Tri-Tatters meeting etc

Due to scheduling conflicts, Tri-tatters couldn't get our usual meeting room on a weekend. March is apparently really busy. First Saturday is Living History day at Mordecai House. We were one of the demonstrators, along with hearth cooking. I missed the hearth cooking, it was in a different location. Anitra talked to our contact and he let us have our meeting along with our demo, this once.

One of our younger members surprised us by joining us. She's in college in another town and rarely gets a chance to see us. She didn't have her tatting with her so she did some knitting. I completed a bracelet and just as I pulled out materials for my next project, it was time to wrap up. I completely missed eating lunch. I just grazed on strawberries and Katie's delicious baked breadsticks.

My dentist appointment went well. It was my 6-month cleaning. I really hope they come up with an alternative to that metal pick someday. It just grates on my nerves. I showed off my tatting some more and made my next dental appointment.

I worked on my presentation some more. I'm giving it Thursday but it's hard condensing 8 hours of material into 10, interesting, minutes.

A few more letters have arrived in the mail and I need to answer them. I'll admit I haven't been as urgent in my replies since Lettermo ended.

I'm going to see Mom this weekend. I have to pull together 6 wardrobe discards for her.

Breaking Silence

I got distracted and didn't post the last two weeks. I went to Mom's two weeks ago, and I often start my blog post over the weekend. Last weekend was Triangle Tatters meeting and other stuff, just kept busy.

I've kept up quite well with Lettermo, and only 1 day to go. I already know what I'm sending, I just need to write the note and go to the post office to get packaging and postage.

Wednesday was interesting. We had tornado warnings. We sometimes get watches but warnings are rare (except during hurricanes, when we've already have enough on our plate). My office is in the basement, so I didn't bother moving. However, the rest of the building came to camp in my office and nearby. Again, because basement. After work, the sky looked like a Brothers Hidlebrandt painting.

I literally pulled over and parked to take this picture

And a few minutes later

I finished another bracelet, then started one in the same pattern but completely different beads.

HDT thread, coppery beads

HDT, dyed howlite and seed beads

I got the 1st one loaded during the meeting and started loading the 2nd one. However, I did not get very far for a very good reason; I was helping someone learn to tat. She had heard of the group and showed up for the meeting, hoping someone could help her. She'd looked at the video tutorial on YouTube but it never quite worked for her. She had all the motions right, just missed the key flip of thread tension. She was doing quite well by the end of the meeting. And we had 21 people show up, all told. At least three of them were learning to tat.

I'm sticking to my budget, but it was hard this month. I had an unexpected purchase to make, plus I couldn't find all my stamps and had to buy more.

I've started using Evernote for tracking my letters. I'm not sure it's a good idea; as I'm having a learning curve trying to figure out how to separate the scans into the separate letters. And so far, searching has not been as successful as I'd thought it would be.

 I took a 8-hour training on sustainability through work. A good part was what had been done, what is being done, and what's in progress at work. Then there was what we can do and get our offices to do; things like purchases, water conservation, energy, composting, and recycling. I'll be giving a report to the managers at the staff meeting in March.

And the moonstone bracelet, plus 2 others

HDT thread: Snowy Day & moonstone cubes

It's cold. What? Is it February or something?

No snow or ice, though so I'll take it. We've had some snow flurries, but nothing accumulated.

I'm doing well with Lettermo. I've gotten two letters so far. Here's the back of one envelope I sent.

I finally finished the dragon for Ash & Jeff and mailed it today.

 

 

Dark ocean teal

I made a dragonfly today. It desperately needs to be blocked. But here's a heart in the same thread.

Snowy Day (HDT by Hope Bates)

I also tatted a split ring bracelet, with moonstone cubes, from the same thread. It needs to be blocked, so no picture.

Alas, my Superb Owl team did not win. Oh well, at least they played a pretty good game. Not good enough to win, but enough to make it a pretty close game.

So many great Kickstarters. I have nowhere near enough money to get in on them. *sob*
Fate
Pugmire
 Baby Bestiary vol 2
7th Sea
The Forgotten
Resistor
Tavern Tales
World Wide Wrestling: International Incident

Thursday is the Deadlands game, and this weekend I visit Mom.

Lettermo Has Begun

Lettermo has begun.

I mailed one letter to an aunt on Saturday and then dropped off letters to my mother's other sisters on Monday. Monday afternoon, I dropped off letters to my dad's sisters and to my one great-uncle for Tuesday's mail. There's a Patreon to support Lettermo. Here's a picture of the letters I sent on Tuesday.

The weather got warmer as the week progressed and the weekend was just fabulous. The weather on Monday was so gorgeous, I sat outside at lunch. This is part of what I saw.

There was still a little snow left; where the plows had piled it up. They aren't very big anymore.

Many libraries are posting 'color our collections' this week. They offer black and white images for people to print and color. Here's a library at my alma mater; with an image a day for the week. The Bodleian Library is also doing it.

This is a very interesting article about reporting in and on a culture not your own.

Date with CC tonight. She pointed me at this comic/cartoon series. I finished a bracelet while we were talking.

Lettermo and boots

Lettermo is well underway. I've already gotten three letters and sent out about 10. And those are just letters to family and replies. I have a list of new people to write, too.

My ankle high boots, developed a hole in the insole, right under my heel. That's incredibly uncomfortable, so I bought gel insoles. They are quite comfortable and I think they make me about a quarter inch taller. At my height, with the low heel on the boot, that's important.

I've been watching Agent Carter tv show and enjoying it immensely. (link is to a great blog post about reasons to love the show)

We're behind on Sleepy Hollow but we're catching up. I do enjoy the historical namedropping; it's just so entertaining.

I've made a couple heart bookmarks, using that earlier heart pattern. I used the cord idea from Kersti, of using a lockchain. Then I ended it with a simple clover, with or without a tassel.

color: Scottish Thistle

color: Red Burst

I've been having problem finding stationery. I finally bought a pad of decent quality paper and some washi tape. Voila, instant stationery, as many pages as I need. Right now, I'm using old calendar pages with white address stickers for envelopes.