Let's Play "What is it?" in the Garden

I am blessed (and sometimes cursed) with the many flowers and plants left by the people we bought our house from last year. I am still trying to figure out what some of them are.

These 2 pictures are of a little plant, only a few inches high.  I have a larger one of the same, but it's in the shade and not blooming.  Sorry these pictures are so poor.  The flowers were a deeper pink in real life, and looked better before a really heavy rain.

These yellow flowers must be either perennials or enthusiastic self seeding annuals.  I think I've got a lot more of them now than last year.  The plants are in the 12-16 inch high range, and the blooms are slightly cupped.

This one looks sort of like the four-o'clock pictures in my flower book, but the blooms are open by the time I get up in the late morning.  The size and foliage are very similar to the yellow flowers.

Any guesses?  Next time I get to a garden center, I'll be looking to see if I can recognize them there.

Next time, more tatting, I promise.

Palmetto Preview

I'm not sure when registration will open for the Palmetto event, but you can tell they are getting close with all the new things added on their website. Click here for the Tat Days page. You'll see links there for pictures of the class projects and the class schedule. I'm getting excited just looking at it. Here is a quick run-down of the classes I will be teaching:

First is the "Love of Beads Heart" that is the same one I taught at Finger Lakes. Since this is pretty much repetition after the first section, we decided to put it in a short class period. You should learn all you need to know during class so you can finish it later. This can be needle tatted, but only if your needle can fit through the beads. Carolyn G. needle tatted this in my class in NY and she showed me how to do the lock stitch chain.

This class is "An Inverted Tatting Garden." It has lots of little patterns using the inverted tatting technique. Needle tatters welcome too.

This is the fairy I showed you before. It uses both inverted tatting and the daisy picot stitch. No, you don't have to take then other inverted tatting class first. You can learn the technique in either class. Of course, anyone is welcome in both classes....

I never can tell how long it will take people to make the class projects. Sometimes it takes much longer than I would have thought, and other times a few people at least speed right through it. Just in case anyone finishes the fairy with time left over, that class handout includes the bunny pattern from the garden class.

Be sure and follow the link at the beginning to see the other teachers' class projects.  There are so many classes I would take if I could only be multiple places at the same time.

I hope to see lots of you there.

My New Toy

This is my new toy.  Well, sort of new.  It was a Christmas present, and I've actually been playing with it a little over a month.

Last year, I went to an event at the park which included Revolutionary War era crafts.  A lady there showed spinning with a drop spindle.  I was seized with the desire to spin some yarn and knit a shawl.  Which was insane, since I hadn't knitted in years, perhaps decades.

I find spinning to be a bit like meditation as I can do it and empty my mind of all else.  It is very relaxing, (except when it's frustrating).  My yarn is still thick and thin with occasional lumps.  It takes a lot of practice to get good.  It has been a long time since I've tried to learn something new, so this is a good experience for me.  Besides hours spent spinning, I've spent hours lurking about on Youtube and Ravelry trying to learn more.

Next time, back to tatting.   

Whooopppeee! Palmetto Coming

As Jane said, "Whooopppeee!" The Palmetto folks have announced their teachers for this year. I'll be there, and so will Jane, and lots of others I can't wait to see.

This fairy is one of my class projects. And if you click here you can see pictures of all the other classes. Don't you just love Erin's cat, and Jane's doodle critters, and Kaye's acorn, and well, just everything? I wonder which class I will get to take.

Remember how there used to be an amazing display where folks could show off the things they had made? There has been less of that in recent years, but they would like to bring that back. A full scale competition would be simply too demanding, but there could be a display area. (And perhaps some prizes?) They would love someone to volunteer to be in charge of organizing this, or volunteer just to help. For more information on that, write to Donna at tatdays@palmettotatters.org

Guy Stuff Day -- Army Heritage Center

On our previous whirlwind trips to New York, we would be barrelling down the highway, and all of a sudden, there would be this HELICOPTER by the side of the road. And we would say "WHAT was THAT?" as it quickly faded into the distance. So for our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes Tatting meet, DH said to me, "Find me that helicopter by the side of the road. I think it was in Pennsylvania." He is usually very patient about being dragged to tatting events, so I am glad to schedule a "guy stuff" day on our trips when I can. (Just our term, and not trying to be a female chauvanist. It is perfectly OK for girls to like this too.)

Surprisingly enough, "helicopter by the road in Pennsylvania" did not produce any useful links in Google. But with a little perseverence, I found the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, PA.

Their Heritage Trail has plenty of exhibits, from the French Indian War up to present day Afghanistan.  Here is a reconstruction of a redoubt from the Battle of Yorktown...

and some Civil War cabins...

... a World War I trench...

and,er, more tanks and stuff.

Even I had a good time walking around.  In fact, we spent so much time walking outside that we didnt even go inside the building.  Something else for another trip, I guess.

More Finger Lakes Tatting

I promised you more about the Finger Lakes Tatting convention.  Here Dani is teaching her Celtic Claddagh Heart Pattern.  I can usually tell how a pattern is constructed, but this one had me stumped for a while.  I love a challenge, and I promise to finish the class project once I get a few deadlines taken care of.  You can see other teachers Ginny and K in the background.

Here is Vicki with her class.

I also took Carolyn's class with a heart worked around a wooden ring. I wondered how she got the chains to wrap around the ring since the opening was way too small to fit a shuttle through.  The answer was simple, elegant, and something I would have never thought of.  I did finish that class project, but I guess I forgot to take a picture. Something else to show you later. 

I somehow managed to come away with no pictures of Karey, except this one as she turned away.

Here is Celtic Dream Weaver saying Hi!

This little darling was Kaye Judt's class project. This, too, is on my to-do list.

I got to visit with some old friends and make some new ones.  So much fun and over so quickly.

Fun at Finger Lakes

I haven't posted for such a long time, and I'm very sleepy and Blogger seems to be mad at me.  Here are some pictures of happy people tatting and shopping at the Finger Lakes Tatting meet to hold you over until next time.