Coriolis or not?? (or a quick Physics lesson)

We've had a holiday!! Gran Canaria for a week! Warmth and Tatty Time! My idea of heaven!! Lol

Hope you've all heeded my warnings about Silly Season Spending... no I'm not going to repeat it!

Anyway, I've been test Tatting... busy making presents and I've still to make some earwigs from that pattern shared by a certain Tatty OG during the week! Going to make some purple n gold ones, white n gold, and red n gold!! Hopefully anyway! 

Young Sir returns home for a few days next weekend. His girlfriend (yes we've met her and she's lovely!) is also going home... he heads south from near Edinburgh and she heads north!! It'll take her longer than him simply because of the road networks and the upsy downsy bits!!

Anyway, a few months ago I offered to test tat a tatty mat for a certain Tatty OG.  The downside of this is that I had to come up with a name!!  They were showing hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere (known as cyclones in the southern...)  Here's what I discovered...

As the world near the equator actually moves faster than the world near the poles you get a differential in movement of water or air.  If you look carefully at standing water draining slowly you will see the effect (water down the sink).  The swirl you see is the coriolis effect in action!  This effect can be altered in a toilet purely by the direction the water comes in when you flush!  BUT... your standing water in the sink can be affected by the pulling of the plug at one side rather then the other.... (hurricanes turn anticlockwise in the north, and clockwise in the south when viewed from above!!)

Right... that's solved that one.... incidentally, mine are cyclonic from the southern hemisphere simply because I'm a left handed tatter!!!  Look at it how you like, I am happy to admit that I tat down side up, back to front, or even left to right.... So there!! LOL

Oh, and Maureen's question over on Jane's blog re Sydney and Brisbane...

The answer is sort of!!  Sydney will be cold because the air is travelling from the Antarctic.  Brisbane is getting wind blowing off a large expanse of water, which is colder than air off the land!

I'm off for a warm drink now!!!

Chat later

Have You Ever....?

Had the feeling that 'someone' is interfering with your tatting???

I've cut beads off and thrown tatting over the last few weeks!!  Why? Mastikes a beginner wouldn't make and leave!  Missing picots and their associated extensions (5-5 instead of 5-5-5)... don't spot it till the next round... why can you always guarantee that these things appear at the END of the next round??  So the scissors have had more use than the shuttles!!

So somewhere there's gremlins hiding to grab my shuttles when Im not looking and retrotat bits!!!  My excuse and Im sticking to it!! LOL

Mind you, I have managed to do this:




He's destined to be framed for a new baby due in January... born in the Chinese Year of the Dog!  The pattern is from the little book of Tatted Animals.

Please ignore the purple 'snail trails' it's the camera on me phone!!

Now I've to do the Spider Earwigs before Tonight.  I started them and made errors too!! They've been cut off, beads rescued and will be restarted today! (wrong beads I decided). And its all the fault of that Tatty OG 'somewhere down south'.... if she hadn't shared the pattern and cited me in the associated text.... VBG

Anyway... let's see if I can do them!

Chat soon (sooner than the time since the last post!! Where does time go???)

I can't resist!!

Either pretty patterns or Rainbow Taffy!! Add beads and I'm in my element!

Remember the Rachel mat in Rainbow Taffy & blue? I'll show you again later... we'll that's winging its way to Oz via London, Munich and Istanbul!! It'll arrive in late September in my Aussie/Yorkshire mates bag!!

Well, I had the Rainbow Taffy out and Marilee tweeted about her heart aglow pattern... so I had to get it didn't I?? Also... the charity shop had a necklace that wasn't pretty... but the big beads were!!

And the Mat?

Oh... double trouble... Yorkshire/Aussie Trubble and me!!  The one on the left is the one that brought the books!!

Chat later

Would you??

A friend I haven't seen for 27 years (when she emigrated to Australia) has arrived in the UK on holiday.

Before she left she was doing something most of us do from time to time... trawl charity shops! (Think they're Op Shops in Oz) and listened to an altercation whilst browsing...

