Down to the Wire!

...or maybe thread?

Maybe we could just set the
tree on top of the gifts!

With just two days to go until Christmas, I’ve decided that I’m semi-ready.  I’ve also decided that I’m not going to worry about it!  On the plus side:

• Gifts for DH on order…may not be here until after Christmas, but they are going to get here…at some point.
•  Money to DD to order DVD she’s wanted.
• Money to DSIL to get whatever he wants (same amount as DD…got to stay fair, after all!).
• Helmet, knee pads, and fingerless gloves to DGD (Santa Claus is bringing her a bicycle).

·        I’ll be out and about today and tomorrow and can get a few stocking stuffers to round things out. 

I might have been better prepared had I not been working quite so much this fall, but everyone at my office has had very little time for anything other than work since mid-September (so it’s not just me, y’all, we’re all in this together).  DH has grocery shopped, and we have a lovely ham for Christmas Day dinner plus some sweet potatoes and green beans. 

I didn’t get the office giveaways made – didn’t even get started!  Nobody was expecting them this year, though, as busy as we’ve all been, so nobody was disappointed.  I do have a few ideas to work on, for lessons to submit for Palmetto Tat Days, and there is a small window of opportunity to get them shaped up before the submission deadline – so I feel I can get that done on time.

I’m on vacation until New Year’s Eve!  Of course, there’s a “gotcha” – I’m on call, and if I’m needed, I’ll have to go in.  They’ve all said they will try really hard to not need me, though! 

Shuttles, bobbins, doodads - just add thread! 

Oh, the possibilities!

Today is play day – and I have a few new goodies to play with!  Kathy Niklewicz put me on to the location of the doodads at HobLob, and with the link to show the item itself (originally provided by God’s Kid, passed on to me by Kathy), I had no trouble finding them!  I also picked up a packet of little cogs and gears (maybe something a little…steampunk?).

So…on to tatting!  I’ve already been asked about an angel for this year, and I have a few ideas, so I’ll be working on how to get them from my head and into the thread.  I’ve also got an idea for a snowflake, and maybe can work in one of the doodads…or gears.  Then…who knows?  

Finished!

Perseverance pays off – tatting like mad during my lunch breaks and what few minutes I had when I finally got home from work in the dark of night, I completed three Christmas ornaments for the exchange at the December meeting of the Palmetto Tatters Guild!

I had said last week that I wanted to do a couple of wreaths, a snowflake, and maybe an angel – well, the “maybe an angel” didn’t get done, but the snowflake and wreaths did.  I had some fun with the wreaths – I used two different sizes of beads, and I really like the look!  I also put the bow at the top of one wreath and at the bottom of the other. 

Some tat stats:  the snowflake was tatted in size 20 Lizbeth “Blue Ice” and doesn’t have any beads, because when I wrote the pattern originally, I didn’t include beads and at this point, I was in too big a hurry to figure out how many and where they should go.  Both wreaths are the same, the only difference is the bow placement.  Altin-Basik thread size 50 (between a 20 and a 30 in Lizbeth), metallic green.  The filament is more of a light gold than a silver, and is very sparkly when tatted up.  Beads used were size 6 (8 of them) and size 10 (22 of them).

Now I have to consider whether I have time to do ornaments for my co-workers; with reorganization and transfers, there are seven now in my department.  I’m supposed to be on vacation starting this Friday, and at least one of my co-workers is taking vacation time earlier.  The question is: can I tat like mad again and finish by Wednesday morning to give them out?  Can I do it??

A Work in Progress!

 …my blog pictures, that is!  Having learned that my free Picasa space was virtually used up and I couldn’t put any more pictures in my blog unless I (pick one)

·         Deleted pictures from the albums to free up some space (n-o-o-o-o-o-o!!)

·         Paid Picasa for more space (eeeeeeeeeeeeek!)

·         Wrote blog posts that were devoid of pictures (unthinkable!)

Jane Eborall to the rescue!  Jane kindly explained how to re-size the pictures already in the Picasa album so as to free up needed space.  She also posted her very easy instructions on her blog, in this post.  That has now become one of my hobbies – re-sizing pictures.  I don’t devote much time to it, as I don’t have much time for it, so it will be an ongoing venture.  I find that, since I wake up the sun every morning, it’s early enough to perform certain necessary tasks to get me ready for another day at work (read the funnies – on three different sites; read Dear Abby on yet another different site; check my email; check out friends’ blogs; have a look at Facebook; and play a game of Spider or Freecell), I can squeeze in re-sizing some pictures.  I've dropped it to nearly half of what it was, and I’m only about 1/3 of the way through all the pictures!

