The Doodle Grows

No orders in the shop yesterday at all, so I used the time to play with the doodle from the other day. First I mucked with the basic design just a bit. I played with stitch counts and picots and then realized that I mostly got it right the first time. Then I decided that I would make the whole this grow a bit. This left me with what felt like an earring and a pendant. This is the bit I posted for feedback. While I waited for some, I started to set the pieces near each other and thought maybe a necklace?

Once I received a bit of feedback that encouraged my larger necklace thought, I took it as a green light and started working toward that end. It's too soon to tell whether it will work out in the end or not. There may need to be an additional row on top after I get this main section done. I can't yet tell if it's going to hold the shape I want.

In other news I was disheartened to find another tatter clearly counting stitches to copy some of my work. Someone was sharing a bunch of my photos from my Facebook page to theirs, which is fine, but while visiting that page, I saw other photos they had shared from another tatter who was using some of my original designs whose patterns were never published. It looks like she is selling her work directly off of Facebook. I can't tell for certain because it is not in English which is also why I don't know if any credit has been given either...though I don't see any of my names. I'm not going to do anything about it because I don't need the extra aggravation especially with the added language gap. I will use the occasion to again ask those of you out there that are new to tatting and are tempted to count stitches to copy pieces, particularly to sell, to think twice. How would you feel years from now, if you had worked hard on a design and then you saw it pop up in someone else's shop list as their 'original' design? I have nothing against counting stitches to learn, but not to steal designs for sale and to take credit for them is worse.

Alright, rant over. I'll be working on the new necklace today, so hopefully it's a success and I have something interesting to show you tomorrow too.

Either Way

Yesterday was nice and fairly predictable. Schooling was done quickly and we finished reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, which seems to have taken forever to accomplish. I think it's because in between all the glorious undersea adventure are chapters full of lists of sea creatures that span entire chapters named with their archaic scientific names. It's done now and we still have one more novel to complete before the end of the year. I'm definitely feeling the stress of this time of year. It seems as if there just isn't enough time to smash all the things that need doing into the next month or so. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

I didn't get round to working on the little doodle again, instead I happily made up a pair of barefoot sandals that sold around lunch time. It was perfect timing really. The entire second half of the day was devoted to that project save for a few minutes for a project with the oldest child. She had decided that she was going to make her own cat toy. She acquired a long wood dowel and some ribbon. I was tasked with cutting the dowel shorter and drilling holes at the end. I think she hoped I would let her use the dremel, but I didn't see that ending well, particularly with a thin, rounded, piece of wood. Then she set about cutting and tying ribbons to it and adding small cat toys to the ends while I tatted away. I should have gotten a picture, but I didn't.

So I start today with no projects in queue again. I will try to get back to the doodle unless I get wonderfully distracted by a sale again. That would be my ideal day...distracted by sales. Either way, at least I know there will be tatting today.

Tired and Sore

Oh, what a busy weekend. Of course the reason it was busy had nothing to do with tatting, nor was any of it really my idea. The husband had decided a while ago to try and clean/rescue the items stored in the attic space of his parents garage. Rescue, because years of cats agilely  jumping up there and handling business has put many of those things at severe risk of destruction and many more of them already destroyed. I had planned to clean the kids room and cull their clothing while he was off and I did so for 3 hours in the morning. Then I got a text asking if I was finished enough to "help." I foolishly replied that I was. I then spend the next 3 hours or so sorting through boxes, tossing, keeping and sneezing. It was a long, tiring day,

I thought Sunday would be calmer, but there was a little more of the same in the morning, followed by copious amount of laundry from my Saturday clothing culling project. I am sore and tired and I have boxes of old toys from the 80's sitting in our computer room awaiting cleaning. It really was a long weekend.

I did mange a good sit on Sunday afternoon to watch a show. I also used that time to do a little tatted doodling. Nothing big, nor too interesting, but I needed to do something with my hands that wouldn't contribute to the soreness. So this is what I came up with. I may muck about with it today if I get some time. Otherwise I sold nothing over the weekend, so I have nothing in queue. The cat picture up there was taken during my bedroom cleaning and I thought they were cute, so I posted it. So here's to a nice quite, normal week. Hopefully there will be a little more creativity, a few good sales and absolutely no more cleaning projects.

