Revisiting Ice Drops

 

All of the reorganizing I've been doing for the past week got me to thinking about Ice Drops. So, I pulled out my pattern book and started with the Basic Ice Drop that got me into tatting with cabochons. This is the original pattern with a chain around the edge of the glass gem.

This is the same pattern without the extra chain. Isn't it strange that they look so different? I have an idea for an Ice Drop tree, and I think I will be using this blue, Lizbeth #704 Sky Blue Med. 

I finished off some St. Patrick's Day gnomes today. Adding the beards takes very little time. These are all for my daughters and grandchildren, but I'm pretty sure I will have some to pass out at school by the time I finish!

Ready to go!

Enough of this sitting around feeling sick! Today I am ready to go! I won't take on any extra duties this week, but I will be happy to get back to my routine of supervising kids eating their lunch. I know my job is pretty mundane, but I like it. Daughter Carol told me that some of the kids have been asking about me. It's kind of nice to be missed!

My big achievement today was to tat a Frivolity Ice Drop. One of the Ice Drop Addicts asked for clarification, and I was happy to oblige. It's been a while since I've tatted this pattern, and I'm glad I took the time to tat it again!

Another one of the Ice Drop Addicts members asked to see the back side. I often forget that the back is just as pretty as the front!

Of course checking out Facebook meant that I also spent quite a bit of time checking up on blogs. Boy, am I behind! I don't think I have time to read AND comment on everything that's happened in the past week and a half. Please don't be offended if I haven't responded to one of your comments or haven't commented on your blog posts. There just isn't enough time in my day!

After dinner, I managed to tat a basic Ice Drop. My table for Christmas in the Village is going to be very sparse this year. I guess that happens when you give all your tatting away!

Switching to 20

I finished edging the hanky with size 10 Wedgewood Dk, and I think I'm going to leave it as it is for now. I haven't found a needle lace edging that I like to go with it, and I don't think the size 10 thread really works for a hanky.

This morning I decided to switch to size 20 Garden Afternoon hand-dyed thread from my friend Marilee Rockley. I figured this would be good practice for future projects. My plan is to add a tatted edging once I finish the needle lace round. I've crocheted around a hanky before adding a tatted edge, so it will be interesting to see how this looks in comparison when finished.

It's Spirit Week at school, which means lots of extra activity. In turn, that means little time for tatting while supervising. Still, I managed to tat another Ice Drop today!

Ooh!

Look what came in the mail today! This is my new silver shuttle from Lorraine Kolasa, and I love it! I chose the hammered finish with a pick, and I can hardly wait to try it out!

Now that I've given you my exciting news for the day, I'll get on to what I've accomplished. 😄

We had a lot going on over the weekend, but I did manage to tat an Ice Drop yesterday.

I also finished another bookmark. I haven't tired of Mary Konior's Curds & Whey pattern yet. I'm really feeling the urge to tat it in size 80 thread!

I decided to do some fall cleaning this morning, which really cut in to my tatting time. Sometimes I just have to make the choice to set my tatting aside. If I were wealthy, I could have a full time cook and maid so that I could tat full time!

The gem for this Ice Drop is slightly larger than the gems I usually use. I tried using it for the Ice Drop I tatted yesterday, but it was way too big. The only adjustment I made was to increase the size of my picots on the encasement round. It worked out perfectly!

Little bits

The day kind of got away from me again. I spoke with three of my four daughters early this morning. After breakfast, some friends stopped by for a short visit. Then I called Mom. I did a little bit of housework, and before I knew it, it was time to fix lunch!

I really thought I'd get a lot of tatting done today, but I didn't. It took me all afternoon to finish one Ice Drop.

I was going to tat another, but I didn't have as much thread on the shuttle as I thought I did. I rewound my shuttle and started again, but this time I didn't have enough ball thread left. I used what was left on my shuttle to practice Mary Konior's Curds & Whey.

So, I didn't get as much done as I thought I would, but I did have an enjoyable day!

Sub day

I subbed in third grade today, and I really enjoyed myself. The teacher had great lesson plans. The kids were well behaved. The only down side was that it interfered with my tatting time!

Luckily, I wasn't sleepy after blogging last night. I was able to start the next motif for Lagniappe, and I was able to finish that motif tonight. I only have one more to tat before moving on to the blue thread I've chosen!

I started an Ice Drop before school, and I finished it after school. I have one tree filled with colorful Ice Drops. Now I want to focus on white ones. The glass gems can be of different colors, but I'm going to try and stay away from colors for a while.

Ooh! There's a skein of hand-dyed thread on the table! Maybe I should stick to colors!

Laziness?

I could have blogged last night. I had plenty of time. While taking my morning shower, I kept thinking about not blogging. Why didn't I? Was it laziness? Nope. I just didn't feel like blogging. I seem to have more and more days like that. I'm not thinking of giving it up. I would miss all of the connections I have made with people of like minds through this intriguing method of communication. I just have more interest in tatting, knitting, crocheting, weaving, and reading than anything electronic. I even find that I'm watching less and less t.v. Peace and quiet suits me fine!

The requests for bookmarks for Harry Potter club members continues. I am thrilled to be able to share tatting with high school students. I love the way they study the bookmarks when they receive them. I can tell they are fascinated with the detail. I'm glad I've developed a rhythm tatting Curds & Whey, as it seems to be the favored pattern!

