Take it Further Challenge

Sharon B. has posted January's challenge and colour challenge. I'm thrilled.

"The key concept for January is a feeling we have all had, the feeling of admiration for another. Ask yourself who do you look up to and admire? Why? What is it you admire about them? This is a the first Take it Further challenge in 2008. Take the idea, develop it into a resolved design during that month and apply it to fiber or paper." straight from Sharon's blog, she says it so well, why should I paraphrase and loose the meanings?

This corresponds with a project I have been thinking about working on anyway. Out of the many people I know and admire I will choose Verna McKinnon. The reason I am choosing her is she has a dream to be a writer. She has worked and struggled and has become published. Short stories in e-zines, and a novel that was released in hardback last November. The novel is "Gate of Souls: book one of A Familiar's Tale". I have wanted to do a crazy quilt wall hanging with some of the characters in this book featured in embroidery on the blocks. I doubt I can finish a wall hanging in one month, but getting the designs to be embroidered drawn out will be my first part of the challenge. With working 2 jobs, a book club, needing to put health and therefore exercise first, getting one block made would probably be do-able.

Happy Holidays

I will have limited internet access until January 2, 2008. I hope every one stays safe and warm. Enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate, and even if Christmas isn't one of them, go ahead and have a great day on the 25th.

For Christmas, I will be at my parents house. I'm taking my 3 cats over to help celebrate. Mom and Dad lost their cat just before Thanksgiving, and they both have said they need a cat fix. We will exchange gifts, have a family traditional breakfast and dinner. Sports and home improvement channels will be watched. Christmas music will be listened too and naps taken. Books might get read, crafts will be worked and family and friends in other places will be remembered.

I hope you all have as restful a time, and whatever your family traditions, enjoy them.
Peace and Love to all

On not tatting

I have been burying myself in things other than crafting. Meaningless things like playing video games, meaningful things like reading books, and day to day things like avoiding doing the dishes, or doing the dishes. I am working on another motif for the challenge. I am about 1/2 way finished. I might have gotten further, but I chose the wrong movie to throw into the DVD player. The motif is one I have tried several times to tat. It should be easy, 1 shuttle + ball of thread, with only chains and rings. I did very well while watching the Anne Bolynn sequence of the old 1972 version of Six Wives of Henry VIII. Then I made the mistake of switching to Fellowship of the Ring. I haven't seen FotR as often as the Six Wives series and once again I was completely caught up in the visual feast. The tatting went back in it's bag and I curled up under a quilt, the cats curled up on me and I once again journeyed into middle earth.

Vacation Week and Challenge news

Okay, Sharon B. who has the In a Minute Ago blog has announced her challenge for next year. It is the Take in Further Challenge. Please feel go check out the post to get more details. She also welcomed people to talk about their de-stashing, so my hopes of working on projects and de-stashing should fit in with her challenges.

I got little done during my vacation. I worked on a Sampler that was started 20 plus years ago, and started a Crazy Quilt square. I also started another needle tatting motif. Much of the time I had planned to work on organizing my crafting and/or crafting was spent and my Mom's house. She had borrowed a copy of "The Barchester Chronicles" from her friend and my former boss. It is a 7 episode series, each episode about 50 minutes long. We watched it in it's entirety 2 days in a row. I probably could have watched in again, but that didn't happen. So instead of tatting, or doing anything else, I sat curled up on a couch, wrapped in a quilt, watching Alan Rickman ooze slimy charm. The show is a delightful little soap opera of politics and intrigue in a small 19th century town. I highly recommend it.

UFOs

For the subject of this post, UFOs are UnFinished Objects, maybe someday I'll write about the other kind, but not today. Sharon B from In A Minute Ago suggested a possible challenge for next year. {This year she has run the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. I only found out about it in September and that was too late, at least in my mind to join in.} Anyway for next year she suggested a de-stashing project, of finishing up UFOs, WIPs(works in progress) and WISPs(works in slow progress). I don't know if that is what the final challenge will be or not. However I decided to make it mine whether or not she runs an official challenge. I started writing down my UFOs on break. I'm not sure I want to admit to how many I have. I am trying to get them organized however, and I'm dividing my supples into; what is in progress and I definitely want to finish, supplies for projects that haven't been started but I want to do, supples for projects that haven't been started and I want to divert to other projects, then just the odds and ends that I had to have because they are pretty, and the odds and ends that are leftover.

