I've been busy...

I lost the cord that allows me to download pictures from my camera to my computer. I've looked everywhere and I think its probably at my friend's house. That's where I last had it in my hands. Since I hate to post without photos I haven't had much to share in the last week.
Yesterday I realised that my computer has a slot for photo cards and I'm back in business! I've been working on things and I'm just waiting for a moment to write out a few patterns.
I've also been working on another project that involves spray paint and calligraphy pens. Here's a picture of all my red flowers which I'm pretending are mums. I've also written what I think are witty sayings on each of the flowers. Even if they aren't that witty everyone will have to humour me. I think I'm funny (in the HA HA way not the padded room way)

I used my cache of plastic crystal to make a leaf sun catcher that I'm sending down south to the Palmetto Tatdays for the silent auction table. This is one of the patterns I want to write out and share. If you flip it upside down it can double as a Christmas tree. I truly admire those who are able to write out patterns clearly. Half the time I don't even remember what I've done!

Mint has grown in abundance in my garden this year and I'm adding it to everything. My breath had better smell good! Ths cup has fresh mint tea but don't let the rest fool you. The strawberries and shortcakes are Christmas ornaments. I salivated over the shortcakes before Christmas dithered about buying them but found then dirt cheap after Christmas. I was really happy when I bought them for 90% off the original price. I'm not sure if you can see it but there's a beautiful green doily underneath the vase. It was a gift for the teachers at the Palmetto Tat Days last year. I'm sorry I can't remember off hand who made it but it is lovely. Her name will come to me later.
At the last Tat days Georgia Seitz started an ambitious project to create a crazy quilt with tatted embellishments. Each participant took a quilt block to decorate and when finished sends it in to be made into one large quilt. Today I opened my email to find the link to the finished quilt. Check out http://www.tatdaysscholarship.info/ to see what they've done. An added bonus of visiting the site is that you can buy tickets on-line for the auction. Each ticket is $5 and the money goes to the Palmetto Tat Days Scholarship fund. Just think, for a lousy $5 you can have a one of a kind work of art...how cool is that?

I've done something to my blogger acount...

Don't you hate it when you innocently brush something on the keyboard and the computer goes haywire? Somehow I've magnified my screen in blogger beyond what my computer keeps telling me is my optimal resolution. Since I have no idea how I did this amazing thing I have no idea how to fix it. As I'm typing the letters and spacing are distorted and its kinda giving me a headache.

On Sunday I started to teach my neighbor how to tat. It was a little difficult because she wanted to know all the details first like how to make a picot and do a join but I just wanted her to learn the knot. I figure if she gets the knot and flip the rest is easy. I sent her home with a shuttle, thread and the Complete Book of Tatting by Rebecca Jones. She's going to practice her knot. I have every confidence that she can pick it up because she HAND SEWS. Yep, no sewing machine in her house and she makes lovely dresses by hand. So if she can do that she can definitely tat.

When I tat I often use beads and make a lot of beaded joins so I am really interested in Jon's latest post. She shows a way to make the bead sit on top of a join. I think its really smart but it also made me that I should share the way that I added some of the beads on my sun catchers. I'll take some pictures tonight and post tomorrow. Stay Tuned.
(picture included so you'll read the post! lol!)

Happy Canada Day!

It was a beautiful day here in Ottawa, and there's going to be a lot of citizens with sunburns tomorrow! This is a busy day in Ottawa and there's always a big crowd downtown at the Parliament Buildings. If you are ever in Ottawa for Canada Day you should spend some time downtown. This year even the Queen's in town!

I have finally gotten my act together to give you a few photos of my recent fun! This is my crazy quilt block that I decorated for the Palmetto tat days fundraiser. I actually finished it awhile ago but took forever to get it in the mail. I used Lady Shuttlemaker's hand dyed silk thread and did mostly chain work for the edgings. The one exception is a modification of Mary Konior's curds and whey. The butterfly is her pattern as well.

As mentioned in my last post I found plastic beads that look like crystals. They really reflect the light so I've been using them to make sun catchers. The ones to the left were made with size 10 Anchor Freccia thread. These did not need to be stiffened to hold their shape. The others that I made using DMC crochet cotton were a little more floppy but I'm not sure if that's the thread or the different design. The star shape is a little more chancy. I've done it in both DMC crochet cotton and Lizbeth thread which I find a stiffer thread. The stars hold their shape about the same so I think its the design. I haven't decided yet if I will stiffen the stars. When I first made the stars it for ornaments on my sister's pink and black themed Christmas tree. The butterfly is for the tree as well. The blue beads with brown Lizbeth thread is for my house.

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!

In Classes

I was in class over the weekend to earn Continuing Education credits. I always bring tatting to these things just to keep my hands busy. For some reason thrown off rings (TOR) was the name of the game on the weekend. I just kept going for as long as possible with this theme. I thought that I would end up with a doily but looking at a picture of it I realise that there's a heart in there too. I can now either mirror the bottom for a doily OR curve around the top to make a heart. If I make a heart then I have to retro tat to remove that big ring on the left (which would stupid on the heart but is my branching point to the next round on the doily). I'm likely to just go ahead and mirror the bottom. I feel some SCMR (which I almost never do) coming on to finish an outside round. Do you think that TOR are awkward on an outside round? Is it okay to have rings just sticking out there, hanging in space?

Not sure how...

I'm not sure how I can have so much time and never get anything done. There's a saying that if you want something done ask a busy person. I believe that's true. I've got lots of time and I never get anything done.

I spent the last few weeks getting ready for a Sparks (girl guides) Mommy and Me camp. This takes more time then you realise and I tend to obsess over details. I was a little worried because this was my first camp with the Moms. Everyone was great and things went smoothly. The weather was wonderful! I was so wound up the days before the camp that I crashed afterwards and pretty much slept away Sunday and Monday.

Now I just have to get all the crap I pulled out for the camp put away! An added bonus is that this is the last week for Sparks until September. I'll miss the girls but this will give me time to catch up.

Once the camp crap is away then I can spend all my time tatting. Oh no! The weeds are getting out of control...I guess I have to finally cut the lawn!