Travel Time Tatting Motifs
Coming back from the wedding last weekend I was kind of at a loss. I had been so concerned about getting the wedding gift done on the way there that I didn’t even think about what I would work on during the trip back. I had plenty of thread, though not really in my favored color schemes, so that wasn’t the problem. But what to actually make?? These two motifs!
The first thing I did was empty the shuttles as there wasn’t much thread left on any of them. You may notice that there are no doodles in the dark green – emptying that shuttle was the signal to end the tatting for the wedding gift. I now have a variety of butterflies, birds, fish and flowers to add to cards or whatever. While I did this I had time to give some thought as to what to do next.
I had a couple of little metal do-dads in my tatting bag and this turned out to be a good opportunity to play with them. I made the orange and green motif first, simple and easy, in Bright Orange #695 and Lime Green #679 (Lizbeth thread, size 20).
Then I started the green one in Lime Green #679 and Leaf Green Dark #676 (Lizbeth thread, size 20), incorporating a few beads as well as the do-dad. This isn’t really a complicated piece but I kept getting distracted and had some issues remembering which direction I needed to make some of those chains. With all the distractions and then the light fading as the day ended this one was not finished on the trip. It took until Friday to finally complete it. I notice that my tension on some of the chains have something to be desired, but on the whole I think these motifs turned out pretty well. These two motifs together are #3 in my current 25 Motif Challenge.
I mentioned last week the wedding we went to was in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, which is pretty close to Wyoming. If any of you have traveled in this area, you know that most of Nebraska is pretty flat, and so is eastern Wyoming. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few interesting things to see. This is a picture taken not too far from town at Scotts Bluff National Monument. As you can see, it’s not all flat here. In fact, it’s rather scenic. Three historic trails followed the North Platte River through this area – the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails. This would have been quite a sight after all the flat-lands they had come through. (By the way, the oxen in the picture aren’t real). We didn’t have a lot of time to see the Bluffs and we’d like to come back someday.
Another point of interest is Chimney Rock National Historical Site. We stopped here on our way back – well, in the visitor’s center. We didn’t get much closer than this. Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff were mentioned frequently in the journals of pioneers in days past, and by more recent visitors, too.
The time spent at the visitor’s center was well worth the $3 (US) a piece we paid (the grandkids were free). For one, it was nice and cool inside 😉 We took pictures of the Chimney from the patio, making sure to stay on the pavement. There are a lot of signs out warning of rattlesnakes. The good news for us it only one has been sighted so far this year at the center. This was an interesting place to see. I’m glad we were able to stop.
It was a long drive out there but well worth the trip. I enjoyed a glass of iced tea today while looking through the pictures instead of tatting on this Tatting Tea Tuesday. Ah, well, maybe tomorrow 🙂
“And after many days on the close-fed plain and bluffs of earth back we came to an interesting change. We saw a whole day’s march ahead on the plain what looked a big castle, or small mountain. But on nearing it, we saw that it was a big tower of sand-stone far detached like an island, from the bluffs back, which had now all become of that kind of rock, high and perpendicular and strangely worn into many fantastic shapes. The detached mass first seen is called the Chimney Rock a striking, landmark in this prairie sea. The upper, perhaps 100 feet of naked rock and the lower 50 a spreading pedestal, well grassed over.”
From The Autobiography of John Ball
Across the Plains to Oregon, 1832