Tag -- That's Me!

Last month at our regular meeting of Bonneville Tatters, we made name tags. I made one with my name and one with my real name (no, it's not Bizzilwix - it's also not a big secret). 

Mine is made from white Lizbeth size 20 thread. What? Oh, you've noticed that it doesn't look very white. No, it's not from dirty hands. My sister dyed that thread for me and I like using it (check out my pram, heart, and decoration) — rainbows are happy things. Besides, it will match everything. Yes, it will, even patterns — everything! 

I've got a plastic thingy with a magnet attachment that is supposed to go on the back of it, but I don't know the proper way to put it there yet. We are supposed to learn that next month. *sigh* I won't be at the meeting next month, so I will need remedial help in May, I suppose. 

It was such fun putting these little beads in the middle of split rings. I used Jane Eborall's method and it worked slicker than ...ummm... slick things. I tried doing it another way, using the thread from the second half of the split ring, but kept getting a weird lump and loose looking thread on top of the tatting, so I had to give that up. I know it works (because other people used it) but it had me baffled. However, Jane's method was so successful, I now want to put beads in the center of lots more split rings. I need to find a pattern with lots of them and put beads in — just because I can. ☺

Tat it and See Finished...

Thank you, Jane Eborall, for this year's TIAS. I love these things -- especially when people ask me what I'm making and I get to say, "I don't know. I'll find out when I'm finished." It just tickles me that they look so confused. If they don't ask for further information, I don't tell them about the TIAS and how it works. 

My sailboat is rather bright -- it must be running two spinnakers instead of real sails (due to be dumped in the drink). Keeping that mast painted turquoise must keep the crew busy full time, ya think? 

It's all Lizbeth size 20 thread, the sails are Rainbow Splash and the rest of the boat is ...um... not. I can't remember the name of the thread color but it was the remains of a ball of thread I got when Lizbeth first came out. Wow! That thread has improved.  This ball wanted to split, and twist and it had a little knot in one  ply that was miserable to get pulled through the ring. I was determined not to cut the thread as I was working on the mast by then.

Not just 2014 TIAS, but 2013 TIAS, as well:

Yup, I finally found my pram and the thread that matched the wheels at the same time and finished it, too. As you can see, I like to use bright colors for the TIAS! This is Lizbeth size 20 that my sister dyed in rainbow colors. It looks a lot different than the Rainbow Splash, doesn't it? The wheels and handle are a Manuela size 20 that I thought was red, but it certainly looks more hot pink than red!

Work in Progress

 Look, look, quick -- it might get away! Well maybe not, but I think they are the big Blob and a little Blob and the big one now has a skateboard! Can't you just see them oozing out of a movie theatre's projection loft? Hmmmm. No, that's probably not right either. Jane has me totally stumped with this year's TIAS. That's not unusual, though -- she has me stumped every year (like the year I was making a blue kiwi, and it turned out looking just like everyone else's goat).

The other thing I've been working on is "Cascade" from Blomqvist and Persson's Tatting Patterns and Designs. Someone in the Tatting group on Facebook asked about where it starts and in which direction it flows, so I thought I'd see if I could figure it out. What I figured out is that one of the first six chains is actually a ring. What I haven't figured out is how to count. There's a chain in there with too many rings, and the piece that runs out of the picture is a chain I have to retrotat because I forgot to join it. The thread is Lizbeth size 20 -- it happened to be sitting right there in my tatting bag. It's the same thread that happened to be sitting there when Jane said we needed a contrasting color for the skateboard (er...she didn't actually say skateboard).

Trees and some more trees

Trees from Jane Eborall's patterns: Christmas Tree on a Button and Christmas Tree - No Button.  The two green trees and the white one are all size 20 with nice big shirt buttons and decorative top buttons (I like the star buttons, but had a hard time finding any.)  The metallic trees are all made from Oren Bayan gold thread.  The red buttonless tree suffers from inattention to the pattern, but it still looks okay.  
The size 20 trees will probably join a few others as gifts for friends next year.  The smaller metallic trees are for my dad's little Christmas tree.  It's only about 2.5 feet tall so it needs little ornaments.  This is part of what I was doing during December.  
The rest of December's tatting is done and gone with no photos!  I made three pair of earrings for my bosses, one pair of earrings for my great aunt; two pair of earrings for my sister's co-workers and one pendant for my sister's co-worker who doesn't have pierced ears.  I didn't get a picture of any of those -- they were all too quickly wrapped and gone.
I also made a bunch of little hearts and butterflies to add to my give-away box.  One of these days I should dump some on the scanner and show off what a nice collection I have for the next fair.

