Tatting Tea Tuesday

It's time for another Tatting Tea Tuesday!

The Chantilly Border from last week is still in progress, but I couldn't wait to start a teapot from Tea is for Tatting by Martha Ess. Her collection of tatted teapots is a natural choice for lovers of tea† and tatting.

Quite frankly, it was difficult to decide on a pattern because every single one is adorable. The Celtic and Maltese teapots are stand outs, but I could easily tat my way through this book cover to cover. In the end I decided to start small with Tiny Round Teapot.

The tiny round teapot pattern calls for two shuttles and one color thread. Martha Ess doesn't mention winding the shuttles continuously, but I did. Here is my spout:

Shuttle Love My favorite rosewood shuttle (photo above) has a tiny embedded crochet hook. Years ago the wood cracked. I was devastated. Later that same year the tatting angels were watching over me. At the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival I found a vendor who sold small, hand-turned items. He only had three shuttles on his table. EUREKA! It was the same craftsman. Thank you, tatting angels!

(Does anyone else have "I'm a Little Teapot" stuck in their head? No?! Guess it's just me.)

Even though it is a small piece, Tiny Round Teapot presents
three new techniques for me: the
folded ring, the folded split ring and the self closing mock ring.

The folded ring worked out well on the first try. Now on to the
self closing mock ring (SCMR).

More photos are coming! And
I will post a finished teapot
as tatting time permits.

Wishing you all blissful me time to create something beautiful.
See you next Tuesday for more communi-tea!

† For coffee-lovin' lacers, try this recipe for cold-brewed iced coffee.

Gingerbread House Mold circa 1955

Little Sprout being chauffered around the festival

While at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival last weekend, I ran into my friend Miriam and her awesome stonehouse man, Chris. We were standing right next to each other in the food vendor area and hadn’t noticed. If you have ever been to Md. Sheep & Wool, you know how easy it is to bypass friends in the milling crowds. After a joint moment of startled surprise, we hugged and started nattering about photography, food, the nirvana of fondling luxurious fibers and sock knitting, not necessarily in that order. Then Miriam said, “You’ll never believe what I brought for you!”

She pulled this goodie out of her bag. Of course, I didn't have the presence of mind to photograph it while at the S&W festival. Too caught up in the fiber-friend-zy!

“Remember when you were looking for a gingerbread house mold?” Miriam asked. “I looked through storage boxes for this but couldn’t find it. And then out of the blue Chris found it!”

I was floored by their kindness and intrigued by the gift’s design. It is a mold for a SOLID gingerbread house. Not the flat pieces you cement together with royal icing, like this NordicWare® mold.

See where it says "make a friend happy" on the back cover?
The small print reads:

I want to make a friend happy. Please send me __________ WOMAN'S DAY Aluminum Gingerbread House Molds. I enclose $1.00 for each mold, postpaid. Total enclosed: $______

Well friend, color me happy! Thank you, Miriam & Chris, for your thoughtfulness. Can't wait to try out the new mold.

Ghosts of Gingerbread Houses Past
Autumn 2008 will be fondly remembered for my first forays into edible architecture. One dark October night a group of friends met to drink martinis and decorate haunted gingerbread houses.

Here's a batty, backside view of the one I worked on.
And a cat-y view from the front. See the pretzel fence?

The rest, as they say, is history.

November saw a second event, this time with a Thanksgiving theme. Traditional Christmas cottages came next. By now the creativity was really flowing and we didn’t want the fun to end.

So we built Valentine love shacks and Easter bunny hutches in 2009. They were fun, festive cookie construction sessions.

Image Source: Amazon.com (until my copy arrives)

After Easter, I hit a lull in holidays around which to build cookie constructs. Believe it or not, I miss it. So with this book, "The Gingerbread Architect," I start dreaming of creations to come.

Calling All Cookie Construction Workers

Do you decorate gingerbread houses for holidays other than Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day or Easter? Please leave me a comment and let me know.

You prefer making gingerbread castles, churches or cathedrals? Tree houses? A bat cave? I'd love to hear about it.

Edible Architecture 2009 will officially begin with Haunted Gingerbread House Night in October. There will even be a gingerbread house blog contest! Check back for details.

(See, now aren't you glad you read all the way to the end?)