Maybe

Schooling yesterday took quite a bit longer than usual as we were trying to get some more work samples put together that forced both kids to do some serious writing. Both of them are creative enough, but lack the desire or confidence to write whatever comes out of their heads, so I have to cajole and encourage through the whole process to keep it moving forward. I assume one day they'll just write whatever comes out like I seem to do everyday. It certainly isn't literature, but it gets my point across.

I did manage to eek out a little time for tatting. I decided to try the bracelet idea and for the first go, I simply attached two of the larger motifs together with a hook on one side. It fit me just fine, but it won't fit a larger wrist at all. The other disadvantage to this version is that the hook has to be on the side of the wrist in order to get the motif centered. It doesn't bother me, but I can imaging it's not the best selling point, so maybe I just made this one for me, or I'll give it away maybe. I think today I'm going to try it with the two smaller motifs on the sides. I'll have to modify them a bit so the size isn't too big, but I think I have it worked out in theory.

After that I really do want to try making it into a bit, noisy necklace. I haven't made anything very large scale since the jellyfish and since only one of those found a home, aside from the two I gifted, it doesn't feel like it was a very successful enterprise. I know I shouldn't judge design success by sales, but it's hard not to. So, I guess that's the plan for today, more playing with the new motif until I can coax it into something useful.

I'm Designing Again

Everything went pretty much as expected for the first day back to everything normal. The kids complained a bit at their schooling, but not so much that it was difficult to get through it in a reasonable amount of time. Then once I was ready to have a nice sit, I got a tiny bit of inspiration. I was tempted at first to get out some paper and draw it out, but instead went with my usual, 'tat it and hope for the best' method. I did have a couple of false starts before I hit on the formula to create the look I was going for. This was the first bit that worked. It was done in one over crowed round so that I could sit the smaller rings just in front of the larger ones creating a layered look.

I wasn't done yet though. I went onto a second round, though this is usually where I ruin what was interesting about the first round. This time I was uncharacteristically proud of my work. I actually think that the second round enhanced what was interesting and gave it a beautiful shape. I know, I'm not often this complimentary to my own creations, but I really liked it.

I wanted to try a third round, but by this point I was absolutely terrified that I would just ruin it. So I started from the beginning
again so I could see the two different pieces side by side. Surprisingly once I made up a third layer, I was still happy with the results. I'm really hoping it feels new and interesting to other people as well though.

I'm not certain what's next for these. I'm thinking of perhaps joining some 2 and 3 round ones together to create a large statement necklace with maybe a few other elements. Or maybe just two 3 round ones for a doily style bracelet. Whatever I do manage to make, at least I'm designing again and it feel pretty good to be back at it.

Normality Restored

Here we are, back at normality. The kids are back to schooling and the husband is back to work. I anticipate lots of grumbling as the day progresses, but I am quite happy to be back to a schedule. It will hopefully allow me to get me rear in gear and see if I still have a design or two hiding in my brain.

Let's see, weekend recap. There was a little tatting as I've been quite lucky to start the year with a few sales. That gave me a few things that needed tatting. We also managed to watch a few more movies with the kids and they played video games so much I've got player select music suck in my head. We had my sister and her kids over to play for quite a few hours on Saturday as well. She requested a pair of the same fingerless gloves I made for the kids, so that gave me an quick knitting project for the rest of the weekend. I finished it last night though, so still looking for a new one. My hair got freshly dyed and my oldest daughter decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced, so we got that done as well. It was a pretty packed weekend.

The last thing we did was take down Christmas and put the school table back out yesterday afternoon. The children were not happy about this at all, and it was an exhausting task, but it feels so nice to have everything back to normal. Here's to the week and the year ahead continuing to be productive and successful.

Day One

I tried to start the year out productively at least. I finished my arm warmers first off. Good thing too, it's been getting pretty cold around these parts and they are comfy and warm. Okay, it's not North nor Midwest cold, but cold for central California anyway. Once that was wrapped, I read one of my Christmas gifts, the graphic novel, The Wrenchies. It was definitely an odd way to start the year as it was quite a dense read, but beautiful...in a disturbing way. After that it was tea and tatting.

I got a couple of pieces remade for the shop and then I did the most cliched thing of the day, I cleaned and organized my desk and surrounding area. I'm always surprised that I don't find buried treasure under the pile of receipts I let build up. Then it was back to the couch for a little more tatting. I have plenty of leftover yarn from my knitting project, so I'm also looking out for another back up knitting project. I was quite happy and a little relieved, to receive a couple of orders yesterday in the shop, but it would be foolish of me to assume that things would actually continue to pick up in January. A back up project will definitely be needed and I'm hoping by next week my creativity will have rested enough to start designing a bit again.

Have a Good One

Happy 2015 my friends! While I'm not certain it was the right way to spend the last day of the year, I spent 12 hours glued to the television. We watched all three extended versions of The Lord of the Rings movies. Yes, even the kids sat through them all. I also managed to almost finish the other wrist warmer because that was a hell of a lot of sitting time. I feel like I should stand a lot to make up for it today, but I really have no plans to do so.

I did get one more sale yesterday in the shop using my coupon code that expires today. So this is your last chance to use it as well. It would be wonderful to both end last year and start this one with a sale in my etsy shop. The code is 'YEAREND' and it's good for 25% off any purchase over $10 in my store. I do have a couple of small things to tat up for that order, but they'll have to wait to get mailed until tomorrow since it's a postal holiday. So I guess I have a little knitting, a little tatting and plenty of time to spend with the family on this first day of the year. Here's hoping that it's the start of a good one!