Purl and Chain

Mom is going to wear me out! I've been busier since I arrived here than I've been the whole summer! We had a lovely day yesterday. We slept in until 6:10! That's late for both of us! We went to the dining room to get our morning coffee, then went to the courtyard to enjoy our coffee, the fresh air, and the morning breeze. Back in the apartment, we had bagels and fresh blueberries for breakfast... mmmmm! After breakfast we did a little shopping. I love tassels, and there's a place close by that has a wonderful selection of tassels at a reasonable price. Guess what? We bought some stuff! I'm sure those of you who have been reading my blog for a while are totally surprised by that! ; ) Then we went to Shoe Station for a pair of walking shoes for me. I didn't bring mine along (I needed room for precious cargo!), and Mom and I started this morning with a half hour walk on the treadmill. We had the exercise room all to ourselves... I wonder what everyone else was doing at 5:30 this morning? For the last 2 minutes of our walk, we sang... O, a capital ship for an ocean trip was the walloping Window Blind! My sisters Janet and Lisa would understand!

In the afternoon, Mom and I went to her Purl and Chain meeting... a group of ladies who knit and crochet items for fund raisers, hospitals and other health care facilities, and sometimes for themselves. Mom and I chose to take tatting yesterday. Mom decided to try Mary Konior's "Leaf Braid" from Tatting with Visual Patterns.




One of the gifts I gave Mom was a tatting bag. Mine's the one on the left. Of course, Mom's is the one on the right.


Before we left for the meeting, I managed to finish the first silk cross for Monnie's liturgical stole. I'm going to try and finish the three silk crosses by the weekend, then I'll move on to the cotton crosses for Julian's stole.


Bobbie is working on a beautiful ripple afghan in blue and orange. Of course I saw University of Illinois colors, but I was corrected... they're Auburn colors! Live and learn!


Marie is working on a ripple baby blanket. The yarn looks so soft!


Kay is in charge of marketing at Westminster Village, and she brought two boxes of yarn that had been donated for the ladies' use. She'll be organizing an auction for all the items these talented ladies make.


Mom finished this beautiful white afghan the night before the meeting. The pattern is called "Bear Claw" and I think it's beautiful!



We were invited to eat dinner in the dining room with some of the ladies who were not able to attend the meeting, and we had a wonderful time! We watched a movie after dinner, and then we were off to bed! I slept like someone hit me over the head with a brick! I can't wait to see what today brings!

Off to a great start!

I had the most uneventful trip to Alabama that you can imagine, which is a good thing! I was a little nervous, because I'd never flown out of O'Hare by myself before... I always had an experienced traveler with me to guide me through the process. I printed out my boarding pass at a kiosk, and went through security easily. It took me about 15 minutes to get from the front door to my gate! We had the smoothest take-off and landing that I have ever experienced, and we were on time! Mom met me at the front of the airport, and we headed to Olive Garden for lunch... soup and salad!


When we got to Mom's, it was time for her to open her presents... this linen hanky was my special gift to her. The edging is "Marguerite" (uh, oh... I've forgotten which book it's from... I think it's one of Mary Konior's designs), in Sherry Pence's "Pensacola Beach". When Sherry posted this thread, I knew I had to make something special for Mom. Dad's military service was held at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida. We'll probably drive over there the beginning of next week.


This is Sparkle Plenty, who appeared at Mom and Dad's doorstep about 10 years ago. Mom and Dad tried to find Sparkle's owner, and then one day, Mom came home and found paperwork from the vet showing that Sparkle Plenty was up-to-date on all her shots and had been adopted by Mom and Dad. She is the most lovable pooch you can imagine! She jumped in to bed with me twice last night, and I'm not exactly what you'd call an animal lover, but this dog has a special place in my heart!


This is my beautiful mother! She gave up her chair so that I could tat using her Ott Lite. Sparkle didn't quite understand what I was doing in Mom's chair!


Mom chose to frame "Beatrice"... twice! She was very unhappy with the first framing job, and she's still not pleased with this one. Some day she'll take it apart and straighten it out. Mom and I can be very picky when it comes to our needlework!



Mom also framed her bookmark. It's a little thick for the current thriller she's reading, but it does look nice on the wall! This is also destined for re-mounting. I got my eagle eye from Mom!

This afternoon... Purl & Chain Gang! What fun!

Blue on blue...

Oh, wait! That's such a sad song, and I'm far from being sad! I leave for Alabama tomorrow... two weeks with my beautiful, talented mother! Bonus... Tattycat and I will get to meet each other in person! Whoo hoo! Last September I got to meet Yarnplayer at the Harvest Festival. What fun it is to get to meet online tatting buddies in person!

I know I said "Eleonora" was calling to me (in Pamela's "Apple Blossom"), but "Pensacola Beach" kept telling me that since I was headed south, I really needed to use southern-inspired thread. So, I started my second "Beatrice" in "Pensacola Beach" last night. Of course, the shuttle I wanted to use still had some thread on it, so I used it on my favorite single shuttle pattern, "Leaf Braid" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. Then, I changed my mind and decided to use my new shuttle from Grizzly Mountain Arts! I can be so fickle!

So, my tatting bags are almost packed... HDT in silk and cotton for 6 crosses, supplies for "Eleonora" and "Beatrice", supplies for bookmarks, picot gauge, scissors, patterns... I hope I'm not forgetting anything! Now, I guess I'd better look into packing clothes for the trip...

Leftovers

Yes, I've tatted another bookmark! I really like this insertion pattern, and I had some leftover thread on two shuttles that I want to take with me to Alabama. The purple is size 10 Flora, and the pastel is size 20 Rainbow Sherbet (I think) from Sherry Pence. I wanted to see how two different sized threads would work together. I don't think I'll make a practice of combining thread sizes, but it worked for this little bookmark, and it was a good way to use up the thread on the shuttles. I only had about 3" of each thread left when I finished... just enough to hide the ends!

Close, but no cigar!

I knew I wouldn't have enough Citrus LIMON to finish "Cornelia," but I gave it the old college try! I finished using up my last little bit of thread last night. I think this doily is absolutely stunning! In size 20 HDT it will measure about 10" across when I finish it. I guess since I've done all I can at this point, I'm free to start another project! I think I hear "Eleonora" calling my name!

Oh, happy day!

I've received wonderful, inspirational mail yesterday and today! Clockwise, starting at the top... beautiful hand-dyed thread from Pamela Myers and a post card of her university; from Dave and Jo Stanbrough at Grizzly Mountain Arts a beautiful little button basket, necklace, and celluloid tatting shuttle (which I have been longing for... blue is my favorite color); a lovely ceramic shuttle from Sherry Pence aka LadyShuttleMaker (I can see that this one will hold tons of thread); and lusciously bright colors from Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. I think it's time to stop spending and start tatting!

Small round purse

I finished the small round purse from Crochet - made easy by Anne-Lise Hald this morning. It's a gift for a friend, and I made a few minor changes to the pattern. The pattern shows the two circles joined about 3/4 of the way around with an open top. I thought that it would be nice to have a button closure, especially if it will be used as a little purse. The strap called for a crocheted chain, but I wanted something a little more substantial, so I used the pattern for cord #2 from Romanian Point Lace: A Course for Beginners by Sylvia Murariu. When I finished the cord, I thought a little bit of a ruffled edge would look nice, so I sent around the bag one more time.

When it was finished, I thought hmmm... looks like a perfect little tatting bag! So, I put a ball of Coats & Clark's tatting thread and a SewMate shuttle in the picture. I think my friend will really like this bag!