Spring Fever!

Let's see a show of hands - - of all those in favor of taking the week off to enjoy the blue skies, abundant sunshine, and soft breezes!  Of course, if you live in an area that hasn't yet gotten their fair share of blue skies, abundant sunshine, and soft breezes, you may want to take the week off in hopes that Spring will finally show up.

Or, you may just want to take the week off "just because" - - and that's OK too!

Some of us were discussing a prayer shawl ministry a few Wednesday evenings ago, after prayer meeting, and since then, I've been wanting to pick up my needles and knit.  David found me a "bargain" sack of yarn, 7 skeins of Premier yarn by Venus, in dark blue (what was I thinking?), from Big Lots for $1 per skein.  I found my shoebox (clear plastic by Aero - love that name, don't you?!) containing sets of knitting needles, and pulled out a size 10 circular.

After I wrestled it away from the Spooky Cat ("What?  I'm playing with this!  It's mine, I already claimed it!") I pulled out a skein of yarn and started.  Ten minutes later, I started again after unravelling a very unsatisfactory beginning.   Five minutes after that, after I untangled the Spooky Cat from the yarn and circular needles, I cast on and began again.  Twenty minutes later, after considering the work-in-progress from all angles, I slid it off the needle and ravelled it out.

How could I possibly forget how to knit a shawl, for cryin' out loud?? Aren't they, like, the first thing you knit because they're so freakin' easy???  Good grief, I just finished one in 1973 -- that's only ...wait, that's ...no, that can't be right.  Thirty-eight years ago?  Oh.  I guess I could forget in that length of time. 

I Googled "prayer shawl" and found a lot of sites to check out - and of them, I've found four patterns I like, all easy, including the basic triangle I kept making a total mess of.  I printed them off and once I discover more yarn (possibly at Wal-Mart), I'll be working on one of them.  In the meantime, I'm attempting (from memory) a shawl of the late, great Elizabeth Zimmermann's.  So far, it's moving right along -- which may be an indicator that I'm doing something wrong, or that I've correctly remembered it and and knitting it correctly.  Time will tell. 



The little one in the middle is my own design, and I
taught it at Palmetto Tat Days in 2007.

 In tatting news, I have tatted three snowflakes for the 2011 Scholarship Quilt Fund-Raiser and debating re-loading with white and continuing.  I probably will, in that knitting is a bit harder to carry around with you whereas tatting just slips into your pocket.  Here are the three I've finished -- the ones on the ends are from "Festive Snowflakes & Ornaments for Needle and Shuttle Tatters," published by Handy Hands.  The one on the right was written as bare thread, but I did lock chains for a more substantial look.  There are quite a few very pretty snowflakes in the book, as well as medallions and other ornaments. 

At Last - Pictures!

Last post, you got the text with no pictures - now you have the pictures! 

At right are blinged shuttles drying.  See all the lovely patterns!  Crazy Mom found an excellent buy on scrapbooking paper, and bought a bunch for us all to try.

Here, one of our merry band carefully paints a coat of Mod Podge on a blinged shuttle.  It's amazing - the whole time we were working, we were talking - and we managed to keep our work area (and ourselves!) clean!

Here is the shuttle between coats of Mod Podge.  Isn't it cool!



On another shuttle, excess paper is carefully trimmed away from the shuttle.



Sparkly is added - - just 'cause we can!







We only blinged (blingged?  blung?) a couple dozen shuttles - mostly Clover neons, although I got adventurous and blinged (blang? bloonged?) three Sew-Mates (to be shown later - not quite finished with them yet!). 

And just for you, Isdihara, the answer to your question: yes, lampshades were involved.*



*no lamps were harmed in the making of this photograph.

Back from Commerce!

Blogger is at it again - I have pictures to show you, but apparently Blogger has other ideas.  I have added pictures several times, saved, and published - and the text comes through, but not the pictures.  Sorry, gang - hopefully whatever is messed up in Blogger will be fixed soon, and I can share pictures with you.

You might recall that last fall, several of us gathered in Toccoa, GA, to visit, eat chocolate, and tat.  That trip being a rousing success, we decided to do it again.  Right away, there was a hitch - - no room at the (Knights) Inn!  The Crazy Mom, who offered to make arrangements for our accommodations, found that there was NOTHING affordable anywhere near Toccoa!  So we did the logical thing.

We met in Commerce, GA. 

I hadn't been to Commerce in many years - at least 15, I think - and it has changed a bit.  There are lots of empty storefronts, but the stores that are there are doing a brisk business.  Alas, the only store that carried needlework supplies - a Coats and Clarks outlet - went out of business years ago.  CM found us a cheap place that was clean and decent, and five of us gathered.

We ate chocolate - LOTS of chocolate - and homemade Oatmeal-Raisin bars - and doughnut holes in both chocolate and glazed - and hot, spicy almonds that made my eyes water when I passed them on the dresser.  In their plastic bag.  Sealed shut. 

We blinged shuttles and tatted - and talked and talked and talked.  It was so nice to talk in person for a change!

And did I mention we ate chocolate??

Look Out Commerce, Here We Come!

We're back!  Sandra, Catherine, Karrieann, and I are meeting again to tat and have some fun - and this time, Marie is joining us!  We've really been looking forward to this getaway, and I can hardly wait!


This is what I'm taking to Commerce - note the glittery
nail polish in the box with the shuttles.  Hmm...





