Tatting It! And Seeing! (TIAS)

Something I look forward to in January - a new Tat It And See game!  The brainstorm of Jane Eborall, she works out a whole new tatting design, tests it, then releases it to the public -- s-l-o-w-l-y.  In my folder for last year's TIAS, I show that the first part of the design was released on 1/6/2010 and the last on 1/27/2010.  Last year's was a rooster - Norman, by name - and it was such fun to see all the wild colors different people chose!  (Norman and his family are now available on her pattern website - along with a host of other imaginative patterns.)

You see, that's the "gotcha" - Jane doesn't tell us what exactly we're tatting, bit by bit!  She just gives us a general suggestion as to color.  This year, she told us we would need two shuttles, fully loaded, in size 20

 thread; she suggested that Shuttle 2 should have a plain, dark thread.  I chose two colors in Lizbeth thread - a nice, leafy green for Shuttle 2 and "Wildflower Garden" for Shuttle 1.  Here is the work in progress, through today (Day 7):

Guessing what it's going to turn out to be is part of the fun.  I try to make a guess every time I send in the progress I've made -- some of them are pretty wild!  It's all in fun, though, and Jane posts the work in progress (along with the guesses) as she receives them.   If you haven't started yet, give it a try - the link is above - and it won't take you very long to catch up.  It's loads of fun!  Here is my tatting and computer assistant - ready and eager for Day 8!

New Tins for Tatting!

Most of us like tins to put our tatting in - preferably little tins, ones that fit nicely in a pocket or purse.  I have a nice collection of tins of various sizes and shapes, and quite a few of them will slip into a pocket easily.  Some won't - but will fit in a purse, tatting bag, or box...some originally held candy, and some were meant to hold gift cards. 

Two of my newest tins were given to me by my daughter, Jessica, who found them at Lowe's (yes, the home-improvement DIY store).  They are so cool - one looks like a little grill and the other like a tiny toolbox!

The toolbox holds the most - and if you're interested, a full ball of Lizbeth will fit in it sideways, with room left for shuttles, hook, and thread nippers.

By the way, the shuttle wound from the ball of Lizbeth is a Pop-A-Bobbin shuttle from 'im in the garage, purchased from Jane Eborall's Etsy shop.  I don't know anything about the wood - just that it's beautiful and the grain is lovely.  Its bobbin is wound up and it's ready to go, but I can't decide what to tat!  Maybe an edging?  A doily?  Some bookmarks?  Decisions, decision...

Pink Pandemonium!

I work with a Pink Person.  She likes other colors, too, but her absolute, all-time, over-the-top favorite, hands down, is Pink.  Remember this bracelet from an earlier post?  I finally got around to hiding the ends (all one of them since I encapsulated at the beginning) and decided to wear it to work on Tuesday this week.

My friend, the Pink Person, admired it - and asked if she could try it on.  I handed it over to her and she slipped it on.  She asked if I could make her one - so I asked her color preference.  Why, I don't know...sometimes you just ask the obvious question before you consider that the answer is obvious as well!

Yesterday, I went to work wearing my pink blouse; in my purse was a pink shuttle loaded with pink thread (and gold beads - didn't have a pink that would go with the thread, sorry to say).  I showed the loaded shuttle to the Pink Person, who was delighted to see her favorite color - and amazed to see at lunchtime that I had managed to get over an inch of her bracelet tatted before it was time to clock back in!

Today I took in the WIP and showed her - it's not quite there yet, but another 2-3 rings per side should take care of it.  I'm using five beads per ring, so I'll string 30 more and call it a day.

I couldn't easily unwind the shuttle and string beads at work, so I started another heart with the new Lizbeth thread, "Juicy Watermelon."  It's very pretty!  The pattern, Queen of Hearts, is a classic Mary Konior design; it's in her Tatting With Visual Patterns book (which is one of my go-to books).  Unlike her other books, this one is still pretty available in softcover as well as affordable.

10 Things That Make Me Happy and/or Amuse Me!

No, I can't resist a challenge -- that is, if it's do-able!  The Crazy Mom recently posted a list of 10 things that make her happy and/or amuse her, and challenged several other folks to do the same - one of whom is me.  So here goes:

1. My family makes me happy!  The picture is from Christmas '09, so everybody in it is a year older, but that's OK.  I think everybody knows how deeply I love my daughter and granddaughter, so we'll just admire their picture and move on.  Next is DH with the Spooky-Cat - if I'd been "quicker on the draw," I could have gotten the picture with Spooky tucked under the blanket with DH.

One of these days, I'm going to get all of us - DH, DD, DGD, DSIL and moi - in the same picture.  Hopefully.  Eventually.

2.  Receiving neat stuff in the mail makes me happy!  Both of these packages came this week - the one from Handy Hands came first, then the next day I received the one from Amazon.  I have another set of the new pastel Clover shuttles, and some of the new Lizbeth colors.  I really enjoyed the Ellery Queen TV show in the mid-'70s, and it just lasted one season - this one box has the entire series in it on 6 DVDs!  I guess it's more like a mini-series since it was on such a short time.

