The Return of Captain Klutz!

I have a new appreciation for the phrase hard wood floor - yes, it's from personal experience!

Easter Sunday I fell and landed mostly on my left elbow.  It's not broken, but the top forearm bone is cracked (up in the elbow joint).  It's bruised and sore, and I can't put any stress on it. 

The good news is that I don't have a cast!  I do have a sling, that I have to wear when I go out; at home, I have my left arm propped on a pillow.

I go back to work tomorrow, bruises and all.  I can type with my right hand, so I'll be able to do my work (albeit slower).  Should be interesting!

UPDATE - MAY 10
My arm and I went to see the nice folks at the Orthopaedic office, and I learned the following:

• It really was broken, after all (Dr. P used the "B" word when he was seeing how far he could bend my arm before I hit E over high C)
• Not every broken arm gets a concrete slipcover (well, I'm told that's what they feel like, anyway)
• Mine is healing nicely and he was happy with my range of motion - and he gave me some more light exercises to encourage my elbow to fold up closer, and also to unfold straighter
• I don't have to wear the sling all the time now (YAY!), but on an "as needed" basis
• Still can't drive yet (my truck is a 5-speed).

The following, I learned on my own:

• Typing one-handed is harder than it looks
• If DH puts the lid on my spill-proof glass too tightly for me to open, there is always someone nice at the office to open it for me
• DH and I are both left-handed; I can now write better with my right hand than he can with his left

I go back to see Dr. P in two weeks; by then I hope to be tatting again!  I have been making notes and little sketches, though, so I'll be ready to work on some new patterns!  Heck, right now, I'd love to be able to even work on an old one.

The SCMR: A Chain With Attitude!

I had a couple of questions sent to me about the SCMR bracelet I mentioned in my previous post, so I'd like to talk about that for a few minutes. 

I like SCMRs - they bring a lot to the tatting table.  You can throw rings off them, which you can't do with a traditional ring, and you can close them in different ways according to what you're tatting and the look you want to achieve.


The thing that may be hardest for me is avoiding the dreaded gaposis.  Here it is, fouling up my SCMR - but it can also foul up traditional rings, chains, loop-tatted rings - it's aggravating!  Yes, I fixed it - as it was just three double stitches, I frogged them and (carefully) re-tatted.

In answer to the tatters who said they'd like to watch me tat this SCMR with the bead at the close, here it is - step-by-step.  First, pick up the bead with your crochet hook (this one is a size 13, and the beads are size 8).


The second picture shows the bead transferred to the loop of core thread.  Note that the core thread has been pulled to make the loop smaller; I'm going to show you the close I use most, which is a flat close, because it locks the SCMR so it can't accidentally open.

Here at left, I've used the point on the shuttle to pull up a loop of shuttle thread through the loop at the beginning of the SCMR.  This loop of shuttle thread can be used as a "handle" to pull the SCMR closed.

Here is the SCMR completely closed, and ready for the shuttle to be put through the loop of shuttle thread to close and lock it.  What's happening in this method of closure is that you're making a shuttle (lock) join into the SCMR loop.

After the shuttle thread is pulled tight to completely close the loop, the SCMR is locked closed.  I have been teaching this method for over five years now, and most tatters who try it tell me they like it better than the usual method of closure, which is putting the shuttle through the SCMR loop.  There is certainly nothing wrong with the usual method - to each his own, after all - but sometimes my SCMRs will re-open when I start tatting the next element of the piece, when I've closed with just the shuttle through the SCMR core thread loop. 

I like toggle clasps, especially if they're interesting ones - this one is a gecko!  This is a fun pattern - not necessarily a quick pattern, as it takes a little longer to tat an SCMR than a traditional ring, but it is a lot of fun.  With this pattern, you can choose your beads as you tat and not have to pre-string.

Tatting Alfresco!

THIS was one of the most perfect days I've ever seen - it started out with early (very early) morning fog, which burned off as quickly as whisking a tablecloth off a table!  The sun was bright, the clouds were huge, fluffy, and white...except for the dark grey one, which rained on us (briefly) during our picnic (which we were enjoying in the truck).

