Gearing Up for Tat Days!

I am excited to be attending Palmetto Tat Days in Toccoa, GA next week! It's my first time and I'm looking forward to meeting some of my Facebook friends face to face and of course making new tatting friends.

Imagine two full days of nothing but tatting! For me this is super exciting! I've only seen ONE PERSON shuttle tat in real life! That was at a meeting of the North Florida Tatters in Lake City where most were needle-tatting. Tatting classes, tatting vendors -- I will eat, sleep, and breathe tatting!

In the meantime I'm getting my shuttles ready for each class. Some instructors have specific requirements - no tip on the shuttle, specific thread sizes, etc. Choosing the classes was the hardest part. Of course I wanted to take them ALL! The schedule I'm told is grueling --- tatting and more tatting from early morning until late evening.  I feel like a little girl waiting to open gifts on Christmas morning!

You can read more about this years Tat Days here. If you're attending I do hope we get to meet in person!

Besides comfy clothes and my camera I plan to bring a couple of items for the display table...  Choosing which items is difficult... I would like to take my Renulek Spring Doily, but I'm thinking that lots of tatters have made this and that there may be several versions of this beauty there.

I'm sure I want to take the Queen Anne's Lace doily I made for my daughter. The pattern is from an old Workbasket magazine and I love it. It's rings only, no ball thread, no second shuttle. Here's a sneak peek:

The pattern isn't called a Queen Anne's Lace doily in the magazine.  I don't remember what they called it and I've misplaced the pattern now. When I find it again I want to make another one for myself.

When I get back from Tat-Days I will be sure to post an update with all the details!

Here is the review I submitted for Hiya Hiya Puppy Snips ---
I bought a couple of pair to add to tatting exchange boxes. I like them, just because they're cute and tiny and different, but the little spring comes off too easily. If you were the recipient of a pair, please be advised:


Originally submitted at Alpaca Direct

Hiya Hiya Puppy Snips Only 1 7/8" when closed Assorted Colors (colors may vary)

Hiya Hiya Puppy Snips

Cute, but not for Kids!

By Tatting Lottie from Ocala, FL on 3/18/2014

3out of 5

Pros: Cute, Tiny, Different
Cons: Spring Comes Out, Easily Broken
Comfort vs Style: Comfort Driven
Was this a gift?: No

I wanted these tiny snips to use while tatting, thinking I could put a set on my key chain, in my tatting bag, etc. so that they would be handy. However, within two minutes of spotting a pair on my key chain my eight year old grandson opened them like scissors. Mistake! That instantly caused the spring to fly off. Yes, I put it back on, but I have to be very careful that it doesn't happen again. I think it should be secured better, perhaps with glue, or even better a hook that would keep both ends of the spring in place. So, I think they're great for grown ups to use as snips, but you do have to be careful with them.

(legalese)

Slow Here on the Tatting Front

Things have been pretty slow here on the tatting front.... not a lot accomplished to be honest.

I did get my four exchange packages to the post office on March 1st. I'm hoping that the recipients love the items I put inside! It was really a lot of fun putting the box together.

It's driving me nuts not to know that the packages are safely en route. USPS tracking tells me that one has been safely delivered (the only one with a US destination). One package is en route to Hungary, one to Singapore, and one to the UK. all latest whereabouts are unknown. Tracking stops at NY one one and Miami on the other two... I hope that the tatting Gods are watching over them and that the surprises make it safely.

I've started the Renulek's Spring Napkin three times. Each time I've gotten the tension either to tight or too loose my efforts haven't met to make a circle yet. Then I saw Grace Tat's beautiful rendition, (see it here) in yummy Easter-like colors, and I was glad mine didn't work out at first. I don't have those delicious colors, but I plan on trying again with something less boring than the plain yellow I started with.

The Doily is beautiful. Don't let the fact that it's in Polish slow you down any. Google Translate is amazing, and each step has been carefully diagrammed, making this complex and sophisticated piece doable for everyone!

Here is a link to step one -- Renulek's Spring Napkin (Doily) Part ONE

Today I took my granddaughter to the library. She chose six books a whole lot quicker than I thought she would. We even had time to relax outside on a bench so she could read to me.

Autumn loves the Fly Guy books by Tedd Arnold. I laughed out loud as she read two of them. Her favorite is the 12th book in the series, There's a Fly Guy in My Soup.

It was a happy few minutes outdoors with her .I can't ask for much more than that! Hopefully the respite will get the tatting juices flowing and I can get something created for a change!

When I'm Not Tatting...

When I'm not tatting, I'm here on the computer in our little home office, or at the dreaded doctors' office... or at an insulator show... or (best of all) playing with my grandchildren.

Someone pointed out that I hadn't posted a photo of my insulator collection... so here are a few of the hundreds on my computer:

My husband Kevin and I have collected insulators since our marriage, nearly ten years now, from all over the US, from Italy, France, Russia, and Australia. Some are old, some not. Some are pretty, some not so pretty. We love them all.

Here is one last picture of our insulator windows. It's a bit out-of-date. There are more shelves in the middle of the big window now, but you can get the idea what they look like. There's nothing more beautiful in the morning light, like stained glass windows, the colors just say "Good Morning!"

To see more insulator photos check out this link -- InsulatorsRAmazing

Of course, there are other things I do when I'm not tatting... like many, I watch too much TV and I don't spend nearly enough time outside...

So, what do you do when you're not tatting??

We have a lovely back porch and I really should spend more time out there...   I think I'll grab a cold drink and take my tatting outdoors to the porch swing!

Happy Tatting!

Checking the Mail!

Checking the mail was so much fun today!! I received a tatting exchange package in the mail from Dyan Jenkins in Ohio!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH DYAN!
Look at all the goodies she sent to me!

If you're a tatter (needle or shuttle) and you've never participated in an exchange, I highly recommend it! It's a great way to share supplies and get some new goodies to tat with! For instance, in this exchange Dyan sent me some lovely silk thread and some finer weights of thread that I've never used before! I am already contemplating what to make with it!  The shuttles she sent are fabulous -- and I didn't have either of them! So nice to have new toys to play with!

You get to send out a surprise to someone else too, and for me that's really fun! I'm currently in stealth mode --- trying to scope out my exchange partner's facebook page and blog to determine what I can send that my partner will love! Generally there's a deadline for your package to go into the mail and it's really fun to see what other people send/get.

They do these once or twice a year, and if you belong to an online guild or a facebook group that tats, it's easy to sign up! Give it a try --- it's not expensive and it's really fun!