Stitching 'n' Knitting

Blocking!

2012-01-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

I finished my Sothia Shawl. I did use the rust colored Socks that Rock yarn for the accent color and it looks lovely. I decided not to knit it on the edge as well as the eyelet row so the rest is all the coral color. It's bigger than I expected it to be. After it dries, I'll take pics of it in action.

Faithful sidekick helped me - she always helps me with whatever it is I have to do.

Tomorrow, pics of the Sothia off the floor and maybe pics of the tatting I've been doing.

Teresa

Taming Tatting Shuttles?

2012-01-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Since my shuttle collection is increasing, I had to find a new place to keep it. It was just November when I put them all in a tackle logic case (see it here). The thing that worried me about it was the soft sides and the fact that it was getting overstuffed. I was afraid some of my shuttles would get squished and break - especially the wood and ceramic ones. So I looked online and in stores and here and there. I found this little goodie in Target.

The individual bins come apart and the bottom one has these two little dividers with individual compartments in them. Each of the two has it's own lid. I bought one set of the Medium size snap ware and then looked online for additional divided compartments. It seems that they do make them and Joann's used to carry them but I couldn't find anywhere that currently carries them. I emailed the manufacturer and they never answered me so I just went back to Target and bought another full set thinking that I could use the storage elsewhere.

I figured out that if I put one of the divided compartment things in any box then the other half is just a bigger compartment. Since I have tons of unblinded sew mate and clover shuttles, they can all go in one large compartment. So can all those old metal ones with bobbins (except the one that was Mom's) and there are two wooden shuttles that are too big for the smaller compartments - the ends don't close so I don't use them much anyway.

One tub without compartments is perfect for the tatting in progress and upcoming project thread.

And then, since I had all the extra tubs, I put some of the thread that I think I will be using soon (or that I had planned to use around Christmas) in a tub. They will really hold quite a bit - this one would hold more if the balls weren't in their bags and were placed in neat rows and columns.

The cool thing is that since this is snap ware, I can snap as many or as few as I want or need together. If we are going to the beach, I can take the work-in-progress, extra thread and one or more of the extra shuttle tubs, snap them together and head on out the door!

And the work-in-progress tub fits nicely down the side of my knitting bag so it can go along with me in case I decide

I'd Rather Be Tatting!

Teresa

Can I drive?

2012-01-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Ha!

2012-01-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at the Butterfly Heart from Frivole's diagram. I was doing just fine but I got used to tatting the joining picots small for later joins and just carried that on to the second side where I actually needed to be joining them as I tatted them. So the second side is laying nicely in the scan but those rings are not actually joined to each other. I also ran out of thread on the B shuttle - but now I know how much I need to put on each shuttle.

The really exciting news here though is that my darling daughter - That Other Girl, the techie daughter - has managed something nobody else has been able to manage. She got the scanner that Mom gave me several years ago to work on the old Dell computer (the nine year old computer that I replaced with a Mac but still hold onto because there are things it will do that no other computer will do). Even Crazy Cousin Jon tried to hook up the scanner and couldn't get it to work.

So now I can scan my tatting!!! Seriously cool. Of course, the scanner doesn't work well, and there are NO bells and whistles - you get what you get. But I have a scanner. (I might have to consider buying a newer model that actually works and has options.) Right now I think I'm going to go load my pretty new shuttles with some more pink thread and try this heart again!

Teresa

You snooze you lose - Get with it Girl

2012-01-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

Tatting Shuttle Tuesday

2012-01-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, I still plan to get some tatting done today but when this box arrived in the mail . . . well, I just had to open it right away. These are my beautiful new shuttles.

The one on the left (one side in each picture) is ripple shell veneer over wood. It's much prettier in person than these photos because it was very difficult to photograph. The center shuttle is paua shell veneer over wood. The one on the far right is paua shell - not veneer, the blades are paua through and through. It feels like glass. All three are absolutely gorgeous in person. The center one is large - 2 3/4" long and will hold a lot of thread. These are going to be fun to tat with - starting today!

These three are from the same maker - from left to right: Zebra wood, Curly Bubinga and Macassar Ebony. The grain on each of them is spectacular and I fell in love with them. They are smooth and warm in my hands. The zebra wood is the largest, again at 2 3/4". I might share some of these with girls . . . maybe.

The maker calls this one a 'figure eight' flat shuttle and it is made out of dymondwood. That Other Girl was looking over my shoulder when I was buying these and there was one she wanted. It turns out that this wasn't the one she wanted, but after saying it once, she refused to tell me again so I guessed (wrong). She says she likes it just as much anyway.

This is made out of Mahogany with an inlay stripe with two other woods. I think it is beautiful and very well made.

I love these new additions to my shuttle collection. Now I have to go wind some thread on several of them and get tatting!

Teresa

Decided!

2012-01-16T14:35:00.002-07:00

Thanks so much for all the opinions. I agree with everyone. Any of those colors would look great, but I went with the rust and really love it. I'm nearly done but so far from done at the same time. Each row now has about 700 stitches and I have one more increase row and then a small section after that. I think it is going to look great when it gets done - and it needs to get done because I need to knit sleeves on my blue sweater.

Tomorrow is tatting day though - because I've been knitting and not tatting for a while. I've already printed out a bunch of patterns - something easy and maybe something a little more challenging.

This is my daphne odora bush - it's actually two bushes, but the small one is sort of behind the big one. This baby is more than waist high - 3 1/2 feet tall or more and wider than it is tall. I've only ever seen one other that was this big. It's absolutely covered with buds and when they all open, my entire back yard is going to smell divine! I can't wait (wish I could capture the smell to share).

Bad closeup of open flowers . . . I'll do better another day.

Success

2012-01-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

I am very proud of myself. 99% of this was done with a broken ankle.

But I did it.

Opinions please?

2012-01-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

This is the shawl that both Dena and I are knitting right now. We decided during a phone call today that we want an accent color between the two sections. So, That Other Girl and I went digging through my stash and found six hanks of yarn that might work. We quickly narrowed it down to three colors but we disagree on which should be The One. What do you think?

Gray

Pale Sage Green

Rust

That Was The Week That Was

2012-01-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

My hubby took time off work to help me get a bunch of stuff done around the house. I am sure some things got done but nothing that was on the list.

Bedroom painted - not quite

Bathroom painted - not even

Bathroom fixtures, mirrors, lights replaced - well we did look at a couple of stores to see what we wanted

Kitchen cabinets redone - move everything off the top shelves that I can't reach - no way

Go through closets and purge LOTS - door didn't even get opened

So what did get done? Here is a video of hubby working hard. This is what he accomplished the first day.

The next day we did go get a ton of hay. The alpaca have a new best friend.

And this is what hubby did the third day - repeat of first day but it won't let me load another video

The fourth and fifth days were appointments all day long but he still found time to make the dogs jump on me by holding their toys over my head. Here I have left but they continued on.

So on the sixth day we went to find a girlfriend for Quackers. Here is hubby and his friends Quackers and Henrietta. I was told that they were my ducks but I have my suspicions.

Hubby is back at work and I can get some things taken care of. It seems to be easier without all of his help.

Dena

Special Scarves

2012-01-09T10:51:00.002-07:00

In 2009 the folks in Boise, Idaho wanted to provide a welcome gift to the athletes participating in the Special Olympics held there. A call went out to knitters across the country and scarves started pouring in - they asked for 5000 and got nearly 60,000 from all over the world. Red Heart has sponsored the Special Olympics Scarf Project ever since. That Other Girl's school textile club chose this for one of their community service projects and these two scarves are my contribution.

This is the table with the rest of the scarves that were donated on it. The kids in the textile club did pretty good!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

2012-01-01T14:55:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year to all our Friends and Family and all our blogging friends!

Girl Far From Home's birthday cyclamen is blooming - Mom used to love cyclamens so this photo is for her. (I love them too.)

Got up this morning and came down to the kitchen to find Dad making a New Year's Breakfast Feast for everyone. Yum!

Along with a new year, we get a new craft. Girl Far From Home picked out these fabrics when she went to the fabric store with me to get thread (just thread, didn't need more fabric).

She wanted me to make these for her. The one is flat and the other is Almost but Not Quite an origami bag. She already stole the first origami bag, this she wanted to hold something else. It was actually easier to make because it didn't need a drawstring or the channel it goes in.

Shortly after she snatched the first origami bag, she bought herself a new bible. Unfortunately, her new bible has a paper cover that isn't very sturdy so she wanted to protect it. It almost fit in the origami bag and she thought a similar cover would be perfect. So we made one - you can see the points are spread way out on the bottom of the bag because we made the interior pocket bigger. The flat piece is a bookmark we made out of the edges we cut to square the fabric.

She sides the bible into the center pocket (which fits perfectly) . . .

folds the first flap behind the bible . . .

and then snaps the second flap down. She can see both the fabrics she loved, her bible is protected and she can keep a pad of paper and a pen in the pocket created by the triangles.

This one is so much neater than the first one. Hopefully the next one will be even better!

Dena's Doings - 2011

2011-12-31T17:43:00.001-07:00

Teresa's Tittilating Tidbits 2011

2011-12-31T17:42:00.001-07:00

Finished Projects:
Four Marilyn Squares, Three Hedgiebabies, No Home Gnome, Sweetie Pie Baby Hat, Hello New Baby Cardigan, Three Hedgehogs, Gray To Eyre, Estonian Lullaby Baby Blanket, Purple To Eyre, Red To Eyre, Yellow Ducky, Alpaca To Eyre, Quiviut Swallowtail, Stacked Hat #4, Embossed Jacket, Pretty Thing, Feindishly Difficult, Estonian Patent, 2 Purple/Red Silk Azaleas, Hydrangea Anklets, Onion Dome #3, Pam's Felted Bag, Travelling Gnomes, Mardi Gras Hat, Hello Baby Hat/Sweater, Blue Greenjeans #2, 2 Silk Muwata Azaleas, Silk Annis, Ghosty Sweater, Pink Family Jewels Socks, Purple Family Jewels Socks, Little Heart, Angora Cowl, Itty Bitty Fish/Dolphin,
Angela Hat #4,
Egyptian Hat,
Moses Mouse,
8 Chichester Piggies, Totoro,

Spinning:

Penquins Journey Merino/Bamboo (Portfiber 4.9 oz) 200 yds; Eowyn BFL (Dicentra Designs 5.3 oz) 224 yds; Merino/Silk Green/Yellow/Turq (Carolina Handspun 7.4 oz) 336 yds; Tricolor Swirl (NorthStar Alpaca 12 oz) 400 yds ; Robin & Wren (Feeling Sheepish NZ Romney 5.8 oz) 206 yds

Back to Knitting

2011-12-31T15:59:00.001-07:00

Most of December I tatted more than I knitted. Not much knitting got done at all.

