Nothing

Sorry, I got nothing. There were no new sales in my shop and no new ideas in my head, so all I did yesterday was clean house. I did counters and floors and cleaned things I rarely bother with. Then when I decided that it was enough, I sat down and watched television and melted into the couch.

I don't have much faith that the lazy tatter phase will be broken over the weekend either, but I'll try. We have Monday off, but schooling starts on Tuesday. We also have a 'park day' to attend that day as well. I think I may start evaluating what pieces I should have more on hand of for the fall and make those with this down time. Though as I am writing this I seem to remember that I say this every year and then, for whatever reason, I don't do it. Maybe this year will be different, or maybe I'll get busy again soon and it will be a moot point. At least I sort of have a plan. Based on this blog post, I do not have much faith in today. Here's hoping the universe proves me wrong.

Fly?

Nope, I still didn't get to the tatting I should have been doing. I just really am not in the mood to remake the one necklace that's left. I did get the new hair pin listed in the shop after our teacher meeting, but then I stalled some more. It took hours before I was bored enough to start doodling with thread again.

This little, I'm calling it a fly, came about after a few experiments. No, I don't know what I was trying
to make in the first place, but it wasn't a fly. After someone said it sort of looked like a bat I made another with more bat like wings and a solid head instead of bug eyes. I didn't get a picture of that one and I doubt these will ever end up in the shop. Not sure who would ever want a fly and there are already several bat patterns in existence without adding another. At least the creation distracted me for a while.

I fear cleaning is on the schedule for today. After last week's nice run of sales, the shop got silent as the grave again. I suppose it's a good thing as I prepare to start schooling again, but the slowness always causes a panic, especially when we're shopping for things like school supplies.

As usual, I'm hoping for something good and interesting to happen today. And on the note, I'm off to it.

Stalling

I stalled like a champ yesterday. I never even got around to remaking anything, nor cleaning. In fact after I did laundry there were a couple of hours that I literally laid about. I guess I decided with schooling starting up again next week, that I should get a little time wasting done. In fact I'm not certain that I'm done with that yet. It might be on the plan for today as well.

I did do a little something newish to justify myself for the day. I added another round to the woven motif I've been playing with and it became a hair pin not long after this. I almost added a fourth round and I still might just to see what it would look like, but that time wasting bug reared up about then.

I will try to get the hair pin in the shop later today. We have our first teacher meeting this morning and having to leave the house and get things done should keep me from melting into the couch too soon. Not sure what else I'll get up to, if anything, but I'll keep trying for a picture worthy moment.

At Least I Took Pictures

Yep, it was another nose to the grindstone day. I spent quite some time in the morning looking through the kids classes as I had just gotten access to their online school. I prepped some supplies in order to avoid last minute rushing about and then I sat down to tat.

It was all remaking pieces for the shop, so they're nothing you probably haven't seen before. Like usual, I save the larger pieces for the end so I only managed to finish two things even though I tatted all day.  This one is a cuff bracelet and the other a choker necklace. At least I remembered to take some photos to make the blog post slightly less boring.

I only have one other piece left to make, I think, and it's one of my largest necklaces. That means I'll probably stall before getting round to it. Stalling could mean I make something new or I clean something. Of course it will start with me crossing my fingers that an order will come in to take the decision away from me. I think I am ready to get back to part time tatting. Less time to fill means the time is worth more.

Weekend Recap

Unfortunately I spent much of the weekend in 'remake' mode. Every time I got enough time to sit down, I was tatting up the sold necklaces while I still had one of each on hand. There was still the normal weekend stuff, family adventuring, Doctor Who on television, and whatnot, but mostly I was just trying to make certain I could get the last couple of orders in queue off this morning. That is exactly what I did accomplish. I still have a couple of pieces left to remake, but they are ones I have committed to memory, so I will have orders all out this morning.

Schooling finally starts up again next week, so this is my last week of full time tatting. Next Tuesday, it's back to part time homeschooler and part time tatter. Every year there is an adjustment period before I fall into the right routine to get it all done in the day without feeling that I've neglected something awfully. I'm going to try to use this week to start the adjustment process a bit, much to the chagrin of the children who, I think have gotten quite used to their free time as well. It's better than quitting Summer cold turkey though.

I am going to try and do something or capture something picture worthy to keep the blog looking pretty. Not certain what yet, so cross your fingers that the day brings some pleasant surprises.