As Expected

Yesterday went pretty much as expected. Schooling was long and reading time extended. After lunch I finished up the crochet project I had started out of boredom. Not because I was actually done with it, but because I was running out of yarn. So instead of a full sized shawl, the youngest daughter has a child sized one. I know she's pretty happy about that.

Once that was done, and it was done quickly, I was finally tatting again. I remade the necklace I had just sold and it happily took me most of the day. Of course that means I really have little more to share. I tatted, you've seen the finished piece before, but since text posts are boring, here's an old picture of it. These daisy based pieces were some of the first big ones I designed, so it's always very comforting to go back to them.

I thought I was going to start off today with no new tasks, but I woke up to a sale overnight. It's a smaller necklace, so I should have it remade quickly. That's okay though, I'm just happy to have something in queue. If I hadn't, I was very likely to go stash diving for more yarn to waste away. Or worse, yarn shopping to make something new. I really ought not yarn shop, it gets far too pricey to make anything interesting. So here's to the weekend bringing me projects and sales or at the very least some good ideas.

Meditative

Another day with nothing, but chores to do. There was schooling followed by laundry and I was just exhausted for no good reason. I was also plagued by the feeling that something had gone horribly  awry, but what and how were a complete mystery. This left me feeling anxious and a little stir crazy with no projects, so I crocheted.

Having a small stash of project-less yarn, I just dug in, picked something innocuous and started to work a nice repetitive pattern. I hoped it would act as a meditative force and it did. Sure, I'll likely have nothing to show for the effort, but it calmed and centered and most importantly it kept my hands busy. That is vital.

The Universe finally threw me a bone as I was making dinner. I got an order in the shop for a necklace. That means not only do I have something to get in the post today and a few more dollars in my account, I get get to start today with something that needs to be remade. For the first time in days, I actually know what I'll get up to after schooling the kids. It's kinds of sad how happy that actually makes me. I have something to accomplish and I'm hoping that it was a sign that things might be picking up again. I desperately miss feeling busy...at something I actually want to be doing.

Remember

Tuesday was pretty close to normal. We're nearly at that last lap of schooling, so I'm really buckling down to get everything done in time. While it's nice that both kids have managed to do nearly two years worth of schooling in one, I'm really looking forward to next year, when we can take everything at its proper pace.

It was well after lunch before I had any time that needed filling and as luck would have it, I managed to get one whole order. Even though it turned out that I had both pieces included already made, I went to work remaking one of the bracelet lest I forget how I made it once it's out of the house. I do that a lot. I design things, never write a single detail down and then I have to rush to remake it from the existing one before it needs to ship out.

Remember this bracelet? It occurs to me just now that I also made a necklace in this design, so I needn't have rushed so, but I can't go back. First it took me forever to locate my bag of black seed beads. I use them so rarely that they managed to thoroughly hide themselves. Then I had to remember how I managed the woven chain without frustrating myself and how long I made the cut thread before I began it. In the end I recalled that it was a fairly simple conceit. The only issue is how long it takes to make the lock chains with a needle. A really long time.

So I start today feeling a touch better having sold something, but since I rushed to finished remaking the pieces, I have no projects lined up for today either. This puts me at the mercy of the Universe once again. Either I sell something, am requested to make something, or my imagination is sparked and I create freely. More likely though, I'll mope about much of the day or get distracted with something completely irrelevant. Here's to me being wrong.

Mondays

Well it definitely wasn't much of a Monday. Normally that may be assumed to be a good thing, but not this time. Along with some extra adventuring, the husband was determined to clean our computer room. Some people have a study, we have a room of computers and I have one quarter of it...maybe. So, since he wanted to clean, I got to clean too. That was most of the day.

I did sneak off after I had finished most of my side to finally get the new bracelet listed. I was quite flattered that it was favorited by several people quite quickly. It's been a long time since a piece got that reaction. Of course, I'm getting desperate for sales again, so I was hoping for more. I will, of course, take what I can get.

Aside from the cleaning and the listing, I did very little yesterday. My excuse is that all that cleaning caused massive dust allergies and that sapped my will to accomplish anything larger than getting a snack or swiping a screen on my phone.