So, I have finally finished the body of the Tina's Sweater (designed by Anna Zilboorg, sold through Blue Moon Fiber Arts, knit in BMFA BFL sport). I think I am going to love this sweater when it is done. Now I'm going to knit the sleeves but I'm deviating from the pattern because I hate sewing up knit things. I'm going to pick up stitches around the armholes and knit the sleeves from the top down.

There has been progress on the Marilyn blanket - I have four and a half squares done and Girl Far From Home has one and a half done. She only remembered to bring the one, so the other half isn't in the picture.

Girl Far From Home has always wanted knit slippers with leather soles so this is part of her Christmas/Birthday haul. It won't take me long to knit these up for her.

And because I needed an excuse to use my new and most beautiful knitting needles, I've cast on the Sothia shawl in Madeline Tosh Merino Light. It is a lovely color yarn but I will never buy another Madeline Tosh yarn. I bought five hanks of this yarn so both Dena and I could knit this shawl. It took me over 7 hours to wind the first hank into a ball because it was so tangled. The others took less time but two or three of them took over three hours each. I mentioned that on Ravelry and the folks at Madeline Tosh did offer to replace the yarn but by then it had been wound into balls, mailed to Dena and they wanted the old stuff back. In looking into the comments on all their yarns, the tangled hanks issue is pretty much universal throughout their yarns. Frankly, the yarn isn't so great that I would ever try it again - I'd go for more Blue Moon Fiber Arts first cuz that's Lovely yarn.

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-27T18:05:00.001-07:00

to my First Born. May she live happily ever after.

Lovely!

2011-12-27T11:10:00.001-07:00

It was a Lovely Christmas here in the deep south. Both girls are home and having a great time.

I got a very special present from Mom - this set of DyakCraft Darn Pretty interchangeable knitting needles. Yes, these are really very special - each one is individually hand made by a guy named Tom then polished and checked by his wife Linda. It's old fashioned craftsmanship at it's very best. And they are absolutely lovely! Thanks Mom!

They are so special that Tom signs and numbers each set. My set is number 903 in Hazelwood. They feel so warm and wonderful in my hands - I have moved my current projects (the bobble sweater and Marilyn blanket squares) to them. If you are interested, they are sold on the DyakCraft website. They come in about a dozen different colors of wood or two colors of metal. Just be aware that since they are each made by hand, one at a time, that it takes a while to get them. The website says 12 to 14 weeks and the wait may be longer than that.

All in all, it was a lovely Christmas. There were lots of presents, but not too many. It was a far less expensive Christmas than those in the past, but I think everyone was happy.

That Other Girl got lots of drawing stuff and music cd's - and a couple of puzzles.

The couch was covered with goodies.

Girl Far From Home got a puzzle she loved and lots of music cd's she wanted.

Besides my needles (lower left of pic - wrapped carefully in tissue) I got lots of other good stuff.

Even Casey got new toys that she loves. This is her Santa Hedgehog, but she also got a big floppy snowman from Mom that she uses as a pillow.

Hope everyone had as nice a day as we did.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-25T09:09:00.002-07:00

Whatever you celebrate,

I hope you have peace, love and happiness

today and throughout the season!

Another Tatting Poem

2011-12-23T19:52:00.003-07:00

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots; Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots. All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat; She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat! But when the day's hustle and bustle is done, Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun. And when all the family's in bed and asleep, She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep. She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice-- Their behaviour's not good and their manners not nice; So when she has got them lined up on the matting, She teachs them music, crocheting and tatting. I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots; Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots. All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat: She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat! But when the day's hustle and bustle is done, Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun. As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet, She is sure it is due to irregular diet; And believing that nothing is done without trying, She sets right to work with her baking and frying. She makes them a mouse--cake of bread and dried peas, And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese. I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots; The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots. She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat: She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat! But when the day's hustle and bustle is done, Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun. She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment. So she's formed, from that lot of disorderly louts, A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts, With a purpose in life and a good deed to do-- And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo. So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers-- On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears. For those of you super familiar with the musical Cats - this is part of the poetry the musical was based on.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.
All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat;
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
And when all the family's in bed and asleep,
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep.
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice--
Their behaviour's not good and their manners not nice;
So when she has got them lined up on the matting,
She teachs them music, crocheting and tatting.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots.
All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed or on my hat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet,
She is sure it is due to irregular diet;
And believing that nothing is done without trying,
She sets right to work with her baking and frying.
She makes them a mouse--cake of bread and dried peas,
And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.
She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that's smooth and flat:
She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day's hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat's work is but hardly begun.
She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.
So she's formed, from that lot of disorderly louts,
A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
With a purpose in life and a good deed to do--
And she's even created a Beetles' Tattoo.

So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers--
On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.

 For those of you super familiar with the musical Cats

- this is part of the poetry the musical was based on.

Just Don't Look Too Closely . . .

2011-12-22T13:12:00.001-07:00

Remember that my friend lent me a sewing machine? Well yesterday she came over and encouraged me.

Yep, I sewed myself an Origami bag.

Seriously cute froggy fabric . . .

and a gorgeous blue that looks like lily pads in water.

Just don't look too closely or you will see the mistakes. The square wasn't quite perfectly square and so the folds weren't quite perfect. But I'm pretty happy with it - especially for a first try.

I bought some extra fat quarters when I got the froggie fabric so I can practice some more. (Purple for Dena? That Other Girl wants the paisley and stripes, the green and red dots was supposed to be Christmassy and the blues were just pretty.)

But I had to go to the fabric store and get some ribbons for the drawstrings and some sewing thread and some extra bobbins (hope they are the right size). I also found some bobbins that I think might work in my treadle machine which I need to get working before my very kind friend reclaims her nice electric sewing machine.

And Girl Far From Home picked out two pair of fabrics for me to make bags for her . . .

I guess I am learning how to sew now. I really hope to get better at this fairly quickly so I can make the Mary Lou dolls before the little girls aren't little anymore.

Tatting Tea Tuesday

2011-12-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

I could bore you with pictures of my outstanding, glorious tatting but instead I will give you a repost. This is from 2002, Tim TenClay's blog, "Knots & More"

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

By Tim TenClay - tim (at) knotsandmore.com

NATA #253

'Twas the night before Christmas, my fingers were numb,
I'd been tatting for hours and I still wasn't done.
The presents were wrapped; the air was all chills,
And still I was working on picots and frills.

The kids were asleep and my cat watching on -
Santa had come and the cookies were gone.
I'd emptied my coffee for the third time that night
When all of the sudden a crash gave me fright.

"Oh No!" I began, as I rushed from my seat,
The ring barely closed, looking not-at-all neat.
But, I peered out the door and was happy to see
That 'twas only the snow crashing down from a tree.

Relieved, I turned back toward my shuttle and thread,
When all of the sudden I remembered, with dread.
That my cat, the dear thing, had been there all alone,
And she's not at all innocent, past history had shown.

So with that on my mind, and fear in my soul,
I picked up my pace as I moved down the hall.
Hopelessly wishing and lifting in prayer
That she just might have left it alone on the chair.

But 'naught was my luck - as I'm sure you surmised,
When I rounded the corner, and focused my eyes
On that feline of ours - the dreadful ol' thing -
Who had turned all my tatting to just piles of string.

Gone were my picots, and rings and my chains;
Gone were the shapes that had taken such pains.
All that was left was that horrible cat
Whose suddenly looked awfully naughty and fat.

I reached for the broom, as my face turned all red
And I charged at the cat, thinking soon she'd be dead.
But just as I lifted my arm with the broom,
I looked in her eyes and I glanced 'round the room.

I was just checking to see, at the time,
That I was alone, and could cover my crime.
But her eyes were happy, her head in a tangle,
Her joy melted all my desire to mangle.

It was Christmas for her, and she couldn't care
After months of just waiting, I'd left it right there.
A shuttle, some thread, a few rings and some chains,
Were so much more fun than cat candy canes.

Finally she'd gotten the present she wanted
After all of the hours I'd sat there and flaunted.
She played and she purred and she glistened with glee
So I set down my broom and I picked up my tea.

Who cared about snowflakes or bookmarks that night?
Who cared about all of my fear and my fright?
That scruffy old cat had torn it all up,
And I really didn't care as I sipped on my cup.

The morning still came, and the day soon did break,
The stockings were full and the turkey was baked.
The pies were all eaten; the presents unwrapped,
And, nobody noticed I'd just about snapped.

My tatting was ruined but I didn't care,
That dearest old cat taught me something quite rare:
A shuttle and string are the source of great joy,
For human and cat, they're the best kind of toy!

Christmas Tatting

2011-12-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have been tatting a lot lately. I didn't like this three color Christmas Mix thread from Lizbeth when I first started tatting with it, but it's growing on me. I think it looks better in person than in a close up picture for one thing.

In fact, I like Mary Konior's Posey so much in this thread that I have already made two and have another one working. I'm going to send one to Mom and give one to another friend. That Other Girl wants to give several away, so I'm making more for her. I am not sure exactly why these two came out so different in size or which size the rest will be.

And, I made some more of the angels from The Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones for my own Christmas Tree. I love this little angel pattern. I think I will make more of these to give away too.

I found the pattern for this darling little angel on Sharren's Random Stitches - it's called Sharren's Angel. It's super quick and easy and you can change the look by changing the picots. I made more of them, but I'm not sure where I put them. I am going to hang them on my tree this year too. I am also going to send some of these to Mom because she loves angels.

This was just to finish off a little bit of thread . . . I think it turned out cute.

In the mail . . .

2011-12-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

I participated in the Christmas exchange on The Tatting Forums again this year. This year, my name was drawn by Maria in Portugal! She sent this lovely card in which was a handwritten message.

She sent this lovely postcard with lots of scenes from Portugal. My husband and I have always wanted to got to Spain or Portugal. The pen also has scenes and sites on it as well. I'm going to have to protect it from my daughter who has already tried to snag it.

And Maria made this lovely snowflake for me too. I wish the picture was better so you could see the delicate silver thread wrapped around the white tatting thread - and the pearl beads. It's absolutely gorgeous in person and it is going on my Christmas tree.

Maybe best of all, she sent me a generous sample of the thread - enough to make another snowflake. It really is lovely thread so now I need to find something special to make with it. Of course, I will have to practice whatever it is on some less special thread.

Thank you Maria!

And the winners are . . .

2011-12-16T14:06:00.003-07:00

So, since Dena wanted a little mini sock to hold her shuttle, I knit her a purple one. I'm sending her a purple shuttle (from Anika's shop here) to go inside it because, well, when I saw that purple shuttle I knew Dena needed it. (She is crazy about purple). I knit myself a soft and colorful little sock because I still like that yarn - I have a pair of socks for myself that I knit out of it here.

