2015 Spring Doily - DONE!

The Doily Dilemma

Remember THE doily I started back HERE?  Yes, February 1, 2015.  2015! I started the final round (#11) by May 8 of 2015. I was keeping track of the time it took me to work each round.  Just because I thought it would be interesting.  Approximately 89 hours total.  

Don't EVER do that.  Keep track of the time it takes, I mean. Really, it completely took the joy out of tatting this piece.  I think it jinxed me!  I put this beautiful doily away for 2 years - I'm sure it's because it just made me nervous thinking about how many hours I still had left to finish it.  Daunting. After 10 rounds, I had 62 hours into this doily.  That is a LONG time.  I'm a fairly slow tatter, but sheesh!  Just don't even go there.

I went to get this doily out for our International Tatting Day gathering, and COULDN'T FIND IT. Yikes!  Knowing how many hours went into this bugger made me sick thinking it could have been thrown out by mistake while cleaning out my sewing/tatting/craft cave.  To my relief, I found it, and then made it my goal to finish it while on vacation so that I could enter it into our county fair.  Maybe even the state fair if it turned out to my liking!

Woo Hoo!  I'm getting there! And I have all week to get it done.

So close!

I was so excited!  It was moving along well and I was making great progress, relaxing in the fresh breeze off the lake.  Almost to the end, and . . . what?  Seriously?  You've got to be kidding me.  What the HELL?  How could this happen?  I have an extra ring to attach to.  Somehow, there is one too many rings on the previous round. I'm not sure how this could happen since everything else has seemed to work out exactly right.  

The only way I know how to "fix" this without throwing it out the window, is to just add another ring where it doesn't belong.  I'm so deflated!  I can't even look at it anymore to figure it out.  Now that I know it took me 27 (yes, 27!) hours to do this last round, I can't even THINK of ripping it out to find the goof.  It. Is. DONE.  

And while blocking it, I found many other places I'm not pleased with if I could have entered it into the fair competition, but it's still beautiful.  And I will still put it on a table to use.  I will just have to do something else for a fair entry. For next year maybe!

Major lesson learned.

NEVER keep track of the time spent tatting a piece. NEVER, EVER, EVER.

Ruby Goes on Vacation!

Well, she was able to go with us, anyway.  She doesn't usually get to go along, but this time we rented a little cabin in northern Minnesota where dogs are allowed.  She was a nervous wreck for the first couple of days - she just wasn't sure what was going on.  All these strange people and strange sounds. A scary dock to walk on. Dad disappeared across the horizon, and people zoomed in and out of the area all the time in some kind of vehicle that splashed.

Of course, we spoiled her and made sure she wasn't out of our sight.  [Or rather, we weren't out of her sight, ha ha!]

What IS this place?

Hubby was able to do a lot of fishing, while Ruby and I stayed on shore.  I grew up fishing, but really have no interest in it anymore, other than EATING the catch. 

My goals for the week were to finish my 2015 Spring Doily (Renulek), finish one book and start another.  All 3 accomplished!  More on the *!@#$%@!*&! DOILY tomorrow.  

On the LAST round of this monster doily - the largest doily I've ever made!

Finished A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
On to the 2nd book - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.  What else do you do in the woods?

Sunset views from our cabin were spectacular!  A picture just doesn't do it justice.

And when it rains, what else do you do but play cribbage or nap? [I won - ha!] Thankfully, we only had two half-days of rain - otherwise, the weather was beautiful.

We were able to do a little hiking, too.  The "Suomi Hills" is an interesting name, and made us think of our friends in Finland.  (Suomi means Finland, and this is an area in Minnesota with many Finnish settlers as well. There is a nearby town named Suomi.)  This area was established as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the 1930's, and then became a Prisoner of War camp during World War II.  I never knew we had a POW camp in northern Minnesota during WWII.  There are still some stone/concrete foundations from the old shower house and mess hall in these woods. Interesting stuff.

This trail is "primitive" - no kidding.  We were almost carried away by the nasty flies, and Ruby had a little reaction to bites as well. This one wasn't a pleasant hike - we weren't sure we were headed in the right direction. We much prefer our beautiful state park hiking trails that are well marked and nicely groomed - even if they do have as many bugs!

Poor Ruby and her swollen face from bug bites!  

And Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig.  After a couple of doses of Benadryl, Ruby's face is getting back to normal.  I feel like a terrible dog-mom!

Ice Drops and Lucky Pennies

Well, I continue to enjoy making Diane's Ice Drops.  I love matching thread to gems to beads.  Sometimes they turn out even better than I expected - sometimes not so much.  

I've even had requests for specific colors, and have been able to sell a few to support this hobby! 

[It certainly relieves a little of the guilt of having an abundance of gems - ha!]

I also decided to try out the lucky penny stitch count Diane suggested - I love it!  

Her ice drop tutorial and update on the stitch count are HERE.

Notice how the year of the penny shows in the ring!

I started thinking about using pennies for significant year's events - specifically for 2017 graduations - and decided to add a little tassel and use school colors.  I made this prototype for a 2015 graduate - but I'm having a hard time finding 2017 pennies for current graduates.  DARN IT!

I'm also pondering different ideas for the penny for bridal and/or baby showers.  I could add a "veil", use wedding colors, add pink or blue ribbons for babies, etc.
My brain can be an overactive designer occasionally :)