Tatting Tea Tuesday with Sw4nkyL4c3r

July kicked off with fireworks and a wonderful Tatting Tea Tuesday! Sw4nkyL4c3r dropped by for some shuttle tatting. (She is a needle tatter.) She wanted to get in some shuttle practice in order to demonstrate Civil War-era tatting during the commemorative event later this month. (Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War and the Battle of First Manassas)

Tatting Tea Tuesday leftovers

We noshed on "Romeo & Juliet" cookies from the bakery, drank strawberry tea, tatted and chatted the afternoon away.

Every so often she would giggle and say, "I did it! Six whole stitches," or "Look! A ring with three picots." And then she would giggle again, saying, "Of course, if I were using my needle I'd be done with the whole project by now."

She was absolutely right. She is a fast needle tatter. Her stitches do not suffer in the least for speed. They are uniform and evenly tensioned. Talk about a natural.

I also introduced her to the owner of the Yarn Cloud (the shop where I teach shuttle tatting). The owner asked if she would teach a needle tatting class in September!

This is marvelous news for anyone thinking about trying tatting!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
It is Christmas in July and I believe! I feel like standing on the street corner, yelling "Hear ye! Hear ye!" because Yarn Cloud sells Lizbeth threads!

Many have sighed heavily and resigned themselves after JoAnn Fabric and Crafts limited sales of Lizbeth threads to a small fraction of their US stores. Hobby Lobby came to the rescue, but the closest Hobby Lobby in my area is 35 miles away. So I am thrilled to have a local shop that carries quality tatting thread.

As for tatting, I got farther along on the foundation chain for my ring trim braid lanyard. Last post it was 18 inches (45.7 cm). It is now 32 inches (81.3 cm) long. Only 4 more inches to go. Then the fun really begins!