Tatting To Stay Awake

 This last weekend I traveled with several ladies of our congregation to the 2026 Kansas District LWML Convention. (LWML used to stand for Lutheran Women Missionary League, now it's Lutheran Women in Mission.) There were 288 persons in attendance, including the women, some husbands, some pastors, and speakers. The convention is a large business meeting, along with mission activities, leadership seminars, Bible studies, worship services, as well as a lot of visiting with women from all over the state of Kansas. This year it was held in Manhattan, KS, about 90 minutes from our home church. There were nine of us from our church, five of us traveling in one van. 

Small crosses tatted at the convention

This time I did tat while traveling. I sat in the third row of the van, making conversation with the others somewhat limiting. Travel time one way was about right for tatting one cross except for hiding the ends. I also did some tatting during the business meetings. I wasn't a voting delegate so some of the items on the agenda didn't involve me, making it a great time to tat. During the times when people were presenting the descriptions of their proposed mission projects it also worked well to be tatting. 

There was that one time where I wasn't paying enough attention to my tatting while I listened. Can you tell which one I was working on?

I went to the convention with a few crosses already made, and I gave away two of them. One young woman came up to me to express how excited she was to see someone tatting. She said it had been awhile since she had her needles out. Unfortunately, I was being called away at that time and couldn't speak long. I gave her a cross and a card with my blog name before I had to run. I couldn't find her later. I hope she contacts me so we can talk more. 

The weekend was inspiring and fun; it was wonderful to meet up with old friends and make new ones. We were all tired by the time we got home, and looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.

On Vacation

 My husband and I took a short vacation to Colorado to visit our daughter and her family over Easter. While we were gone, I did very little tatting. We started out late in the day so some of the trip was in the dark, not ideal conditions to tat (though I do have a light I could have used). My daughter's house does not have lights in convenient places, making it difficult to tat while there. We also were busy visiting and doing things with the family. On the way home, I was just lazy. Overall, not much tatting was done, except for a few stitches while sitting in Estes Park. 

We watched our grandson's jazz band play at a jazz festival, and our granddaughter at a track meet. The entire family went walking in a park with our dogs and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We saw a lot of people out doing the same thing. It's amazing how fast a few days go by when you are busy.

On our last day the kids were back in school and our daughter and son-in-law back at work, so Jack and I went up to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was still not open across the divide, but there is still a lot to see on the west side. 

Still snow on the peaks in RMNP

We almost missed this moose resting in the grass. It was a distance from the road, resting beside a fence that was put up by the forest service to protect a stand of willows. If they don't protect them, deer and elk eat them beyond recovery.  Moose drop their antlers after rut and regrowth doesn't start again until sometime in April, so we don't know if this was a bull or cow.

Moose at RMNP

We drove up to Bear Lake but didn't hike to it as they don't want dogs on the trail. Which was fine by us, as we aren't in the kind of shape to do much strenuous hiking. We are not usually up there this early in the year and we saw things we haven't before, like frozen streams.

Still cold at Bear Lake, RMNP

We have been up to Rocky Mountain National Park many times, but have never been in the right place at the right time to see bighorn sheep, and we saw these right beside the road. They weren't even in RMNP, they were in Roosevelt National Forest as we headed east to Loveland on highway 34.

Bighorn sheep east of Estes Park

I need to get back to tatting now that we're home again, but I find myself busy doing other things. I'm sure I'll take the time again to tat soon as I still have a list of things I want to make. Soon.

"The ant is knowing and wise, but he doesn't know enough to take a vacation."

                                                                Clarence Day

International Tatting Day 2026

 

I have my current tatting project, my morning beverage, and chocolate, all ready for the day. 

What are you doing for ITD?