The current project is huge – a quilt our tatting group began as a fund-raiser. 28 quilt squares were given out for embroidery at last April’s Tatting Conference – these are either strawberries or flowers, pre-printed on pink fabric, which seemed to be perfect for our upcoming heart-themed conference in April of 2012. Seemed straightforward – the embroidered squares were to be returned by late August. Which was when most of them did come back. The plan was to take the finished quilt top to the machine quilter before the end of September.

Fast forward to December when we had a total of 18 – count’em, and we did, many times, and couldn’t come up with more than 18 finished squares, plus a few around still in progress, including several not yet returned.

So Sally, one of our members, took two squares to work on, I took three more, and last week, two more partially finished squares were returned. I’ve been spending quite a lot of time listening to books on tape and embroidering. I just read on-line that the most skilled “factory’ embroiderers can only work 5 hours a day because of the intense concentration and the potential for hand injuries. I can understand why. After about 16 hours, I’ve got the two partially-completed squares finished now, three more still to go. Then all the squares need to be washed, ironed and trimmed to size before being laid out and assembled into a quilt. (Stay tuned – it will be absolutely gorgeous when it’s complete!)



In the meantime, still have one more end-of-the-year article to complete; and of course the final Christmas present, which I put the finishing stitches into today. These are Bill’s annual Christmas socks. They’re red, because as anyone who’s been in my knitting class can recite, tongue-in-cheek, RED IS WARMER. Or so Bill is convinced. These are particularly nice, made of washable merino and sock yarn, two strands held together. This was an intensive sock year, in the holiday season alone I made five pairs – luckily three of those pairs were for kids.

I’m taking off Christmas Day to do some different needlework.

resolutions...

It’s not the new year yet, but this seems like a perfect time to make resolutions anyway… Maybe because I’ve finished almost all of my holiday projects, including a few extras that got added in “just because.”
And having resolved, I’ve started… sort of, anyway. Resolution 1 – to use my stashes of stuff, [particularly the stuff I’ve been holding onto forever for no particular reason]. Okay, some of the things I held onto were because they seemed good and useful; some were given to me, some followed me home. I particularly like cotton, and I wouldn’t mind having more of it… No! No! Down girl! For now I’m going to work on having just a little less of it. So I began Saturday by crocheting dishcloths… I made a few. I also finished a few projects that can’t be shown yet – or ever, come to think of it, since they’re already wrapped up and put in the boxes of those who will open them on Christmas. But here’s a hat (sort of seen at the top of the photo) made from three interesting strands comprising mohair, nylon, metallic, wool, acrylic and, of all things, linen.

Here’s the plan – by this time next year, I will have used up, sold or given away at least four of those large Rubbermaid tubs filled with stuff. This does not include Seneca Santa yarn (I’ve got seven tubs of that) which is given away free for the asking, to those who will knit and crochet mitten and hat sets for Seneca Santa. (We’re starting to work towards 2012 now).




Looking for other things, I came across this yarn, which is available to (an) other home(s) – temporarily. It’s mostly Lion Brand “Jiffy” – a bulky acrylic yarn great for quick projects and kids’ stuff. There are 12 balls of “Midnight blues” – enough for a good-sized throw, I’d think; 6 of “taupe” (I see teddy bears, amigurumi and otherwise) 4 “Springfield” (green and purples), 2 of Duluth (that’s the pink/red/magenta blend) and 5 skeins of a much lighter weight lavender acrylic + 2 more of the same where the skeins were partly started.. anyone interested may have any of these for $1 a ball plus shipping – whole groups only. Anyone who wants the light lavender gets all 7 balls for the cost of 5. Want all of it? Then shipping is free… I will be advertising elsewhere, too. After December 30, I’ll be turning the yarn into that throw, those teddy bears, and other good stuff – unless someone stops me. I'll update as I go, with more stash-busting/ and as things disappear.

UPDATE: The 12 skeins of Midnight blues have a new home and a new purpose - the other yarn remains available. If anyone wants all of what's left, the shipping is still free for the remainder.