So that brings us to today. Schooling is back in session and I'm hoping the return to routine has me spending some time with a needle and thread in my hand. I need a little creative meditation and a day without dust.

Weekends Off

I've really been taking weekends off pretty seriously lately. I mean, it's not really on purpose. If, for example, I actually had orders in queue, I'd be tatting all weekend if needed. It has, however, been pretty quiet in the shop. That means, I've been hanging out with the family or cleaning. There has been an awful lot of laundry and cleaning on weekends, but I digress.

On Friday I did finish up the new cuff design. I decided to leave the stitch counts alone for the most part. There were some changes, but as for fitting, I opted to add an element to each side to get it to the right side to fit most people. I also changed up the top row again adding another ring to join between the larger ones.

What I didn't do was get the piece listed. It's not like I didn't have time, but I just chose to ignore it and take the weekend off. So today, some time, I will try to get this properly photographed and in the shop. I'm still thinking about maybe making it into a choker as well, but it is pretty wide, so maybe not. Wide chokers like to fold up a bit when worn too long.

The husband and kids have today off, but plans seem to be in flux, so as it has been a lot lately, I have no idea what I'll actually get up to. Here's hoping I get something to do, that I want to do and the shop gets busy again soon.

Hopefully

I spent a long day in the car with the family. This should be the last trip out of town for a while though. Not that I don't enjoy time with the family, but Silicon valley traffic is most assuredly not on my list of fun things to do with my time.

On a positive note, I did manage to get to some tatting in the car on the way home. I worked out a top edge for the piece that I think feels about right. I am going to go back and rework the whole things with some stitch changes though. I want it to be a bracelet and right now it is not quite long enough. Another repeat would make it too long and I like the odd number from a design standpoint. So I'll likely increase the stitch counts and if that doesn't work right I'll add some additional elements to the sides. I really do dislike making more than one prototype, but I really like the denseness of the design and I want it to work perfectly.

Aside from that and schooling, I've no other plans today. Hopefully by Monday I'll have something finished to show you and hopefully, it will be impressive.

Inspiration

While the day was pretty routine, I was without focus for some time. After schooling I kept trying to get inspired by something, anything, but nothing was flipping on that mystery switch that makes me creative.

I finally resorted to public complaint about my lack of inspiration, but even that only returned suggestions that I wasn't really interested in. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it when people toss ideas at me, I really do and I need them, but there is no way I'm making a baby hat...ever. I'm also never going to make booties. I couldn't have gotten either item on my kids if I tried, so I guess I find them the height of uselessness. Strangely, I still likely doilies occasionally, just not in white.

So I took a quick look through some bits I've passed on Pinterest and I ran across an antique or vintage edging that I thought I could twist to my will. It was just a picture so I  guessed the stitch counts and made a whole lot of changes along the way as well. It had a lot of long, loose chains and I don't like those at all, so I made them shorter and more stable. I also added several joins where none previously existed, again for stability and shape. I'm pretty sure I'm going to work out another row at the top. Since the original was attached to a linen of some sort, it's a little looser than I like and feels unfinished. Not sure how I'm going about it yet, but I feel inspired again, so it really doesn't matter. In this mood I can make dozens of mistakes and just keep going. Creativity is a wonderful thing.

We're off out of town for a bit today, so I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll manage to accomplish. I feel pretty good just having made something, even if it is heavily borrowed from days gone by. Hopefully by the time I'm finished it will look nothing like its' inspiration and I'll be in the right state of mind to start something from scratch.

Tired

Yesterday was suppose to be completely normal, but then I was tasked with watching one of my nieces who had to stay home from school. She's a good kid, but it certainly changed the dynamic of the day. Schooling was harder since the kids were distracted. Once our babysitting charge was off for the day, I actually got some tatting done.

I worked on the necklace I've been working on at a snail's pace for the last week or so and got it finished. I was rewarded with the sale of a nice complex bracelet. So I spent the rest of the afternoon working on remaking that. I should have worked slower though, so I would have something to finished today. Instead I start today just as clueless on the day's tasks as yesterday.

We all stayed up late last night to watch the one prime time show we always watch even though they were doing a 'two hour event'.  As a result, I am just wiped out this morning. So here's to a nice, quiet, predictable day...well maybe with just a little unpredictable goodness. I could use some of that since you know I won't get a nap.

