TIAS Day 9

It is definitely looking more and more train-like. Perhaps it will be a toy train for Christmas, and that's why Sherry said my color choice would be so great.

Fall Flowers Finished

Flower Pot I from the book Tatted Treasures by Jan Stawasz. Thread colors listed in previous posts.

Happy as I am with this outcome, I do have to say that those double picots are a right pig to sew down. You want a single stitch to hold the thread in place-- not too loose or it won't work, not too tight or it will pucker; not too large or it will be visible, not too small or it will make a compressed spot in the tatting thread; and in just the right place so it doesn't pull the picot out of its natural shape. I have to admit, I don't bother sewing down the inner strand of the double picot; I figure it's going to end up behind glass in a frame, so I'm not too worried about it being dislodged. I also don't bother sewing down the regular picots in a piece like this, for the same reason. If I were sewing the tatting to a garment or household item that would subjected to a lot of laundering, it would be a different story, but for something that is going to be protected in a frame, just a few stitches to hold the whole piece in place are sufficient.

Here's day 8 of the TIAS, which I posted on the TIAS blog a few days ago but haven't put here yet.

From this angle, it's a hair dryer, but that seems like a less likely guess than cuttlefish was. Or it could possibly be a ray gun or a megaphone.

Rotated this way, it's the shoe that the old lady lived in.

However, I think the most likely guess so far is, as several people have suggested, a steam locomotive. The tall part is the smokestack, and we have now started the front end. One person even specifically suggested The Little Engine That Could; that individual happens to be tatting in a light blue thread, just like the color of the engine in the book.

Then again, I was convinced for a very long time that Jane's goat was going to be a locomotive, so what do I know?

Autumn Flowers

I never seem to be able to put anything on the scanner straight, but here it is. I did the stems in Lizbeth 138 Leafy Greens. All the other colors are listed in the last post. I'm planning to mount this one on an off-white background fabric.

Flowers and TIAS

I finally had time to make the flowers of my current Jan Stawasz project. All that remains is the stems.

From left to right, the flowers are made from Lizbeth color 100 Falling Leaves; 694 Harvest Orange, 673 Terra Cotta (the same color as the vase), and 613 Golden Yellow Medium; and 612 Golden Yellow Light and 169 Autumn Apple Pie.

I think my double picots came out a little better this time around. A picot gauge would make them perfectly even, but I think they're close enough.

I've also got day 7 of the TIAS done.

All I can think of at this point is a cuttlefish, with tentacles to be added later. I do notice a couple of points that may be telling, except they're not actually telling me anything. The way this most recent part joins to the round section does not quite match the way the first chain came off of the round section, so we're definitely making something asymmetrical. And the only joining picot available at this point is the one on the last chain we made. Although we could also join at the bases of the rings, this does seem to indicate that the most likely direction for the next section will be down (in the perspective of this picture). Still, it doesn't really give me any clues as to what it is.

TIAS Day 6

I'm starting to see things in it now. It all depends on how you rotate it.

Dachshund. Those two remaining picots on the round bit will be used to join the long part of the face.

Gingerbread boy. The picots on the round part will be for a lopsided hat.

Something with pointy ears on top-- either Hello Kitty or Batman (with a flower in his hair?).

Holly leaf with berry. Additional leaves to be joined to those two pesky picots.

Then again, Sherry said this colorway would be great. Unless she was being ironic (which I wouldn't put past her), a rainbow thread wouldn't seem to work very well for any of these-- although I think it would be hilarious to see a rainbow-colored flower-bedecked tatted Batman.

Poor Squijum

That's an IV site on his arm.

Don't worry, it wasn't anything too major. He just had his teeth cleaned. But for a cat, this is a much bigger deal than for us, because they have to have general anesthesia. Because of Squijum's past dental problems, this is something he will have to do every year. Luckily, he never has a bad reaction to anesthesia, and his generally sweet and friendly disposition makes it easy for the vet to do what she needs to do before he goes under.

I never did manage to get him to accept having his teeth brushed, as you can see in the "before" picture below. Look how yellow the back tooth is, and the gum below it is pretty inflamed. The vet did warn me this was likely; the corresponding upper tooth is the one that was pulled last year, so now this tooth has nothing to grind against.

I think the underlying problem is I couldn't find a toothpaste he could tolerate the taste of. You'd think they could make feline toothpastes in flavors that felines enjoy. I really would like to be able to brush his teeth. I've seen so many human patients with brain abscesses that started out as dental abscesses (and yes, I do realize that working where I work does lead me to always imagine the worst case scenario), and studies in humans also correlate good dental health with good heart health. I'm sure it can't be that different in cats; we are all mammals, after all. Gian, do you think you could have a word with him about getting his teeth brushed?

On the upside, his x-rays looked great, so hopefully we can avoid any more extractions. And the rest of his health is perfect.

TIAS Day 5

I have no idea. I don't think it's a gourd anymore. We could be outlining the wing of a bird right now, but somehow I don't think that's right either.

I've been rotating it every which way trying to see something, but I'm not really getting anything right now.

Notice how mischievous Sherry looks in her photo on the TIAS blog?