So, first to answer a few questions:

Caseymini - I'll email you a pattern.

Kathy Niklewicz - I have heard of Althea Crome and I think her work is AMAZING. (For those of you not familiar with her, do check out Bugknits and be amazed yourself.) I can't begin to knit that small - six complete sweaters on her finger? for real? - because my eyes just aren't that good anymore.

For these little mini socks I used regular sock yarn - all of it leftover from socks I've knit for myself or my family. When I knit socks for myself, I use a size 1 or 2 so the stitches will be tight and firm. I knit all of these on a size 3 so they'd be loose, squishy soft and stretchy.

Jane - you asked for it, you got it.

Isdihara - I haven't seen Lynne Gillies knit stockings or sock monkeys. Dena and I tried to see the tiny sock monkey on Facebook but couldn't. Do you have another link? I have seen a mini monkey on ravelry and it is adorable. Again, too small for my old eyes to enjoy knitting.

Ok, on to the winners . . . .

Caseymini,

Lace-Lovin' Librarian,

Michelle,

Kathy Niklewicz,

Happy Bluebird,

Tatting-Marie,

Val,

Jane Eboral,

Sharon D.,

Isdihara,

Bonnie

and Bett

please email me your snail mail addresses and I'll get these in the mail.

Yes, that's right . . . everyone who wanted one is getting a mini shuttle sock. Well, all but one.

Jane Eborall is getting a mini shuttle mitten because she likes to be different.

Here is the whole mess of them - mine and Dena's, Jane's mitten and a whole lotta mini socks.

And Kathy and Isdihara - here is about the smallest knitting I really want to do. This little sock was knit on size 0000 needles with regular sock yarn. It would be smaller if I had knit it with lace weight yarn or tatting thread.

When I was a young girl (fourth or fifth grade) my Mother knit on straight pins, the 1" long ones used for sewing using sewing thread instead of yarn. It was for a history project where I dressed my barbie doll as a settler and built her a covered wagon. I still have the dress, but not the knitting. That was crazy small knitting.

Tatting for Tuesday

2011-12-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

This arrived from Sally in England (Tat's Heaven Blog) from her recent giveaway. I love it - it's even prettier in person than it was in her picture. This is going on the kitchen window where I will see it every morning as I make my coffee and every time I do dishes.

She also included this little tatted angel from Martha's book Playing with Picots. I love this little angel - think she's called little sister angel, but I wouldn't swear to it. I need to make her for Mom, she's just so cute. I don't own the book yet, but I should be able to swing it after the holidays - or I'll ask for it for my birthday in February.

I have done some tatting this week, but it's not ready for show and tell yet . . . maybe I'll do a Tatting Tea Thursday.

Erin Lane Bags

2011-12-12T15:50:00.001-07:00

I bought this bag in the Erin Lane booth at Stitches South last year. (There is also an Etsy shop here - Erin Lane Bags and More.) I love the fabric - who wouldn't love sheepies knitting? I love the saying. I love the size and the shape. I love everything about it. It is one of my two favorite knitting bags. My other favorite is my Feed 100 bag - because it is just the right size, has great pockets, folds down to nothing and most of all was bought by my daughter because the money went to feed lunches to 100 school children who couldn't otherwise afford it.

The Feed project is still out there trying to feed the hungry in the world. There is a terrific Feed Shop that has all kinds of wonderful items for sale and the great thing is you know when you buy exactly how many school meals you are providing with your purchase. I loved my bag so much that I went back and bought another for me and one for Mom and one for Dena as gifts. They are terrific bags for whatever. There are many other products ranging from shirts to teddy bears - I highly recommend checking out their site here: Feed Shop.

So Friday, I got a big box in the mail. It had some of the best goodies I've gotten all year in it! This bigger sheepie bag was in it. My original Erin Lane sheepie bag is called a bucket bag - size and shape thing, ya know. This bag is called the barrel because it's just that much bigger than the bucket.

Here are the two of them side by side so you can see the difference. The new barrel is not gigantic, just a bit bigger. The problem with gigantic bags is that I fill them with lots and lots of stuff that I 'NEED' to have with me and eventually they start to weigh so much that I cannot lift them or at the least it is uncomfortable to carry them.

This new barrel is big enough to carry a sweater's worth of yarn and my second project (I always have a second, smaller and easier project - always) with ease. It isn't so huge that I'm going to stuff it with four or five books, three cases with knitting needles, a couple of accessory cases and several magazines because I might have time to knit, tat and read while I wait. (I will never understand why I think I'm going to be waiting that long, but I always seem to think I need everything I own with me.)

Also in the box was this generously sized drawstring bag. I'm guessing this is 15" x 15" and it's fully lined with muslin to keep things clean. It has a drawstring under that red grosgrain ribbon that locks it shut. It will be excellent for keeping the extra balls of yarn for that sweater neat and tidy so they don't get messed up running loose in the knitting bag. And look - more sheepies knitting!

These two items are for my interchangeable knitting needles. I have lots of them because I do lots of knitting. These are called Double Duty's because each of these packs will hold two sets of interchangeable knitting needles. If you look at the second picture of the jewel tone knit pack you will see one set of needle tips is already in the middle slots. There is lots of room for another set of tips and cables and all the other accessories I might need. I really LOVE the colors of the jewel tone knit pack and the black and red and white one with knitting terms matches my sheepie fabric so nicely!

Those were things that I had ordered, well, except the barrel - Dena ordered that and gave it to me as a gift. Lisa and Lindsey (the brains behind Erin Lane Bags) sent a couple of little gifts too! See this little bag? It's meant to be a sock knitting bag - just big enough for a ball of yarn and your double point needles. For me it's going to be my tatting bag! I always keep tatting in my knitting bag because sometimes you feel like a knit, some times you don't! It is the perfect size for a couple of shuttles and a ball and maybe my little scissors, a sewing needle and my tweezers. It is small enough to drop in my knitting bag and best of all, it matches!!

The other little extra that I got was this terrific pattern keeper. Lindsey came up with this idea after finding a crumpled pattern in the bottom of her knitting bag one evening. It's great for knitting patterns, but it works for tatting patterns too! And I can fit one of each in it and put whichever I am currently using on top where I can see it. Then snap it shut to keep pattern nice and safe and clean!

I do love my knew ensemble! Thanks Lindsey and Lisa!

A Little Christmas for Tatting Friends

2011-12-11T17:32:00.002-07:00

Dena and I were chatting on Skype or Oovoo one day while we read some of our favorite blogs and we saw someone had a knitted mini-stocking. Update - we found the shuttle stockings on Gina's blog - Threads of a Tatting Goddess on this post. ~~(Neither of us can remember for the life of us which blog we saw them on or the context - sorry.)~~ We started talking about the little stockings and how perfectly they would fit a tatting shuttle and since I had a few I knitted years ago I decided to test them out.

Yep! They are perfect for covering up and protecting those shuttles that might be prone to scratching - like the blinged shuttles. Dena suggested I put one in the tatting exchange gift I was preparing, so I knit one and popped it in with that gift. Then Dena had an even greater idea! What if I knit a half a dozen more and we gave them out to the folks who read our blog?

So that's just what we are going to do. I knit half a dozen in various colors and sizes. A couple of these will comfortably hold larger shuttles (not Tatsy sized, but Dyamnondwood sized and maybe Starlit). You do have to be careful with picks and hooks, just put them in with that pointing out the opening and all is well. The shuttles in this photo are just for size comparison - they are mine and are staying here (except the purple one next to the purple mini sock which is from Anika's shop and is heading out west to live with Dena).

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post and I'll enter your name in the drawing. If you prefer a specific mini sock, say that too and maybe a second choice as well. As I draw names, if your first choice hasn't already been taken, it is yours. There are six little mini stockings and since we've never had more than ten comments on any one post, you have an excellent chance to win a hand knit mini sock shuttle protector! I will leave this open until Friday, December 16th - that will give me time to mail the mini socks and have them reach their new homes before Christmas. I make no guarantees that Santa will stuff them with a shuttle if you hang them by the fireplace with care!

We put up our tree today. This is the first year that it was really just my husband and I putting it up. It felt kind of weird. My younger daughter was here, but after helping drag boxes out of the basement, she abandoned the effort. It is up now and even has presents under it. (The strange bottom of this tree is thanks to Phillips new 'cool' lights which I hate but they were the only non-colored lights I could find in the store.)

This shot is for Girl Far From Home - should she read this blog (which would shock me beyond belief.) When she was little, we used to go to The Festival Of Trees held here in Atlanta as a fundraiser by a children's hospital every year. There was a 'Secret Santa' shop there where only the kids could go shopping. A helper would come get the kids, their money and a list of who they needed to buy gifts for and take them through the shop where they would find things for everyone on their list that they could afford. At the end of the shop, all the presents were wrapped for the kids and then put in a bag so that parents never knew what had been purchased until Christmas Day. Girl Far From Home has always known how much I love Santa, so when she found these Santa Candles (on a tray complete with snow that I've never used), she knew they were perfect for me. I think it might be the best present I've ever gotten from her (no, she made me a Christmas album one year that's right up there). Anyway, both girls always got really great presents for everyone from that Secret Santa Shop. I'm sad that the Festival is no more.

Christmas Tatting

2011-12-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

These are all gifts that are going out in the mail today. The recipients are not expecting them so perhaps they will still be a little surprised and pleased to get them. They are to be opened immediately anyway, so I'm sharing them here.

First, this little angel - she came from The Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones. I got it out because of Sally's last post and found these little treasures in it. Aren't they cute? I love them and I think I'm going to tat a bunch more to put on presents - wish I'd found the pattern sooner because I have already sent a lot of the presents that had to be mailed.

Then there are these little bits and bobs that I made into ornaments. They were too pretty and too Christmassy to just leave laying around. They are going to someone who I hope will put then on her tree and think of me when she sees them. The two that are the same are Anne Bruvold's shuttle pattern (here) and the other two are just made up. I do like the little 3d flower I made - might make another one in different colors for myself.

This is a snowflake designed by Jos van der Helm in 2001. I found it on the web archive of Maus' Round Robin site - found that on Gina's Threads of a Tatting Goddess Blog. There is a link to the wayback pictures of the site and if you dig around a bit, you can find some patterns and some pictures. There are a couple of errors in this pattern as I found it in the archives, but it's a terrific little snowflake that is very easy to make. I really like easy.

And this is Angels in the Snow - designed by Miranda of Tatting Fool Blogspot. I really like this pattern - it isn't impossible and it looks fabulous!

So that's the tatting that has been going on around here - at least that's what I can (but maybe shouldn't) show. I'm really having fun with this right about now. I need to put the tatting down and get to the knitting - it's not going to finish itself by Christmas.

Right now though, I'm going to go make some tea.

Could be Trouble!!!

