Braids

I haven't had the chance to go to the store to buy any stiffening products for my tatted box yet. Maybe I'll have some time this weekend to test out some glues and other stiffeners on my tatting scraps. I've got a box full of scraps so I have plenty to work with.

I did manage to finish some other experimental tatting, similar to the "Braids" found in Mary Konior's books. I've always wondered how she designed these patterns and wanted to try it out myself to see if I could understand how it was done. These are pretty basic and were put together last night as a test:

They are my own little designs and I've tried to emulate Mary Konior's style. I'd like to experiment more to see what other things I can come up with. I also noticed that Mary Konior uses ring formations to make tatted squares and hexagons. I think that would be worthwhile to look at as well.

In other news, Billy turned 10 on Tuesday (February 28). That's about 80 in human years! Here he is with a cupcake. We don't allow him to eat them but luckily he had no interest in it anyways :)

Bunnies!

I've seen these bunny shuttles popping up on other people's blogs and wanted to join in! I received these adorable tatting shuttles last week from Carollyn. (Click here to access her blog)

I purchased one at a time because I couldn't decide if I wanted one or two...but after receiving the first bunny, I knew I had to have a second to complete the pair. Especially because I am a rabbit owner, and wouldn't you know it, I had one light colored and one dark colored rabbit myself?

Ronnie is no longer with us, he passed away in 2012 of congestive heart failure at 7 and 1/2 years old. This is my favorite picture of him, taken when he was around 3. He was such a nice little guy, so well behaved for his nail trimming:

He had a very happy (and humpy) personality. He was a retired breeder bunny and was so excited to be in a home rather than a breeder cage. I remember when we first got him, his legs were very wobbly from lack of exercise. He took every opportunity to come out of his cage, and despite being neutered, was always running and buzzing in an attempt to "court" me. He was so full of energy and never slowed down, even in his final years.

Billy, our other bunny, is a little old man now. He is 7 and 1/2 years old and has slowed down a lot from his younger days. His favorite activities are tunneling under blankets and looking for someone to pet him. He will go around the apartment (sometimes to inanimate objects) and put his head down waiting for pets. Here he is, sitting with the bunny tatting shuttles. Notice both real bunny and wooden bunnies are in the "pet me" position:

When he was younger, Billy would run around the apartment and dance on the bed. He was a bit of a YouTube star, though I believe most of the videos have since been removed due to copyright infringement of the background music. I stopped checking my YouTube account years ago, though I heard that one of the videos reached 1 million views before it was taken down. Here is a photo of him from 2009 performing one of his trademark "binkies"

On the tatting front, I received my copy of Moje Robotki from Poland on Monday. Thanks to Karen, Maureen, and Grace for setting up the opportunity to purchase the magazine! I now have a crystal clear copy to work from, so no more mistakes from misreading blurry numbers :)

I am a little more than halfway done with Round V, but have been taking a break to let my wrist recover. If I tat for more than an hour a day, I find my fingers and wrists start to hurt. Whenever this happens, I put the tatting down for a few days to give myself a chance to recover. How do other tatters produce things so quickly without becoming injured?