I guess I've been a slacker as far as blogging goes, but not with my crafting! I won't bore you with multiple pictures of gnomes. I have finished quite a few over the past few weeks. All of the 7th and 8th graders now have gnomes, and I'm working on them for the 6th graders. My plan is to give all middle school students a gnome before Thanksgiving, and I think I can accomplish that. I have 15 finished as of this afternoon, and I need 33. I just need to keep cranking ..read more

  I kept myself very busy today. I found a cute Beaded Fidget Hedgehog pattern on Etsy, and I just happened to have everything I needed close at hand. I made the blue one first. I miscounted the rows for the eye placement. I think the purple one looks much better. I chose to use yarn for the eyes instead of safety eyes. I pulled the pony beads out of a tin without looking. Maybe I'll choose colors for the next one. I finished another strip for my Mix & Match afghan. The pattern is extended double crochet. I have enough strips to make an afghan, but they're mostly blue. I'll keep mak ..read more

We had our monthly Tollway Tatters meeting via Zoom this morning, and it was just what I needed. Despite my efforts to be very careful, I tatted one too many spokes on this round of Renulek's Snow Doily.  I didn't want to cut the treads, so I was very slowly untatting 13 rings and the adjoining chains. Let me tell you, that was a very frustrating and painstaking task.  When I was trying to decide what to work on during our meeting, I decided that untatting while chatting might be just what I needed. I was right! It took me almost three hours to finish taking out the rings and chain ..read more

  I've been working exclusively on gnomes for the past week. Some of the 8th grade girls have been making pompoms for me with the hope that I would use them on gnomes. This picture is of the 14 gnomes I made to give to 8th graders. After taking the photo, I made four more. Now, all of the 8th graders taking art this semester have a gnome. Next up, I will make gnomes for the other half of the 8th grade who are in STEM class this semester. I forgot to take a picture of the gnomes I made for the AP Euro kids, but six of them were delivered yesterday as well. What's next? I need to finish on ..read more

  This was a great week for finishing projects. I started this beanie months ago. It sat in a basket by my chair pretty much neglected. The color is unsparing, and it just wasn't a joy to use. Still, I was determined to finish it, and now that it's done I think it looks pretty good. I finished the second scarf for my 7th grade girls. Yes, I have started the third one. I had enough of the uninspiring grey yarn left for another beanie. I decided to crochet this one. I still don't like the yarn, but I've used it up! I'm sure someone will like this color, but it sure looks blah to me. Re ..read more

Last week was busy with routine doctor visits, car maintenance, shopping, and crafting. With all of the activity, I simply forgot to blog. Yesterday, I decided to take some pictures of what I've been doing. I purchased some inexpensive plastic wast baskets to sort project that I'm cranking out on my Addi circular knitting machine. One is for gnome bodies, one for gnome hats, and one for twisted headbands/ear warmers. Yes, I am trying to organize my crafts! Inspired by daughter Joanne, I went Christmas shopping at Cracker Barrel after my car maintenance appointment. We're not decorating fo ..read more

  Yesterday and today were slow craft days for me. Even though I didn't accomplish much, I did manage to finish another Curds & Whey bookmark. This has become one of my favorite patterns from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konnor. I've been asked about my photograph background. It's the lid to my new tatting basket. We went to Shipshewana, Indiana this summer and stopped at an Amish basket maker, where I found this beautiful basket. There's a lovely little tray that, when organized, holds my current project. There's plenty of storage in the bottom, so I can keep lots of ..read more

  I wanted to finish another scarf for my 7th grade girls so that I could start the next one. So, while watching the Chicago Bears win yesterday, I knit! Yes, I did start the next scarf, which I hope to finish this week. Cooler weather should be coming soon, and I'd like these five girls to get the maximum use out of their scarves. This morning I finished Traditional Clovers from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti. I meant to have one less pattern repeat, but I didn't realize I had counted incorrectly until I finished the last clover leaf. So, the end peeks out of the sl ..read more

I didn't finish a bookmark yesterday. I forgot to join on the next to the last ring, and it seemed to take forever to open that ring. I worked on it last night and this morning, and then successfully tatted the final two rings. This is Braid: Five Rings from Robin Perfetti's Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks. I used size 20 Lizbeth #679 Lime Green. As I'm going through these patterns, I'm realizing that if I had understood math a little better when I was in school, I might have been able to design lots of patterns. Thank goodness there are designers like Robin who experiment and then offer up ther ..read more

  Today I worked on Braid: Four Rings, Alternate Option: No Decorative Picots from Four Dozen Tatted Bookmarks by Robin Perfetti, tatted in size 20 Lizbeth #679 Lime Green. I much prefer the simplicity of this design over the version I tatted yesterday. There are times when I really like decorative picots, but not this time. I really am enjoying going through Robin's book. The bonus is that I will have a nice supply of bookmarks in a short time ..read more