Technical Difficulties

Well, the weekend was jammed packed with things to do. I even got one order on Friday that gave me a custom order to tat up. Of course with no mail for the holiday today, it's still sitting on my desk waiting to go to its new home. 

Now my computer is having issues, so I'm typing the rest of this post on my phone. Needless to say, today is not looking up. I was going to recap the whole weekend, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow. Typing like this is annoying, sorry.

Not Much, Really

I probably should have just skipped writing this morning like I did earlier this week, but I'm awake and not distracted by anything, so I can't seem to make myself not do it. Yesterday was schooling, watching season finales of television shows and a little picking up around the house. I decided to save the real cleaning for today. When it comes down to it, I prefer the rush cleaning right before we have guest so that no one, or cat, has time to reverse it.

While I did do some knotting on the Armenian lace, it's now so large that I cannot even get halfway around once during the day. Essentially, progress has slowed on the piece so much that it'll be months before I have any appreciable progress to share. In fact at this rate I figure it'll be a table cloth by the time I send the kids to college.

The weekend should be pretty packed since we have all the kid's birthday traditions to get on with. Since her birthday was in the middle of the week, she had to wait for her party and trip to the zoo. Luckily we have one extra weekend day to recover from it and maybe my shop will wake while we're busy and I'll have tatting to get on with when the new week starts.

Again

Let's see, we were back to schooling yesterday which was followed by a nice walk outside. Then I did actually get on with some tatting. It was just this same choker though. I've made this one a dozen times it seems. I do love making it though. It's a nice meditative piece that I know by heart. I also love that I don't have to bust out the pliers and findings when I finish tatting. When I put down the needle and crochet hook, this one is ready to wear.

Other than that, I did some more reading and then some gardening. Well, weed pulling really. Gardening sounds better though. I was outside long enough to get my first sunburn of the season. I guess I need to be a little better with the sunscreen now that the sun is out more. The next couple of days may be more devoted to cleaning than I'd like since I've sort of let the house rest in it's natural state. I guess what I'm saying is don't expect much from me until next week.

Listed

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I was a bit distracted in the morning getting ready for the oldest child's birthday. She and her sister still had another day of state testing though, so I was able to finally get the fusion lace bracelet and pendant listed in my shop when they were gone.

Once I picked the kids up though, we were off shopping. I decided that she was old enough to enjoy a nice girls days shopping for her birthday and as it turns out, I was right. We didn't spend much money, but we had a good time. Then it was out for Indian food for dinner.

They're back to regular schooling for the rest of the week and I still haven't come up with a new idea for the fusion lace. Hopefully I come up with something new soon. It would be a shame to let it stop with this one set of pieces. 

Bracelet

We had a pretty lazy weekend around these parts. Sorry, I'm reading a novel set in 30's rural south and I fear the dialect the writer is using is contagious. Anyway, there were some errands run and some movies watched, but mostly we're just preparing for next weekend when we have the oldest child's birthday get together.

I did knuckle under and tat and knot up what I think should make a fine bracelet using the hybrid lace idea. It took me forever just to decide to join the rings straight together and then another forever to figure out the best way to extend the ends. I want to get this and the simple pendant in the shop today, but it might not happen as the kids need to be shuttled to and from their state testing today and tomorrow. The older child is old hat at it by now, but this is the youngest's first time, so I'm not certain what to expect. Hopefully I'll get a bit of time for the task, but if not, there's always tomorrow.

Sorry

Okay, I didn't do anything yesterday except walk and read. I did start working on a hybrid lace bracelet, but I just didn't get far enough to even take a progress picture. I know I need to find a bit more of a balance between the moving and the lace making, but I think I'm still in the over-correcting phase. I'm sure it would all be easier if I did have orders that needed making because then I'd have to make time for both, but since that's not the case, the fitbit and moving is winning.

Hopefully something good will happen in my shop over the weekend that forces the issue. Otherwise I'll just power read through another few novels while walking through the house. At least I won't be sedentary anymore. That's something, right?

Earrings

More walking and reading yesterday. I seem to have gotten a wee bit addicted to moving more during the day. I hope that I can keep it up, well maybe toned down a bit, but still moving. I'm feeling pretty good as I go about my day. I did manage to steal a little sitting time while catching up with my DVR, so I got a pair of earrings made up and listed in my etsy shop.

I didn't stiffen them after all. The outer rim is stiff enough that they hold their shape just fine.  I also made up one more in this same cream shade that I'll likely get listed as a pendant today. I was also contemplating stringing a few together for a bracelet, but I haven't yet done any measurements to see if they would be a good size for it. I guess that's on tap for today. I am still hoping for a little more inspiration with the technique, but nothing has sparked yet. I'm sure I'll eventually think of something.