I will definitely finish off the 25 motif challenge, and perhaps start it over again as it is just plain fun, motifs don't take a whole lot of time to complete, and they use up stash - which puts it squarely in the realm of the de-stashing part of the new challenge.

I also plan to start CQing. More UFOs? Yes I'm sure there will be, but at the same time it will give me a place to use my motifs, both crocheted and tatted. It will certainly destash fabric and embroidery floss, and bits and bobs that have accumulated.

I will be on vacation next week and plan to get my UFOs and Stash somewhat organized. At least enough to make a list, and a game plan. Also I have no internet at home so I will probably be out of the loop for a whole 9 days.

To all of you who happen to stop by, have a lovely Thanksgiving. I hope you get to share it with family or friends or both. And if you live someplace where you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, have a lovely week and I hope you get to share it with people you love.

Blog Roll

Okay, my blogroll is probably a weird thing to blog, but what the heck. At this point, these are all the blogs that I subscribe too. I use the Bloglines service for this. I check bloglines every morning, and they have done a search and let me know which blogs have been updated, and they provide the postings, either partial or in full -- your choice. Then I can go to the individual sites and browse around, read or leave comments, and see what blogs other people have linked too. It is a wonderful service. If you are forgetful like me, or just plain busy it is a wonderful tool.

The crafting sites: Embroidery, Tatting, and Crazy Quilting these sites are loaded with patterns and or inspiration.

Other Blogs: Well, just that, other blogs.

• The Criss Library is where I work, information that is a must have for any of us in the Criss Library who work a public service desk. If you don't work there, you probably don't care.
• The Pump Handle, because I am woefully uninformed about the goings on in the world. This is one way I can at least get the headlines on a topic I care about, my fellow human beings.
• Horror Movie a Day. Hard to explain, not the blog, but why I read it. The blogger watches a horror movie every day, then talks about it, like he is talking to a friend. It isn't a review it is more of a conversation. I don't even watch many horror movies, but I love this blog. Warning-He uses rough language.
• My other blog, is where I blog on non-craft things, probably where this entry should go but oh well, the lines between the two are so blurred now anyway that there is probably no hope.
• Any other blogs there at this point are friends, virtual or real-world that have blogs. Not that those who write the crafting blogs are not friends and potential friends, they just have a more focused blog.
  

Pictures Finally

I finally have some scans of my tatting. So here in all its glory, I present to you: twisted picots, wildly uneven tension, thread so soft it needs to be blocked and stiffened, and ends needing to be tucked in. Oh, and lots of stray cat hairs too. They will be happy to know that their contribution made it into this post.
Motif 5
This first piece is from the Tat-along project. This is Base motif number 2. This is the motif with the twisted picots, and well even more obvious is the uneven tension. I just need to take some time to tuck in the ends. Then I will stiffen it and use it for a Christmas ornament on the back of the tree to fill in space and not waste the thread and time.

Needle tatted.

Motif 6
This Albino Bat is from Mark Myers site. Again with uneven tension and loose ends. I'll probably attach him to something. I will say it looked much better after I ironed it, now it is at least recognizable as a bat.

Needle tatted.

Motif 7
One X from the Cecelia Doily. This is one of my old threads from when I was going to crochet a whole bunch of bookmarks. The Thread is nice and soft and even after ironing it will not hold its shape. I plan on making as many Xs as I can from this ball of thread and making a doily. Probably a rather small doily.

Needle tatted.


Motif 8
I cannot find the website for this motif at the moment. I'll have to look it up at home and see if I can at least find the name of the designer. Again the thread is very soft, and this motif will end up being attached to something else so it can hold it's shape. The designer is Lisa C. Trumble, and it can be found at this website.

Needle tatted.

Motif 9.
Another motif from the tat-along project. This is motif is my variation on the first motif. More of that soft soft thread. Again this motif will probably just get stitched onto something else so that it can hold its shape.

Needle tatted.


Motif 10.
these are so small I'm counting the 2 of them as one motif. This is thread from a friends step-mother-in-law, or that woman's mother. We aren't sure exactly. They are just doodles that I needle tatted, and each motif used up what was left on a spool of thread. I didn't use a pattern for these, but I do know that a clover and a daisy are far from original. I just made up the counts as I went along and used up the thread. These will also become part of something else, some day.

So, now I am caught up on posting my tatting and moving along on my tatting adventure. I hope to be able to credit the creator/designer of the triangle pattern very soon. However if anyone knows off the top of his/her head, please let me know so that proper credit can be given. Found it, Lisa C. Trumble, her website is listed above.