Wave Earrings Done!

 The Wave earrings are done! I look forward to wearing them.

You might remember that I ran out of thread on the second earring. I had debated about starting over or adding thread to finish. I decided that I would add thread and finish what I started, that way I only had to load the remaining beads, instead of all 24. 

I chose Lizbeth thread size 20, color 657, Ocean Turquoise Dark, which matches a color in one of my blouses. This time I thought ahead and chose a color that made sense with my wardrobe. Usually, I just choose a color I like on the ball, not necessarily what works with my clothes. I need to remember this! LOL!

I've been looking at this, a one shuttle pattern, and trying to decide how I could make these patriotic, as Flag Day and Independence Day are coming up soon. The earring thread in white with a large red or blue bead, then the opposite for the little beads. This combination will most likely work with any shirt I wear. Matching blues and reds can be tricky, but if it's just the beads it shouldn't be that much of a problem. 

I've been tatting crosses lately, my Medallion Cross Bookmark, from 2016. I'll share them soon, once I sew in all the ends. Check back later.

"A fun pair of earrings is basically the finishing touch to any outfit; a nice watch is both practical and decorative, while the perfect unique bag is not only eye-catching but also timeless - it can be passed on to future generations." Liu Wen

An Ornament for Christmas

Did you all have a merry Christmas? We have had a wonderful Christmas season. We’ve seen a lot of family and friends and created wonderful memories. We even had a bit of snow!

I was able to make as many of my Christmas ornaments for this year as I needed and in plenty of time. Amazing! I didn’t even feel rushed this year. In fact, I got through most of December without feeling pressured, which is pretty amazing. I almost always leave things to the last minute and then feel stressed and anxious. This year I got the gifts purchased early and had the house in good shape for company before the day of the get-togethers. What a wonderful feeling!

My Christmas ornament for 2023 involved beads again. Some were even the same ones! I am very happy with these.

Christmas ornament 2023 with Snowman

These snowman beads were used in the original attempt for ornaments this year. This time the tatting was a bit quicker and the ornaments did not use the bangle bracelets or anything else under the tatting. This made them easier to tat on the go, which I did quite a bit.

I have a variety of beads that I used for these. I made ornaments specific to several family member’s likes. Cats, dogs, penguins, and owls.

Christmas ornament 2023 with penguin

I went through several versions before I settled on my final ornament style. They all were given away – the people receiving them didn’t know I changed my mind! I even did a few that weren’t white.

Christmas ornament 2023 with owls

I made all of the ornaments in size 10 thread so they were big enough and sturdy enough for the beads. I also used Balanced Double Stitches (BDS) for the chains. I had learned this stitch a long time ago but never incorporated it in my tatting before. Then I did a few patterns from Mike Lyon, the Shuttle Commander, and now I seem to use them a lot! Thanks, Mike, for showing me how well they can work in a pattern.

Speaking of patterns, I have finished the pattern for this year’s ornament. For any of you who are interested in trying it, I have added it to My Patterns page (Christmas Ornament 2023).

In a few more days we will say goodbye to the year 2023 and hello to 2024. Are you ready?

“The light of the Christmas star to you. The warmth of home and hearth to you. The cheer and goodwill of friends to you.” Sherryl Woods, An O’Brien Family Christmas

Tatting Corner's Tat Days part 2

I am so inspired by my experience at Tat Days that I have all kinds of ideas for new things to tat. I’m not sure when I’ll have the time to try them all! I did finish all of my projects from Tat Days except for Pearl, the mermaid.

3 Bugle Picot Motif

The 3 Bugle Picot motif is the only project I finished at Tat Days, except for sewing in the ends. It’s almost amazing that I finished it there, all the stops and starts I did. Marsha Bramson and K Boniface set up at one of the round dinner tables instead of at a long class table and I almost missed that they had started. Several people that hadn’t signed up for the class joined, they didn’t realize at first it was a class and not a tat-n-chat. Marsha and K brought all kinds of beads that we could use and there were lots of discussions going on about the class patterns and bead uses. I had trouble choosing what I wanted to do, then kept loading the beads wrong.

