Thursday, July 22, 2010

News From The Front

They came at me from several fronts and each time I stopped them I was given only a brief respite before they again advanced from another location. Back and forth we battled throughout the day and though I closed my eyes to a victory I knew they would only be back in the morning. I am of course speaking of the ants in my walls. They burst forth from cracks on both floors of the house, from the pantry, the bathroom, the loft, bedrooms and back and forth to new undiscovered cracks wearing on my already fragile sanity and all of this madness started at dawn in the pantry. I am usually a very insect friendly person, we scoot spiders outside, catch other insects as pets, but I have no love for invading armies of ants. I'm certain I will finish typing here and find them already starting in on another room so the war will continue shortly.

In tatting news what little there is of it given my six legged distractions, I did indeed start the redesign on my throat corset. I had already worked on a modified version of it for the spiked color that I just now realize I never did list as I was waiting on a photographer friend...guess I have an email to send. Anyway, I didn't make too many changes to it, but when I made the matching gauntlets here, I added split rings between the weaved sections. That is what I'm going to do for the new throat corset. It has the same feel, but more open. I modified the split chain counts a bit and I think it's set to be the right finished length, but with a piece this long, I won't know for a while especially if the ants don't lay low.

As far as retiring designs, I decided, as no one else had any opinions to share, that I would simply make those decisions as they came up for renewal on etsy. The important thing is that I've accepted that some need to rest for a spell and I'm hoping the ones I pick won't be missed. It has been a frustratingly slow sales month so I hope these moves invigorate the shop a bit. My ad in Coilhouse is out though I've not gotten my copy yet, so I haven't seen it. I have gotten one sale from that enterprise, but otherwise no indication that it has helped. I signed up for 4 issues anyway, all that repetition is key business. I keep reminding myself that it is summer and generally not a hoping month for retail, but did I mention the cat with the new thyroid condition and pills for life and periodic blood tests. Deep breath, don't mind me, rambling again from stress. If the ants stay back, I'll get some creative tatting release from the stress, so join me in cursing the ants back from whence they came.

5 comments:

BSOTF said...

Cyanine pepper is spose to be good for getting rid of ants. I do love the throat corset & your guantlet. That's why I love seeing what you make cause you make things that most don't. Your style is so wonderful to see.
Good luck with those ants. Your choice on what to do with your patterns will work out how is best for you too. I believe you will make the right choice on how you want to change things. I can't wait to see it.

Unknown said...

I'm a new tatter (really new...learned last week). Found your blog when I was looking for instructions for needle tatting. Anyway, I was wondering if you had ever considered putting your designs in a book?

TotusMel said...

Hi Melanie, I have no immediate plans to do a book, too much work to add to my already too busy life. I keep saying that maybe when the kids are older...if anyone still wants them then.

In the meantime I do a have few linked in the righthand column for you.

Jo said...

for the ants... try talcum powder, they dont seem to like the fine powder on their feet, worth a try at least. And it has worked for me in the past even if it is messy leaving it on their trails and entry points. But the way I see it talc is much easier to put up with than ants!

Anonymous said...

I have had good luck with ant baits to get rid of ants. I had a carpenter ant problem a few years back, so had to use the baits and also find the source of the moisture. If they are large black ants, you could have water damaged wood in your house. (Hopefully not!) I love your work, it's very creative, and also told my daughter about your Facebook page. All the best!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_ant