Because they're blue!

I didn't need another set of Clover picot gauges, nor did I need any more Clover shuttles. However, when I saw this beautiful blue set, I just had to order it. They came all the way from Japan, and they came very quickly. So, now I have two sets of Clover picot gauges, one in brown and one in blue. I hope they don't come out with any other colors that I just have to have!

A couple of more Ice Drops have been added to my little silver tree.

I used up the spool of 1/8" satin ribbon I had, and I decided to switch to grosgrain ribbon for a different look. I like it!

My progress on this Spinning Wheel glass mat is slow, mainly because I haven't been home much this week. Have I told you how much I love my Rita Richmond shuttles?

Today I received a lovely note from Eliz with this beautiful little snowflake enclosed. I love the block tatting, but I still haven't tried it myself. Now that I have this beautiful example, maybe I'll take the time to give it a try. Thank you, Eliz!

Another thank you goes out to Sherry of Createology. How did she know that I love Swarovski crystals? The bracelet will be the perfect accessory when I dress up for family get-togethers during the holiday season. I plan to use the dragonfly and angel as scissor fobs on my favorite embroidery scissors. Have I told you I collect pretty scissors? Maybe I'll show you my collection some day!

Just one

I had planned on finishing two Ice Drops tonight, but I'm just too tired.

I give a lot of credit to all the p.e. teachers out there. Don't get me wrong. The kids were great! They were well behaved for the most part, and it was obvious that their regular teacher has established a routine that made it very easy for me to carry on. However, the noise in a gym is unbelievable wearing. I was so tired at the end of the day!

Although I enjoyed myself, I'm really hoping no one needs a sub tomorrow. I think I will sleep like someone hit me over the head with a brick. Good night!

Don't laugh too hard!

Tomorrow I'm subbing for one of the p.e. teachers! I am the least likely person to lead a physical education class. I sprained my thumb during a basketball class in high school. I broke my toe walking across a linoleum floor in college. When my girls were in school, I was hit in the face with a basketball and broke my glasses. Dave and I joined a couples volleyball league at church, where I was again hit in the face and broke my glasses. I am uncoordinated and have a very slow reaction time, but I know I will have a great time with the kids tomorrow!

However, with p.e. classes, I know I will not have time to sit and tat. Sigh! I guess I shouldn't have taken the day off today. ;-)

I did manage to tat two more Ice Drops.

I'm not sure if this glass gem is slightly smaller than the others or if I tatted a little more loosely. The bezel tatting is definitely not as snug as it is on the others. Small picots and nice snug tatting is a must for these pieces.

I hope some of you are trying this technique. It really is enjoyable! You can find excellent directions in Edda Guastalla's downloadable file on Etsy. I'll have to keep looking at blogs to see if anyone else is going in the fun!

Dusty blue

I subbed yesterday and today, and since I don't have to plan for lessons during the teacher's plan time, I had time to tat!

This time I'm tatting my Spinning Wheel glass mat (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior) in size 50 Oren Bayan #058. The shuttles are two of my newest from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. They're gorgeous and wonderful to use!

It's been a few days since I've made an Ice Drop. I'm still hoping to have enough to fill my tree by Thanksgiving!

New and improved

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I was not happy with the way my first Cubs Spinning Wheel turned out.

I'm much happier with this one! As I mentioned previously, it did mean that I had to use the shoelace trick after almost every ring and chain. It was worth the extra time and effort.

It might be difficult to see the differences between the two from a picture, but if you were looking at the two side by side, you would be able to easily tell which is the better Spinning Wheel.

I've been given a couple of other ideas that I'd like to try out. Eliz suggested using split rings for the center and then tatting the spokes in the normal way. If I ever manage to get those split rings going, I think it will work well. Muskaan suggested mock rings, something I never would have thought of doing. It's been a while since I've practiced mock rings, so I guess that's another technique I need to work on.

Going for the gold!

It was a beautiful, clear, crisp day here in Illinois. We spent most of the day at daughter Carol's house finishing cutting down the tree that we started on last week. The piles of brush in this picture are what would not fit in Dave's truck today. Unfortunately, brush pickup is over for the year, so it looks like we'll be making multiple trips to Carol's house. I'm sure the village and her neighbors would frown upon piles of brush in her yard until the next pickup in April.

The emerald ash borer completely killed two of her trees, and it looks like the two left in the front yard and the one left in the back yard will have to be taken down next year. Those three will have to be taken down by professionals because of their proximity to Carol's and her neighbors' houses. The trees were so beautiful when Carol moved in five years ago. It's really sad to see them die.

I finished one more Ice Drop before we left for Carol's this morning.

When we finished unloading the truck, I decided to go for the gold!

I really am enjoying choosing beads for embellishing these little gems. When I run out of beads, which won't be any time soon, I may even try some more of Edda Guastalla's ideas!

A different approach

I have been practicing split rings so that I can make a Cubs Spinning Wheel with a split ring center as suggested by Eliz. However, they're just not working for me. I'm determined. I think I just need to get together with my friend Carol and practice her technique, which has worked well for me in the past. Then, I need to practice split rings on a regular basis so that I don't lose what I learn!

Since the split rings aren't working for me, I decided to try using two shuttles wound with red and blue, keeping the red thread inside except for where I need red rings. This approach means that I need to use the shoelace trick after almost every ring and chain. Besides slowing me down a bit, the only problem I can see is little blips of red where I've used the shoelace trick, and I I'm willing to live with that for now!

My Ice Drop tree is almost half full!

I'm hoping to have it filled by Thanksgiving so that I can start sharing these little beauties with friends and family. I think this will be much more fun than Black Friday deals!