3.  Finding things I thought I'd lost forever!  It's surprising how many of us put things away "where it will be safe" only to discover that it's so safe that we no longer remember where we've put them!  This is compounded when two like this share the house, so finding something mislaid is a special kind of joy!

(Note: Blogger is not cooperating with pictures lately - I've been trying for several days to upload pictures to illustrate the things that make me happy & amuse me, but since Blogger apparently prefers unillustrated prose, this is it for pix.) 

4.  Spring time makes me happy!  I love it when the days get warmer but the nights stay cool and good for sleeping.  The trees leaf out and the grass turns green again.  And - since the DK got us a porch swing last year, it's a perfect time for sitting outside and reading (or tatting - or both!)!

5.  Getting together with friends makes me happy!  This past fall, some of us gathered in Toccoa -- and we want to do it again!  Catherine, the Crazy Mom, Karrieann, and I had good times and tons of fun!  We're planning to do it again this spring!

6.  Helping a newbie tatter makes me happy!  We welcomed such a tatter to the Palmetto Tatters Guild meeting on Saturday the 15th - her name is Sarah - and she taught herself to tat with a video.  She can both needle and shuttle tat rings and chains, and was ready to take another step!  She learned to shuttle tat a self-closing mock ring!

7.  Kind words and compliments make me happy!  I have been complimented, out of the blue, in the past two days, on my abilities as a tatter; and after some unkind words I received Saturday, I needed to hear them.  With gratitude to those who care -- JJJJJJJJ

8.  Jane Eborall makes me happy!  She is so clever and inventive, and she's just started another Tat It And See (TIAS) game.  I love to play - it's so much fun to see what the tatting turns out to be, after days of tatting just a ring or two and a chain. 

9.  My cat amuses me!  A lot of the time he's asleep and snoring - in itself amusing - but when he's awake, he's occasionally funny (bordering on hilarious).  The other day I had laid a catalog on the arm of the wingback chair in the living room, intending to carry it to my bedroom when I went back there.  Spooky came moseying in from the kitchen and leaped up onto the chair arm.  On landing on the catalog, he knew something was wrong - the arm was shifting under his feet - so he instinctively tried to walk off it.  Pages flipped, and he started moving faster and faster until he was galloping.  It was hysterically funny - the expression on his furry little face was priceless!  It was like watching a live-action cartoon! 

Oh, and neither the Spooky-Cat nor the catalog were harmed in any way - which amazed us.  He did not fall off the chair nor gain traction and run into a wall.  The catalog, interestingly enough, is intact - not even a single claw mark.  Hmm!

10. Old movies amuse me!  I love the old comedies, particularly the Marx Brothers - the zany wordplay between Groucho and anybody else, the beautiful harp solo by Harpo, the piano playing by Chico - the whole package was right there.  We lucked out a few Christmases ago, when Santa Claus brought us a five-disk set of their movies.  I may be forced to make some hot chocolate, some popcorn, and feast my eyes on Duck Soup this afternoon!

This wasn't as easy as I first thought it would be - of course, Blogger not wanting to cooperate and the phone ringing off the hook this morning didn't help.  I did my 10 - have you done yours yet?   

S N O W D A Y !



There is a street there, somewhere!



And the flakes have fallen and brought all their icy little friends with them - and I could hear sleet a few minutes ago.  I doubt anything in Greenwood is open, other than emergency services and essential companies. 



Snow everywhere!



This is what snow days are for, Mom!



A few vehicles have driven by (slowly - good for them!) but none in the last hour.  We're a block over from a main road, and there haven't been many vehicles on it either.  I got up and dressed, just in case we were open today, but all the banks are closed due to the weather. 

I am contemplating another cup of hot tea and baking some biscuits - maybe as a light lunch - and there's still some ham I can thaw and do a few ham biscuits - YUM! 

The Palmetto "Call for Teachers" is on the website!  The application for Scholarships is there too.  It's not too early to start making plans for September!

From Talented Hands!

While they weren't specifically Christmas presents, I did get them during the Christmas season - not that it matters, because any time is a good time to get a new tatting shuttle.  Aren't they beautiful!  The first is by The Shuttle Shop, makers of fine wooden tatting shuttles.  The picture shows the bottom side of the shuttle - the side without the pick.  The top side is plain.  The Shuttle Shop always has such interesting designs!

Next is a lovely shuttle by 'im in the garage - also known as the hubby of Sally Kerson and the brother-in-law of Jane Eborall.  It's made of English Holly wood and I think it will hold quite a bit of thread!  I haven't used either shuttle yet, but will be filling them with thread later today for a new project.  I'm hoping to teach again this year at Palmetto Tat Days, and am working on projects that fit the theme of "Tatting in a Winter Wonderland."  Hmm....what might fit that phrase...hmm?