Finished projects of the past three weeks

I apologize for the quality of the picture. I took it with my cell phone and posted it directly from the phone.

As you can see, I've completed two on Jon's fold-over bookmarks and one of Nancy Tracy's Fan Stack Bookmark. I think I put as much tatting in the trash in these few weeks as I have to display--maybe more! Ah well, the tatting itself kept hands and mind busy.

I've enjoyed both of these patterns and expect to come back to them. For now, though, I'm ready to move on to something else. The tatting for my girls must wait until I can get in some appropriate supplies.

Busy Week

It has been a very busy week. Mom and Dad are both recovering at home. My hands seem to be doing better. I'm getting my laundry caught up. My daughter's 'stuff' is now packed up and moved into a storage unit until she can move it all into the house she is going to be renting.

You may have noticed a couple of odd posts today (which I've deleted). They occurred as part of setting up my cell phone to make posts to my blog. I'm really excited about this new feature. I won't have to wait for access to my printer's scanner in order to post a picture for you. I can take the picture and send the post from my cell phone!

Right now I'm sitting in Barnes and Noble enjoying a little down time. My daughters and I are out for the night. We've done some shopping. Most of the shops have now closed, and we have a couple of hours until our movie starts. Only in summer could I be planning to attend the midnight opening of a movie on a Tuesday evening! We have tickets for Eclipse. The drive home will be as much fun as the movie. The three of us just love critiquing books and movies. The discussion will be lively enough to keep us awake for the long drive home. Guess who is sleeping in tomorrow. LOL

I've been ordering threads and playing with my new Pop-a-bobbin shuttle. After confirming that some of the threads I need are not available within a 200 mile radius, I'm convinced I need to place another online order or two.

Well, the girls are back. It is hard to listen and type at the same time and B&N is announcing that they are closing in 15 minutes. Time just flies!

Future projects

Between a migraine and hand problems, it's pretty well impossible to tat today. (I tried it!) So I've been exploring websites and my pattern collection dreaming of possible future projects.

One of my daughters has a fairly large collection of tatted items I've done over the years. The other has 2 -- one is the dragon I recently completed. The problem has always been that I wasn't tatting anything she was interested in. Well thanks to the blogs of totusmel and agasunset I now have some ideas for items that she would really enjoy owning. So while I can't do any tatting, I'm going to review my thread and bead stash and my pattern collection with her in mind. I foresee a need to go shopping -- local and online. I declared this Tat for S... month, but since it is so late in the month she may have to have July as well. My other daughter wants a month, too, as she wants MORE tatting. LOL. It is nice to have homes for my projects before I even start them.

Dad is out of hospital

We had a special lunch and celebration at our house so my children could celebrate Father's Day with their dad. Then we loaded up to go out to my folks' house and celebrate with my dad (who has been released from the hospital) before they head out of town to spend a few days with my siblings.

I'm about to pull out my shuttles to finish up some of this week's beginnings while I keep the washer and dryer running to catch up on laundry. I'll try very hard to get some scans up in a day or two.

Many thanks for the thoughts and prayers on our behalf. Dad has a number of followup appointments. He seemed to be feeling much better today.

BTW, my pop-a-bobbin shuttle arrived. It is loaded and ready to go.

Hospital Update

I'm supposed to be resting at home, but I can't sleep so I'll blog instead. Dad had hoped to go home today, but the latest tests show his cancer is no longer in remission. He got a blood transfusion today and will see his oncologist some time this afternoon. Perhaps he can go home tomorrow.

He's been unhappy with the program selection on tv, so last night we watched a John Wayne movie from my laptop's dvd drive. I got a lot of tatting done during "Hellfighters," a movie we've both seen numerous times. That means I have some tatting to report!

After many stops and starts, I finally finished Jon's Foldover Bookmark. I plan to empty my shuttles with the Fan Bookmark and then reload for another of Jon's Foldover one's. I'm practicing tatting over ends and the Magic Thread Trick so I don't have to deal with any ends. Failed to plan for the final ends on my first Foldover model, so I had to take care of those. With all of the times I had to cut out mistakes, that one bookmark gave me plenty of practice!

When I finish these, I think I'll pull out some of my size 10 thread for a while. It is easier to see in a dimly lit room and easier to untat, too. Good thing I never got around to getting rid of it. Some times it pays to be a pack rat -- and I'm definitely a thread pack rat.

More Tatting in Hospital

I'm still hanging out with Dad at the hospital. I've been doing some tatting, but even more untatting. I've made some of the dumbest mistakes! I guess I'm just too distracted. I've spent some time today catching up on reading the blogs of fellow tatters. There is an exciting thread exchange going on. I'm so disappointed that I'm not going to be able to participate, but thrilled that Fox has put this together. I'm going to enjoy watching the swapping.

Another thread for tatting has been recommended at the Two Shuttles blog -- it is bamboo! I found it in the Aunt Lydia brand by Coats and Clark. They say it is "naturally anti-bacterial, odor resistant, breathable and cool, 3 times more absorbent than cotton and durable and strong with a silky hand." I'm thinking this could be a good thread for tray mats, coasters, etc. that get wet with use. I'm going to be looking for it locally so I can see it and feel it for myself.

Even though I know it is too early, I'm watching the post for the arrival of my first pop-a-bobbin shuttle. They've already sold out again at Jane's Etsy shop, but I have a cedar one making its way across the ocean just for me!