Hybrid Lace

In my new quest to get more exercise, I've taken to actually walking around the house while I read. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, and it is, but it's also working. I do the treadmill in the morning after I write here, then there's a walk outside with the kids after schooling. Instead of sitting down on the couch in between I'm alternating between sitting on the exercise ball and just walking the halls and stairs. Of course this is pretty easy since I haven't had any orders that needed me to sit down and get to work. I finished the novel I was reading and I was curious about whether I was going to be able to tat on the ball or not, so I started a bit of a doodle.

I started out with a small tatted daisy in the center and then switched to knotting. I liked it in black, but I like it even more in the cream thread I used second. Of course that might be partly because I had the hang of the shape down better in the second one. I even made one up in some orange Lizbeth thread as well. The first two are cebelia and I wanted to make sure it worked up the same in both kinds of thread.

I think it might make a lovely delicate pendant and even earrings. Though since the additions of the Armenian lace makes the piece  more delicate than tatting alone, I might need to stiffen them for that usage. I think I will make some more of them today and maybe even play with the hybrid lace concept a bit to see if I can come up with anything else useful. Here's to the tiniest spark of inspiration.

Not Much

Another fairly uneventful day, except for the mail. In it, there was a package that was returned to sender. I sent it to a customer weeks ago priority shipping so that it would arrive before a certain date. The post office marked it as "Attempted - Not Known". I can't begin to guess what that's suppose to mean, but the weird part to me is that the customer didn't let me know that it had not yet arrived. Personally I keep an eagle eye on packages that I know are coming to me and would certainly be investigating if something didn't show up when it was suppose to. This isn't the first time this sort of thing has occurred either. I've left a message with the customer about this one, but no answer yet.

Other than that incident, the day was all reading, knotting and trying to get in more movement throughout the day. So far I'm doing well. I just hope that I don't lose momentum when schooling wraps up next month. I don't have any lace pictures so I thought I drop a few wildflower pictures from our walks instead. At least they brighten up the place a bit, right?

Weekend Recap

No sales over the weekend to keep me busy, so I focused on other things. Last weekend I got a fitbit hr for Mother's Day. I call it my new electronic overlord and I've been trying to please it with movement since I first put it on my wrist. It's funny because you'd think something as simple as tracking steps, stairs climbed, heart rate, and a few other things couldn't possible have any bearing on how active you are, but that little wristband is pretty useful. Since I stay at home and my hobbies and job pretty much have me sitting all day, this reminder to get up and move is great.

I spent much of the weekend adjusting some of my more sedentary behaviors to comply with the overlord. For instance, while I spent time reading and knotting on the Armenian lace doily, I did so while perched on an exercise ball instead of cozy on the couch. I've also started the habit of just going up and down the stairs when I have the time and taking longer walks when we have the time to go out. I've got a ways to go before I feel like I'm actually healthy, but if I can tat, read, and knot while balancing on an exercise ball instead of passive on the couch, I think I'll stick with it.

Lap

I opted to not do any tatting yesterday and instead focused some energy on reading and the Armenian lace. I haven't measured it in a while, but that's okay since I'm fairly certain it hasn't grown in any real measurable way. It is definitely a lap full of lace though.

I've gotten no new orders in the shop since last weekend, so I really don't have anything left that needs making. I also don't have any plans for the weekend with the family, which I'm actually looking forward to. It's been awhile since there was nothing planned and I do love a good spot of nothing occasionally. Maybe something will interrupt the nothing and then I'll at least have something to share on Monday.

Slowing Down

I finished up one tatted necklace yesterday morning and then spent a lot of time reading. As surprising as it sounds, even to me, I think my hands needed a break. I have been tatting pretty much nonstop for three or four days now. Which used to be nothing, but as things have slowed down over the years, it's quite unusual. By the evening I was knotting on the Armenian lace while watching television, so I guess my hands didn't need a huge break.

I do still have a couple of things I could tat again for the shop, but nothing that I would consider vital. I think it's going to be one of those, play it by ear, days. Well, that and cross my finger for more sales, but that's really most days.

Mask and Necklace

Another busy tatting day, but this time I took a couple of pictures to prove that I got some work done. I didn't have any free moments to work wile schooling yesterday, so it wasn't until afterwards that I was able to finish up the mask I was working on. I really only had to finish covering the wires with thread, but that is quite the tome consuming task.

After that was wrapped I had this necklace to remake. It's one of my first designs over a decade ago now. Eventually I made quite a few pieces with this tatted daisy at it's center or as a starting motif. Funny thing about this piece in particular is that I've had to add more motifs to the sides as my tatting has tightened up over the years. I used to get away with just four small ones on the sides, then I had to use five. I'm up to six now just to keep the piece at the right length. I have a similar problem with other pieces I designed that early. It just gives me a fresh design problem to solve.

I still have another necklace to finish as well as a pair of earrings I should get to, so I still have some tatting in queue for today. I haven't touched the Armenian lace in days, maybe even a week. I'd like to spend at least a little time with it today, but I'll gladly trade that for more orders in the shop. Just putting that out into the Universe.

