Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pinterest success story


Ok, yes I know I disappeared for a long time again. I'm not even going to try justify it. The important thing is I'm back, and I have what I consider to be a huge success to share with you!!
Like so many others Pinterest has become a great time waster for me. (I mean that in the best possible way). Occasionally while I'm perusing the posts there desperately trying to stay awake during a quiet shift I even find something I get excited by.
That was the case last night. While browsing through Doctor Who memes and recipes for yet another crockpot cake, I stumbled on this gem:




So maybe you're wondering why this had me excited...
Well my amazing daughter has a brain injury, so math concepts beyond simple addition and subtraction become very difficult for her because they are too abstract. This method is very visual (her strongest learning method) and concrete. I pinned it and came home eager to try it.
Well wonder of wonders... She picked it up in minutes! We worked three questions together




Then she was off to the races on her own!




A wild success! But it gets better! I just caught her sitting at the table with a bunch of papers everywhere and a calculator. She was practising and testing herself... she even challenged herself with larger numbers!




Who knows, her fear of math may have just turned into a love affair!
(Thanks Pinterest...I'll never feel guilty surfing you for hours again)
Until next time.....
~Let not the wind steal dignity~

Saturday, February 2, 2013

TIAS Day 7&8

So this is the first year I have taken part in Jane's TIAS. And lasted more than the first day or two before life became too hectic and I was forced to set it aside. So here for your enjoyment are my days 7&8 along with my guess.
Lets start with day 7



At this point I was guessing it is a flower basket, and that the other colour will be the blooms extending past the handle. My guess changed after today's new instructions.


After tatting day 8 my guess fellin line with many others on Jane's TIAS blog
And here I thought I was being original! lol



~Let not the wind steal dignity~

Friday, February 1, 2013

So Much for a Quiet Day of Tatting

Ever wake up, stretch, and feel lazy as a house cat and decide that today you are not doing anything......except maybe tat?


That was exactly what I had in mind this morning.

It would seem my day had different ideas.

Instead of curling up with some of Jess!'s thread and my pretty new shuttles, I spent the day cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry.
How did this happen?

Well once the kids were off to school I saw the mess they had made of the kitchen. So I cleaned it up, sat down at the table with my tablet and a tea and began looking at all the blogs.

The longer I sat, the more I admired my clean,clear counter tops and spotless stove. When a kitchen looks that good, you just HAVE to cook something.


A little chopping,



A little sautéing



And a good long simmer later


I had a beautiful pot of borscht ready for dinner.

Unfortunately I also had a very messy kitchen.

Grating beets had turned my pristine countertops into something that looked straight out of a horror movie, so I cleaned it again, and moved on to tackling some laundry.

Once I had folded and switched loads I once again sat down with my shuttles and tablet.

Alas I still was not going to be able to curl up for a good long tat.

Instead the Mr. Let me know it was lunch time and asked me to make sandwiches (because I make a mean sandwich, and with his schedule I don't always get the chance to feed him).
After lunch was finished, kitchen cleaned up again, and the Mr. tucked in for his pre-back-to-work nap, I realized I needed to get a few groceries, including bread for lunches and to go with my soup.

Guess what I forgot to buy....... You got it.... bread!

Since I forgot, and didn't have time to go out again, I made a new mess, two loaves of bread and a batch of these beauties, and cleaned up the doughy mess.



By then it was dinner time, followed by cleaning the kitchen yet again, and time to tuck in my little ones.
Then FINALLY at 9:00 at night, I was able to pull out my shuttles and do a little tatting. I do mean "a little". I finished Jane's TIAS to day 6 so I was finally caught back up.


So I did get some done,just not nearly the lazy day I had promised myself. Maybe tomorrow.
Until then.....

~Let not the wind steal dignity~

Monday, January 28, 2013

Hello Again

Well so much for attempts at regularity..life just gets away from me sometimes. In any case I just wanted all my friends in blog land to know I'm still around, and tatting.
Over the Christmas break I had the absolute pleasure of going on our first BIG family vacation. The Mr. and I surprised our jlittle lovelies with a trip to the Dominican Republic to enjoy the sun and sand. They didn't have a clue until we were heading to the airport. Here's a video of them finding out...