Bugle mania class with Marsha

Bugle mania with K

The class time seemed to go very fast! As I don’t use beads often I learned a lot. Did you notice how those bugle beads are used in the motif? Both K and Marsha had good suggestions and helpful hints.

I enjoyed that class so much that this week while I was at JoAnn’s I noticed they had bugle beads on sale – 40% off *smile* – so I acquired some. Now I can try the other patterns from the class.

Bugle beads

Lisa had tables set up for any show-and-tell items people brought. There wasn’t a lot, but those that brought items were very interesting to look at. I brought a few things myself to share.

Show and tell items at Tat Days

I brought the flowers and butterflies decorated bangle I made and finished it off with a prism in the center. I also brought a decorated wishbone, done without the thimble holder. Interestingly, two of the classes I took were covering cabone rings, which is done the same way I covered the bangle bracelets and the wishbone that I brought. I’ll share those projects in another post.

Did you hear? Lisa is doing another Tatting Corner cruise! It’s “Knotical Adventures” on the Royal Caribbean ship ‘Harmony of the Seas’, leaving from Galveston in November of 2023. And I get to go!! Whoo hoo! Check it out on Tatting Corner’s website.

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” Richard Branson

Happy Valentine's Day

I’ve been having fun this last week making heart earrings. I’ve even added beads to the January Hearts.

January Heart earrings

I have given several of these pairs away, to my daughters and a sister. I even kept a pair for myself! The little critter with the earrings is the Valentine my granddaughter made for me. She made these to give as Valentines to her classmates and I received one, too. Isn’t it cute?

While looking up hearts and heart patterns this week I reviewed how I posted about them since I started my blog. It’s amazing how many blog posts there have been in the last 10 years. If you are interested in the pattern, check out my Patterns page.

Thanks to all of you that have left comments about this pattern. I appreciate all of you! May you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

“And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Medallion Modifications

I have been thinking about what I want to do for Christmas ornaments this year, the ones I will give to family and close friends. I’ve been surfing Pinterest, blogs, and Craftree for ideas. There are some really cool things out there, but none have them really tripped my trigger, so to speak.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing with a medallion I first made a few of years ago when I went to Palmetto Tat Days. I came up with a medallion I used in an outfit for the costume contest they had that year. I made quite a few of these for the costume and had a few that were made but didn’t get used.

My Shuttle-shaped medallion

Thinking of Christmas ornaments I gave a thought to making this medallion a bit larger and adding beads. I added a few stitches to each of the rings and chains, made the joining picots big enough for beads.

Shuttle-shaped medallion first try with beads

It didn’t come out quite like I thought it would. Not that it’s bad, just not as expected. So I tried again.

Shuttle-shaped medallion with beads second try

This one didn’t come out quite like I hoped, either. Again, not bad, just not what I was hoping for.

The first one is closer to the shape I was looking for but was open in the center. The second one just didn’t keep the shuttle shape as much as I’d like.

Shuttle-shaped medallions, all three

I did succeed in making them larger, and I do like them with beads. I’m just not sure this is what I want to make as Christmas ornaments this year.

I used size 10 Lizbeth threads on all of these, so it is obvious that I did get the goal of making them bigger right. They just didn’t meet all of my goals. I’m not saying I don’t like them, they just didn’t come out quite like I was looking for. But I now have two modified medallions to hang around the house. Or maybe at work. This was not a waste of time. But when is tatting anything a waste of time?

The hunt continues for what I want to make for Christmas ornaments. Are you tatting anything for Christmas this year?

“Most discoveries even today are a combination of serendipity and of searching.” Siddhartha Mukherjee

Earrings

There are a lot of tatted earrings out there on Pinterest, which inspired me to make a few. Most of the ones I’ve been seeing have beads and/or other sparkly things on them. For all that I don’t use beads and baubles much, I do have quite a few stashed. The problem is they are stashed in a location that is hard to get to at the moment. So a quick trip to JoAnn’s was in order to pick up one or two.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to pick up a specific type of dangle bead. If you have shopped at JoAnn’s you know they have discounts on things and, if you are lucky, what you are shopping for is what’s on sale. I was lucky! A large part of the bead section was on sale. My quick trip was not quick.

I ended up buying many more beads than I intended. By a lot! In my defense, at 75% off I figured that now was the time to buy any I even thought I could use at some point in the future.

