Continuing the Spring Doily, an Interim Project and a Lovely Gift

I am highly enjoying Reneluk's Spring Doily and am making surprisingly quick progress...probably because my husband has been gone the past two weeks so I've had nothing to do but tat! :)

Here are rounds Four:

Five:

Six:

and Seven:

I also decided it would be fun to work on something in a bit larger thread. This is the first couple rounds of Karey Solomon's "Plain and Fancy" from her booklet Doily Delights in size 20 Lizbeth.

I also received a lovely package from Aileen from Wicked Nothings this week.  I participated in her Secret Santa exchange, but the package that was sent to me (I like to think it was sent) never made it...even though she really didn't need to, Aileen was kind enough to send a replacement, and

I appreciate it so much!!!

Blue and white thread, rubber thimble, two decorated shuttles, origami paper for decorating my own shuttles, beads (more on that in a later post), a decorated card AND a fun cultural momento, a good luck "red packet" for the Lunar New Year. Inside my good luck envelope was a beautifully tatted bookmark! Thank you! :)

I especially love the decorated shuttle she sent, and some extra papers for me to practice decorating, too. I sense a mod podge order in my future! :)

 I enter all exchanges at my own risk and with the full knowledge that I may never receive anything-- I just think it is so fun to have the option to connect with tatters all over the place! Thanks again to Aileen for organizing the exchange!

I will leave you today with a bit of inspiration I'm mulling over:

I saw this vase at a restaurant over the weekend and thought, I can do that! So, I'll be thinking of exactly how to do it over the next few weeks. I'm thinking there will be a lot of stiffening agents involved! :)

Starting Renulek's Spring Doily and Finishing Another (Motifs 9 and 10)

Howdy.

Sorry. It's been a while.

I've had a bit of a horrible week...first of all, my hubby has been away at a training, so it's been sad and lonely around the house, and then, last Saturday my baby had a major health scare after he ingested an entire 100g dark chocolate bar that he found in my purse (which is not a good thing for a 25-lb terrier mix).

THANKFULLY Russia has 24-hr vets and thankfully I knew enough Russian to explain what happened, and thankfully the vets knew what to do and quickly, so THANKFULLY my dog is here with me happy and healthy today (although I don't think he enjoyed having his stomach pumped, poor thing).

 Yikes.

 So, with all that going on I have not been doing much tatting...but I have managed to finish up one project and start another:

Motif 9: Doily by Adelheid Dangela in the Ring of Tatters' 30th Anniversary Book of Patterns tatted in size 80 Lizbeth

I also started Renulek's Spring Doily a week or so ago, and thanks to a (major) thread infusion [because of course I needed that ;)], have continued this week:

Motif 10: The first round of Renulek's Doily

Here is round 2:

 And the newly finished round 3:

So far I am enjoying this tat, but I'm kind of confused as to how to start round 4 (two shuttles CTW or shuttle and ball...) Any suggestions from those who have passed this point?

Tatting Randomness...Motifs 6, 7 and 8

OK, before I get to the real post I have some exciting news...Chris and I were told where we will be heading after our two years in Vladivostok are done (early 2015)

We are totally looking forward to 2+ years in...Canberra, Australia!!!

So, does anybody have information on the tatting scene down under? :)

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Ook, February was not been a particularly prolific month of tatting...more just a little of this and that...

First of all, here (finally!) is my sailboat from Jane's TIAS:

Motif #6

My sister-in-law gave me the Ring of Tatters' "30th Anniversary Book of Patterns" for Christmas, and I have been mostly dabbling there for the past few weeks:

Motif 7: Buttercup by Hannah Crowle

If you compare this to the actual pattern you will find (on the outer round at least) there are a few differences...all due to user error, of course. Fox has been quite vocal about her alleged "Instructional Incompetence" and I have to admit that I, too, suffer from that disease. Oops. :)

Motif 8: The first motif of Adelheid Dangla's Doily

I've actually had to abandon this motif here--it's impossible to tell on this terrible picture, but apparently I tatted this with dirty fingers--the inner rings are new-snow white, but all those lovely chains are closer to snow after the first plowing. Oops.

Finally, another project from that same book that is just giving me fits...Jane has this adorable badger bookmark that I'd so love to tat...

 But I can't get the joins to work properly!!

The pattern calls for both up joins and down joins, techniques that I understand in theory, but have struggled to execute in reality:

The first ring does not require the down join...and the down join worked pretty well on the second ring...but WHY are there black marks on the third and fourth rings?!

 Here is the back side, which looks right(?)

Any suggestions? I literally worked on this for two days last weekend (this is the 4th or 5th attempt), and I'm stuck! :(

Also, I'm very sad because the Olympics are over, but being in the host country has some perks...like finding Sochi chocolate! Hooray! :)