At Work

It's funny, I worked hard all day tatting, but because I failed to take single picture of what I was doing, I have less to write about this morning than I usually do. I made two pendants in the morning while I schooled the kids. I had to make two, because I couldn't find the one that I'm supposed to have on hand. I will likely find that one right after I ship the order.

Once schooling was over I started work on the custom mask order and I still haven't finished that one. I've never been able to get this particular one made in less than two day, so even if I hadn't started with the pendants I would still be working on this one. After the mask is done there are still two necklaces I have to remake for the shop and a pair of earrings. Hopefully I'll at least remember to take a couple of pictures to spruce up tomorrow's post.

Weekend Recap

Well, it was definitely one packed weekend. Saturday started with a little cleaning and then there was a fundraiser BBQ to eat. That was followed by a trip to the local comic book shop for Free Comic Book Day. That place was unusually packed. Finally we walked down the street to the theater and watched the new Captain America movie, which really was quite great. The picture is me and my youngest before the movie. By the time we got home, it was a just a quick meal and to bed really.

On Sunday I had a rather lovely Mother's Day. The gifts were thoughtful, the kids let me watch The Mummy, my guilty pleasure movie, and I got plenty of relaxing time as well. We had my mother and in-laws over for dinner in the evening and since we didn't invite the rest of the family, it was pretty quiet.

One more great thing about the weekend is that I got three different orders in my shop. The first will require me to remake a necklace and the second actually contains a mask that needs to be custom made. The third also has a couple of small pieces for me to remake. This means that even if the rest of this weeks is quiet, I have plenty of tatting to get on with. So here's to the nice, busy weekend ahead of me.

Friday

There was a little knotting, some reading, and thankfully plenty of tatting yesterday. I didn't get
anymore orders, but the necklace I had to remake took up most of my time. I'm sure I would have finished it a bit faster except that we had lunch out with my in-laws and that grabbed a healthy sized chunk of the day away.

I don't even remember where the idea for this piece came from. I want to say it was a vintage edging I modified, but my mind is a blank on its origin story. I'm sure if I searched through the blog I'd find it, but I'm far too lazy for that nonsense, especially this early in the morning.

 The weekend is packed with all sorts of plans, the new Marvel movie, Free Comic Book Day, a fundraiser BBQ lunch, and Mother's Day. With all that going on I don't really think I'll even have time to worry about whether I have tatting to do or not. I may also need another weekend to recover from this one.

Change of Pace

Yesterday was mostly reading and knotting again, but after lunch I actually got a sale in the shop, so I had a necklace I could tat up for the shop. This is the one I do with the macrame slide clasp. I made it the first time when I was running low on finding supplies and couldn't really justify purchasing more of them. I also made it in one of the most basic edging patterns there is. Well, my own version of it, but it's just ring, chain, repeat. Creating it is a nice, meditative process.

I did finish making the necklace and got it back up in the shop. Just before bedtime I got another necklace sale as well. That means I will start today with a tatting task as well. The last one I sold is a bit more complex than this one, so that should keep me busy most of today. I think that sounds like a fine way to spend the day.

Knotting

Lots of reading and lots of knotting yesterday. I've gotten about 30.5 inches across done which is 78 centimeters, and that sounds better. While it looks pretty laying out in a flat circle, I thought maybe I'd show you what it looks like as I work on it. It lays across my legs, all the way to my ankles while I'm knotting. It just seems bigger to me somehow when you see something else in the photo to give it a sense of scale.

Today is likely to be a repeat of yesterday unless the shop gets roused by a sale or something. I've started to think about designing something new, but I feel like I've made so very many different bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and pendants. It feels a little like, oh, another one, how not original of me. I fear I don't actually have anymore 'original' left in me. Here's hoping that I'm wrong and something will come to me eventually.

Next Ball Of Thread

I sent off that tatted hair piece first thing yesterday and that means I have no tasks to deal with until the customer receives it and makes a decision. That means more knotting. I actually finished up yet another ball of thread yesterday on it. I didn't measure it again though because it's growing so slowly it's probably mere millimeters bigger than the last time I did so. I think I'm going to keep working on the same stitch for quite a few more rounds. I feel like it needs to be at least as wide as the patterned section in the middle of the picture.

Unfortunately this is all I'm working on again as the shop has once again gone quiet. Here's hoping for a little lace making excitement sooner rather than later.

Weekend Recap

Friday was reading and knotting, again. Saturday was a little errand running and a lot of cleaning. That evening we had a pair of my nieces over for the night. I just can't let people who don't live here see how normally lazy I am regarding the house cleaning.

Finally on Sunday I heard back from the customer that I made the prototype head piece for. The request was to purchase the prototype and see it in person before committing to more pieces. So I finished the piece off, actually wrote down the pattern changes just in case and will be shipping it out this morning. If he likes it, then I'll likely be making more of them, if not, at least I got paid for the prototyping and that's pretty rare.

I'm starting this week without any projects again, so there's going to be more Armenian lace knotting I assume. Well that and probably a lot of reading.