Lace class, 3 February

 This tiny patch represents three hours in lace class! Of course much was done, then undone, then redone. I am learning to throw out pairs from the half stitch section, as well as the 12 legged spider! I know it looks easy, but I really struggled...I must try to keep going because I leave to stay with my mother on Saturday, and if I don't practise I will forget how to do it. :(
Plus as luck would have it I need to work today and tomorrow.

 Oh, I am including the finished pincushions, with the buttons sewn on.

They were fun to make and I have some more evenweave, so I might do some more blackwork...although the evenweave is green, so I am not sure how well it will work.

Somethings are finished!

 My blackwork project is done, well I still need to finish stuffing and add the buttons, but I am happy with it. I might even make another one.

 This lace butterfly was quick and easy, except I will never try to finish with a cluny again! Another time I will start the two antennae, then join at the head and then work the wings.

The cream and black one was worked by a friend at lace class. She also had difficulty finishing with a cluny!

This week I have mostly been...

 Doing Blackwork. This is the kit I received the other day, with the first half finished. I changed some of the filling patterns, and I tend towards more open fillings, so I have not filled as much as in the pattern, but as it is all still on the frame I can add more if it looks too empty at the end.

Blackwork is not very portable, but I can do it while watching television. We haven't got a signal at the moment so we are working our way through episodes of Jonathan Creek on the computer via an HDMI cable.

Black, white, colour

 This is a tatted edging for a scarf for my daughter. It should have been ready for Christmas...it wasn't! I mostly tatted this on Thursdays at work, when we sit and listen to the patients telling their story, "Jeudi=je dis" hmm, anyway it happens just after lunch, and I suffer from the terrible desire to fall asleep, so I take my shuttle in my pocket, and discretely get on with this. It has to be simple as I can't look down too often, so dear old Curds and Whey from Mary Konior has been just right.

This blackwork kit is totally not my style, I found it in a charity shop when I was in the UK in November, and felt sorry for it. Someone had begun it with two repeats, and then given up, and repackaged it without the original thread, and leaving the needle rusting in the fabric. As you can tell, my blackwork is not reversible! It is quite soothing to stitch, especially on Aïda fabric.

Here we have some bayeux embroidery, a kit purchased last summer when I went to see the original Tapisserie. It is the figurehead of a Norman ship. I enjoyed this wool on linen embroidery...I might have a go at another one some time, especially as the International Lace Conference will be at Caen this year, and I am really keen to go.

In Black and White, and now In Colour!

I was doing a little blackwork, slowly advancing on my sampler, when the post arrived. I had a letter from America, which surprised me, I don't really know anyone from there, but when I opened it....it was my threads from Sherry! I had assumed they would come from Seoul, but obviously she has some arrangement for the delivery with US mail.

Anyway, the threads are beautiful and I am afraid that the photo won't do them justice. I am already starting to unwind the silk Peach Pandorea, with the idea to use it for the Beatrice doiley! It is size 20, which is something of a departure for me, but I feel sure it will make a stunning combination. I can't wait to get tatting, but also wanted to share my delight with my fellow enthusiasts.

Big thank you Sherry!

Travelling

One really good thing about tatting is it's portability, so that one can fill time with a few stitiches wherever you are. My trip to England involved two days driving in both directions, plus a bit in between. As David did the actual driving I was able to tat most of the time, although only when the light was good enough and I wasn't having to deal with navigation. I decided the best pattern for this was a simple edging which could be picked up and put down without losing my place, so I set off with this one;

I was lucky enough to go to a Ring of Tatters workshop, at Amblecote, where we made a broach. I t was a good learning experience, as I hadn't actually met other tatters before, and I was very impressed by the work and skill they showed. It put me in my place, because scanning work can be very forgiving on how it really looks! I have a long way to go yet...but in my favour I'm comparitively young at 47 and have time on my side.

The man next to me showed me some amazing blackwork and counted thread work, and so I felt quite challenged as you can see, my work is fairly coarse.