Alterations

 Normally on a Friday morning I'm at a retirement home with a craft group, but yesterday I received a message that there's an event on at the home and we can't use the gazebo. It feels like bonus time! So I thought I'd use the time to do a job I've been 'meaning' to do  - make alterations to a couple of garments I like but don't wear because they're too long. The first is this skirt, which I made a couple of years ago 

The fabric is rather stiff and doesn't drape well, so the long skirt just doesn't look right. I thought perhaps it would work better as a pencil skirt. Of course, I don't want to lose the tatting ( pattern number 80 on page 63 of the Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito) or redo the hem, so I decided to cut the top of the skirt off. I used a skirt that I like to determine how much to cut off:

 Snip

 It looks skew here, but is actually fine. I didn't bother to retrieve the elastic, I just redid the casing from scratch:

It looks more A-line than pencil, but I still think it'll be more wearable than the long version.

Then I moved on to this blouse, which I made in 2022:

I've used the pattern several times since, so as with the skirt, I laid a blouse I do like over the top to give me a clue about where to cut:

I cut, turned the edge up, and neatened it. It may not be quite as neat as the lined original, but I will hopefully feel more inclined to wear it. Neat inside but hanging in the closet is not very useful! Here's a before and after pic of the hem:

At Last

 

At last I've finished the Spring 2025 doily. Thanks very much to Renata for the pattern, given as a tatalong on her blog. It measures 70cm across, in size 40 thread. Actually, it's Spring here now, in the Southern Hemisphere. The weather has warmed up and the trees are coming into flower. So it's an appropriate time to finish. 

Diversion

 

I put the Spring doily on hold this week while I made a food net as a birthday gift for a friend. The simple flower pattern I made up, the butterflies are Jane Eborall's. 

We've been making cards and gift bags in the craft group I run in a retirement home. They're perfect to go with the net

Working On The Final Round

 

I've made a start on round 18 of the Spring 2025 doily. I've made a slight adaptation, leaving out the rings on chains, because I want a smoother outline. It enables me to work with shuttle and ball too, though I realised after I'd started that I only have one ball of thread, so I'll be stuck when I have to refill the shuttle. I'll wind a second shuttle then. 

Round 17

 

 I put some time in and have finished tatting round 17 of the Renulek doily.  I haven't blocked it because I think the next round will hold the flappy parts in place, so it would be better to block it after that. One more round to go. 

Done

 

I started knitting these gloves straight after the market, but then dawdled about finishing them, as I got on with other things. I made a bit of progress on the Renulek doily, for instance, and did some reading. But I've finished them now. The pattern is Spragues by Galt House of Yarn, and the yarn is my handspun wool. 

I saw several people wearing my fingerless gloves at the market last week; good to spot them 'in the wild'!

Slowly

 

I've had a bit of time to tat, so I've made some progress on round 17 of the 2025 Spring Doily. I still have a long way to go though! 

Restocking

 

The puppets were commented on at the market on Saturday, but I didn't sell any.  I did sell socks and gloves though. The weather was chilly and windy; knitwear was attractive! I've started knitting replacement gloves, using the pattern Spragues by Galt House of Yarn. I had spun up four balls of wool for the market, but didn't sell them, so I was able to start knitting straight away.