Time Wasted

Yesterday was, in fact, another busy day. It started with finishing up the mask I was remaking, followed by making more kitty ear headbands. This is the time of year when those start really selling and I'd like to keep up with them. Next up, I got the woven motif, as a pendant, listed in the shop. I'd pop up a picture, but it's really just the same as yesterday only with a ribbon instead of a pin and the only thing worse than no picture in the blog post is a repetitive one.

After lunch I stole a little time to play one of my birthday gifts that was just released, Shadowgate. It's an update of a text adventure game I played many moons ago when I didn't have kids nor a business to take up my time and it is just as frustratingly difficult as ever. It might well have sucked the rest of my day away, but luckily the order from the shop I was waiting for came in and that meant I had even more pieces to remake, so I stopped.

The order I got was mostly for necklaces that I only have one made of, and some of them are ones I've not made a whole lot. This means I'll want to get their replacements made before I send these ones away so I can refer to them as I make the new ones. Today is going to be a whole lot of nose-to-the-grindstone tatting. If you're wondering, yes, I'm quite happy about this. Hopefully before Monday I'll find or make something picture worthy. Until then.

Boutonniere

I went ahead and stole some time straight off in the morning to make the new woven motif into both a pendant and a boutonniere. The pendant was just adding a jump ring to the already tatted motif, but the boutonniere was a pain in the neck.

The gray section is actually made first and then the black section is woven into it as I work. All this is already a bit fiddly, but for this, I have to tat the center directly onto the pin finding and then weave around it as well. Until it's almost done, the pin is flopping about and getting all up in the way. Even so, this one is done and in the shop.

I didn't yet list the matching pendant, but it should get into the shop early today. I still have several pieces that need remaking for the shop. I'm about halfway through a mask right now, so I'm guessing my entire day will be remaking. At least I managed to get a little something new in anyway. Here's to another busy, busy day.

Busy

I was fantastically busy yesterday, it was wonderful. After a nice morning of yoga with the kids I went to work remaking the pieces that had just been ordered. Of course I only made it through one before I got another nice order in the shop with a custom piece in it. So I stopped the remaking and started on a Celtic triangle necklace. The fun part about a piece like this one is that I can make all of one part first and the rows of center daisies gave me something interesting to take a picture of. This means no 'text only' blog post.

I also had an inquiry from a shop that buys from me every so often, but I've yet to hear back from her again. I'm crossing my fingers that she is ready to make a largish purchase again. If she does, then I shall be ever so busy for days, if not weeks. Once the current custom order is done, I might just steal some time to get back to the motif I showed you yesterday and at the very least turn it into a pendant and get it in the shop. Hopefully I will manage to suss out turning it into a boutonniere as well.

Well, that's it really. Busy with orders is great for me, but rubbish from a narrative standpoint. I'll will try to lift the monotony with pictures, if I remember.

Things to Do

I cleaned my desk yesterday morning. I make this statement to illustrate how truly bored I was without a project in the morning. Sure, it needed to be done, but it really ought to have been done months ago and I managed to ignore it sitting here every day. Once that was done though, I knew I needed to get into some tatting quickly. First I chose to make a few spiders for the shop. I know, Halloween is still months away and it's still over 100º outside, but the stores are stocking it, so why shouldn't I?

After a few of those, I decided to dig back in my sold pieces for something more substantial to do. I ran across this Celtic stye motif I did years ago now. I couldn't remember much about why I made it, but when I found the prototype I decided to muck with the design a bit. I changed some stitch counts and picots, redid the center, and left off a third round entirely. I'm thinking just now that I may make it a new boutonniere design as well as a pendant.

No time for that today though because I thankfully got a nice sized order late last night. I have things that need making and I couldn't be happier. I might set aside a little time for this though, new things always make me feel like I've actually accomplished something. Either way, I have things to do today!

Weekend Recap

I'm afraid I again have no tatting to share, but this time it's because I was being selfishly lazy over the weekend. I decided that for my birthday I was just going to 'be', unless otherwise needed and I wasn't, needed, that is. I got some lovely gifts, I went shopping and actually purchased a few things for myself, which I rarely do anymore, and then there was lunch with family and dinner with friends. It really was a nice little birthday.

The rest of the weekend was family adventuring, some shopping, some movie going, some visiting. In fact really the only downside of the weekend, save for no tatting, was the lack of sleep. We stayed up far too late on Friday and the cats woke me at 4 the next morning, so without the ability to nap, I haven't been able to make up for that 2.5 hour night. I'm still dragging this morning.