I ♥ Goats

Have you all been participating in Jane's TIAS?  Again this year, she fooled me.  Of course, that's not too difficult.  I was convinced at one point that I was making a blue kiwi.  Funny thing, mine looks like a goat -- just like everyone else's!  Between the pieces of the TIAS I made hearts.  After all, it is getting close to Valentine's day.  I could send some old goat a heart, couldn't I?
All but one of these items are made with Lizbeth size 20 thread.  The one exception is the little pink and red heart in the upper right, which is made with size 50 Omega thread.  That was torture, let me tell you.  I don't like this Omega thread:  it twists, it's fuzzy, it's got bumps and slubs, it doesn't slide, and it breaks very easily.  I can crochet with it, but this is the third time I've tried it for tatting and it just makes me grumpy.
The goat pattern is, of course, Jane Eborall's latest TIAS.  The whole pattern, with the nanny goat as well, it available on her website.
The six hearts that are the same pattern as the blue heart came from somewhere on the web.  I know I must have seen a picture somewhere while I was a work, because the only pattern I have is a scribbled pencil drawing on the back of my business card.  I wish I knew where it came from so I could give somebody credit!
The spiky-looking heart with glass beads is an adaptation of Iris Niebach's doily Cornelia.  I adapted that one two years ago, but didn't write down the stitch counts or anything.  I was going to put it into a bangle, but using size 20 thread, it's just too big. I've made another one in size 40 Lizbeth Red Burst which I am going to put into a bangle.  I didn't scan it with these because I've left the woven in ends long until I've got it stretched into the bangle.  I wouldn't want them pulling out and coming apart.  I'll trim the ends when it's done.
The other heart is an unblocked version of Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart.  I got the pattern from Le Blog de Frivole and didn't have enough integrity to throw it out after she removed it from her blog as a possible copyright violation.  I've only made this one, though.

Marking Time

I belong to the Bar.  Yeah, I know, scandalous.  It's not an interesting bar, though -- it's the Paralegal Division of the Utah State Bar.  To keep belonging to the bar I get to do 10 hours of Continuing Legal Education every year.  Usually I go to the free "brown bag" seminars.  That way the boss can't complain that I cost anything -- they're free and during lunch hour.  I take my lunch and am gifted with a cookie, a drink and some esoteric knowledge.

Once a year they really splash out and give me $100 to go to the Fall Forum.  I can get 80% of the hours I need in an evening and one day.  This year I went to the evening performance of "A Midsummer Night's Mediation Tragedy."  It was, too -- tragic that is.  There's a reason lawyers become lawyers instead of actors.  Don't get me wrong, they did a very nice job.  However, every one of those litigators does a MUCH better acting job when they're standing in a courtroom, NOT in a dining room! 

I take my tatting with me to these events.  Everything I need to know is on the handouts which I can download from the bar website.  I listen very closely, and I have a pen and paper in case I want to write something down, which I do now and then.  Now, there are occasionally people who don't think I should be tatting when someone else is speaking.  Not meaning to sound sexist or anything, but it's usually men.  I don't believe they can multitask after all.  I thought it was a rumor.  I've told them before, "I listen with my ears, not my hands!"  Every year I have to tell a new person.  I'm wondering now if some of them do listen with their hands!  Besides, tatting keeps me from getting up and wandering around the room, or talking on my cell phone, or playing sudoku on my smart phone, or doing my office work on my iPad -- which would be much more rude, and which I saw quite a lot of those same people doing.  This year I made four bookmarks.  I've only got three, though, because I gave one to another of the attendees who was interested (more interested in my tatting than in A Midsummer Night's Mediation Tragedy -- really.  Hard to imagine, eh?).  

I like Jane Eborall's butterfly bookmark because it's so adaptable.  I know the basic shape and stitch counts and it can be done without beads.  Now dropping a container of beads, THAT would be distracting!  These are made in Lizbeth size 20 Golden Yellow, Medium.  Yeah, I know.  It surprised me too.  Funniest yellow I ever did see -- that's what the label said though.  So, I don't really know what color-name is assigned to this red, white, blue and purple, but it makes good bookmarks!

