Looks like it is going to be another day where I cant seem to get going. Its been 5 whole days since I have touched a craft project. I enjoyed working on the last 2 doilies because they take so long to finish therefore I don't have to decide what the next project is. Right now we are also between holiday seasons so I cant base my next craft project, be it tatting, beading, plastic canvas or cross stitch, on what holiday is next. I have been trying to find the perfect baby announcement cross stitch pattern to do for some really good friends that are expecting their first baby in September. So far I have not been able to find one. They don't have a nursery plan yet so I cant base the choice on the decor of the room but I cant wait much longer to start or the birth announcement may become a graduation gift.
I was pretty excited to see my new shuttles and Lizbeth thread in the mail late yesterday but now I cant seem to find a project to do. I have been trying to find something I can do on the plane because we are leaving tomorrow to go back home for a visit. Really the only pattern I have memorized is the little stars I did and I am pretty sure I don't want to do any more of those for a while. I am pretty sure I wont have time to look for a new doily to do so I am hoping something will hit me soon. I am looking forward to trying out my new shuttle so...come on inspiration!!
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
Doily finished!!
Well there is another weekend in the books. It was a pretty fun weekend but very exhausting. We worked production at The Bite of Seattle.This is a food festival that involves over 60 different food and craft vendors and 5 different stages that have live bands that play 40 minutes and they start every hour on the hour. Our part involved setting up the stage and then being responsible for getting different bands set up and then playing a 40 minute set which means we had 20 minutes to get one band completely off the stage and the next band set up and sound checked. Set up day was all day Thursday and then the bands played Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 9pm and Sunday night was tear down and loading out of all the sound equipment and backline gear we provided. We have worked this show for the last 6 years and its always been a highlight of the year.
I cant seem to get going on anything today. I could probably chalk that up to being tired after such a long weekend but I think its more of a matter of being lazy and not wanting to make a decision on what project to start next. I finished my Renulek 2014 doily just before leaving for the festival. I ended up finding several mistakes in the second to the last row so i got my first taste of cutting out 5 inches of elements and then un-tatting several inches so I could tie on in the middle of a row. That was sure not my idea of a fun time tatting as it was hiding lots of ends but it seems to have gone ok. I decided to end this doily at row 11 because I would have done the next rows in the maroon color and that thread seems to be just enough bigger that it caused major bunching in row 8. I used 3 different brands of thread on this one and I am going to call this a lesson learned not to make that mistake again! I still need to clip all the ends off and starch it but this completes my second attempt at a doily.
I cant seem to get going on anything today. I could probably chalk that up to being tired after such a long weekend but I think its more of a matter of being lazy and not wanting to make a decision on what project to start next. I finished my Renulek 2014 doily just before leaving for the festival. I ended up finding several mistakes in the second to the last row so i got my first taste of cutting out 5 inches of elements and then un-tatting several inches so I could tie on in the middle of a row. That was sure not my idea of a fun time tatting as it was hiding lots of ends but it seems to have gone ok. I decided to end this doily at row 11 because I would have done the next rows in the maroon color and that thread seems to be just enough bigger that it caused major bunching in row 8. I used 3 different brands of thread on this one and I am going to call this a lesson learned not to make that mistake again! I still need to clip all the ends off and starch it but this completes my second attempt at a doily.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Motif 18 and 19...Foreigner
Time has absolutely just been flying by. I am almost afraid to blink because it is going by so quickly. The hubby was off work for a week for a company vacation/shutdown and we had a big long list of honey-do's to get done around the house. The biggest project we tackled and completed was stripping and staining our 2000 square foot deck including deck and railings. We did several other small projects one of which was finally mailing off my 4th of July projects I had been working on for a while now. I actually had them mostly completed over a month earlier but once again I sent them out in the mail late so they didn't quite make it by the 4th.
