Hector-Final thoughts

I finally finished the gold angel earrings today. The gold thread that Nina provided for us I broke closing a ring. I replaced it with DMC metallic thread on a spool. I had fits closing rings and had to keep starting over--stringing all those beads over and over. Finally I figured out to work with the twist of the thread instead of against it....it worked like a charm!

My first class was with Sue Fuller. She is a real sweetheart of a lady. She is a published tatting designer who created for us the cutest "Lil' Blossom Lamb" pattern. She encountered real difficulties with our class. Her demo rope for showing us split chains wouldn't behave. She planned to have handouts to give us, but then didn't have access to a copy machine. Last but not least, was the diagram and written material in the pattern that was given to us didn't match. None of this was her fault, but created bumps in the road while she tried to teach us. I'm still struggling with this pattern, however, because of this project and class I CAN DO SPLIT CHAINS a skill I've struggled on and off to learn for several years! I'm not giving up, so the fact that there is no picture is hopefully, just a temporary thing. Sue is working on "updating" her book for another printing--and I can't wait to get a copy.

My experience at Hector was exhilerating! They had it set up so that everything ran so smoothly. There were a variety of food issues that people had, and the menus were planned so that everyone always had something that they could eat. The vendors had such a wide variety of things to purchase. My big $ purchase was a pair of fishhook earrings with tatting shuttles on them. One of the things I liked best was getting to look at tatting books before I bought them! I don't know if I'll ever get to make the trip from OK to NY again, but I certainly have another trip to Hector Tat Days on my wish list!