My Ice Drop tree is finally starting to look full! I'm almost finished with the hand-dyed thread from Karey Solomon. I think I may go to white when I'm finished with this hand-dyed thread. I love the colorful Ice Drops, but with white I can choose any glass gem I like and not worry about it going with the thread!

I took the time to block my crocheted snowflakes yesterday. They look much better pinned out! Do you see the wonky red one on the left? I was using up thread on a floss bobbin and ran out. I have an idea for a broken snowflake collage. I'll let you know if my idea pans out!

Yesterday

It's that time of year again... allergy season! I feel like I go through a box of tissues each day. I don't, but it feels like it.

The yard cleanup continues. Dave cleared out some bushes that had been damaged by the storm a month ago. We didn't realize how much undergrowth there was until he pulled the bushes out. Our back yard is looking much more open.

I spent about an hour crocheting snowflakes yesterday. I gave them each a shot of steam, but they need to be blocked properly, something I was not in the mood to do yesterday.

I'm thinking of crocheting three colors: cranberry, gold, and white. This is Barber.

This one is called Stellar Crystal. In the book, the spokes are more rounded. I think it looks more like a crystal with the spokes pulled out straight.

This little cutie is called Frost. I definitely need to do some adjusting with this one!

The last one for the day is called Spring Snow. After looking at the individual pictures, I'm ready to pull out my blocking mats!

Since I had the ball of white crochet cotton out, I decided to tat Curds & Whey in white. I thought the white thread felt thicker than the other crochet cottons I had used recently, and I was right. I've been tatting eight pattern repeats, and I only had room for seven in the white.

I'm amazed that I still have some of Karey Solomon's hand-dyed thread left. I think the gold is my favorite glass gem with this thread.

I finished the St. Louis Cathedral Spires section of Lagniappe by Mike Lyon. I love the way this pattern flows!

Busy day

There was plenty to do around the house today, but I made sure I had plenty of time for tatting.

My bookmark collection is growing! This Curds & Whey (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior) bookmark is in size 10 crochet cotton from my stash.

Since I had the thread at hand, I decided to crochet a snowflake. I do prefer tatted snowflakes, but I can crochet this pattern in about 15 minutes. A tatted snowflake would take much longer. I'm planning on having a table at Christmas in the Village, and it would be nice to have a collection of snowflakes to offer, both in white and in a variety of colors.

This snowflake is called Barber from 100 Snowflakes to Crochet by Caitlin Sainio. I've had the book for quite a while, so I decided it was time to put it to use!

I'm still working on the same skein of hand-dyed thread from Karey Solomon. I'm amazed at how many Ice Drops I've tatted from one skein!

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! 

Bit by bit

It seems like I'm doing everything in bits lately, and I'm okay with that. I like the variety that makes up my life right now.

My Mud Cloth Inspired Throw is growing. I seem to get so much more accomplished when I have a goal in mind, and my goal is to finish this by the end of September.

I did much better with my take-along tatting today. I actually finished this in one day!

Two more down

Dave was out bright and early this morning, and he was able to take down the two trees he was most concerned about. Now that they're down on the ground, he's off to take care of other projects that need attention... finishing the second chicken coop, harvesting onions and potatoes, and fencing in another area for the chickens. The projects are never-ending!

I did fry up his duck egg for breakfast. It wasn't any ordinary duck egg; it was a double yolk duck egg! Dave didn't make any comment, which meant it tasted like an egg. I really didn't expect anything different!

While looking at patterns the other day, I came across Happy Occhi by Petra Tornack-Zimmermann, a book I purchased when it was published in 2012. I haven't looked at it in ages, let alone tat anything from it.

I decided to remedy that situation, and this morning I tatted Josephina. Don't look too closely. You'll see that at least three of my Josephine rings are less than stellar. The next time I tat this tiny motif (it's only 1" square), I think I'll use a lighter colored thread so that I can see my mistakes before closing the ring. The book is in German, but using my iPhone and Google Translate, I was able to read all of the instructions. I didn't really need to read the instructions, because the diagrams are very clear.

I haven't worked on my Eightsome Reel mat (pattern by Mary Konior) in a few days, so that was next on my to-do list. I ordered some more of Marilee Rockley's size 20 Lantana Citrus. I don't want to take any chances on running out!

I like to keep a tatting project in my purse, and lately that project has been Ice Drops. I know that once everything settles down at school I'll be able to accomplish quite a bit while I'm supervising students. This week, however, I didn't even complete one Ice Drop. So, I finished it up today. Blue and white makes me happy. What color combinations make you happy?

Just ducky

Dave brought in his first duck egg this morning! You should have seen the smile on his face. Guess what he's having for breakfast tomorrow?

I was doing a little straightening up this morning, and I found another Ice Drop in need of a ribbon. I guess I was careless about finishing while Joanne and the grandkids were here.

Today's Ice Drop is the basic pattern with three picots. I really do like tatting the basic Ice Drop.

When I got home from school today, I decided I needed to work on my Mud Cloth Inspired Throw, which is a free pattern from Red Heart. I hope to finish this in time for the annual Mean Green Goes Pink night in October. I should be able to if I work on it a little each day.

While I finished walking my 10,000 steps for the day, Dave worked on taking down the tree that was most likely to fall on the house if another storm should come through. The high branches are almost all down. There's one left to come down, but it got too dark for him to see. After that, the rest of the tree should be fairly easy to take down. I guess he'll need that duck egg for energy tomorrow!