2011-12-03T09:06:00.002-07:00

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was so excited to get this magazine?

Well, I'm even more excited now. You see, dolls like this one have been a family tradition for many years. I think they came from Dad's side of the family, but Mom can correct that if it is wrong. I know that Dad's stepmom in Florida had one in her house when I was a little girl that I loved to play with. On my second birthday I got one as a present and when I opened the box, I exclaimed "Why there's Mary Lou" as though I had been waiting for her all my short life.

Well, recently my nephew (my oldest brother's son) and his wife went to China to adopt a beautiful 20 month old baby girl orphan. They already have a beautiful daughter who is just 8 months older than the new baby and two beautiful sons who are 8 and six years old. These are Mom's first great grandchildren and with two of them being girls, I know Mom would love to carry on the Mary Lou Tradition.

Mom made these three Mary Lou dolls for Girl Far From Home - my oldest daughter. As you can see they are well loved. These are made to be machine washable, but eventually they become too worn and fragile to be washed anymore (see that center one?). As they became too bedraggled, Mom would make a new doll and Girl and I would send Mary Lou to Gramma's hospital to be 'repaired' and she would come back with new skin and the same clothing. Girl never knew (until a few weeks ago) that she was getting a brand new doll and the old one was going into my closet for safe keeping.

Mom also made 'friends' for Mary Lou. The two little ones were called little sisters. They are different sizes and the one with yellow hair and an orange dress was mine when I was a child. The boy was mom's invention and the other girl is wearing a bear sweater I knitted for Girl a million years ago. You can see the girl doll wearing the sweater is a bit worn as well, but since she wasn't the actual Mary Lou, she didn't get dragged literally everywhere the child went, so isn't filthy and worn out.

That Other Girl was a blanket girl. Mom knitted each girl a lovely blanket when they were born and each of them still have (and yes, still use) those blankets. These two Mary Lou's were backups that were never used because That Other Girl pretty much ignored dolls in favor of other stuffed toys and her blanket. Her original Mary Lou is somewhere in this house and still in really good condition. The blanket is not so much because it went everywhere with her and at one point had to have a section reknit when a rabbit chewed a large hole in it. Eventually, when That Other Girl grew pretty large, I had to knit her a new and bigger blanket - she still uses both blankets to this day.

This is the collection of Mary Lou dolls and friends that I could easily find. You can see the three very well worn babies on the right and the brand new ones on the left. Those brand new ones will go to my grandchildren someday, if I'm lucky enough to have any girl grandchildren. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of my closet is my original Mary Lou but her head got eaten by a puppy so I don't really care to find her.

Ok, so now we understand the history. A very kind friend came over yesterday to help me look at my old treadle sewing machine and maybe put a new leather drive band on it. We decided that it really needs to be gone over by a professional so we are waiting on putting the band on. However, being the very nice lady that she is, she brought over this shiny electric model for me to borrow. Then she showed me how to set it up and thread it and make it sew. I need to practice a good bit because while I can do straight pretty well, those dolls have lots and lots of curves. My friend left me some thread and fabric to practice on and helped me sort Mary Lou pattern pieces.

I think I'm going to try to learn to sew so I can make Mary Lou dolls for the next generation of girls.

I think I may have lost my mind.

I wonder how many times I have said "I hate sewing" on this blog or out loud. Maybe that just applies to my knitting?

Interesting Question

2011-11-28T16:45:00.003-07:00

So, Sally of Tat's Heaven had a lovely giveaway in honor of the Feast of St. Cecilia who is the patron saint of music. She also gave away a beautiful window sticker in celebration of her 180th post - which I am thrilled to say I won. For entries, she asked that posters let her know what type of music they like to listen to and as I typed what used to be my answer to that question, I realized that recently my music choices have changed dramatically. I used to love jazz singers and forty's torch songs and soft pop and rock. Now I am starting to prefer bluegrass and mountain music (both of which I loved as a teenager) more. Most of all, though, I love listening to real live people in the same room with me play, especially my two very musically oriented daughters. When I read today that I had won the sticker, I remembered that over the Thanksgiving Holiday my Girl Far From Home had been playing music for me and I had recorded it. I recorded both fiddle (forgive the vibrating strings, she needs new ones) and dulcimer, but she hadn't practiced the dulcimer in some months and so I won't post that video here but you can hear her play and sing "Who Can Sail" on her dulcimer here if you are so inclined.

One More Done

2011-11-27T12:18:00.003-07:00

this blanket will happen . . . someday.

I finished the third square on the way home from the Beach on Friday. I'm going to start the blue and peach one, but it won't be finished anytime soon because I have some Christmas gifts to knit and one to tat.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling very thankful today. I am thankful that my own little family is all together, happy and healthy. I'm thankful for the family who is here with us in our hearts if not our arms. I'm thankful for the beach and for the beach house that we can't sell or rent or afford to keep. I'm thankful for my knitting and tatting and spinning. I'm thankful for friends close and far and in cyber space.

I hope everyone who reads this has something to be thankful for and I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

The Beach

2011-11-24T11:25:00.001-07:00

Knitting & Tatting

2011-11-24T11:23:00.001-07:00

Marilyn

2011-11-23T19:47:00.001-07:00

I ripped out the Marilyn square that I had in progress. The cast on edge was done wrong, long tail, and was causing that side to lay funny. I cast on again tonight . . .

So Psyched

2011-11-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

STITCHES South Schedule

Thursday

Class

Classroom

Teacher

1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

618-3 - Fiendishly Difficult Stitches

Saarniit, Merike

Friday

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM	664-3 - Twisted Traveling Stitches		Zilboorg, Anna
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM	369-3 - Secrets of the Schematic		Sulcoski, Carol

Saturday

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

663-6 - Knitting Lace; Estonian Style

Saarniit, Merike

Sunday

8:30 AM - 11:30 AM

129-3 - Color without Theory

Zilboorg, Anna

From Jonathon

2011-11-22T17:45:00.001-07:00

Here is Jonathon's view of our wonderful blog

Jonathon's Opinion

Remember this when it comes to Christmas Gifting

New Shuttles to be

2011-11-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

I lost one of my tatted shuttles the last time I drove up to see Girl Far From Home. I didn't just misplace it, I permanently and irrevocably lost it. It was my favorite tatted shuttle because it was the blue one and I don't know why it was my favorite because they are both the same size, shape, weight, etc . . . but it was my favorite. I'm going to miss that shuttle.

At least until some of these motifs are made into shuttles. I'm getting three new tatted shuttles. The shuttles I currently have are exactly the same as the red and white motifs. I think I want the new ones bigger. I like shuttles a little bigger so I can put more thread on them and not worry about trying to hide more ends than I absolutely have to hide. I'm not very good at hiding ends - in fact, I'm really bad at it.

The top row of motif's is dry and the bottom wet because when these are made into shuttles, they will look like they look when wet. I don't think I'm doing anything with the red and white. The multi color thread -red, yellow, blue and green - came from Mom's house. I'm not sure what she used it for, but I think it was quite old. I had to remove the outside of the ball because it had smoke damage from when the house caught on fire but after winding off a bit, I found the inside was ok and it didn't even smell of smoke. The purples are the Grape Punch thread that Lace-Lovin' Librarian sent me. I love this thread and I think it's seriously cool that I will have a shuttle that a friend had a hand in - I used the shuttle she sent to tat those motifs too. The blues on the end are some new thread I got from Handy Hands just the other day. I love this color and it will replace the blue one that I loved and lost.

Lace-Lovin' Librarian just had to show off her Handy Hands goodies . . . and I didn't have the willpower to resist after I read her blog - barely had the will power after I read the Handy Hands Email and checked out the site the first time. I didn't do as much damage as Diane did though. I got one of the ball holders in pink and a matching pink shuttle and then a sea green shuttle because, well, you need at least two, don't you? The ball holder came with a ball of Zebra (148) - size 20 and I bought two other size 20 balls one in Autumn Spice (136) and Blue River Glades (164). I love both colors but I had to have a blue shuttle, so I used the Blue River Glades to make the motifs for the third tatted shuttle.

In other news, Girl Far From Home arrived home in one piece last night - drove herself this time so I didn't have to make the trek to pick her up.

We baked the annual family fruit cakes today - always fun when the Whole Family gets together to make them.

Girl Far From Home harvested two tomatoes from her plant today - there are about a dozen more on the plant in various stages of ripeness. Her plant is in the greenhouse, but we still haven't had our first frost here - at least not in my yard. The sweet potatoes are still growing - see the little potato sticking it's nose out of the ground? There are still peppers growing on the pepper plants - think that one is a serano and can actually be picked now but it's still growing so I'll leave it until it really is going to freeze. There are still galapagos tomatoes growing though I'm not sure they'll have enough time to finish growing and ripen before we do finally get a frost. Everything slows down so much at this time of year that even without a frost, it's pretty much a given that we are done harvesting.

At some point this week, we are going to the beach house for Thanksgiving. I do love going there for holidays, just wish Girl Far From Home had more time to spend with her friends.

Gorgeous!

2011-11-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Look what came in the mail yesterday! It's that Gorgeous shuttle that Lace-lovin' Librarian made and offered in a giveaway on her blog last week. I won and she had it in the mail and here in record time!

I have to say that the pictures do not do it justice. And I love that it has no point . . . those things are dangerous. I really love it, Thank you so much Diane!

What's more, she included a lovely hank of HDT. I am pretty sure it's Yarn Player's thread. It's size 30 and the color is called Grape Punch. It's a wonderful combination of purples and pinks.

I wasted absolutely no time (well, I did have to wait until after supper) in winding that thread onto an ez bob and the shuttle and started tatting with it. I think it will make some lovely tatted shuttles and since I need to replace the one I lost . . . . well, here goes!

I wasted even less time starting the tatted motif's for the shuttles. One is done (except the ends) and the second is started. The shuttle is very nice to use and the thread is wonderful. I usually use size 20, but this is working fine for me so maybe I shall start using more size 30 thread. (I'm not up to 40 yet, at least I don't think so.)

Thank you so very much Diane - this was a very special gift.

Found it!

2011-11-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

As I suspected it was in the bottom of a knitting bag that I am not currently using. I had looked in there twice but because the shuttle was in a little silk bag, I didn't see it. The other one is lost forever, but at least I still have this one. I'm still going to have two more made.

Video Tatting Group!

2011-11-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Diane (Lace-Lovin' Librarian), Michelle (Tela Magistrae), Cindy (A Happy Bluebird), Dena (Stitching 'n' Knitting) and I all met this morning for a video chat tatting session. We overcame a few technical difficulties (well, we did lose one participant due to technical difficulties) and then we had a terrific time.

Michelle and Cindy taught the rest of us how to do Single Shuttle Split Rings . . . which I have needed to learn for a long time. Now I'm going to go make a dragon!