Surprise, surprise, I went home and actually used the beads I had gone to look for.

Clover Mirror Earrings in purple

I found this pattern on my computer from a previous online search. I do not know the designer and haven’t seen them anywhere lately on line. If anyone knows the designer, please let me know so that I can give them credit.

I’ve made two pairs of these, one in purple the other in pink. I started a third pair that just didn’t cooperate. I’ll come back to it later.

Then I made another pair of earrings that are much simpler. They also used the same drop beads. I didn’t follow a pattern here, just something uncomplicated and easy. With beads!

Simple drop earrings

These went much faster. I like using the smaller beads along with the drop.

I also played around with another type of bead. This took a lot more thought to use them.

Bright Hummingbird earrings

Hummingbird earring with 2 beads

The first two are very unbalanced due to the weight of the hummingbird bead. I did better with the third one by adding another bead with the flowers, but it is still not balanced correctly. I’m still working on them.

I keep looking through the beads I picked up that day, dreaming of how I can use them. Some are going to be very challenging to use with tatting so I may have to do something else with them. There are so many it will take years to use them all. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent. Billy Graham
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Mignonette bag done

My mignonette bag was not forgotten, I just lost the tube of beads that I needed to finish it.

The good news is I found them and was able to finish the bag.

Mignonette bag finished

I only needed a small amount of thread so I used the smaller Clover shuttles to finish the bag. The top edge is hardly ruffled at all because I didn’t re-read the pattern for the number of beads suggested, I just used three on each chain. At the time I thought it was enough and later I wasn’t going to go back and do it again. I still do not have the pull string done, but that is a minor issue.

You can see that it ended up a bit on the narrow side. I’m thinking of using it to carry my lip balm, which fits quite nicely.

I am pleased with how this came out, and how easy it was. It is likely that I will use mignonette tatting again, maybe in one of my patterns.

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.  The beginning, as you will observe, it in your imagination.” Napoleon Hill   www.brainyquote.com

Marie Smith's Mignonette Beaded Bag

The other day I was surfing through Craftree (an on-line tatting/fiber arts forum) enjoying all the wonderful projects when I saw a Mignonette beaded shuttle bag. This enticed me to YouTube to see how it was done which I found very interesting. But interesting enough to try it?

Mignonette tatting – do I like it?

I had a couple of shuttles with thread left on them, so I used those to test out the pattern for Marie Smith’s Beaded Mignonette Bags, minus the beads. It was kind of fun. I did increase in two rounds instead of one, which made the piece pretty flat.

Trial Mignonette tatting

Another couple of rounds caused it to round up nicely. This is the first time I’ve tried mignonette tatting and enjoyed it. But to do an entire piece this way?

It takes a lot of beads to make one of those little bags. A LOT. At least for a person who rarely uses beads. So, do I still want to try it? Maybe I should dip a finger into all of that before threading a whole tube of beads – just in case.

Dipping my finger into the beaded mignonette bag

The little finger-tip bead experiment was a success, I liked it.

Now, what color thread and beads to make the entire project? I hunted through my stash for a tube of beads I bought who knows when that I have wanted to use with Lizbeth Caribbean thread some time, some place. Now looks to be that time.

Start of mignonette beaded bag

I succeeded in stringing about 200 hundred beads on each side, as explained in the pattern. It was supposed to be 250 beads on each side but I was short of patience. The Sew Mate shuttles I used are a bit small for this many beads strung on. The tips were a touch loose and the thread and beads made them a smidgen too fat to be comfortable, but I consoled them the beads wouldn’t stay on long.

The 5th round

It started taking shape nicely. With all the beads strung on at the beginning of the project, I didn’t lose any on the floor.

Thumb sized

This worked up a lot faster than I thought it would. I was able to work on it during my commute to work. Some of the moves to the next row are a bit, hmm, shall we say, not so pretty? But that started to get better as I continued.

Changing rows is not so invisible

I watched videos by both Gina Butler and Frivole to make this bag. Frivole tells you to switch shuttles after climbing down to the next level, which is how I made this one. I wonder what this variegated thread would look like if I had done it Gina Butler’s way?

