Lace Embrace 2017 part 1

I look forward to the Lacemaker's Guild of Oklahoma's Lace Embrace Day every year.  All year guild members plan different things to put into goodie bags.  We also try to plan interesting classes, contests and displays. There are always demonstrations of lace-making (which turn into a first lesson if the watcher is interested.)    There is also the added pleasure my husband's attention far enough away from his many responsibilities that he is "mine" for about 36 hours.  There is no housework to do, no laundry or dishes.  I always enjoy hotel rooms--they are so free of clutter (until I move in - haha!  I had a friend at Camp Good News who said that she always knew which bunk was mine, because I brought so much stuff....however, when they needed something, I always had it!)

There are trials in life, which remind you how blessed you are to have particular people in your life.....a) My husband tripped on Sept 9 at the farm, falling into a gulley where we have dispose of broken concrete and other stuff we needed to "make go away."  He landed on his right (had to be his dominate hand) wrist and broke both bones and crushed the little wrist bones all out of place.  He basically lived on pain killers for a week, then had surgery where they installed a steel plate and 8 screws.  Over two months later, this man who handles pain really, really well (he walked on a broken leg for 3 days once) is still hurting on a daily and nightly basis.  The dr. says this may very well be permanent.  b) My 82 year old father came down with appendicitis on 10/7,  the day after Lace Embrace.  (Very unusual, the dr. said if you have had your appendix that long, that you usually keep it.)  Because he was on plavix (sp?) and blood thinners, they had to build his blood up with plasma and platelets before he could have surgery.  By the time he wouldn't bleed to death during surgery, the appendix perforated.  Already having very serious heart problems, his heart rate decided to beat around 200 times a minute.  So we started a very complicated game, fix the heart rate and the blood pressure would drop.  Fix the blood pressure and the heart rate went up.  After a few hours, we started fighting infections as well.  The father I know, has always been very aware of who he was, where he was and what he was doing.  Well, EVERY night in the hospital, he had hallucinations.  They put him on sleeping pills, anxiety drugs, depression drugs....it only seemed to get worse.  I would have hated to be member of the medical staff the night he dreamed the his nurse was trying to kill him.  His room changed often, medical/surgical floor, step-down from ICU, ICU, Step-down from ICU, in=house rehab.... It was such a relief when on 10/31, he was able to come home--where he had no hallucinations.   He still received IV antibiotics from a home healthcare nurse for a week, and therapy sessions will continue for quite awhile strengthening his respiratory system, endurance and balance issues. (More information than you ever wanted to know!) Anyway--lots of things to occupy my head and time.  I have stayed out of the hospital.  That doesn't mean I have been healthy, the bad days still outnumber the good days.  But the good days seem to be slowly increasing.

Crazy...I "tried out" doing my very short nails with a lace theme a month before Lace Embrace.  I painted them a lovely burgundy color and then stenciled a doily pattern on them in gold.  They were so pretty!
I was so busy the week  of the event, that I had bare nails

This was a very different year for me--a)  I taught the tatting class  b) My husband and I ran a table for Tatting Corner selling the things that they uniquely carry. The event was waaaayyy back the first weekend in October.and I haven't posted anything here since August...  but I do want to put down my thoughts and memories about Lace Embrace....

Friday night of Lace Embrace, we had a hard time getting out the door...   It was one of those "if it could go wrong, it did" things.  We finally left home, about the time we had hoped to be finished getting the Tatting Corner merchandised displayed, as well as putting out my personal tatting display.  My husband was also acting as IT person, fixing power point projectors,, etc.   We eventually made it to Bartlesville (a two hour drive from home), where the event is held, checked into our hotel and after visiting a very nice member of their local constabulary about a mechanical malfunction with our vehicle (one of our headlights needed a new bulb) we met Paula and her husband for dinner.