Then we tried to work on Split Chains but they were too difficult to do over a video chat and the teacher didn't really know what she was doing well enough to teach well. Maybe she'll be better prepared next time.

When is next time going to be?

And just for the sake of posterity, I want everyone to know that this is my very first blog post made on the new iMac computer. I had a devil of a time finding the pictures after I edited them. I still have a LOT to learn about this crazy machine!

Tatting Shuttle Organization

2011-11-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to say I'm ready. Dena and I are attending a meeting of the Minnesota tatter's group (Cindy/Happy Bluebird and Michelle/Tela Magistae) this morning and I am so excited!

Next, a finished (well, almost) object. Another Convolvulus bookmark from Mary Konior's Tatting In Lace which is a book I love! And I love this pattern.

Diane (Lace-Lovin' Librarian) posted about her lovely shuttle collection and storage the other day and it got me thinking. I've completely lost (as in dropped it in a hotel room I think) one of my 'tatted shuttles' from the Shuttle Shop and I've misplaced (at least I hope that's all) my other one. I was hunting and searching for my favorite one and couldn't find it either. So I decided that I really needed to organize my collection - such as it is - so I can find shuttles when I want them. I have quite a few shuttles, not nearly as many as Diane but I haven't been at it as long as she has either.

There are the old Boye metal ones with hooks and bobbins. I don't use them because I don't like hooks or bobbins but I didn't know that when I started out.

These are some Just-Right shuttles. They have a bobbin, but it's not removable - they open up for filling. I like them better than the old Boyes, but still not as much as some others. They get little use from me, but they are my youngest daughter's favorites.

There are the clovers which are inexpensive, easy to find and fit just right in the hand.

There are the tortoiseshell clovers which for some reason I like better than the colorful clovers.

There are the sewmate or lacis shuttles which I absolutely love! They are a little bigger than the clovers but not huge. All of mine have the point and I prefer no point or hook usually but these don't bother me. I really should order some without the points, but I haven't yet.

This is an inexpensive ($2 I think) immitation aero that I bought to see if I liked it. I didn't like it so I didn't buy any of the more expensive aero shuttles.

I have a few vintage shuttles, some work better than others . . .

I bought a couple of huge Tatsy shuttles . . .

A few celtic shuttles . . .

The decorated shuttle on the left was a gift from Happy Bluebird in an exchange, the blue my daughter decorated and the white is a favorite . . .

The two pewter Lady Hoare shuttles were made for me by my daughter and the vintage boye bobbin came from Mother . . .

These are ceramic Lady Shuttlemaker shuttles. One (I think the flowers) is mine, one is Girl Far From Home's and the last is for That Other Girl. They are lovely and I don't know why I haven't used them yet.

These are my wooden shuttles. The two big ones on the top are from Old Tyme Antiques and the tips are not tight. The red, white & blue is a diamondwood and one of my favorites - it was lost but now is found. The one with the butterfly is one from "I'm in the Garage" made with the Rev. Awdry ceder tree. The one next to it with the black dot is one of the original 'Winder Shuttle' made by Chris Hinton of the Shuttle Shop. The one with the dragon is also a Shuttle Shop shuttle with Anne Bruvold's dragon etched on it. The last one is lovely but I'm not sure where I got it.

So, I had this tackle organizer thing that I bought years ago to hold circular knitting needles. I didn't like it for knitting needles mostly because I had way too many to ever fit in this - they are now stored in a box and I'm not showing that because nobody should have that many knitting needles and I'm not admitting that I do.

Inside are a bunch of heavy duty zip lock bags that are held in place by reinforced plastic bits with holes for the rings to go through. The numbers were written on there when Mom used it briefly for knitting needles.

It holds my collection of shuttles nicely - especially if you ignore the size numbers.

(The ceramic Lady Shuttlemaker shuttles are in the box so they don't break.)

And, because I have a small collection, it closes.
Now I just have to find the rest of the misplaced shuttles - especially the "Tatted" one.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful . . . .

2011-11-04T13:53:00.000-06:00

Because it was hard working becoming this beautiful . . .

That is a pile about 20" across, 15" top to bottom and 6" deep in the middle of combings and a few trimmings . . . and it took about an hour and a half to get all my beautiful hair combed out this morning.

Casey

Could Use a Little Help

2011-11-03T18:55:00.000-06:00

The school my girls went/go to is different from most schools. I'm not going to go into just how it's different or how different it is or why that's important to me. Galloway is a very small school, but one thing that the school is pretty well known for is it's arts department - they have a terrific fine arts program that includes not just painting, sculpture and pottery but theater, voice, computer art, instrumental art and all types of creativity. My girls both got a lot out of the fine arts programs at Galloway, but they could be made so much better with this grant.

Right now, the school is in the running for a $50K grant from Clorox but they can use as much help as they can get. It's not difficult, just go to the Clorox Power a Bright Future site, register (it's free and no spam email) and vote. You can vote every day from now until December 9th. There are three categories and our school is running in the Create Category. I had a little trouble getting registered, but once I did, voting was easy. Just put the word Galloway in the search field and the school comes right up.

If you are so inclined, I would really appreciate your help and your votes!

Help us win $50K for Galloway!

After a competitive national nomination period, voting is open for the Power a Bright Future grant from The Clorox Company. Help Galloway’s fine arts department win up to $50,000 by casting your votes every day through Dec. 9, 2011.

Galloway's Fine Arts Program Needs to Add 21st Century Technology

The Galloway School, Atlanta, GA

Program Detail:
Galloway's fine arts program, which includes both visual and performing arts, emphasizes a student-centered curriculum based on the National Standards for Arts Education. Students currently have access to minimal creative arts technology, such as the means to record their process and progress. Visual arts students are able to create a variety of media, but they do not have a way to document the process in order to review their progress. Dance, theater, and technical design students would improve and grow if they, too, had a way to record through video their creative process. Strings, band, and choral students do not have the appropriate equipment to record themselves in order to identify areas of improvement in intonation, ensemble, and technique. The ability to create sophisticated recordings would give all of our fine arts students opportunities to learn and share globally with peer institutions.

How this Grant will Help:
In order to take our fine arts program to the next level, we must add 21st century technology. We need professional-quality recording hardware, music mixing and editing software, and wireless technology. Creating sophisticated recordings will give all arts students the opportunity to learn and share globally with peer institutions. Students and teachers will benefit from having the tools to create material appropriate for archiving and developing qualities unique to each discipline. They also will be able to view, listen, and constructively critique their work. In addition, to enhance the learning process for our performances, we need energy-efficient LED and intelligent fixtures so our technical students can gain experience with lights that move and change color. Combining interactive technology with live performances will give our students the ability to be more collaborative and prepare them for a future they have not even begun to imagine.

Fits and Starts

2011-11-01T17:32:00.000-06:00

Since it is Tatting Tea Tuesday, I thought I'd show that I really have been tatting. This is a false start on Crazy Mom's Count to Four necklace. It actually isn't a mistake, I was trying to modify it and seeing which way I liked it better.

This is the completed necklace. I couldn't quite count to four, but I am pretty good up to three so it's a count to three necklace. It won't work for what I wanted it for, but there it is - all but the ends dealt with.

So then I got out some of Anika's HDT and started a dragon wing doily. I messed up several times before I abandoned it. It just wasn't fun.

This is an attempted start of the Spring Flowers pattern by Julie Patterson .

This is take two - much better but I decided it was too floppy to be a great bookmark and I really wanted to make a bookmark for Girl Far From Home.

So this is the start of Convolvulus from Tatting In Lace by Mary Konior. Oops - see that stem going the wrong direction?

Another start . . .another oops.

Finally! I finished (except for ends) object! It's lovely and I think someone will really like it. Girl Far From Home may not get it though because she's mad at me.

I was so happy to have actually finished something that I decided to make another of the same thing!

So, see! I really do a fair amount of tatting during the week. It's just that come Tatting Tea Tuesday, I don't always have something I want to show . . .

Knitting is another story - I'm way better at knitting than tatting because I've been doing it so much longer. This came in the mail this week. I'm supposed to knit two Shaun the Sheep - one for Girl Far From Home and one for The Roommate. I dunno if they'll get done by Christmas or not . . . maybe.

I found this magazine on the Vintage Knits website - they have lots of old magazines with knitting and sewing and crafting patterns in them. I wanted this one because that doll on the cover is sort of a family tradition. I got a little doll like this for my second birthday. After that, all the girls in the family got them - most of my sisters and all of the next generation girls. Mom had already given me the pattern for the doll, but this magazine has lots of clothing that will fit the doll. Now I just need to learn to sew . . . I'd love to have one made for my nephew's little girl who is two and her sister to be. My nephew and his wife are flying to China (as this is being written actually) to pick up a little orphan girl and bring her home to be their own.

Dena and I bought these books (a copy for her and one for me) so we could knit some of the cute things in them. There are lots of little holiday decorations. She and I have plans to make a very special present from one of them.

I ran into someone selling these two books for a reasonable price. I already had them but they are out of print and can be very difficult to find so I bought them as an investment. When Anna's new book comes out, I think these will go up in price and maybe I can sell them for a profit.

Another used book but this one I bought because it has some really cute patterns in it and I have an awful lot of homespun yarn.

A couple of used lace books that I found for a pretty good price. I love lace books and love knitting lace so since they were cheap, I added them to my library!

Ice and fire

2011-10-30T10:53:00.000-06:00

We ran into sleet driving north to visit Girl Far From Home for parents' weekend. It dressed up the trees and bushes up in the mountains where we went to visit a winery. Then on the way back to our hotel, we watched the sun set over the mountains.

Recycling is cool!

2011-10-30T10:49:00.000-06:00

So are bow ties and the Tardis.

SubT: Ready for Occupancy

2011-10-23T11:57:00.000-06:00

A couple hours this morning and the SubT (subterranean greenhouse) is ready for occupancy!

This is the finished roof. You can see under the top layer of poly film the corrugated panels. They aren't vinyl after all, they are PVC and they are getting brittle. We had to toss most of the original ones that I bought 4 years ago because they were too bent and too brittle but we managed with the extras I bought two years ago. We will have to have new ones the next time we replace the poly sheeting but hopefully that will be at least 2 years from now.

This is how it looks from where the neighbors can see it - not pretty but not too bad. The neighbor on that side doesn't spend any time outdoors - I have seen her and spoken to her one time in the 16 years we've lived in this house and that was when she came over to yell at me. She doesn't even answer the door for trick or treaters. You can barely see it from the road because our house sits atop a hill so I doubt that it bothers anyone.

This is what it looks like from the top of the stairs that go down into the well where it lives. (The long white pole is holding the poly that covers the opening up and out of the way - sort of).

