big lack of progress on the bonnet front.  I feel like I was tatting all night but I actually stopped at 8:30 for a rest then "Suits" was on at 9pm and we love that show.

I tried re-starting the hearts attaching to one picot but then found it pulled it at a funny angle by the time I had joined another two medallions so I cut them out and started again for a second time.  I got to the last heart in my first madallion and ran out thread so had to start for a 3rd time (by this stage I was getting upset becuase it takes 20 minutes to make a medallion)

At last I got two medallions attached and they look like they are in the right place (breath a sigh of relief) so I decided to leave it there for the night so I could watch my programmes.

Back at it again tonight and hopefully have another progress report tomorrow.  I will be off work tomorrow as Nao is going to the vets to get his teeth cleaned so I will be sitting at home with a doppy dog all afternoon.  Lots of time for tatting!! :-)

Till next time... Cat.x

The book I bought myself with my birthday money finally arrived. 

It is a second hand copy and I have to admit I don’t think it is worth what I paid for it.  I missed out on a copy that was cheaper and instead of waiting to see if another cheap copy became available I just went ahead and bought the next available one which was about £20 more.

On a positive note there are patterns with lots of new techniques I have never tried before.  The first item I am going to make will be the choker that’s illustrated on the front cover.  Only thing is it doesn’t specify what size of brass rings to use.  The thread is size 20 so if anyone has any idea then please let me know!

The baby bonnet cap is frustrating me at the moment.  I did 4 heart medallions on for the 7^th row and decided that I attached the first one to the wrong picot and didn’t make the joining picots long enough what distorted the shape of it so this morning before I left for work I cut out the medallions and I’m going to start again tonight.  Longer picots seem to be tricky for me to do.  Looking at the old photo below it looks like picots used to be made very long and mine ended up about half the length of what these look like.

I think if anyone else what’s to do this pattern, I will re-write the instructions and have illustrations because some of the instructions are a little too vague with only one unclear picture of the finished piece, especially when the tricky bits are all hidden at the base of the bonnet.  Hopefully tonight’s tatting will be a lot more successful. 

While I was tatting away in vain last night we were watching a program called Ice Dogs.  Basically its a dcumentary about a guy trying to dog sled from Siberia throught the Bering Strait to Alaska.  I thought the guy was a bit of a tool and had no idea about sled dogs but my boy Nao seemed to enjoy it...

Until next time... Cat x

baby bonnet progress

My baby bonnet has progressed over the weekend.  I was working at it for a good chunk of the weekend and i've managed to get to the next section of hearts/clovers.

here is a photo I took yesterday.  I have done another row since the photo was taken and two heart medallions but I was so pleased by how it looks I thought I would share..

If I knew any Jewish men, I think this would make a nice Kippah to give as a gift.  I will have to keep this in mind if I ever do.

One thing I have learned is that doing a row of 25 rings and chains takes me FOREVER!  I was going a bit gaga by 9pm last night trying to tie and hide the ends on the last round.  I think I might have found my tatting limit for the day.

I had been looking for ages for a pattern I liked the look of and something that would be suitable for girls or boys with little success.  I’m not a huge fan of patterns with bare thread and since that was how most patterns were designed when baby bonnets were popular is has made my search even harder.

I finally decided to buy the pattern for this bonnet:

I know it has lots of hearts which isn’t exactly suitable for a boy (and knowing my luck it will be) but my Mum pointed out the could also be seen as four leaf clovers.  I can also change the design so that if it’s a boy I can leave out the frilly bit at the front of the bonnet.

So I have decided that if it’s a girl I will do the outer row of “hearts” in pink and if it’s a boy I’ll do the “clovers” in green and select a ribbon to match.

I started it on Sunday and so far this is all I have achieved:

The heart/clover medallions are harder than they look and I wasted quite a lot of time making lots of mistakes and having to re-do them but I’m now happy with how its turning out.  The only problem is the pattern doesn’t specify what thread size to use so I’m making this one in size 10 as it’s the only size I have in white.  I think it should be OK since the baby should grow into it by the time he or she is christened but I wont get a better idea of its size till I’ve done a few more rounds.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will at that stage and I’ll have time to order smaller thread it needs be.

Until next time... Catx

more about UK mushing

Mushing in the UK.