 I enjoyed our room at the hotel.  I was able to (now calmly) unpack and repack so that I only needed (what felt like) a couple dozen totebags and boxes the next morning.
                                      
I  am so very blessed to have such lovely tatting friends.  Seeing them and spending time with some of them is one of the many reasons why I look forward to Lace Embrace each year.  I was so surprised when I received gifts this year!  I hadn't been putting up my display very long when Paula (chair of the Lace Embrace committee) came up and gave me this gorgeous antique turtle pin cushion.  l  He looks so adorable holding some of my turtle stick pins!

Brigitte was next--(last year she brought me a pair of tatted turtle earrings!)  First she gave me two jars of her handmade cherry preserves.  (She remembered I liked it from the "weekend at Sonya's' a year ago!  Isn't that awesome!?!  I can't tell you what we ate a year ago!)  Then --ooooh   sooooo cooool!! She gave me the cutest little pair of beaded turtles!!  I wore them again yesterday and they were quite the topic of conversation around the table for awhile.  Brigitte was one of my first Lace Embrace friends...years ago, she volunteered to be my partner during a tatting olympics event at my first Lace Embrace.  She has a wonderful blog--it has been neglected but she has some wonderful entries http://tattingandbeading.blogspot.com/

 My dear husband surprised me, by buying a book missing from my library.  It was one of the few remaining things on Sue Groh's table.  Sue had the shop "Unique Expressions" and is retiring.  I will miss her.  She was the first tatting retailer that I ever had "talked to in person" if you know what I mean.

I want to talk about goodie bags, demos, classes, etc in the next post....   Here is an article that I put into our guild's newsletter.
 

This shows my first experience tatting with hand-dyed silk (actually silk thread of any kind).  PROS:  I love the crisp but soft ( like petting fur) rings this thread made.  The soft transitions from color to color are lovely.  CONS:  I did have trouble keeping the thread’s twist.  I also had trouble getting large rings to close.  I bought this 5 yd skein of beautiful thread from Kathy Kirchner at Lace Embrace.  I will have to see if she has more or this will be a permanent UFO!*  The pattern came from ( Lace Embrace purchase ) “ Just Marking Tome” a book by Julie Patterson.  I have wanted this book for several years but the shipping costs from Australia kept the book out of my budget.  After expressing my frustration to Lisa at Tatting Corner, she arranged to have exclusive rights to sell three of Julie Patterson’s books in the United States.  This particular pattern is almost all split rings!  http://www.tattingcorner.com/search/results.html?search_in_description=1&keyword=patterson&referrer=CNWR_30711492117529

*I "talked" to Kathy via email.  The company that provided this silk thread is no longer in business/  I have a UFO that isn't totally because I am a great procrastinator!

The Cobbs are in the News!

My husband interned at  Hilldale High School in Muskogee the year the first graduating class walked across the stage.  He started in the Math Department.  His sister, who taught computers (Nine Commodore Pets--remember?) took a sabbatical one year....his principal called him with the interesting question..."Do you want to volunteer to take over the Computer Department, or shall assign it to you?"  32 years later, there were 500 computers in the high school and the next year would have brought a grand-child of one of his students into his classroom.  I really thought part of his bloodstream contained mortar from the Hilldale buildings....but 

          A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

Three years ago, my husband left Hilldale, to teach computers and become IT Director for Muskogee High School.  He has 750 computers and 1600 laptops in eleven buildings that he has to co-ordinate to keep operating.  He teaches a few Microsoft office classes, but his "pride and joy" are his computer repair classes.  He has a three-year program--and his students that finish it receive a certificate from the state of Oklahoma that says that they are a Computer Technician with two years of experience.  They also can take several nationally known computer and business knowledge tests while a student--most at the program's expense.  Recently a reporter came out and  did an article about his programs.

 http://click.bsftransmit33.com/SocialMedia.aspx?pubids=2874%7C32480%7C6&digest=sNEpqBjv3ijcMdufEGaOFg&sysid=1&1=3&2=0



While she was interviewing my husband, I was in the next room tatting.  I became the source of her next article.

 http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/okie-from-muskogee-cobb-shares-her-talents-with-others/article_e9caf474-59a9-5683-8d55-75fb91686c84.html 

I expected a one column article with a picture...a) it was in the Sunday paper b) it was a full page article c) online they posted a video of me tatting and d) the article was also posted on facebook with a few pictures that weren't in the paper!

