Back To Work

It was nice to have projects all day long yesterday. In fact, I only got to touch the Armenian lace doily after dinner. Even then I wasn't even able to finish a whole round. The day started making a custom length bracelet in linen thread. I like the way the linen works up , with a bit of a unfinished look to it, but it can be a pain to work with. It's got such an inconsistent width and it's peppered with little lumps that I can sometimes fix, but not always.

After that it was onto remaking my hybrid lace bracelet. Originally the customer had requested it in anther color, but then settled on the original. Since it was the first one I sold, I needed to remake it with the original here to make sure I had the design right. I can do it from picture, but it's so much easier with the piece in my hand.

The last one for the day I didn't take a picture of. It was a wide tatted bracelet. Again, it was originally suppose to be a custom piece, but the customer opted for the original length. Since I sold it as a custom with the original still listed, I needed to remake it quickly or take it out of the shop. Luckily I was working quite quickly yesterday and I managed to get that remade as well.

Today I have nothing left in queue, so I should be able to finish the gray Armenian lace doily. Of course once that's done I'll need to come up with a new side project to keep me busy. Maybe it's already time to start thinking about holiday gifts that I could be making. Maybe not...I'll think of something.

Done and Done

I actually got some things done yesterday. I started gathering the kids school books to get ready to ship them back as soon as we're done for the year. When schooling was wrapped for the day I managed to quickly finish up the second bracelet in the custom order I've been working on. I even stopped while I was working to take a picture of it so I could share.


 Once that was done I went right back to the Armenian lace and tatting experiment. I added the knotted lace to both sides of the tatted rings and as well as the ends to hold a hook and a loop for the clasp. The knotted lace holds up just fine on it's own, so I didn't feel the urge to add more tatting at the edges. Though I do have a few more ideas for a much more embellished cuff bracelet. I'm thinking a frilly cuff maybe, or a pineapple edging.

We have our Year End Celebration with the kids' school today in the park. It's an awards ceremony and pot luck picnic. After that it's family dental appointments. So I might not get anything worked on today at all.

Guess What

You'll never guess what I got up to this weekend. Well, the start of the weekend was pretty usual. On Friday I had one teacher meeting then the oldest child did her two presentations online. She really did very well and once she was done, we were allowed to go into that nice relaxed slide for this next week of school. We still have classes to finish and tests to worry about, but nothing left that's too stressful.

There were the normal weekend errands, running to the shops, and some sitting about watching movies, but the shocking bit that I'm leading up to, is that I actually did some tatting! I had another idea to work out with the Armenian lace added to tatting. I started with this chain of rings surrounded by lock chains on both sides. I figured the lock chains would be better to join the knotting to.

I think I'm going to work the Armenian lace on both sides of the tatting, but I have no real planned pattern at this point. As usual I'm just making it up as I go. I was thinking that I might finish it off with more tatting at the edges as well, but if the knotting can hold it's shape well as it, I might not need to.

Of course I don't get to work on this today because I actually received a custom order yesterday evening. I am really quite happy to have tatting to do for someone. It is always so much more satisfying to make something when I know it has a home to go to.

Listed

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I was a bit distracted in the morning getting ready for the oldest child's birthday. She and her sister still had another day of state testing though, so I was able to finally get the fusion lace bracelet and pendant listed in my shop when they were gone.

Once I picked the kids up though, we were off shopping. I decided that she was old enough to enjoy a nice girls days shopping for her birthday and as it turns out, I was right. We didn't spend much money, but we had a good time. Then it was out for Indian food for dinner.

They're back to regular schooling for the rest of the week and I still haven't come up with a new idea for the fusion lace. Hopefully I come up with something new soon. It would be a shame to let it stop with this one set of pieces. 

Bracelet

We had a pretty lazy weekend around these parts. Sorry, I'm reading a novel set in 30's rural south and I fear the dialect the writer is using is contagious. Anyway, there were some errands run and some movies watched, but mostly we're just preparing for next weekend when we have the oldest child's birthday get together.

I did knuckle under and tat and knot up what I think should make a fine bracelet using the hybrid lace idea. It took me forever just to decide to join the rings straight together and then another forever to figure out the best way to extend the ends. I want to get this and the simple pendant in the shop today, but it might not happen as the kids need to be shuttled to and from their state testing today and tomorrow. The older child is old hat at it by now, but this is the youngest's first time, so I'm not certain what to expect. Hopefully I'll get a bit of time for the task, but if not, there's always tomorrow.

Earrings

More walking and reading yesterday. I seem to have gotten a wee bit addicted to moving more during the day. I hope that I can keep it up, well maybe toned down a bit, but still moving. I'm feeling pretty good as I go about my day. I did manage to steal a little sitting time while catching up with my DVR, so I got a pair of earrings made up and listed in my etsy shop.

I didn't stiffen them after all. The outer rim is stiff enough that they hold their shape just fine.  I also made up one more in this same cream shade that I'll likely get listed as a pendant today. I was also contemplating stringing a few together for a bracelet, but I haven't yet done any measurements to see if they would be a good size for it. I guess that's on tap for today. I am still hoping for a little more inspiration with the technique, but nothing has sparked yet. I'm sure I'll eventually think of something.

Hybrid Lace

In my new quest to get more exercise, I've taken to actually walking around the house while I read. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, and it is, but it's also working. I do the treadmill in the morning after I write here, then there's a walk outside with the kids after schooling. Instead of sitting down on the couch in between I'm alternating between sitting on the exercise ball and just walking the halls and stairs. Of course this is pretty easy since I haven't had any orders that needed me to sit down and get to work. I finished the novel I was reading and I was curious about whether I was going to be able to tat on the ball or not, so I started a bit of a doodle.

I started out with a small tatted daisy in the center and then switched to knotting. I liked it in black, but I like it even more in the cream thread I used second. Of course that might be partly because I had the hang of the shape down better in the second one. I even made one up in some orange Lizbeth thread as well. The first two are cebelia and I wanted to make sure it worked up the same in both kinds of thread.

I think it might make a lovely delicate pendant and even earrings. Though since the additions of the Armenian lace makes the piece  more delicate than tatting alone, I might need to stiffen them for that usage. I think I will make some more of them today and maybe even play with the hybrid lace concept a bit to see if I can come up with anything else useful. Here's to the tiniest spark of inspiration.