Almost done

By this time I’m getting pretty excited. Look how far I had come?

Sometime about here I didn’t pay enough attention. Somewhere about here I made several mistakes.

The end of the thread

One shuttle ran almost completely out of the thread and the other ran out of beads. Neither issue is a tragedy, but they sure slowed me down. I unwound the thread on the one shuttle – almost at the end – and added the beads I would need to finish the round, and continued on to that end.

Adding thread isn’t impossible. I’ve watched Gina’s video several times, she makes it look easy. Before I do that I need to ask myself “how much further are you going to go?”

To be continued…

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Denim and tatting

Back in May I made a couple of denim wrist cuffs for my daughters for Mother’s Day.  I was so delighted by how they came out that I decided to make one for myself.

Of course, it had to be a little different.  Instead of tatting around buttons I edged a small piece of material instead.  I planned the material to be white with white tatting.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my white thread.  (Can you believe I couldn’t find white thread???)  My solution was using Lizbeth #602 Natural in size 20, sewed to a corner of an old tea towel, then stained in coffee.  The lace bits I had were different shades of white/off white which worked well with the material piece.

Denim cuff with buttons and tatting

I have a jar of old buttons that I sorted through to find accents for the cuff.  I tried newer buttons as well, trying to find just the right ones for the look I was after.  It’s amazing how hard it is to find just the right buttons and just the right places to put them.  I also added randomly placed seed beads over the whole thing.

You might notice that the ends don’t have the obvious stitching like my daughter’s had.  I used invisible thread this time.  It gives a nicer, finished look to the cuff, but it’s a lot harder to use than regular thread.  Instead of using a hair band for the closure I braided thread to make the loop.

Wearing my denim cuff

I’m tickled pink at how it came out. I probably won’t wear it much until the weather cools off, but I’m already planning what I’ll wear it with this fall.

I’m still working on my clunies, but also a few other techniques that I don’t use often, like split chains.  I’ve done split chains before though only rarely.  I had to go on-line and refresh my memory.  I have a very strange-looking piece of tatting where I practiced this over and over.  Maybe, maybe, I have this down a little better.

My biggest concern right now is not what I need to know at Tat Days but what tatting should I take with me to do on the plane?  Something not too complicated, without beads, and easy to put down and pick up.   Hmmm.

What do you take with you to do when you fly?

“Denim has always been an everyday symbol for style” Ritu Kumar

Lanyard 2016 Pattern as a Bracelet

When I made the lanyard a few weeks ago I was too impatient to add beads, as well as tatting it in the car.  I had thought beads would be nice if I would make the effort.  Sandra (Crazy Mom) commented it would look good with beads, too. I happened to stop in at Hobby Lobby last week and found some pretty beads.  I was trying to think what I could use them for when my husband told me to just get them.  He’s a wonderful enabler!  When I got home and saw the lanyard I realized that the purple thread would work well with the beads.

I noticed right away that the picots would have to be longer to accommodate the 6/0 beads.  Which also meant that the stitch count would need to be adjusted also.  I actually did a little planning before I started, so the beads would end up where I wanted them.  Putting two beads on the top picot it changes the look of the pattern, too, from concentric rings to leaves.  It came out well.

Tatted bracelet based on the Lanyard 2016 pattern

Before starting I went hunting through my stash of findings for the ends.  Because I was looking for gold findings all I located were silver or antique bronze findings.  This was frustrating as I didn’t want to add them after, I wanted to incorporate them from the beginning.  Luckily, the local Wal-Mart carried gold lobster claws.  Finally I could get started!

Tatted bracelet with beads

I added a little extra piece on one end.  This helps to keep the bracelet closure on the bottom of the wrist instead of moving to the top.  Don’t you just hate it when your bracelet shows off the closure instead of the pretty parts?

Tatted bracelet with clasp assist

This little piece helps when you put the bracelet on by yourself, too.  Hang on to this little dangle and it will hold the end in place while you clip it with the lobster claw.  I can put it on by myself without fighting with it!

The bracelet was made with DMC Cebelia Lavender size 10 thread and Bead Treasures 6/0 glass beads Metallic Turquoise.

