Category: funeral

Sympathy Tatting

Since the last time I posted, we have had two deaths in the family. Neither was unexpected, but it still means many things have to be done in a short amount of time including the viewings, the funerals, the dinners, and the family visits. In one case there was taking care of bills and property and other associated issues after. Sad times with a lot of family get-togethers with many happy memories shared.

During all this, I have done quite a bit of tatting but without a lot of computer time to share them. Things may be slowing down a bit, finally, with other, more normal, happenings to take up my time now. Grandkid sports for one thing – or two, or three. I’ve been able to get tatting done but again, not a lot of computer time.

Something I’ve been making a lot of lately is my newest cross. I call it March SR Cross because I’m so ‘good’ at coming up with cool and memorable names for my tatting.

March SR Cross on wandasknottythoughts
March SR Cross

Those of you familiar with my August SR Cross may notice some similarities with this one. The March one is based on the August SR cross but the center is different. The center on this one is layered over the main body, which is pretty, though I don’t know that I’d want to keep it in the center of my Bible.

I made it in several colors, mostly two shades of green, and pink and blue.

March SR Cross in green on wandasknottythoughts
March SR Cross in green

I made them to give out in the sympathy cards, and to other family members.

Cross with card on wandasknottythoghts
March SR Cross with card

I usually add a bit of tatting to the card as well, mostly butterflies and single-ring flowers aroundd the words. This time I added a bit more.

Additions to the sympathy card on wandasknottythoughts
Additions to the sympathy card

The card had plenty of open space and I had a few minutes. It’s nice that a small amount of thread can add that little bit extra to make a card personal.

I’ve been working on the pattern for the new cross in fits and starts. I think it’s about ready, I just need to tat through it to see if it works. It helps that most of it has been done already with the August cross, but that different middle is a bit tricky to re-diagram.

There are several more things I’ve been tatting that are only partially done and I have several more patterns that I’d like to write out. Plus the grandkids will be keeping me busy with sports and visits. This is the kind of busy I enjoy.

“No matter how prepared you think you are for the death of a loved one, it still comes as a shock, and it still hurts very deeply.” Billy Graham

Two Cross Bookmarks

It seems like a long time since I last posted. Oh, it has been! Every time I tried to sit down to post something more urgent or import came to my attention. If it wasn’t for the family it was for the church. There were grandchildren’s ball games to attend, their concerts to enjoy, a few birthday parties to celebrate, and several activities with the church. All of these events included some length of travel. Unfortunately for my tatting, I was driving instead of a passenger to most of these events, so very little was accomplished.

Sadly, what little tatting I have completed lately has been for funerals; one of my husband’s cousins and the father of a friend of mine passed within a week of each other. Both had been ill for some time so they weren’t surprising, but that doesn’t make them any less hard on the families.

Traditionally, I put a tatted cross bookmark in the sympathy card. I usually have several already made, kept in a drawer to be handy for such occasions. I’m sure I have a couple somewhere, but they are temporarily misplaced. Still, I needed two. One I started on the way to work and finished on the way to the funeral. The other I was actually able to sit down at home and do.

Tatted Cross Bookmark in Autumn Spice size 20 on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted Cross Bookmark in Autumn Spice

This one was finished on the way to the funeral. The best background I had was my leg. It is in Lizbeth size 20 #136 Autumn Spice.

Tatted Cross Bookmark in Vineyard Harvest size 20 on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted Cross Bookmark in Vineyard Harvest

I took the time to tat this one at home. It is in Lizbeth size 20 #131 Vineyard Harvest.

I am now trying to figure out how to I’ll find the time to tat Christmas ornaments. Every year I include them in Christmas cards for family and special friends. I haven’t even started. I haven’t even decided what I’m making yet.

Do you think I could tat them in my sleep?

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”  Norman Cousins

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Long time no see

Hello again! I see that it’s been almost a month since I last posted. It’s been almost a month since I did much browsing, too. And in all that time I’ve no tatting to show, either.

Last month I’d gotten in kind of a slump with my tatting but I had a plan on what I was going to do. I had a cute picture planned for International Tatting Day and Easter. And then we got the phone call that my brother-in-law was killed in a motorcycle accident. All thoughts of those plans were dropped and not really thought about for awhile.

Why is it that it takes a funeral to get families together? Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins come together to mourn the loss of a family member, then reconnect with stories of times past and memories shared, now shared again. We see how all the children have changed, startled to see how grown up they are since that last time we got together. We make new memories with them to be shared the next time we gather, hopefully for a more happy occasion, like a wedding or maybe even just a family reunion.

Our daughter from Washington, D.C. was able to come home with her baby for the funeral but her husband wasn’t able to make it. She stayed just over a week, going home yesterday. It was wonderful to see them and get reacquainted with the grandson again, though I wish it hadn’t been because of a funeral.

Now life can get back to normal for a little while, though that normal will be a little different than it was before. With the little one gone home and there aren’t any little fingers getting into just everything I’ll try to get back to tatting some. I do have several things I want to get done, so maybe next week I’ll have pictures to post. I’m hoping to have time to check out what everyone else has been doing, too. I haven’t been on the Internet much for weeks now so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

That probably isn’t going to happen today, though. I’ve got to do a few things I’ve put off, like dishes and laundry, those mundane things that come in second when there is a choice between them and spending time with the family.