Tatted Elephant

I finished Inga Madsen's tatted elephant, pages 16 and 17 of Tatted Animals. The thread is Elizabeth size 20 in Seashell. I've started the Teddy Bear on pages 30 and 31. You'll see it a bit later. Inga's book contains a picture and a diagram for 12 different animals. The others are a bird, butterfly, sitting cat, dog, giraffe, horse, ladybird (ladybug), monkey, snail, and a squirrel. All of them are adorable. Inga used these designs for a quilted baby blanket and includes some instructions for doing the same. I'm tatting the animals just for fun, with no particular plans for how I'll use them. They are just fun to make.

Happy International Tatting Day!

We are just 3 minutes away by my time, but it has already begun in other parts of the world. I wanted to do something special for all of my tatting friends and promote the art of tatting at the same time, so I'm offering you a pattern today. It offers a chance to practice Catherine Wheel joins if you wish, along with half-stitches, split rings, and a little block tatting. The sample was tatted with one of Jess's beautiful threads available through her Etsy shop, Tatilicious. The pattern is available here. Please let me know if you have any problems with the pattern.

Shuttle-tatted Interlocking Rings

If you've been admiring the patterns with interlocking rings, but avoid them because you don't want to use needletatting or fingertatting, you really must visit Kathy Niklewicz's blog post where she has begun a tutorial for making them with the shuttle. I'm sure you can't see the problems in my efforts in the photo below as well as I can, but I'm getting close thanks to Kathy. While the variegated thread shows up better in the picture, the larger white thread has been a better choice for my practice. I'm going to devote my tatting time to working on this technique this morning.

Okay, I'm back with a progress report. I carefully followed Kathy's pictures as I went. At photo 9, Kathy says to keep the shuttle thread behind the closing ring and the first ring as you close that second ring. I tried posting my shuttle through the second ring from front to back before closing the ring and it has made a tremendous difference in the appearance of my finished work. I'm going to go over to Kathy's blog to see if she does this routinely (I know some tatters do so). Below are images of my last effort from both sides.

Dragon Wing Doily

This is my second Dragon Wing Doily by Anne Bruvold. I tatted my first one in May 2011. My tension was rather tight this time which made the piece rather stiff and a little more fiddly to block than I expected. This is a tatter issue rather than a designer one. I did not notice this problem with my first effort.  The nice thing about the stiffness is that it would hang nicely as an ornament without stiffener. I'd like to try it again with deliberately lighter tension to see if the difference was in the thread I used or in my tatting. Anne's pattern is a lovely one and enjoyable to tat. You'll find it in English here.

Wanda's Graduation Cross

I used Wanda's Graduation Cross pattern for this little cross in one of the Lizbeth variegated threads. I got off to a bad start when I made the 3rd of the starting rings a split ring and didn't catch my mistake until I had worked my way around to start the 3rd leg. Oops! I resolved the issue by making a fourth ring for the center with a SCMR. It would have been less obvious in a solid thread, but I feel it was a decent compromise that kept this piece from the trash bin. My photograph doesn't do this thread justice.

Lost tatting bag & start of an elephant

I was on a tatting roll when last I posted. I finished a cross and got a good start on a Dragon Wing Doily before I got the great idea to take my tatting to work. After a couple of weeks of getting no tatting done during my lunch break, I decided it was best to bring it back home. The moment when I made that decision is the last time I can remember seeing my tatting bag. I have no clue what I did with it and that was well over a week ago!

When I got home last night the only thing I could think of that I wanted to do was to tat. I got out Inga Madsen's Tatted Animals and started Elephant in Elizabeth size 20 Seashell. It felt so good to have a shuttle in my hand again. One forgets how relaxing tatting can be when you don't make time for it for quite a while. So this is my progress so far. I'm going to post this picture and go back to playing with shuttle and thread as I drink my blackberry tea.

Happy tatting, everyone.

Heart earrings, but no pictures

I carried my tatting with me all week, but didn't get anything done until today. At my daughter's request I whipped up a quick pair of heart earrings for her to use as a prize later this week. No pictures, I'm afraid. I used TatfullyYours' Flower Heart, size 10 Nazli Gelin Garden in a dark red, and gold earring wires. My daughter thinks they'll be a big success.

Have a great week everyone. I hope to have something to post again next weekend.

Hearts in Lizbeth Watermelon size 20

I tatted these two hearts yesterday. The one on the right is Little Bit of My Heart by Dan the Tatman. The other one is Vicki Clarke's Ruffled Heart. I had a little trouble with the ruffled chains in Vicki's pattern. My stitches wanted to twist around rather than ruffle, especially on the 2nd chain.

