Enforced quiet time

Although I have no pictures to share of my tatting I have been busy. In fact, over the weekend I managed to tat enough to have a burning feeling in my elbows. The source of the problem is in fact a small store called McBead Creations. Its a wonderful place full of lots of fun things. They have these wonderful and cheap plastic crystal beads similar to what they put on fake chandeliers. They look lovely and come in all colors. So I've been making lots and lots of stuff with them that can either be Christmas ornaments or sun catchers.

Despite trying to garden and do other stuff the call of the crystals has been too much for me to resist. I kept pulling out new colors. The burning in my elbows forced be to drastic action to stop tatting. I emptied my purse, organized my junk and still was drawn to the thread. So I was forced to do my nails! lol

I pulled out my french manicure kit and started polishing. If you've never done your own you don't know how easy it is. My big mistake is that I fuss too much and eventually there's a nail or 2 that gets overdone. You know what? It doesn't look that different from the experts and it lasts about the same time. Drying is the tricky part and I'm often too impatient to let each coat dry. Last night I let everything dry really well between coats. When you are really sure the polish is dry then rub your nails together and if they don't stick or feel gross they are dry. Do stuff before they are completely dry the polish will flake off the next day. So that's how I forced myself to stop. I definitely didn't want nail polish on the thread.

Most of the muscles that move your fingers and wrists come from your elbow. Which is why I got into trouble. Rest helped but I also used ice, truameel (inflammation modulator) and got adjusted. So I will be back at it shortly. If you ask me what I did wrong I could tell you easy- too much tatting too intensively and not enough breaks. Totally my fault and totally avoidable.

Dropped out of sight

I feel like I've dropped out of sight the last few weeks. I haven't posted because I didn't have any photos to share. I don't read blogs with no pictures so I always try to include some sort of picture on mine. Yes, that means that if you don't post a picture I won't read what you post. I'm ashamed of my shallowness but what can you do? Instead of pictures I'm sharing a few thoughts worthy or not about what other people are posting.

Fox has posted a good idea and followed it up with some action over http://www.tat-ology.com/. She's put together a way to exchange thread informally over the distance through this blog http://thethreadexchange.blogspot.com/. The beauty of this exchange is that you know who's making the exchange with you. If the thread doesn't arrive you can contact your exchange partner directly to resolve the issue. I've been doing exchanges long enough to get burned a few times. Its no fun to wait for a package that never arrives. I have great sympathy for those who are brave enough to organize an exchange. Herding a bunch of tatters is probably like herding a bunch of cats!

One of these days Totusmel (http://totusmel.blogspot.com/) is going to give me a kick in the head because I keep giving my 2 cents worth about her designs. I am amazed by the way she uses tatting. She's just finished a really neat flaming mask. So much different than what I could even imagine.

I've decided that cruelty must be a chief characteristic of test tatters (you know who you are). Why else do they flaunt patterns not yet published and taunt us with their blocky goodness? I've been seeing a lot of Martha Ess's newest block critters on different blogs. Her newest book is due out in August just in time for the Palmetto Tat Days.

Just so you all know I'm going to steal Jane's earrings the next chance I get...probably won't get the opportunity for a couple years. I'll post you when it happens. http://janeeborall.blogspot.com/ (so you can see pictures of the earrings)

I was going into withdrawls when Tatting Goddess stopped her regular posts. She's back at it if you haven't noticed. However, I didn't read her post today because there wasn't any pictures! (kidding)

Did I mention that Sherry ( http:/ladyshuttlemaker.blogspot.com) is severely knocked up? So is my sister and they are due around the same time. A few other people I know are pregnant and due in the fall. I don't usually know so many fecund women... Even though there's a 1/12 chance of being due at the same time I've decided all these pregnant woman are a sign the stars are aligning. For what I don't know! By the way, I mean Sherry as in the shuttlemaker and not Sherry as in the celtic dreamweaver (http://celticdreamweave.blogspot.com/).

Finally I lied and found a few pictures I haven't shared. They are both Mary Konior's patterns and tatted in Sherry's hand dyed threads. I love single shuttle patterns!