One New Country, Two Tatting Classes, Three More Motifs and Four Sunlit Shuttles! (Motifs 40-42)

Well, we're back.

That was a very rough, very fast trip home, but I'm glad we went...

Partly because I picked up yet another country (Japan--my 5th new country in the past two months, phew!), but most especially because we got to see all our families and meet our newest niece, Gemma...

The pink bib worked! (And was HUGE on my 6 lb+ niece!)

 I did a little bit of tatting while I was home and in the air...as per usual...

Motif 40 (#7 on the way to 25 by the 25th...yikes!) This is Perfect Quilter and DMC 80 threads combined.

Ok, so it was a very little bit...to be honest, that's about all I achieved on the trip...I was mostly too exhausted to even lift a shuttle.

 Understandably (I hope) I was pretty down after returning (and jetlagged!!) but a small package from Canada perked me up considerably on my first day back at work...four Sunlit Shuttles from that amazing Fox! Thank you again! :)

And they are great! As a semi-converted needle tatter I don't have a ton of shuttles and all my Clovers are full, so it was a very, very timely arrival! :)

 Suitably cheered and fully rested I started on one of the Shuttlebirds Weekly Challenges (I've been getting the e-mails for months but this is the first one I've completed)...

And yes, the thread matches the shuttles...I like it that way. :) It's the Tatted Roman Cross in size 30 Cebélia, and is Motif #41 (and #8 on the way to 25 by the 25th).

 As a thank you (sorry if this spoils the fun, Fox) I decided to make a Thank You mignonette AND practice a new skill at the same time:

BEADS! (Motif 42 on the year, #9 on the way to 25 by the 25th)

It took a couple tries but I managed to add beads from the shuttle. Amazing.

 Finally, I taught my second tatting class (needles, not shuttles...it's easier, I think)--it was actually a reschedule class, originally we were going to have it the Sunday I left for the funeral, but my students were patient and we had a nice time making holiday motifs this past weekend.

 So that's that...just under two weeks until Christmas and I have 16 motifs to go to get to 25 by the 25th...it might take a Christmas miracle to pull it off, but stranger things have occurred! :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane...again (Also Motif #34 and the end of the TIAS)

Well, at this time tomorrow I'll be winging my way across Europe, heading toward a job training in Frankfurt, Germany. It's a tough life, I guess. :)

Anyway, my thread is wound and my tatting books carefully selected...it's always hard to choose what to take and what to leave behind!!

I've also done a bit of tatting in the past couple of weeks:

The TIAS! And motif #34 (#1 on my way to 25 by the 25th of December...clearly I need to pick up the pace!)

Here is another fun project I'm working on...

 I'm not going to tell you the story behind it yet, but you can guess if you want :)

Last weekend I taught my first ever tatting class! Here is the aftermath:

 I was so proud, I had 6 people over and all were able to make rings and chains by the end of the 2-hr lesson...one even brought a completed motif to work the next day!

Becky's First Motif!

Since then I've given refresher lessons, provided fresh balls of thread and lent out a couple of tatting books; definitely signs of tatting fever in Vladivostok! And, the best part is most of the people have asked when the next lesson will be...so fun!

I also sent off my package for the Secret Shuttle Exchange...I hope it doesn't take too long to get to the US from Russia!! If you're interested, there is another holiday-themed exchange being planned: Secret Santas!