This is the door frame that fits in the opening. It fits tightly from the outer wall to the back of the chimney wall. I can leave it so that it will open and you can go in and out, but I have blocked it off for several years. When the plants get in there, there isn't a lot of room for coming and going so I just push the frame into place with the sheeting that hangs down from the roof around it and it effectively makes that a wall.

This is the inside - cozy but bright. It is 6' across from the doorway to the outer wall and 9' long from the opening where I'm standing to take the pic to the end where the white shelves are next to the door.

And this is standing next to the door to the house looking out the opening that heads up the stairs. You can see where the chimney wall comes out from the house (behind the wire table) and makes the doorway that I close up.

Most of the shelving in the SubT is recycled. The table was a clothing rack that had been donated to the costume shop at the school, but one piece of leg was missing so it was worthless. The white bakers rack was missing one piece of iron and the glass for two shelves had been broken so the neighbors were throwing it away. I just put wood where the glass was missing and it's great for my purposes. The shelves along the long, outside wall are made from cinder blocks that were in Dad's basement when I cleaned out his house and recycled closet shelving (think elfa but cheaper). The floor is slanted towards a drain that was built in, so I used shingles to level the various shelves. I do have a small electric heater, but until it gets very cold and stays that way for a while, the light bulb in the outdoor light will keep it pretty warm.

The whole thing is pretty cheap, and pretty effective.

Upgrading the SubT

2011-10-22T14:56:00.000-06:00

We have a 'daylight basement'. I put quotes around that because I think saying it was a stretch on the builder's part. What they did to create the 'daylight' part of the basement was extend the basement out a few feet, surround it by a brick wall and put stairs that lead below grade to a door and two windows.

A few years back, I decided that this would be the perfect place to build a greenhouse. The well is 6' across and the area from the end of the well to the side of the chimney is 9' long, so the greenhouse is 6' x 9'. It's perfect because I didn't really have to build much. I had to come up with a way to create a roof that was insulated and still let sun in. The roof had to be slanted so it didn't collect leaves so that meant that there is a triangle at one end that had to be dealt with and the open end. Because there is a chimney sticking out of the wall, the other end was half walled which just left a doorway.

So, in October of 2007 my nephew came for a visit and I put him to work. We bought some PVC pipes, some corrugated vinyl roofing panels and some poly sheeting and we built me a greenhouse. We built a sqare frame of PVC and laid it across the well where the stairs go down below grade from the top of the wall (which has a railing on it that conveniently holds the frame in place) to the wall of the house. Then we covered that with the poly sheeting and put the roof tiles on top of that. I used bubble wrap to drape over the doorway and the open end where the railing is - inside the poly which was also draped down below grade on all sides.

In October of 2009, I needed to replace the poly sheeting as it becomes brittle with time. I had learned that water will accumulate on it and cause it to droop, so I added a brace to the center of the rectangular pvc frame. I also lifted the bottom so that the poly sheeting was above ground level and the water could flow to the ground more easily.

This year, I again had to replace the sheeting and this year I am making a few more improvements.

First, the outside edge is all the framing this thing had the first year. In 2009, I added the third top to bottom piece (the one under my daughter's feet). This year, we (I had help again - this time from DH and DD) added two side to side braces which I hope will help keep the roofing panels from sagging.

These are the corrugated roofing panels and they are no longer flat. Gravity combined with the heat of the sun here in Georgia to cause them to sort of melt in the middle. I'm hoping they will flatten out a bit in the sun today and tomorrow morning but if not, I'll just use them with the humps up so gravity can flatten them back down.

Here is the framing in place. Tomorrow it will be covered with a sheet of poly which will drape below grade on the end with the wrought iron railing and to the ground on the other end. Then we will lay the corrugated roofing panels on top of that - I think I may tie some to the top of the pvc frame to keep them from sliding down since we have a steeper grade this year than ever before. Lastly, we will lay another layer of poly sheeting over the whole thing again. The corrugated roofing panels will create an air space between the two layers of sheeting that will help insulate the roof.

There is a pvc framed doorway that gets wedged between where the chimney sticks out and the outside wall. Both the door and the end near the railing will also get a draping of bubble wrap for added insulation.

This has worked very well for the last four years. I lose a few plants every year, but a lot less than when I tried to keep them alive in the garage. And last year, I had tomatoes in December, January and even February (tho those didn't taste as good).

Tomorrow, we dress the frame and maybe move the plants.

Marilyn!

2011-10-20T08:17:00.001-06:00

This is the first Marilyn that Girl Far From Home knit - all finished.

And these pictures show my completed square (the blue/pink) and Girl Far From Home's completed square (the purple/pink) and each of our half done squares - mine is the one that is a little bigger.

And possibly the last bloom of the year from my favorite passion flower.

What I did in school today.

2011-10-19T16:17:00.001-06:00

The school the girls go to (well, one went) is different from most schools out there. It goes from pre-K (3 year olds) up to 12th grade. It isn't traditional in any area, but least of all in the early grades. Once a year, the specialists (the art teacher, music teacher, pe teacher, computer person, spanish teacher, principal, guidance counselor and any other person without a full time classroom full of kids) get together and put on an experiential learning week that focuses on just one subject. This year it was the Wild West.

They brought me in to teach about spinning and fibers and how the settlers made their clothes. It was really fun. These little guys are in the 3 year old class and they were so interested and so polite!

I spent about 5 hours there and got to see a lot of lovely little kids. The boys were fascinated with how my wheel worked and the girls were fascinated with everything.

I showed them lots of different types of fibers and lots of different kinds of spindles and some cards and how to card wool.

The kids had each made their own horse . . . .

and they rode them up the hall to the music room where I was with my spinning wheel.

This little gentleman held his horse tightly so I could get a picture of it - it was green on the other side.

Another New Baby

2011-10-17T14:28:00.000-06:00

The Divine Miss M isn't the only one around here who just got a new baby unexpectedly.

My old Dell is going to be celebrating it's 9th birthday on the 4th of February and since it's currently the only computer in the house, DH bought me a new one. There used to be five computers in the house besides mine. Girl Far From Home took one to college and the others all died - and I mean really and truly died.

It's a nice, big screen iMac that I haven't a clue how to use because I've always been a PC kinda gal.

Girl Far From Home has a MacBook and The Divine Miss M also wants one so it just made sense that all the family computers should be the same operating system. It doesn't hurt that we have been hit by nasty viruses that disabled every computer in the house repeatedly over the last couple of years. The first time they all got attacked it cost me a couple of hundred bucks to get them straightened out. The second time, my nephew helped and the last time I managed to get most of the crap cleaned off but it kept coming back so I had to have my computer lobotomized. That time only cost me for hardware upgrades because a good friend did the work.

Macs are almost immune to viruses and spyware and other security attacks. To me, that's a huge deal especially with teenagers in the house.

My last computer has given me almost nine years of use and other than the viruses of the last couple of years, not a lot of trouble. I've changed the things I do on computers over those nine years though, so I wanted something with a lot of RAM and a faster and better processor - course, I would get that with almost anything I bought, even used. I want to be able to use Skype and Oovoo and still do something else on the computer and I can't do that with my old Dell and cannot upgrade the processor to allow for the newer video cards that could handle it.

I love the design of these macs. There is no big box under the desk where my feet should go - just the screen, a smallish keyboard (going to take some getting used to because I learned to type on actual typewriters and have a heavy touch) and a very small but very cool mouse. Once I get the old Dell moved to it's new home, I'm going to have lots of room on my desk that I don't now!

It's going to take a while to get the new computer doing all that the old one did - especially since I spent the last six days driving back and forth to get Girl Far From Home and then playing with her (bought the computer with her) and then taking her back to where she belongs these days. She has a funny way of riding in cars, in case you didn't notice.

So, if I'm missing in action, I'm probably just trying to figure out how to do something . . . . there will be a lot of that going on for a while, but I'll be smiling in my confusion.

Divine Miss M

2011-10-16T19:41:00.002-06:00

Tanna the Llama had a baby on Oct 15 2011

Recap on herd:

I have: 2 males and 3 females (Polo, KiteRunner, La Negrita, Syringa and Angelique)
Teresa: 2 males and 3 females (Sonqo, Encanto, Kizmet, Caldera and Egsotica)
Divine Miss M: 2 males and 2 females (Marco, Mark, Chainaral and Tanna the llama and baby Dai and llama at the end of the blog)

It's Timing Was Perfect

2011-10-16T07:41:00.000-06:00

This beauty bloomed last night. I was afraid it was going to hold out till tonight and I won't be around to see it tonight - heading back to Far From Home later this morning.

It's not just gorgeous, it smells divine. It's a Night Blooming Cereus and they are one of the most fragrant flowers I know of but they don't bloom very often. I think I heard something about them being a seven year flower.

This is the whole plant - gives a little perspective on how big the flower is and what the plant looks like.

This is the back side of the flower - I really love all those feathery bits.

It was still open this morning so I got a couple of quick pics.

This is it next to my hand because I wanted to show perspective. The only problem is that my hand is sort of in front of the flower because I was doing this by myself - would have been better to use someone else's hand. The hand in front makes the flower look a bit smaller than it really is - it's about 9" across.

And this is a water lily that's been blooming like crazy all summer and is still blooming. It's more purple/blue than it looks in this picture . . .

It was a Really Big Surprise!

2011-10-14T09:01:00.000-06:00

But that was mostly because it wasn't his birthday! We thought we'd really make it a surprise and celebrate his birthday at the beach because that's his favorite place. But we can't go to the beach on his real birthday because we arrive at the airport at midnight the Friday before his Sunday birthday and that isn't a long weekend. So, we just cheated a little on the date!

There was cake and there were presents . . . .

There were party favors - the little bugs wind up and run around. The dragonflies and butterfly flap their wings. The ladybug flips over and, on the table, it just stopped and the wheels spun and DH thought that was incredibly funny. Then I tried running it on the floor and discovered that it runs around in a little circle, flips ALL the way over and then runs around in another little circle. It's cute either way.

This was the table decoration - I told DH he didn't get it, I do. Wish this was a better picture because the two tone orange and yellow are so much prettier in person.

Perfect for a card from That Other Girl . . .

This one played the theme from the pink panther . . .

Perfect for the guy who thinks he's son of George Hamilton . . .

And from Casey (the dog) who sleeps with DH on the couch every single evening between suppertime and bedtime . . . .

I hope it was a good birthday . . .

Flowers

2011-10-13T08:55:00.008-06:00

Still no frost down here in Georgia. The mums and obedient plant are still blooming and I still have tomatoes ripening on the vine.

This is my night blooming cereus - if this doesn't get knocked off, it will be lovely when it opens. These guys are so fragrant that the nieghbors 3 or 4 houses down can smell them when they bloom.

And I still have several buds on my favorite red Passion Flower. Can't wait for these to open!