The county fair is coming up soon. I’m debating if I should enter something, and, if so, what.  It is fun entering items in the fair but you have to enter them in a certain time frame and pick them up at a certain time.  I need to check my schedule.

“Let’s do what we love and do a lot of it.”    Marc Jacobs

Finally, Snowflakes!

Happy Tatting Tea Tuesday! Have you taken time out for tea and tatting today?

My tatting today was finishing off several snowflakes. Yes, I finally made a few! This pink one is my pattern for this years Christmas card snowflake.  It looks suspiciously like ones I've done before, though I'm not finding a picture of any exactly like it. The beads do give it a different look than it would have without them.  It measures just shy of two inches across when made with size 20 thread and a 1/2 inch center, so it's not very big.  This pink snowflake is for one of my daughters, who happens to like pink.  I'm not sure of the Lizbeth color number though it looks pretty close to the actual color, at least on my screen.

I've made several of these snowflakes so far, none in white.   I'm trying to be daring this year.  The first two I made I did a little differently than I made this one.  This one is done strictly with one shuttle and ball and no fancy techniques.  The 'rings' on the outside are chains that are joined in the same place they started.  On the first two I did I made them as self closing mock rings.  I had to work a little harder to have the SCMRs close prettily, and I didn't like the look of the back of the 'flake.  I had pictures I was going to post of the backs done both ways but I forgot to upload it and it's too late now (I don't have access to them at the moment.)

I have done a couple of other snowflakes, too.  This pattern is from several years ago (as seen here and here - it's hard to believe it's been that long!) but this time I added beads. It's a little hard to tell from the picture but the beads are a clear crystal. They really sparkle pretty on the Christmas tree.  I tried (and tried!) to get pictures of them on the tree, but none of those came out.  I had a hard time finding a good background that didn't make the red look washed out or orange.  

We're keeping Christmas simple this year, so other than getting several tatted things done I'm pretty much ready.  Okay, I haven't gotten out the Christmas cards yet.   There's still time, really!

"For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work."

Doug Larson

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The trouble with Angels

I've been thinking for a while now about making a material angel with tatted wings.  I finally sat myself down and did it. 

I started with the wings, which would determine the size of the rest of the angel. I had two shuttles already wound with Lizbeth white size 20 thread so I could just get started with my idea for wings.  They were turning out pretty much as imagined when I noticed something a little odd.  They already looked a little dirty.

No, I had clean hands, just two colors of thread.  What I had thought were two shuttles with color #601 white, in reality were one of #601 and the other of #602 Natural.  Things were going so well and I was so far along that I decided I wouldn't stop but keep going, so finished the wings.  

Then it was on to the body, which I made of denim from a pair of jeans.  I spent a lot of time cutting down the material to the right size and getting it shaped into the body.  For as small as this is, the denim was hard to work with.  Instead of sewing the back together I used fabric glue.  Then I had to get the neck just right so it looked good with the head bead.  Again, if I had used a lighter weight material it would have been easier.

The front tatted piece is a circle, attached to the wings in the back, which are glued to the body.  I left a twisted picot back there - I'll have to work on that. The simple rings and chains at the bottom of the skirt are glued on, which also helps to keep the denim from fraying without a hem. The halo is a tatted ring with an outside round of chains with beads, which makes it pointed. This halo is not the first one I tried, but about the third or fourth.

The finished size of this angel is about four inches tall.  The body is stiff enough that it can stand by itself, but then the head falls off because it's on the thread but not held tight to the body.  I think I need to find another way to keep it there, whether a knot or a touch of glue.  The wings aren't stiffened but they might need to be.  I'll be watching to see if they start drooping. 

Yes, I'm lazy and used glue instead of sewing the tatting on.  This is a prototype and I just wanted to get it done. I learned a lot doing this one, things to do differently next time and things to do the same.  If it was for someone besides myself I might - maybe - sew on the tatting.  Time will tell. Overall I'm happy with my angel. I'm just hoping the next one - when, if - doesn't take so long!

I'm call this #8 of this round of the 25 Motif Challenge.  It was quite the challenge to finish.

edited 10/16/12 to mention wings were not stiffened.

"But men must know, that in this theatre of man's life it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on." Francis Bacon

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Getting the kinks out

 of my zipper pulls. Miranda suggested leaving a space, or small false picot, between the rings.  I gave that a try and they seem to be hanging without kinks in them now, though they still twist a bit.  