Odd

Busy, busy, busy, but not on anything of relevance. The oldest daughter went to testing for the morning, so I used the time for things like laundry. When she was back we still had some schooling to get done. Normally she doesn't have to do anymore classes on a testing day, but since we're on an accelerated schedule to finish an extra year of schooling, we can't afford the day off. After that we went on a walk.

Now this next part you may find a bit odd...well, not if you know me well, but still. We live next to a creek with some undeveloped land surrounding it. When we go on walks we pick up things like owl and hawk pellets to dissect. Some time ago a cat had died in one of the fields and because of where it was lying, it was undisturbed for the most part. Sad as it is, it was also fascinating to observe. Well yesterday we checked on it during our walk and the bones were mostly clean, so we collected them. No we didn't touch them.

So the rest of the afternoon was spent on the first phase of cleaning them. There's no way I'll be able to re-articulate them, but we'll fine some way to to display them. See, I know...odd right? No tatting and instead I share bone stories. I'd show a picture of the skull, but I don't want to overwhelm with macabre. Instead, how about a newly bloomed Iris from our yard. If you really want to see it though, I shared a photo on twitter.

There are no extra tasks today, except that I've been commissioned by my mother's co-worker to make a unicorn horn for her horse. Yes, that was as weird a request to get as it is to hear about. Of course my mother wants one for herself too. This is what happens when you make something for a child and share it on the Internet. Hopefully I'll spend some time tatting today though. I'm starting to miss it a bit.

Nothing Much

Oh, Monday, I can't believe we're already meeting again. I have so little to share. Sure, there was a little adventuring and I did start to remake one of the pieces I had been ignoring in queue, but that really doesn't amount to much.

We had more baby mantids hatch out from yet another egg case onto our grape vine. The little things are now all over our backyard  and we have to tread carefully, but they are a delight.

I did get excited for a minute when I sold something on Friday because I thought that meant I had something fresh to remake, but alas, I actually had two of them already made. There was nothing remotely new needed and I had no inspiration whatsoever. Weekend tatting was a bust.

I guess that brings us to this week, that promises to be a bit of an annoyance as well. Today we start with testing for the oldest child. This year, they are testing the new test and from the practice tests online, it's going to be a right disaster. Nothing for it, but to go ahead though. There are other tasks for the week that will keep us from getting into our normal routine as well and you know how that gets me all flummoxed. Well, here's to something, anything, breaking through to make the week better. I'm crossing my fingers.

Sorry

I don't know if you noticed or not, but I was an absent blogger yesterday. We had to go out of town on a day long excursion that involved Silicon Valley traffic and that meant leaving ridiculously early in the morning. So early, that I just couldn't spare the time to blather on about not much. If you did notice, sorry. It was a little uncomfortable for me to skip the task as well.

The day before, however, I did get the new earrings I made listed in the shop. I didn't need to change anything about them from the prototype, expect that I was a little more precise with the picots and tighter with my tension so they'd be a bit stiffer naturally.

I haven't sold anything that I need to make or remake in quite a few days, so I'm really starting to get antsy. I think it won't be long before I just buckle down and work on a big project or remake something that I've been ignoring just to keep busy.

So as you've likely guessed I don't have any plans prepared for today, other than a child's doctor appointment, and the weekend is just as unplanned. Hopefully something will shake loose soon and I can focus on that, whatever it may be.

Spring

Nature had a much busier day yesterday than I did. We had a rather hot day for April and I think it set off a few phenomenon. The most obvious, at least to us, was the hatching of mantis ootheca, or egg cases. Dozens of little baby mantids squirming into the world in a display that would be horrifying if any larger.

We watched this outside and a half dozen extra large carpenter bees that had apparently fallen in love with our Purple Robe Locust tree's blossoms. The part of the morning that wasn't devoted to schooling was spent outside looking at these and other Spring events, then it got warmer and I retreated into the house.

After lunch I got the new necklace listed in the shop. Then it was on to the earrings. I was still debating the thread size, so I hung a prototype from my hoop earring and asked the folk over on Facebook if the size was okay. The generally consensus was that it was a good size. So I went ahead and made two final pieces and after schooling today, they'll get their hardware and get listed as well.

