New Shuttles by Jack

My wonderful husband, Jack, has enabled my shuttle addiction over the years. He has bought me shuttles, gone hunting for shuttles at flea markets, ordered them for me online, and made them for me. He’s at it again, making more shuttles.

Shuttles by Jack June 2024

The three shuttles on the left are made from a branch that fell out of our Red Bud tree a few months ago. The branch was already dead, it was blown out of the tree before we cut it out. I told Jack I thought it would be cool to have a shuttle from it, and he did, too. I didn’t know the wood would be so pretty! The shuttle on the right is cherry wood.

Jack has one of my plastic Clover shuttles that he uses as a pattern for size and general shape. He cuts out the shape with a band saw and then uses a sander to finish the rest of it. Then he glues a post in the middle. Each one is slightly different in shape and height, making them one-of-a-kind. He is getting better and better, each one surpassing the previous one. When he’s done, he brings them to me to verify they work as expected, keeping the thread from unwinding when dropped to unwind the twist in the thread, and being smooth to wind and unwind. He’s having fun while improving the process.

He currently has three in process in the garage, and plans on making more. For all that I like them all, he is taking some with him to Tatting Corner’s Tat Days in July, to see what other tatters think of them. If you see him there, ask about them. He’d love to show them to you.

“I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning… Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” Miles Davis

More Bookmarks and a Trip

I’m still on a bookmark kick. They are quick and easy to make and are great to have on hand for a last-minute gift. And a not-so-last-minute gift.

More paperclip bookmarks

These bookmarks are also great to do while traveling. Since I have no set pattern for any of these it’s easy to do in the car or a hotel room. And we happened to take an impromptu trip last week to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sunday, on the way home from church, my husband asked if I wanted to go. We left early Monday morning for a week in New Mexico.

We didn’t have any plans of things to do while in Santa Fe, but we found plenty to do, a couple of hikes, and several wonderful places for food and beverages.

La Cieneguilla petroglyphs

Not too far outside of Santa Fe are the La Cieneguilla petroglyphs. It is a short hike, about a half mile, but some of it’s uphill over rocks. We hadn’t thought to bring our hiking boots, so we wore our tennis shoes. We made it, but next time…! It was worth the climb. I understand there are many more petroglyphs than what we saw, but we saw enough to appreciate them.

View on the road up to Ski Santa Fe

We did take a much easier trip up to Ski Santa Fe ski area. No hiking is required, it’s just a beautiful drive with a few lovely views.

A few places where we ate in Santa Fe were Herve’s Wine Bar for lunch and a cocktail, Rowley’s Farmhouse Ales for lunch and beverages, and The Flying Tortilla for several meals. The Flying Tortilla is close to the hotel we stayed at and we took advantage of their good food several times. All three of these restaurants have patios that allow dogs, which is great as we took our dog with us.

I do not get any compensation for mentioning any of these establishments.

Tsankawi Prehistorial site

We also hiked the Tsankawi Loop, which was probably not very smart. It’s 1.5 miles long with ladders. We went at 8:30 a.m. when it opened but it still got hot. We took plenty of water, but we aren’t in as good of shape as we should be for this. We made it, but we were feeling it before we finished. Our dog did great, even going up ladders, but going down was another matter altogether. My husband carried her down the one we didn’t go around. This is an amazing hike, but I’d not take her if we do something like this again. And be in better shape! We didn’t do much the rest of the day.

Wheat harvest started while we were gone. I’m somewhat disappointed that I missed them cutting the field in front of our house. Around the area we live wheat is a major part of most of the farms. Harvest means a lot of slow-moving vehicles as farmers move from one field to another, lots of trucks hauling wheat to the elevators, and lots of dust in the air. It’s good that it only lasts about three weeks.

Now that I’m home I’m gearing up for Tatting Corner’s Tat Days in July. Another trip, this one planned, that I’m looking forward to.

“Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs.” Susan Sontag

The Post That Was Never Posted

I know it’s been over a month since I posted last, but it wasn’t supposed to be. I had made a post just after Mother’s Day, then went on being busy. Including taking a little trip. How awful of me not to notice that I did not make sure it went live! So, here it is! And I’ll continue to work on the next one!

A few weeks ago I thought it would be nice to give a little something to each of my daughters for Mother’s Day (they are great moms!) We were all going to my mother’s house to celebrate with her so I would be seeing them. And my nieces. And my sister. Maybe I’d need a little something for them as well. Something quick and easy. Lucky for me, they all like to read, so bookmarks would be perfect.

Mother’s Day bookmarks

I was trying something out with the purple bookmark. It didn’t come out as planned but I was not unhappy with it. The next one, in green Twirlz thread, started one way, and then I realized I hadn’t put enough thread on the shuttles to do the whole thing that way, so I changed it up a bit. After that, I decided to quit playing around and just get them finished. I like doing split rings, which work well for this type of bookmark, and they are quick. I missed taking a picture of the one I gave my sister.

After Mother’s Day, I was still playing around with bookmarks, trying different things. One of those ideas got away with me and became – not a bookmark. I was unhappy with how it looked, so I tried several other things, hoping to make it better.

Doodle on a button

I did not think to take pictures as I was making this. I did most of it while watching TV and without much of a plan. It started on a button. I thought there would be five or six arms, but it didn’t fit right, so I stopped at four. But it was quite ugly like that. The top eight layered rings were tatted in the manner of Ankars rings and then sewn to the button when done. It still looked bare, so I added the bead.

I like the ideas in this, but not the pattern of the bottom arms. I will ruminate on this and see if something more developes later.

I have several relatives graduating from high school and college that could use one of these bookmarks. And they fit well in cards. It wouldn’t hurt to have a few extras for when an unforeseen small gift is needed. I think I’ll make a few more.

“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” Roger Staubach