Norma Benporath Mystery Edging

The tatting is done, but I haven't pressed it yet. The outer round has a ruffled effect at the moment which I think is quite attractive. It has been lots of fun to tat.

Sharon is teaching design classes through her blog

I took Sharon's design classes quite some time back. She did a great job and now she is teaching through her blog with a new lesson every few weeks. So, whether you already love designing or have never even imagined that you could, I encourage you to drop by Sharon's blog to check this out.

Benporath Mystery Edging update

Hello, everyone. I've completed the tatting of round 2 so that the foundation round of squares now has a completed round on either side. Norma's instructions have you tatting this outer round with ball and shuttle, but it is obvious that some of the rings must swing out for joining to the next and final round. I chose to tat with ball and shuttle just leaving these rings free and then folding them up and out because I felt the resulting sharp v-shape of the chains might have been what Norma had in mind. If I had chosen to tat with 2 shuttles and make these outward facing rings with the 2nd shuttle, the chains would have had the more traditional curved shape. That just isn't what I hoped to achieve.

This would be a lovely place to stop. Several of my family members thought it was finished. It will be interesting to see what effect the final round will have upon the overall appearance. The last round should produce a scalloped look and I plan to work it in the variegated thread I used for the foundation round of squares.

Update on the Benporath Edging

It has been hard to find time to tat, but I have really enjoyed working on this edging. I've finished the inner round (Round 1). Norma's instructions have you making two consecutive joins to connect to the corner picots between two motifs. I chose to interpret this by completing the 2nd half of the DS after the first join before making the 2nd join and I really like the effect (see the closeup). This actually results in a ring with one more double stitch than the other rings on either side of it.

I've done a practice tat of the next round (Round 2) and have just begun to tat onto the foundation round.

Benporath Mystery Edging

It's been a distracting week and I find comfort in relaxing with an audible book and my tatting this evening. I'm reluctant to log in to Craftree as I really want to work this pattern out for myself without seeing what the others have done, and I'm sure someone else has finished it by now. As you can see, I've just now completed the first round. I look forward to figuring out the next round this evening. It has been a real pleasure to work with DMC size 80 tatting thread. This piece hasn't been blocked as I am away from home.

Tatting Benporath Mystery Tat-a-long

Hi, everyone. I'm having problems finding cream-colored velvet for the framed tatting I've completed for Butter Bean. I had hoped to share the finished images with you, so that must wait a little longer.

Thanks for the help to get back into Craftree (InTatters). I was trying to figure out what to do next and dropped in just in time to start the Mystery Tatalong of one of Norma Benporath's edgings. The only image available is so poor that none of us can make out any details at all. I tatted one of the foundation squares and started building the foundation round. This pattern is unique from all others I've ever tatted in that the next round will be worked to the inside of the square formed by the foundation round. I look forward to seeing how it will turn out. I'm working in a colorful size 80 thread as I was ready for a change from all of that solid pink size 30.

Nothing has been blocked or pressed. These are in-progress scans.

Tatting Chat communities

I just discovered that InTatters is no longer on CraftTree. I couldn't find it with a search. Are there any tatting chat communities?

Still Tatting

Hi, everyone. I'm sorry my posts are so far apart. I'm still working on the tatting to be framed for Butter Bean's room. You saw "The Princess and the Pea" and "Thumbelina," and I've finished the tatting of Pegasus and almost finished the unicorn. Neither of these has been blocked yet so you would not recognize the tatting blob should I take a picture of them. However, I thought you might enjoy seeing Butter Bean (her daddy's nickname for her) modeling a tatted bonnet I made many years ago. It is still a little large, but she'll catch up.

New Grandbaby

One of my babies had a baby of her own. Three weeks early, she still weighed 7 lb. 5 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long. She was 2 days old in this picture. My joy overflows. But my tatting wan't finished and I've been too distracted since her arrival to form a single knot!

A potential new tatter

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to meet clothing designer Linda Rowe Thomas who lives in central Arkansas. When she expressed an interest in learning to tat, I told her about all of the wonderful resources online for beginners and gave her the address of my blog to use as a starting point. You can see some of her designs in her gallery. I look forward to seeing some tatted elements in some of her pieces.

Thumberlina (or is it Thumbelina) is finished

Picture #2 is complete. Inga calls it Thumberlina, but I know her as Thumbelina. At least, I think it's the same story. I'm glad I decided to wait to select the frames until all of the tatting is done as this one is a little taller than The Princess and the Pea.

Inga Madsen's book, 12 Tatted Fairy-Tales, is wonderful. These two projects were complicated enough that I took time to study the picture and the diagram very carefully before starting to tat. Inga provides large images of the completed tatting for all of the projects which is very helpful.