It’s been a rough fall – we’re through the software conversion, but there is still plenty of work to keep us very busy; I’m still getting 50-70 hours per week.  I’m hoping that after the end of the year, it will have leveled out to where we’re all keeping normal hours and having evenings and weekends for ourselves and families.  Then I can (hopefully!) get back on track with my tatting.

Lately, I have been able to:

It took some squeezing, but this is a lot of it!

(1)     Tidy up my big thread box (little thread boxes…just don’t ask).  No loose thread, no abandoned starts, no pieces with errors – just neatly arranged with a nice pair of scissors handy for when I wind a shuttle or bobbin.  The scissors are a Big Lots find - $2 and they’re a name brand (Fiskars), so I have high hopes of them staying nice and sharp!

Merry Wreath in progress.  How do you like
my new Sequoia Pop-A-Bobbin shuttle?

(2)    Work on ornaments for our yearly Ornament Exchange at the December PTG meeting.  Usually by now I have several done, in case we have one or more visitors who didn’t know about the exchange but would like to play (there are several of us who do this – not just me).  This is the first one, and it’s not finished yet.  It will be – it’s a grey, drizzly day here in sunny (?) South Carolina, so I’ll definitely be tatting this afternoon.

(3)    Think about patterns for submission for PTG Tat Days 2013, as I hope to teach again this year.  In a normal Fall, I’d have two or three finished and test-tatted already, but this has not been a normal Fall…at all.

Well, back to work on the first Merry Wreath.  My goal is to tat a couple of these, plus a snowflake, and maybe an angel.  That’s my hope, anyway!!

Taking the Weekend OFF!

I didn't do a blessed thing yesterday - and today looks to be a rerun of yesterday, so far!  Well, that's not entirely accurate - I did a little tatting, I did a little reading, and I did a little thinking about what to do about class proposals for Palmetto Tat Days 2013 - "Tatting Takes Wing."

Today I've straightened out my thread box after an >ahem< unfortunate (but funny) accident wherein my better half picked up the thread box, not noticing that one end was not securely fastened, and when he turned it on end to stand up against the shelf, the thread cascaded out.  He was upset, I was trying not to laugh (too loudly), and he gathered it all up and stuffed it back in the box.  A lot of the balls unwound varying  yardage, and it all tangled together.  It's been waiting patiently for my attention for several weeks; today I was in the mood to tackle it, and it really wasn't nearly as bad as it had looked.

I had a nearly-finished ball of Wildflower Garden, and thought I could wind it all off onto a Starlit - save space and easily tat with it, besides - but after the first 10-or so yards, I encountered a knot.  Drat!  I snipped out the knot and set aside the shorter yardage, and started winding thread onto the Starlit again.  Filled that one, and plenty left on the cardboard core - no way I could squeeze that onto the Starlit!

I filled a Viking bobbin (the kind used in Gr8 shuttles) and dropped it into the smaller box I carry with me.  I managed to find a larger EZ Bob (I think it's actually a size medium), and it took care of the rest of the Wildflower Garden.  Now I have a full large shuttle and the rest on an EZ Bob!  The few yards that had the knot fit nicely on my new fish shuttle, and everything is tidy again.

Why can't the HOUSE be as easy to tidy up??

Note:  I had two pictures to pop in here, but Google rather nastily informed me that I was out of picture space unless I BUY some more.  My first post was just over 2 years ago - Sept. 2, 2010.  I have 406 pictures for the blog which are stored in Picasa.  Does this make any sense to anybody???

Overtime Work Pays Off!

I've heard all my life that “hard work is its own reward”… and most of the time, I’m inclined to agree.  However, the last six or seven weeks of software conversion at work have been long and exhausting.  I'd feel rewarded if I got some much-needed sleep!  I don’t think I’m scheduled to work this weekend, but I am on call if needed; so if I don’t work again until Monday, I've got 71 hours and 6 minutes on the time clock.  Last week was longer, as it included the weekend – 83 hours and 9 minutes!