We're going to try to bling some shuttles - we'll have more time this time (last time we only had a few hours) so hopefully we'll have some beauties to show by the time we wend our ways home.  I have a ton of Clover shuttles - but could only find a few, but I'm taking them anyway!  I also have a few Sew-Mate shuttles and a couple of Aero shuttles (the German shuttles, not the hard-to-find English ones).  There's also one which I love to tat with, but don't know the brand - it's the pink one in the center of the picture.  It's not very thick and has two posts with a space between them.  I have a tan one and a couple of pink ones, so I'm going to try blinging one of the pinkies - hopefully it will be a thing of beauty when it's done!

I have packed some thread, but just thought of something - I need to put in a ball of white!  Snowflakes just don't look like snowflakes if they're not white - please see Georgia's site for an explanation of this odd remark!

Got to go hunt out the white thread and pack it, and get a few other things done.  I'll post more after we get back - with pictures!

Of Plans and Internet Connections!

My plan was to have this up early for your tatting pleasure - and I started early, and it should have been up around 6:00 this morning; but for whatever reason, my Internet connection took a little vacation.  It was frustrating for me, because I had to leave for work - but here it is finally, and there's still a whole day to tat one (or many) before St Patrick's Day.  I'm just glad the "save" worked!

St Patrick's Day is Thursday - a day when you see shamrocks everywhere!  I sketched out this shamrock last Friday, then tatted it, tweaked it, and wrote it up Saturday; it's been test-tatted; and here it is.  Hope you enjoy it! 

Irish for a Day

© 2011 Sharren Sarver Morgan

2 shuttles (or 1 shuttle and a lot of finger tatting)

Sh 1 is your knotting thread (it has the most thread); Sh2 is your working shuttle (with about 1½ - 2 feet of thread).

SCMR1:         2^2 SS (R2: 6^6. SS) 2^2^2 SS (R3: 6^6. SS) 2^2^2 SS (R4: 6^6. SS) 2^2. DNRW

The rest of the shamrock is chains; continue with Sh2 as your working shuttle and Sh1 as your knotting thread.

Ch:                  *2 + (lock join to next ^ on SCMR1) 17^1 + (lock join to ^ on next R thrown off SCMR1) 1+ (to ^ on previous Ch) 17 + (lock join to next ^ on SCMR1); repeat from * around.  Finish with 2 + (lock join to base of SCMR1).

I do a lock-stitch chain about 1½”, knot the threads firmly in a double overhand knot and clip.

Tatting Mary Konior's Cross!

I'm pleased with the uneven split rings as the chain for the cross - I can see a few possibilities there!

This second cross is in Lizbeth size 20 (Wildflower Garden and Leaf Green).  I had both colors on shuttles from other small projects, and liked them together, so here they are.  My split chain at the top is a bit on the messy side, but since this one is staying here, no biggie.

Here is a cross in progress.  I haven't blocked or pressed either of the crosses I've shown; the natural tendency of the first side to curl is balanced by the second side.  (I do see a couple of twisted picots I need to straighten at some point!)

I've been tatting a lot of crosses lately - three of Mary Konior's so far.  I think this one uses the most thread of the three, but even without pressing, it's pretty much good to go right after it's finished.

I've also been working on patterns for Palmetto Tat Days in September - I've applied to teach again, and hope I'll be selected.  I'm planning on going, regardless - it's so much fun! 

Grand Slam!

I just got the fourth Mary Konior tatting book - A Pattern Book of Tatting.  I can't believe I wanted her books for such a long time, and within a year, I've got them!  I'm glad that Tatting With Visual Patterns is readily available (in softcover) at a decent price; why can't they re-issue the rest of her books as well?

This is Mary's,
photographed
from the book

Of course, I had to browse through it to see what treasures I could find - and I found "Mark-My-Words," which is another of her cross bookmarks.  I tatted it yesterday while watching "Elizabeth - The Golden Age" with David.  Two things about the film:  first, that is one heckuva long movie!  Second, the box art shows Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth, in the scene where she is rallying the troops at Tilbury.  It's a closeup picture, where she is wearing armor plate, and her lace collar is peeking up around the top of the chest/shoulder armor.  I looked very closely at it and the lace in the picture is definitely tatted!

Now, the film takes place in 1585; tatting has been documented back to the 1840s; is this anachronistic? Artistic license because the costumer just wanted some lace and didn't know the difference? Or could it be that tatting was actually being done in the 16th century, but nothing was documented?  Despite this being the height of the English Renaissance, 90% of the English people lived in poverty, and schooling was limited.  Could it be that tatting was passed from person to person through an oral tradition?

I tatted this one - just wanted
to clear up any confusion

Back to the book.  I tatted this one straight by the pattern, but as you can see, I managed to make some mistakes.  I like it, though, and I've already loaded some shuttles so I can tat some more of them.  It amazes me, the sheer number of patterns Mary wrote!  The lovely doily on the cover of this book is named "Primrose Path."  Does it remind you of another doily?  Perhaps "Flowerpiece," from Tatting With Visual Patterns?  At first glance, I thought it was the same pattern with a different name - but they're not.  I think Mary did this with some of her other patterns - changed some elements here and there, and made a new pattern with similarities to the original, yet different in the finished form.

Change of subject: there is still time to submit your idea for the logo for the Palmetto Tatters Guild's Tat Days - Tatting In A Winter Wonderland!  Entries are due by March 16.