SECRET SANTA TATTING EXCHANGE PACKAGE RECEIVED!

I have truly enjoyed the two Tatting Exchanges I have been a part of so far! It was loads of fun coming up with what to send out to people -- and it's been fun getting a surprise box too!

Yesterday (Yep, right in time for Christmas!) I received a lovely surprise from Kristen Fink, a tatter and wife of an American diplomat living overseas in Russia! She sent me a postcard from the city of Vladivostok showing me the world's longest cable-stayed bridge, the Rusky Bridge. She also sent me two teeny tiny white plastic shuttles with two kinds of thread. She says the small shuttles are what they have available in Russia... They are hard to see in the picture -- look for the little flag stickers she put on the shuttles.  I'm halfway through tatting a bracelet with them and I have been pleasantly surprised at how handy they are! Kristen also sent me a RUSSIAN tatting book! Thankfully, it's got diagrams and she wrote a sweet note to help me decipher the book a little! Kristen even sent me a beautiful tatted bell ornament, made with teeny tiny size 80 thread!

My thanks to Aileen at Wicked Nothings for hosting the exchange! It's been fun!

Getting ready to send out my SECRET SANTA Box... yes, it's late. I'm having a good time accumulating stuff to go in the box, so it will be worth the wait! I will post photos as soon as I get it all together...

Well, I suppose I'm NOT such a Pathological picture taker anymore... health issues have slowed me down some. Now I'm a Grandma taking pictures of her kids and grandkids... and the occasional picture for friends and family... I've picked up tatting again... and I still love it. I have amassed a collection of vintage threads and a ton of pattern books. To use up some of the thread, I've created this little doily. It was originally intended to be a kitchen curtain, but I grew tired of the little flower motifs. I added a simple crochet chained edging just in case I decide to go back and add to it.

I've made a few other things -- see photos here:

Currently I'm working on a doily pattern that to me looks like a Queen Anne's lace flower. My daughter loves Queen Anne's Lace, so I'm making it for her. The pattern is rings only, so it's pretty simple, but requires constant measuring to get the lengths of bare thread consistent. Wish me luck! I'll post a photo when it's done.