wow its been hot

It has been scorchio here is North East Scoland for the last week with a record of 23.8ºC.  thats hotter than every day we had last summer!

Apparently no-one has informed our dogs that they are huskies and therefore shouldn't like the hot weather.  My other half sent me this photo of them sunbathing in the last dregs of the sun in the back garden the other evening.

happy pups!

I visited my lovely niece on Monday evening and had a lovely cuddle before everyone died laughing at Daddy trying to change his first nappy!

I didn't get a chance to take any photos as I had my hands full of baby but I will be visiting them tomorrow afternoon now they are back home.

I got right back into the bonnet.  Having a girl means that there is still a fair bit more to do as I am now doing the frilly bit around the edge.  There are 23 heart medallions for the frill section and I have been doing them in every spare moment I have to the point I am seeing them in my sleep.  Last night I finished number 16 so i'm hoping that I will have them all done tonight which will leave me with the last round or rings and chains that frames the whole bonnet.

My sister had asked for red ribbon so i'm going to pop in past the craft shop on my way to visit them tomorrow to pick up a selection of shades for them to choose from.  I'm hoping to have the whole thing finished at the weekend!

I also got my pop-a-bobbin shuttles last night and used them for the first time.  They are great, I bit chunkier than I am used to handling but I find the longer hook very nice to use and I love the rusticness and simplicity of the pegs to secure the bobbin.

I bought a purple heart and a zebrano (zebrano is my favourite wook and purple is my favourite colour so I am well chuffed) and i'm looking forward to working lots of projects with these.  I've already decided to get another one next time they are on sale.  Maybe an apple wood or an olive wood.

Until next time...

Cat x

Introducing my Neice!

I would like to welcome me Neice, Eilidh Jess Duncan to the world.

She was born at 7pm last night after a 36 hour labour and weighs in at a healthy 8lbs and 7ozs!

Eilidh is pronounced Ay-lee so it looks like I no longer have the most difficult Gaelic name to pronouce!

here is a picture that I was sent from the Dad last night.  I'll be going in to see her tonight and I can't wait!  She looks like she is a big baby (I really hope my bonnet will fit her!)

Love you already, little one!

It's a girl!

:-)

i'm excited on two fronts just now.  My sister was induced yesterday and is in labour as I write this.  We are all waiting by the phone to get the news when the baby arrived and if I have a neice or a nephew.

The other exciting this which you guys will probably find more interesting is I also managed to grab two of Janes pop-a-bobbins that went on sale last night!!

I bought a purple heart and a zebrano wood, both with hooks (as I cant do without my hooked shuttles).

They are getting sent to me tomorrow so I will be finishing the bonnet with my shiney new shuttles.. I will post photos of both along with the new addition to our family very soon! :-)

Until next time..

Cat x

It's a beautiful spring morning today so I thought I would share this photo of our blossoming cherry plum tree.  I love this time of year because its still cold enough to take the dogs running but the leaves are starting to come out and the crocuses give the area a bit of long needed colour.

We are still waiting with baited breath for my sister to have her baby so I had an evening off from tatting and pattern writing last night.  We spoilt the dogs to an extra long walk instead.  We got home at 10pm and basically fell into bed pooped.

I've got a ball of thread waiting for me at the post office which I will pick up tomorrow and I hope to use it to make some more jewellery.  I would like to take inspiration from Totusmel and make a back drop necklace that has small elements hanging from chain down the back. (With copyright being a never ending issue I would like to clarify here that I will not be copying her work just using the look she has made to create my own tatting in a similar style.)

I'm going to dig around my free pattern library and see what I think will work and have a go at making something that will look good.  I might even be able to come up with my own little motifs that will work.

This will hopefully keep me busy till the little tyke arrives and I have to concentrate of finishing the bonnet. :-)

Till next time...
Cat x

a wee update

Last night I finally finished as much of the bonnet as I possibly can until the baby arrives.  My sister was due on Sunday so now its just a waiting game.

I have decided not to put in the frill if it is a boy, so if it is a boy then I only have one more round to do to complete it.  However if it is a girl I will have another boat load of medallions to do before the last round.

I don't want to spoil the surprise so I wont post any more pics until it is a finished article.

