Aliens Have Arried

Jane Eborall has published the last part of her 2023 TIAS, and it’s a good one. I was kept guessing until almost the end. You can never tell where she’ll take you on her yearly journey. You think you know what it is you’re tatting, and she surprises you. I encourage all of you to go check out her Tat It and See blog to see all the aliens that have been sent in. She numbers them so we know how many there are. Here’s mine.

Jane put a lot of techniques into the TIAS this year. There are Victorian sets, Catherine Wheel joins, long twisted picots, as well as split rings. As in any of her patterns, if you have trouble with a technique, she has helpful hints and directions on her blog, so no one needs to feel that is too much for them. The clues are given days apart, giving you plenty of time to learn and work on the TIAS. The journey is always fun, as are the comments of everyone else traveling on it with you.

Even with the TIAS going on I was able to finish the paperclip heart bookmarks I wanted to and in plenty of time. They were warmly received. The pictures I posted of them on Facebook were also well received, with a lot of people wanting the pattern. I realized that I had the heart pattern but not the bookmark part of it posted. I suppose I should update the pattern with the bookmark option. Until then, here is what I did to make the bookmark part.

Replace RJ in the pattern with a split ring: SR 3-1–1—1–1-3/3-1–1—1–1-3. Repeat for the length desired. The last ring is R 3-1–1—1–1-3 join to paperclip, join to paperclip 3-1–1—1–1-3.

Now that Valentine’s is over, I need to move on to other things. I am prepping to teach a class in April at a library. Not sure how many will signup, if anyone, but I’m getting my notes and such together. I was contacted by the librarian last fall about doing a class in the spring. I don’t know when they will advertise/promote it. I may not know much until closer to time.

March is fast approaching, with St. Patrick’s day and spring weather. I have a few ideas I want to try that reflect those ideas. I just need to get my thread together and get started.

My sister and I are starting to get more into our planning for the cruise we are taking in November. We are going on the “Knotical Adventures” Tat Sea cruise with Tatting Corner. It’s going to be so much fun! Are any of you going?

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” Carl Sagan