Farewell February & So Long Setbacks

Bye-bye blustery blizzards! Hello March with your lion-like moods. Roar in so April arrives like a lamb for International Tatting Day (April 1) and Easter (April 4).

Out, Out Bad Tats
The tatting has been a struggle these past few days. Rings won't close, badly tatted-over ends pull out and so on. This slump has had a carpet-bombing effect on my mood which bleeds over into everything else.

Take my latest craft store outting, for example. I thought I brought home a new spool of that wonderful Signature quilter's 100% cotton thread (Egyptian long staple cotton in size 20) in a color combo called Mallard.

Mallard (M45) has lovely teal, purple, tan and ivory shades. I tatted a ring and the thread stretched and broke almost immediately upon closing. It turned out to be decorative spun polyester in size 30. Not at all what I thought I bought. To make matters worse, "size 30" is the equivalent to tatting cotton size 80.

Potty training tantrums from the Sprout are also causing frayed nerves (not to mention extra laundry) at Silly Hat Central. Sprout's negotiating skills have leaped forward and we must be smarter parents to stay a step ahead. Part of me is really proud and part is terrified.

On a brighter note, the fortune in my after-meal cookie said this: A truly creative person rids him or herself of all self-imposed limitations.

Sayonara, slump! I'm tossing you out with the February trash. Need to make room for true creativity.

This coming week I will be watching closely for Postie to bring any of these tantalizing goodies:

• 2 Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles from Jane Eborall -- one in Sycamore and one in Walnut.
• 1 Tatting booklet - Elgiva Nicholls, Tatter: Life and Career 1900 —1982
• 2 Butterfly Pattern books from LadyShuttleMaker, plus two skeins of HDT in size 50 Treebeard
• Possibly, just maybe, a little envelope from Tatskool

This tatting treasure trove certainly adds a rosier glow.