More samples ready

 The next sample I tatted for Starfish Fibers.

The pattern is vintage. I haven’t really tweaked it except for using smaller picots to join things up. I do like the bright colors!

Pausing while a bit of shaking goes on

I had great plans to finish up some projects this morning. I may get to them, but first I must make sure everything is still OK with the house.

Early this morning, we experienced a jolt that woke us up. A quick peak around to make sure nothing was really broken, no wires down, or water gushing and back to sleep. You can go to the USGS website here to see the data, but you may need to change the settings to give you earthquakes that happened earlier than the default (1 day) or change the map to show more detail (Zoom in to the San Francisco Bay area with about 100 miles radius showing).

We live in a historic home. It was built around 1910. We live on granite and the house is sturdy. It’ll take The Big One to do significant damage, but by then our whole town will be at the bottom of the MontereyCanyon in the Bay. We did have a brief shake, but no rolling or anything. The house didn’t slip and no damage to the utilities. Later we’ll look around outside. Make sure there’s no cracks or trees down etc.

Then I’ll get to the projects. Today also starts the Triuum. As part of the music leadership, I’ll be busy the next 4 days. I’ll be prepared with some easy tatting I can do in the down time between the activity. Maybe I’ll finish a bootie.

Getting it together

 I’ve made a start on using all those beads. I think I’m on the right track. We’ll see if I can figure out a way to tie together the 3 motifs. Some way that makes sense together.

Ready or not, ...........

 Here I come!

It took a while to load all these beads. They are so close in size to the thread that I couldn’t use a needle at all. Not even with a helper thread*. So, I dipped the end of the thread in white glue and let it dry to “needle” the thread. That worked. This is explained well with pictures on Jane Eborall’sTechnique page about beads. There’s about 500-600 beads on my thread now. Ready to tat!

* I like to use beads close to the diameter of the thread. I feel they sit better on the thread and look a bit neater. To do that, I thread the needle with thin thread (Sliver metallic thread works well), pass the needle through the bead so that it rest on the thin thread, pass the needle back through the bead creating a loop of the thin thread, placing end of  the thread to tat with through this loop, transferring the bead onto the tatting thread (which makes a loop) and drawing the tatting thread end through the bead (which leaves the bead on the tatting thread. Wind up your shuttles or thread your needle and your ready to create lace with beads.

I decided to focus on unfinished business

 That phrase always made me nervous. Those words would start a practice session filled with meticulous work on tough sections. I have more success finishing unfinished tatting. My focus the last few days has been to make sure the notes I made for the vintage bootie are correct.

I did finish the pair for the baby in Herbal Garden. And I did make notes. I was able to puzzle out the corrections I made. I just didn’t trust myself.

For example, which ring to start with when attaching the toe medallion?

I didn’t help future self when I left a medallion attached using the old stitch count.

I only had to drag out the scissors once!

I’ll be taking a lot more pictures to use in classes and workshops.

It’s a good thing I really like this colorway.

What to tat next?

 That’s always a good question to ask!

I think I will be working on pieces inspired by my recent trip to Yosemite. It’s been sunny here. Working in bright colors will be fun!!

I sent in my application for a spot in the Art of Music show this summer. The theme is Nature. Perhaps I’ll come up with something as dramatic as the sunrises I’ve been enjoying.

Wrapping an egg

 Eggs are interesting. They are the beginning of life, sustain life, and can brighten our life. I’ve always liked eggs being in our world.

This egg is a wooden egg painted white. I was challenged to decorate the egg. Of course that means tatting!