Organizing and Staying Warm!

I hope everyone is having wonderful holidays - and we still have the New Year to look forward to!  I LOVE New Year’s - even though we don’t really do anything.  I just love new calendars, new journals, organizing my “stuff” and putting away the past year.  It always feels like I have a chance to do better . . . at something?!  Yep - I’m an organizing Geek.

I have some time off from work, so I’m planning new sewing and tatting projects.  I should probably clean the house, but THAT won’t go anywhere.  I’m also trying to cram in getting a book read - all the hobbies that working prevents me from doing as much as I want to.  The job pays for the stash though, so it’s a necessary evil!  

It has been cold this week - below zero (-18F) and now hovering around 0 F for the next few days.  Once it’s this cold, it doesn’t really matter what the actual temperature number says.  It’s just COLD. 

Stay warm wherever you are - and enjoy these last few days of 2017!

On With DECEMBER!

Today we had our Twin Cities Tatters December gathering.  Historically we have avoided December gatherings because there’s just so much going on, but with our 2017 growth, we scheduled a gathering.  We had about 8 tatters join us today, so WOW - we HAVE grown!

We had a snowflake exchange for anyone that wanted to participate, and shook doubles with dice to select from the participants.  It was so fun to see all the different snowflakes -  I wish I’d gotten pictures of all of the snowflakes.  Maybe Michelle did?

In any case, I received this lovely pair of snowflakes when I FINALLY got doubles!

Aren’t they pretty?  It’s always so much fun to see what others come up with.  

We discussed how to stiffen tatting.  Some use Aleene’s Stiffener - there are a few kinds though, so be careful!  One is thicker and seems to be more for fabric, while another is thinner and perfect for tatting.  Some use equal parts Elmers Glue and water.  In the past, I have used liquid starch and water, and have found this easy to wash out and re-do if necessary.  

Another thing that came up today is protecting our crochet hook tips.  Use an earring stopper on those tiny hooks!  You know, those little rubber ends you put on your earrings to prevent them from slipping right out of your ear.  Perfect for those size 12 - 14 crochet hooks.  This is why we love to gather - so many great ideas for not just the tatting technicques, but the usage and storage of our supplies as well!  The ideas flow, and tatters are so wonderful to share.

After our tatting group, I made it to a local craft show.  Ruby ended up with some festive attire . . .

 I’m not sure she cares, but isn’t she fashionable?

One of my grand dogs will be sporting this very soon:

I’m not a huge sports fan, but one daughter and her husband are very big Minnesota Viking football fans.  Their little dog endures many game days, ha ha!  I will be sewing a few of these bandanas too - they just fit right over the collar.  Easy Peasy!

Here we go! Enjoy the Christmas Holiday season :) 

Ornament Testing

Well, now that it’s December (!!) I’m back to thinking about Christmas and ornaments and tatting and cards and gifts . . .  sheesh.  [You’d think the fact that Christmas comes every December wouldn’t be such a shock?]

I finally finished my testing of just one ornament pattern, and now I like the first one better anyway.  The ornament on the left was done with size 20 thread, the ornament on the right was done with size 30 thread.  Both are on a 80mm ball (slightly larger than 3”).

Originally, I wanted to see the bare thread that joins the top and bottom pieces onto the ball more - I liked that zig-zag look.  But seeing them side by side, I now like the look of the tatting that covers the ornament more completely much better.  Funny how the same pattern can look so different in two sizes of thread! Which do YOU like better?

I think I will use size 20 thread, and be sure to tat fairly tightly on the 80mm ornaments.  I will try the size 30 thread on the 70mm size.

Now that I’m done “testing” I should be able to complete an ornament or two!  No wonder it takes me so long to tat . . . anything.