This afternoon, I heard from my fourth grade Sunday School teacher who had seen the article!  I hope that it not only puts me in touch with more people from  my past, but that it also sends some people that are interested in learning how to tat my direction!

Basket for Palmettos

Last year, I was hours away from finishing this basket....it just needed the tatting glued on, but pneumonia got in the way of the basket and the trip to Palmetto Tat Days 2016. 

I contacted Georgia Seitz to ask her about sending my basket--and that started her thinking of "baskets" as the theme for the scholarship auction at Palmetto Tat Days 2017.

I am late as usual in getting things done, but my dear husband has just left for the post office with my basket.  My understanding is that it is going to cost over $18 to mail it!!

I know you will want to send in a bid for my "GET WELL SOON!" basket....SO, let me show you the basket, and the list of its contents.

 

Coffee

Hand Wipes

Thermometer

Tissues

Heating Pad

Teddy Bear

Chicken Noodle Soup

Gel Pens

Pencil Box

Socks

Book Light

Notebook

Puzzle Book

Colored Pencils

Spirograph

Coloring Book

Metallic Pens

Dry Shampoo

Ice Pack

Pen

Thank You Notes


I encourage you to support the Palmetto Scholarship Auction!!  You can win really neat stuff--

and the money goes to a great cause!

I.D. Zipper Pulls - A Rose By Any Other Name

This is the pattern I taught at Finger Lakes 2016.  I know it is very similar to several other patterns, some of which have been taught recently at Palmettos, as well as online--but this particular version is my own work--and dates back at least 10 years.  For a pdf of the pattern,     CLICK HERE

“A ROSE by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Zipper Pull, Scissor Fob, Tatting Bag Tag, Keychains….

My grandchildren have these on all their

 diaper bags, jackets, lunchboxes and backpacks!

Wind thread CTM on two shuttles.   (Use 1 foot of  DMC 5 (the kind that is a skein) thread on each shuttle for every ring —example PATRICIA  is 9 rings, 9 feet of thread on each shuttle.)  You will need a crochet hook (I recommend size 10 or smaller.)

Ring 1:    1ds   small picot   13ds   small picot   1ds Close Ring.

Each additional ring is a SPLIT RING like this:

*Split Ring:   1 DS   add bead   join to picot   8 DS   small picot   1 DS / 1 DS   join to picot   8 DS, small picot, 1 DS   use shuttle 1 to finish adding bead to ring and close ring. 

I use this method for adding beads:  http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/AddBeadCentreRMethod2.pdf

Make sure you are adding the bead to the thread that goes around your hand, not the working shuttle thread!  I use the large coil-less safety pins (2 ¼ inch) found in the jewelry department of Hobby Lobby for holding the beads.  (They leave a large enough space to put a hook into when removed.)

*Repeat until you have only one ring left.

Last Split Ring:  1 DS   add bead   join to picot    9DS  /   1 DS   join to picot   9 DS   using shuttle 1 to finish adding bead to ring and close ring.    Tie charm on with square knot. 

Add 2-3 lengths of leftover thread from your shuttle and tie in an overhand knot.  Trim.

** Bead sizes vary—you may have to adjust the pattern by adding or subtracting a stitch on each side of the split rings because of different bead sizes.

By Patricia Lyn Cobb

August 2016

Here are some VARIATIONS!!  Bracelet made by using jewelry findings at the beginning and the end.  The other zipper pulls are made by working the thread ends into the last split ring.   After teaching this pattern at guild, one of the members, Charissa, told me that she tried this pattern with size 10 thread and did not have to change the directions in order to use these beads..