"But I'm donating them to you for sale, you know, so you can sell them and make money"

"Madam, you must appreciate that they do not sell, we'd end up putting them in the bin. Throwing them away. Noboby buys this sort of thing."

"So what you really mean is that you don't want them, you don't want me to donate things to you for selling to make money". (Donor turns to my friend) "You'd buy them wouldn't you?? Here I'll donate them to you as this shop doesn't want them!"  She puts leaflets into my friends hands and marches out of the shop!!

Friend looks down and.... as the lady is leaving, says.... "I'll take them to the UK.  I know someone who'll appreciate them!!"

Guess who the somebody is!!



Ok, one is crochet, and the Semco one is all Norma Benporath patterns!!

Would you bin them???  I'm not!!!


Chat later

Oops!!

One of the major challenges of using ancient computers is the fact that I forget to blog these days!!  Why?  Well, I've to link the phone to the computer to put pics on the computer, and the software on the phone doesn't let me publish a post if I write it on the phone and attach the pics!!!  Crazy or what??

Now I dare say you're trying to work out what I've been doing for the last couple of months... holidays for a start.... a week out in Tenerife, a week camping in Oxfordshire without a chance of getting to see my Tatty OG friend... boo hoo!!  Bet she was secretly pleased about that.... Rofl!

Mummy & Daddy took Big Li'l Miss and Li'l Li'l Miss to Vancouver, Hawaii and California for a month and then got stuck in LA for over 24 hours due to a plane fault... The challenge??  Everywhere in LA cooks with soya and what are the Li'l Misses allergic to.... yup... Soya!!  They eventually found a hotel where they could feed the kids on stuff that wasn't going to make them ill!!

Young Sir's been home as well.... not for long, but long enough for him to go to a festival, bring his washing back for Mum to wash!!  It's those darned tshirts that do it... full washing instructions and then it says... 'Or give it to your Mum'!  You guessed it... he does if he has the chance!

Right on the tatty front... Dragon's finished (the Pam Palmer pattern), and needs mounting in a frame when I get roundtoit... need the frame first!!  Another Rachel mat, and 2 that had major mastikes in them... beads coming off and ditching is what's going to happen with those!!  Earwigs too... one's being made into a pendant cos it's too big for an earwig! A tad more on that Darned Monster Doily!  Tat's it methinks!!  There probably is other bits but I've forgotted them!!

Show you what's on the phone...

That's one of a pair... the pendant ones vanished somewhere...

Couldn't resist that!!  Bought it here:

The Pop Up Rose Theatre in York... went to see Romeo n Juliet!

Chat later

Why is it... and those darned trees!!

That one realises that one duz a blog purely to answer daft questions from 4 years ago???

Sir is renewing his car insurance....  same company, no changes... just renew thanks....

"So Sir, have you had any accidents, whether it was your fault or not, in the last 5 years?"
"Yes, but I've told you about them 3 times already."
"Sir, we still need the details of what happened."
"Well, one was more than 5 years ago. So presumably you don't need the details of it?"
"No, we don't need details of more than 5 years ago, have you had any within the last 5 years?"
"Yes, but I can't remember when, and it wasn't the car I'm renewing the insurance on now."
"Nevertheless, Sir, we need the details.  What was the Registration number of the vehicle?"

(They expect my hubby to remember a car registration number???  (just like asking him a date or a phone number... no chance!!) he comes and asks me... I give him it, and then he asks when the accident was....  I tell him.... August or very early September 2014, or possibly early 2015)

"We need the date of the accident Sir, and details of what happened, and how you could have prevented it."

I found the date... where?? On here of course!!! September 2014 there was a post about flippin' low flying tree branches!!  How could we have avoided it?? Gone a different route had we known it was going to fling itself in front of us!!! Of all the stupid questions!!

Anyway... apart from that what have I to tell you...

Young Sirs laminate is finally down in that there house up north in Scotland!!  The fence would have been painted as well if it hadn't decided to rain!!  Some of his roses are trimmed too... all the dead bits off.  And the ivy that was covering the path has gonned... and weeds has been gived they marching orders as well!!

