Friday, April 27, 2012

Tatilicious thread inspires a bookmark

Jess at Tatilicious sent me some of her hand dyed thread a few weeks ago. I had to try the red/white/blue combo first and loved it! (See previous post.) The second one I tried was "Fancy Meadows," and it arrived already loaded on a Bob-Eez. The thread seemed to require a floral theme so I went with a simple traditional bloom and designed a new edging for the strip portion of the bookmark. I still have Pinkaholic and Rainbowlicious to tat up. Again, I thank you, Jess. I'm really enjoying your threads. I think my next design needs to incorporate some of those other goodies you sent with the threads. It's time to meet your challenge and see what I can come up with.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Tatilicious thread in a new bookmark

I tried the first of the threads Jess sent me in the package last week. It is the red, white, and blue that never made it into her shop. I call the bookmark Star Spangled Bookmark and the image is of the prototype. The second one has some beads in the star and it will be the one to go into my shop. Jess's thread is wonderful. As you can see, the colors repeat in a pattern small enough to add lots of interest to the finished piece. I look forward to trying the others. And, Jess, I enjoyed using the purple bag with my googly-eyed
friend today to carry round my work. He makes me smile every time I see him.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

A package from Jess

Jess aka Tatilicious sent me a package last week. I was one of two winners of a give-away she did through her blog. It was full of goodies. She included four skeins of her beautiful hand-dyed threads, beads and other goodies for tatting onto, a couple of Bob Eez, and all packaged up in some lovely and versatile containers. The googly-eyed key ring really made me smile.

But an extra bonus to this package was the artwork provided by Livi. Can you see her drawing decorating the outside of the envelope? Thank you, Livi!




The first picture just doesn't do Jess's threads justice so I've provided another picture with better lighting. The threads are so beautiful. I haven't had a chance to try them yet as I had to finish a bracelet order this weekend, edit an APA paper, and finish the taxes. All three of them are done, though, so I think I'll load up these new threads and some shuttles to play with during my lunch breaks this week. The Ann Orr doily can wait a few more days.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Happy International Tatting Day!

I remember when we began this tradition. The day seemed appropriate as people often think it foolish that we spend so much time to create each individual piece of our tatted lace. I often meet people who say, "I wouldn't have the patience to do that." But, really, tatting has always increased my patience. With my tatting in hand, I'm more likely to say, "Take your time." I've waited quite happily in a few long lines with my tatting bag on my wrist, working away on some project, while others around me grumbled about delays. I know it isn't for everyone, but that's okay. Some of my friends and family members have hobbies that don't interest me either. So it seems appropriate today to publicly mention my thanks once again to Barbara Tozzano who started me down this path a little over 20 years ago.

Today would be a great day to do an online search for "tatting" and "tatted lace." Lots of tatters are online and lots of posts are being made. I've enjoyed reading the tatting blogs today, wishing my tatting friends a happy international tatting day. Some of the tatters who are selling on Etsy are offering special items and prices to celebrate the day as well.

Following up on a post to one of my blog entries, I found Gunis-Perlenwahn.blogspot.com today which features a couple of great tutorials. The one on SSSRs includes a pattern. The tutorials are very well done and the blogger has published a few tatting books that look intriguing, too.

Nina Libin shared three lovely beaded earring patterns in the Online Tatting Class today. The patterns are well illustrated, but Nina took us through the details as well.

So, while I have not yet tatted a single knot today, I'm thoroughly enjoying the day. And since a blog entry on this special day would not be complete without a picture, here is my progress on the small doily by Anne Orr.

Now, I'm off to grab a snack and pick up my shuttles. I want to get a couple of Sport Your Colors bracelets done and perhaps get a bit more done on this doily.

Happy International Tatting Day to each and every one of you!