The shop is getting really quiet again, so I don't really have any more tasks in queue. There are still a couple of larger pieces that should be remade, but I'm stalling on those. So here's to something interesting happening today to keep me busy and creative.

Something New

Getting back into the routine of schooling was actually far less a struggle than I had feared. I think that the kids were actually ready to have some structure back after a week of something akin to chaos. It did take up the whole of the morning though and it was followed by a nice walk to pick up rocks for science class. Basically an unnecessary gesture, but anything that helps make it real and relevant to the kids is worth the effort.

When everything had settled after lunch I got to some tatting while I tried to clear off some of the dvr. Apparently I took a vacation from watching television as well. Anyway, I took the motif you last saw turned into a bracelet and instead of making it into a choker, I further modified the design to be a nice tatted chain necklace. I had to make it in several pieces, which I generally avoid, but it was the only way to get the look I was going for. Now, I'm sure if I really put my mind to it, I could get it done with split chains ans rings, but sometimes that's just more effort than I'm willing to resort to.

I still need to get the hardware on the piece, but hopefully after schooling I'll get it up in the shop. I'm trying to keep the place as interesting as possible and that's hard to do when all I have in queue is remaking familiar pieces. I might get some earrings made up with the base motif as well, but I fear they may be too big. I guess I'll play with thread sizes. Hey, it looks like I have a slight plan for the day. I guess the routine really is settling back in.

Weekend Recap

Oh, so little of consequence got done over the weekend. We went to the movies on Friday to see Captain America, great movie. Then there was cleaning to prep for having family over for the little one's birthday party on Saturday.

Saturday morning was mostly more cleaning and decorating. We also managed to head to the college plant sale early to pick some plants we probably don't need before the party. I say party, but really it was just family over to run around with the kids and eat food. It was a  pretty good time and then the rest of the day was cleaning up after the party and relaxing a bit. And yes, the horn stayed on her head the entire weekend.

Sunday morning we went outside and I pulled weeds and put those new plants in the ground. I was exhausted afterwards and my hands were sore. Now we cross our fingers that they live. I did manage to get some tatting done after that though. It was slow going with the sore hands, but I felt like I actually accomplished some things over the weekend. Just not anything to share, or for the shop.

There were no orders to deal with really, so I start the week with no major tasks. Well, except that the girls are back to schooling after a week off. Just getting them back into routine should take all my patience today. Well, I guess that's it then, one birthday down and one to go. At least I have a month and a half before I have to do this all again.

Birthday Unicorn

As expected I got no tatting done whatsoever. We spent the entire day going and being somewhere else. Since I can't show you any tatting, I'll show you the one gift I made for my daughter's birthday. She love unicorns, both my girls do, but they don't love them because they're girly and cute, they love them because who doesn't love an animal that can impale you on a shiny horn and then run off into the sunset farting rainbows. Yep, not kidding.

To that end I made her a unicorn headband that she proceeded to take out of the box and put on her head. It stayed there all day until we got home for the last time and we were all ready for bed. It went over rather well everywhere we went too. All over the zoo, we heard children and adults whisper about the unicorn. It really paid off at dinner when both a custom and the restaurant manager came over to talk about it. You see, our server forgot to put in our order, so our dinner was late, but thanks to said manager, free. I'm not sure we would have been offered that so freely, especially when we didn't even complain, without the unicorn magic.

When I decided she needed this gift, I trolled etsy for it, since I assumed someone had already got this market covered. They had. Looking through both low end and extremely high end pieces, I realized that I actually had the skill sets needed to make it. Air dry clay on a support structure, hot glued to a head band, wrapped in ribbon and finished with glitter modge podge. Easy and perfect for my little evil, birthday, unicorn girl.

Not certain I'll get to any tatting today either. We've got a movie to see and a party to get ready for on Saturday, but I do have a couple of pieces I need to get remade. I'll certainly try to get some work done. I do have bills to pay.

