A Little Better

    In the photo you can see my new desktop. On this folding table I use as a desk, the surface had deteriorated over years of use. I had tried using a tablecloth, but kept pulling threads and snags. I then tried that black plastic picnic tablecloth, but that eventually tore and the fuzz inside kept getting on everything. Finally, I bought this contact paper at Lowe's. I had already done one table with the same pattern and it has held up very well. Now I have done this table. I like it. It does not show the white thread so well, but I do use a lot of colors that should show easily. We will have to see.

    I purchased some blocking mats from Amazon. Not the expensive ones. I needed to block Juliana a bit so I could keep it from becoming a tangled mass. I laid it out yesterday evening and pinned it out, then hit it with the starch. I think it did just what I wanted. I tried to find all the twists in the chains and picots and straighten them. I got all but a couple, I think. Still, now I can see the pattern a lot better.
    I think I can start round 8 today. If not, tomorrow. I don't think it will be nearly as complicated as what has already been tatted.

Close Call

    You have to love it when this happens. I have just a couple of rings and a few chains to finish the round. And then I notice I am almost out of thread on the primary shuttle. Looking at it, do I continue and see if I can make it or go ahead and change shuttles, having to hide ends by tatting over tails.

 

    I can see the center of the bobbin showing thru. I decided to push on and see if I have enough. I got the next ring and a half and the thread let go of the shuttle. I needed to finish the ring and make one more chain. I finger tatted the rest of the ring, then rewound the bobbin with what I could to do the chain. It is the core thread, so I only need a couple of inches on that.

 

     I was able to finish the chain just before the thread let go again. You can see what was left. About 12" of thread. Just enough and I did not have to hide extra ends. I hate having to hide ends, don't we all?

 

    At least I was able to finish round 7. I am going to have to press it out before I go any further, just to be able to handle it. You can see it is quite unruly. I will probably block it out a bit this evening. Then hit it with a light starch.

Testing 1, 2, 3

    Some of you may have already guessed this, but Jane Eborall needed a test tatter for the Juliana doily pattern that she figured out. I checked with her after a bit and she had no takers so I volunteered. Being recently retired, I figured I would have the time. Of course, that is a fools statement. I think I work more now than I did when employed.
    I did not mention this before because I knew, as you did, that she was finishing it and sewing it down and was going to have a reveal on her blog. Now she has told me I can blog what I am doing with it. Thanks, Jane.

    Jane never fails to amaze me. That she could pull all this from a poor photo is almost unbelievable. But she did it. There are 10 rounds. I am working on round 7. I have found a few minor mistakes, but nothing to really get excited about. Mostly things like stray picots in the diagrams and that sort of thing.
     I did get my knickers in a twist in round 6. I thought that she was doing a DNRW and SS where it was not needed. It took me a while and several contortions to realize she was exactly correct. I had just not really understood the reasoning behind the method, but it worked so well once I did understand. I felt the fool and I did apologize for the aggravation.
    The doily as shown in the photo, using size 20 thread (not King Tut, as I am wont to do) measures 19" long and 10" wide. I have not ironed it out yet. There are 3 rounds to go. It's going to be big. I hope to finish soon. I want to take it to Tat Days. More as I progress.

Logged Off

    Yes, I know it was Sunday, but that was the only day the tree people were able to get time to squeeze me in. They arrived yesterday at about 11 am, driving about 90 miles to do the job. Seems they work here and in Columbia area. They said they had a big job going but since the weather called for rain, they would do it then.

    The first thing I had to do was move Malibu, the neighbor's cat. She liked sleeping under the fallen tree. She is 18 years old and we would like to keep her around a bit longer.

    I am still amazed that the air conditioning unit did not get hit. I had the service man here that morning to work on the unit and he checked it, cleaned it, pronounced it in great shape. Then the tree fell. One of the first things I did was check the unit and the tree had fallen all around within 6 inches but didn't hit it. Talk about luck!

 

    It took all day but they got the logs off the house and were able to put the tarp over it. The edges of the roof at the corner and up the side were destroyed and there is about 2 feet of roof  that is now a hole where the tree hit. There is a puncture up the roof a ways about 5 feet from the edge. The tarp covers all that well so I should not get any leaks.
    I still have a little brush to pick up, but that won't take long. Now to find a roofer that will do the repairs.
    Oh, by the way, one of the tree guys had his wife with him. While they worked, I demonstrated tatting to her. She seems interested and lives close to where the Palmetto Tatters have their meetings. I told her that. Maybe she will drop by sometime.

Here We Go Again

    Last fall I finally got rid of all the stuff from Hurricane Matthew. It only took a bit over 2 years. I even put a new shed out there to replace the old one. Well, yesterday evening we had a 10 minute storm. This is the result. I have several old gum trees in the front yard. This one decided to commit suicide. It broke about 10ft up. The wind in this short storm was probably hurricane force. I suppose it might have been a microburst.

    I just cannot win for losing. At least no one was hurt. The insurance man might get his feelings hurt though. I am ready to move to the desert.

Finished Rainbow Bookmark

    This is a fun tat. I started it Saturday and finished today. Mostly because life happens. Had a few things that needed taking care of, as we all do from time to time. Tatting is a hobby, after all.
    I had the red stripe done yesterday evening. This morning, about 6, I started on the rest of it and it is now 2pm. Considering that I did go out to my shop and did a little wood work between the rainbow and the cloud, that's not too bad. The cloud took a little over an hour.

So here is the finished bookmark. It was done in the pattern using size 30 Cebelia. I used Size 20 Lizbeth. I wonder how small it would be in King Tut?

A Rainbow

    I am starting another pattern today, well, yesterday. I hope to finish it today or tomorrow. Should not take too long. It is a simple pattern, but I am learning from simplicity.
    Nancy Tracy has a book out, 'Tat's Where I Stopped', that has wonderfully imaginative bookmarks in it. I have decided to do one of them. These are themed to the months of the year so there are 12 patterns. I am doing March. It is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Here is my pot of gold. The red ring is the start of the rainbow. I will post that when I get it done, probably tomorrow. In Nancy's pattern, the shamrock is green. I wanted a pot of gold, not a pot of green, so mine is gold. I just happened to have the Lizbeth gold color on hand.

    Lesson 1. Sorry it is a little off kilter, but not that bad. I am starting to remember to scan these instead of photograph them. You get truer colors and it is easier to set up without reflections.
    Lesson 2 is at the top corner of the pot. There are thrown rings on chains. Now, when I see a pattern with thrown rings, I wind up 2 shuttles. In her book she says she does not care to use 2 shuttles all the time and to just use a shoelace trick to reverse the threads. I had never thought of doing that. Pure genius! It works a treat and I only had to use one shuttle and the ball.
    Lesson 3. I need to remember that if it is only rings and chains, don't cut the thread from the ball. Now I have to reattach the thread and that means tails to hide. I have to remember CTM more! Too late for this project, but next time.
    Now see! I am learning.