Tatting Heart's Desire

I got to meet Susan Fuller this September while I was teaching at Palmetto Tat Days. She came to our room after hours, so Isdihara and I got to chat with her. She's an interesting person, and I enjoyed our time together. For those who don't know, this Susan Fuller is the very Susan Fuller who designed a favorite Tatland pattern, Heart's Desire. (Yet another reason to attend tatting conferences - meet designers!)

It's been a while since I've tatted Heart's Desire. As I had some lovely HDT, I thought I'd take another run at tatting this classic pattern.

Here's my progress so far, tatted in Yarnplayer's gorgeous Roses in size 20. True confessions here - there are two mistakes that I just continued so it would be consistent.

I'm enjoying tatting this again. It's a wonderful pattern and this thread is simply scrumptious. It's a fun tat! I've needed something to divert my attention - I've been laid low with a cold and I have some medical tests coming up. Heart's Desire fits the bill.

I got another diversion in the mail this week - my own copy of Vicki Clarke's "Tatting the Stone"! I had test tatted some patterns for Vicki, who's a sweet lady and a good designer. So I'm excited to see this and I hope to have some fun with this book. Plus, she added in some of Karey Solomon's HDT and a few fun beads. Thank you, Vicki!

What are you working on?
 

Necklace finished

I finished my necklace made of size 3 Lizbeth.

It has a purchased pendant and lots of 6/0 glass beads. I like it! (That's a pin by Jane you see there hidden in my hair.) The necklace is crocheted with a size D hook.

I'm tatting stuff to teach in 2013 conferences, so I can't show you much! I'm hoping to teach at both Palmetto Tat Days AND at the Finger Lakes Tatting Conference. I'm working on some starry things for Finger Lakes. And I've been schooled on how to pronounce Lodi - it's not LOW-dee, it's low-DYE. Alrighty then!

Lily has been very very interested in our fish (two Oscars) and has worked hard on catching them. Today the top of the tank slipped, and she went swimming. This has not deterred her one little bit.

FYI - Lily likes to sleep ON my head in the bed. I wake up and there she is.
 

Thanksgiving 2012

The 28 pound turkey fit in my oven with no problem, except for the fact it was SO DAMN HEAVY.

Fortunately, DH helped me load it in. And it cooked up beautifully and tastily. Nummy. My guests were happy with the feast, which included rice and giblet gravy. cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, squash souffle, green beans, broccoli in a cream sauce, spinach dip & crackers, rolls, cranberry jelly, pumpkin bread, 2 kinds of wine, and 4 kinds of pie (pumpkin, apple, cherry, and chocolate chess).

I'm too stuffed to move, and I ate dinner 7 hrs ago. Oooff.

In other news, my crocheted necklace is coming along nicely. Almost done, in fact. This is done in size 3 Lizbeth with 6/0 beads.

Larry has been working on a castle for his guys. It gives them a place to hang out. Heh.

Lily has discovered a wooden bowl and now sleeps in it.

I need to sleep soon. G'night!

Tatting Tea - Saturday? Updated...

First off, I've received my terrific order from Handy Hands, loaded with lots of size 3.

I got 3 sizes of thread, and I've shown some beads I'm going to use with the black thread to make a necklace.

Here's some of the brown size 3 that I'm using to crochet a beaded necklace.I think it'll be nifty.

And - my guitar came. Here it is with the old case I got on Craig's List. Warm tones. Now I just need to develop those finger calluses again!

Last night I went with some friends to my church's Christmas dinner. Yes, it's early. But they always do it this early, so they can make sure the attendees - all ladies - can come. The food and company were great. And we had a fun barbershop quartet to entertain us.

Today - Saturday - I met my friend Thelma for tea and conversation at a local park. There were kayackers and ducks on the lake.

It was a good time though a bit chilly. Thelma brought me some Kalahari herbal tea, which I loved. This is the same tea sipped copiously in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I brought some left over goodies left over from last night's dinner - red velvet brownies with a chess pie topping. Yum!

We saw a club running their remote control model boats on the lake. This tug boat shoots water and has smoke.

The boats were detailed and some would go super fast. We saw two sailboats, and this intricate destroyer, here in front of one of the sailboats. We had a lot of fun.

