Tat's Heaven

Sorry to say that these shuttles have been in this basket for over a week now and I must let everyone know about them!  Especially those who have requested to buy some.  Firstly though I have to finish the cats. Actually I did sell a shuttle this weekend, someone who lives only 6 miles away from me bought one.  We had never met before and she just came along and bought one after seeing them on the internet.  We had a quick chat before she headed home, her husband was in the car and so did not want to hear 'tat chat'.  Wish every sale was so easy!

So many people have been asking about the pop-a-bobbin shuttles over the last month or so that I have lost tract of where I have seen most of the inquiries!  A lot of shuttles have now been made but I can't find enough time to actually let everyone know and start the process of packaging them and posting them!  In the meantime someone has asked me to make four cats and I am using the pattern from Inga Madsen's book, Tatted Animals.    They want them in size 40 thread which seems very fine to me, I am a 20's kind of gal!   I tried to delay this request for the cats, but sadly was unable to. Have not touched a doily for weeks, which is a shame as I look forward to doing something relaxing of an evening. 

Time as usual is going too quickly and I have so much going on in my life at the moment. One of the things I am preparing for is a Craft Evening for Adults in 9 days time.  I started  preparing for it a couple of months ago but suddenly there is a lot more to do and very little time to do it!   In the rare spare moments I have, which are mainly in the evening, I continue with Renulek's doily. This is one of the crafts that is causing me a bit of a headache, a Spring Rag Wreath, only because there are so many strips to prepare.  However, my son bought me a cutting board, ruler and cutter and now racing ahead with a bag full of bits!

I am afraid that tatting is very low on my list of projects at the moment, in fact I have only, in the last few days mastered Renulek's butterfly round on her doily. I just could not get the hang of it at first, mainly due to continuing from the previous round which confused me somewhat!  But actually being so slow in making this doily is to my advantage because others have helped with a few useful tips as they have completed each round.  But this is what I have been doing over the last week in preparation for a children's activity on Friday and an adult craft evening next month.  It is really a door knob hanger but found it easier to take the photograph dangling from a shelf. I am using the plastic Clover pom pom makers to make them, much quicker and easier than bits of cardboard or a fork.

I have not given up on this rectangular doily, in fact really like tatting it because I am finding Round 7 (the butterfly round) of Renulek's doily rather challenging at the moment. Rather unsure if I am really happy with how it is looking, but will try and persevere with it. I took this photograph outside on a rather grotty table, the light was failing and the colours are not quite true but it gives you an idea how it is progressing.  Since posting the pop-a-bobbin shuttles on a few tatting related facebook pages there has been keen interest.  This I find rather surprising as I thought everyone in the 'tatting world' knew about them, but obviously not.  One person from England has emailed me to say she can only find the shuttles in the USA, and how much does it cost to post them from there! On the facebook page I stated that I lived in England so she must think that 'Im in the garage' lives over the pond, have replied and stated that he actually lives with me! ...

I have completed round 6 of Renulek's doily but it did not completely lie flat until I gave it a press.  At first I thought the project would have to be abandoned but hopeful the next rounds will work out just fine. This photograph was taken from a strange angle as I had placed it on the snowy ground!  It seems as though the pop-a-bobbin shuttles are still quite popular as I put them on a few tatting related facebook pages as well as this blog.  As a result I have shut 'im in the garage' again to make some more. Unfortunately it is a little cold at the moment, but hopefully Spring is around the corner. 

I wanted to show you these two lonely shuttles that are for sale.  If you would like to buy any of them please let me know. I am also putting them on a few facebook pages so others will get a chance, but not quite yet, first call will be you!  They are £18.00 each but that does not include postage.  The top one is cherry and below is apple.   Each come with the popper tool and an extra plug. As you can see these photos were taken with the shuttles resting on snow.  It has been extremely cold in this part of the world, and very unusual for the south of England where I live, temperatures during the day have been -3 degrees centigrade with a bitter wind making it feel even colder.  The weather that hit Britain this week was nicknamed 'The Beast from the East' blown in from Russia and Siberia and when these conditions collided with storm Emma on Thursday the country almost came to a standstill. But today things are almost getting back to normal, just ...