Keeping up with the TIAS

I did actually tat days 13 and 14 when they were released, but haven't gotten around to posting them till now.

Presumably that row of split rings will straighten out after we turn the corner and join another row to them. It's still looking boat-like, but it must be a flat-bottomed one since there are no joining picots on the bottom row of split rings. Of course, there's still plenty of time for Jane to surprise us!

I haven't really done any other tatting this week. Too busy with work-- I had to go to a 4 hour staff meeting on my day "off". And maybe 30 minutes of that actually pertained to me. Still, it will be a nice paycheck.

Squijum's biopsy results came back yesterday. The vet's original diagnosis was correct. It is definitely allergies. Now it's just a matter of finding a treatment that he will respond to. We're going to try prednisolone next. It comes in a gel that is absorbed through the skin; you apply it to the inside of the ear where he can't lick it off. The pharmacy should have it ready today, and hopefully he won't mind it too much.

On Two Completely Different Subjects...

If Squijum looks a bit dazed, it's because he's still slightly high from the drugs the vet gave him yesterday. His behavior is mostly normal; he's just a little more assertive than usual with his cuddles. He always gets like that after certain types of medication. The vet said he was very well-behaved and only needed a little bit of sedation for the procedure. Such a sweetheart. It does get a little harder to put him in his carrier every time, though.

The red spot is where the vet took a skin scraping to see if she could see anything with a simple microscopic examination. She didn't expect to, but still they have to try. Since that didn't show anything, she took additional samples for biopsy-- that's where the staples are, and another site on his belly. It looks unpleasant, but if we can figure out what's causing his itching, it will all be worth it. There could be various types of mites causing it-- they burrow so deep into the follicles that it usually takes a full biopsy to find them-- or it could really be allergies and we just haven't found the right treatment yet. The results will be back in a few days.

To tell the truth, I'm hoping for mites, although I have no idea how he could have picked them up, being an indoor cat with no contact with other animals. At least mites are curable. It just kills me to watch him bite at himself all the time.

On the upside, Squijum is very happy to hear that his buddy Gian is feeling better.

On a completely different subject: Sandra, aka Crazy Mom. I've been thinking a lot about her since the fire. It's such a helpless feeling when something so devastating happens, and you're too far away to do anything useful. Luckily, she seems to have really good insurance. But I know a lot of tatters would like to help her rebuild her stash. To that end, I've been talking with Barb from Handy Hands, and apparently so has Georgia. Barb will be accepting donations from anybody who wishes to give. Just go to PayPal and click on "Send Money". Enter barb@hhtatting.com as the recipient, and enter whatever amount is comfortable. Then send Barb an e-mail to let her know. On February 14, she will send Sandra an e-gift certificate for the amount raised, with the names of all who contributed. Thanks in advance to all who help out!

Pretty Colors

This is Mary Konior's "Carnival" motif, tatted in "Winter Jewels" HDT by Tat-ilicious. I love this colorway! The amethyst and jade tones, with just a touch of rose quartz, complement each other beautifully (could I write for a clothing catalog or what?). Just looking at these colors makes me feel festive, and brightens up the gloomy winter days we've been having lately. Granted, gloomy winter days never last long around here anyway; the sun is coming out already.

I tatted this just to empty my shuttles after tatting another piece in this thread, which I'm not showing you yet. Sorry.

And here's day 12 of the TIAS. It's definitely a sailboat now. Although I do have to admit, I liked the sketch of a butterfly somebody sent in.

Slow Progress

I'm now half finished with "Annalisa".

It's coming along rather slowly, as I still keep having to untat a lot. I WILL remember that join on the next repeat....

As you can see, it will need a fair amount of blocking when I'm done with it. And then there's the question of what to actually do with it. I'm not much of a doily person-- they just leave marks in the dust! The other option would be to mount and frame it. But then a square doily would look silly in a rectangular frame, and that's what all the "off-the-shelf" frames are; to get a square frame I'd have to have a custom job, and that's so expensive. Maybe I will just use it as a doily after all.

I think this is the best picture so far for capturing the true colors of the thread.

As for the TIAS, I'm back to thinking it's a sailboat, although I still haven't completely ruled out the Sydney Opera House. It all depends on how these triangles are supposed to be oriented.

2 WIP's

The first work in progress is Annalisa, by Iris Niebach.

Sorry for the terrible photo, but my feline overlord just got on my lap, so I can't get up and get a better background object. On the other hand, this captures the colors of the beautiful Olympus thread much better than the previous scan did. It is getting easier to tat on the second repeat, even though I still had to untat a couple of times.

The second WIP, of course, is the TIAS. Here's day 10, and I think the person who suggested the Sydney Opera House must be correct.

I heard through the grapevine this morning that Crazy Mom's family will soon be moving into a rental house, so that's good news.

All Fox's Fault

Well, not all Fox's fault. It's also umintsuru's. They recently tatted Iris Niebach's "Annalisa" doily together, and I was so taken with the design that I had to buy the book and make it for myself. I'm a quarter of the way done now.

Both of them said they did a lot of untatting as they worked on this, and I can certainly see why. I've done a fair amount of that myself so far-- a couple of times because I used the wrong shuttle, and once because I missed a join. It's a gorgeous design, but one thing is clear: Iris's brain does not work like yours and mine. She is an absolute genius the way she comes up with these incredibly complex patterns that are worked all in one pass. I'm enjoying the challenge of this very much, but I can only concentrate on it for short periods of time.

I'm using Olympus thread size 40 in color M12. This lovely delicate colorway was rather difficult to capture with the scanner; I'll try it with the camera next time. And of course anyone who's tatted with Olympus will know that their size 40 really tats up like somewhere between a 20 and a 30, so this will be rather larger than the ones the other two made in size 80. It's a delightful thread to work with, though, smooth and flawless.

I also complete day 8 of the TIAS the day it was released, but didn't get around to posting it. Still no idea what we're making.

My heart goes out to Crazy Mom. Anything at all you need, Sandra, just post it on your blog and your tatting buddies will take care of you.

Finally, Squijum.

As you can see, he is quite back to his normal self. Except that the allergy treatments aren't working; in fact, he seems itchier than ever. Next week he'll be going back to the vet for some more extensive testing to find out if it's something other than allergies.

Day 7

Here's day 7 of the TIAS. This is a good one. Usually I can make some kind of guess, even if it's a completely silly one that I know can't possibly be right (actually, I don't think I've ever been right). But this one has me well and truly stumped.