Fall Break - nuntium trecesimum vicesimum septimum

Last week we had Thursday and Friday off from school.  We went to Lanesboro, Minnesota which is one of the top 20 most beautiful small towns of America.  And it was!  We stayed at the Historic Scanlan house.  Lovely and we felt so pampered.  Neither darling husband nor I are very good at sitting still, especially with days off so going away forced a bit of relaxation on us both. 

We rented bikes (with an additional discount if you stay at the Scanlan) and rode along the beautiful Root River on a trail created by the DNR along disused rail line.  It was gorgeous with gorgeous weather and leaves turning.  And I was able to ride a bike although my hand started to hurt near the end.

We ate one night at The Old Village Hall and seriously it was amazing food.  I've eaten at Michelin starred restaurants before and this was as good.  With zero pretense.  It's a long drive for use from here but I'm thinking about it.  : )

And, I got to tat in the car while he drove. 
Here are some old friends and new:

There's Festive Tatting, Calixa, a few from Patti Duff's Mini-Tats. a snowflake from Decoromana which I've made probably 40 times and Elizabeth Zipay's Tiny Snowflake.

My school recently made me switch my Apple ID from my school email to a private one.  It makes sense of course but when I started doing email/Apple ID, we used these things so differently.  One HUGE hassle though is that patterns I had stored on my ipad are now gone and I was alarmed to find that digital downloads are NOT always available.  After a certain number of years, you cannot re-download them!  This is very frustrating and even though I contacted all the vendors from these older patterns, only ONE has contacted me with the patterns.  Fortunately I can read a picture and recreate (although it's a lot slower) and since I've paid for them once, I feel no guilt.  But ETSY, come on!  Figure this out, they should be available to the buyer forever.

Well, where did that rant come from?  : )

MN snowflakes nuntium trecesimum sedecimum

These are a hit at the craft fairs.

Nameless, Elizabeth Zipay and Decoromana

Nameless doodle (not my own) 

Flurry

Can't remember
Update:  This is Muskaan's Hexagonal flake

Nameless (where's the rest?)

I don't know why these look so yellow but they are truly white.  If anyone sees a pattern and you know the author, let me know! (updated 12/16- now named!)

Saturdays - nuntium duocentesimum quadrigesimum

I have been tatting- really.  And I've been reading blogs too.  But mostly I've been doing school.  This year I have a completely new textbook for French and a new edition for my 7th and 8th grade Latin books.  That means that just about every spare moment is devoted to prep work.

Here is how I face hours of preparation work.

Assam tea

Here is the tatting I've been sneaking in too.

That's Robin Perfetti's Noelle in the front, a few from an old book of snowflakes (it's upstairs) maybe the one with 24 flakes?, a few of Frivole's Le Flocon Frivole, a couple of Betsy Evan's snowflake, a Frivole Bentley, a Jane Eborall Teeny Tiny, a small pile of Elizabeth Zipay's Elizabeth's Snowflake, a pile of Decoromana's  small snowflake(I can't find her Etsy shop anymore) and a pile of one I saw on pinterest with no attribution (and no pattern).

nuntium centesimum primum (101th post) presents

Merry Christmas!  

Last week, our little tatting club met again after school.  We meet on Wednesdays but this time I was more excited than ever to meet with them.  I had asked Happy Bluebird, who unfortunately can't meet with us, to make some tatting bags for the kids.  She is so talented and generous with her time, she was able to whip up some lickety-split!  She had given me a few felt needle cases too and was also able to make a few more so I would have 6.  I put a little snowflake (some were Elizabeth Zipay's pattern and others Decoromana's) on each - boy, do I hate invisible thread - as well as one self-threading needle, a thread puller and two coilless safety pins per.

Such wonderful fabrics!

So many pockets!

Such beautiful work!

If this wasn't a classic case of "giving is better than receiving", I don't know what would be.  The looks on their faces were priceless and one of them even said, "Now, I'm a real tatter!"

Thank you, Cindy for all your hard work!