tatt3r's not so excellent adventure

it's been an exciting few days for me, and not in a good way.
wed afternoon we were walking with kaylee, about the middle of the park, when i caught my toe on a bump in the sidewalk, and fell and broke my left wrist. we walked home, then drove to the emergency room. boy, that really hurt. i've never broken a bone before, and it was much worse than i expected.

from urgent care they sent us downtown for a surgeon to look the xrays. he said they would have to do surgery friday. got home 1am, hungry and tired.

had surgery friday, dr put in a plate and a bunch of screws. spent saturday under the influence of pain meds, and sunday i managed on tylenol. i have an app't for friday, and i'll get a brace? probably that's the new word for cast.

i'm not happy. can't knit, tat, or cook. got green beans and snap peas coming in, and we wanted to get away on the weekends and enjoy some camping weekends.

i alternate between exhaustion, crabbiness and sadness. can't make up my mind to be optimistic yet. grrrr.
can't even snuggle my grandson.
i'll be better tomorrow, it's just late and i'm tired. thanks for listening.

Tatting Decision!

I found my most recent unfinished tatting project; and with a bit of perseverence, I might be able to save this from the UFO tatting box.

I pinned my little edging to a hanky purchased from the local 5&10, and was astonished to see I have about only 4" left to tat. That's not a lot of tatting; this little edge goes very quickly.


Maybe you recognize the #80 thread I'm using. It's the pretty blue variegated thread, again from the local Dime Store. They carry lots of #10 and #20 crochet thread, and steel hooks, too. If I'm in the mood, I search through their hankies and will buy one if it's square with good corners.

This is a classic, rings only, edging. The small ring is 6p6, the medium ring is 4p4p4p4 and the large ring is 4, 7p sep by 2, 4.

Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear. I'll be thinking of Goldilocks while I tat the rest of this project; it's a good story to tell Bean. He likes my stories.

Lacy Indecision

I haven't made any lace since the middle of June, and I'm ready to start a new project. I am knitting baby hats for my local hospital, but they aren't lacy. I try to make 2/week so I don't get overwhelmed with the tedium of repetition, and it's working so far. I have donated 3 dozen hats since April, and plan to have another 3 dozen by November. I had three projects for the local fair, but they are done and out of the house; I need a new lacy project to break my routine.

I may locate the rings-only edging I was making earlier this spring. I don't remember how much is done, but I could finish that and give it to my mom. I know she'd like another tatted hanky. I'd prefer to start another Romanian Point Lace project. I might make small doily, or coaster. Maybe a bookmark would suit my fancy.

I wish I could show you the Hungarian Tape Lace doily I finished for the fair, but I lost the picture. I thought I took a picture; I remember taking a picture, but I just can't find it. Good thing my head is attached to my shoulders.

Little Tatted Mat

Size #30 Cebelia thread, about 6" in diameter. As I tatted this, I could see what a versatile shape the hexagon is. I could have easily made an oval or rectangle, just adding more motifs where I wanted them. It's a simple 2 round motif from Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework. I got tired of finishing all those ends by the time I was done.

RPL Flower Motif is Done!

I finished the bars last night and took the flower off the pattern this morning. I didn't bury one of my threads well enough, and you can see the braid that connects the leaf and the stem is coming undone.

My only thought is to unravel the bar and try to get a long enough end to bury the thread properly. I'm not going to redo the bar, it's not worth the effort.

I certainly learned a lot from this little motif, and hope to remember my lessons when I do my next RPL project.

First, my buttonhole stitch is not good at all, and I should have taken it out. Second, I wasn't careful when I did the stitches in the petals; they are off center. Next time I will count the side loops to locate the center point as I knew I should. Finally, the threads on my little center spot are loose. I thought they were tight enough, but when I removed the couching threads, it got all floppy. I'll have to think about that one.

I'm really happy with the motif, even though I can see all my imperfections. I like the design, I like the braid, and what's not to like about a lacy flower in May?

Now I have to decide if I want to do this motif again, or move on to something else. I have to finish my tatted mat (4 medallions to go) and my bobbin lace doily (not even half way done) before I start another lace project. That gives me some time to consider the possibilities and study my RPL books.

Kathy Kirchner's Trunk Show

Kathy Kirchner came to town last night, bringing her wonderful lace supplies. Our lace group met at the hotel where she had a conference room filled with thread, bobbins, shuttles, books, needles, beads and more stuff than you ever knew a lacer needed!

I don't tat with #20 thread very often, so I've never bought much Manuela. Romanian Point Lace looks so nice in #20 thread, and the bin of Manuela caught my eye. What beautiful colors! What glorious threads! So what do I do? I pick white, ecru and a pale, buttery yellow. I will use the ecru and white in RPL. and I can see the buttery color in a collar. I would love to do it in RPL, but I may have to do it in tatting, if I want it done in this lifetime.

You can see I'm working on a little Hungarian tape lace doily, and I'm using white Finca 40 instead of DMC 80. It is a nice change, the Finca isn't all sassy on the bobbins the way DMC tatting thread can be. I picked up a spool of ecru #40; I like to have this little doily on hand in case I need a last minute gift, and I'll make another in ecru for some variety.

I also bought 2 bobbins; Kathy said they were turned by Joan, and she's not turning any more. The bobbins are not really matched in size or color, but I like the square sides. I pick up at least one pair of bobbins whenever Kathy comes to town.

A Little Bit of Tatting

I've been tatting a little medallion from Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework, page 361. In #30 thread, each medallion is about 1 1/4" (3cm). When I'm done, I plan on having 19 medallions and a 6" doily.

I made 2 changes to the medallion. The book says the small chain is 8ds, I needed 9ds to get around the circle. Then I made my outer chains a bit larger, too. Instead of 3ds before the picots, I did 4 ds.

I'm using #30 Cebelia, color 619, a pretty cafe au lait. I have a partial ball, and I think this color is no longer produced. I'm going to use it up while it's still good thread. I'll probably enjoy the little doily more than a ball of thread sitting in my bin.