As usual they did the work... Me?? Chief cook, bottle washer, shopper, laminate laying gofer... hammer finder, screw finder, tea maker, chisel finder.... sofa bed putter upper and downer..., rose cutter, fence painter.... I come home for a rest!!  They had fun with an incinerator bin and cardboard!!

On the tatty front... yet more Rachel mats roll off the shuttles... another few!!  The reason for them is that they're so darned easy to prepare, transport and make!!  Great for travelling!

Here, I'll show you:

Top one is Atlin Basak 50, no beads or decorative picots, bottom is Lizbeth 20 with beads!

What else.... well Young Sir's housemate's cats are now up there too.... 'keep them in for 3 weeks', 'not letting them out till the nervous one is prepared to stay downstairs when there are other people in the house'...

If you have cats that are indoors and are used to being outdoors what happens when you open doors or windows to run electric cables for power tools?  They play at being indoor/outdoor cats of course!!  Make sure she's upstairs with her daughter (the nervous one) and the door closed.  What happens?  She's found out how to hook the door open!  Down the stairs... drat... the kitchen door is shut... throw weight on kitchen door... it opens... back door is shut... that's ok... look the window is ajar... push... outside cat!!  Call housemate down, catch cat, take her upstairs, shut bedroom door... guess what... a new game!!! (see beginning of paragraph!! LOL)

She's allowed out now!!!  And there's a bin under the window so she can get back in!! But NOT when there's noone home!!

Anyway, nuff said on this missive!!

Chat soon

And Another...

HWT Rachel mat bites the dust!!  Quite like the colours in this one, what do you think?

Using up threads that would take forever in the thickness they are... and be impossible to undo when I make the inevitable mastikes.. LOL.  I'm great for that!  Usually when I'm sitting tatting and nattering at the same time, I miscount in my head, don't look down and just carry on!!!  Either that or I glance at the wrong bit of the pattern!!

Anyway, another is about to be wound onto the shuttles shortly, HWT again, with a bit of bling if it works!! VBG

Maybe I'll learn to not make mastikes one day!! Rofl!

Chat soon

I've just noticed

This is post 301!!

So, as you will recall, I did a straw poll.... it would seem that people who are interested in maths, science or art are the ones that responded... apart from that Tatty OG of course... who we all know is a thread artist but wont admit it!! LOL

Me?  Well I do have a background in the sciences and maths... but I don't admit to it!! VBG

Right, well, apart from all this, what have I been up to... making a Rachel mat... HWT this time, along with another one on the shuttles, and two more for when I'm travelling.  Then I'll go on a thread hunt again.

The leg I showed you belongs to a Pam Palmer Dragon!  Once he's completely finished and mounted I'll share pics.  He's destined to go 'up North'... but I'll tell you all about it when he's finished...

Now, I've been quiet for a few reasons, one of which is that a neighbour has been diagnosed with Dementia.  (about a year ago). She now has carers and if I get hold of her son I'll give him a piece of my mind!  He doesn't think that a care home is the right place for her... her husband answers the same statement over 100 times a day (I need to go home.... when she's there!!) and he is washing ALL the bedding every day too.  If he turns his back to go and get shopping, or washing in off the line, she's packing the car to 'go home'!   He spends all his time unpacking bags, sorting washing, cooking, unpacking bags, taking dirty washing off the line (she's put it out because it's 'wet'). unpacking bags...  Her son has told the authorities he comes down regularly to help... his idea of help is to arrive for half an hour on a weekend! He doesn't see the sleepless nights, the visits down to me to 'get rid of the people in the house' (carers), the bags, ....

Anyway, 'nuff about that!!  What else, oh yes, the router decided to get it's pants in a pandemonium!  It stopped working!  It's working again now, why??  because Sir decided to get a new telly and I pulled the wrong plug out and switched off the broadband!  Hey ho, least I'm online again for a bit!