Bad Combination

Complex pattern with no diagram + recovering from dental surgery + migraine headache = ERROR, ERROR! I did not arrange the chains symmetrically as I started down the other side. I decided that I'm really not well enough right now to work on anything that requires this much concentration, so I'm sitting this pattern aside for later. It is a beautiful design and I should make sure I can give it the attention it deserves. So today I'm going to go back to browsing my collection for simpler patterns that will allow me to enjoy tatting without so much concentration.

Happy Tatting

Beeton Cross

Since my first project was by chance a cross, I decided to work my way through some of my cross patterns. This one is super simple. It was inspired by an edging in Beeton's Book of Needlecraft. I don't have a pattern, just notes about ring and chain sizes. I think Georgia Seitz may have shared this idea through the Online Tatting Class at some point.

I'm already working on the next cross, but I've moved to a more complicated pattern. It is Gillian Buchanan's Sharon's Celtic Cross. It is worked with 2 colors and 4 shuttles.

Thanks for the welcome

Thanks so much for the welcome back. I found your blogs and webpages inspiring yesterday. I didn't even make it to the forums before deciding to find my shuttles. I knew better than to over think it. I could have spent days just deciding what to do. I had run across one of Roger Freedman's cross patterns as I was sorting a few papers earlier in the day. I grabbed the first filled shuttles I put my hands on and started tatting.

This one starts near the bottom. I had worked my way through one side and the top before I realized I had added too many rings to the first side arm. My first thought was to cut it off and start over. (Later, of course. I was easily discouraged, I'm afraid.) However, I talked myself into cutting out and salvaging the project. My choices were to cut out a small amount and lengthen all of the arms or go back to the spot where I added the first additional ring. I chose to do the latter and got it finished before I went to bed last night. It feels wonderful to have started and completed a project. I'm going to find some more shuttles that need emptying and start another.

Thanks for the welcome and the inspiration.

Checking in with the tatting community

Hello, all. I know I've been missing in action for months and I've missed all of you. Other things have had higher priorities so that the only tatting I've done was just before Christmas and I didn't take a single picture.

I'm home this week recovering from the removal of a wisdom tooth. I'm feeling more awake today, but still not up to doing much. It seemed like the perfect time to visit your blogs and webpages to see what you've been up to. Now I'm off to visit your sites.

I'm still tatting

Hi, everyone. I just want to let you know that I'm still around and still tatting. I took a vacation, then got really busy at work, and now my internet portal is down. I'll be back.

Mothers' Day Weekend

It was a weekend of special events for me rather than just one day. If you follow the blog of Jess aka Tat-ilicious, you've already seen some of the pictures from Saturday. We each drove to meet at a pre-determined location to tat, chat, and enjoy some show-and-tell. It was a wonderful day. We chose a McDonald's with an indoor play area so Jess's daughter, Livi, could have some fun, too. I must tell you that Livi is an impressive young lady with a gift for making friends.

I enjoyed seeing and handling Jess's lovely threads and brought home a number of them. While we chatted, I started Marilee Rockley's Ripple Necklace using Jess's Faerie Dust thread and Lizbeth black, both size 20. I made several mistakes, a few of which jumped out at me as I photographed it today. It's a gorgeous design, but perhaps not the best project when one is distracted. Faerie Dust looks really great in Marilee's design though, don't you think?

Jess does beautiful work.  She taught herself to tat and uses very different hand movements from those I use. I enjoyed watching her work. While her movements were different, they were graceful and effective. I've planned for a long time to try Jane Eborall's method for avoiding that blip of color in a join, but never quite got round to it. Jess demonstrated the technique, a much faster learning method for me, so the Ripple Necklace benefited tremendously. Jess also showed me how she does her ring-only heart. When I glanced at the design last week, I had assumed it used split rings. Jess's design is more great evidence that there is more than one way to achieve a particular outcome.

As Jess mentioned, we had a tatting student, too. He handled the shuttle while I held the core threads. Then Jess helped him try it holding both the core thread and the shuttle.

Jess, Livi, and I hope to get together again before the summer is over. If any of you tatters live within a reasonable driving distance of Wynne, Arkansas, we would love to have you join us.

Tatted Bookmark

This is another of my bookmark efforts. I recently shared this one in an exchange. The thread is one by Lizbeth, size 20, but I can't find the color name.

Finished the Anne Orr doily

I finished the Anne Orr doily I started several weeks ago. In fact, I finished it before I started playing with Jess's threads, but it needed some pressing before I took pictures. So while I'm playing with more of Jess's threads, I'll try to get a few photos of recent projects posted.

I think it could benefit from a bit of blocking. The outer round looks slightly out of shape. I confess it got tossed about a bit before I got around to taking the picture. The thread is size 20 Lizbeth, Sea Green Dark.

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.

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.

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.

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!