We still have tomatoes ripening on the vine . . . the vine isn't looking very pretty these days, but there are both red and green tomatoes. The red ones are delicious!

My mini roses are blooming - there is this yellow one and another that is yellow with orange edges . . . those pics were too blurry to post. The big red rose is also blooming, but those pics were also too blurry. I really need a new camera.

And one of my favorite fall flowers is the toad lily. My plant is about 12 years old and so has many spikes and each and every one of them is covered with these little orchid looking flowers. They always bloom for me in October and I just love them!

Halloween Decorations!

2011-10-12T07:33:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday we decorated for Halloween. We don't do nearly as much as we used to, but youngest child still likes things dressed up for this holiday.

It's a big deal in our neighborhood. The neighbors all do a lot - used to be even more, but some of the neighbors have gotten older and quit doing haunted houses, etc. There are still house parties here and there. There is still one guy in the neighborhood who sets up a grill in his driveway and makes hot dogs for all comers. Another house gives away light up necklaces. And it's a big social occasion for everyone.

Some of our decorations are as old as the children and most all of them are more than 10 years old. I did have to replace most of the little pumpkins we hang in the trees and bushes a few years ago, but some are still older than my youngest who is 15.

I really love these ghosts - you can make them with white kitchen garbage bags, balloons and black markers. Some of these were bought and others hand made.

This is my favorite pumpkin - he's terracotta and holds a candle. He's pretty new - only about 3 years old.

And there have to be knitted decorations for every holiday - a few pumpkins (double duty for Thanksgiving) and some ghosties.

This is Sally. We got her when That Other Girl was fairly young and she's the one who named her Sally (who knows why). She has lived in this corner of the kitchen year round for several years now.

And then there are these little stuffed guys - they are Casey's decorations. She likes them a lot!

Now I need to tat some spiders or something for the windows!

Tatting Tea Tuesday - Finally!

2011-10-11T08:39:00.000-06:00

I finally have something to show for Tatting Tea Tuesday! This has taken me much longer than it should have because I seemed to have so darned many knitting deadlines and didn't get to work on it! This is a Spinning Wheel Glass Mat by Mary Konior using Anika's HDT. I love the colors of this thread! I went back to this easy pattern because I almost always have success with it and I was having no success with so many other things.

This is my next project - a necklace for myself. I am almost using Crazy Mom's Count to Four pattern (found here), but not quite. I wanted mine smaller and I don't want beads. I have a special something I want to hang from this . . . more on that later. I do hope to finish this quickly because I want to make more glass mats using both the Spinning Wheel pattern and Anne Bruvold's Dragon wing pattern.

I've had the little floss bobbins on the ring for a while - as you can see, most of them are full. (I really need to start using those little bits up, don't I?) So I bought some more of the bobbins and I bought myself a new bobbin winder. I've found that I can put the hanks of HDT that I get from most sellers on my yarn swift and then wind them onto the bobbin from that. It makes it so much quicker than winding by hand and trying to keep the hank from tangling.

I found this Krenik thread on sale for half price in one of the yarn shops I visited the other day. I thought it would be lovely to tat some Christmas Decorations out of it -either by itself or together with another thread. Half of these are supposed to be for Dena, but she has to tell me which ones she wants.

And this is a very special present I bought myself. Tatterldy was giving away a David Reed Smith shuttle on her blog but I figured I had little chance of winning it (and I was right) so I just ordered one for myself! It's bubinga wood and so is the crochet hook. I have some more of Anika's HDT wound on it already and I'm going to make a Dragon Wing Doily with it. Soooooo pretty! The Count to Four necklace is meant to hold the crochet hook but I'll use some kind of metal jump ring to attach it.

Knitting Catch Up

2011-10-10T08:18:00.000-06:00

I started a second block for the Marilyn Blanket. I like the blue and green together.

And my Tina's Sweater is coming along nicely. It's about 11 1/2 from the bottom edge now. The pattern calls for 15 inches from the lower edge to the armhole so that means I'm getting there. I love this yarn - cannot begin to say how much I love it. It knits so nicely and feels lovely both in the knitting and when knitted. It's Blue Moon Fiber Arts BFL sport. I will be buying more of this, someday for something.

I finished winding all the Madeline Tosh Merino Light into balls. I know that the folks at Madeline Tosh say that the tangled hank issues have been solved but I don't think I'll ever risk buying this yarn again anyway. Some of these balls took hours (plural) to wind and I just don't like any yarn enough to deal with that. I'm such a lovely sister that I wound Dena's into balls for her too because I know she wouldn't have had the patience to deal with it and would have tossed the tangled heap into the back of her yarn room and never gotten it out for the knit along. These will be two Sothia shawls.

A friend called on Friday and asked if I wanted to go visit two yarn shops - one I had never been to and the other I hadn't been to since it moved. The first one was great - found these four hanks of Mountain Colors River Twist on sale by one get one free. Since I've always liked this yarn, I bought them. I'm going to make an Elizabeth Zimmermann Rib Warmer Vest for myself out of this - maybe.

This is for a very special Christmas Present and I cannot say more than that - except that it won't be tatted.

I have given all the Ishbel's I've made away so I'm thinking it might be time to make another. Maybe this will be for me?

I've got these two lovely yarns - both beautiful colors and both very soft. I just don't know which to knit first!

I think I can toss this in between knitting on the list of Knit Along things I'm working on with Dena because I'm pretty far ahead of her. We are working on the Marilyn Blanket and the Tina's Sweater now. We have the Pine & Ivy shawl using the Blue Heron Chesapeake, the Sothia Shawls using the Madeline Tosh, the 22 Leaves Shawl using the quiviut, and the Allspice Vest using as yet unidentified yarn already in the Knit Along Queue . . . oh yeah, and the Cambridge shawl which Dena started and I didn't.

Ok, maybe I just better keep on working on the queue . . . no ishbel for now.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

2011-10-09T14:06:00.000-06:00

Friday was my 22nd Wedding Anniversary. Hubby and I dated for a long time before we got married, I think it was either 13 or 14 years, so we have been together forever. He sent me these lovely flowers and I gave him some music CD's. We had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant - nice evening!

Too Good Not to Post

2011-09-30T19:15:00.002-06:00

Update

2011-09-29T11:40:00.000-06:00

You might remember this from an earlier post - it was mentioned in passing as one of my current projects. Well, the knitting is done - it isn't blocked and the ends are dragging, but those things will happen much, much later. Here is the finished piece - if you look closely, you can see what it is. Or maybe it's just me that can because I already know what I'm looking for - it's much clearer from the back or the sides . . .

This is my first block for the Marilyn Blanket for Girl Far From Home. She's already finished one too, but I don't have it here to photograph (it's Far From Home). Mom is working on one and Dena is working on another. Girl Far From Home is hoping that Crazy Celtic Cousin (or Tall Dark and Kilted as his mother calls him) will also knit one. The other cousins know how to knit too, as does That Other Girl. Maybe someone else would like to knit a block? It's fun and really easy.

What a Mess!!!!

2011-09-27T11:45:00.000-06:00

So Dena and I are chatting and browsing on Ravelry the other day and I showed her a shawl that a friend of mine from down under had made. I say, I really like this little shawl and I want to make one just like it.

Thus begins another of our famous knit alongs. It's not that we don't have enough knitting already, just that we keep finding things we love and want to knit. Heck, it isn't even like we don't have three or four knit alongs going on already (Pine & Ivy, Tina's Sweater, Hedgehogs, Cambridge if I ever find yarn, etc)

So, our newest knit along shawl is called Sothia and the yarn recommended for it is Madeline Tosh Merino Light. This yarn is all hand dyed and the colors are beyond lovely. So we look around and find some online. I buy 5 hanks of this lovely coral color because we each need about 2 and a little.

It arrives in the mail and is even more lovely in person than it was on the screen. The colors of this that you see on the screen vary from the palest peach to a deep orange and who knows if it's just difficult to photograph or it actually varies that much, but what we have here is lovely.

One hank must be wound into a ball and then divided into two equal sized portions. You would think that would be easy. You would be very wrong. It took me over 2 hours just to wind it out of the hank and because of the level of difficulty, I then had to rewind the ball a bit looser and then divide it.

This hank was a tangled mess!

I go check on Ravelry and sure enough, in the comments on this yarn, there are dozens of complaints about how tangly and messed up the hanks are and how difficult it is to wind into either balls or cakes. Madeline Tosh supposedly replaced yarn for a bunch of people, but that's hardly the point when you are trying to start a project. And what if you are knitting under a deadline? The color is nice, but frankly, the yarn just isn't all that and sure isn't worth two and a half (or more) hours per hank for ball winding.

So, Dena, here is your shawl kit. I will try winding one more hank and see how that goes, hopefully better. If they are all as tangled and messy as the first one, we may want to get a different yarn for this project.

Sacrificing for my Sister

2011-09-26T12:33:00.001-06:00

These are for my sister, Dena. I sacrificed my waistline to get them for her. Now she will take them and turn them into shawl pins. Maybe she will make a shawl pin for me if I send her enough of these.

And then there is my current knitting project (well, one of them). I hope to have a better picture of it tomorrow!

This is my other current knitting project . . . this one is going to take a very long time to finish. I do love the yarn and the color though, so I don't mind spending a long time with it.

And I am making progress with my tatting - and tomorrow is Tuesday.

Allow me to Introduce . . .

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-06:00

The Hedgiebabies!!!

They are at least a full size smaller than the ones I usually make.

That's them in the back row - the reason they are taller is that they are sitting on a step! The three in the front are from previous batches of hedgies . . . I think the one in the middle needs a little more felting before it goes anywhere.

As you can see, they are quite a bit smaller than the biggest guy . . .

This seems to be a classic color combination . . . lots of red/black hedgies on Ravelry. It could be because there are a number of sports teams that use this color combo - including University of Georgia. This little guy was made with Paton's Classic Wool and Lion Brand Fun Fur.

This little guy was an experiment with sport weight yarn as opposed to worsted weight. He was supposed to be smaller than the rest and it is actually his fault the rest are so small. When I was felting the three of them, he came out of his pillowcase so he's the one I checked for completeness. I didn't think he was felted enough so I restarted the washing machine. Probably because I was coming down with this nasty cold, I just didn't think about him being white and white yarn not felting as well as other colors. I also neglected to take into account that I had knit each of the three critters with a different feltable wool so I could see how the two new wools felted. I just wasn't thinking at all that evening.

This little guy was knit with Knit Picks Telemark and Lion Brand Fun Fur.

This one is a gift for Girl Far From Home's new room mate. She picked the colors (from what I had on hand). I think he might be the cutest of the bunch. He was knit with Galway Worsted and Lion Brand Fun Fur.

And here we have the three new little guys all together - the Hedgiebabies!

As you can see, Tatting Tea Tuesday wasn't a complete waste of time, even if very little tatting occurred.