Ok, so, I'm off to read about tunisian crochet or whatever bloggers have been blogging!!

Chat soon unless the whatsit goes off again!!

From elsewhere

I've been reading about laces... different forms of laces... needle, bobbin, embroidered, shuttle, crochet, knitted....

The argument goes along the lines of whether this appeals only to people who are mathematicians or scientists... or not!  

I think it's more about art... it's a form of creative art, whether it's worn or displayed... if we think it looks pretty we're more likely to want to 'have a go' than if we think it looks ugly!

Now I'm doing a 'straw poll' here... amongst my tatting friends, do you consider yourself a scientist, a mathematician, a musician or an art lover??

Let's see what you have to say...

Before I go... did you have any ideas on what I'm tatting in the last post and this picture??

Jane Said Oops!

And it reminded me... I don't think I ever shared this test tat!!

It's now got its ends finished and will go on a bag! Not sure which at the moment.

What else...

Any ideas???

Never Let...

... a Pigmini loose with an empty shuttle, some beads, a new ball of thread and a camera!!

Last week was the Lace Fair at Haydock Park.  Went along with friends, came back with... the new Liz metallic thread, a few beads and.... those clover shuttles that've just been released!!

Now I just had to test the shuttles didn't I??  And a new thread just had to be tatted didn't it??  And... Young Sir is now in his new house and he 'needs' some Mum tatting doesn't he??  Of course they all need to be done.... don't tell me you lot don't, because I won't believe you!

Young Sir is 'into' dragons... always has been... so I decided he needed Pam Palmers Tatted Dragon pattern.  The new Liz metallic in red with light gold beads would make brilliant flames...

This happened:

Looks good doesn't it??  The Dragon herself will be Black 20.  The major challenge is... don't mix the two together.  Lizbeth 20 tats tighter than Lizbeth Metallic 20!  I'm now waiting for the Black to arrive, along with a few other 'bits'...

Anyway, wanting to blog the metallic thread, I took a pic...

Pink??  It's Christmas Red!  What the...  Dirty Lens!!!

Took it again,  better....




Took it outside in the sun:




As for the shuttles, they're my new favourite shuttle!  I've always used Clovers with a pick, and of course I love wood shuttles 'pop a bobbin' type... mix the 2 and what do you get?? The new Clovers!  Brilliant!

So whilst waiting for the black to arrive I made these:

Corina Meyfeldt freebie on her website, some beads from my stash, and Rainbow Taffy!!!

By the way.... Thanks for your comments on the retro tatting... but... pointy scissors in a moving car?? Ain't gonna happen!

Apart from that... there's something satisfying about undoing and redoing after a mistake... correcting just because you can!

Chat soon

More ramblings, or how to make mastikes!

Ok, so I'm back!! Rambling as usual! It's Easter weekend and it's freezing!

Been up in Scotland helping Young Sir with wallpaper stripping, false ceiling removal, rehanging doors, furniture building... I was chief cook n bottle washer, sweeper upper and general drinks maker! I could write a book on the hilarity up there... but I'll be good.  His fish are now in their new home up there, and we're back home for a few weeks. Before we went, I did some test tatting for Jane... here:

Violets in the snow as my short version of her Flowery Bookmark.  The thread needed using up on the shuttles... and I couldn't spot the green! My excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I also made a bookmark from a Jennifer Williams pattern. It was in a recent Lace Guild Bookmark book... but silly me forgotten to take a pic before handing it over as a birthday present! Good excuse to make another one!

Oh, here's a pic of Young Sirs friend being a stripper!

One evening after a meal and before bed I decided to do a little tatting on that monster doily... made an oops and decided to take it back later...

In the car on the way home, out came the tatting and I carried on... then remembered the oops!

Took it back... but not quite far enough, started again, realised and ended up retro tatting most of the way home! I'm now back where I was when I'd spotted it!!

Shades of - warning... tatting and alcohol do not make good partners! Vbg

Chat soon

Testing tatting...

Or how to 'break your duck' by volunteering!!

