TIAS 2012 Continues

Sorry for the delay. I've been meaning to post more regularly lately, but that hasn't happened, obviously. While I'm not complaining, I've have quite a few sales lately. A couple have been custom orders from the same repeat customer, many have been from new customers. While I have been hoping some of the newer items would sell, it is nice to see the sales. Anyway, besides the TIAS (and some tatting I can't tell you about), I haven't done much tatting lately. Hopefully I will get some tatting done this weekend. Apart from a little shopping tomorrow, I don't plan on doing much tomorrow. Tomorrow is my 29th birthday. It occurred to me today that this will be my last year in my 20's, which kinda scares me for reasons I'm not going to go into here. Anyway, I'll move on to my progress on the TIAS 2012.

Here are days, 4, 5, and 6 in (hopefully) the order they were made:

I've got nothing really to say about this. I still haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I don't know if anyone has correctly guessed what we are making yet, but Jane is certainly keeping us guessing. This is great!

That's it for now. I should mention that this is my 200th post. I know many of you have probably post more than that in a year, it's pretty good for me. I had hoped to have a more substantial post, but I'll make up for it soon. I put Linda's Double Fuschia together several days ago and told her I'll post about it. I've also got some orchid photos to share. Seven of my Phalaenopsis orchids are producing flower spikes. Two of which have open flowers on them, the Mutant being one of them. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Day 3

Just a quick post. I'll do a regular long post either later this week or early next week. I forgot to mention in the previous post but I'll try to blog my progress within a day or two of Jane releasing a pattern part.

Here is my day 3 progress (ready for harvesting!!):

As other people have observed, it's a square with a circle in it. I haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I guess we'll have to see what Jane has us do for the next day. Maybe it will give us a hint.

Nothing else to report. It's been bitterly cold for the past few days. We've been close to -40 C a few times now. Yesterday we had a windchill of nearly -50. It's supposed to warm up but then we'll probably get more snow. I'm kinda liking snow right now. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Parts 1 and 2

As the title suggests, I started the TIAS this weekend. I'll get to it soon-it won't take long, I don't have much else to share. Haven't done any more tatting or chainmaille this weekend. I did manage to get some of the new chainmaille pieces photographed early Saturday afternoon. Which was good; it started snowing around suppertime or so. Over the course of the evening and I guess overnight we got at least four inches (10 cm) of snow. It may be closer to six inches (15 cm) but I'm not sure since it blowing a lot as well. Obviously this means I got to shovel snow probably for the first time all winter. Really. No photos, I'm afraid. I kept forgetting the camera inside every time I went out. I am a little disappointed that it snowed (and it's freezing out!), and I hope the streets aren't too bad tomorrow. One upside is that I don't have to buy any distilled water for my carnivorous plants for a while. I brought in two large Rubbermaid tubs full of packed snow that I'll let melt over the next few days. The water can then be stored  until needed.

I'll move on to the tatting. Like I said, I haven't done much. I did sit down last night and worked through the first two days of Jane's TIAS 2012. Here is the first day:

And here is the second day:

I used Lizbeth size 20 colour #658 Light Ocean Turquoise. I have no guesses as to what it could be. We'll see what the next part shall bring. Oh, and Jane, feel free to copy my photos. I'm sure I'll forget to email them to you.

That's it for now. I might try and tat something tonight. I'm doing laundry as we speak, so I gotta remember to check that regularly. It's no fun waking up in the morning and realizing the laundry is still in the washing machine. Mind you, waking up and realizing the laundry is still in the dryer when it's 30 below out isn't fun either. Trust me. Till next time.

Double Fuschia, Almost

I'm back. Nothing really new, again. I did some tatting, and I've also been working on some chainmaille. The chainmaille was another custom piece which you may see on another blog soon, so I won't get into that today. Of course, my printer has decided that it needs new cartridges. That will have to be dealt with on Thursday (Payday!!!!!), so I hope (???) that this will be a slow sales weekend. I hate having to hand write everything. Weatherwise, it's colder, but it hasn't snowed significantly since my last post. It tried on Thursday, but it didn't really amount to much. It's supposed to snow this weekend, then again early next week so we will see.

Before I get to anything else, does anyone know what happened to Miranda's (Tatting Fool) blog? I'm getting a "that blog has been removed" error message. I hope everything is OK.

