Tatting and other stuff

First, the disclaimer:  Today's photos are not very good.  It's dreary outside - dreary and cold.  I had to take the pictures indoors and I always have a harder time getting good shots indoors than outdoors.  

 And my photographer's assistant was having an off day - not sure why.

So, one thing I tatted recently was this lanyard.  I've seen lots of tails on bookmarks done this way and never saw instructions for how to do it anywhere.  I decided I wanted something to hold my little crochet hook around my neck so I didn't have to hold it in my mouth when I'm tatting.  Yes, I know I don't HAVE to hold it in my mouth, but that's where it usually ends up and it's just not nice.  Besides, I hate it when I can't talk.  And yes, I know there are shuttles with hooks on the end, but I don't seem to be able to use them comfortably.  So I decided I wanted a lanyard.to hold my little hook - I had already added a lobster claw clasp to it.  So I played around with this in the hotel when I took Girl Far From Home back to Far From Home.  I discovered that doing this is something like spinning - twist the stitches too much around the core and it winds back on itself one way, and don't add enough twist and it winds back on itself the other way.  This one isn't quite just right, but it's not too bad and it works nicely because it's just the right length to leave the hook near my hands when I'm tatting.  

And this is the finished hankie.  It's a dreadful picture and I took quite a few to get one this good.  I might try again tomorrow for a better picture if the weather is decent.  The tatting on this isn't perfect, but with the bad photography, you can't see the mistakes.  It was fun to do so I think I will do the others I came home with, but I will probably look at the Mary Konior books because she's got tons of edgings and I do enjoy tatting her patterns.

The blue yarn that was supposed to be extra has come home.  That means it's time to cut the arm off my sweater and reknit it.  I think I will take pictures because cutting knitting is so traumatic to so many people.  I wish the sweater was done today because it was cold here and I would have enjoyed wearing it.  I left my February Lady sweater Far From Home because someone didn't bring warm clothes.  That's probably because when she left Georgia it was almost 80 degrees and who knew it would snow that same night and she'd need winter woolies?.

This is the book and yarn I won on the Sheep Dreams blog - I have to say that I really love farm blogs these days.  I also love Susan B. Anderson patterns.  This book is not at what I thought it was!  I thought it was a story book with some knitting patterns for the characters.  It's not.  It has patterns for an entire farm in it.  They are really cute too!

First, we have Chloe (the girl) and Spud (the sheep) and in this picture you also see the back of the farm dog and the farm cat.  The prize included enough yarn to knit both Spud and Chloe and I really love the yarn.  It's a wool/cotton blend so it's the best of both worlds and I think it will make really great toys.

And then there are all the farm animals, baby sheep, mice, hen and chicks, pigs and even a cow!  They are all sooo cute!  (See the front of the farm dog behind the hay bales.)

And, of course, if you are going to have a farm, you have to have the farm accessories.  There is a knit barn and fence for penning your animals.  And there are hay bales and buckets for feeding the animals.

I think the knitted items in this book would make really great gifts for little kids - how nice to have your own soft farm?  And how nice to have toys that stimulate the imagination rather than overwhelming the senses?