Santa’s workshop continues busy with all kinds of knitting and “stuff” I can’t show here. Our tatting group met here on Saturday and tatted snowflakes – mine was tatted in size 60, but I gave it away before photographing it. Possibly I’ll do a few more and next time I’ll take photos.

Then our spinning group met Sunday, and our sweet mother-to-be (Jen, are you reading this? You really ARE sweet!) who’s also a tatter was able to unwrap her gift. The hearts on the quilt were tatted, knitted and crocheted (including one butterfly) by Neil, Ruth, Dani, Karey, Ginny, Sally, and Nancy. I made the quilt and sewed the hearts on. Everyone please take note of the middle heart in the second row up from the bottom. It’s the most complicated one and was tatted by Sally who always says she can’t tat – and also had to adapt the pattern because the joins as written were difficult for a left-handed tatter.

We think even the baby was pleased – there even seemed to be a little applause (or at any rate, movement) from the as-yet unborn “T.” Then the spinning group went on to explore llama fiber, removing guard hairs as we spun some amazingly soft stuff. The llama fleece came from Jen, whose father-in-law raises them. I bought a llama blanket (whole fleece) I’ll start processing after the holidays, if I can wait that long.

The garden is done, but here’s the tribble harvest (so far). They were perfect Thanksgiving knitting. No one actually asked “what are you doing?” because I was obviously knitting something with a great sense of purpose, even if it was little. Each time I finished one, I started right in on another. I need them for giving to members of my exercise class (at least a dozen there) and to various other people for presents (at least a dozen more.) I brought them to work with me, I took them with me to a crafts fair, where I knit them standing up. They’re wonderfully addictive – like potato chips, you simply can’t stop with one!

And what are they good for? These double-sided, knitted powder-puff-sized objects can be used for washing faces or dishes (choose one or make several tribbles). the pattern is someone else’s brainchild and can be found here. There are still tribbles going on…and um...other things. (Don't ask me what, I've been wrapping all morning.)

Of COURSE I’ve been involved in other creative endeavors, most of which I can’t show yet - a monster amount of hats and mittens, some for craft shows, some for Seneca Santa- these all left home before I could photograph them. Also work, but that's another matter. Suffice it to say the tatting shuttles have been laid aside for the moment – but the knitting needles are smokin’!



Here’s a closeup - the yarn used was Bernat Handicrafter cotton in a color called "Psychedelic" and a link to the pattern http://1870pearl.typepad.com/TRIBBLE2.pdf
And now, to wrap these beauties ...

This morning I picked up my friend June for breakfast. We drank tea, ate lots of pancakes, talked about all the important fibery things in life, and then after I wrote all the names on pieces of paper, folded them and put them in a box, June pulled two winners, first asking me whether the pieces were identical in size and fold. Of course, they were.

Then we did a quick fiber tour of the studio and the barn and came up with three bags of yarn June could take home, and one I’ve got to wash before she’ll touch it. The “gotta wash” pile is part of a larger stash I inherited from a neighborhood knitter with an old dog, non-opening windows, a smoker in the family and some other issues compounded with the birch pollen it acquired while it was being aired this spring. Most of the stash is in five large tubs in the barn, also in three double-bagged black plastic trash bags, with dryer sheets and mothballs, which didn’t improve it much. The freshly-washed yarn gets mailed to her when she returns to her winter home.