I really like how this one came out.  It's made with gold plated 6 or  8 mm beads and a dragonfly charm;

 the thread is Lizbeth # 652 Royal Blue in size 20. Without the lanyard hook at the top it measures about 2.25 inches.  The only lanyard hooks I have are silver so that's what I used.

This one is also made with the Royal Blue thread as that's what I had on my shuttles.  I used gun metal seed beads and a silver butterfly bead at the end. I like this one except for the ring I put around that butterfly bead: I think I should have just threaded it like a bead and tied the ends off.   This zipper pull is about 4 inches long. 

Thanks, Miranda, for the suggestion!

I have several projects going on right now - I can't seem to concentrate on one or another.   My mantra going forward needs to be "Focus, focus, focus!"

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."

Abraham Lincoln

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Blogger Mobile hates me

I've been trying to post for two days now on Blogger Mobile and it stops during the upload every time!!!  I finally got to a hot spot (though it's very, very, slow) so I can let you know that I'm still here.

Just a little something I made trying to empty a couple of shuttles.  I've been so busy doing other things I haven't gotten much else done except a few doodles emptying other shuttles. 

I'll try again later this week to get a longer post in.  I have some really cool pictures of where I've been the last week I'd like to share.  But that will have to wait for a better Internet connection. 

Happy Tatting everyone!

Gifts

To me!

These wonderful items are from Tabatha that I received for our Advent exchange.  That container in the back has seven different colored seed beads.  Each bead color is in it's own compartment so each can be opened without releasing loosing opening all the others - great!  The ball of thread is Lizbeth "Springtime" #115 in size 20.  I haven't used it yet but it's such a 'spring-y' color I'm thinking of using it for something for Easter.  The cute book is a journal, an encouragement to keep jotting down my patterns.  And the pens aren't regular pens but crochet hook pens.  And they are soo pretty!  I've been keeping one in my purse so I always have one handy. 

All of these items are in such pretty colors they make me think "Spring!"  We've had such a mild winter here that it almost seems like spring already.  We actually had a thunderstorm yesterday with high wind and hail.  Very spring like, indeed.  Of course, it could come up and snow any day - it's still only February.  But tatting with "Springtime" thread, using those pretty beads and crochet pens, and jotting down ideas in the journal (did you see the tea pot?) will make it feel like springtime anytime. 

I didn't have any tea this morning for Tatting Tea Tuesday, I had coffee instead.  I was just too lazy to try and choose which tea to drink this morning :-)  I've also been too busy this week to tat, so there's no tatting to show.  I have a list of things I want/plan to tat, just not the time.  I'm hoping that this week is a little better on the tatting front.  

May you have a bit of tatting time this week, too. 

"Youth is not a time of life: it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it it a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life."

Samuel Ullman

Snowflakes and Dinosaurs

I'm still making a few of my old snowflake patterns, and still trying them out with beads. This one I changed a lot from my original pattern besides the beads for several reasons. One: I had done this one with only five points and I want it to have six. Two: I had done it with lots of picots so it looked very frilly. I have been adding beads in place of picots and this snowflake had lots of picots. But I don't really want to add that many beads, so the extraneous picots had to go. Three: using the original stitch count made it a little bit bigger than what I wanted right now so I reduced the stitches by a few everywhere.

It's somewhat hard to see the clear beads on the snowflakes, but in person the beads catch the light, making them well worth the effort to add.

I've done other tatting this week but nothing that's ready to share. I keep changing my mind on what I want and keep switching from one project to another. Hopefully I'll have finished one thing or another by next week. And maybe even post on Tuesday. I had tea and tatted on Tuesday, I just ran out of time to post!

This last weekend we went up to visit our daughter and family. We had a great time, going to an air show on Saturday and the Omaha Children's Museum on Sunday. I had never been to a children's museum, though I knew that the exhibits were meant to be touched and be interactive with children. They currently have an exhibit of dinosaurs there, something our grandson likes right now.

We found something interesting to see right away when we arrived, before we even went in.