Two Colors

Yesterday was pretty good, tatting wise. The sun was out again and after running some errands I sat down to tat up the rest of the pendant orders. Once they were wrapped, I got right onto the bracelet ideas. I opted to do both the slight stitch count change and the two color version at the same time to see if everything was going to work. I really love the way it turned out. The shape is just right. It widens just enough to look like I meant to do it, but it's still thin enough at the ends that it's comfortable to wear and matched up with the chain right. I know it's comfortable, I wore the black one all day. In fact, that one is mine now. I so rarely claim any of my own work, but I really like the way it looks.

There was a lot of love for the two color version on the Facebook page, so I was actually motivated to get it listed straight away. I listed it as a custom so you can choose from one or two colors of the dozens I have on hand now. I also kept getting asked if the pattern for this one would be listed. The answer is no, at least not anytime soon. The double infinity pendant pattern is what it is based on and that's in the shop now, but it just takes me too much time and effort to make up patterns. I have to spread those out over long periods of time or I get really burnt out.

In other news, I got a message over on Instructables from the lovely Christy Canida that I had gotten a shout out in their video for Popular Mechanics. Her and her husband were on the list of 25 Makers Who Are Reinventing The American Dream. In the video you can see at the link, she used me as an example when discussing the reasons some people share their tutorials. The compliments were incredible humbling and I am so thankful to her and the entire Instructables team for always being so supportive of not only my work, but of makers in general. Which reminds me, I really ought to get something new up there soon.

So today is the youngest child's birthday, so there will be adventures and gallivanting about. In short, not much tatting, but I may manage some animal photos to share tomorrow. It promises to be a long, tiring, fun day. Off to it then.

Bummer

Well yesterday's giant event that I'd planned for weeks, was a bit of a bust. Sure I sold pendants to a few people and patterns to a few more, but nothing like years past. I've had a box full of packages from this day every year since I started. This time, just five. Three of them are done and will be in the post this morning and the other two were overnight, so I'll have them out later today or tomorrow morning. I suppose people weren't all that impressed with the pendant or the deal. Thank you though to those of you who did pick up a pendant or 4, your support means so much to me!

So with all the extra time I had yesterday not tatting up pendants like I had planned, I designed a matching bracelet based on it. I made a split ring chain with the same stitch counts as the pendant if there were two with the large ends together, adding a center one to join them.

The woven sections just needed an extra weave through the new ring and a join there and it was all done. I thought about adding another to get all the way around the wrist, but decided a chain to finish it would be nicer. I might try this same pattern with two colors and see how it looks before I go ahead and list it, so I might not. I've also been thinking of changing the stitch counts a bit to emphasize the size change. The day is too young to tell what I'll get up to aside from the last two tatting day pendants. That'll teach me to try a big reveal again. Oh, well, nothing for it now but to move on.

International Tatting Day

Those of you you've been around awhile are probably aware that today is International Tatting Day. To those new around these parts, I assure you that while it is unfortunately timed, it is in fact real. The traditional celebration ritual is of course to tat some lace and eat some chocolate. Clearly this is a holiday that is easy to get behind.

What may be slightly less traditional, is my own personal celebration ritual. For that last few years I've been designing a pendant to sell at a very low price for this day only and more recently the pattern as well. I hope that by offering a small bit of lace cheaply, it can fly to new people exposing tatting to more places. I also hope that by offering the pattern, those that already practice our art can create something new to share with others as well.

Both listings are up in the shop now. They will continue to be available after today, but the price of the pendant will double tomorrow, the 2nd. As usual, the pendant is available in any thread color I have on hand. I'll be making them to order so, depending on the number of pendants that sell, it may take up to a week to get them all out. I wanted to design an infinity pendant, but it's rather too easy, so I went for a Double Infinity and wove them together. I also wanted the piece to have a distinct widening shape, and a small focal of beads. No, it's not overly intricate, but I think it makes a nice pendant.

The pendant listing is here or click on the picture above. The pattern is here, or click on the image to the right. The pattern is written for needle tatting, though I'm certain that it can be accomplished with shuttle as well. I can't really help with that though as you know me and the shuttle have a long standing grudge.

Well, that's it then. I really hope that you like the piece. I'm a bit nervous about it for some reason. So, do share these links around, or at least share tatting with someone new. Wear some lace around or sit at tat at the mall with some of that afore mentioned chocolate. April may be fooling folks right and left online, but International Tatting Day has chocolate and lace and I think that might be better.