These are #18 in the 25 motif challenge. I made 6 of these which means I made 18 of the little stars. The pattern is called Twinkle Twinkle by Joelle Paulson and it is a very fun pattern to complete. I first tried it with a needle and then I tried the shuttle and I found I liked the way the shuttle one turned out so I ended up doing them all with a shuttle. I am going to call the little star done with the needle motif #19.
We have also done some pretty fun shows in the last couple weeks. During the long 4th of July weekend we worked a couple shows at Quil Ceda casino. These bands were all local bands and most of them were pretty good and not too bad to work. This last weekend we worked an amazing show that was a ton of work but well worth it!
We worked complete production on the Foreigner show!! We set up absolutely everything needed to put on the show. The only thing we didn't set up was the stage as it was already set up. This show involved loading and unloading two 56 foot trucks that were loaded from floor to ceiling with gear and then setting up all the gear. It also involved working with Foreigners road crew loading and unloading and setting up the bands full sized semi-truck that was loaded floor to ceiling with all their gear. The show was awesome and the whole crew was a lot of fun to work with so it was a pretty good weekend.
I had also been working on my doily. I had thought I was making pretty good time on the last couple rows but I found out that I had made several mistakes in row 10. I had started on row 11 when I realized about 13 elements in that I had joined that row wrong so I had to cut it all off. I found right away that I had also forgot to add 4 floating rings in row 10. Thankfully I had recently read a comment from muskaan (thanks tons muskaan) about adding a left off floating ring so I as able to add these without too much grief it just took lots of time. I am hoping that the next couple rows go better.
These are #18 in the 25 motif challenge. I made 6 of these which means I made 18 of the little stars. The pattern is called Twinkle Twinkle by Joelle Paulson and it is a very fun pattern to complete. I first tried it with a needle and then I tried the shuttle and I found I liked the way the shuttle one turned out so I ended up doing them all with a shuttle. I am going to call the little star done with the needle motif #19.
We have also done some pretty fun shows in the last couple weeks. During the long 4th of July weekend we worked a couple shows at Quil Ceda casino. These bands were all local bands and most of them were pretty good and not too bad to work. This last weekend we worked an amazing show that was a ton of work but well worth it!
We worked complete production on the Foreigner show!! We set up absolutely everything needed to put on the show. The only thing we didn't set up was the stage as it was already set up. This show involved loading and unloading two 56 foot trucks that were loaded from floor to ceiling with gear and then setting up all the gear. It also involved working with Foreigners road crew loading and unloading and setting up the bands full sized semi-truck that was loaded floor to ceiling with all their gear. The show was awesome and the whole crew was a lot of fun to work with so it was a pretty good weekend.
I had also been working on my doily. I had thought I was making pretty good time on the last couple rows but I found out that I had made several mistakes in row 10. I had started on row 11 when I realized about 13 elements in that I had joined that row wrong so I had to cut it all off. I found right away that I had also forgot to add 4 floating rings in row 10. Thankfully I had recently read a comment from muskaan (thanks tons muskaan) about adding a left off floating ring so I as able to add these without too much grief it just took lots of time. I am hoping that the next couple rows go better.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Same mistake...different doily
It has been a super brutal last couple of weeks. Holidays away from family never seem to get any easier but I just had to get through 3 of them. It certainly wasn't much fun not getting to give my dad a huge hug on fathers day and then on the heels of that, mine and my dads birthdays are a week apart. That pretty much made the whole week almost impossible to get through. To top that off I went to close row seven only to find that I had missed putting in a thrown ring in the previous row!! AGGGHHH It is the exact same thing I did with my last doily. I cant believe I didnt see it as it was only 3 joins in from where I started the next row.
As mistakes go it was in a pretty good spot to be able to fix it without having to tear out too many elements but the problem was trying to hide a massive amount of ends all in a small space. It also meant trying to open several ring of which I am not so good at. I agonized for a couple of days over the decision whether to fix the mistake or just leave it and deal with it like I did the last doily. I finally just decided to leave the mistake alone because I figured making a weird join in row 8 would be less obvious than trying to hide so many ends in one spot.
