Centerpiece

So I was going to write earlier this morning, but my youngest daughter's computer had a heart attack just as she was starting her schooling. I had to sacrifice my laptop to her because let's face it school is far more important than me rambling on about thread projects.

Speaking of thread projects, I actually have one. My shop has gone quiet again, but that's not terribly unusual for this time of the year. I was starting to get a bit antsy when I was asked to create something for the center of a table. I poked around my collection of antique and vintage pattern books and PDF's picking out a few possibilities when I inexplicably found my self inspired to design my own doily.

The first bit was a piece I found in a German book from 1921. I added the flower in the center and then built it out from there as I went. I don't really have a plan going forward other than to make it large enough to serve the purpose as a center piece on a square table. I don't ultimately know if this piece will be the one I remake for the table project, but either way I've gotten to stretch my designing muscles again.

I other news I did finally list the choker I made the other week. The pictures are disappointing partly because I find myself less photogenic as the years go by, but there's nothing for it. At least I managed to get the project across the finish line. So here's that: My Immortal Corsage Necklace.

Ten Days Later

Clearly I've still got a way to go if I'm going for any sort of consistency writing here, but I'll take once a week as a start. I've gotten a couple of orders since I wrote last so I've been keeping busy with making those as well as remaking a few more pieces for my shop. I'm practically forcing myself to make something everyday to get back into the habit. It's a work in progress that involves much stalling, cleaning and occasionally playing video games that serve no purpose.

I sold a immortal corsage bracelet and remade that piece for the first time in a rather long time. Then as I was working on that I recalled that I had made a choker version of it. Of course that was a decade ago so I had so go back through my sold items to figure out how it was that I had done so. Once I found it, I promptly decided to make some changes. The original had flowers with just a single petal round, I added a second. Then I worked on making the structure better between the elements, adding additional joins. I should get it listed in my shop next week, whether permitting, because I'll need new photos to go with the changes.



Other than the tatting, I also did some crochet cording so I could remake an Armenian knotted lace necklace. I had spent much of the last few months crocheting large projects like blanket gifts, so the return to small thread knotting definitely took my fingers some time to get used to again. Thankfully muscle memory is strong and I've been enjoying my return to thread.

Speaking of thread, I had a bit of a panic when I heard that DMC was not going to be importing cébélia thread any longer. I almost exclusively use that thread in size 10 black, so I spent quite some time looking for and then buying boxes of it just in case it becomes too difficult to acquire in the future. I also bought up the entire supply in the only yarn store that carries it near me and they had very little. I'm hoping I'm worried for no reason, but I'll probably buy even more should I run across it. It's not like it goes bad.

Monday

So clearly I'm not going to be back to writing in a scheduled and consistent way. I think I'm just going to have a go at writing when I've got a few pictures to share. For now I imagine they'll just be these sort of in process pictures as I get back to also tatting with a bit more frequency.

I had a couple of pieces that sold during my holiday sale that I wanted to get remade last week. The first one here is my version of the hen and chicks pattern with some Victorian sets instead of regular chains and then repeated on the other side to make a bracelet. The next one is just a simple chain necklace made in a nice curve.

I also had a mask to remake and I got that finished up as well, though I didn't stop for a picture of that one. I think it might take some time before I get back into any sort of good habits with all this, but this is a start. I did get a small order over the weekend that needed making, so I'll get to that today and hopefully that'll give another photo opportunity. I'm also back to homeschooling today after the holiday break and after just a half hour in, we're all already to take another break. It's going to be a long week ahead.

Back to Work

I've been working hard on a mask that was ordered during my sale. It was the only piece that needed to be made before shipping. I just finished working it up despite the best efforts of the cat to distract me, so I should have it in the post to its new owner tomorrow morning.

I have a few cuff bracelets that also sold that I should get tatted up so I can put them back up my shop. I was just waiting for new hook closures to come in the mail before I could start on them and they've just arrived in the mail. I'm going to take a little break this afternoon and then get to work on them as well. Hopefully those will keep me busy and give me some tatting to share here and elsewhere over the next couple of weeks.

Still Alive

Wow, so it's been awhile and I can't imagine there are many people out there that will stumble back into this blog ghost town, but I'm going have a go at writing here again anyhow.

So, let's see, I'm still making lace, though not as often as I once did. My etsy shop's business dried up and with it my motivation to keep creating new pieces. I am still tatting, doing Armenian knotted lace, crochet, painting, and knitting, pretty much anything to keep my hands busy.

I've also been writing fairly regularly, though I've not actually put any of that out into the world yet. There's a finished  urban fantasy novel, a handful of short stories and several WIP's waiting to be finished. I'm hoping to get focused enough to get some of it self-published this year, but it's a scary proposition. It's almost as if writing thousands of words was the easy bit.

In tatting news, I just ran a sale in my shop to hopefully jump start it a bit. It's too soon to tell if it will have any lasting effect, but I needed to do something. I've got some fairly nebulous plans to get some more patterns written up for sale and do an overhaul of my inventory. Again, too soon to tell how all that is going to play out.

This whole past year has been a little creatively unfocused really. I'm going to try and turn that around, but I'm not naive enough to think that a January first proclamation will be enough to keep it going. So, I'm just putting this out into the world. I'm alive, I'm still making things, and I don't plan on stopping.