It has been so long since I've been on, I have done quite a bit of catch up reading today and I'm still not current on the tatting blogs I follow. Ugh.
I have been tatting though. Since I am going to attempt to condense two and half months in this post, please fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
As I mentioned in my pre-Christmas post, my husband ordered a stack of pattern books for me from amazon (yes, I chose them) and they all arrived between Christmas and New Years!
I was so excited. And then...so overwhelmed. I didn't even know where to start. Has this happened to you?
Since I am part of an Irish-American quilting group (they sew, I tat), I decided to start with the Celtic Tatting book and start at the beginning. I completed the Celtic Snowflake in Aunt Lydia's size 10 white.
I see that the hardest thing for me is going to be getting the correct tension in the chains in order to weave them. I am also having to make longer chains which is a bit of a hassle. I suppose it's a learning curve.
I took a bit of time off for extracurriculars while my husband was home over the holidays and that kept me away from the tatting a bit. I also decided to focus on a few resolutions and that has been time consuming. Getting organized is never an easy process. Obtaining a storage unit definitely greases the wheels. As I feel that the home is more under control, the tatting increases. Odd?
I continued work on the baby bonnet and then lost the pattern. I haven't reprinted it yet and my heart's not in it. I will get back to it.
I continued working on my shamrock pendant for the quilting group and almost have it to the point where I feel comfortable selling them. Soon, hopefully...
One of the quilters brought in a magazine called Needle Pulling Thread which had a needle tatting pattern. I have been able to translate it to shuttle and am working on it. When I have something to show for that, I will put it up with due credit. Since I only work at it when I am at the center, I can alternate between it and the shamrock pendant to keep things interesting.
I had wanted to do Jane's TIAS (I still hope to) but was never able to start it.
This past weekend was a big push for me. My husband had to travel to Florida and I joined him for a few days. That meant time alone to tat on the plane and time during his conference when I could relax and tat some more. Tatting at the airport is always fun. Mostly on the return flight so my husband was a witness. We hit the airport almost four hours early for our flight. As I sat there tatting a woman came over and said she had been watching me and was just going to be upfront and nosy about it. I explained what I was doing. She oohed and ahhed and went back to her seat after a while. I was pretty happy.
I overheard a woman whispering to her husband about me while they stood in line to board, so I caught her eye and quickly spread the good word again. I was even happier.
I saw two women a few feet watching me intently and I motioned that I would just come to them. So I did. One actually knew what I was doing, she had seen her mother tatting. Yay!!!
I got back to my seat and my husband told me he really loved that I was so passionate about my craft. He seemed proud.
I continued to tat until we got on the plane. I have found on the flight out that if I fold my pattern just right, I can shove it under the hook for the tray table and tat in my lap with my own private bulletin board. As we waited for take-off, I heard from across the aisle "I think she's making a cross". I looked up to see two women watching me work. They smiled and I continued working. When I finished the cross, I held it up for them to see. It was so much fun! Since I had a bit of thread left on the shuttle, I made two small butterflies. I passed them to the women along with my business card and signed to them that they could keep them. Even with the background noise, I could hear how delighted they were. As we deplaned, they said they would get in touch with me. I have no idea if anything will come of it, but it felt so good to be an ambassador.
Next week I am doing my second market. Since I haven't made very much, I am hoping that I can whip up a few pieces in time. I am going with bookmarks and notecards mostly, and a few hairpins. Whenever I have small bits left on the shuttle, I have been making Birgit's angel and jumpy guy doodles or Lindsay Rogers' daisy. I have a few ideas for converting them into notecards. I have also been making the aforementioned cross to use for an Easter card. When I have my act together (HA!) I'll take a picture and post it.
I'm sure there are things I've made that I've omitted. I'll have pictures soon enough.
As it is, I'm so happy to be back and hope that my absence will be forgiven. I have missed you all very much.
Happy tatting!
