Tiger Eye Earrings

Finally.  I sat down and finished this pair of earrings in no time.  I think I could have done a better job, but I think they are just fine considering no one will see them both at the same time when I wear them.  

 These are Elizabeth Zipay's Tiger Eye Earrings, and I finished one earring a LONG time ago.  [Like last September.]   

I wonder why I wait so long to finish something so simple sometimes?  I guess I was in no hurry to finish the second one as I didn't have any earring wires.  AND, I was hoping to find a better way to get beads onto the thread without flinging them all over the place :) 

Frivole suggested trying a long-eyed beading needle awhile back, and I finally found what I think she was talking about:

The eye is pretty much the length of the whole needle, which makes it incredibly easy to thread. The needle is fairly long as well, so you can get quite a few beads on it. These are a definite must-have for me, since I am enjoying playing tatting with beads lately.  Thanks to Frivole for the tip :)

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Twin Cities Tatters

And a quick update on the Twin Cities Tatters.  We met for some tatting yesterday, and we were thrilled to actually have some new faces join us!  We actually had 7 tatters occupying a corner of the Caribou Coffee shop for 2 hours.  Some young man even leaned in and asked what we were doing because he said "it sounded like we were having so much fun."  Well!  That just says it all, doesn't it?