Saturday, November 29, 2008

None Tatting Just Blowing Off Steam

Because I'm waiting for the phone to ring and I'm home alone I need a place to release some emotions ...... so here I am.

Ever looked forward to something so much then realized so much of it was a mistake.

Anniversary Cruise..... booked flights on our own because it was so much cheaper than thru the cruise line. US Airways. Booked way early, May. Now the price is $157 each cheaper and there is a $150 charge to change anything but they would gladly give us the $7 difference as a credit voucher towards future flights. Stupid! It is the EXACT same flight! Well not exact because they changed the times but they of course can do that. Stupid, thinking I could get us and our friends a better deal if I did it directly.

So I call our couple friends to tell them that I cost us an extra $157 a ticket because I bought them so early thinking with the price of gas they would go up. Only to find out that they have worse news than that.

The female half of our couple friends had a bad health scare a few months ago. Now it seems that the remaining lymp nodes are not working properly. She is in horrible pain (a 9 out of 10, worse then she's felt thru this whole process according to her husband) and can not get into the cancer specialist until Monday. The husband talked to the specialist's assistant today and was told that it may take radiation to correct this and can take from 1 day to 4 weeks to feel any relief. She is taking pain pills which just make her sick. I kid you not when I say she is a too thin already, actually she was before the surgeries, then lost weight that wasn't there to lose. I am very concerned about her VERY! I can't even see to type the tears are flowing so hard.

My call just came in, I am going to go there at 6:30 in the AM to help w/ their young kids while the father goes to work and stay until her mother comes later on in the morning.

She has remainded so upbeat and has used the cruise as something to look forward too. Now this. I won't want to go if she doesn't go! We've planned this as couples for over 2 years now.

I wonder what God is thinking..............

Monday, November 24, 2008

#17 of 25 Motif Challenge

For my 1st Winter 2008 Tatting Round Robin Bookmark Exchange partner, Lynn, I made Kersti's Jessica Bookmark in yellow, which was her requested color, size 80 DMC thread.



I'm happy that I finished it in time to meet tomorrow's mailing deadline. I am including one of the flower paperclips that I like so much. I am also including the printed patterns for both.

Now I have successfully completed 2 size 80 projects, Yu Hoo! I hope I don't become addicted to size 80, I have very little HDT in that size, most of it is in size 20 and 30.

Happy Life and Happy Tatting everyone,

Bonnie

Saturday, November 22, 2008

#16 of My 25 Motif Challenge

With everything else going on in my life I decided to join the Winter 2008 Tatting Round Robin Bookmark Exchange. I know I know, I thought the same thing "What was I thinking!" I actually was hoping it would force me to make time to tat.

I started right away trying to get a jump start on the exchange. I took it with me when I went to Long Island, NY for a conference. People were very interested in what I was doing not only at the conference but people on the planes and at the airports. It was fun to hear people make comments such as - was I really tatting - they hadn't seen anyone do it in a number of years -they didn't think anyone did it any more, things like that. I was wishing I'd have brought some of the Flower Paperclips I like to make, it would have been fun to give them away to people.

Anyway, I was determined to bring home a completed piece. I tatting every spare minute I had the entire weekend and I did complete the piece, I was very excited. However to my surprise when I got home there was an email saying that since it's a bookmark it should be done in size 80 thread and be at least 6" in length. My Oh My, size 80?!?!? I hadn't successfully completed any of the size 80 projects I'd ever started...........but a deal is a deal. So I picked up my thread, wound my shuttles and off I went. The results are here and since both are the same pattern just one is bigger (to met the 6" length requirement for the size 80 thread) I am considering them both as #16 of my 25 Motif Challenge.



On July 20, 2008 Gina, Tatting Goddess, posted this Spiral Bookmark pattern. The purple is the original piece I did when I was at the conference. It is done in Lola and Lavender size 30 HDT-s, from Marilee, Yarnplayer.

I truly thought I was going to have a panic attack using size 80 thread but it turned out much better than I had hoped. I got the blue thread from the lady who taught me to tat, it is DMC thread.

The purple piece will go to my friend Shirley. She went to the conference with me and mentioned many times how she really likes purple and currently folds the corners of her books. (much to this book lover's horror!) The blue one will go to one of my exchange partners who favored blue. My first exchange partner, Lynn, favors yellow, so I have been working on a different pattern for a few days and should have it completed this weekend in order to meet the deadline of Tuesday, Nov 25th. I'll post it when I have it completed.

Happy Life and Happy Tatting,

Bonnie