I think I remember how to needle tat…

I got a call from my neighbor yesterday. She’s a good friend of mine whom I taught to tat one or two (or ten?) years ago. She hasn’t really kept up with it, being busy with lots of other things, but a group that meets at the extension office, Hook Yarn & Needle, were doing some needle tatting and she was going to do some, too. It had been so long since my neighbor had done it she couldn’t remember how exactly. So she called for a refresher course.
Okay, I have Needle Tatting, Book No. 2 from Handy Hands somewhere, where did I put it??? Oh, there (why was it in the middle of those Workbaskets?). Okay, now where did I put my needles? In this box? No, there they are, in THIS drawer! Now a ball of thread, open book. Hmm. Yes, that looks familiar. No, no, wrong end… that’s better. That’s right, and pull through there… Yippee! A ring and a chain, and another ring! I DO remember!
Yes, as soon as she called I had to see if I remembered anything about needle tatting. I only have the book and needles because I thought it would be good to know how – I already knew how to shuttle tat when I got them. And I never did much with them after understanding how it worked, very much enjoying shuttle tatting and not wanting to change. Back when I taught my neighbor we started with a shuttle, which she learned, but she pulled her stitches so tight she could hardly pull the rings closed, so we switched her to the needle. Now, years later we were learning again.
So this afternoon I went across the street and we laughed through a few rings trying to make a butterfly. We didn’t get it made because I ran out of time, but we had fun. She now has a better grasp of what she needs to practice. We did talk of some of the Internet sites that have videos of needle tatting, which she is planning to check out.
And of course I’ll practice a bit, too, because it was fun. I don’t think I’ll post a picture of it, at least not what I’ve done so far. If I end up with something presentable I might post that later – maybe.

Motif #13 and the weather

This motif I found on Nita’s Creations here. She designed this in a Design Tat class on line. I really liked the looks of it and have several ideas of what I would like to do with it. She graciously said I could try it. This one I made with DMC size 30 pink and green. This will be my #13 in the 25 motif challenge. And I notice that it’s a bit crooked – oh, well. Check out Nita’s motif and her other projects on her blog. She’s been doing cloonies, which I haven’t mastered yet. Hers are lookin‘ good!

I’ve had a little bit of time to tat and to post because I haven’t been outside since I got home from work Thursday night. Because we had a blizzard! Yes, ice, snow, wind, cold, white out conditions. It was projected to be so bad that they canceled 2nd shift where I work so I didn’t have to go to work Friday or Saturday – thank goodness!! The roads got nasty in a hurry. Wichita had lots of ice and lots of accidents to go with it. So I got to stay home and just watch it all come down.

It looks like it finally quit snowing. It’s hard to tell because the wind is really blowing it around. It’s also very hard to tell just how much snow we actually have. Some places you can see the grass, other places have drifts. It’s not as bad here as just west of us, they got about 20 inches a few miles west and more than that south west of here. I’m just glad I don’t have to get out in it! Welcome spring, ha ha.

Picking up the shuttle again

I’ve finally picked up my shuttle again after a few weeks of recouping from being very busy.

This is just something I was doodling with, nothing really planned. The threads are all size 30 DMC, in pink green and blue. I had shuttles already wound with these colors, so that’s what colors I used. It just kinda grew by itself without a lot of conscious thought on my part. The only part I really gave much time to was the interweaving of the pink and green rows. It kinda works.

Starting Monday I finally go back to regular hours at work, so maybe I’ll finally get back to my regular schedule. And then maybe I’ll have more energy for tatting!

I should be tatting

The excitement is over for awhile, and things are pretty much back to normal. But I haven’t picked up a shuttle all week! I think my mind is taking a break. There are a few ideas percolating in the back there but they haven’t yet made it to the top. Maybe next week.

The weather has decided to be cold again, after all the interesting, warm weather we had last week. There were actually snow flurries on the way home from work last night, nothing sticking. There was fog and haze this morning with the chance of the roads being slick, but I don’t have to get out this early, so I didn’t worry about it.

I was on eTatters and see that it is moving to InTatters. I’m trying to make sure I have everything from eTatters, like my friends, so I can find them on the new sight. I’m registered as tattldy there, so look me up when you get there. I’m slowly figuring out how to get around there and what’s what. It might take me awhile to get used to the changes, but I’ll get it – eventually!