Reality is an illusion that occurs due to a lack of wine.

2011-09-21T15:38:00.000-06:00

It was a Tuesday.

It should have been a Tatting Tea Tuesday.

But it didn't work out that way at all.

The Tea was there; I had a Chai Latte and Teresa had a cranberry and orange tea. The Divine Miss M had a pot of Lady Hannah tea. And we already know that it was a Tuesday.

So where was the Tatting???

We all got together on Oovoo, GirlFarFromHome, Teresa, and Me (Dena) and we knit huggable hedgehog.
Teresa was teaching the how to's via video, showing us exactly how to do it and what to do.

We drank our tea until it ran out and we moved on to the wine.

We got our hedgehogs almost finished. Photos will be posted here.

Find your favorite tatter; make a date for next Tuesday to get together and Tat (or knit or crochet). With Skype and Oovoo you can live far apart and still have Tatting Tea Tuesday.

Post by Dena

Getting a Head Start

2011-09-19T16:55:00.000-06:00

On Tatting Tea Tuesday. My Mom sent me this lovely little tea for one set and I bought this tea at Miss Tami's Cottage when I visited Mom & Dena in Idaho. Cranberry Orange tea and very, very good!

So, the tea set and tea were put to good use the other day so I could have tea while I tatted. I haven't finished this piece yet, but I'm hoping that Dena and I can share Tatting Tea Tuesday tomorrow over Oovoo or Skype and I can make some progress on this spinning wheel mat.

Dena sent me all this cool fun fur! Novelty yarn has become such a bad word these days that it's terribly difficult to find. Dena has a place where they have it in big fat balls. I guess there are more hedgehogs and gnomes in my future after all! (Hey Dena! Keep an eye out for black fun fur cuz that's what I need for penguins.)

Dinner!

2011-09-18T18:59:00.000-06:00

Someone decided that since Dad is out of town, she wanted to do some cooking. She found a recipe and we gathered the ingredients, purchasing what we didn't have.

And we started cooking. I was in charge of cooking the salmon.

She was in charge of not just one but two sauces. The problem with this plan was that nobody was in charge of the sides and so we almost didn't have any. At the last possible minute we found a way to add a starch and veggie.

She is going to be a very good cook. She has her very own cookbook and she's planning to try every recipe in it. So far, so good.

This is the salmon with the first sauce on and under it - it's a teriyaki and pineapple sauce. I love pineapple.

This is the second sauce - more teriyaki plus some pineapple preserves and some sweet chili sauce. This gets added when you serve the salmon.

And the table set for two - notice the candle, we wanted it to be nice for our dinner for two.

'Nother one

2011-09-15T16:23:00.000-06:00

I seem to knit a lot of repeats. I've knit nine hedgehogs so far. I've knit the hello baby sweater twice. I've knit tons of socks - usually different patterns, but I've knit the toasty twist socks at least 3 times. And now, I've knit this No Home Gnome pattern again. Actually, I don't follow the pattern at all, but I do knit the idea of the pattern. (The pattern calls for all the pieces to be knit flat and seamed and I just don't do that. It also calls for them to be a different size and shape from what I do.)

This little No Home Gnome has gone home to be a young boy's friend. Hope he likes his new home and hope the boy likes him.

Hubby is leaving in the morning and won't be back until Monday night. I need to decide what Dena and I are drinking this weekend so here are pics of my stash. The bottom row are regular wines - all good.

The top row are all either special harvest or ice wines . . . seriously sweet and delicious, but smaller bottles than the regular wines.

So, what do you think we should drink?

Baby Presents!

2011-09-10T08:40:00.000-06:00

The baby things are knitted and delivered. Well, I delivered them to the Gramma yesterday and she'll be delivering them to the family today.

I made one little purple sweater. I had planned to make a hat and booties to go with it, but I just ran out of time. This is the Hello Baby Sweater by Susan B. Anderson available for free on her Spud & Chloe blog - there are a lot of really cool knitting patterns available free there.

I also made this sweet little baby hat. It's called the Sweetie Pie Hat and it was designed by Tanis Gray for Be Sweet Yarns. It comes on the ball band of their Bambino Taffy yarn and it makes a cute little toddler hat with one ball of yarn. I downsized the pattern to make a newborn hat - the ball actually had one more color change in it that I just left out. I hope the hat fits. It was quick and fun to make.

And then there were the Hedgehogs. This one is for the new baby - a girl. The fun fur looked multi colored but I had no idea it was going to come out striped. The way you knit these critters tho, there are rounds around the face that are knit first and the first color on the ball was pink so this little critter has a pink ring around it's front.

The new baby has a big brother, about 6 I think, and his favorite color is yellow. I didn't want him to feel left out, so I made him his own hedgehog. These are such a great size and shape, I figure he and his dad can play football with this one if they want.

This hedgehog isn't going to that family. I love this one so I'm keeping it. I had one ball of black fun fur and two partial balls of a variegated gray (some light, some darker) that has a silver tinge to it. I started with the black and made the ring around the front and then switched to the gray for the back. When I ran out of gray, I switched back to the black and it worked out that the back is gray and the bottom is black. It just turned out so cool.

All three of the Hedgies together - can you tell that the red/black one is a bit larger? You never know what you are going to get when felting (actually fulling if the wool is knit first) because different colors of the same yarn felt at different rates and different wools felt totally differently. That's ok because the red is for an adult and the yellow and pink are for kids. Nice how that worked out.

One more pic of the finished baby blanket - so soft and so nice.

And the whole lot together before I wrapped them. I hope they like them!

Now I'm going to go tat something . . . no more knitting deadlines for a while. I think I'll finish that Spinning Wheel mat I started out of Anika's thread first and then I'll finish Bree's pattern.

Knitting up a Storm

2011-09-07T15:39:00.001-06:00

Not a hurricane, just a storm! And while Lee has been down here, I've gotten a lot done.

First, this is the baby blanket that I had been knitting for most of August. Actually, it took me exactly 21 days to finish it, but I don't think I knit on anything else at all (maybe 4 rows on a certain sweater I wasn't supposed to be knitting on). It's bigger than a normal baby blanket - I haven't measured it but it's bigger. It's soft, pale pink and very nice. The pattern is Estonian Lullaby by Fiber Trends. The baby will love it . . . or else!

This is the To Eyre Shawl that I've been trying to knit for myself all summer. This is made with Cascade Eco Duo which is 70% undyed baby alpaca and 30% undyed merino wool. It's soft and it's gorgeous and I love the shades of gray that form the stripes. The pattern is To Eyre by Carol Sunday.

And it doesn't hurt that it looks good and will keep my shoulders warm when there is a chill in the air.

These are the Hedgehogs before felting. The pink one is for the new baby, Briana. She was born on Monday the 5th even though her mom was scheduled for a C-section on Monday the 12th. The yellow one is for her big brother Taylor - big brothers should get gifts too. The red, gray and black one is for someone else, a surprise. The pattern is another Fiber Trends Pattern - Huggable Hedgehog.

This is them felted and stuffed. This first round of stuffing is to help them dry so it will have to be removed to dry out or it will mildew. They will get eyes and noses when they are dry and then they'll be restuffed with fresh stuffing and their little bottoms sewed up. I'll finish them tomorrow if they are dry.

This is going to be a very sweet little baby hat. This yarn is Be Sweet Bambino Taffy which is 70% organically grown cotton and 30% bamboo. It's soft and a bit shiny and silky because of the bamboo. The cool thing about this is that the ball has five different colors of yarn in it. Each color has enough to knit about a fifth of the hat and then the next color is tied on - so the hat will be striped with pink on the bottom then burgundy, then black, navy and light blue. It's going to be adorable.

And this is going to be a little baby cardigan. It's called Hello Baby and was written by Susan B. Anderson. It just needs sleeves and a button band. Oh yeah, and it's supposed to have a matching hat . . . all this has to be delivered by Friday for it's ride up to the new parents.

New Old Room

2011-09-03T16:45:00.000-06:00

Girl Far From Home is Far From Home and all moved into her new, but very old, room. I think the building that these dorm rooms are in is the second or third oldest building on campus.

This is the old steam radiator - not absolutely sure, but I think it's still in use.

Girl's room is off a hallway that runs behind these stairs. That makes it a bit quieter because it is off the main hall. This is a gorgeous old building.

This is Girl, with her stuff mostly in the room but not all unpacked and put away. You can see how tall the ceilings are in this picture and how big the window she likes to sit in is - well, how tall anyway.

The window behind the head of her bed. It looks out onto a small driveway across which is another building - think it has laundry and other facility things in it.

This is the view - out past the building (the dumpster is temporary).

This is the window - remember that the Girl standing doesn't come half way up it - that sill is 14" deep at least and the window is tall enough for her to sit completely in the frame with it open.

The Marilyn wall.

Marilyn above her dresser - that's a full sized poster and the top of it is higher than I can reach standing on top of the dresser.

The TV, DVD player, mirror and some makeup on her dresser.

Names on the door - must know who is in here!

The outside of the building.

More of the quad.

The hat building at the end of her dorm building - love the hat building.

Let's just see

2011-09-02T19:39:00.000-06:00

how far I can get on these Hedgehogs since I have no Internet, apparently for the entire long weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-08-31T12:06:00.000-06:00

It was Mom's 16 1/2 Birthday and we tried to make it a nice one. We started out at the beauty parlor, although we do that every Tuesday. And Mindy made her even prettier than she is already.

Then we headed over to the doctor's office for a weekly poke and prod and all the nurses sang her Happy Birthday. Then it was off to her favorite restaurant for a bit of a Brunch.

Then we went to see if she won at BiMart (didn't) and then up to White House Yarns for some yarn. Mom needed red and white and blue to finish up a Christmas gift (so we son't say exactly what it is for). Gail thought Mom deserved a bag of yarn for a Birthday present - so she gave Mom the yarn. I also bought yarn and needles but it wasn't my birthday so I didn't get them for free.
A few more errands, a few more presents and then it was home for a nap.
When the guys got home from work we all went out for a Birthday Dinner topped off with a piece of Birthday Cake for Mom.

It isn't everyday that Mom turns 16 1/2 - just every Birthday.

Hope you had a good time mom

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-08-30T20:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, today and tomorrow . . . Just keep celebrating cuz you deserve it!

Guess what . . .

2011-08-29T11:31:00.000-06:00

I finished the baby blanket and it is gorgeous. I will post pictures when we get home and I can spread it out. Meanwhile I have started something new - guess what it is!

And let me leave you with another of Girl Far From Home's Marilyn posters. This one I had to stand on the dresser and reach as high as I could reach to put up. (Thank goodness for 3M's new Command poster hanging strips!)

First Things First

2011-08-28T16:20:00.000-06:00

Marilyn is moved in, Girl will settle in soon.