'Appy New Merry or Something!

Well I do need to wish you something now that Silly Season is over for another year.... New Year isn't so bad!  You can choose to either stay in and watch the TV or go and celebrate with friends (or sleep of course)... LOL

Not anything new Tatwise... not had chance since my last post!  But.... at least we can shower!!!  I'll show you the pics of the Evil Snowman in our bathroom....  Sir disappeared into there and look what I spotted!  That evil snowman ate Sir!!!

It's ok, it regurgitated him later.... VBG

He found fibreglass in the ceiling!



Anyway, the shower works, but.... no sink, it's off the wall, and no flushing toilet either.  We're using buckets to flush the loo, which reminds me.... what do you do when you want to flush the loo and the buckets of water are icebound????

Got a couple of amazing pressies... firstly Young Sir got me a new Coffee Maker!!  Russell Hobbs with a timer on it.  Drinking more than ever now!! LOL and second pressie came from Roseground.  I got a gorgeous Amanda D painted shuttle of a Christmas Pud!!  Thanks for sending it Pam!!  Also got thread from Ebay.




Oh, and as a bit of light relief.... Give you 3 guesses.....

Chat later

It's...

Silly Season! I haven't had my usual rant for a few very good reasons... first of all I managed to leave my phone in the car at the airport when we went to Tenerife for Sirs birthday... he's now an 'old git' having reached the ripe old age of 60!! So... it got very cold and kept going flat for a couple of days when we got back!

Then we've had challenges with heating... something gone wrong with one of the gas fires... and we'd returned to a 30 degree c drop in temperature!! That can't be fixed till after silly season over... Usual MIL challenges, and...

Now do you want another reason why you shouldn't break the bank on kids at silly season?? No?? Well I'm going to tell you anyway!

2 days after our return, I became aware of water advancing from under the fridge... turfed everything out of the pantry where the fridge is. Water pipes go into the bathroom at ground level from the kitchen and enter the bathroom behind the shower! You guessed it... leaking pipe! Turn off water and investigate... hot pipe gone in the wall!

Now we don't intend removing the shower unit, so... the ceiling in the bathroom is going to have to come down! New pipes run... yada..yada.. You know how it goes... No shower or hot water in the bathroom for a few weeks... Now where can I scrounge a shower from....

That's why you shouldn't spend all next years income on the kids! 

Right, rant over. Want to know what I was doing tatwise out there?

Here you go, and it's all that tatty OG's fault from Bard Town!! (Think about it...) Rofl

The one below is no longer with me, it stayed in Tenerife with a lovely lady from Yorkshire called Jane. She used to live in the West Riding and lost everything when her house flooded a year or so ago! She now lives in the apartment complex we were staying in. The reason it stayed? Her late husbands Aunt Eliza made Jane some pillow cases with a tatted edge when they married... she kept them after he passed away as a reminder of happier times. Remember she lost everything? Yes, those too!! I gave her the mat because it reminded her of those pillow cases and Aunt Eliza! It's now residing on her coffee table and nobody can put a cup or vase or anything else on it!

Have a good silly season!!

It's All...

... Jane's fault!! Lol!

Well I have to blame someone for the tatting I've done since my last post! I may as well blame Jane because of her posts here.here.

Right, so unless you just followed the link and came back... remember the Rachel mats Jane has been tatting up a storm with?

I decided I had to have a go as well...

Now to finish off the ends...  I hates ends!!  Gotta load to do on those flurries in the last post too!  May just wind some shuttles with more threads to do some whilst in the sun....

Chat soon!

Oops! And a flurry...

I've been a very lax liccle tatter... not the tatting - the blog posting!  MIL has taken up far too much time along with meetings etc!

Onnyhow, I'm back! Betcha have all been enjoying the peace!  It's nearly silly season... you have been warned! We're flying off to warmer climes soon... 2 weeks in Tenerife here I come! I'll have to find something tatty to take, and as soon as I find shuttles and that Rachel pattern I'll be sorted... problem is I've filed the book somewhere safe...

So, what have I to show you... before I do, I must tell you about Big miss n little miss... now 4 and nearly 1! They went to Croatia for hols... had a brilliant time! And also Young Sir went mad and had his hair cut to shoulder length from waist length!! 

Anyway, tatting...

First off there was tatting at our lace day. Not mine- a fellow local tatter called Joan! And 2 other ladies who have 'gone over to the dark side'...

Then there's a bracelet from Annette- one of my students back in March! I'm so pleased she's taken to it!

Finally- the silly season exchange:

Chat soon!

Introducing....

The 3 stages of the Chameleon Gecko!!!

You met her a while ago, Remember.... Sundora??  Well, I thought I'd better show you her daily cycle from early in the morning to late in the evening....

Here you go, a potted history....

Early in the morning it can be quite cool, and the Gecko is blue.  This means that he can swim in the ocean and so hide from other creatures.

Around noon when the sun is hot the Gecko stretches out on the hot sand, he blends in because he turns orange.