Despite the offer of a free gift, I only got one small order on Friday and the rest of the weekend was a complete bust sales wise as well, aside from a pattern sale. That one order is already taken care of, so I start another week with no clear tasks ahead. I'm crossing my fingers for something interesting to happen, and good interesting this time, not weird and creepy. I do so hate writing blog posts without something visual to share. So here's hoping for a pleasantly surprising and unexpectedly busy Monday.

Weirdness

Sorry, I've got nothing for you this morning. I had a rather odd day and that killed my urge to mindlessly tat the day away. I will share the odd because I'd love if someone could make any sense of it.

I was a bit unnerved when a life insurance agent came to my door with my address, name and phone number saying I had made a request online for Insurance. The other info he had on his paper was all wrong, but the email address was a hotmail address that started with my name followed by a bunch of numbers. The agent appeared legit, I looked him up later as well, and said this is the fourth time he's had this same thing happen with different people.

I'm just trying to figure out what the angle or scam here is...I mean sending an agent to someone's door using just their address and phone number isn't going to get you any more personal information, so why do it? I just don't know and it honestly drove me crazy yesterday online trying to find answers and getting none. Needless to say after that strange encounter and the subsequent and fruitless google searches, I did nothing.

Today is my birthday, so the husband is playing hooky from work. Hopefully I can relax enough after yesterdays weirdness to enjoy the day. I was going to do a sale in the shop, but I just don't think I have it in me to do one this year. I will offer up a free gift with any physical purchase today though(patterns are excluded since they don't get shipped). Just mention my birthday at checkout and I'll send a little something extra with your order. Here's to a less weird day today.

I Cleaned

I listed the newest tatted jellyfish fairly early yesterday. I also worked up the requisite snowflake for the day and then I couldn't think of a thing to do. I sat listless for a short time before I made the decision to clean the house. I'm calling it the end of summer cleaning since I had no other real reason to do it. I mean yes, I clean a little all the time, but this was the full blown rubber gloves sort of cleaning and I thoroughly regret my decision.

Toward the end of the afternoon, when all the cleaning I was going to do was done, I used the smaller gray thread from the jellyfish to make a pendant out of the first two rounds of my jellyfish bell. I'm still deciding whether or not it will make it into the shop. The gray thread is size 20 which I don't have as many color options of on hand, but I think the design might be a bit too big in my usual size 10. I did have to make a few stitch changes so it would lay flat, but I really like the joins for this so I wanted to try the pendant.

I still don't have any orders in queue. I did get one last night, but I had been expecting it and had already made the piece over the weekend. So I guess it's a snowflake and then listlessness on tap for today, unless either something interesting comes up or I get visited by the muses. Either will work.

Last Jellyfish

I don't know if I was distracted or just finally over the creation of jellyfish, but I felt like this last one took 12 hours just yesterday, on top of all day the day before. I kept getting inadvertent knots in the thread as I was doing the hyperbolic sections and there were a couple of times when I came close to just cutting and starting new thread.

I did finish it though. One last tatted jellyfish for the shop, for now. I should get it listed later this morning. It's done in black, charcoal gray and a lighter, slightly thinner gray thread that I received through a Christmas exchange one year.

After I get this listed, I really am not sure what I'll get up to. I want to keep working, but sales have dried up again and I think I need a break from the hyperbolic. I'm sure I'll come up with something. Hopefully it's something interesting.

Black and Gray

Yesterday I decided that while there are still a few weeks before my kids start back to school, we better start reacclimating to it now. So they were forced to practice handwriting and to read for a spell and then we read some comics together in the morning after yoga. I figured that I need to get used to the lost time as well. I mean, I know it's not actually lost time, but I have filled up that morning time with all kinds of things and that's not going to fly when the schooling starts again.

Once that was wrapped I did get back to some tatting. I got a snowflakes done first off because I had decided to go ahead and do the next jellyfish and once I start those it's non-stop tatting for a couple of days. The black and charcoal gray bell portion is done, but I barely started on the medium gray hyperbolic sections.

There is plenty left for me to work on today before this one is done. I might get it finished, but definitely not all the way to listed today. I think this is probably the last jellyfish for the shop, at least for now. I had imagined a whole bunch of them when the thrill of selling the first once was fresh, but now that it's been some time, I know they are not likely to continue flying off the shelf. Besides, I'm sure if someone wants another color, they'll just ask and I can do it custom. What I'll get up to next, I haven't decided that yet either.

