Found!

I went to school early this morning, and sure enough, I had left my knitting in the 5th grade classroom. Whew!

I didn't really think my knitting was lost, but there were a few minutes of panic when I couldn't find my bag!

Alison's waffle stitch afghan was my focus for the weekend. This shot is of three skeins of yarn completed for a total of 26". I also used a good bit of the fourth skein, but I haven't bothered taking a picture yet.

It was back to Doodle Ice Drops today! I want to send off some for Mom's lunch bunch in time for St. Patrick's Day. Guess what I'll be working on this week?

Today was a great day for collecting mail! This is my latest pyrography doodle art shuttle from Dave Stanbrough of Grizzly Mountain Arts. I was also thrilled to purchase one of his picot hooks (a fine crochet hook set in in a beautiful turned wood handle). I love working with beautiful tools!

Two beautiful new brass shuttles arrived in the mail today. These are from Lorraine Kolasa, an artist in Michigan. I've been eagerly awaiting the listing of these shuttles ever since Lorraine posted about them on Facebook. They're available in both a smooth and a hammered finish, with our without a pick tip. They're also available from Lisa Adams at Tatting Corner. It's nice to have options!

The packaging is wonderful. The shuttles are tied in place so they can't shift around in the shipping process. A plastic bag with a wooden dowel is included, along with instructions on shuttle care and how to loosen or tighten the tips using the piece of dowel. Lorraine suggests storing the shuttle in the plastic bag if it isn't going to be used for a while. The plastic bag will help reduce tarnishing.

Of course I started winding thread on to one of the shuttles right away! I decided to start with the one with the pick, because I find picks very helpful when I have to retro-tat. :-)

I like the way the tips flair, and the shuttle was very easy to wind. I've only tatted a couple of rings so far, but so far I really like this shuttle!

Brrr, chickie dog!

That's what daughter Carol says when it's cold out, and it was very cold when we got up this morning... -20℉. I was very happy to stay indoors all day long!

I tatted "Helen" from Twenty to Make: Tatted Snowflakes by Jennifer Williams, this time with beads. There are supposed to be beads at the join of the chain and the rings on round one, but I couldn't bake it work, so I gave up. I'm not sure if I could make this work as an Ice Drop, but I may give it a try all the same.

My fingers sure don't like this cold, so I found it easier to work with yarn today. Unfortunately, I have a hard time counting, and I had to unknit three rows to get my stitch count right. Just think, I could have finished another pattern repeat today!

Did you notice Dave's afghan over my legs? I figured he wouldn't mind since he was at work. :-)

I received an extra special shuttle from Grizzly Mountain Arts yesterday. Who wouldn't love to have a beautiful shuttle with her initial engraved in the wood?

As a bonus, the back has pyrography as well! Isn't it gorgeous? Naturally, I needed to tat an Ice Drop for each side of the shuttle!

I'm making slow progress with Alison's waffle stitch afghan, but I am making progress! I switched to my silver/white polar fleece blanket when I started tatting. It made a better background for tatting.

I put my spinning wheel back together today. Grandson Janko was fascinated by all the things that could be taken off, and so he methodically took off all the parts he could. Luckily, nothing was lost! I look forward to the day when he can take it apart and then put it back together. I'll have to be patient, though. He is only three!