In the evening, the Gecko can be found hiding in the rocks and sand on the beaches he’s now brown to give him camouflage in his hiding place to spend the night and start the cycle all over again!

If you believe that you’ll believe anything!  LOL

Chat soon

Sunny

Well, it was Monday and yesterday! It's back to cloudy today!!

Now I have to introduce you to an amazing group!

These ladies are VERY craft minded and also bloggers! I got to teach them the noble art of shuttle tatting last Saturday! There was even a lad there (supposedly helping the lady in the wheelchair) and I got him doing it too!! 

Anyway, I need to introduce you to someone else... her name is Sunny (short for Sundora) or so she says... she also tells me that that's how you can tell she's a girl... no self respecting male would have a name like Sundora!! Rofl

Sunny is a sand and rock gecko. They sometimes swim in the warm Mediterranean! You can see that they are not easily spotted on rocks, because of the rock colour with patches of damp and dry sand!!

For those of you interested, the thread is lizbeth 40 in fudge and honey!! Oh and here's the pattern!!

Chat soon

Happy...

... Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy B.....

Ok, 'nuff of my singing, or should I say Cat's chorus!! LOL

I took it into my head last night that what I really, really need to do today is... tat a gecko!  So, two shuttles is wound in chocolate and honey (one of each), and a 2 tone gecko will emerge outta the twists and turns of the thread.  Promise to show you her when she's hatched, and I'll reveal how I KNOW she's a she rather than a he!! VBG  Or are you going to insist I show you her tail??

Been treat to brunch today by Sir.  Sitting in the sunshine with lots of coffee... later we'll be traipsing up to the pub for a quick bevvie (it's a micropub in the village (town), and it's only been open a few weeks).  Then maybe Sir or Young Sir will volunteer to drive to a Greek Taverna we've spotted in town!  Leastways that's what I'se hoping!  I give up any alcohol most times when we're in the car, and I'm the one drives home afterwards!  Anyway, Sir gave me a card that says... Being a good wife requires... a good sense of humour (you're not joking there Sir!!) and the odd glass of wine doesn't hurt either!  Well, as he's finally realised I must have a GSOH to have put up with his jokes for so long (and Young Sir is taking after his Dad!!), and the wine'd better be.... tonight!! Rofl

Ooh, nearly forgotted to say.... I got Dora's book (well Heidi's reprint, as shared by 'Er down south... you know the tatty OG (her words not mine) down in Shakespeare country) Thanks for sending it to Sir Heidi!! Here's the link if you're looking for one...

Right, coffee methinks....

Chat soon

'Ello

Betcha all thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth! Well I hasn't!!

Been working on a bit (lot) of challenges... 1. MIL (she's now nearly 96) is giving us nightmares - she stopped taking her medication, and sir has finally got her docs to register him as a contact! Many conversations later and we're now having to take her for hearing tests, making her have baths (bully that I am...) she falls asleep in her chair and refuses to move and even make a drink for herself! All the docs want to do is put her in a home... no thought of owt else!  (Carers maybe?  it's not as if she's likely to live for another 10 or 20 years!!)

Mummy burned her leg with a freezer pack a few weeks ago... early morning trip to 2 different hospitals ensued! Complete with baby in tow! Big Li'l Miss stayed at home with daddy!!  She's not doin' too bad now, but can't have any sun on her leg for 2 years at least!

Tatting?? What's tatting?? Vbg 

Truth be known not had much time between the above, making jam, picking fruit, etc... but I had a lightbulb moment when I got an email from a wool manufacturer... teaching some bloggers tatting at the weekend... and wondered if it was feasible to tat with Double Knitting cotton!!

Look:

Not finished only done a bit... but we'll see what transpires... Ain't sure what it'll be... yet!!

Chat soon

Well, well!

Missed me?

Been a busy b over the last few weeks! Think I told you that I had entered a bookmark exchange... these are the 3 I completed in the coach between the U K and Italy: 

 

They're on their way to their final destinations now!

Italy... visited Florence, Sienna, Lucca and Pisa. Beautiful, as you can see in the pics below:

 

I've also been at a Hobbycrafts show in Harrogate, demonstrating the ancient art of tatting!

Now for the motif exchange... off to do a little tatting!!

Chat soon

  

Playing...

With shuttles. It has something to do with the fact that this tatty OG entered a bookmark exchange!!

Recognise this pattern?

 

Yep, you're right, it's Jane's Fandango pattern! 

Got another on the go, but the reason I include a pic is because I want to show you the shuttle...

 

It's hand painted by Amanda D (of Roseground fame) and is celebrating Hull being the City of Culture this year!

Left to right: The Deep, the Diver at Horsewash, mouth of the River Hull and opposite side to the Deep, and last but by no means least... Dead Bod!  Well known in this area!! Lol

 

I also got a shuttle to commemorate granddaughter no 2, and one for liccle ole me!! (It was a gift!!  Init Gorgeous???? I loves gifts!)

 

Where??

Did the last 6 weeks go?

Been rather busy over the last couple of months! Helping out in different places and a week away teaching tatting!!

