Application for Shuttlebirds Tatting Workshop and Retreat is in

I’ve stepped off the edge AGAIN!

I turned in my application to teach at Shuttlebirds in Idaho next May. That will make the spring very busy. What have I committed to?

Singing/playing during Lent (Holy week in 2020 is April 5-11)

Teaching at the Lace Museum in Sunnyvale (April 18-19, 2020)

Walking 5K in the Big Sur Marathon (April 26, 2020)

With the Workshop/Retreat in Idaho (April 30-May 3, 2020), that will make those weeks quite a flurry of activity! Truth be told, I just couldn’t resist a Carnival!

So, if you want to get away right after Easter for an in depth weekend looking at Sonata, contact Kim at the Museum.

If you want to walk or run along the edge of the Pacific, register now!

If my application is chosen, I’d be pleased to meet up in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest for a tatting party. Just bookmark here and watch for registration to open.

Grab those shuttles and join in the fun! Mmmmm maybe I should have something on the shuttles I can tat while walking in April………

Afterglow and next......

I’m reveling in the good vibes from the last few weeks. It’s been busy, but the activities have all been wonderful. Or maybe my attitude has just been more positive. Anyway, it’s been fun, if a bit tiring. It’s been interesting with learning opportunities, if a bit nerve wracking. It’s been relaxing, if a bit boring at moments. Could be I’ve figured out what I want to do when I grow up!

What’s next? A Sunday substitute request, creating the Motif for the Art Raffle, preparing for a major change in the family schedule….nuttin’ much…..All that after a vigorous walk by the Bay.

Another Debut

Another version of Marilee’s pattern Dazzling Debut:

Dazzling Debut by Marilee Rockley

I like smaller earrings. The version I did last week didn’t look “finished” enough. So, I used size 40 thread instead of size 10, and added the two rounds from the necklace pattern. I like it better.

Today starts the busiest 4 days in most organists’ lives. I wish all a successful run!

Cluny conquered

Success with the cluny medallion! Wheeeeeeee

Now it’s on to a big doily based on a pineapple pattern. This will take a while to work. But, only 4 more to go in the binder! Whew!

Since I’ll be working on that for quite a bit of time, I’ll have to come up with other things to post about. I’ve begun a series of designs on the Bach 2 and 3 part inventions/sinfonias. Perhaps I’ll start posting about them.

In the meantime, Spring is here. In our house that not only means more time outside, but Easter. Whatever you find to nourish your soul, please nourish it. That is my Easter prayer. Passover is so powerful, Nowruz is fun, Spring Festival is delicious, etc. My humanity needs to be reminded frequently that I am who I am. All the precious gifts, all the ugly warts, all of me. So, find time to celebrate and feed your soul.

A New Season

The holiday is over. We start a new Season. This year, the last few days was a three-for-one. Normally, Passover doesn’t impact my personal schedule, but with it occurring on the day it did this year, I found myself paying more attention to the traditions observed. This gave me so much to ponder, I hardly picked up my shuttle all day yesterday. The weather was also lovely. A true Spring day. Of course, I have more design ideas to explore now in my head. Now I just need to find the time to get them out of the grey cells into a form I'll be able to work with and pass on to someone else.So......

On to a busy week. I want to finish work on the squares bookmark pattern, prepare for April classes to teach new patterns and established techniques, write a couple of columns for newsletters explaining my interest in tatting to non-tatters, start the Intatters Spring Exchange project, and start a new pair of earrings for myself. Can’t promise pictures as I would like these earrings to be 3-D and my photography skills are not up to the same par as my music or tatting skills. Perhaps my daughter will help me out…..

Easter is here!

Even though I’m rushing to get out the door, I wanted to take a moment to post an encouragement for folks to get out and enjoy the outdoors. I spent a wonderful day at the beach yesterday. A peruse through the resell shops didn’t yield any shuttles, but my daughter found a bunch of knitting supplies that included several treasures. The wind picked up in the afternoon, but we were exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The place was crowded. But, there is so much more than fish there. I learned something new every time I turned around. Well, worth supporting their facility.
Off to teach and a demonstration. Enjoy the weekend!

On your mark, get set, ready??? well.......

I’m slow in getting around to the task list today. A gorgeous sunrise slowed me down. Aw shucks. Sigh. I really like living where I do.

But, today starts a very busy short burst of 4 days of singing, friends, family, teaching, demonstrating, singing, more family and friends, and more singing. I need to set aside the tatting designs and projects and focus on chores and preparations. BTW, I decided to add something around the edge of the squares bookmark. It’s not ready for prime time yet. Maybe next week.

It needs more

I’ve finished the current bookmark. I started this several weeks ago at the beginning of Lent. Now that this part is done, I’m thinking I need to add something around the edge. Since its Holy Week, it needs to be in white. But what??????mmmmmmm

"squares" bookmark

in anticipation

It’s fast approaching one of the most intense days in the Choir Loft. The Vigil. Easter is good. Easter is a lot of really big music. Easter is family home and feasts. But, the Vigil… It’s history, it’s ancient, it’s modern, it’s darkness, it’s light, it’s quiet, it’s noise, it’s when the light bulb goes on and you see the “I get it now” looks. There’s a chant we do at St. A’s at the beginning of the service. One of our female clergy who’s pleasant to listen to usually chants it without amplification. Haunting! Musical! Vibrant! Repeated over and over are the words “This is the night….” Every time I think of it, rings and chains dance in my head. Maybe this year they will begin to come together. It’s one of the times that I hear the answer: “This is what I gave you these gifts for! Now do something with them!” Now the ball is in my court. I hope the shuttle hits a home run.

Ash Wednesday thoughts

I completely missed that yesterday was Mardi Gras…until I set things down to cook dinner and turned on the radio for some noise……..

And I’ve way too much to do to attend the service when it is offered at St. Andrew’s. Well, this isn’t the first time, and won’t be the last time, that this organist has found herself taking spiritual time outside the schedule of the community I call my church home. Thank heaven, literally, that my faith allows and encourages personal faith activities along with the communal faith activities.

So, what’s taking up my time? Oh, just preparation for teaching tatting, preparations for playing a service, household cleaning, shopping for food, getting designs down on paper and into the computer, testing design ideas with shuttles, and attending a tutorial on a design I wish to master, finishing off projects so that I can start in on the TAT samples.

May your Lenten journey nourish and refresh your soul as we await the Easter glory.