For your viewing pleasure, Larry's toys watching the tube,

bad Lily's paw,

and sleepy Cisco.

What I've been up to.

My Star of David paper weight was well received. My friend was absolutely delighted with it, and couldn't believe I had made it. However, DMC Metallic is a real bitch to work with, and I work with it sparingly. It's hard to make it look good. It's a good thing this friend doesn't know about tatting & didn't see the mistakes...

I have placed an order for this item for me. I used to play a classical guitar many, many moons ago, and I sold my beloved guitar back in a time of poverty. Now it's time for me to play again. This is a Yamaha C40 that I found at Musician's Friend. Fingernails, you're going to be short on my left hand very soon.

Lily has been bad.

She is about 6 months old now and in full possession of kitten power - she thunders through the house and she annoys the cats (and sometimes the people) to no end.

But this is keeping her in line. She has stopped jumping on the kitchen table now. A squirt of water can be a powerful motivator!

I've been loving the trees around here. This is a gorgeous Japanese maple that is a brilliant red.

And this is why I will not have any Bradford Pear trees. They split. At about 10 years. Then you're left with a mess to take care of.

I ordered size 3 Lizbeth today!!! Handy Hands has it in stock. I can't wait! I'm not going to tat with it, but it will be perfect for some necklaces I plan to knit and crochet. It's about the size of sock yarn, without the stretch.

I took Moe yesterday to get his driver's permit, and today I took him driving for the first time in a large empty school parking lot. He was so happy....

Vader continues to be pissed off at Lily, but he does have more Zen moments.

Tomorrow - going to throw pots. Can't wait.
 

Presents and a change of seasons

At my meeting of local knitters, crocheters, and tatters last week, my lovely friend Thelma brought me a little something. Thelma is one of those people who knows how to do every single knitting and crochet stitch, and will gladly teach you how to do them. She always comes to our meetings ready with a sock project (her socks are gorgeous!) or some really complex Christmas stocking she's making for a grandchild.  She can tat a bit too, but she claims I'm a much better tatter. (I'm honored.)

Thelma brought me a whole box full of Irish linen thread, plus 3 balls of Star tatting thread. The ten wooden spools of Barbour's Linen Thread were in their original box. Thelma's aunt had purchased this linen thread many years ago with the intention of learning how to embroider a cutwork tablecloth and napkins. Unfortunately, it wasn't as fun as the aunt imagined, so the thread ended up in Thelma's hands, and now in mine.This thread is marked as No. 35 - anyone know what size that would be?

Thelma tells me linen doesn't decay like cotton does, so working with 50+ year old linen thread shouldn't be an issue. I'll have to try it out. It was SO generous of Thelma - she is such a gem!

I got home today and found a little surcie from Isdihara had arrived. It was a lovely heart pattern designed by Myrtle Hamilton. Isdihara did a wonderful post recently about Miss Myrtle - go look at it. The heart is shown in blue on her post - I look forward to tatting this.

It's cooler, and the leaves are beginning to turn here. I drive by this every day. I love fall.

The neighbors are enhancing the fall color.

And they're starting to put out Halloween decorations. Some folks in our neighborhood go all out.

Things are going pretty well at our house. I can't wait to get started with my dental and eye work, even though the pre-op appointments are taking a lot of time out of work. My eyes are going downhill fast. I never thought I'd look forward to having eye surgery. But I can't see the smaller writing on TV, or read any presentations on big screens. It'll all be better soon!

The Stooges are well. Larry is about to start ambulance ride-alongs as part of his clinical paramedic training. He's very excited about this - he'll get hands-on training. Moe spent all last weekend at a big Boy Scout camping event, a campout for the whole district. He had a blast! And Curly is working. (Thank you, Jesus.) He's working in the home improvement section of the local Sears, seems to like it. And he's feeling pretty good - he says he's taking his medicine and it's really helping. I've told him how proud I am of him for making this progress.

Vader playing with Gian's gift

Vader is not working. He does nothing to earn his keep. He's kind of worthless, really. But he's so cute...

Threads. I has 'em.

I got a package in the mail from my buddy Isdihara yesterday.

