New Shuttle!

Just bought it in the last few days - it's solid oak and feels nice in your hand.  Holds a bunch of thread, too!  The seller is Monica Braxton (the link will take you to her Etsy shop). 

It took me a few minutes to get used to tatting with it, as it's a different shape from what I've been used to using, but I got the knack and quickly tatted a little butterfly (below).

It's affordable; and she has another style shuttle as well as some lovely hand-dyed threads. 

I may have to get back into knitting - my DGD asked today if I'd teach her to knit!  She's eight years old now, and I had already bought and put away for her a pair of child-sized knitting needles.  I got them out, let her pick out the yarn she wanted to use, and away we went!  She's decided that she wants to knit a scarf and a bag.  Ambitious, right?!  She seems to understand the construction of the stitch and told me, "It'll just take practice, Granny."  She constantly amazes me!

Back to Work!

The foyer - love the window seats!
 

Vacation is over...for awhile.  We've just spent a lovely week of leisure pursuits, including a couple of nights at the Simmons-Bond Inn, in Toccoa, Georgia (US).  It's our favorite getaway spot - we wish we could go more often, but time is usually the deciding factor!  Toccoa also has a great museum - one of the best I've ever seen - on the military.  It covers the Revolutionary War through Afghanistan, with a fantastic (and huge) section on Easy Company (Band of Brothers), including one of the actual stables they called home while stationed in England!



Our room - this trip - the Benjamin!

We didn't get to visit with Karrieann this time, but on the way back to Greenwood we stopped by Panera Bread in Anderson and had lunch with Marie Smith and her hubby, Rick.  It was David's first time in a Panera Bread - now it's his new favorite!  Wish we had one in Greenwood!

I've not tatted a whole lot lately - I did one 4-point star for the Starbursts class, in order to make some notes on how much thread is needed for the 4-point and each successive Starburst - determined that and passed it on to the Palmetto Tatters for test-tatting.



Sounds like a fun club!
 

Toccoa is a nice town - great place to visit, and we always hate to leave.  The Simmons-Bond Inn is right there in town, so it's a very easy walk to restaurants and antique shops.  They have a really nice used bookstore, where we found a few books we'd been hoping to find somewhere, and I noticed this sign on the way out.  (In case it's too small to read easily, it says "The Toccoa Literary and Chicken Pot Pie Society: A Writer's Group of Book Lovers - New Members Welcome!"