Yikes! I'm a bad blogger!

Yep! I just realized that my last web post here on The ShuttleSmith website was in 2017! 

I have been busy with The ShuttleSmith projects in the last year, you just haven’t seen any of it here.
I have been occasionally posting to my TheShuttleSmith Facebook page, probably because it’s a bit easier to do so and because I had lost the address/password to my website at work when I had to get a new computer.  Actually it was two new computers because they (my employer) said my computer(s) were compromised with a virus.  They pointed to my attempts to go to Georgia Seitz’s pages, which when I try to go there comes up as blocked by the companies software.  I told them ‘yes, I had tried to go to that website’ but that I didn’t understand why it was blocked.  Anybody have this same issue with Georgia Seitz’s website????  But I digress….It was due to this blockage and thus suspected virus alarm that my employer gave me a new computer…which in turn wiped out all my bookmarks and stored passwords…which is why I couldn’t get into my WordPress software to create blog posts as easily.

What I’ve been doing in 2018 synopsis (tatting related):
I have been working on book number 8 in my ‘Fun with Split Ring Tatting’ series.  It seems to me that these books are what keep the spark in my tatting world.  I just love every step of the creative process.  I originally titled this book ‘Mathematical Designs in SRT’ but now that I am about 90% done with it, I think it will be called ‘3-D Illusions in SRT’.  It will be one of those books that you will either fall in love with the uniqueness of the designs or totally hate…but I’m going to publish it anyway.  More about this book and designs in upcoming blog posts.

I have been working with a very talented tatter (Diana Howe) to tat many of my designs into real thread because I just don’t have the time anymore to keep up with tatting everything in my books myself.  (Keep in mind that I work full-time.)  More about my relationship with Diana in upcoming blog posts.  I may also post about my unique full-time job.

Last year (2017) my time was totally devoted to moving (physically) from one house to another.  I didn’t even get around to getting a real vacation.  This year was different.

• My husband and I went to Grand Junction, Colorado for a ski trip in January.  We took the Amtrak train there and back.  The train offers me a whole day to relax and tat while traveling.
• I had two weeks to travel in July via motorcycle to/from Colorado.  Of course I had my tatting with me, even while traveling via motorcycle.  Don’t you just love how portable tatting is!?
• In September, I traveled (alone) to Georgia via motorcycle to teach at/attend the Palmetto Tatters Workshop.  I had two weeks to get there and back and camped along the way as much as possible.  I am especially happy when I can put several passions together (motorcycling, traveling/camping, & tatting).  More about my (fantastic!) trip to Palmetto in upcoming blog posts.
• In October, my husband & I traveled again by train to CO to relax and motorcycle in the area for one week. (We have motorcycles stashed there.)

I still have a shop on Etsy.com where I sell my books and enameled tatting shuttles (shop name: TheShuttleSmith).  I will be spending more time in the near future updating my Etsy shop, probably with more/new shuttles & all my books.  More about my Etsy listings in upcoming blog posts.  You will probably see postings about how I create my enameled shuttles too.

I just recently was given a huge stash of vintage enamel supplies to use in my enameled tatting shuttle production business.  I just got them organized so that I can use them.  I am looking forward to experimenting and using them in the very near future.  Enameling gives me a different creative outlet to experiment with using ‘color’ and ‘enameling techniques’.  So look for upcoming blog posts on new enameled tatting shuttles and enameling techniques. You will probably see postings about how I create my enameled shuttles too.

I have been asked to teach 2 tatting classes (plus one short Teneriffe Lace class) at the upcoming 2019 IOLI Convention in Spokane, Washington. I love that venue because each class is 4 days, 3 hours of class per day...so we get a lot of time to explore a technique or idea.  So I spent some time this summer working with Patti Duff, the Convention Tatting Teacher Coordinator to design two unique tatting classes:

• Class #1 is titled ‘Modern Tatting for Modern Tatters‘ and will introduce 4 very different class projects in the four days of classes. 
• Class #2 is titled ‘A Bounty of Tatted Delights’.  This class will focus on how the host state of the Convention (Washington) is the producer of many fruits & vegetables.  Thus a whole new book of tatted designs is in the design/planning stages to be published in time for this convention.
• More about my these classes/designs in upcoming blog posts

I’m nicely settled into my new home in Iowa.  Other than mowing the fairly big lawn of a small acreage, the house hasn’t taken up too much of my free time.

So that is what I have been up to so far in 2018.