A week or so ago someone told me they were back to tweaking and redesigning patterns... as I was 'in need' of something different to do, fingers took up the keyboard challenge and volunteered to test the pattern!! You've seen the black and gold result... I don't have gold bugle beads... I found silver, silver beads, and I had a fair length of thread on shuttles that needed using up... being a Yorkshire skinflint (hate waste) thread don't get thrown or put in the waste tub till it's too short to even make a tat splat!  (For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll explain in another post)...

Anyway, That Designer... didn't tell me there was a technique I avoid like the plague!! And I didn't realise till it was too late... bit the bullet, as they say, and followed destructions...  lot easier than I thought it would be... now no avoiding!!  Thanks for breaking the duck Miss!!

Here's the result, needs the ends finishing off... and I'm not forewarning anyone else... join me and break your duck!!! Lol

Weather or Whether...

Whether to stay in and tat or venture out in the weather...

Young Sir is stuck up in Scotland... no way to get his car out of the hotel car park! Red weather warning for him! Red also for those in the South West and South Wales, stay in and keep warm and tat!!

Red warnings in the uk are the highest - severe danger to life! 

So... think I'll sit and make earrings or something here in my corner of England... below freezing outside just not the blizzard conditions!

I'll show you the earrings almost finished from yesterday and a pretty snow pic from central Scotland...

Tritana

So, the TIAS is over bar the finished pictures. Some beautiful mermaids are appearing from all over the world over on Jane's blog!

Meet Tritana, wife of Triton... they don't meet up very often as you will appreciate when I tell you that Triton lives most of the year in the Adriatic and Tritana much prefers the cold waters of the Arctic Circle!! 

Now I know you're going to tell me that mermaids aren't seen in the Arctic... there's a very good reason for that - she spends most of her time under the ice!! When she is seen fishermen mistake her for a seal!

Arctic mermaids are distinctive with their blue and white colouring and white hair... however their hair changes colour about the same time as seal cubs lose their soft white fur... hence the mistakes! It turns grey which aids the belief that they are seals not mermaids!! They are also very adept at hiding in plain sight up there!!

You can tell an Arctic mermaid from an Antarctic mermaid in summer and winter as the hair is a different colour, however they both look the same in spring and autumn! But... Antarctic mermaids are much rarer!!

Tritana is done in Lizbeth 20 colour 143 and her hair is white Aida 20.

Now I'm off to see what everyone else has done!!
Chat soon

More TIAS!

So... to date we've done lots of very tiny picots round the head... too short for mermaid hair unless we're doing something else with it... and then there's the very small picots at the other end...

I'm thinking now of Triton, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite from Greek Mythology!! You watch that TOG down south prove me totally wrong!! Vbg

Anyway, here's the pics so far...

For anyone who doesn't know about the Tat it and see, go here

 

That Doily

As those of you who follow the ramblings of this tatty old git will be aware, a couple of years ago I started Jan Stawatz Monster Doily!  Now earlier in the year it disappeared! I searched for it to no avail! Grrr!! I was even tempted to start again....

On our return from Tenerife back in December we were so cold (a 30 degree c drop in temperature is not my idea of fun), the day after we'd got home I grabbed a thick jumper each. 2 or 3 days later another 2 came out... with the bag containing doily!! It had got folded inside a winter jumper! 

Anyway, tatting hasn't been on my mind while we've been doing the bathroom... now that the only things left are not immediate jobs (grouting and replacing the ceiling) and can wait till the slightly warmer weather... I can get on with knitting a jumper for Sir AND the doily! (As well as the TIAS of course, and back and forth to see mother in law)...

It may pause in a few weeks when we move Young Sir up to the land of Whisky... he's in the process of buying a house up there... but it may go with me!! Vbg

So, I thought you'd like to see it now...

