Today's Excitement and Tatting Tea Thursday

Once again, I managed to miss Tatting Tea Tuesday again this week because it's been crazy around here.  I have to catch up from all the time I spent trying to get the young lady ready to go off to college and then getting her off to college, not to mention all the company we've had lately.  I've done about 20 loads of laundry this week - and only a few things from her . . . sad.  She's been great about calling and skyping and emailing and texting - which is good because there have been many times when I heard from her just in time to stem the tears that might have come.  I miss her at the silliest times - like when I'm folding laundry because she is always willing to help with that, or when her cat is lonely (which is all the time) and comes to find me.  I love skype and spent today trying to find a newer better video card so we could both see each other at the same time.

Now for the Exciting News!  Guess what came in the mail today!!!  That's right, my book.  What book you say? The new and improved Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac  The Commemorative Edition.  Yep, I got an advance copy (or maybe not advance but certainly an early copy) directly from Schoolhouse and Meg Swansen signed the reciept (wish she'd signed the book!!).  It's got my stuff in it - lots of it but not all of it.  They only used two of the angels, two trees and three stars.  They used someone else's fruit basket, but it was better than mine anyway.  I am so tickled - it's a lovely book, hardcover with paper book jacket and everything.  This is SOOOO Uber Cool!!!!



Edit:  One of the three stars is not mine.  It seems that Amy Detjen knit the 'gold' star which I think is the topmost one and Meg Swansen knit the fruit basket.  So now I know that my knitting has been hanging out with the famous people's knitting and that's just so cool I could DIE.  (Sadly, they spelled my name wrong in the credits, but not very wrong.)

Now for the tatting.  I've been working on the Dragon Wing Doily by Anne Bruvold.  I love the pattern - it's easy enough for me to do but looks fabulous when done.  It's smallish and would make a nice coaster.  And I've been making it in a lovely thread - Lizbeth size 10 in vineyard????????.  I started it just about the time we went to Virginia and then started Miss S's sweater so that she'd be warm when I'm not there.  Anyway, I was working on the doily the other day and since it had been a bit here and a bit there, I'd almost memorized the pattern but not quite.  So I made a mistake in the stitch count in one ring and being the perfectionist that I am, I was compelled to fix it.  I got the ring undone with no problem but when I redid it and tried to tighten it after I redid it, the thread snapped.  I was upset and so I set it aside - a little more than half done.  I'll attach the thread and finish it someday.

A new tatting buddy sent me some lovely books that she wasn't using anymore.  I've met some really terrific folks on the Shuttle Shop Tatting Forums - I'm so glad I won that shuttle on Ebay and Erin invited me to the forums.  These books range from beginner to advanced and some of the patterns are duplicated in more than one book.  I thought I'd do the same thing I did with the Mary Konior books and send two of these to Dena to try while I try the other two.  Then we can trade in a few months and have new books.

Anyway, since I had put down the snapped string dragon wing doily, I decided to try the leaf pattern out of these since it's fall.  As a matter of fact, I've gathered up quite a few leaf patterns and I'm going to make several just for the fun of it.  It is going to be fall soon . . .




















And last, but not least a few flowers from my garden.  The shade tolerant waterlily that Craig sent me - it's gorgeous with little pink tips on the leaves.  And the passiflora seedling that he sent me last year . . . I really love this one!