This praying mantis was on our parking meter. We had to stop and check it out before we went any farther. You can see she was quite large. She only moved a little bit the whole time we stood to watch her, which didn't impress my two-year-old grandson.

We decided to go to the dinosaur exhibit first, to make sure we had plenty of time there. For all that he likes dinosaurs, my grandson was a little intimidated by the robotic dinosaurs that moved and made noises.
The dinosaurs are not full-sized but quite realistic looking (how does anyone really know?)
My grandson didn't take too long to get over being scared. There is so much there for them to do.

This is a robot skeleton that the children can push buttons to move, up down, side to side. It was very popular with the kids.

They can also uncover fossils in a sand box.

There were more activities in the display and many more throughout the museum. We were there for several hours and didn't even get close to seeing everything. If any of you with children or grandchildren are in the Omaha area and are looking for something fun to do I recommend this. They do have places for the parents to sit and watch while the children explore :)
(I am not being paid for this endorsement, it was just so much fun to watch the children there I wanted to share with it everyone else.)

"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death"
Albert Einstein

Where were you when the earth moved?

Did you feel the earth move under your feet today?

If you were anywhere on the east coast today you might have. Most of you have probably already heard about the Virginia (USA) earthquake that happened today. IsDihara lives in Virginia, and she says she's okay. If you'd like to read her experience today check out her blog here. I hope that everyone else out in tat-land are okay and not too shook up.

Did you know there was one in Colorado (USA) late last night as well? I don't know anyone personally that felt it, but on the news tonight they spoke to a woman in Hutchinson, Kansas, that said she felt it. That's an earthquake over 400 miles away. I guess she noticed because she was awake at 1:15 AM local time, and was on the fifth floor of an apartment building. As there aren't many buildings that tall around here, she was one of the few people that had the right conditions to notice. I personally slept right through it :)

This Tatting Tea Tuesday evening I had a wonderful glass of iced tea, which really hit the spot. We had record-breaking temperatures today, 109 deg. F. I can do without breaking anymore records like that! I'm really looking forward to fall weather. I didn't get any tatting done, though *sigh* I had to do some work around the house instead. We ran out clean plates (and glasses and cups and....)

I did get a little tatting done over the last week, a few more snowflakes. And I think I'm getting carried away with those beads.


"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Teacup for Tatting Tea Tuesday

Isn't this little teacup with the candle inside cute? I saw it and just had to get it for a Tatting Tea Tuesday post. It's from a candle shop in Silver Dollar City, Missouri. They pour a lot of candles there, in the most marvelous scents! This one happens to be Bayberry. They make the candles right there in the shop; you can watch and talk to them about what they are doing. They also have a dipping station where you can dip your own candles. You actually buy white candles in any of several different sizes (4 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch) then you dip them in different colour waxes for any color combination your heart desires. I had a picture of the ones that I dipped but it seems to be lost in cyber space somewhere. It will have to be shared on a different post.

The lovely little doily the cup is sitting on was designed by the wonderful AnneB (Anne Bruvold), she who designed the Minor Norwegian Flying Dragons. I tatted it a while ago and thought I had shared it here on my blog but I haven't found it, so I must be mistaken. I know it was done in size 30 thread but I don't remember in what brand or color, and measures about four inches across. I'm sharing it now because a friend of mine asked if I would make her one. The pattern for it can be found here. If you are interested in more of Anne's patterns, you can find them at Nuperelle.net (there be dragons!) Some are in English and some are in Norwegian.

This morning I got up and took the pictures of the teacup and doily, several of the dipped candles, then worked on adding the suggestions of the test tatters to Heart's Honor bookmark. I didn't get any tea drank or any tatting done during all that. I did tat a whole ring and chain at my in-laws' house (not of this doily, another project) and then, well, a mess. I was being soooooo careful with my tube of size 10/0 seed beads when I spilled the entire tube of them all over the floor. So instead of tatting I picked up seed beads. The tube says it has 10g of beads and I must have spilled 9.99% of them - there were only about a dozen lonely beads left in the tube when I picked it up. Most have been recovered but quite a few went into my purse, which will be emptied and de-beaded at home.

I didn't get the pattern for Heart's Honor up yet - I had hoped it would be today - but it should be in a few days.

"Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories: those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost." Russell Baker