Tatting and Knitting, and a Squirrel Story

After some weeks of hard work with the quilt show I have concentrated on smaller projects. Now I feel that I have finally really understood the idea of tatting, when I finished the open college course of 4 evenings. This is my first own project, I still need to improve my skills with the thread ends!

I thought  I understood the idea five years ago, but the success with the first ring was just more a coincidence, and my enthusiasm died soon. This time I'm using heavier threads and crocheting yarns so I can see my knots, and I have learned enough tricks to make a bookmark or a little coaster.

I have finished my cable socks

with a perfect fit

and started a new pair, this time bed socks in the lightest green you can imagine. They will be my travel project too. On Thursday we are flying to Germany for a week to stay with Mr K.'s sister.

I want to finish with a story of a squirrel who learned some tricks. In February he did some stretching exercises and reached from the oat bundle to the fat and seeds sausage:

Squirrels understand the perfect timing of swinging branches. He made the oat bundle swing the right way, holding on the wooden stick before even reaching out. Then he held the fat with both fore paws and ate very fast, for a long time.

At the end of March the birds and this one squirrel had almost finished the treat. On a windy day the squirrel reached again for the fat, held it tight and sat on the oats to eat. Then he thought of climbing higher with his prey, and in no time he was up on the oak branch sitting  comfortably and enjoying a nourishing meal:

The string had come off the hook where it was hanging (under his bum in the photo), so the squirrel considered it a restaurant doggie bag and took it all home to eat later.

At home his mama or his wife said: "Let this be the last time you go and eat fast food! Squirrels should eat seeds from cones, and berries and mushrooms. You will not learn to fly by eating bird food, you'll just be fat!"