Purple Jellyfish

So let's see, Friday I finished the purple jellyfish and it got listed on Saturday. It is absolutely my favorite so far. Well, maybe the big one is my favorite, but this is my favorite color combination. I used Lizbeth dark purple and dark iris purple for the bell and mystery lavender for the center. I wish I could say that I am getting faster at them, but it's not true. I am making subtle adjustments with each one though making them each even more unique than just color.

I've been having problems finding headbands for my kitty ears again. I used to just get them on Amazon in multi-color packs and paint the ones that weren't black, but all they had this time around were pastels, they were add-on items, and I was getting scared that they were going to stop carrying them at all. That is until I checked the hair aisle at Target. For the first time since I started making those, they had several black multi-packs. I got so excited that I bought them all, went home and started making more of them. I didn't have any on order, but I had so many headbands that needed ears and it just seemed like the thing to do.

So as you might have guessed I didn't start another jellyfish nor anything else interesting. I just made cat ears the rest of the weekend. I don't have any orders in queue right now either, so I may start another jellyfish, I'm itching to make one in black and grays, or I might do something else entirely. I guess we'll just have to see how the day goes.

Purples

Yesterday went as planned, just as the day before had. I exercised, I got lazy, then I followed that with finishing the piece that needed remaking and a snowflake. I know I shouldn't get too used to the routine because schooling with change it in a few weeks, but it's working for now and I'm feeling pretty productive.

After lunch I was able to get to the next jellyfish. I opted to go with purple as it's my favorite color after black of course and at least one other person suggested it. This is Lizbeth, dark purple and I followed it up with dark iris purple...I think. The bell dried overnight and I'll be able to get back to it today.

The bell is actually becoming faster to tat up, like most pieces with repetitive patterns, once it settles in your mind, you get to pay a little less attention and let the muscle memory do its thing. The hyperbolic tatting however, continues to take forever to accomplish. It's just so long that it tangles the with the working thread and I spend just as much time carefully avoid that as I do untangling when it happens anyway. I still have two more hyperbolic sections, the tentacles, and the light cozy left to make before I can put it all together. Still, baring any other distractions, I should finish it today and get it listed over the weekend. That is unless I get lazy and save if until Monday. I am already thinking about the next piece after this.

New Blue Jellyfish

I've been trying to engage in more exercise in the mornings. First I do yoga with the kids which is both amusing and relaxing. Then I go walk on the treadmill for awhile. That has had precisely two effects so far, sweat and exhaustion. I assume that once I really make it part of my routine, it won't be so bad, but for now the exhaustion part has caused me to stall in the mornings and not start tatting when I know that I really ought to.

I very nearly forgot that I had the new jellyfish to get photographed and listed. I did manage to get it in the shop
though. Even better, while sharing it on the Facebook page, the only owner of one, so far, shared that it had arrived safely and it sounds like she is pleased with it. This is a huge relief. It is honestly terrifying to send off particularly large pieces into the unknown.

Aside from getting the jellyfish listed, I also managed to follow the rest of my day plan despite the early morning, exercise induced, laziness. I remade a mask for the shop and got one snowflake made up. The only thing I did not get round to was starting a new jellyfish. I did ask over on the Facebook for color suggestions and I got many. That, unfortunately did not narrow down my choices, but made them more diverse instead.

Today I have one more piece from the shop to remake and then the requisite daily snowflake. So it seems that unless something else comes up I should be able to at least start another jellyfish today. That is, if I can decide on a color scheme after being given so many options. My summer vacation from homeschooling is quickly coming to an end so I really must take advantage of the time while I can.

Next Up

I worked very hard on getting the blue jellyfish done yesterday, but when it was finished I simply had no motivation to do the photography needed to get it into the shop, or share it with anyone. Instead I went back to making snowflakes for my mother-in-law. You see, she has decided to prepay me for making them as Christmas gifts for her. There has been no talk of numbers here, but it occurred to me that if I would just set aside an hour or two I could get one or two done a day without cutting into my others projects time too much and that should give me a decent stockpile of them. So that's the new plan.

I should get the new jellyfish listed sometime this morning. It is slightly different that the last blue one. I figure it's only right to give each some small uniqueness given that price tag I've put on them. I mean I know that I'm mostly charging for my time and I spend a lot of it on them, but I still want to make each as special as possible.