(photo to the Right)  My friend, Emma, learned how to do split rings at my house while doing this pattern.  She promptly went home and made bracelets for her granddaughter!

I used to purchase all my DMC 5 skeins of thread at Hobby Lobby--but they no longer carry this brand.  I now get this thread from Tatting Corner.  To see their DMC 5 threads CLICK HERE 

 

Part 2 Finger Lakes Memories 2017

The Finger Lakes Tatting Conference was waaay baack in April--and it is July!  Let's finish this!

A health update is depressing...more pneumonia, no real weight loss (except during a really bad stomach virus--I don't recommend this if you are looking to slim down!).... However, one great thing--my pain management doctor "released" me back to the care of my other doctors!  Considering that I was once very dependent upon pain pills to make my chronic migraines easier to live with--but now have gone over a year without having to have my pain meds refilled--this is a miracle.  The loss of specialist fees, and required expensive drug tests will be a blessing on our medical bill-laden budget.

I took two classes at Finger Lakes.  One was Karey Solomon's "Rose in Bloom."  This was a Catherine wheel rose, that had a lot of picots.  The picots laid on top of each other, giving the rose a lot of dimension.  The leaves stretched out and attached to a ring.  The project, is unfortunately laying in my UFO box.

The other class, was Kaye Judt's "Daffodil Pinch Pot".  I have no idea why it was called a "pinch pot"--but this little project is going to be adorable!  It actually looks like a little daffodil flower--and the bottom is attached to a metal washer which gives it enough weight to sit where you put it.  I am looking forward to pulling this out of the UFO drawer and finish it!

Two other projects from this year have joined the UFO drawer.  Every year, Vicki Clarke creates a small project kit that she sells (usually $1 each).  The proceeds from these kits go to the scholarship fund.  This year Karey Solomon also created a kit.  Karey's was a snowflake with a glass disk in the center.  Vicki's was a Rosebud Snowflake done in pinks and greens with a jewel in the center.  Both of these are adorable and will only take a little time to finish.  ----I have so much trouble tatting these days, I am either awake and unfocused or sleepy and making mistakes.  I do pray this is only a "phase" in my life and "normal" may return to me in the future.

One of the absolutely delightful things that I will remember always happened away from, and after the conference.  Sunday night, Cynthia and I were inventorying the contents of the ice chest, when Helen and Karla came into the "Upstairs Inn".  We all decided to "pool" our selection of foods and had a nice supper together.  After the food was put away, out came the tatting!  We proceeded to tat, listen to Jeanne Robertson (a favorite, hilarious, lady comedienne on YouTube) and talk until around midnight!  The tatting was so wonderful as we shared different techniques with each other and just enjoyed the time to "kick back".  

The next morning, I was doing a nice job of listing my aches and pains--when Karla offered me a foot massage!!!  OOhhh--how generous!!  OOHHH how fantabulous!! I cannot tell you how absolutely relaxing it was--I actually went BACK TO BED!  I am almost always "patting my foot" waiting on Cynthia to get ready in the mornings...this morning things were certainly reversed! Cynthia not only let me take a nice nap, but woke me (and rewoke me), then had to almost "talk me through" getting ready, packed and out the door!

We found the cheese!  In trying to repack everything into the car, we found the extra-sharp cheddar cheese that we had bought to eat with the apples!