Now, you need to know that Isdihara and I met at Palmetto Tat Days 2010 and instantly bonded. I mean right that second. Since then, we've spent way too much time on the phone giggling about kids and tatting and life and husbands and silliness, though not necessarily in that order. She and I share a wicked sense of humor. (Ask her sometime about why her DH sometimes yells "Sanctuary!")

Isdihara had gotten some of the new colors of Lizbeth thread. And she shared!

See? All the new variegated colors, in size 40. I feel rich! The Sea Island Citrus is especially pretty. I like the Raspberry Frappe and the Purple Iris Fusion too. Hmm - what to make...

I'm almost through with round 13 of the Pineapple Heaven doily. I took this pic a couple of days ago - the pineapples are really  showing through. And round 14 is on the last page of the pattern (16 rounds). The end is near...

Curly is doing better, and is working some. He is continuing to live in the neighborhood, and seems to be taking his meds to good effect. Whew.

Curly loves cats, and he just got this tiny,tiny kitten. I hope he can manage the kitty - they tend to be more money than teens are aware of. But the kitty seems sweet, and it helps Curly to have a creature.

We had some sad news this week. I'm not going to be an aunt again, not in October. My SIL's pregnancy did not go as planned. They are very sad, as you can imagine. Mom is going up on Monday to help them a bit - she does this a fair amount. (BTW - she had a great time on her trip to Barcelona!) My brother is 45 and his wife is 40, so their time is short for further children. They have a little girl, a toddler, who gives them much joy.

That's about all the news from Lake Wobegon, except for the fact that it's hellishly hot for early June. It's supposed to be 97F tomorrow, and was in the upper 90's all week. What's it going to be like in August? Ugh.

Sophie on my messy desk

Sophie doesn't say much about the heat. She's not much good at helping me tat either - no thumbs.

Stay cool...

Joy in Tuesday Mail

I got home after a tough day at work and found some love in the mail.

First, a 12 yard sample of Sulky Blendables thread from Lace-Lovin' Librarian. Diane is such a sweetie! I look forward to using this - and the color is gorgeous!

And then I found a parcel with English markings on it. Who could it be from? Why, the delightful Jane Eberall, that's who! I'm crazy about Jane; she's a a lot of fun. And she's a brilliant tatter.

Here's what I got.

• One of her famous roly-poly tatting bags, made by her own hands. Labeled, even. Kitties - squee!
• A poke-proof pouch and matching bobbin holder.
• A Shakespeare key ring, complete with his signature.
• A great Shakespeare souvenir cloth showing major sites in Shakespeare country.
• And... one of Jane's new patterns, a Flurry Heartache, tatted in some of Karey Solomon's HDT and presented in a pretty brass frame.

Oh so pretty.

I love the Shakespeare Country cloth.  Very cool.  When Moe saw it, he said, "I thought Shakespeare was from Austria." I replied, exasperated, "You're thinking of Mozart!"

Thank you, Diane and Jane! You made my day!

Tuesday catch-up

Ole Sol was waiting for me this morning before I got on the interstate.

Another day of 90+ F temperature. (That's 32 Celsius.) And tomorrow it's fall. When will the temperature cool down?

Recently, I did a thread exchange with Eliz of Tatknot. As you can see, she sent me some lovely thread, Manuela size 10, and Mettler quilting thread. All nicely labeled and packaged. I've never worked with Mettler before and I've got to figure out some worthy things to make with the thread. Earrings, perhaps? Should be great fun. Thank you, Eliz!

I got home and took a gander at my fig tree.I'm not sure what kind of fig tree this is (any ideas, Hegla?) but it's quite large, almost 20 feet tall. The leaves are huge - most are a foot across. If you click on the picture, you can see figs hidden in the leaves. And some are ripe!

I got under and into the tree to see if I could pick a few figs. Most of the figs are green, but there are a few getting ripe. There's one ripe fig here, the brownish thing next to the branch, behind a thick leaf stem. And a bunch of green ones further up the branch.

And here's my bounty for today. Lovely fresh figs. Many chefs would be jealous of my haul. In truth, I'm not sure how to cook with them. Anyhow got any ideas?

I'm continuing to finish the UFOs from Tat Days. Hope you are all well and not suffering from the heat...