finally!!!!

Well, in the process of finding my pattern sketches, I remembered that I still needed to finish tacking the Blue Saint-Saens piece to the black fabric so I can get the thing framed. Now this is usually when I struggle to finish a project; when the thing is almost completed. My perfectionism usually rears its ugly self and causes me to wish I hadn't made THAT mistake THERE and how should I FIX it. I’ve committed to framing it for my studio wall, which means there’s no deadline, which means I procrastinate since I feel a lower sense of obligation to myself than to other paying customers. BUT….

Yesterday I pushed through all that and finished the tacking down. Wahooooo!!!!!!!

Now, to get to my favorite frame shop and get a frame picked out so that I can measure the foam core that I’ll lace the black fabric onto. Then it’ll be time to get out the tweezers and magnifying glass and bright light to extract all the cat fur that has worked its way into the project. I’ll try hard to get a photo of it, but can’t make promises. The camera was packed away when we staged the house. Getting to it, getting things set up, and then tucked away again may just not be in the schedule.

Tonight I’m taking time to sing in an Evensong service. The ancient sung prayers have a way of creeping into my soul and calming my mind and centering my energy. Something a house hunter needs!

Ain't house hunting fun!!!

Well, it is fun to imagine and see where other people have chosen to live at one time or another. It’s another experience to actually start the process of buying/selling and moving/relocating. It’s exciting, scary, and rather nerve-wracking. I have to keep telling myself that I can stay calm through it all. Tatting helps.

 I took the time to locate where my bead stash is. I have been itching to tat more earrings. I also need to clean or replace a pair that I wear often. My photo didn’t turn out well at all. When I finish the replacement pair, I’ll scan them before I finish them with the wire. I like using jump rings and such to attach the tatting to a wire. It seems to put the focal point of the design at the height that compliments most people. Just my opinion……

I think I’ll go pick a pattern idea from the sketch book. That should calm my nerves and focus my imagination.

of flowers and angels appearing

Well, I did stop and smell the roses this week. I also had good progress with the angel pattern. I’m using a design technique that starts with a sketch (which can be quite amusing from my pencil) and then tat rings and chains to fill in your outline (which can leave lots of ends and waste lots of thread). The bottom of the skirt was a challenge, but I think I finally have something I can build on.

 I won’t amuse you with my photography skill or lack thereof. I just invite you to find a rose or other flower to stop and admire today. I wish you happy tatting and happy strolling!

Spring is here!

The plum tree is in bloom. The birds are starting to stake out nesting places. And the weeds are back. If you’ve followed this blog over the years, you know about our garden and weeds. post on weeding I didn’t do a real thorough job of weeding while the ground was soft from the rain. Now, the weather is turning warm and dry. So, I’ll just have to cope later. I really dislike using weed killer in the ground around the fruit trees. There’s just something off about that.

I hit another snag in the angel pattern. I struggle so with scale and making the motifs fit a shape I’ve determined. I hope to conquer this over the next few days; Then, on to tat a test in smaller thread to see how big it really will be. I may have to simplify the pattern to get it down to a manageable size.

I think I will take a walk around the yard to smell the roses first……

Spring tasks

This spring I have a new task to balance. Normally, I take on the pleasure of spring garden tasks along with housework, tatting, and volunteering. The roses are in bloom now. All of the bushes made it through the winter. The climbing rose is actually doing better this spring than in other years.

My new task: watching the listings of new houses in our target area. Sometimes that means that I don’t get to tatting as my volunteering and housework and gardening take up the time left in the day. The good news is that if we decide to look at a house in person, it’s a couple of hours car ride. Time to tat!

I need to squeeze in a trip to the local plant supplier. We have 4 areas around our fountain that need plants. This is the only one to survive this winter. I’d like to replant with the same plant.

plants around fountain

 

But, I have no record of what this one is called as I didn’t expect it to do well. It did, so now I’m on the hunt!

 

TIAS 2015 finished

It’s always fun to tat through the puzzles that Jane cooks up. I love the way her brain percolates. I think I’ll be tatting several of these for gifts to good friends.

TIAS 2015 by Jane Eborall

It rained quite a bit Friday and yesterday. The sun is out today. I'll be getting into the yard to pull weeds while the ground is soft. No tatting until my hands are cleaned up though!

Shawl angel coming along

I finished the head, body and wings of the angel.

 

Shawl angel head, body and wings

If my math is correct, when I work it in size 80 thread, it will be a little wider than the labels that are sewn onto each shawl and blanket and lap robe and scarf. It will be a tad longer I think. I’m not sure because I decided not to work on the skirt yesterday. I chose to work on tacking down the Blue version of the Saint-Saens. That task won out over sorting for the move as I decided that I didn’t want to move with the doily still in the hoop. I think with 2-3 more days it should be ready to go to the framers. Whew!!!

 

Here's my TIAS so far

TIAS 2015 up to Day 11

Each year I enjoy what Jane cooks up for us. I think I like that the pattern is released in small chunks and we are encouraged to guess what we’re tatting. I've guessed we're tatting scissors. She is so kind to post what folks send her on the blog. I'm in good company as many of the folks who have sent pictures guess scissors also.
 

Now I’m off to work some more on the angel. I’ll post when I have something interesting to show.