Well, I think I'll pull out my shuttles and untat the last set of mistakes -- unfortunately the mistatted chain is a few rings and chains back. I may just cut it out. Horrible thought, I know!

Tatting in ER

I spent the evening in the emergency room with my dad and now we are settled comfortably in a regular room. I was too distracted to get much tatting done, but I started Nancy Tracy's Fan Stack Bookmark. This is a great bookmark for emptying your shuttles. It is one of many free patterns available at her Be-Stitched website.

Bookmark from 3 different sizes of thread

Well, here it is. Size 30 Cebellia in the center, followed by size 20 Manuela, and finished with a size 5 or 10 unknown crochet cotton (most likely a 5). My daughter likes it and that is what matters.

Failed Bookmark

I've been working on another of the Flaming Caverns Bookmarks. I chose a solid center and then tried one of the Lizbeth variegated threads for the crochet round. I don't like it at all. Unlike the previous one in which I used Manuela for the crochet, the Lizbeth is producing a little over an inch of crochet in one color before switching to the next. These lengths of color don't look at all well in this pattern. I'm about to strip it off and see if I have a Manuela color that will work to finish this one up.

No tatting today

I had cleared much of the day for tatting, but our printer/scanner died. I spent the afternoon researching and the evening installing software and getting everybody's computers set up to work with the new printer. Do you ever find yourself reluctant to go to bed at the end of the day because you didn't get your tatting done? LOL

Flaming Caverns 2

I decided to tat another one. This time I started dropping the shuttle through the ring before closing it. It gave the half-closed ring a "squarer" look. I added picots and shortened the corner chains by 3 ds to keep everything close to the crochet round.

Pattern Correction

I just corrected a mistake in my posting of the pattern. If you have already printed it, you may want to print it again. I apologize for the typo. I also made the instructions a little clearer in a couple of places.

Removed pattern links

I hate to do it, but I've been getting virus warnings about the fortune city pages that hosted some of the older patterns I've had on the web. I have pulled those links for the safety of all our computers.

Flaming Caverns Bookmark

(This pattern is the property of Eliz Davis. You may share it with friends as long as you do it free of charge and print it from http://tatknot.blogspot.com) You can isolate this post for printing by clicking on it's title. To order a shuttle tatted bookmark in your favorite colors, contact Eliz through her Etsy shop called Tatknot.

Since I don’t have any graphics software for this computer yet, you’ll have to settle for an image you can write on and my written directions. It is really pretty simple. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

I used a Lizbeth size 20 for the center and outer round and a Manuela size 20 which is a little larger for the crocheted round between them. Finished size: 4.75 inches (12 mm).

CENTER (one shuttle):

The center is formed with half-closed rings (hcr).

Make a length of 10 half-closed rings with the first being 3-3-3-3 and the remaining 9 being 3+3-3-3.

Turn the corner with a hcr of 3+3 and close it so the stitches align at a 90 degree angle.

Make a ring 3+ (joining to picot of corner hcr) 1-3, cl.

Make another hcr of 3+3 and close as before.

You are now ready to complete the remaining side with 10 half-closed rings of 3+ (to last picot of previous hcr) 3+ (to picot of opposite hcr) 3-3.

Repeat the instructions in italics to make a matching end. The second picot of your end ring will actually be a join to the first picot of the first hcr you tatted and the last hcr will join into this same picot.

CROCHETED ROUND (size 8 crochet hook)

Place 3 double crochet in each hcr along the sides, 4 double crochet in each corner hcr, and 2 double crochet into the little rings at either end.

FINAL ROUND (ball and shuttle)

Join between any set of double crochet stitches along the side. Side chains are 6+ (join between the next set of double crochet), repeating until you reach the 4 double crochet at the corner. The corner and end chains are 15+3-1--1-3+15. Return to the 6+ chain to complete the second side. Repeat the corner and end chains. Return to the 6+ chain until you return to where you began.

Enjoy!

New bookmark

After a slow start, I seem to be on a roll. I really wanted to combine the variegated red Lizbeth thread with a bright yellow, but the two size 20s didn't match very well and tatting with both was turning out to be a problem. After trashing two efforts, I decided to try combining crochet and tatting. I did my first project with half-closed rings to make a honeycomb-looking center, added a round of double crochet and then topped it off with a tatted chain for effect. I'm struggling with a name for the design. I'm considering Flaming Caverns, Crowned Fire, or (to accommodate the effect in other colors) Cavern Springs. Suggestions, anyone?

Finished!

My daughter will be thrilled when she gets home today to discover that I FINALLY finished her black and red dragon. It was to be a Christmas present for her. Was that this past Christmas or the one before? It is Anne Bruvold's pattern for her Flying Minor Norwegian Dragon as I mentioned in my earlier post. I realized I had added an extra ring at the shoulder of the first wing when I got to the same place in the second wing so I duplicated my mistake. My daughter loves red and black together so I used the shoe lace trick to position my shuttles to get the effect I desired.

Untatting

As I finish the final row in the final wing of one of Anne Bruvold's Flying Minor Norwegian Dragons, I find myself pondering the time it takes to untat compared to the time it takes to tat. I've had to untat a chain on both the final round and the previous one. First I forgot to make a ring between chains, then I forgot to join to a ring between chains. I untat because I have too much invested in this darling dragon to start over for such small mistakes, but I'm appalled at how long it takes to undo my knots. Lesson learned: A little extra time to check the diagram and the instructions will save far more time than removing knots. Sounds kind of like "a stitch in time saves nine" doesn't it? Well, back to my dragon.