One of the comments from yesterdays post about my dogs mentioned the fact that dog sledding (by definition) is supposed to be in snow and it got me thinking that a lot of folk wont know a lot about mushing in the UK.

From my understanding mushing in the UK is different from many other countries.  We don't have the free open spaces and our weather is a lot milder than other places therefore we can't do the distances that other countries can.  Having two dogs I am limited to 3-4 miles at races and these races tend to be sprints.  It is recommened only to run dogs when the temperature is less that 12ºC which limits the training months to late september though to the end of March but even yesterday is was too hot to run the dogs as it was a balmy 16ºC.

Becuase of the lack of snow we usual use our land rigs to run our dogs.  These are usually 3 wheeled "chariots" like in the photos in my last post but there are also 4 wheeled tilter rigs that steer like a sled and scooters for running 1 or 2 dogs.

here is a photo of my dogs being run on a scooter at the end of a 3 mile run.  This is how I started out running with them before I got my van and my rig.  they are great for people with only one or two dogs that don't have the space or money for a rig.

Running dogs can be difficult logistically in this country too.  Some people have trouble finding a place they are allowed to train their dogs.  In Scotland we are lucky that there are "right of access" laws which permits us to basically go anywhere we like as long as its not a motorised vehicle but people in England need permits to train their dogs in the forests and other public spaces and getting permits to some places is like finding hens teeth.

Despite all these difficulties, mushing is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and I love being a part of it.

Here is a photo of my dogs pulling a traditional wooden sled on one of the rare occasions we had enough snow to use one:

Until next time... Cat.x

My dogs

Since my blog is also about my dogs and dog sledding I thought I would do a little introduction to my pooches.

I have two huskies, our female Karli who is a real daddy's girl and a huge tom-boy

and our boy Nao who is a big soppy pup who prefers cuddles to anything else (except running and food!)

They both love working in harness and we have been doing it every since Nao was big enough to start training at 9 months old.  We do it for fun and excersie but we also go to races during the winter months.  Its a great place to meet other dogs and owners and they get to run on new trails and practice overtaking and being over taken but other dog teams which is a great change as we nearly always train alone.

We never get great times as we are not serious cocmpetitors but we have a real blast which is the most important thing!  You can see from their faces that they love every minute of it!

So thats my dogs, I will leave you with a wee video made from clips of filming we did for a evening TV show.  Till next time... Cat.

I've put off starting a blog, convinced I have nothing of interest to say and sure nobody would be interested even if I did but since its a new year (ish) and a fresh start as it were, I thought I would give it a bash.

I probably should have started this last week since it was velentines day or even in January when I hit the big 3-0 but procrastination has put paid to that so i'm going to start in the middle of no-mans land and hope I have something worth talking about.  Well to be honest its not exactly an insignificant date as it is pancake day.

Anyway, since I am starting at an odd time I thought I might cover the significant dates of my year so far...

So I turned 30 at the end of January.  I woke up in the morning and looking in the mirror to see I hadn't sprouted any more gray hairs so I thought it wasn't as big a deal as everyone makes out.  I know some people get all depressed for at least the first 6 months of their 30's but to be honest i've been pretty cool about turning 30, but that is probably becuase I went though the angst stage when I turned 29!  I hated being 29 becuase I knew I was going to be 30 next. ironic that is doesn't bother me now.

Anyway after the birthday celebrations were over the next big thing was valentines day.  I made my other half a hand made card with a tatted heart from my Mark Konior's book.  I spent an hour in the craft shop getting help putting the card together then lovingly enscribed my message to him before sealing it with a kiss.  I left it in his pillow so he would find it in the morning when he came out of the bath and was prepairing myself for the gooey hugs and kisses to ensue....

NOTHING!  not a peep out of him when he opened the card.  He eventually came down stairs and gave me a kiss goodbye with a thankyou for the card and a sorry for forgetting it was velentines day.  So I went to work convinced he would pop out at his lunch break and get me a card.  Then I got home and still a big fat nothing!!  Maybe he was all romanced out as the previous year I got a card, chocolate and roses for the first time in our then 9 year relationship.

To be fair I wasn't that disappointed, we actually very rarely do anything for Valentines day and the year before was special as we had just got engaged! :-)

Thats me about caught up with the year. so my next post can be about current events.  in the mean time here is a photo of my lovingly made valentines card!

Until next time... Cat.