Baiduri

School starts Monday, and I've been there getting ready for the new school year this week. I love the start of school! The kids are enthusiastic about returning. The building is clean and shiny. Smiles are everywhere!

However, the start of the new school year means less time for tatting. I haven't accomplished nearly as much as I would have liked this summer, but I feel like I have been keeping a slow and steady pace.

This morning I finished Baiduri from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. I love this pattern! As I was  steaming it, I saw two twisted picots, and some of my chains don't lie right. I guess this one will need to  be properly blocked so that I can be happy with it... not a big deal, just one more thing to add to my "to do" list. :-)

Almas

My snowflake interest continues with Almas from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. Right now I'm using size 20 Lizbeth, but I can't help wondering how these snowflakes would look in size 40, 80, or even quilting thread. I'm determined to use up this ball of size 20 before moving on to a different thread, so I guess my mind will just have to wander for a while!

Snip. Snip. Knit

Maybe I was distracted by thoughts of Stitches Midwest. Maybe I was too involved in watching Wild at Heart. Whatever was going on, my tatting suffered.

A missed join... snip...

a ring with too many sections... snip...

so I picked up my scarf and knit! It's coming along. I'm not quite half way through, but I have a few months until I really need a scarf.

Yesterday I went to Stitches Midwest with Mom, Alison, and Eva. We had a great time! Alison showed tremendous self-control and only collected business cards.

Great-grandma Green bought Eva a beautiful silk chiffon scarf, and I bought her first circular needles, Addi Turbo size 7 (my favorite knitting needles). Eva made a quick cowl with a Read Heart yarn that I hadn't heard of. Alison bought her a skein of the yarn in purple, which Eva plans to use to make cowls for her friends... no knitting involved... cut off a section of yarn, roll up like you would a pair of nylons, stretch the ring to the size you like. Eva loved it!

Mom and I exhibited great self-control as well. Mom bought two books, several balls of yarn on sale, and a kit or two. Mom bought me a couple of kits,

one for a cowl

and one for some fingerless mitts.

I purchased a beautiful cake of hand-painted yarn, which I probably would have passed up if I had asked the price first. Of course, I had to have the perfect pattern to go with the yarn!

I also found a gorgeous square shawl pattern. The sample was done in silk, which I passed up. I love the feel of silk, but I don't like the smell of it...

and I had found this gorgeous lace weight yarn at the very first booth we visited. Shhh! Don't tell the guy in the kilt who sold me the pattern!

We spent some time talking with a man who invented a machine to wrap "ugly" yarns with pretty yarns. It was fascinating to watch the machine at work, and yes, he was selling the machine. I was able to pass it up, because I don't have the room for such a machine... or the interest! Mom and I searched through his stash to find wrapped yarns that appealed to us, and Mom was even able to purchase a partial cone of a beautiful blue yarn (yes, she beat me to the punch), which she plans to use for weaving.

I was thrilled to learn that there is now an iPad/iPhone app for The Knitters Handbook, one of my favorite reference books. The app is only $1.99, and now I have video at my fingertips. Yes, I know there are plenty of YouTube videos, but I've spent $1.99 much more frivolously.

My mind is still reeling with visions of beautiful lace and luscious yarns! It was a great way to spend the day, and I'm so glad that the focus this year was lace!

Adan

I must be in the mood for white snowflakes!

Adan is the second pattern in Jon Yusoff's Elegant Tatting Gems. 

I don't think I'll ever make it to Tatting Marie's number of snowflakes. If I remember correctly, she has made approximately 2,000, and there were more than 900 on her Christmas tree last year. That's a blizzard!

Looking back to that Christmas season post, I can see that I have tatted white snowflakes. Who knew? ;-)

Welcoming guests!

Today we had some very special guests at our Tollway Tatters meeting... my mom, my sister, and Tatting Marie!

Janet and Mom don't tat, but they did come spend about an hour with us. It was so nice to have them meet some of my tatting friends!

