Boring Masks Need Tatting

 

I have another order for masks, fabric supplied. The fabric is strong, but looks boring. Grace, who brought it to me, suggested I sew some beads onto the masks to make them more interesting. Of course I had a better idea. I showed Grace a tatted flower and she agreed enthusiastically. So, I've been delving into my snippets tin. I know the cats pattern is Ninetta's . The green rosette is mine. But many of the snippets are long ago experiments whose origins I have forgotten. I'm looking at 30 or so masks, so I don't know if I'll find enough snippets. If not, I'll tat some simple flowers and butterflies.  

Turquoise T

 

In theory I like the idea of just knitting in the evenings and taking a project slowly. But eventually I get fed up and want to get it completed! So after some daytime work, the turquoise knitted t-shirt is done. It used eight-and-a-half 50g balls of Raeesah cotton. Oddly, the label says who distributes the yarn in South Africa, but not where it's made. The lace pattern is called Ivy Lace, as you can read here; the shirt pattern I made up as I went along, using 4 mm needles.  

Update on Lily

 

Lily the lamb was becoming a bit of a nuisance, munching on Jack's vegetable garden. He had thought he could shut her into the front garden to eat the lawn, but hadn't reckoned on her bleating loudly when she couldn't see him! The lady who was supplying us with milk for Lily suggested we take her to 'Healing with Horses', a local version of riding for the disabled. Our neighbour works with Healing with Horses and it was all arranged in a flash and a blur. We took her out to their place on Friday afternoon. It felt like leaving a child at boarding school as she cried when we left, but you can see from the photos that she has settled down well. Apparently "Lily is already capturing everyone's hearts and showing great potential as a therapy sheep". So That's Alright Best Beloved, to quote Rudyard Kipling.

PS I do have permission to use the photos. 

Daisy Chain

 

I've finished my second links necklace. It has approximately 4680 size 8 seed beads in it and weighs 228 grams. It's a fun for Spring necklace. 

Lily

 

Lily is growing apace. She's getting two bottles of milk a day now instead of three and nibbling on leaves and other vegetation in between. Jack had planned for her to eat grass, but naturally she prefers lettuce hearts! She's a noisy little thing, especially if Jack has gone out or she doesn't know where he is. I'm not part of the flock apparently so don't serve as a substitute. 

The Back

I've finished knitting the back of my cotton top. I'm only knitting in the evenings, so it's going quite slowly, but that's fine. I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage method to work out how many stitches to cast off for the shoulders - one third for each shoulder and the neck. 

Colours

 I like choosing colours, deciding which colours to put together, be it with beads or yarn or tatting thread. But I know not everyone feels the same. An article I read recently from Interweave Press gave advice to those who are anxious about choosing colours. One suggestion was to look at Nature. Good idea. A look around my garden suggests that, really, in Nature anything goes.