Fair Results ...and could I possibly be any crankier?!?!?

Out of seven entries I took 3 First Place ribbons and 3 Second Place ribbons.
Only three out of the seven entries competed against other tatting...everything else competed on a much larger scale. I think the ribbon I am most proud of is the second place ribbon I got for the tatted barnyard scene. That entry competed against a very broad spectrum of "Theme" related items, including things like quilts, cakes etc. The winner in this category is the awesome quilt shown below. I didn't mind in the least taking second place to it.

I took a first for Iris Niebach's TIAS doily which competed in the tatting category, but I took nothing for my original daisy doily design which competed against all doilies of every method of making. I got a first in "miniatures" with my "Prima" butterfly from The Exquisite Collection of Tatted Butterflies. And another first for an original pineapple bookmark design I have been working on...pattern to be released at a later date. I took second place ribbons for both of my tatted necklaces, one competed against all things beaded and one in the wearable tatting accessory category. It came in second to a pair of tatted baby booties.
...and that is that! Overall, I am very pleased.

Now on to my crankiness. Seriously, I have ran the gamut of pregnancy related "issues" and the latest has kept me up for the last five nights in a row. A pregnancy hormone called relaxin is released in one's body which causes joints to spread making way for the "big arrival". Unfortunately, if you have had any previous injuries in your life, the pain of those injuries are "re-lived" during this process. I have broken so many bones in so many places of my body...and experiencing the pain of that all over again and at the same time is excruciating. Here is a short list of bones I have broken: pelvis in two places, tail bone 3 times, back 2 times, leg, foot, fingers and toes.
So yes, I am miss cranky pants! Wanna fight about it? Ughh!! I can't wait until this is over with!

Entries are in...

I worked my tuckus off and this is my entry. It is quite a large piece...about 3 feet wide. In retrospect it looks a bit bare to me. Due to lack of time I had to cut some elements out. When the State Fair is over I will finish this by adding more animals and a garden and maybe a few puffy clouds here and there. This will hang in Picadilly's room. It is the very first thing I have made for her so far. I hope she likes it!



I entered several other items but didn't have time to photograph them. As I turned in my tatted pieces a crowd of ladies gathered to oohh and ahhh. Some of them had never seen tatting in "real" life before. Between the tatting and my ever blossoming belly, we were quite the spectacle.
I will know if I have won any ribbons by this weekend. It is all so exciting!

Here is my most recent belly picture. It is getting bigger everyday and I can almost hear my skin stretching...eeww!

The big red barn

Couldn't find a barn pattern so I designed one myself. This took a fair few hours to tat as you can imagine. My hands are feeling it, but the Fair entries are due on Monday so I have a lot of work ahead of me this weekend.

Tatted baby animals

I need to tat a big red barn now. Does anyone have any barn patterns out there? I couldn't find any myself so I am off to design one.

My "beef" with Lizbeth and more tatted Farm Animals

After a couple of days struggling with this "BULL" pattern by Christel Weidmann, I have thrown in my hat on this project. Now, it has nothing to do with the pattern; I don't think I've ever let a pattern get the best of me. Nope, it's the darn thread!
Now I know there are a lot of Lizbeth thread fans out there but I am not one of them. I tried it when it first came out hoping that it would be a good replacement for Flora and I wasn't impressed with the quality back then. I decided to give it another chance with this pattern because I wanted a black and white bull and I happened to have some black and white Lizbeth on hand.
"RUBBISH and FRUSTRATION" she shouted from the roof tops.
This thread split on me more than a dozen times. ...hmmm maybe I got two bad batches in a row? It's a bummer because I certainly do love the available colors in this line.
Lucky for me I can dye my own thread which I have never had split on me, but it certainly is a lot of work for just one pattern.

On to something more pleasant:
This is Gilda the Goose....

....and this is Hilda the Hen.

I have just one week left to finish tatting for the State Fair and I still have several animals left to tat.
...So back to work I go!

Rocco the Rooster