YouTube Video


It was wonderful! I even found a few moments to do some tatting in paradise.




Since then I have managed to tat very little as life has gotten busy again. I have enjoyed a couple new purchases though, I ordered the new Jan Stawasz book and managed to tat a couple motifs from it, unfortunately no pictures of them since I was tatting in the hospital waiting room and gave them away as fast as I made them.
I did get a start on Jane's TIAS. So far I've only done to day three, but I plan on catching up tonight.




I also Treated ( yes that is treated with a capital T ) myself to a couple of gifts, since my loving Mr. tends to forget to fill my stocking. (Ok that's just an excuse, I would have bought them any way). In any case I bought this lovely ring,




and two shuttle brothers shuttles.








A better picture of the sterling silver one.
Well that's all for now. Until next time.........

Saturday, October 13, 2012

I'm Still Tatting

It has been a very odd few months for me. I've found myself in a bit of a funk and have avoided most of my regular activities like hanging out with the girls, or doing anything particularly creative (and for me that's pretty strange, my hands are never still). I'm not sure why the funk, ( I say funk because I'm not wholeheartedly ready to admit depression) but now that I'm aware I'm trying to pull myself out of early hibernation. So if I disappear for more than a couple weeks yell at me!!

Despite my total anti-social cocooning tendencies of late, I have managed some tatting...... Lots of tatting. Mostly the same bookmark over and over again.....Simple Heart by Vicki Clarke Unfortunately I give them away as fast as I make them. I do have an unblocked pendant I've made based on the pattern I can show you!! (I just remembered I made it this morning.)




It is made from three strands of sewing thread. One peach, one rust, and one a satiny red. I was happy with the way the HWT worked up, but my pendant could really do with some blocking.



I also used Vickie's rose to make this sweet hair clip for my daughter tonight. It to could use some blocking, but honestly it likely won't happen. I'm not to thrilled with the tatting, I needle Tatted the rose and am out of practice, so it looks very sloppy to me. My Daughter loves it though and that's what counts.






Speaking of my sweet girl, look at the wonderful scarf she made! She missed out on Fringe Tat days in Cambridge Ontario due to a family emergency, but Ruth was kind enough to let me take her kit home to her. She was thrilled, and is now working on her third scarf. She plans to sell them at her school bazaar in November.

Well that's about all the social I've got in me tonight. I'm heading to bed now. Until next time........

~ Let not the wind steal dignity ~

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

There really is a reason I've not been here

I just don't know what it is.
Perhaps it is because I've been a little tied up

Or maybe it's because I've been pinned down by a friend

Maybe, just maybe I've been spending too much time looking at life from a whole new perspective

In any case I have been busily tatting away. I've finished a couple pieces I plan on sharing very soon, and have been working on a quilt square for a commemorative quilt being made by the women in my church. I'm actually a little nervous about this as I am not a quilter by any stretch. I've decided instead of actually quilting my square I'm going to tat something to represent worldwide sisterhood instead. I'll post picks once I have something worth showing. Which will will be soon since I have to Finnish it by mid September.
Speaking of September, it is gearing up to be an incredibly busy month, even by my standards! Not only do I have the back to school chaos for three kids to deal with and the quilt block, but the monthly tat'n'chat I organised at the local library begins again, Tat Days in Cambridge Ontario is quickly coming, so I need to get my balls on a roll for the competition piece, and I have signed up for Diane's Doodad Double Dare . So it looks like life is about to get very interesting! I'll post pics as I get things done....ok you can stop laughing! I really will. Till then.......
~ Let not the wind steal dignity ~

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Heading Off to Camp

Well I am about to spend four days camping with my daughter and about 135 other teenage girls! Should prove to b an interesting time! But before I throw the final few items in my van and head off for a whole four hours of sleep, I thought I'd share with you a quick pic of the hat I'll be wearing......


Figured I'd try my hand at adding a little flair to my dollar store hat. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but with Jess' (Tatalicious) thread, and Mary Konior,how could I go wrong?

Well off I go to dreamland. Stay safe out there! And untill I'm back..........

~ Let not the wind steal dignity ~