The week wasn't completely all terrible, we did end up working a Candlebox show at a casino which was pretty fun. This one was a complete full production show which means we supplied and set up absolutely everything needed to put the show on. The only thing we didn't set up was the stage as it was already there. The hours were super long and the casino was several hours away from home so we got to stay over night at the casino hotel so it was kind of fun being away from home for a few.
I guess you have to take the good with the bad, we can only hope for more good than bad. The hubby can usually find the good in the bad but I don't do so good with that but I keep trying.
As mistakes go it was in a pretty good spot to be able to fix it without having to tear out too many elements but the problem was trying to hide a massive amount of ends all in a small space. It also meant trying to open several ring of which I am not so good at. I agonized for a couple of days over the decision whether to fix the mistake or just leave it and deal with it like I did the last doily. I finally just decided to leave the mistake alone because I figured making a weird join in row 8 would be less obvious than trying to hide so many ends in one spot.
The week wasn't completely all terrible, we did end up working a Candlebox show at a casino which was pretty fun. This one was a complete full production show which means we supplied and set up absolutely everything needed to put the show on. The only thing we didn't set up was the stage as it was already there. The hours were super long and the casino was several hours away from home so we got to stay over night at the casino hotel so it was kind of fun being away from home for a few.
I guess you have to take the good with the bad, we can only hope for more good than bad. The hubby can usually find the good in the bad but I don't do so good with that but I keep trying.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Shuttle addiction
Our weather took a nasty turn for the cold and rainy so its been a good couple of days of just snuggling in and tatting and trying to stay warm. It seems to be even colder when you go from a 90 degree day to down in the 50s. The last 2 rows on my doily have gone pretty well as they are just rings and chains. The repetitiveness of doing a doily seems to be a bit calming so that is a very good thing. It seemed to work pretty well by using my bigger Lacis/Sewmate shuttle for the core/chain thread and using my Aerlit shuttle for the rings. I am pretty sure I am going to order a Moonlight shuttle to see if it holds more thread than the Aerlit. I am getting quite a collection of shuttles and thread, I guess that's what happens when you have an addiction..you just want more and more!
Monday, June 13, 2016
Doily remake!
Well another weekend bites the dust! It seemed like the weekend went
by really quickly. I got to work production on a comedy show on
Saturday at a casino that we hadn't worked at for a while. Its not very
often that I work a show that my husband doesn't work with me so its
was a bit different. Its always a better show when we get to work
together, maybe the worse part of not working together for this show was
the 2 1/2 hour car ride alone and then another 2 1/2 hour car ride home
after working a 12 hour day. The crew I was working the show with are
super fun guys so it was a pretty good day.
Sunday was a pretty lazy day because the hubby also had to work a show alone Saturday night so we both got home really late. I got in a little bit of yard work because it was the first nice day we have had for a while but other than that we didn't get much accomplished.
Earlier in the week I had decided I was just going to do another doily of the same pattern that I had just completed. I had someone in mind that I was going to do the first one for but since I am not super happy with that one I am going to try it again. I am going to be brave and try to do this one with several colors which means quite a few decisions. So far I have already decided on the colors and which colors the first few row are going to be.
The
pink shows up a bit more bright pink than I was hoping it would be but
so far things are going ok. The center is red heart classic in
burgundy, the green is the same thread I used on the last doily which
is Artiste in sweet pea and the pink is Artiste in tropical pink all
thread is size 10.
I also decided to tryout one of my new shuttles. I had ordered an Handy Hands Aerlit shuttle which has a crochet hook on one end and a removable bobbin awhile ago but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. This shuttle has good points and not so good points. I really like the fact that I don't have to constantly look for a separate crochet hook to do joins but the hook sometimes tends to get in the way and it hooks itself on the thread when you least want it to. I love the the fact that I don't have to unwind a shuttle if it has the wrong color thread on it I can just change out the bobbin. I ordered a set of extra bobbins so I think that will be an extra bonus. The down side is I don't think the bobbins hold as much thread so it seems I am having to add thread more often. I have tried to find out how much thread each shuttle holds but I cant seem to find that info out. I think I may have to do a little experiment to find out exactly how much each holds so I will know in the future.