I woke up to a mask order this morning, so that gives me my second task of the day, remaking the mask for the shop. That will be followed by the afore mentioned snowflake time and if any time remains, I think I might actually get started on the next color of jellyfish, though I haven't completely decided what that will be yet. I also had another idea for a hanging piece of art. I haven't quite worked out all the details in my head yet, but hopefully they will come to me and I can come up with another unique design soon.

The Biggest Jellyfish

Yesterday was a sort of a wash of a day and mostly that was my own fault. While my husband is our 'computer guy', I tend to be the one that fixes things that don't have circuits. So yesterday morning I sucked it up and went to fix something that I had been avoiding, broken drawers in the kitchen. You see the geniuses who built the kitchen stapled in the brackets for the drawer slides and since they're cheap ones, they keep breaking. So first I have to pull out the staples, injuring myself, then I have to install new brackets which means crawling inside cabinet spaces that are not quite big enough. The screws don't like to bite the laminated wood in there, so more injuries as I try to get the screws in. So suffice it to say, the morning started out poorly and painfully.

Of course following the fixing of two drawers achievement, I got the new Sea Nettle jellyfish listed. It was a bit harder to get photographs because it was larger and barely fit in front of the coffee table where this was taken. It still took me some time to settle on a price and I'm pretty sure because of that price it is going to stay in the shop for a very, very long time. I'm pretty proud of it though, so that's okay.

After this was was up in the shop and I took a few moment to absorb the letdown of listing it, I went back to work on a small blue one. I started it on Sunday, so it should get finished sometime today. After that I'm thinking maybe a purple or a green one. I'm just trying to keep busy with these while I can I guess. Finishing them gives me a sense of artistic accomplishment that remaking old designs does not, at least for now.

Another Finished

Well I was lazy this weekend. I did finish my newest, largest jellyfish, but I did not get any photos of it yet. The plan was to do that today along with fretting about the price and getting it listed in the shop. What I can tell you is that it makes the first ones look so very tiny even though I don't think they are, and that it took me around 4 whole days to make, that's in the neighborhood of 30 hours or so. I didn't keep good track of time on this once. I ended up with a total of 5 hyperbolic segments for oral arms and over a dozen tentacles. I hope that you find it impressive when you see it. I'll of course post photos here tomorrow or you can pop by my Facebook page or I imagine my etsy shop some time later today if you're curious.

Other than that, there was a lot of normal weekend relaxing along with going to see Guardians of the Galaxy with the family. I was absolutely and thoroughly entertained, by the way. I really can't think of much else to share though.

Today I plan to get all the new jellyfish stuff taken care of and then I was thinking of making another in blues, maybe one in purples. I feel like I should have a variety of them made up as long as I have no orders to worry about. I'm kind of hoping that they will be perceived as great holiday gifts in a few months. If not, at least they are pretty to look at and they give me a worthwhile project when sales are slow. Well, here's to a busy tatting week ahead.

Let There Be Light

Well I had quite the day yesterday. I started out with a pair of earrings that needed making and then I moved on to my first problem of the day. I had acquired small LED lights that I wanted too use in the jellyfish. They twist on and off and are fairly small, but also kind of chrome in color and just hanging them inside would make them very obvious and I couldn't have that. My first task was making a light cozy. It only took a few tries before I had the right shape and now it hides in the oral arms of the jellyfish much better. I added a hook to the bell and to the light, so that it can be removed and the batteries can be changed. It's so small the battery won't last too long, but that's was we sacrifice for size.

Speaking of the jellyfish, they both got listed after this little problem was solved. Also, wonderfully, the blue one already has a home.  The other one here is still waiting for one. Honestly I am in complete shock that either one of them sold so quickly. I struggled with pricing on these a lot. It's always difficult to price for skill and time when you also want it to not be too expensive. When I settled on a price I could live with, I assumed that they would just sit in the shop as an art display for a long time until they found just the right person. I guess for once, just the right person had already seen it.



I'm also still at work on the larger on in vintage ecru. The bell is complete and I finished one oral arm yesterday with an additional row. I think that put my clock at about 4 hours just for that one part. I think for this one I will do 4 of them, but the others will have only the two rows. Then once they're finished it's onto the tentacles. There is a small chance that I will get this one finished over the weekend, but I'm not holding my breath. Once it's done I will try to make another smaller one in blues, though to keep each piece as individual as possible, I think the colors will be changed up a bit. I may just reverse the two bell colors. I am still just giddy that one has a home and here's to the others finding one as well.