Pink Cocoa, Green Coral Sea, Pink Marble;
Sea Island Citrus, Medium Daffodil.

Knowing I would have some really good paychecks coming in, I treated myself to a Handy Hands order.  I got two new Lizbeth threads and three favorites.  I also indulged my love of neat tatting tools by ordering the rest of the Aerlit shuttle collection, some extra Aerlit bobbins, and a Starlit shuttle!

I also made a bid on an appealing artisan shuttle on eBay – and to my delight (astonishment), I won!  Carollyn (Jitterbug62) sent the most darling little fish shuttle, some lovely Oren Bayan thread, and a selection of clippings from magazines – tatting patterns!

A lot of the patterns aren’t dated, which is a shame, as I’m curious and I’ll probably never know how old they are.  Others, though, have not only the date but also the name of the magazine – and some even have the designer’s name!  There are at least two by Myrtle Hamilton, and there are several in a plastic binder sleeve, ready to slip into my notebook.

The fish is a delight!  Handmade from a single piece of wood, it’s a flat shuttle measuring roughly ½” wide by 2” long.  It has two slits, on either end, to allow you to wind the thread.  David examined it and remarked that it was a happy fish – it was smiling!  I love his sense of humor – it’s one of the first things that attracted me to him.

I've slept most of today - and didn't attend the Palmetto Tatters Guild meeting, at which I was supposed to teach.  Joanie said she'd send pictures, though, so I could see the wreaths they made!  

Hoping for a Break!

Nothing... but nothing new to report!  We are ever closer to finishing up all the chores that are such a huge part of a merger, and my working life has taken on a life of its own!

When I went to work today, I had already logged over 60 hours for this work week, which started Monday.    By the end of the workday tomorrow, I'll have at least 80.  The pay will be most welcome - property taxes are coming up, on both houses - and our savings won't have to take a big hit.

BUT - I don't even have time to tat at lunchtime these days, so I have nothing to show you.  I haven't even had time to finish the lovely maple leaf I started back in October!  I will get it done, though - I haven't misplaced either of the shuttles or the book (or the leaf in progress!), so there is hope.

Things should start slowing back down this week, and I should have some tatting time again, as well as weekends off from work.  Next Saturday is the Palmetto Tatters Guild meeting in Lexington (SC), and I should have some pictures to show next Sunday.  Stay tuned...

Inventory!

And this isn't even the bulk of it!!

Even though I haven't worked in a retail estab-lishment in over eight years, I'm still taking inventory.  Why?  Because I have a tendency to buy thread I've already got at home, that's why!

I love storage boxes - and I'm always on the lookout for ones that might work for tatting supplies and materials.  I think I've written about these before, but so far, I've not found any that are better - - so these are still da bomb.

I'm (slowly) getting my threads organized.  My goal is to have all the size 20s together, all the size 30s together, etc. so I can find the color(s) I want just by selecting the right box.

I'm also finding treasures!  I have tried to get a pair of each of the commemorative Palmetto Tat Days shuttles each year; here are the 2010 "Fall Into Tatting" pair.

These are the 2011 shuttles; curiously, the one without the point is the same on both sides, whereas the one with the point has "Tatting in a Winter Wonderland" on one side and the large snowflake on the other.  I don't know if anyone else's are like this or not, but I wonder!

I do use my commemoratives, but I haven't yet used these - I'm not sure why, at least with the latest ones.  The first two pairs were tucked into a plastic box that used to house a backup tape (I rescued it from a trip to the trash, and recycled it into a handy box for shuttles and whatnot!),


These are from this year; even though it was the first weekend in September, it feels like ages ago!  This lovely design commemorated our 10th Annual Tat Days, and, sadly, we were told that these are the last laser-cut commemoratives we'll have from The Shuttle Shop as they won't be making them anymore.  I hate that - I love their shuttles, and there are still so many designs I wanted to buy!

Work is still overtime, overtime, overtime.  We've already been told we'll be working next weekend, but that by the end of this month, things will have settled down.  I hope so!  I need some time to tat, to think about tatting, and to design.  I hope to apply to teach at Palmetto Tat Days again this year, and I'll need something to teach if I'm selected!

Oh, and last week's title - about the light at the end of the tunnel?  False alarm; maybe next month!