wiosna 2017. So far, so good!

I've been exploring different options for the peacock coins that I recently purchased. As suggested by one of the ladies on the Ice Drop Addicts page on Facebook, I tried changing the ring count on round 2 to 3-7-3. Although I like the size of the rings, the opening is actually smaller than with my original stitch count. I do love Wedgewood Dk, but it overwhelms the peacock coin.

Next, I experimented with Edda Guastalla's pattern, the one that got me started on this tatting adventure. I think Edda's pattern shows off the peacock coin better than my Ice Drop pattern.

It looks especially nice on the back side. For this version I used Lizbeth Herbal Garden.

I was pleasantly surprised with the Lizbeth Gold. I think it really makes the colors in the peacock coin pop!

I have some more thread colors I'd like to try and luckily, I have several more peacock coins!
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