Here you go:

Chat soon

TIAS Continues

Right, I know you will all want to see the latest instalments of the EFUS.... here you go:















Well, I thought it was an EFUS!!  but one with a human looking head?? Scary!!  I think now it must be a ghost, a mermaid or a merman!!  You will note that I suggested its Ariel today over on the TIAS blog!! Big Li'l Miss and Li'l Li'l Miss will love her!  I may have to make another one so they have one each!! VBG

What a busy liccle B I have been!  Most of the tiles are now on the bathroom floor (just 6 to go but they involve lifting the toilet out and cutting and laying them, drying, grouting and replacing the outlet for the shower and sink before we can put the toilet back!  Yes we only have one loo in the house!!  No we're not moving out!  What are we doing?  Using a camping toilet for a week!!

The cement is back in the wall and drying so we can replace the wall tiles too.  Hint here for anyone else that has to do this mammoth task.... ensure you wrap your copper pipes with something.... cement eats copper!!

Hopefully, next week we can finish the tiles, so I can grout everything,  Sir then can replace all the plumbing, offer the sink back in, decide where it will sit and ensure it's in the right place on the floor... reseat it, and the toilet.... then I'll have a fully functional bathroom around 6 - 8 weeks after finding the leak!!!  I can't wait!! ATM we can't even use the shower!!  Can't remember if I told you that we'd not got enough tiles for the floors.... couldn't get any more 10 years after we bought the first lot.... so we found a tone!!!  I'll show you:



Well, that was a couple of weeks ago!

Now? Tiles in, floor sorted, toilet back, sink back, plumbing sorted... I now have a functional bathroom!!

All that's left to do is finish putting tiles back on the wall and replace the ceiling, then grout the floor tiles in the hallway... that can wait till it's warm and dry!!  Or the floor can at least... Sir and Young Sir are sticking wall tiles as we speak!

Chat soon!

Day 2

Now being an odd (some would say.... extremely odd!!) person with plumbing in the house, challenges... it's difficult to remember to blog the TIAS here!  So... here's days 1, 2 and 3!!

The tatty individual that runs the TIAS thinks I'm odd... she's right! I may just get this published as the next one comes out.. the weather outside is 'orrible... we've had rain, rain, and more rain since early December... odd days when it's dry and then it's freezing! Not good for floor tile laying near the back door!! Yesterday we lifted some that were put down a few days ago because the adhesive refuses to set and seal! We had to clean both the tiles AND the floor!! Door had to be open and it was snowing! Later it was raining so now we have wet, slush! Revolting!! Think I'll hibernate with knitting or crochet or tatting!!

Today we sealed the floor with glue and we're now waiting for it to dry! We've had to buy a gas bottle for the heater to dry the floors!  Now to tat, crochet or knit.... lazier time methinks!!

Anyway... any thoughts on what the TIAS is this time.?

Chat soon 

A bag full of...

Tea!!

Those of you that read Jane's blog will have a slight inkling about this...

Last Friday we took MIL out for fast food lunch... chicken place...

Now you get the chicken, chips, beans, coleslaw... she (and I) don't particularly like fizzy drinks, so she got weak, milky, cool, sweet tea... me? Black coffee! Paid extra for them!

Ate the food, and showed her how far I'd got with that monster doily that hid from me earlier in the year! Well, that and 2 Rachel mats were in my bag in the tatting bags from Thursday when I'd been working on them.

Put them back in handbag... MIL picked up her tea, dropped it and it tipped.... over me and into the handbag! Tatting has survived thanks to helpful staff and fast reaction by yours truly! Bags now in washer and tatting is dry! 

MIL? she didn't remember 2 minutes later! Yes she's ok, my clothes are in the washer too! She's where she belongs- at her home!!

I'd show you but I was too busy getting tea out to get pics, and it's splashed my phone as well!!

Where had the doily been? I'd sorted the cupboard with clothes in, winter jumpers forward and summer tops back... the bag with the doily decided to masquerade as a winter jumper! Hid there till after Tenerife! Then, of course we have the water issue... least the loo and the shower work now.  We've also just laid 3 rows of floor tiles in the hallway, so we have to keep off them for a short while. That should be fun trying to get out tonight!!

So... I'll chat soon, and send pics... promise!