Mom and Marie chatted for a while, and since they both retired to the Deep South after living in the Midwest, I'm sure they have a lot in common.

Marie brought along some of her gorgeous tatting to show us. Apparently she loves Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel glass mat as much as I do!

Isn't this one of the most stunning doilies you've ever seen?

Marie had lots of tatted jewelry with her. Each and every piece inspires me!

I brought along my collection of Sulky threads, and Barb, Marie, and Marilee chose to wind off some of their favorite colors.

Marie spent time helping Marilee and Sue Anna learn Clunies. The picture I took with Sue Anna didn't turn out. It was dark and blurry... sorry girls!

Alison worked on a shrug she started to knit a couple of years ago.

Eva took knitting lessons from Great-grandma Green.

I was bold enough to ask a man to take a picture of us when he finished his lunch. Look at Marilee peeking at us between Janet and Sue Anna!

Marie gave each of us a colorful little bag with a tatted motif stitched onto it. Inside, we each found a bookmark with an explanation of the symbolism, a beautiful Cluny snowflake, and a sand dollar. She also gave us each a printout of the legend of the sand dollar. Right before Mom and Janet left, Marie had us each choose an egg with a tatted sand dollar attached. Inside was a piece of paper. All but one of us had a picture of a sand dollar inside. Alison had a blank piece of paper, which meant she won a special prize... a real sand dollar!

Thank you, Marie! Your generosity is astounding, and I know I can speak for all of us when I say it was a great joy to meet you and spend the day with you! I sincerely hope that you can join us again, and that maybe next time all of the Tollway Tatters will have the chance to meet you!

Adiratna

It was hot and humid today, so when I returned from a morning of working at school, I decided to tat a snowflake.

"Adiratna" is from Elegant Tatting Gems by Jon Yusoff. I was so flattered when Jon asked me to test tat patterns for this book a couple of years ago, and I do love every single snowflake. I've lost track of how many snowflakes I've tatted from this book, but I know I haven't tatted them all, and I'm pretty sure I've never tatted any of them in white... what a strange concept... a white snowflake! ;-)

Winding down

I can't believe that my summer is almost at an end. It has been wonderful, but it has just zipped by.

Joanne, Jan, and Sophia headed home to Minnesota on Sunday. We took Mom up to my sister's house on Sunday. I am very lucky to have been able to spend so much time with my family this summer!

Mom and I were looking through her Handwoven magazine, and I saw that Schacht now makes a floor stand for the Cricket loom. Mom bought one for me and it arrived yesterday. It was very easy to put together. I did have to have Dave drill holes in the loom, but a template came with it, so it didn't take him long. I plan on warping it today. Thank you, Mom!

I finished Sophia's doily this morning. I love the way it turned out! The edging pattern is "Butterflies" from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. The fabric center is about 8 1/4". With the edging, the doily is about 10 1/4". I used size 20 Lizbeth, #119, Jelly Bean... perfect for a little girl! I chose to attach the edging with crochet, as Frivole has done with some of her hankies. I'm so glad I used this method. I found that by the time I reached the end of the doily that I had left too many spaces between the butterflies, and I needed two more butterflies to finish. It was so easy to pull out the crochet and rejoin. Thanks for sharing your idea and method, Frivole!

I didn't measure the thread to see how much I used, but I did fill my large Clover shuttle two times to complete the doily. This is how much thread I had left on the shuttle... talk about cutting it close!

My next big project is to pack my tatting bag for our Tollway Tatters meeting this Thursday. We're going to have a special guest, and I want to be sure and bring along some of my favorite items to show everyone, including my two newest tatting books and my newest Grizzly Mountain Arts shuttle. I anticipate a wonderful day!

School starts two weeks from yesterday. I've started working on lesson plans, even though I have no idea of how many sections I'll have of each grade or what my schedule will be. I love getting ready for a new school year!