Pat a tat

So last weekend was Knitter's Fantasy. Andi, the leader of our knit 'n' sip group, another member Evelyn, and I drove out to Warren at what felt like the fanny crack of dawn (I got up at 5 am...on purpose. I would only do that for crafting these days). Thank goodness for Diet Coke. Once we finally got there, no thanks to my lousy excuse for navigating, it was like arriving in stitching heaven. What fun! An entire day filled with fibery goodness. There were several yarn shops represented along with some other local yarn distributors. There was yarn made from alpaca and cashmere. There were patterns and notions. It was almost more than someone on a yarn diet could bear. Had to fight the urge to go on a binge. Classes were scheduled throughout the day on a variety of skills from knitting to crochet to felting and even needle tatting.

I hadn't registered for any classes ahead of time, so many of them were closed when we arrived in the morning. I decided to register for the needle tatting class. The lady that taught the class was a sweet grandmotherly woman who had written the book we were using. Tatting is a craft that became popular in the Victorian era. During those times, they used a shuttle to create the lacy rings. Needle tatting became popular during this century, and is easier to do than shuttle tatting. I picked it up pretty easily, and was instantly addicted! Using a 5" needle and crochet cotton, this is what I managed to do during class:
I spent the rest of the morning after class wandering from booth to booth fondling all the fibers and resisting the urge to expand my stash. I did, however, pick up a new pattern, which hopefully I can finish before Rome.

This afternoon, I pulled out the leggings for the baby and got them ready for blocking. Tomorrow...on to seaming....and hopefully a model shot!