Greetings from the Deep South!

...ya THINK? 

We don't get much snow here - if we get anything other than rain, it's usually sleet.  Last night, however, one last gift for Christmas - SNOW!  It's the first white Christmas here I can remember, although David says he can remember "a dusting" of snow when he was a very small boy.  I haven't been outside yet - just been enjoying the sight from inside the house (with a hot cup of tea). 

I think I'll work on some snowflakes later - got a new idea in mind that might make a fun class for "Tatting in a Winter Wonderland" in September, 2011.

UPDATE: The snowfall ended in the early afternoon and the sun came out.  There is still some snow on the ground, but the streets are just wet.  It's supposed to be about 20 degrees F tonight and up in the 40-degree range tomorow, so the snow will all be gone by tomorrow night.  I just hope the streets aren't icy in the morning!  The snowflake idea I had worked nicely - now to decide about beads!

Catching Up!

This has been a very busy month so far - and it's just a little over half-gone!  I had my last vacation day for 2010 on Friday, and I spent it being sick - a sinus infection.  It's better now, but I'm still alternating between not being able to breathe through my nose and my nose running (a lot).  My voice and I parted company late yesterday afternoon, so today I've tried not to talk much.


DeeDee's Butterfly - X4 -- these four went out in the mail to DeeDee in MN.  She received them and really seems to like them!  Hopefully they'll give her a touch of spring up there in the snow!

The ceiling that fell -- the contractor came and said the roof is fine, there's no evidence or appearance of a leak (whew!), and it looks like a bad patch job that finally just gave way.  David said that's exactly right, and recalled that around 1970, that part of the ceiling came down.  His mother got somebody in to fix it, but it's doubtful that the person was a licensed and bonded contractor.  It did hold for 40 years, though!  Our contractor said his work will last as long as the house, so that sounds good.  As a bonus, he's going to floor the area above the ceiling and install a disappearing staircase, so we'll finally have a proper attic.  The floor will go down right after he's reinforced the beams and put in the insulation.  And -- it's nowhere near as expensive as I was afraid it would be! 

So...now I need to get to work on patterns for Palmetto Tat Days in September, as I hope to teach again in 2011.  Since the theme is to be "Tatting in a Winter Wonderland," I'm thinking about snowflakes!

Snowflake Time!

It's that time of year again -- yes, it's cold, but we don't get much snow here in South Carolina.  But it is time for snowflakes -- of the tatted variety!

I like to give my department co-workers a little tatted remembrance of the season; last year, I tatted and gave out about a dozen of Marilee Rockley's Joyful Bell.  This year, I've been thinking about what to tat, and time is running out - so I need something that will work up quickly!  I looked back through some tatted samples I did several years ago and decided on this star -- needs beads, and since I can't find where I wrote down the pattern, it's back to the drawing board (hmm...why does that sound so familiar???)

Hiding ends is not fun for me - I sew through the caps of the double stitches, and that's time that I could be tatting!  I will re-engineer the star so I can exit through the top of the center trefoil on one of the points, and use the ends to tie a self-hanger so it's tree-ready right out of the baggie!  And...since it's a star, I don't have to use white (they come in all colors!).

I also give a larger, beaded ornament to my boss each Christmas -- this year he's getting a snowflake.  I used this pattern of Jane Eborall's - but adapted it slightly as I didn't have any rings for the center and I couldn't find my really tiny hook that will go through beads.  I showed it to Jane and asked if she minded me posting it and talking about it -- it is, after all, her pattern and not mine -- and Jane, gracious as always, gave permission and asked if I'd send her the pattern for the adaptation!  She plans to put it on her pattern page, which I consider an honor!

I'm tired of winter already and ready for spring, which could last at least 6-7 months; spring and fall are my favorite times of year nowadays because there usually aren't temperature extremes.  Winter's too cold and summer's too hot -- can't tat if fingers are too cold or too hot!  Once all my little tatting chores are out of the way, I need to start thinking of springtime -- and dream up a pattern!