My two favourite brain cells

Well, they're my two favourite cells because they're the only ones I've got!!! They were both working well yesterday!!!
I've been trying to design a shuttle pouch for my Aero shuttles. I want it to be suitable for shuttles with picks too and also to have spaces for spare bobbins. Well the actual first attempt did all that but needed some tweaking. Then I decided that it still hadn't solved the problem of hooks poking through the fabric. This has been nagging away at the two brain cells for a week or more now with no luck so yesterday I went down the town to try and resolve this problem.
Oh, before I say more - I'd already tried to resolve this by cutting up plastic lids and inserting those but they were way too bulky and didn't lie well.
So, off I trundled down to the town and I decided to annoy the fabric store first. In the dress fabric section Mrs Miserable was on duty so no luck there! I then wandered into the curtains section and with much joviality was pointed out that probably a certain tye of cloth would do the trick! This shop is SO expensive and I only needed about 3" by 3" to try it out. So, 'girding my loins' (whatever that means!) I decided to annoy the curtain shop on the way home.
EUREKA. The man there has a sense of humour and when I told him I'd come to annoy him he 'rose to the occasion'. I finally bought about half a yard of this type of cloth for a pound!! He said he was glad to see the back of it (it was the tail end of a roll) as I left!!! Actually I reckon if only I'd have been a bit quicker I could have asked him to pay ME to take it away.
Point is, it looks as if it does work. This means that the production of shuttle pouches will soon be underway!!!! I've decided not to make integral bobbin holders but to make separate ones exactly like those I've been using for years!!
Watch this space!!!!!

The difference one double makes

I'm intrigued. After all these years of tatting I still don't know the answer. Perhaps somebody can help?
As anybody who's been following this blog will know I've been struggling with a decent way to enclose a sequin within two layers of tatting but with the proviso that it must be worked in one 'hit'. Years ago I made them by working two rounds and joining them with the third one working outwards from the sequin.
I finally managed to do this in one round a few months ago and was pleased with myself!!! I went back to this again a few days ago and was bitterly dissapointed because it didn't work so well this time. However much I tried the sequin was loose in the tatting.
While out walking the other afternoon I thought about the problem so then sat down two nights ago and tried doing it another way - again in one hit.
Now, the question is that on this final and utterly fabulous attempt in each SR there is a total of 7 ds. YET in the version before which was loose, there are only 6 ds. Can anybody explain?

Time after time I find anomalies like this. When I work on animals something done a few days/weeks previously can be knocked out of shape by one join meaning a re-think or even re-start on the whole thing. It's absolutely no good drawing it out first as this still happens.
Anyway, this is last night's outer round.

Eureka!!!

Well I'm sure that anybody looking at yesterday's post would've thought that the sequin design was OK. Well, let me tell you it wasn't. I wasn't happy with the fit of the sequin in the centre of the two sides of tatting. So I suddenly had a brainwave.

Yup, one of the two brain cells had a growth spurt and came out of hiding. Sometimes this happens in my little corner of tat land!!! It's meant re-writing the centre part again but it's still done in one 'hit' and it gives a fantastically snug fit to the sequin.
With these particular sequins there are two holes and it's possible to join through those if you want to. Personally this is such a good fit now that it's not at all necessary. Ooooooh, I'm SO pleased with myself.
Next I want to do another one or two outer parts and also work on Martha's idea of a smiley sequin face which then will be added to my web pages. The two I have just done are fine but they don't give much opportunity to use beads and you know how much I love my beads!!! I want something that will be my Christmas giveaway so I want something sparkly and fun and which will fit in a bracelet to hang on the tree.
I'll take a few more days to play with this and then I must do something for a wedding we're going to in September. No, we're not getting married at last - no time for all that!!!

Here's one I made earlier!!!

Well, actually something I made yesterday evening!!!
I'm not sure I like it or will bother with it again but I suppose it's different!!!
I went back to playing with sequins and might stick to that for another few days - until I've worked it out of my system!!! I'm not that happy with the first round and may play with that to make fewer split rings if possible.
Back to what I did ages ago - or should that be years ago!!! I went through this phase once before but hope I can now improve on it!!!! Well, where there's life there's hope, I guess. Wonder who said that? Well apart from me!!!!!

Been tagged.

I've been tagged by Sherry!
6 unimportant facts about me? Tat's easy!!!! Now if it was six important facts then that'd be a challenge!!!!

1. I've been tatting for 52 years - with a few breaks for other laces and crafts!!!
2. I hate makeup, haircuts, looking in the mirror!!
3. My sense of humour gets me into a LOT of trouble and most days.
4. I can cope in bad situations - but fall to pieces afterwards.
5. I snore and talk in my sleep - so I'm told but I don't believe it!!!!
6. I managed to drag up two daughters while working as a fulltime teacher. They turned out brilliantly too. Hmmmm, how did I do tat?!?!!?

Now for this award thing!!!! Not sure I understand it but here are the rules
Rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award,
creativity, design, interesting material, and also contrubuites to the blogger
community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

Blog number 1 is the walking the streets blog. I like this blog as it was written about my area but I cannot reveal the name - well, not the real one.
Number 2 is this one but I'm not prepared to say who's it is or where they fit into my life!!! I love her dry sense of humour.
HECK, I'll have to come back to this another time!!! Need to find thread and beads to tat!!!

100 done and dusted

Well I did it!!! I had a late start on them yesterday evening because the garden needed a little 'attention'!!! I'll pack them up and post them today.

Now I've been tagged again by Sherry and Ais has sent me an award. Need to dust off one of the two brain cells and find out what to do about these!!! Which of the two will I use? The 'sensible' brain cell or my favourite - the other one!!!!

I'm now wondering what to do with myself this evening. Several options occur to me but my favourite is to play with the sequin idea again! I just want/need to get one idea out of the blur inside my head.

I also managed to get all of the new roly poly tat bags photographed yesterday afternoon and up on a temporary url to show people. My next move was to list some of them in Etsy. BUT, they've all sold again without reaching the shop!!! So, when I get time it'll be back to the sewing machine!!! I really must finish getting the garden sorted first!!

Oh, I've noticed that the 'timeless tatting' site has dissapeared (for now at least). So all the natives in tataholics in tat land must have done some good by complaining!!!!

Are we there yet?

Do you remember the kids sitting in the back of the car and saying 'are we there yet?' after you'd done a mile or two on the holiday journey? I do!!!! I feel like that with the snowflakes!!! I've now done 84 and a half so should finish this evening. Well, if I don't get distracted!!!
Ah, tattingchic, the 'im wot must be obeyed' is Nick!!! He isn't a person who thinks he should be obeyed one bit. The kindest man you'd ever wish to meet but (like me) he has a HUGE sense of humour!!!! We thrive on each others company.
I made some more roly poly tat bags yesterday so hope to have time to list a few more in my Etsy shop tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!!!

68 done - too many to do!!!

So a few more done!!!
A frustrating day yesterday but I still managed to get a few more roly poly tat bags sewn. Frustrating in that I had to walk to the nearest hardware store to buy paint for 'im wot must be obeyed' twice!!! Still, I managed to get a few more bags sewn before, during and after!!!
Here are the tiny 'snowflakes' that I'm working on. 68 done and boredom is setting in!!! I hope another two looooong evenings will see them done!! Least I get to watch the telly while I'm doing these!!!!