A Horse Is A Horse

    I finally got this one done. The first horse for the carousel. This one has a blue saddle but the next one will have a red saddle. Just having one horse gives me sense of the scale of the carousel. For instance, I can use it to judge how big the floor has to be. In the book she calls for 4 horses and a few other items, like the swan seat. I still say this will take a while.
    Let me say that this is not something for beginners to try. The horse uses several techniques that are a bit advanced for many. I am not saying it could not be done, but it does get a bit complicated. I find that it is easy to get lost. I had to un-tat several times after interpreting the instructions incorrectly. For the horse you would use rings, chains, split rings, split chains, self closing mock rings, thrown off rings, joining on the second side of split rings, joining several pieces together, using a picot gage. That is quite the combination of techniques. Most were not called out directly, you just have to know what to use and when. To top it off, it is done in size 80 thread. Not really that bad, but sometimes 80 can be hard to see and work with all these techniques.

    I have not stiffened this in any way (yet) so it does need a little shaping. Not a lot though. But for instance, the bump on the head is ears. They need shaping. I will do that later.

Another Minor Experiment

    Gee, when you are off sick, you can find time to blog. Isn't that great? But I still hurt and now I'm getting a cold to boot. Oh well.
    As I sat here today wallowing in self pity I needed to wind shuttles CTM (continuous thread method). Winding the first shuttle is easy. I just put the thread thru the hole in the bobbin, wind a few turns, then let my sidewinder take over. Now I need to wind the second shuttle. Problem: I have to cut the thread off the ball to do this. How much thread do I need? I thought I had seen something on this online so I did a search. I found one report on Bella from Georgia Seitz, but not exactly what I needed.
    The solution is obvious, so I took the same size thread,  put it on the sidewinder, let it wind, then I measured how much I unwound. The result is the chart I am putting under Experiments on the right side of the web page. So far, I have listed the six sizes I use with Aero bobbins. This is for my Pop-A-Bobbin shuttles, of course, but should be good for any that use this bobbin.

    The photo shows how much i am putting on the bobbin. I don't want to overfill. The measurements I am listing are approximate. I marked off 36 inches (914mm) and just pulled it off and held it against it. I am probably off a few inches, but this works out close enough.
    I will update this to accommodate other shuttles in the future. I do have the Clover bobbin shuttles so I will try those. I will also wind the std size Clover and the larger size Clover, the SewMate, and others that I have in my collection. I do not think I will do the Tatsy. That thing would mean unwinding balls of thread.

Merry Christmas To Everyone

    Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a great day today with friends and family. We are going to try despite a few illnesses. I try to look at the good, not dwell on the bad.
    By now you probably know I am hurting from sciatica. I have a doctor appointment scheduled for Thursday. Meanwhile, I am going to try to make the most of it. Since I am off work for a while, I am back on the carousel.
    The picture here is the beginnings of the horse. Figuring how to do it is a challenge. I started making the horse, then realized that the saddle is in one major finished piece. It will be easiest to make the saddle first, then attach the horse as I go.
    The blue part is the saddle center. After trying a few other ways, I have come to the conclusion that it would be easiest to make it in several parts instead of trying to do it in one piece. This much is 3 separate pieces. Now that I have that, I can put the rest of it around it as 3 rounds.

    I also have a new item on my 3D printing page. I wanted a stand for my phone. Now I have it.   

The Last Waves

    Well, this is a fine kettle of fish. I will be home for a while now. No, I did not lose my job, just my ability to walk normally. I have been caring for the wife for several months because she has been incapacitated with sciatica. That progressed through a few things and she is getting better, though the sciatica is not gone. I went to work last Tuesday morning and my back was hurting. I figured that I had pushed too hard at yard work and since I have a stand-up desk, that I would raise it and work out the back. By noon I realized that now I was suffering from sciatica too! I told her I caught if from her. Of course, that is absurd, but we had a laugh in our misery. My doctors appointment is Dec. 28. This is going to take a few weeks.
    Meanwhile, since now I am laid up, I get bored. So what do I do? Catch up on my tatting. I have one more set of wave earrings to do for the ladies at the mill, so now I have them done. Below you see the pair in blue. This pair is made with a chrome silver bead in the center and silver lined glass crystal seed beads. I am going to drop them off and let the 2 ladies sort out for themselves who gets what.

I think this is the last pair I need to make for a while. I like making these but there are other things I need or want to move on to doing.

The Wife Made Me Do It

    This pair is my wife Barbara's fault. I had just finished a pair of earrings in black thread with orange beads and she says "That's for Halloween. This is Christmas. Do them for Christmas."
I dug through my beads and thread. I know I have Christmas green. Then I spotted the red beads. This is what came out. I think it looks like a holly wreath. The camera does not do it justice. They really do sparkle.

    They have already been claimed by Kathy at work! I will post her photo wearing them in a day or two.
    And yes I know I am going nuts making these, but I like them and so do the ladies to whom I give them.

Another Pair

    I suppose it is because Christmas is approaching. I was making this pair and a friend saw them. It didn't take him long to ask if I would do a pair for his wife. Same color and all. Hmmm. I  guess black and gold work well together. What I have not found yet are silver beads that I really like. I have several, but they are not exactly what I am looking for.

    Anyway, I am getting faster at these. It only took me 45 minutes to make one. Not even 2 hours for the set. No, I don't charge anything for them. I give them away. It just tickles me to see someone wear them. These were for the company nurse.

My GoTo Pattern

    I suppose we all have a "goto" pattern. This one is mine. I can carry it in a pocket and it takes only one shuttle. I am trying to develop a good way to do 2 shuttles with it. More on that if it works.
    I showed you the earrings I was making for a couple of friends at the hair palace. Now I need 2 more for the doctor's office. This is the first pair. I keep trying new bead combinations, especially for the center bead. I just have to put the wires on the second one and done!

    When I work this pattern, I like to be organized. I will make sure I have all my materials first. I found some boxes at Hobby Lobby that just fit the bill. I put a right and a left set of wires in the top right and left compartments, some seed beads I will need, the beads for the center go in the bottom right, and the shuttle can go where the seed beads are. Sometimes I will put the seed beads in the top middle. The separators in the box go all the way to the inside of the lid so the seed beads cannot spill over. One rubber band for security and away we go.