Challenge No. 16

Wondering what happened to the little butterflies from a few posts before?  They got made into this Easter Egg Ornament.  I used those three and a bunch of smaller butterflies (some of which are adapted from Jane Eborall's great butterfly pattern).  I pinned them to the satin egg with little gold applique pins stuck through powder blue seed beads.  I'm counting this one as number 16 for the 25 Motif Challenge.  It's destined for a long trip half-way around the world as a gift for a good friend.

It's making a stop at the County Fair before being shipped away, though.  It's got a first place blue ribbon, a high blue (considered for Sweepstakes) and a Judge's Choice ribbon.  A big ribbon...greedy me, I like big ribbons.

Nervous Butterflies

I get those at hospitals.  Good thing I had Adelheid Dangela's Tatted Butterflies with me.  Now I have a bunch of Flame butterflies.  All of these were made with the thread my sister dyed for me on a size 30 Cebalia thread.  They ALL need to be blocked.  Six of these are from Tatted Butterflies.  The one in the upper left corner is supposed to have two wings, but I got it all messed up -- even the first wing isn't right -- so it turned into a butterfly in profile.  Now that I know how to do the first six, I think I'll make them in more butterfly-ish colors in finer thread.  I've got a friend who loves butterflies.  They'd look good on a Christmas ornament -- wouldn't they?

The one in the lower left corner is an adaptation of Jane Eborall's wonderful beaded butterfly (but I didn't have any beads, and used thread ends, so there aren't any split rings on the wings either).  The tiny profile butterfly above that is Jon Yusoff's profile butterfly -- except I couldn't remember the stitch counts, so I guessed, based on how much thread I had left to finger tat with.

I didn't do a nervous scribble or just tangle the thread, because my niece was having her tonsils out.  Not a horrifying thing (except for her -- this was her first IV).  It was easier to concentrate after we finally got something to eat (I mean my sister and I got something to eat -- my niece had to go into surgery without).  They kept us waiting what seemed forever.  We got there at 12:30 in the afternoon and they finally took her into the operating room just after 3:00.  They released her much later and we got home at 7:00 in the evening.  She's recovering and we're spoiling her while she does it.  :)

Made in Hawaii

 It surprised me to find that I had very little time to tat in Hawaii.  We were busy, busy, busy.  Even on the ship there were things to do.  My tatting went with me wherever we went (well, okay, I didn't take it snorkeling!), but I did small things.  In fact I did all the same small things.  I even did the same small things in the same colors.  *sigh* 

All these bookmarks (but the obvious one) are made from a modification of Jane Eborall's Butterfly Bookmark.  Her butterfly has long beaded picots and beads on picot joins which make it nice and shiny (I like shiny!).  Working with beads while standing in line or riding in the car or on a boat or walking up a trail is just not within my ability.  I left out the beads and the long picots.  I couldn't carry a picot gauge doing any of those things either. 

The odd-one-out is a modification of xstchntat's Flower Bookmark.  It's a modification because I didn't take the pattern with me and lost track of where I was.  It's got that really big flower on the end because I miscounted.  Ah, well, I like that one too. 

The tails are mostly perle (pearl, purl??) tatted.  There's just one that's a long Josephine spiral.  I used xstchntat's tassel technique for those with tassels.  The rainbow thread is size 30 Cebelià that my sister dyed for me.  Everything else is Lizbeth 20.  The length of the tail just depended on how much thread I had left on the shuttles.

There -- these are my haphazard vacation tattings!