We had stayed in New York an extra night so that we could go to Karey's.  Karey made this bighearted offer last year, that anyone left in New York on Monday could come hang-out at her Graceful Arts Fiber Studio -- she made the same offer this year.  (You know after the conference was over, she was just exhausted!)  Cynthia and I decided last year that if it was at all possible, we would stay the extra night.  Because the group rates we received at the "Upstairs Inn", were so much less than the hotel bills from previous years, we were able to put Monday morning at Karey's on our itinerary.  We were so excited to get to spend a few hours of more "kick back" tatting.  I don't know if anyone else had visited Karey that Monday, but by the time we got there...it was Karey, Kathy (another fantastic conference organizer), Cynthia and I.  We did enjoy a lovely time....until I did it again.   The four of us were talking around the big wooden table in Karey's backroom, I laid my tatting on the table in front of me and cradled what I believe was a hand-thrown pottery cup of wonderful tea in my hand, enjoying the warmth of the cup in my hands as well as the liquid heating my insides....and....I went to sleep.  Not quietly--the cup slipped from my hands, making a small explosion as it shattered on the floor.  Cynthia, who was sitting next to me, was drenched from the waist down on her right side--to the point that her shoe squished when she walked.  My skirt was wet to the point where it was very uncomfortable because it made the wet fabric cling to my legs.  Let me say once again, Karey, "I am so sorry about your cup!"  Cynthia and I made our exit not long after that, as we were supposed to take her in-laws in Ohio out to eat that night as a thank you for hosting us.

Oh! Cynthia--I do so appreciate the fact that you drive all the way to New York and back!  That Monday, Cynthia was having "fits" with her contacts. Multiple times, she pulled off the highway to put drops in her eyes, or to take a contact out-rinse it off and reinsert it.  Hours after we started, we suddenly realized that we were approaching the Finger Lakes area of New York and not the opposite state line!  Somewhere, on one of the mini-detours, we had gotten back onto the highway the wrong way!  (I think what really happened is that Cynthia's car just "automatically goes to Finger Lakes" like my car used to be trained to "go to Walmart and Hobby Lobby"!)  Amazingly, this was actually the first navigational error of any consequence that Cynthia and I have had during our years of traveling together.

It was late afternoon--and we were both exhausted.  We found a little convenience-grocery store.  We "used the facilities" and walked around a few minutes (very few, we were anxious to get on the road.).  The one "fun" memory was that I bought a box of "Outshine" Lime popsicles.  If you haven't tried this brand--they are great...low calorie and fruit based (the peach and the coconut/pineapple are my favorites).  We ate all 6 of the popsicles!  Needless to say...we didn't get to Ohio in time to treat Cyn's in-laws to dinner...instead we apologized over and over for finally arriving close to midnight.  Her brother&sister-in-law are so sweet!  I really do appreciate their hospitality!

The next day, we lazily drove to Lisa Adam's (Tatting Corner) as I've discussed in the previous two posts.  Afterwards, we were able to make it to a little hotel in Greenup, Illinois where we have stayed before.  The next morning, we were blessed to get to spend a little time with Georgia Seitz and her husband, Richard.   We joined them for breakfast at an IHOP Express that was in at a newly-built truck stop.  I had never been to an IHOP Express before--it was amazing how varied their menu was.  (I am so intrigued by the little mini-restaurants of all types that are in truck stops and convenience stores!)  Georgia and Richard surprised us by picking up the tab!  (Thank you again!)

Wednesday was a long day on the road---we finally made it to my home in Oklahoma.  I tried to convince Cynthia to spend the night, but she stopped at my house long enough for us to unload my things and then she hit the road for another two hours so she could "be home" as well.

I did SO ENJOY this trip!  I want to express my appreciation to everyone who made the trip possible.  First and foremost, my dear friend Cynthia.  I know we drive each other crazy--Thank you that you remain my dear friend!  To Karey -- and to ALL those who make the conference so wonderful--you do an amazing job every year!  I must once again, mention Neil and my gratitude for the fantastic crock-pot chicken creation that so deliciously met my dietary needs.  To Karla and Helen who gave me an unexpected happy memory--I do so hope I get to spend time with you again!   I haven't yet mentioned my kids.  My oldest son and daughter-in-law, the three grand-boys and my youngest son gave me an extraordinary Christmas gift this last year--enough cash to pay for a large part of this trip!  Last, to my dear husband--I am so glad that you love me, support and take care of me!

I will post the pattern for the project that I taught this year (a name-tag that you can put on a zipper-pull or a scissor fob, etc) as Part 3 Finger Lakes 2017 in a few days (hopefully!).