Flights of Fantasy by Martha Ess arrived yesterday. I'm torn between the Regal Dragon and Knight, the Rearing Unicorn, and the Tapestry Unicorn. I'm going to let my daughter make the final choice. Thanks so much to all of you for your helpful suggestions!

Seeking a pattern

Hello, everyone. I'm terrible at keeping up with my blog when I'm working, but I do tat a little. Remember the ring pillow for the wedding last May? Well, now I'm tatting pictures for the room of the new baby due in April. I've finished Inga Madsen's "Princess and the Pea" and I'm doing "Thumbelina" from that same book of patterns--12 Tatted Fairy-Tales. But I need a third picture that fits a princess theme. I'm open to suggestions. My daughter suggested a slipper to represent Cinderella, but I can't think of any sources of a slipper pattern. So please post your suggestions for the third picture.

I'll post Thumbelina as soon as she is finished. Sorry about the shadow on this one. Do you see the little green pea?

Ring Pillow for Daughter's Wedding

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. While I think of all of my tatting friends often, life has been very busy. As you might guess from the title, my most recent project was decorating the ring pillow for my oldest daughter's wedding. The photos are by Grant Dillion. I'm awed by the quality and creativity of some of the photos he took at her wedding.

The pattern is by Yvonne Reypa, April 2007. My copy is from back before I added the weblinks to the patterns before saving and I couldn't find it with a google search. If any of you have the link, please post it. 

This is a beautiful design, but it was very slow going. I alternated finger tatting and shuttle tatting. I do believe it was worth the effort, though.

Package from God's Kid

I took a week off for some fun in the sun on one of Florida's beaches. It was a girls'-only trip with my mother, one of my sisters, and my two daughters. I didn't touch a computer for the entire trip. I spent lots of time enjoying the beautiful view.

Look what was waiting for me when I arrived home! God's Kid sent me beads, size 40 threads, and some lovely embellishments to play with. And look at the doily! The tatting looks perfect! Thank you so much, God's Kid.

Earring Jackets

I've finished two pairs of earring jackets and started another. The photos really don't do justice to the colors of the threads or the beads. The peach and royal blue pairs were inspired by Jennifer Williams' Two-Layered Flower. I used one of my favorite earring patterns and added that second layer using Jennifer's technique.

The one lone variegated earring jacket you see is made from Rachel Colvin Jackson's Simple Celtic Earrings. I left off the picot for attaching a wire and will wear them as earring jackets for post earrings. This one required I get out my tatting needles and refresh my rusty skills. I found it was rather like riding a bicycle. The movements came back to me very quickly. As I write this, I've only completed one piece. I look forward to playing with this one a bit more. 

My thanks to both Jennifer and Rachel. I've enjoyed playing with your techniques and see many possibilities for them.

New Earrings

I've been distracted from shuttle-tatted interlocking rings and cross patterns by the need for some new earrings. I looked through some of the patterns I've saved from other websites and blogs and found great inspiration. The pair pictured below are based on the Poinsettia Earrings designed by Rachel Colvin Jackson. I confess to taking a few liberties with Rachel's lovely pattern. I didn't want to sew in beads afterward so I made long beaded picots and I substituted double stitches for the half stitches Rachel uses in the outer round. I'm very happy with the result. Thank you, Rachel for sharing this pattern with us.

Tatting on the road

I apologize for the photo quality, but I thought a poor photo would be better than none at all.

My plans to rework my Celtic cross bookmark with the interlocking rings had to be put on hold. I've been on the road quite a bit lately for work. In fact, I'm out of town now. I chose a familiar pattern and grabbed several balls of Lizbeth variegated threads that I had not yet tried. This proved to be a great choice as I've enjoyed tatting on planes, in airports, in autos (I wasn't doing the driving), and in hotels. Loading one Aero shuttle completely and starting with shuttle and ball, I was able to make two bookmarks before reloading a shuttle.

I didn't completely unpack both suitcases after the previous trip before I started repacking one for this shorter trip. I think I must have left a couple of bookmarks in my other suitcase. By my calculations, I've tatted at least 9.

Happy tatting!

Tatted Teddy Bear progress

I finished the Teddy Bear in Inga Madsen's Tatted Animals. The thread is Lizbeth size 20, Purple Marble. He is now framed and proudly on display in my office at work.

It works!

A few posts back you saw my efforts with part 1 of Kathy's tutorial for interlocking rings with a shuttle. It took me two tries with part 2, but I'm very satisfied with the results. I had a little trouble closing that last ring satisfactorily, so I again removed the thread from the shuttle so I could pull it through to cinch the ring closed. Thank you very much, Kathy. I've place links to your tutorials on my techniques page.

I designed a cross pattern years ago that has interlocking rings in the center. I finger tatted the rings, but that was so fiddly that I've never worked the pattern again. I look forward to giving my design another tat using this method for the interlocking rings.

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.