Painting or Tatting?

I should be painting my living room but I got so frustrated with trying to unscrew the hardware for the blinds that I gave it up for awhile. I just finished hiding the ends in a split ring bracelet I made this morning. Kaye was teaching split rings and split chains at the guild meeting Saturday and gave us a pattern for a bracelet to use for the split rings, in addition to the motifs she gave us for practicing the split ring and split chain. What i like about her bracelet was that it used bugle beads for a change and it inspired me to make one with black thread (size 12) and gold blending filament and some gold bugle beads that I had no idea what I was going to do with! Very Purdue-ish. I constructed mine differently from Kaye so I can give you the directions.



The split rings are 4 ds, 3 p sep by 2 ds, 4 ds, each side. Before I start the second side, I pull the 2nd shuttle thread through the bugle bead, anchor the loop with a paperclip and then proceed with the split ring. When the ring is closed, then I take my crochet hook and insert it in the loop sticking through the end of the bead, remove the paperclip, and do a "join" with either one of the shuttles. Then I made 1 ch ds before starting another split ring. Continue for as long as you want the bracelet to be. I got the findings at Hobby Lobby. Cheep! Only fifty cents.

Kaye's was done with 2 colors, one on each side of the split ring and fewer stitches overall. She also added the beads afterwards, when the tatting was done. I'm thinking of making another bracelet now, with different sized picots. I don't wear bracelets, except very rarely, but I may gift it to someone. It's a little on the small side as I was running out of thread, but it fits me. Initially, I started one like Kaye's and was putting seed beads where the picots were, but after exactly 1 split ring, I decided that wasn't going to do. I think I needed a heavier thread for it to work.

After Tatting Guild on Saturday, I met up with a woman I met on a different list, not tatting-related, and we had lunch and then she took me to an antique store in Greenfield. Ooooooohhhh, I was in BLISS! Linens all over the store!!!! Only about 3 out of hundreds had tatting. I bought about 4 samples of different embroideries and one of needlelace. I didn't realize until I got home that one end was damaged. Maybe I could fix it but maybe I'll just convert what is good into a pillow or something.

I also got several old magazines, Popular Needlework (5) which have tatting patterns or columns by Myrtle Hamilton, a Mrs. Randall, and some by a Mrs. Walter Frost and a few others. I see a variation on the hen & chicks edging, some block tatting edgings, a chair set combining tatting and crochet, a cat's edging.......and of course there are other needlework crafts too. Oh Hopie! There is a filet crochet owl edging! I also got 2 plastic bags of miscellaneous. One has a few embroidery transfers but most of it is Vogart embroidery color charts. The other packet has some original tissue patterns from 1913! A ladie's blouse and an apron and a skirt. I also got a few wooden pieces from the $1.00 table that I will use in my decorative painting. One item is a wooden fiddle, not a real one, but one you hang on the wall. A couple of necklaces, a wooden box with pearl inlays. I didn't get to see everything either. LOL! I'll sure be going back there! And she knows of even more places!

Well, I really need to get back to my preps. No painting tonight but at least I can be close to ready for tomorrow. That bracelet is calling my name too. I'd like to make another one for the fair. Perhaps I should finish Nina's pendant class first. Oh. and the elephant needs to be put on a different background. And I can't find my booklet for the fair. I checked at JoAnn's today and they were out. I think I can check online.