Since I have been bored out of my skull today, doing simulation testing on new firmware at work I decided to use the spare time working on my updated pattern of this bonnet (shhh! don't tell anyone!).  I am including lots of notes, diagrams and photos to help the tatter follow what is going on. I just hope that I wont over complicate it with too much text.

I'm using a free edition of Serif Draw to make my diagrams which is qutie limited as an arts package but just find for drawing rings and chains so hopefully my version will look rather professional.

I have a pdf in my google docs account of another pattern I re-wrote for a chocker but I haven't figured out how to make fancy links like some people have on their blogs.  I will have to try and figure it out and post it on a future blog entry.

Until next time...

Cat
x

Aaaaaaaaaaaa!

I did 7 medallions last night and thought I'd get started this morning as I had a bit of time before having to leave for a first aid course.

Lesson learned, never look at tatting when you are sleepy! I spotted a mistake on my last medallion and cut it out only to realise it was inside out and I'd cut the first medallion! No way to save it so I had to cut them all out Nd start from scratch!!!

On a positive note it was looking good and I have a photo of my progress last night. Hopefully I'll get back to that stage before bed tonight.

I'm am also now an official hard core tarter with cuts on my fingers and worn cuticles from working the thread!

the saga continues...

So I got a bit of feedback regarding my quandry with the bonnet and after reading a couple of posts on my thread on In Tatters I thought to myself, "I'm not happy with it now so if I keep going i'm still going to be unhappy with it so i'd might as well try and fix it."

I realsied i'd already made the decision so last night I was very brave and started cutting the joining picots to see how it looked with the tension relaxed.  I then re-made the first 3 medallions with 7mm picots.

So far it looks like it will work a treat but i'm not a fan of very long picots so i've decided to bling them up with 2-3 seed beads.  Hopefully this will mean it will look a lot sleaker as it will stop the thread spreading out if they are a little too long and it will make the extra long picots look like they are supposed to be that way rather than a fudging of the design.

It means I will have to nip into town during my lunch break and buy some beads and I will have to re-do the 3 medallions I did last night but it will be worth it.

I will post more photos once i've made enough progress to show off.

Till next time...

Cat. x

bonnet progress - opinion required

So I have made progress with the bonnet but I really need some advise...

here is a photo of the bonnet so far.

As you can see, the last row of hearts have pinched in the circumference of the bonnet making the back bulge slightly.

My question is, do I continue and hope it fits and doesn't look daft, or to I cut it all out and re-do 13 medallions with longer joining picots?  The baby still isn't here yet and it will probably take me 2-3 evenings to re-do the medallions (once I get my delivery of thread).

After the medallions I can only do another 3 rows until I know if its a boy or a girl and then i'll have around 6 weeks before the Christening.

So what do you think?  should I take the time to re-do, or just keep going?

Lizbeth Thread

since I haven't made enough progress with my bonnet to have a picture I want to show off yet I thought I would talk about a subject that has been bugging me for a while and have a wee rant about it.

Lizbeth thread....

Like so many people I LOVE Lizbeth thread.  I am not as adventurous and some people and prefer to stick with solid colours but even the the choice of colour is outstanding...

I imagine now you are thinking to yourselves, "so whats her beef then, if she likes the quality and the colour choice?"

I'll tell you, its the shipping!!!  I tried to buy 1 ball of thread for a cost of all of $4 and they wanted to charge me $40 to ship to me in the UK.

That is OUTRAGEOUS! I can get much more valuable, heavier and bigger packages sent to me from the US at a fraction of that cost so why is it so expensive?  To put into more perspective I had my dog sled (that's right, a dog sled) sent to me for 60 euros so why does a tiny ball of thread justify $40?!?

I did find a shop on amazon that used to send orders up to $20 for $10 shipping but now they are charging the same inexplicable amount.  I can only find one UK supplier but they only stock size 20 and 40 so if I want to work in my favourite size 10 I'm totally stuck.

On a positive note, my fiance managed to find a supplier that sells a good colour selection of Anchor Artiste Mercer cotton.  The quality is great but the colour choice is just not as exciting as Lizbeth.  I just want to cry into my tea cup!

If anyone knows of a supplier that sells size 10 Lizbeth to the UK without huge shipping charges, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know!!

Till next time....