Tatting Shuttle Organization

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 . . . .

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

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

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!