Hearts, Hearts and More Hearts

Valentine's Day got away from me -- it happened while I was busy being ill. Who has time to post anything when they're stumbling around looking for tissues and anti-cold pills? I suppose that's why Blogger has that convenient schedule a pre-prepared post option. But, really, pre-prepare -- who does that? Never mind, don't tell me. I'm certain it would be just too, too depressing. I've been making hearts for Valentine's Day, though -- quite a few of 'em.
This nice blue heart I've been calling "Snowy Heart" (because it's based on my own snowflake pattern) I made to send off to my exchange partner for the Tattinggoddess Valentine Exchange. It's made of size 20 Lizbeth thread in a pale blue and is about 5 inches wide and 6 inches tall.
Once that one was done and shipped off, I made another one with a few changes. This one is made with Lizbeth size 20 pink and variegated pink. This resulted in parts of it just looking washed out, but I rather liked the effect. Instead of the chains with the little ring pairs I used split rings around the outside of the bottom part of the heart -- those make it look a bit more substantial. Then I made the other ring pairs "Dimpled Yorkies" -- sort of hearts on my heart. I'm thinking about what to do with this one. Maybe it will just sit in my tatting drawer until next Valentine's Day.
Then I did a couple of little hearts. This one is Jane Eborall's Flurry Heartache. Sort of -- I didn't have the big beads ready to hand and was too lazy to get up, so I just used a pile of little beads. It's made from Lizbeth size 20 in Dark Seagreen and Wildflower colorway. It's a great pattern all made in one round -- one pair of threads to hide at the end. I'm going to get some bigger beads and make more!
This next one I saw somewhere on the 'net and made a scribbled drawing. That scribble was stuck into the back of my purse. I was probably at work *sigh* so I didn't write down the website or anything. Duh. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know! Its made with the same Dark Seagreen and Wildflower, also in one pass, but it starts with a chain on a paperclip. It's such a clever idea. Yes, I have to make more of these as well.
Finally, I made more of Anne Bruvold's Christmas Hearts. I was going to join them together in one of the many variations Anne made available. I didn't have the pattern at hand, though -- it was inside the computer way over in the other room and I was so comfortable. So...I just joined three of them together clear down one side. I could see that the remaining space would be too large for a single heart and too small for two additional hearts. It sat around looking at me reproachfully for a day or two. Then I decided what it needed was a head and a bit of crocheting. Voila! Butterfly.

Flurry of Bling

This is the Flurry part -- Jane Eborall's Flurry Snowflake in bangles. It's really a great pattern (and even easier when all done in one color so the SLT can be skipped ... lazy, that's me). It looks wonderful in the bangles -- even if I did have a bit of trouble getting each spoke at 60 degrees from the other. The one done with Lizbeth's red, green and white thread is a bit wild, but I like it anyway.

"So...where does the bling part come in?," you ask with great trepidation. Yup. I did it again. The dollar store yielded up lots of pretty patterned tissue paper. Of course, it's rather seasonal. TA-DA! Holiday Shuttles! And, yes, those are a couple of little Clovers on the right end. I think the Aeros are easier to cover because the paper can be tucked under the sides. It has to be cut with much more precision for the Clovers. I like the striped one on the left side the best, but the minimalist blue snowflakes is a close second.

Continued Bling and Snowflakes

Here they are for a closer look. (There are only 7 of them, this shows both sides of each shuttle.) The three on the left are unpainted -- that's the native gray showing through.
The green vines on the far left shuttle were made with two shades of extra-fine Sharpie markers. It has a big yellow chrysanthamum (at least that's what I'm pretending it is) on the opposite side. The flower and leaves were painted with acrylic paint then accented with Sharpie markers.
The purple and green stars on the second from the left are shiny metallic stickers with more Sharpie marker lines for accents with shiny little half beads stuck into the shuttle divots.
The third from the left is covered with tissue paper, stripes on one side and dots on the other. The flat half-beads stuck into the divots sit pretty flush with the shuttle body. This one is the easiest to use. Maybe because I only used two coats of decopodge -- or it could have been a better shuttle to begin with -- or even, it could be that the tissue paper makes it feel sturdy but still light. I don't know, but I like it. (I don't like it as well as the beautiful shuttles I got from LaCossette though.)
The next three were all painted white -- but it took two coats and a bunch of touch up to get the gray covered. That's too much paint and it doesn't look that good on close inspection. The flowers are stickers with Sharpie marker stems and leaves. I had to peel away part of the paint and decopodge on part of the winder end of the red and purple flower one, because I couldn't put the bobbin on it. It looks a bit odd with that bit of gray showing.
The frogs are somewhat raised stickers, also accented with Sharpie markers. That black blob on one side is supposed to be a little fly. This one is the second hardest to use because of the raised character of the frogs. The thread doesn't slide over them from the back -- but if you tat with your fingers behind the center of the shuttle, as I do, there's a perfect finger spot on this one.
The blue one on the far right has shiny silver star stickers on it -- and at least three coats of blue paint. It's painted on the inside as well. That was not a good idea. The bobbin doesn't turn well in this one, but it's still workable, and I think it might loosen up.

I know they all work because I tatted these with them:

You all must recognize Jane Eborall's Flurry Snowflake. This is the greatest snowflake pattern I've run across in a long time. It's pretty. It looks good in lots of colors (these are my sister's Bermuda Red and Singing the Blues in size 30). It uses beads (shiny, I like shiny!). It's all worked in one round. It's uses the shoelace trick in the cleverest way ever. I even think it will fit in the bangles I use if I just make one of Jane's long beaded picots at the top of each point.
You know, sometimes I think the world doesn't know what it's missing because Jane hasn't got braincell number 4 in permanent residence. If she can be this clever with just number 3 -- she could clean up the world with number 4! I really, really like this pattern -- can you tell?

