Sacred Threads journey begun

I picked up my canvas for Sacred Threads. It’s gorgeous. Here’s a pic of the design as painted by  Candace Designs.

Canvas #3 by Candace Designs

I can’t wait to get started, but I have a couple of tatting projects I’d like to finish first. Besides, I need to learn how to needlepoint to this level; a block M in acrylic knitting yarn isn’t even close to the technique needed for this. I do love a challenge though!

a box for me

I got mail! A box, actually!!

Several months ago, I submitted a name for Barb at HandyHands. She thought my idea was just right. Not too goofy, not too mundane, but just right! Thank you!! Here’s what my brain thought looked like a lovely garden of herbs:

Herbal Garden

It was in the box that arrived yesterday along with a collection of size 40 thread.

 

 All for me to play with…… I can’t wait!!!

Celtic cross

I love sitting in on the Monday class that AKTatter monitors. I’ve learned a lot. Found a ton of good patterns. Discovered tatters from all over the world. Most importantly, I’ve learned how to talk tatting.

Celtic Cross by Yvonne Reypa

This pattern discussed during was a recent class. I am always intrigued with “celtic” patterns and how the chains weave. With this cross, the weaving is done with rings; a bigger challenge. After sitting in on the discussion and looking at what others have said about the pattern, I attempted my version. The thread is size 10 Manuela. I felt like I was always one DS away from a mistake that would be hard to correct, but I think I’ve got it.

I think this will end up on a blanket a friend is knitting. Don’t know yet. We’ll see……..

Is it November....already??????

November 3, 2012

Where did October go????

Well, my time in October ended up spent on helping. Not a bad activity. The opportunities were presented, after discussing them with those to whom I’m responsible, and a bit of prayer, I plunged in. I won’t bore you with the detail; lots of sorting, donating, and other tedious tasks. I will mention 2 activities I’ve been helping with:

Relocating my son. He’s leaving Active Duty and continuing with his college courses. I’d forgotten what 2000 lbs. of household goods looks like on a moving van. I‘m excited for him. He is an intelligent, talented young man who has a lot to give to the world. He has learned much, and will learn more.

Sacred Thread ministry at St. Andrew’s. There’s a set of special stained glass windows in the church. If you’re not close enough to drop by, you can get a feel for them in this photo: http://www.st-andrews-saratoga.org/about-us/take-a-look-around/ . The building isn’t that old, but the church is vibrant. It sounds holy. It looks holy. You can pray there in silence, in song, in color. A group of stitchers has created needlepoint kneelers that have been used for years. Recently, a more portable, flexible set was added to the collection. The process has spawned a growing ministry. To stitch our faith in yarn and canvas.

That’s a long explanation to my activities for this group. I mostly do clerical tasks. I’ve not stitched needlepoint in many, many years. I’m more comfortable with a shuttle to tat. But, when the interest to help grows from 5-6 stitchers to 50, help for the mundane tasks is needed…..desperately. It’s been exciting to see this group gets started with the canvases. They even convinced me to try one. With over 200 chairs to stitch and get mounted, many hands will be a help. I know it is another item for my calendar, but it is a worthy task.

I’m still bouncing around ideas for the People Look East design. I had fun coming up with a snowflake design. It doesn’t exactly work as it’s designed right now. When I get it tweaked, I’ll post it. Meanwhile, I’m working on a cute bee pattern. The designer is not keen on me posting a picture yet. I promise I’ll keep track of the file though!

snowflake from Lene Bjorn book 24 Snowflakes in Tatting

I have conquered block tatting! Finally! I’ve tried several patterns with block tatting sections before. They turned out OK, but I knew I wasn’t getting everything quite right. I hate that feeling. You’ve finished a project, it looks fine, but you know it isn’t quite right. This time I think I’ve used the correct stitch count and executed the chains in a much neater manner.

Snowflake by Lene Bjorn

I chose to use colors close to those used by the school we graduated from: University of Michigan. Go Blue!!

Shepherd Carol sketch

While sitting in on a class Monday, I had a convergence of tatting and music…..again.

The class focused on this bit of thread

Frauber square

My brain made a string of associations:

Frauberger translates into English literally as Female Shepherdess.

Into my head pops the “shepherd carol”.

The version in the Oxford Book of Carols has a canon in it. That reminded me of how the rings are circled by chains.

I know, I know……I’ve lost a bunch of people, my brain works in a unique way.

This is what I have so far:

sketch of phrases (each color a different phrase)

We’ll see where this leads me.

October is here

It’s October. Whew! Here in my part of the world, that means that temperatures are a bit cooler, the rains haven’t begun, school schedules are in full swing, and life changes course a bit. I’m back to a regular schedule of tatting, puzzling out how to express music in thread, and learning more about it all. I’ve been reading a bit about Bach Cantatas lately. The scholarship is thorough, the comments enlightening, and the love of music shines through the page consistently. I had not really paid attention to Cantatas in my organ studies. Just didn’t have enough time and mental energy. Now, I’m finding them fun to romp through. As if you could even romp through Bach! It is more fun cleaning out the fountain while listening to the music!!