Little angels and booties



Here are my little angels! Aren’t they sweet? They are being held by their mothers, Lacey with Mercutio on the left and Shay with Hunter on the right.
And finally, the booties! This is Mercutio wearing his just before church started. They turned out well and stayed on their feet – at least for a little while. I think both boys ended up wearing only one during the baptism, but you couldn’t see them anyway. But I knew they were there!
I crocheted the tie for them but added a little tatting to the ends, both to keep them threaded and to distinguish the two pairs. One pair had two rings on the end of each tie and one pair had a single ring.
The boys were very cute and actually got through all the excitement very well. Mercutio actually went to sleep and slept through the whole thing. Even getting his head wet only made him open his eyes a moment then he went back to sleep. Hunter wanted to fuss a little, but Mom’s finger did a good job of pacifying him for a while.
Several people joked that the boys will hate these pictures when they’re older, but I think they looked more like cherubs than little girls. Maybe I’ll have sepia toned pictures made so they look older, antique even.
Mercutio’s other grandmother was unable to come, so we taped the whole thing. I’ll be getting the DVD off in the mail tomorrow. I did loose track a couple of times, watching the boys instead of what I was doing, but not bad for an amateur.
And now, life returns to normal – or what passes for that at our house. On to other tatting projects!

Rough Weather

Well, tomorrow is the baptism for both the grandsons. My daughter from Nebraska came down yesterday with Mercutio so she could be here in plenty of time.

Today we went to pick up the cake for after church – and spent 10 -15 minutes in the freezer in the store. The tornado sirens went off in town. They made an announcement over the intercom to either leave the building or go to the freezers until the all clear was given. Having the baby with
us we went to the freezer.

There were about 20 people in the freezer we were in, all standing around shivering. It has been above average in temperatures here for several days, which of course leads to tornado weather around here. And the sirens went off because of a sighting close to where we live!

But every thing is fine. There was only a funnel cloud which never touched the ground, a little hail, a little wind and a little rain. We’re still in a severe thunderstorm watch, but it seems to be going south and east of us. I don’t know how well it’s showing up in the picture, but the sky was very orange when this picture was taken, and very dark looking to the south.

Oh, the joys of living in Kansas in the spring time!

Back to the Internet!

Finally, Internet access!
We went to help our daughter and her family move from an apartment to a house up in Nebraska. And of course their Internet wasn’t hooked up yet, so I was in the dark!! It’s amazing how hooked you can get on checking things out on the Internet.
I missed it but I didn’t have a lot of time to surf anyway. Our oldest daughter and her son came with us, so we were with both the grandsons. There was a lot of work because of packing and unpacking and whatnot, but someone had to keep an eye on the boys, right? Grandpa and I volunteered as necessary :))
No pictures yet of the booties. But I’ll get there, really. This could be a busy week, getting the house ready for guests and everything organized for Sunday. I’m sure there will be plenty of pictures next week!

Booties are done – at least the tatting is!

I finally finished the fourth bootie! And it’s not even needed until next weekend!

One set is just a little bit bigger than the other, as one grandson is three months old and the other is barely 4 weeks old. I made one a little bigger by just making the picots longer. It’s no wonder making booties can be a problem, if the size of the picots changes the length by enough to be that noticeable! We’re going up to see my daughter in Omaha this weekend and I’ll find out if the larger set is going to work or not.

I still have to cut off all the tail ends and block them a bit. I also haven’t got ribbon to tie them with. But I’m very excited that they’re done this far. Wooo hooo!

Okay, I don’t have pictures of the sets yet, but I will get some posted soon. And I plan on getting several pictures of the boys wearing them in a couple of weeks, of course 🙂

Now I can get on with some other tatting I’ve been wanting to do. Not that I didn’t want to do these, they just take awhile. I usually do projects that are much less time consuming.

So, on to the finishing touches – cutting all those tails!

Unexpected time-out from booties

I had to take a little unexpected time-out from making booties to make this cross for a friend of ours. Friday her husband, an older member of our church, passed away. It wasn’t exactly unexpected, but when is a death ever really expected? I sent it off today in a sympathy card.
This is a very quick pattern. I just made it off the top of my head but I’m sure I’ve seen it, or some variation of it, in at least one book. It’s made with DMC size 30 so it’s about 3 inches long, not including the tassels.
I’m going to call this #12 of the 25 Motif Challenge. Even though it is a sad occasion I think the bookmark turned out well.

One pair done!

I have one pair of baby booties done! Tomorrow I’ll see how this pair fits the youngest – he’s three weeks old now.

I have another bootie done that is a little bit bigger for the older of the boys. But I don’t know how close it is. I’ve got a couple of ideas to see if it’s close. Then I’ll know if I have only one more to make or another set. Let’s hope just one!

I haven’t had time to take pictures of them yet, but when I get the chance I will get them posted.

I actually kept track of how long it took me to get one bootie done this time and it was a lot longer than I thought! Mostly I just pick up whatever I’m working on whenever I get the chance and it’s done when it’s done. I think I like it better that way, but when you have a deadline you have to keep your eye on the clock. And this deadline is coming up fast!

I’d better get back to work!