Alright, I'm going to get to my little bit of tatting that I have managed to tat this week (so far). Linda Davies was kind to post another 3D flower for all of us to enjoy. I enjoy her patterns and the realistic flowers that always result from them. I've got the basic parts of one flower tatted:

It'll look much better once it's assembled. Whenever that is. I'd love to get it assembled, but I can't find most of the supplies needed. I'm hoping to find them this weekend-I have the whole weekend off. If I can't find them, I'll have to buy more. The tatting was quick and easy, no really advanced techniques needed. Four SCMRs were needed for the calyx (the red thing), and I'm sure they could be replaced with rings thrown off chains if a second shuttle (or shoe lace trick) is used. I'll post a photo as soon as the fuchsia is completed. The red thread is Flora 20 #221 and the Purple is Lizbeth 20, #633. I'm hoping to start Jane's TIAS tonight. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to have to start soon. I know I can start whenever I want, but I find that once it becomes obvious what the thing you are tatting is, the thrill is lost. Maybe it's just me, but since I am very selective (usually) at what I tat, I may not actually want to tat the item. Makes sense? Hmm. For example, I don't usually tat hearts, so if it becomes apparent that the TIAS is turning into a heart, I may choose not to tat it. Since it's still early in the game, and I don't have any idea what Jane's up to, I still have a desire to tat the TIAS.

That's it for now. I don't really have any plans for this weekend. I may do some chainmaille. If it happens to be sunny I may try to rephotograph the pieces I mentioned last time. I do hope to get some tatting done, TIAS or not. Or both. Laundry perhaps. Housecleaning???? Till next time.

Sharks!!!!!!!

Howdy. Nothing really new to report since my last post. The weather here has been awesome. It was above zero today, again. We had rain last week. Yeah, rain. In January. In Saskatchewan. I'm not complaining, but it is kinda weird. We still have hardly any snow, though I'm sure that will change. Here is a quick view of the front yard, taken today:

We just need some palm trees here and there and I could pretend I'm somewhere warm and tropical that is experiencing some snow. This is actually how I prefer winter, but I'm sure all the farmers and other people won't agree. Anyway, I have been working on some chainmaille pieces that I hope to get listed soon. Soon being when I can get the chance to rephotograph the ones that didn't turn out today. I really need to get some sort of setup to take decent shots indoors. I have also been tatting lately too.

I was going through my "Tatting Folder" on my computer. I wanted to tat and wanted a pattern that was new. I picked one of Jane Eborall's that I found some time ago, but hadn't gotten around to tatting yet. And here it is:

This is Nathan's Shark. I made the white one first, tatted with Lizbeth size 20 in, uh, white #601. The bottom shark was my second attempt at the pattern. I didn't really have any major problems with the pattern. I made the white shark's teeth too small. The grey shark is made with Lizbeth size 20, colour #605. It was pretty quick to tat; I made the white one and started the grey one in a single evening. The white one was mostly done during the course of an average length movie.

That's about it for now. I will be starting a new pattern from Linda Davies tonight. You may have seen it already. That's the plan anyway. Before I forget, I bought a new Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle this weekend. I'm hoping it will get here in time for my birthday near the end of the month. We'll see how the tatting goes over the next few evenings. I may try and post again later this week. Till next time.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Happy New Years!!!! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I did. I didn't get much tatting done, but I enjoyed myself regardless. I particularly enjoyed not working for four days. Since I have no tatting to share, this will probably be pretty short.

As I have done for the last few years, I didn't make any resolutions for this year. I would like to (rather proudly, I might add) mention that for the first time in a loooooong time (maybe not that long), I don't need to lose any weight! As of the end of November, early December, I reached my goal. It feels great, and I like the way I look now. I didn't before.

You've seen the photo on the left.The one on the right was taken today. My still not done Hauberk fits much better compared to when I wore it in May. Hopefully I will get around to finishing my Hauberk. Oh, I know someone asked what I planned on doing with it once it's done. The answer is I don't know. I mainly am making it just as something different from all the jewelry I have been working on. I will probably wear it in public somewhere, sometime.

I have done some other chainmaille over the last few days. A few are custom orders that have come in. The rest are mainly just to add something new to my shop. Here's a quick photo of these new items:

One of the custom items was a pair of Celtic Star earrings. I had to make them smaller and lighter than the Celtic Star pendants in order to make them work.  I do plan on getting these listed soon, but in case anyone is wondering, they are a bit over an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. These are probably best done in aluminum (colours are possible!) or mixed metals to keep the weight down. The customer initially wanted them to be solid copper but they each weighed about 12 grams (0.4 ounces or so) with the ear wires. Speaking of ear wire I have added a pair of earrings with clip on earring findings for those who don't have pierced ears. Any of my earrings can be made with clip on findings, just ask. The fish pendant is pretty cool. At least  I think so. It's also one on those designs that could work for both men and women. I have one on my keychain:

The gemstone is reconstituted turquoise, but I have recently gotten some stabilized turquoise for use in these as it is actual turquoise. The reconstituted stuff may or may not contain actual turquoise. It depends on the what website you choose to believe. Anyway, I am gong to make a pair of fish earrings in some smaller rings as well. I have a list of other chainmaille items I want/need to make.

That's about it for now. I'm not going to promise to post or tat more this year. I'll blog when I can, and I'll tat when I can. The only thing I will promise myself this year is to do something about this balding thing that is happening. Or at least try, genes be damned. Rogaine, here I come! I should go now. I must get some tatting done before this gorgeous first day of 2012 is over. Till next time.