Liz Metallic Mocha Brown

I am enjoying trying out these new metallic threads. Today's offering is Mocha Brown. I never would have thought of using brown for a metallic thread.

It looks pretty good! Of course I used another pretty shuttle from LaCossette! 😄

I finally warped my new Gilmore Mini Wave Loom. After I finished, I told Mom that I couldn't believe I made such a big deal out of it. Now that I know what I'm doing, the whole process will go much more smoothly next time.

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and cleaning up a sewing machine I found on eBay. It had quite a bit of sticky tape residue, and I'm still trying to get it all off. There are lots of scratches and nicks in it, but I'm having fun. I haven't tried running it yet. That will happen after I finish cleaning it. I sure hope it works!

Liz Metallic Iridescent

You guessed it... I played with another metallic thread today!

I think this thread is really pretty, but I found it a little more difficult to work with than the other Liz Metallics. It seemed bumpier to me. Maybe my fingers are just sore from working with metallics. I do like the look, and I think it makes a great Ice Drop. As you can see, I used another beautiful shuttle from LaCossette.

While bobbin shuttles are not my go-to shuttles, I do enjoy using them with the metallic threads. My main reason for not using bobbin shuttles is that I feel I can wind so much more thread on a post shuttle. However, since Ice Drops take from 3 - 5 yards of thread on the shuttle, I find the bobbin shuttles to be very convenient!

I finally finished round 8 of Renulek's Wiosna 2018! It did cup a little, but a quick shot of steam from the iron set everything right. On to round 9!

Liz Metallic Gold Dust

Have you guessed that I'm trying out all of my new metallic threads? Since I'm multi-crafting these days, an Ice Drop a day is a great way to keep tatting on my mind!

I'm sticking with the basic Ice Drop pattern for these tests. I do love Gold Dust! The shuttle is another of my beauties from LaCossette. She has a beautiful Red Glass Tiles shuttle in her shop, but I'll have to pay all my bills at the first of the month before ordering another shuttle. I'm trying to be good! 😉

I made pretty good progress on round 8 of Renulek's Wiosna 2018. It's all about setting goals for myself!

I didn't spend as much time on the phone today, and my rounds are getting longer, so it doesn't look like I made much progress on my Granny Square afghan. I'm using Lion Brand Mandala. It's kind of nice to have color changes without having to change yarns!

Today I learned how to use my mini warping reel from The Woolery. It's about time! I've had this for a couple of years. The design of the ones available now are slightly different. I've only used warping pegs before today, and I'm so glad Mom kept encouraging me to try my warping reel. It's so fast!

I've put the warp on the loom, but it's not threaded through the heddles yet. For some reason, I had a terrible time understanding how to use the reel and how to put the warp on the loom. I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out both, but it took a morning and an afternoon call to Mom to finally put two and two together. I'm afraid of messing up because I'm brain weary from all the thinking I've done today. So, threading the loom will have to wait until morning when I'm sure my brain fog will have cleared!

Liz Metallic Violet

I had a lot that I wanted to accomplish today, so I set little goals for myself. As a result, I accomplished a lot!

First, I wanted to experiment with another color of Liz Metallic.

I love this color! Violet is a beautiful, deep purple. I wish the color and sparkle showed up well on the screen. My tatting was a little off today, so I noticed some uneven stitches as I was adding the ribbon. That's totally my fault, not the fault of the thread.

I used my newest shuttle from La Cossette. I love the bright colors! I've read that other tatters prefer to use a bobbin shuttle when working with metallic threads, so I decided I should give it a try. I can see where winding and unwinding the thread could damage these threads. I'm happy to report that this shuttle was a perfect fit for working with Liz Metallic.

Talking to my daughters, my mom, and a few close friends is part of my daily routine. I don't talk to all of them every day, but I do spend enough time on the phone that it would be easy for me to feel guilty about wasted time. So, I worked on my granny square afghan while chatting. It's an easy way to make progress!

I'm starting to feel like I'm falling behind on Renulek's Wiosna 2018, so I spent a good hour and a half with it today. Just think, I could have been finished with round 9 if I hadn't snipped of round 8. It's okay, though. I'm much happier with the way the round is fitting the second time around.

I made a meat pie for dinner, and while it was baking, I worked on my Park Avenue afghan. I feel like this one's working up quickly!

In addition to all of this, I went to a retiree's lunch today. It's great to get together with people I worked with for so many years. After that, daughter Carol and I went grocery shopping, and then I headed home. I think I may fall asleep in my chair tonight!

Liz Metallic Turquoise Green

My new thread arrived today! I'll start by saying that I'm not a big fan of metallic threads, mainly because they hurt my fingers. This thread is not an exception to the rule as far as that goes. However, it is an incredibly nice metallic thread, and I do plan on tatting many Ice Drops with it!

I decided to start with a basic Ice Drop. I'm not sure if this thread will work well with multiple picots. Time will tell. Yes, I will try tatting one with lots of picots!

I think this thread would be great for those who like to tat earrings. It holds its shape well, and the colors are very rich. I wish I knew how to capture the color with my phone camera!

As I was tatting with Turquoise Green, I kept thinking that it would make a beautiful peacock. 😀

I finished the half of the first panel of my Park Avenue afghan. While working on it, I started thinking about granny squares, and look what happened! Yes, I am multi-tasking again!

Binging on crochet

This weekend Dave has been busy working on our bathroom, a project he started about a year ago. I'm his errand girl, and I figured it would be easier to work on a crochet project than a tatting project. I was right!

This is Virus Meets Granny Shawl from Fiber Spider on YouTube. I really like the way this video tutorial is presented. It's divided into three parts. The first part walks you through the virus pattern. The second part shows you how to transition into the granny portion. The third portion shows how to transition back into the virus pattern. I used one ball of Lion Brand Yarn Mandala in the Gnome colorway. Denise told me that some of the colors are on clearance at our Walmart for $3 a ball... such a deal!

I finally finished the last of the three pink Ice Drops I worked on while subbing Friday. I was so determined to finish the shawl this weekend, I didn't tat at all yesterday. That doesn't happen very often.

More than ten years ago, I stumbled upon a clearance sale of Lion Brand Wool-Ease. I love Wool-Ease! My plan was to crochet afghans for family members. It never happened. Today I decided it was time to start on my afghan project. I need to either use my yarn stash or give it up. It does me no good sitting in bins.

This is my all-time-favorite afghan pattern, Park Avenue. I'll crochet six panels in this color, Wood. I'll then add borders in another color and join the panels.

I purchased this book when it came out in 1996. There is a child's sweater in the book that I made years ago. Otherwise, the only pattern I've ever used is Park Avenue. Maybe I should give some of the others a try!

More pink picots

Today was a sub day, and the easiest thing for me to work on while supervising high school kids is the basic Ice Drop pattern. Playing with picots can be so much fun!

Dave need to go to Menards for some wood pellets, and while we were gone the UPS man delivered a very special package!

This is my new Gilmore Mini Wave Loom, a present from my mom! Mom has had hers for a while now, and she just loves it. When she found out I was interested, she ordered one for me. I think I have the best mom in the world!

It's too dark to warp it now, but there should be plenty of light tomorrow! Mom sent me some pictures showing how she warps her loom to help me get started. I'm ready to weave some bands!

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