Starting to Pack

Call me crazy (it wouldn't be the first time) but I have started packing for Tat Days.

Here is a sweet list of recommendations from say la vee blog to help anyone else with their advance planning phase: packing

Why the new header?

This was my best effort to "freshen up" the look of this blog.

My frustration level with blogger templates has risen to unheard-of new heights. I hate everything about the new template format. *grumble.grumble*

Folks (like Fox and a few others) who routinely entice and delight us with blog makeovers, how do you manage?

As for the photo, I took it with my cell phone quite by accident one day while I was tatting and listening to Pandora streaming radio. The fabric is actually from the pocketed dolly bag I bought from Jane Eborall back in April, 2010.

Thinking myself quite clever, I decided to attempt a blog makeover using this photo. Many hours later I was still wrestling with the template designer options and intensely dissatisfied with the results.

In the end I settled for this. Mostly because it will focus on the color in the lace photos I upload. But I am not happy with the design.

Eye, Eye, Capt. and ♥ from Postie!

On Monday, the human residents of Silly Hat Central had eye exams, so we drove to the nearest Metro station and rode the "city train" to visit the Optometrist.

The Sprout and I both did great! His eyesight is exactly where the doctor wanted it to be and no change for me since last year. Big Daddy has officially joined the Progressive Lenses Club for Men.

The Sprout really enjoyed riding the Metro and asked if we could take more trips on the city train. "Can we go to the Aquarium on the city train? I want to see killer whales and sharks."

Alas, we had to explain the "city train" only travels around the city. The closest killer whales were in Florida.**

We stopped by the outlet mall on the way home to buy a pair of Crocs on inventory clearance. Here they are.

I don't know what is more exciting, the fact that they are for me or that with the money I saved I decorated them with Harry Potter Sorting Hat, Gryffindor Crest and Goofy Jibbits. If only they had tatting shuttle Jibbitz!

The Sprout donned this Pirates of the Caribbean hat in the Disney Outlet and had us grinning from ear to ear. (That's a shark on his crocs.)

♥ from Postie
Two parcels arrived via post on Monday while we were out.

And three gorgeous skeins of Lady ShuttleMaker's HDT!

The arrival of these parcels couldn't have been better timed. Inside the box were these beauties.

Suffice it to say, as thunder rolls and lightning crashes outside I am happily unwinding Helm's Deep HDT and loading up new shuttles for their first tat.

One is called "Tea for Two" and the other, "Pretty Pansies." Both the HDT and the shuttles are more enchanting than the photos can portray.  Squeee!

** This past weekend I learned that SeaWorld in Aurora, OH, and Geauga Lake had both closed down in 2007. Both places held fond memories from my own childhood. How disappointing to not share these attractions with The Sprout.

Fleur de Lis Figure

Playing around with the fleur de lis edging led to this lovely surprise. The figure is 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and 1 1/2 inches wide (4 cm) tatted in size 20 thread.

You are looking at an unblocked test tat using three shuttles. Many attempts to keep the shuttle count down to two ended in missteps, but also led to new discoveries.

I am cheered, delighted and excited by this outcome.

This figure CAN be tatted using two shuttles, but would require the second four-ring cluster (the top part of the fleur de lis) to be tatted separately and attached as you go.

To tat it all in one pass was a bit more tricky. The issue was throwing off a ring and chain combo from a SCMR.

For those who don't mind two extra ends to hide, using two shuttles would be easier.

I will be writing out this pattern to share!

While the process did not yield a fleur de lis edging, it produced other tat bits and built my design confidence. In the end I do think that a fleur de lis edging will come forth.

I Make These Mistakes...
...so you don't have to. See the uneven chain? I hid the final two ends in the wrong place. Click on the image above for a close-up.

Now I turn by tatting focus back to an unfinished project - Wanda's Hearts Honor Bookmark. (Sorry for the blurry cell phone photo.)

Absorbed in bright color and captivated by the split chains down the center, this second stage is even more fun than the first. The first stage was pure pleasure to tat! The rest should go smoothly and will result in what is sure to be an all-time favorite bookmark.

Thanks again, Wanda, for allowing me to test tat this pattern!

Paisley Scarf Edging

Spotted on Etsy

Red Grey Paisley Silk Tatting Lace Long Scarf

Here is the link to this Etsy item: Red Grey Paisley

Take note of this graceful way to "unique-ify" a silk accessory.

Hmmm, I have a shoebox full of long-neglected accessory scarves a round here somewhere...

Don't the colors of the lace match the scarf perfectly?

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My ability to re-size photos (PhotoShop) is still on the fritz. (*grumble*) But I am still tatting. (Wishing I could show you...)

Remember this? Dipping a Toe in the Design Pool

Here is a slightly out-of focus shot from my cell phone. It shows my attempts to tat a fleur de lis edging. Right now it looks more like a weird light bulb filament, but once I get the shape worked out to my satisfaction I will offer up the pattern for free.

Here is a second cell phone snapshot.

Gina, you have been waiting since June of 2009 for this project to bear fruit. Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long! I am still toying with ideas. Hopefully soon it will be finished. Soon!

An Austen Afternoon

Photo processing issues have not yet been resolved, so I beg your indulgence a while longer.

Today The Sprout and I are feeling much better. After lunch we go to visit Sw4nkyL4c3r to deliver a Christmas-in-July gift. The ladies have planned an Austen afternoon of tatting. The Sprout will show off his Hot Wheels and no doubt play games on my iPad.

Which Jane Austen film to choose? Persuasion, Miss Austen's final novel? Sense and Sensibility? (a personal favorite) Northanger Abbey? Pride and Prejudice?

Since I appear to be the last test tatter to complete it, I will be working on Heart's Honor by Wanda Salmans. So sorry to keep you waiting Wanda!

St. Basil's Turns 450

Today's Google logo celebrates the 450th anniversary of St. Basil's cathedral.

Since my PhotoShop is on the fritz and my hand isn't steady enough for sharp, clear cell phone close-ups, I offer up Onion Dome. It was inspired by St. Basil's cathedral.

It is my first design effort. If you want the pattern, it's here in .pdf format.

(Thanks to CrazyMom for suggesting Keep and Share and holding my hand through the account set-up and file upload process.)

Tatting Tea Tuesday

No tatting has happened this week.

Today both The Sprout and I are under the weather with sinus pain and pressure. (Actually the 2 hounds are medicated too.) A heat advisory and a code orange air quality alert are in effect for a wide swath of my state, so we're staying indoors.

While Schoolhouse Rock plays for The Sprout, I peruse a lovely book that arrived today via post from amazon.com - Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson.

The dust jacket sums up my first impressions of this book concisely. "Who would not want to sit down with Jane Austen and join her in a cup of tea?"

As for tea, I am sipping iced Jack Frost - a caffeine-free herbal blend of African red bush, vanilla, peppermint and spearmint. Hoping it will help dispel the hateful heat.

Stay cool in your corner(s) of Tat Land. Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful. See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!