Adpating

After a very frustrating morning with the kids schooling because the web site was tossing us out over and over again, I was determined to make the rest of the day as productive as possible. I had actually set the wheels in motion before schooling. I had decided that I was going to adapt a vintage edging. I grabbed the first book from the 40's in the pile and picked one that I had tried and failed with in the past. While drinking coffee, I worked on a prototype, changing something new every repeat. I got this far before schooling and once I was back I knew what else I needed to change.

Of course it did take a while to get back to it as there were copious amounts of cleaning to get on with. Blankets to launder, counters to clear off and floors to vacuum. Of course I still have another set of tasks saved for today because with 6 cats and four people in the house, I never clean the tiled floors until the last minute to reduce the chance of befoulment. Not to mention more counters to clean and laundry to do.

So, exhausted I sat down to my tatting. After evaluating my earlier changes and deciding on a few more, I was satisfied with the stability of the design and started to work on what will become a nice choker. When I muck with these classic designs, I'm trying make sure they can stand on their own without getting stretched out of shape. The original pattern had many fewer joins and would have been fine attached to some linens, but would have been a mess on a neck. I also have a different aesthetic sense than designers of that era and I try to make each piece my own with new choices. While I'm fairly certain a few of you will recognize the original edging within the design, my hope is that I've made it entirely new in feeling.

Today should be another crazy, over-packed day. I have a teacher meeting to attend for the older child, schooling, more cleaning and some errand running. If someone finds me curled up in the fetal position later, don't be surprised. I am hoping that I'll get this choker all the way to finished sometime today, but I'm not holding my breath. I guess it's a good thing the shop is dead, at least for today. If I had to add orders to complete to this list I might snap. On second thought, I'd be glad to do that. I work great under pressure, just not too much.