Rings 'n' things

I've been tatting -- really I have. I just didn't seem to have anything I could show. My InTatters exchange partner has informed me that she received the pendant I sent, though. I thought sure the poor thing had disappeared behind some monster machine in the Post office or something. Nope, it made it safely. It's made with Oren Bayan silver thread and purple mini-seed beads (a whole pot-load of 'em). The necklace part is a twisted metal cable inside a purple protective casing. Really, it matches better than this picture makes it appear.
The other things I've been doing I'll trot out when they're finished. I'm still emptying bobbins, too. I've been making more butterflies -- the little four ring ones. But, I've also made a couple of Jane Eborall's Butterfly Bookmarks without the bookmark tails, and one tiny one with a tail for really tiny books! I've got a few more bobbins with enough thread to make Butterfly Bookmarks, if I mix the colors. That should be interesting. I might very well end up with a Christmas Butterfly, because I've got a bobbin each of red and green that are about evenly matched in amounts.

As for the ornament challenge...it has foundered. *sigh* It will get back on track pretty soon though. I ordered covered styrofoam ornaments and they've been received! I think the plastic ones are going to end up with my nieces. They can decorate them by gluing or sticking things on 'em. My patience with them (the ornaments, not the nieces -- hmmmmm, wait, some days it's them too!) has been exhausted.

VACATION!!

Yup, I'm taking one. I know it looks like I've been on vacation for a while, but I've just been busy getting things done at work so I could leave. I'm off to Disneyland with my sister and my two nieces. :) I'm taking a nice little supply of tatting threads, shuttles, and lots and lots of patterns. The patterns are all stored in my Nook, so that's how I can have lots and lots. I'm also taking two colors of size 10 thread because Bonnie said teaching her would give us something to do while waiting in lines. I hope it works, because she's a lefty and I'm a righty. I'm not much of a teacher either...we'll see. I'll report on our success (or lack thereof) when I come back. Maybe I need to learn left-handed (I did that to teach her to crochet many year ago -- and I can't do it anymore).
As for tatting -- I've been doing some! I've got some UFO's (one of which I'm taking with me) and I've been emptying shuttle bobbins by making lots of little butterflies. Some of the bobbins have quite a bit of thread on them, so I tried making something a bit bigger. This is Jane Eborall's newest butterfly bookmark -- with some oops things. I didn't load any beads first, and miscounted the ones I did add. Duh. It's made of one strand of variegated quilting thread and one strand of yellow Cebelia wound together. I also didn't have enough thread to make much of a tail...it's for marking tiny books, maybe.

Rooster Booster

Ah-ha! Not an alien after all. I finished him last week, and then had to decide whether or not those over-long neck feathers and that mutant color made him an alien chicken. Probably not. OH, NO -- Maybe he's a naked chicken, all that pink... A pair of pants before scanning might have been in order.

Anybody who's just stumbled onto this blog might wonder why in the world I made a naked pink chicken. He's the result of doing Jane Eborall's latest TIAS (tat it and see). Pick the colors, work the pattern a piece at a time over the course of a few weeks. Et voila! It's Norman the Rooster, but not very rooster colored!

It's Superman, it's a plane, it's a Bird...

This seems to be rather in the line of: "I never saw a Purple Cow...I never hope to see one." Before you ask whatever possessed me to create such an oddly colored being, let me quickly say it's Jane Eborall's fault. Yup, hers.

This is my rendition of the latest "Tat it and See," (and the first of 2010 -- may there be more!), through Day 10. When doing a TIAS there's not much color direction -- just pick some stuff that goes together pretty well and pick three colors of it. Then, bits of the pattern are released every few days. That gives everyone plenty of time to ponder what in the world they might be making, and to catch up if life gets in the way.

At first, I thought we might be making aliens. But, then -- I always think we're making aliens. ;) There's just one more day to finish this lovely creature, which I now suspect is a rooster (unless Jane is going to throw us a curve ball right at the last minute and it really is an alien), because that variegated bit has to connect to the rest of the gizmo and it doesn't look like a hat!