As some of you will know, I was teaching tatting at the Lace Guild Spring School in North Yorkshire at the end of March.

 

3 lovely ladies all busy tatting! We had a motto for the week as well... Annette coined it one evening (after a couple of glasses of vino over dinner)... "I've lost the flipping flip!" Didn't believe her!! and you can see from the pic below that nobody had really!

 

From not knowing or remembering how to tat (yes some had tatted before, but eons ago), they learned the double stitch, chains, rings, how to join to a picot, beaded ring n chain pendant with the beads on the thread before starting, beads added to picots whilst tatting, adding findings...

During the week they had an impromptu lesson in hanging clunies and split rings! (Thanks Babette!!)

She let me borrow and photograph this!! 

My delight of the week?

 

Thanks Lace Guild and Margaret Wall!!

I'm Playing!

Missed me?  Been a tad quiet haven't I??  One reason is that I can't post from my phone any longer!!  And this tatty OG would sooner spend pennies on tatting than blog apps!  I can create the posts on there, but need the lappy to post... and lost the ability to get into it for a while!!

Anyway, I'se back!!!

Ok... I'm playing with a pattern over on the Cariad-tatting site. A rings and chains bookmark with embellishments! Me and beads... dangerous when let loose with bookmark patterns and shuttles and thread!!

Here it is... so far:

I'll send another pic when it's finished!!

Chat soon

A bag or not a bag...

As you saw over on that Tatty OG's blog, I've got the blame for her stopping tatting and trying something new.... Mochila bags!!  I showed you the other day a pic of the base I made.  That was after several starts with changes of thread, hook size, number of increases per round... the base has to lay flat and as you can see, most of them didn't!!  Look I'll show you:

It frilled... try again!

It cupped, try again!!

 

That's better, now the sides...

That one's been corrected!!

Well, I got half way up the sides... checked my stitches and found.... several mistakes near the base of the sides!!!  Grrrr!  I've had to rip it back (crocheters call it frogging), and start again!  So Jane may think she has problems.... so have I!!

Not my fault she wanted to know what I was doing!

BTW here's my crinoline lady!!

Chat later

Guess What?!!

I've been a bit of a busy liccle Pigmini! Or should that read 'not so liccle'... lol

Well that tatty OG is running her TIAS... taking part in that, and in between times I'm making a bag, preparing for teaching at the end of March, knitting socks and making these:

Nope, I'll show you the latest bit of that there whatsit first:

 

I still think it's an outside in humberella... it's blown outside in with the gales...

Then there's the bag... found a Facebook group making them and the pattern is in their files. Fell in love but it's a whole new learning curve making them. Hiding threads, ways of changing threads etc... enjoying it though! It is another of those wips though!  They're called Mochila bags, and this is the base.

 

Anyway, back to the shuttles... here you go:

And to keep you quiet... here's the pattern.

What's New?

I hear you asking, just because I haven't posted for a few days!

Well, for a start Big Li'l Miss and Li'l Li'l Miss are both getting used to each other. Li'l Li'l Miss sleeps throu all the noise her older sister makes, which one would expect of a baby who is now 22 days old and putting weight on nicely!

Then of course there's this 'ere tat it and see which a certain tatty OG is running! My latest contribution is here:

 

I'm also crocheting a bag! When it's eventually finished it will be used to hold my teaching shuttles in... you know, those that are ready wound to show how to tat!! Maybe even a length of 'thick' simple edging or something as well! Anything which is simple to teach for beginners!

Right, this TIAS ... it does still remind me of a downside up (or is it outside in...) Humber Ella!! Oh, and for those that didn't see the original on Dads comments... follow this link!

Right off to make a cuppa

Chat soon

Got 'im!!

Who??  The Dragon of Loschy Wood, that's who!!  If you want to learn about this little known Yorkshire Dragon, click here.

However, before I tell you about Los, I've got to show you this:

Somebody put a sprinkle of white stuff on our car!! It came in around an hour because Young Sir got in about 6.30am from work and there was nothing then! We had 3 cats trying to catch the flakes!! Crazy things!

Back to dragons... well, nearly anyway!  Lace Lovin' Librarian let peeps know about her ice drops, and I showed you this one:

I also did this one, (modelled by Luna the Loony Mog... she was asleep on my knee!)

and now I have Los!

Los is definitely a MUCH larger dragon than McVroom!  What do you mean you don't remember McVroom??  He was posted here, he's a Scottish/Norwegian Loch Dragon!  Anyway, Los is LOTS bigger than McVroom!  In fact, he's hiding under an invisibility cloak! that's because McVroom has gone hiding when he realised just how big Los is!! 

Ok, so you're wondering just how I know he's lots bigger aren't you...  I'll show you:

This is just one of his eyes! He's sleeping at the moment... another little known fact is that some dragons sleep with their eyelids open... I will say that you don't want to uncover him... because if you try this happens!!

The light behind it was made by Sir... small battery, resistor and led. He has the technology!!! Now all I need to do is think of something to put between it and the eye....  (walks away muttering quietly)...

Chat later