A Little Tatting, New Shuttles, and a New Temari Ball

I've been trying to do more tatting. I really have. However, I have been preoccupied with something since last Saturday. Something tragic. You see, the set-top box for my IPTV service died. I'll give you a moment to mourn. OK, I realize it may seem weird for me to feel this way. But, I do love TV, even though it's not really good to watch too much. I do a lot of my relaxation activities-tatting, chainmaille, etc, while watching TV. I can't focus on whatever it is I'm doing without having the TV on. I can watch what I'm doing while glancing at the TV regularly. In case you're wondering I got sick of watching movies by Sunday night. I started going to bed early too. Over the air TV wasn't an option, since Canada recently switched to digital TV, and I didn't have a compatible antenna. I do now. Finally on Wednesday, a Sasktel technician/installer was able to come out and replace my box. While we were waiting for the box to upgrade its firmware and reboot, the Sasktel guy got fascinated by my carnivorous plants and I spent the time showing the plants to him. So after all that, I have my TV again, and all is well. And that is why I have little to show.

I did manage a little tatting. However, I don't have the item finished. I had a heck of a time with the pattern. It's not the patterns fault; it was one of Jon's new snowflake patterns. It was me. I kept joining to the wrong picots, and made many other errors. I also had to deal with the thread I used snapping several times. I think it was three times in the small amount of tatting I accomplished. I'm sure some of you are wondering, so I will mention that I was using Lizbeth thread, size 40. I don't blame the thread. All three times, the thread snapped while I was closing a ring. I'm sure the last stitch became unflipped or something. To make myself feel better about it, I'm going with the idea that I'm becoming much stronger.

It occurred to me that I haven't shown you guys my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. So, in an attempt to show both them, and the pitiful amount of tatting I've done, here's a photo:

The front shuttle is made of Purple Heart, and the back shuttle is Mahonia wood. Jane assures me that the colour is natural. The colour of both shuttles is amazing. Now, if only there was a tree that produces naturally blue coloured wood. I might sit down and continue with the snowflake. I started another project, using Lizbeth size 20, so if all goes well, I should have a more substantial amount of tatting to show the next time.

Finally, I finished another Temari ball. This one I started a while ago, but set it aside when I had issues with it not being perfectly round. I did manage to divide it up the best I could. Here it is:

This one is called Buckles and Bands. It's similar to one I did earlier, see here, though I like this one better. If you'd like to try making a Temari ball yourself, the designer, Barbara B. Suess, has several patterns available for purchase (including the one above) here. She is also the author of the book Japanese Temari: A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft, I love this book and it's great for beginners. I used a styrofoam ball for the core again, and that may be why I didn't get the ball perfectly round. I'm going to try to make my own cores, called mari, using dryer lint, and cloth scraps (separately). I'll be sure to share when I get around to doing this.

That's it for now. With any luck, I'll have a significant amount of tatting to show you. Till next time.