It could look like I was sitting on my hands, but actually, I've been busy enough to keep my original 11 or 12-fingers moving.  (That's another story, for another day, but yes, I probably did start out with extra fingers and no, it wasn't an advantage!)  Taught some fun things in January in Tampa at the Sunshine Tatters gathering, a good example of a small tatting gathering that's so beautifully run and such a good place for sharing and learning that it remains a high point of the year, whatever else is going on.  I taught this there (Ocean Waves Coaster)

among other things, and it was really fun.  Then, I went to Newton, New Jersey to teach there, and taught this (Best Friends Coaster)

which was also really enjoyable.  What makes teaching such a treat always boils down to one thing: the people!  People who tat have one main thing in common - they're extraordinarily nice.  Or maybe I'm prejudiced?

Lately I've been working on patterns to submit to the Palmetto Tatters Guild (which I can't show yet) which  was also a lot of work.  However, the result is always worth it, because when they select patterns for you to teach, you're ready to roll, which means you can really enjoy getting ready to go and then being there because the worry of preparation already happened months earlier.  Pretty smart!

It's why I did these patterns for the Finger Lakes Tatting Group's Tatting Seminars in Lodi for this comingApril (Picnic Blanket Coaster and Bears Just Want to Have Fun coaster) back in September!  That was then, and now we're immersed in the practicalities of putting together the nuts and bolts of the conference, planning food and goodie bags and answering questions about lodging and how classes run and trying out other peoples' patterns.  And for me, spring cleaning, which is, to be honest, no fun at all.

Just when I said, "whew!  That's done, now I can..." almost before I could put that into words, another email fell into my inbox saying something to the effect of could we please have a photo of what you're teaching in June?  So...  here it is! (The African Violet Coaster.  Do we see a theme developing?)

  And I've just written up the pattern AND found a far easier way to tat this than the way I originally did it,  and yes, I promise, if you show up at the Buffalo Niagara Frontier Heritage Lace Guild in Amherst New York on June 4, we are going to have a lot of fun here, too.  (It's at 3755 Tonawanda Creek Road in Amherst, and information will be going up somewhere on the web soon, but if you need more information, write to me (threads@empacc.net) and I'll send it to you.

So tonight, I finished the African Violet Coaster and made a flourless chocolate cake to eat with champagne for Valentine's Day and finished these. 

They were supposed to be for Christmas, but other things got in the way.  Please note, they'll supply the necessary warmth because they are, of course, RED.  And this is the perfect night for Bill to try them out because we've had below zero temperatures and probably will again tonight, which give red socks  their reason to be here after all.  Yup, just checked.  It's already below zero and heading further down before it's finished tonight.

So tonight I've