Greetings from Montana

It's really hard to believe that this is my last half day at Bobbie Demmer's. We have had so much fun since I arrived last Thursday. Yesterday afternoon was the traditional trek to Little Bear's in Thompson Falls for ice cream. I had the Pecan Pie which is hand pressed ice cream (mmmmm!) with chocolate, pecans and Butterfinger candy mixed together. It is nearly decadent.

The weather has been delightful as well. In fact as I write, I'm sitting in the classroom with a long-sleeve denim shirt over my blouse but it nice. We've already had so much hot weather at home. I'll be swinging over to Mead, WA later today to see a girlhood friend I haven't seen in about 40 years so I'm really excited to see her and meet her family tomorrow.

I fly home on Wednesday and it is an all day affair. While I've enjoyed the trip, I'll still be ready to get home to give DH a break from puppy sitting. Pictures from the trip will follow and a picture of the shirt we all decorated for Shuttle Brother #1. We certainly missed his presence but was glad that Shuttle Brother #2 was here to give us an update. We also spoke with Gary during the weekend. He has a long recovery ahead but is filled with good spirits and tremendous determination.

Happy tatting everyone!

Meet Esmeralda - TIAS Day 11

Well, she's finally decided to have her hair all curled and if the picture were clearer, you could see pearls entwined at the scalp line in eight places to match the pearls at her throat. She's ready for a night on the town ... or wherever else she might want to go.

The curls are made by using slightly fussy method that I first saw in one of Elgiva Nicholls' book in my personal library. I then was reintroduced to it a couple of years while in class with the Shuttle Brothers. They use this method to create "ruffled" picots which adds more of a three dimensional effect. The method is accomplished by a combination of set stitches and 2 sized picots.

If you want to play with this method, try a ruffled wing butterfly. d=1st half of a double stitch and s=2nd half of a double stitch; p is a medium-sized picot and lp is a large-sized picot; + is a join.

Upper right wing:
12ds (lp dd p ss)x4 lp 3ds sp 6ds [Note: there will be 5 longer picots which will layer to the "bottom" while the 4 other picots will layer to the "top" of the wing.]

Lower right wing:
6ds + 6ds p 1ds lp 1ds p 4ds sp 2ds

Lower left wing:
2ds + 4ds p 1ds lp 1ds p 6ds sp 6ds

Upper left wing:
6ds sp 3ds (lp dd p ss)x4 lp 12ds

Tie the thread ends together for the antennae. Optional: tie an overhand knot near the end of each antennae.

TIAS - Day 10

Here is Day 10. I did make one change. The beads that are effectively the eyes I did make a change. I found some slightly larger rocaille-type beads while the beads in the skirt are size 11 irridescent seed beads.

If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd just stay up until the Day 11 instructions were posted. I do have a design variation on her left arm ... I think she's had her spinach because the last split ring before the hand has too many stitches. I didn't catch it until I was hiding the ends using the magic thread and just decided I'd have her related to Popeye.

TIAS - Day 9

Here is Day 9. I used size 8 pearlescent beads for this portion and what I loaded onto the shuttle. Not exactly sure how the color will work - I may wish I had found another color but we'll just have to wait on Jane's next installment!!

TIAS - Day 8

Here's my finish on Day 8 ... looking pretty good. Still have no idea what we are tatting. It will be hard to wait to see how Jane will introduce the third color!! I have a feeling it will be very creative and once we see the final instructions, we're all going to say DUH!

Catching Up!!

When things were a bit quiet last weekend, I did the TIAS that Diane Saunders had posted quite a while ago. I know that I'll never see a tulip with all these colors but I'm please with the way it turned out.

The flower is 2 strands, both size 80. One is a pink and the other is one of my favorite pastel variegated threads ... there is pink, lavendar, yellow, green and baby blue. It's a totally different look but I use a lot of "dual" threads to tat bookmarks. It's especially useful to use two-as-one if one of the threads is from my vintage thread and could be slightly weakened from dry rot. Of course, there are some of my vintage threads, really dark and intense colors, that I've just had to toss.

The stem is Olympus 50 but I do a little extra for the split rings. Because I really wanted a "sturdy" look and feel, the split rings are variations from Diane's original although the stitch count is the same. Here is the scheme:

R 1 sp 7 + (base of tulip) 7 sp 1
SR 1 + 6 sp 1 /1 + (previous ring) 6 sp 1 **
**repeat this ring 5 more times; 7 rings total at this point.
R 1 + 14 + 1

The last join is a bit tricky because it is essentially a first to last but it can be easily accomplished with a bit of practice.

TIAS - Day 7

Well, finally finished through Day 7 although I actually had to completely re-tat the whole thing ... again. Had a bad day at the office, just filled to the brim with frustrations and had my normal efficiency drop to about 25%.

At least DH got dinner tonight but it was reminiscent of how bad the entire last 24 hours has been. My salmon was nearly burnt ... just remind me not to get the grilled salmon from Applebee's anymore. While waiting for hubby to return with our food, I thought I would get out my shuttles and finish Day 7. That's what I get for doing my own thinking. While closing the last ring, I broke the thread and rather than just adding in a last ring, I cut away from the button, recycled the beads and did it again.

The best part of this was I took the time to work on Jane's JR method. I'm getting excess twist in the process but I understand the method ... just need to practice.

TIAS - Day 6

I really did complete the Day 6 work on Friday evening after getting from the office. I've just this moment however gotten a chance to take a digital picture and post.

I posted to my blog even before sending to Jane ... bad, Teresa. Well, it's in the post to Jane now.