Amused

It's Tuesday everyone! And I've been tatting! However un-amused I am that this "Amusement" doily took me two weeks to finish..... It's done. That darn Lizbeth "desert bloom" is hard to find patterns that work well with the colorway. But, in the end I like this. Suzanne, the ring closing thing finally clicked and I understand what you were saying. I'm only successful at keeping that last stich in place about half the time, but I'm definitely aware of it now! I can now say that I confidently drop the shuttle through before closing the ring. except when covering a cabone ring. Then it doesn't work.

Anyway my friends, I am more amused with life today. We got some news that our deal with buying the house has found it's way out of a pile on someone's desk and is actually moving forward. No approval quite yet. But hey, I've only been doing this since JUNE, what's a few more weeks lol?!?! And I've lost a few pounds, that always makes a girl feel good.

Edited to ad-The pattern for the amusement doily is out there somewhere, the link wasn't working yesterday, but just in case it comes back, try HERE

A little lace of old.

Had a lovely afternoon with Gram today. She came all the way down to visit us girls and talk tatting! We had lunch at Applebees, thankfully both little ones were on their best behaviour. (that of course came to a screeching halt upon arriving home lol) While Gram was here I pulled out these doilies to illustrate the necessary skill of hiding ends. We are not 100% sure of the origin of these doilies, they are most likely from Checkoslovakia back in the 1940's. My Great grandfather was sent over there during WWII, and some of the people there sent gifts back after he came home, for a number of years as I understand it. Well, I spotted these in Gram's china cabinet and petitioned her for posession of them. She of course obliged, on condition of receiving a pair of tatted earrings. (speaking of which, I shall have to mail them now Gram, I forgot to pack them with you before we left for lunch! Serves you right for not coming back to the house to stay longer. :-) Anyway, the doilies are intriguing. Both are heavily starched, done in what seems to be a crochet cotton, maybe size 30 The larger of the two very well demonstrates the traditional method of tatting a motif, in which the ends are simply tied and cut and left to dangle. No wonder vintage patterns have so many rounds..... they didn't bother with the painstaking process of end-wrangling that the newer techniques provide. I count at least seven rounds for the smaller doily. I can't ever imagine voluntarily tatting a pattern without climbing out of at least a few of the rounds. Most of us nowadays with more evolved tatting sensibilities would either choose a different pattern or heavily modify it to minimize the

number of ends that require assistance. In the larger piece, each of the outer motifs is tatted in two rounds and then attached separately. Can you imagine? :-)

To finish off my day today, I received some goodies in the mail. First, a flat screen monitor for my computer that I scored for $48 at auction, and another mystery box from Grandpa in NY- more books for Ivi and ANOTHER 40 copies of Workbasket! I think they have a large collection that is working its way to me a little at a time. I'm fine with that :-0

No longer a UFO

I went on a rescue mission this week, to finish this-

The pattern is Springtime from Tatters Treasure Chest. I started this before Meirah was born, in fact part of the last round was done while I was in early labor with her. The thread is Yarnplayer's Roses. The last round is Scarlet that she dyed to match this colorway. The reason this ended up as a ufo is, I was so eager to conserve my precious hand dyed thread, that I kept putting too little on the shuttle. I think I had to add thread three times on the last round! Got frustrated and left it at the last spot that needed thread, like two inches from being finished. Anyway, it's done now, and I think it will head off to the memory box for new baby Meirah. After blocking of course. I don't really have anywhere to put a doiley around here, so I don't know why I make them.

High five to all who participated in the blog challenge! I had so much fun traipsing through blogland on a tour of lovely tatting spots. I found a few that I'd love to vacation too... (ehem Sherry!) Soon I'll do a post with all the participants so you can have a guided tour.

The fruit of my......ermmm......labor

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since I posted anything I've actually tatted! I swear I've been tatting away. Self imposed bed rest is over, we are home free to deliver any time now. In fact last night was a pretty good false alarm. I never had false labor with my first, so I'm glad to know now and be able to tell the difference and not be calling the midwife every ten minutes :-)

here is what I accomplished in my two days of sitting. (BTW hi-five to hubby for keeping things from exploding around here for me while I relaxed!)

Here is Iris Neibach's Nora done in Oren Bayan. I love the colors, but made mistakes so it's not my favorite piece in the world. It looks summery and was inspired by my desire to own this set of dishes:

I also finished the first four projects from the TAT program. I'm only posting tidbits, I don't want to spoil the fun for those of you wanting to start the program as well. These are just teasers :-)

Last of all, at some point in the tatting maddness I threw these earrings together just to take a break from all the other stuff. Not blocked yet, but you get the idea.

Now it's time to get my darling little 2 yr old all ready for bed. After that, some dishes, and then some American Idol and more Tatting! I'm savoring every stitch.