Valentine's Day

Tatted Heart pattern from Handy Hands

Donations

Book ReViews is a nice little used book store in Newton, KS.  Their stock is donated to them and they donate their profits to local charities.  They only have one paid employee, the others are all volunteers.  I don't get in much but did leave my card with them the last time I was there and let them know I would be interested in any tatting books that might come in.  I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago when they let me know something had.   It was an old, paperback McCall's Knit and Crochet Encyclopedia.

Latest copyright date in it is 1977.   The pictures of the models inside reflect this (did we really wear stuff like this???)

It has a section on tatting, including a brief history and description of what tatting is, several pages of "how to", as well as a few patterns. The history is a version I have heard before.  I did think it was wise of the author to state that trying to explain tatting was rather hard and learning from a person who knew how to tat was much easier than trying to learn from a book.  The drawings and how-to aren't bad, they are pretty clear to a person who already knows. But speaking from my own experience, though it was many years ago, it's easier to learn from a person than a book.

The patterns have no diagrams and are written out in the style that was popular at the time.  I guess you could say popular, it was how the patterns I saw at the time were written out (okay, it wasn't until a couple years later that I started tatting, but all the then-current written patterns looked like this when I did start looking at them.)  This way of writing patterns is long, complicated, and hard to follow compared to most patterns written out today.  Think old "Workbasket" patterns.  But, hey, this is what we knew and expected, and you just learned to read them.

I bought the book - the price was right - and took my time looking through it.  It has a section on hairpin lace which might be fun, but I don't really have time to do it.  I may try one of the tatted edgings but I doubt I'll do much else with it.  But it has tatting in it!  How could I leave it? And then I thought "should I have left it there?  Maybe someone else might have picked it up and decided to try tatting.  By bringing it home have I robbed another person of the opportunity to see and be intrigued by tatting?" 

The store gets its books through donations, maybe I should try what I like and donate the book back to be sold again?

"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."

Corrie Ten Boom

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What to do with leftovers

A few days ago Jane Eborall  mentioned how she handles leftovers - thread left on shuttles after she finishes a project.  She winds it back on the ball it came off of!  Wow, what an idea!  You'd never be stuck with wondering what was on the shuttle, what size it is, and where to find more if you needed it.  I think this would be a good habit to get into to with leftover thread. 

So far I've only done this when there is a lot on the shuttle - sometimes, and usually only when I need the shuttle.  But I think it's a great idea.

What I usually do is try to figure out some small thing to do with those leftovers, usually when I need another shuttle and they are all full.  Not an uncommon occurrence.  Sometimes I try out new ideas and techniques, sometimes I doodle with flowers and butterflies and such, and sometimes I wind it on whatever is handy to get it off the shuttle and promptly forget about it.

About a year ago I tried my hand at doing ATCs to use up some of my little flower and butterfly doodles.  Those ATCs didn't turn out too bad.  Since then I've done one more, which I think came out pretty good, too.

You can't see it in this picture but the cup is slightly raised from the background, giving it a bit of depth.  

Yes, only one more since my first try.  I like doing them, but usually I don't have time to work on them when I can think of all kinds of things I want to try.  Doing more ATCs are on my list of goals for 2015.

Thread storage

I mentioned that mice got into my thread a few weeks ago. I finally did something I've needed to do for a long time - I found a better storage solution. 

This is a stack of three three-drawer containers I found at Wal-mart in the office supplies department.  They had almost identical drawers in the storage solution area that were in white - same brand, same size - but they were a $1 more each.  Black works for me. 

These drawers keep the balls of thread in one layer, making them easier to look through and keeping them from getting lost in the bottom of a deep dresser drawer. And I can easily store thread by color family - that is if I can make up my mind which family that is.  Is purple in the pink family or the red family?   I only have so many drawers to work with.   It's also very easy to put partial (leftover?) balls of thread away when I'm done with them. 

 

What do you do with leftover thread? 

"Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories.  Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart."

Thomas Fuller 

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Catching up on the TIAS

I've been keeping up with Jane's TIAS just not posting the pictures.

Day 6

I'm still no closer to an answer.  People have been sending Jane some very cute rhymes about it.

 Day 7

I was a little late sending this to Jane.  Does that look like a bow-legged cowboy to you?

Day 8

I'm not any closer to an answer.

Day 9 

Curiouser and curiouser.  What could it be??

 Day 10

Hmmm, I think I'm leaning towards the scissors suggestion that several participants have put forth.  I can see another handle coming, can't you?

We should have the answer within the week I'll bet.

Jane has done another excellent job this year, don't you think?

"Think of your favorite teacher you ever had in school: the one who made it the most fun to go to class.  They surprise you. They keep you guessing. They keep you coming back, wanting to know what's going to happen next."

Pete Carroll

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Purple passion

There is a lady I know at work that really likes purple - light purple, dark purple, any shade of purple.  You could say she has a passion for purple.

 Last fall when she saw my dragonfly earrings she expressed a desire to have some, so I decided to make them in purple for her.  But this was getting late in the fall and I was busy making things both for the craft show and for Christmas so I didn't get to them right away.  In fact, I just recently realized I hadn't done them yet.  Then I had trouble - the dragonflies gave me all kinds of grief.  I finally just did something a little different and things went much better.

Wanda Salmans 2015

They aren't very fancy but they are purple and she liked them very much.  They were made in Lizbeth #641 Lilac Dark (I think) in size 20. 

She had also seen Jane's non-flying pigs I had made for a friend of my sister after some trial and error.  She specifically asked for a purple pig.  I finally got around to making her one in the same thread as the earrings.  She did notice that the pattern was different this time - I made the No Onion Ring version this time.

Pig NO Onion Ring © Jane Eborall

Jane's patterns page

My friend was very happy with her purple pig.

(Do you know how hard it is to find a background for this dark color thread - and purple to boot?   It wasn't easy.)

I hope all of you that have been effected by Storm Juno are doing okay.  It sounds like a few places got hit very hard, while others were a little more fortunate.  Dealing with that much snow is not a good thing at all.  Over here in Kansas we are basking in 70º F temps, literally 30º warmer than is normal for this time of year. Love the temperature but could use some of that moisture the east coast is getting.  But not all at once.

Thanks to all of you for your sympathy and suggestions on my mouse problems.  We're still fighting them (of course) but I'm hoping we are making progress with getting rid of them.  We've had several dead ones, if that is any indication of success.  I'm getting pretty passionate about getting them gone!
I'd like to be able to forget about them and get back to my passion of tatting.

"It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind."
T.S. Eliot
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