Butterflies

Jane Eborall, the ever creative and generous (yes, you are, don't be modest), has just shared this new pattern for butterfly bookmarks. It's got her wonderful long beaded picots, so I used silver ones on both of these.

She mentioned on her blog that the tail could be made with pearl tatting instead of lock chain. I tried that too, since she had a link to "the lazy way" (yeah, that's my speed!). Ooooo, I like it, it's fun to do! I did change the end of the bookmark tail. Instead of the pretty little five-ring beaded flower, I did a non-beaded four-ring butterfly. I did that for two reasons. First, I wasn't certain how long to make the tail -- what if someone was reading a bigger book than they had bookmark? I wouldn't want to have a bookmark with beads that would sit inside the book and make bumps in the pages. Second, so I could not mess with hiding ends. If I'd made the beaded end Jane shows, there would have been no ends to hide, but it would have needed the beads -- and I've already explained why I didn't want beads.

The purple one, done in Lizbeth size 20 "Country Grape Swirl", was the first one I did. the butterfly at the bottom had to be blocked (just sprayed with water and pinned flat), because it wanted to fold up. The blue one is in size 30 Cebelia "Singing the Blues". The butterfly at the bottom of the tail is fastened to the tail at the small rings. It stays flat without all that blocking bother. Nifty -- another new favorite (partly because I really like that pearl-tatted tail, so nice and flat for books!).

Thanks, Jane!

TIAS4

I have been working on Sherry Pence's TIAS while I've been fiddling with Sharon Briggs' Design Challenge. (Aren't they nice -- to give us such interesting things to do?).
I had to start over after day five, because I got the colors backward. I suppose I could have cut day five off and just redone that -- but I decided I didn't like the colors anyway, and I was having difficulty getting the rings fastened to the sides of the block tatting on element two. The first set were done using Jane Eborall's new method of block tatting (the one on the right in each picture). I don't think I've quite got that mastered, so I did the second set using the more traditional method shown in Iris Niebach's Fantasia. Hmmmm...I still need a lot of practice. The two colored element three looks more like one and a half color. I also noticed that the "traditional" ones were a lot shorter than the others. I hope they work anyway. Those threads sticking out of the second set are not unhidden thread ends -- they are the ends of the hidden threads I haven't trimmed yet. I trimmed the ones on the first set and drat if I didn't pull one completely out and have to hide it in one of the pink rings -- since it was less than a quarter inch long and was a bit frayed at the end, I didn't really think it would stay hidden.
I do know what we're making -- although I can't figure out how I'm going to use fancy-dressed caterpillars.

Isn't She a Doll?

This is my punk Betty Boop -- maybe Batty Boop? With her bright green lipstick she really should have had shocking blue hair. I learned a lot doing this TIAS from Jane Eborall. For one thing when she says size 20 thread, she means it! So, poor Batty Boop has a balloon skirt instead of a nice neat bell. I could go get some 20 thread, or maybe I could just make her again using some smaller beads. But, I'll keep that in the thinkin' stage for a while. She deserves some unique time!

A Bit of This and That

Marilee Rockley's "Dreams" again -- this time in purple DMC Cébélia size 30 with a button closure for my 12-year-old niece. As I had so much trouble counting to 5 to make a zig-zag chain, this one is made with spiral chains of 25 second half ds separated by small split rings. I put the beads on picots off the split rings. That seemed to work pretty well for keeping them on the outside of the chain. The drop beads are just clear teardrops, but they are what she liked best.
Using that same purple and some mint green Cébélia with some shades of purple and green seed beads I'm making another bald doily. I like the center of this pattern really well. It's when I get to those three rows of chians that I choke on it. They just don't work for me. This one is now in the "thinking stage" -- I figure if I think about it long enough, I can come up with something that will suit me, and let me use the outer row -- which I find very attractive.
Finally, I've got Jane's TIAS3 up to Day 9. Poor, sad thing -- I think it's waving me off with a little misshapen hand. I do believe the beads were too big and inconsistently sized. I'm not too certain about the colors either. That pretty pink button is starting to look orange to me.
Now, I have to leave town for almost the entire month of June -- and my little old laptop doesn't have any capacity for wireless or high speed internet connection. I'll have to see if I can catch up on the weekends -- either that or start over. That would work, because now I know where to put in at least one set of magic threads! I'm wondering if three strands of quilting thread might equal size 20 thread (since I don't have any size 20 this one's all done with size 30). Maybe better thread and bead sizing would get it to shape up a bit.