How odd.
Even though the weather absolutely gorgeous today, I felt out of synch with the beauty of the day.
Today was a day of melancholy for me.
Perhaps it’s because it’s close to the anniversary of the death of one of my husband’s sisters.
Perhaps it’s because the other sisters have been here visiting and now they’ve gone  home and I miss them.
Perhaps it’s because the project that I have been wrestling with for days is refusing to set itself to rights and is a disappointment.
Perhaps it’s because I always feel sad when I cut down the glorious hollyhocks and sunflowers and put …read more

Today’s profile is of ceramic artist, dyer, designer, author and tatter extraordinaire, Sherry Pence, AKA, Lady Shuttlemaker.

I asked Sherry a bunch of questions, and she has graciously answered them for me.
The photos are all Sherry’s and she has given me permission to include them in this profile.

I began by asking Sherry where she lives:
I currently live in Idaho, but that may change soon. I am a military spouse and we move a LOT; we go where our country tells us to at any given moment. We have moved an average of once per year for the last 10 years. …read more

I hope that you had a lovely Easter, or Passover or whatever it is that you celebrate.
Ours was lovely, although we are all so exhausted we are walking into walls……
it’s been moving week for our daughter and her husband, so we’ve been scrubbing,
sanding, priming, painting, packing, moving moving moving…. yargle………
Anyhow…. we had a lovely supper with the whole family, and afterwards,  my daughter-in-law and son brought out a special little Easter treat….
the chocolate bunny was delightful, but even better…..
The lovely tin box it came in has become the home for some of my crochet hooks and tatting shuttles.
I have a …read more

Recently, I signed up for a very neat online class about tatting and design. I’ve been really remiss and haven’t done a single snippet of homework for the class.

I’ve been focused on finishing up the designs and projects for a new book, and have been totally immersed in it.  Oops…. the homework  for the tatting class got  pushed to the back burner.
I decided today that I would play catchup, and get going on the homework.
I filled a tatting shuttle with rainbow colored hemp cord and tatted up the first exercise.
I decided that it would make a great bookmark….
so…… I tatted …read more

I have always found hedgehogs to be charming.
But, we have a greyhound, so we could never have a pet hedgehog. (’Mmmm, tasty’, I can imagine him saying….)
So, recently, when one of my readers asked me if I would make a teardrop shaped tatting shuttle, I did some sketches, and played with it, and came up with:

I am VERY pleased with it!
It tats like a dream, not at all spikey like it’s real life inspiration.
I love it when fun things evolve out of conversations with my hankering for yarn buddies!
Image  Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

 
Tatting Chic won the Lady Hoare tatting shuttle that I gave away recently on my blog.
She wrote about it: Tatting Chic and the new Lady Hoare shuttle
She was disappointed to find it slow and difficult to work with.
The Lady Hoare tatting shuttles are slower to work with, but you can move along with them at a fair clip, once you get used to them.
AND, there is a secret to working with them comfortably.
Pinch lightly on one of the openings, and have the rest of the tatting shuttle ‘float’ out in front of your fingers.   A closed shuttle will sit mostly …read more

Well…. the first winner of the earrings didn’t respond to her email or the  shout outs on the blog  about the contest, so I did a second chance draw.
Here’s the winner: WINNER

Well…. the rules to the Butterfly earring contest said that the winners of the contest would have until August 5th to respond to my email and send me their address.
2 of the winners have not done that yet…. so I am going to give them until midnight tonight and if they haven’t responded by then…. I will draw again for these earrings:

Gold color tatted butterfly earrings contest winner

Tatted cotton rainbow earrings contest winner
A fair warning!
Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Last week on Hankering for yarn, I had seven contests.
Click here to see the WINNERS of the contest 
And now, to get the envelopes ready to mail to the lucky winners!

Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay 

People have been asking me if the Little Bird Tatting Shuttle is available for purchasing.
I have sold out the Little Bird tatting shuttles, but do have a few of the Blue Birds of Happiness left.