Sophia Jana

Our newest granddaughter was born last night at 7:58. Sophia Jana is 7 lb. 3 oz, and 20", with a full head of hair! We're so excited to have another baby in the family!

I'm making slow progress on the hanky edging. I think I could have finished at least two sides yesterday, but I let myself be distracted with baby updates, shopping for ribbon, lunch with daughter Carol, and a nagging headache.

I do love this edging! It's "Cottage Border" from  A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. I'm using size 30 Anchor Mercer thread that I found on clearance from an Etsy shop. I do love this thread! It has a nice crisp feel, and it tats up beautifully!

Have you seen Schacht's new Zoom Loom? It's an updated version of the Weavette pin loom, made out of plastic, with sloping sizes. I do love my Weavette looms, but they are very hard to find. There are several sites offering these little cuties, but the shipping is $9.95... outrageous! I did find them with $3.95 shipping here. All of the web sites have indicated that they will be available for shipment in April. Some say late April, early May. Anyway, I "pre-ordered" mine, and I have already received a shipping confirmation order. I am very excited! I'll be sure to keep you posted with my thoughts about this new loom!

Pen Pals

When I was a kid, I always wanted a pen pal. Do you remember when you could sign up for a pen pal through Weekly Reader? I know I tried several times, but I never received a pen pal.

Fast forward 50 years, and now I have pen pals! I have wonderful pen pals around the world, and we all have a common love... beautiful lace!

My newest pen pal, Eva, sent me this beautifully embroidered cloth. I can't imagine how many hours it took to make. She also sent some post cards and a lovely letter. Thank you, Eva!

As I was working on my niece's wedding hanky, I realized something was wrong. When I looked carefully, I saw that I left out a 9 ds chain between each motif! I only used it between the first two motifs. I don't think it looks bad, but it's not what I want for my niece. I'll come back to it when I finish her hanky.

I've started the edging again (Cottage Border from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior), and this time I'm not joining the edging as I go. Maybe that will keep me from making mistakes! ;-)

I finished the beaded bag after lunch today. It's now washed and on the blocking board. I'll finish the tasseled drawstring when the bag is dry.

I guess I'd better get back to the hank edging... time's a-wastin'!

Queen-sized Clover vs. SewMate

Melissa asked about the new Clover compared to the SewMate. So...

As you can see, they are basically the same size.

They hold about the same amount of thread, although I think I may be able to wind a few more yards on the Clover.

Do you think there's a difference between plastics? I do, and I prefer the feel of the Clover shuttle. Why is the pick tip on the SewMate so much more lethal than the Clover? I think it may be that the plastic is harder, but I'd be interested in reading the views of others.

I'm beginning to think that my collection of shuttles is very worthwhile! ;-)

Queen-sized Clover ~ a review

 In my last post, Sharren asked about the Queen-sized Clovers. So, here is my review!

From left to right you see my altered Starlit shuttle from La Cossette, the new Queen-sized shuttle from Clover, and the regular sized shuttle from Clover. Although the Queen-sized Clover is 3" long, it does not feel as big in my hand as the Starlit.

You can see that the Starlit has a much deeper space for thread. The Queen-sized Clover holds twice as much thread as the regular Clover. The Starlit shuttle holds twice as much thread as the Queen-sized Clover. I can wind a full skein of hand-dyed thread on a Starlit. The Queen-sized Clover will only hold half a skein. So, if you're looking for a shuttle that will hold more thread, this could be the answer for you.

I have long been a fan of the pick tip on the Clover. No, it's not a hook, but I do pretty well with it. I find the pick tip on the Starlit to be way too long and useless for the way I tat. I do like La Cossette's adaptation with the hook embedded in the end where the pick tip used to reside. I don't mind the size of the Starlit, but I have read that many of you find it to be way to big for your hand. I totally understand. However, the Starlit was a great improvement for me over the Tatsy, which I still use for big projects.

I think the price of the Queen-sized Clovers is ridiculously high. However, I love the color, the feel, and the pick tip, so I didn't mind indulging this time. Will I buy more? Probably... if they come out with more colors! ;-)

Have you seen?

Clover has a new 3" shuttle! When I saw the announcement from Handy Hands, I ordered mine right away. It was a bit pricey, but how could I resist? The package holds two shuttles, a blue and a green. As you can see from the picture, it isn't much larger than the original size, however it does hold twice as much thread. I really like the feel of this shuttle, and I think it could be my new favorite. ;-)

The motif is #2 from Minitats by Patti Duff. the one on the right is a mistake motif. I didn't make my center picot large enough to join a sixth ring, so I settled for 5. It works, but I do prefer the motif with six rings.

Half way around

I've just reached the halfway point on round VI of Doily VI from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. As I was tatting the last ring, I realized that I made a mistake on one small part. I don't think anyone will notice, so I'm just going to leave it. However, if you choose to look closely and figure out my mistake, I will gladly admit it to you!

I had to place an order for more thread today. I wound my shuttles with the last of my Latte Foam this morning, and I know there isn't enough to finish this doily. After all, I still have 2 1/2 rounds to go! Denise and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately, they did not have this color. That didn't stop either one of us from shopping! Denise found several threads that she "needed" to add to her stash. We both bought wooden eggs to decorate. We found some findings in the clearance section, and we each found some fabric we just had to have! When we got back to Denise's, her husband Warren had gone to the bakery and bought pastries for us... coffee and pastry... yum!

She's at it again!

Daughter Joanne has been bugging me about posting on my blog. She reminded me again that I haven't posted since Tuesday. Since her baby is due any day, I guess I should do my best to keep her happy!

I needed something simple to take in the car yesterday, so I decided to once again set a goal of tatting all 69 motifs from Minitats by Patti Duff.

This is #1 in size 20 Lizbeth #149, Peacock Blues. It measures 1 1/2" across.

I'm making progress on the second side of the beaded bag. For those of you who are interested, the pattern can be found in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, a fantastic crochet reference!

I have started the next round of Doily VI from Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. I hope that with having the week off for spring break I'll be able to make more progress with this beautiful doily!