Robert asked about the lime marmalade. I started with 9 limes, a grapefruit and a lemon. Sliced it all very, very thin – 1/16 inch strips are ideal, but most of them were a shade thicker. Put it all in a 6 quart pot with about 2 cups of water and started to cook it. After about 15 minutes, I checked the recipe on the Sure-Jell light box – nothing like doing things in the right order. However, as luck would have it, I did begin with the 6 cups of prepared fruit (they suggested 5 ½) but because I was doing a Seville-style marmalade, I hadn’t done the fancy stuff about separating fruit and rind, peeling off the pith and boiling it separately and so forth. I just went ahead with the directions. As soon as the Sure-Jell entered the mix, it began jelling beautifully. I added the sugar, brought it back up to boil as directed, and it was done. The jars are mostly olive jars- one held jam, about 12 years ago; another once held maraschino cherries, which we couldn't quite bring ourselves to eat. I washed them in the dishwasher, then sterilized jars and tops in boiling water. They all sealed… though I had my doubts about one of them, so I suppose I’ll make the ultimate sacrifice and keep it. It’s very, very good.

Oh yes, the winners are Jennifer and Martha. Congratulations! I’ll be doing this again, by the way. Thank you all for reading and also for the nice things you-all said.

As of today, the last issues of the November Tatting Times are in the mail. Every issue, I’ve got a favorite pattern, and this “Christmas cookies” design is the current fave. It uses the ‘wandering wheel’ technique and was simply a pleasure to tat. I’m thinking I’ll do it again in a variegated, just for the fun of it. It looks smaller than it actually is because it’s sitting on a large dinner plate – it’s actually a little more than 6” across.


The magazine went out in three increments – this is the batch that went out Friday.



And here’s what I was doing when I wasn’t tatting or knitting (or working) - the jam is on the top shelf, then heading downwards, tomatoes and peaches, more peaches, more tomatoes, plums and the last two jars of last year’s sauerkraut, then a full (unseen) shelf of sauerkraut beneath that. You also can’t see the six market baskets with more canned tomatoes, applesauce, Catawba grape jam (though it might remain as a sort of sauce)… and no one can see the lime marmalade I’m planning to make on Friday.

Back to tatting and Tatting Times – I’m starting a major winter de-stash. If you are a Tatting Times reader, add a comment below and you have one of two chances to win a batch of tatting goodies including (among the goodies) a skein of my hand dyed thread. Winner will be chosen at random November 6 in the early morning.

Nervous knitting is the thing to do when you can’t think of anything else you want to do, ort he knitting is happening when there’s other things going on, or any other time one wants to knit without paying close attention to what’s happening on the needles.

When the weather is iffy and the sort of in-between weather we have now, too chill in the morning to go out with uncovered hands but not-yet-ready-for-gloves weather. In the chill depths of winter, they’re great over magic gloves. As you can see, I made a dozen pairs by the time the photo was taken. I then made four more pairs; took them to the work… and brought only 10 pairs home. Or maybe I should say 10 ¾, because I was knitting in the quiet spaces and almost got another pair done.

Want to make your own? You’ll need a quartet of double pointed knitting needles, sizes 9 to 10 ½, depending on whether the thread used is super bulky, really bulky or simply sort-of chunky. Actually, I pay less and less attention to the size of knitting needles if they’re sort of in range. Using the same considerations, you’d begin by casting on 24-30 stitches on three needles, knit around in a K1, P1 rib for about 20-26 rounds, then bind off 7 stitches, immediately casting on 9 more. That’s the thumb opening, and you’ll knit the first and last cast-on stitch with the first and last stitch of the original group on the needle. Continue knitting around for 8 more rows, bind off and sew in all ends. Make another exactly like the first.



Actually, I’m not only knitting right now, I’m also tatting the final designs for the November issue of Tatting Times… but tatting does not come to work with me on a busy day!

And really, you don't want to know all the other things I did in September and the first part of October - it would just make you tired! But, okay, here's a little of what I did since I last posted - attended two conferences, one teaching tatting, one learning more about writing. Bought a lot of yarn, some for the shop, a slightly embarrassing amount for me. (But hey, a lot of it is turning into fingerless gloves!) Sang with the band, Mayhem, at various religious services... and rehearsed. Wrote a batch of articles. Picked apples and made applesauce and bought cabbage and made sauerkraut (not yet finished fermenting). And, oh yes, work - welcome extra work because it's the busy harvest season, which is followed by a long winter of less employment.