Catching Up

So, the short answer as to why I haven't updated my blog is that I haven't been doing much, textile-wise. I have been doing things that are far less fun. It makes me wonder why we spend so much time doing drudgery and so little time doing the things we love. I know that after watching a recent "Sewing With Nancy," as well as seeing my friend Melissa's blog post here, I feel much more motivated.

Here are a few small things that I've done since Christmas. Above left is a Celtic Knot Butterfly from the book "Celtic Tatting Knots & Patterns: 12 Original Designs for Needle or Shuttle Tatters" by Rozella F. Linden. I'm very proud of it. First I had to make the tightest double-stitches ever to get the antennae to curl. Then I learned to do a split ring (instructions can be found here), which was really fun. The Celtic Knot part was done by simply making a long chain then loosely knotting it. All in all, very educational and a lot of fun.

My Facebook tatting group has started a heart-a-month project and below are my three hearts:
January's heart, "Lattice Heart" by Birgit Phelps. For this one I learned to make lock joins, also called shuttle joins, instructions here.

February's heart, "Clover Drop Heart" by Nancy Tracy. I learned to make a cloverleaf, which is just three rings made next to each other without turning.

March's heart, "Tat Chat Heart" by LaRae Mikulecky. I didn't learn anything particularly new, but it was a lot of fun. I was in a hurry to get it started and finished (only took a couple of hours), and didn't want to run to the store, so I used a #8 pearl cotton instead of tatting thread. While going through my stash, I ran across a bunch of silk threads. I didn't think I had enough for this one, but I plan to do a mini-heart later this year in silk.

And finally, I finished my Christmas angel from last year. Not 2009, but 2008. It's the free 1997 Angel by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. I actually also hope to have 2009's finished within a few days. Still no pix, because I still have not given Lynda hers (shame on me!). But I will give it to her when she comes out later this month to drop her daughter off at college (I'm so excited!!).

And that's all. But I'm hoping this latest inspiration will give me the motivation and impetus I need to keep going!