We enjoyed today tremendously - both for the being outdoors (and being able to breathe, which was a bonus) and for my finishing one tatting project and starting another. 

Tassels are not my strong suit!

The first tatting project was six crosses, which I volunteered to do for our Guild.  The only criterion was that they had to be blue and white - and I found a lovely ball of Flora HH in size 20 which worked out nicely.  Any pattern could be used, so I used a Mary Konior (one of my favorites).  Here are the six.  Knowing that I would end them with a tassel, I put three yards on the shuttle and worked from the ball, and used the leftover shuttle thread in the tassel.  They'll go in the mail Monday.



The project I started today is a bracelet - it's a Martha Ess pattern with a twist, courtesy of the Shuttle Brothers (this was discussed at the PTG meeting last Saturday).  Instead of stringing all your beads and working with a single shuttle, tat SCMRs and slip the bead(s) over the loop before you close it.  I'm using Altin-Basak size 50, color 3004.  It's a lot prettier in person than in these pictures - there was some glare outside which bleached out the shuttle as well (it's actually dark blue).

It Was a Very Good Year!

...1868, that is!  It was a Leap Year, just like 2012.  Why, just look at some of the historic events:

• May 30 - Memorial Day was observed in the US for the first time
• July 25 - Wyoming became a US territory
• August 4 - Ira H Stockwell patented the second American metal tatting shuttle

Both sides are the same - a spray of flowers from the center to the end, with the patent date around the center.  It's nickel silver, which is another name for German Silver.  This is another of my eBay finds - purchased as one of a group of four shuttles (the others were early plastics).  I'm very pleased to add it to my growing collection of old shuttles!



It's Beginning to Feel Like Spring!

...or not, considering that it was only about 33 degrees when we got up this morning!  However, I've seen a few trees and garden plants beginning to bud out, so I have high hopes of warmer temperatures in the next couple weeks!

In the meantime, I now have six patterns complete and ready to submit for Palmetto Tat Days 2012 (Blast From the Past), and contemplating a seventh: one which I've submitted for the last two years but which was never selected.  I understand that this year, in recognition of 10 years of Tat Days, for the first time ever, teachers may submit a pattern they've taught at a previous Tat Days! 

I had no pictures last time - this time I do, but they're teasers.  What in the world can they be??

Rainy-Day Tatting!

It's a rainy day in the soggy South!  At least we don't have to be anywhere this afternoon and there's plenty of food in the house, so the skies can rain all they like - we're all set!

There are so many things I want to tat!  I just got the first Tatting Times issue of 2012 and it has two lovely little hearts (one by Martha Ess!), a vintage insertion, and the "Golden Arches" doily, among other interesting stuff.  I also ordered Karey's new book, "Bouquet of Bookmarks," and can't wait to start one!

Work continues on patterns I hope to submit for teaching at Palmetto Tatters Guild Tat Days in September - "Blast from the Past."  I've got six patterns in various stages of completion, but they're all started.  Photographs are being taken.  Thread ends are being dealt with (where appropriate).  I really like all the patterns this year, but as I used one as my annual giveaway at work, I got a little tired of tatting it.  I tatted over a dozen and a half in about 10 days!

It's particularly fun to play with colors on several of them - I found several color combinations I would not have put together otherwise, but which really look good for these particular patterns.  Boy, this is tough to talk about without using pictures!

Kitchen sounds are telling me that dinner is about to be served.  It's lasagne, a huge frozen one from Aldi Foods, but it was already in the freezer and ready to go, and since it's raining out...

Bon appetit!

Goodbye, My Friend...

Others have said it far more eloquently than I; Gina has gone on and we're still here, missing her.  Many of us will mark her passing with a tribute to her memory on our blogs, and there will be a memorial gathering later this evening (as there was one earlier today). 

I ran across a quotation many, many years ago, which I can no longer remember verbatim, but the gist of which is, "The heart speaks loudest when the lips are silent."  I think that will work here as well.