Sunday was a pretty lazy day because the hubby also had to work a show alone Saturday night so we both got home really late. I got in a little bit of yard work because it was the first nice day we have had for a while but other than that we didn't get much accomplished.
Earlier in the week I had decided I was just going to do another doily of the same pattern that I had just completed. I had someone in mind that I was going to do the first one for but since I am not super happy with that one I am going to try it again. I am going to be brave and try to do this one with several colors which means quite a few decisions. So far I have already decided on the colors and which colors the first few row are going to be.
I also decided to tryout one of my new shuttles. I had ordered an Handy Hands Aerlit shuttle which has a crochet hook on one end and a removable bobbin awhile ago but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. This shuttle has good points and not so good points. I really like the fact that I don't have to constantly look for a separate crochet hook to do joins but the hook sometimes tends to get in the way and it hooks itself on the thread when you least want it to. I love the the fact that I don't have to unwind a shuttle if it has the wrong color thread on it I can just change out the bobbin. I ordered a set of extra bobbins so I think that will be an extra bonus. The down side is I don't think the bobbins hold as much thread so it seems I am having to add thread more often. I have tried to find out how much thread each shuttle holds but I cant seem to find that info out. I think I may have to do a little experiment to find out exactly how much each holds so I will know in the future.
Friday, June 10, 2016
First doily complete!!!
OK so I had set aside my doily because I thought that I had done an extra element. I kind of let it frustrate me and it started to get to me so when I finally decided to pick it back up I had it in my mind that I was just going to bail back into it and cut the element off and finish it off. I had already made up my mind that this was going to be the last row because it was already pretty large. I just took a deep breath and cut the element off but after I got to looking closer, I had cut the element off and realized that I didn't need to. It ended up that I was just missing an element in the previous row with which to connect to. It took me a bit to remember that I had made the decision not to go back and fix a missing element in row 4 or 5 and now I am paying for it. I am trying to take this as a live and learn moment but it is super frustrating to work and work and spend hours and hours on something and then have the ending be a mess. This doily has quite a few little things I am not happy with and of course as with every project I do I can pick out every little mistake. I am very critical of every little thing I do. I am very much a perfectionist and it tends to get in the way of lots of things in my world, nothing I do is ever good enough. Thankfully so far my will to succeed has outweighed my fear of failure of never being good enough so I keep trying.
I am still not really sure where this doily is going to live because right now I am a bit frustrated how it turned out so I am not sure if I am going to be blocking it immediately so I just went ahead and took a picture of it and I am going to go ahead and call this #17 in the motif challenge. This is Ranulek Spring 2014 napkin done with #10 Artiste thread and the color is snow pea. I stopped at row 8 because this is already 17 inches across, the pattern actually has 5 more rows. Unfortunately it is going to need blocking because it is not laying very flat. I didn't tat as tight as I normally do and the thread is not very stiff. It feels good to complete a large project but right now I am not so proud because of the last join and all the little mistakes so I will just set it aside and decide what to do with it a bit later.
I am still not really sure where this doily is going to live because right now I am a bit frustrated how it turned out so I am not sure if I am going to be blocking it immediately so I just went ahead and took a picture of it and I am going to go ahead and call this #17 in the motif challenge. This is Ranulek Spring 2014 napkin done with #10 Artiste thread and the color is snow pea. I stopped at row 8 because this is already 17 inches across, the pattern actually has 5 more rows. Unfortunately it is going to need blocking because it is not laying very flat. I didn't tat as tight as I normally do and the thread is not very stiff. It feels good to complete a large project but right now I am not so proud because of the last join and all the little mistakes so I will just set it aside and decide what to do with it a bit later.
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