Wonderful tatting seminars and lace days – three in a row! Those who were there know that Hector was fabulous. All the glitches and hitches happened BEFORE the event and got dealt with; for all of us attending, everything just got better and better. You can see pictures at fingerlakestatting.com. Does it look busy and concentrated and smiley? Yup. Not seen are the rapt expressions on our faces as we got into the various casseroles and shepherd’s pies of our Saturday night dinner. While you can’t taste them through a blog, know they were amazing! Maybe next time we should have some photos of the food, too? Then on to Spokane for the Shuttlebirds Tatting Days which were, as always, terrific. I love the time there but dread the 3-flight red-eye home… which this time was fine until we were about to land in Ithaca, then pulled out of our descent into a climb. It was overcast and the radar was out. But since I’m writing this, I obviously got home safely, only an hour later than planned. May 5 was the Amherst Museum Lace Guild’s day, I wasn’t teaching, just vending and enjoying. Lots of great people, a wonderful lecture by a costumer so dedicated (can’t remember her name, though) she bought the house next door to her home just for storing and working on conserving clothing. And what clothing! Garments from three centuries, maintained in beautiful condition and well understood and explained by this non-lacemaking textile person.

Needing a slight break from tatting, I began crocheting, first to make some hot-pads I’d seen and couldn’t figure out until I found the pattern online at www.mielkesfarm.com/diagonal_hotpad.htm The original two were made as a house-present for the person I stayed with; problem is once I got started, I found they were addictive. Like a good vampire, I inoculated the Wednesday night knitters with the same pattern, which I now know by heart, because it’s totally straightforward. Then I made baby afghans, because two people of my acquaintance had/ or will have little girls. One for T.;

the other for J., a young father my daughter used to babysit. J. doesn’t have his yet, but I don’t think he’ll read this blog.

And finally, planning for the Fringe Element tatters in September, I started playing with prototypes for new amulet bag patterns. This is a tease for their wonderful event (see fringetatters.ca) in September; the actual pattern will be somewhat different. The event is in Canada, west of Toronto in Cambridge, Ontario. I’ll be bringing out a book of amulet bag patterns late in 2012 or early 2013, and other versions of these will be in them.