and Geesh! I forgot to say how much I love her motif!

We both used the same filling for the petal/arch shape. She also did the windmill sail stitch in the center that I practiced but did not use. And what a perfect job with the connecting bars!

I got the Romanian Point Lace motif from Lenore last night! If you follow her blog, you know that she broke hef left wrist back in July and had to have surgery on it so there wasn't a whole lot she could do for awhile but she was able to stitch a bit for short periods of time. She didn't show the motif on her blog but did have links to her flickr account. I went the first time, mostly to keep from duplicating what she was doing but hadn't gone after that so it was still a surprise for me! The photos now show on her blog and you can follow her progress more visually.

Lenore also sent me a copy of #7 Richardson's Tatting which has a few motifs in it that I will try later on. Lenore's adapted baby bootie pattern is the one I've used over and over. I thought I'd find more than one on my blog but I see have photos missing that used to be hosted on sites I no longer use from 2003. I'll have to see if I can find the original and download them. Might be a good idea for me to go through and put tags on my posts too....NOT RIGHT NOW THOUGH!

Yes, I did say I would return to tatting but with my son's wedding exactly one week from today, it's unlikely I will even blog. In fact, I should not be sitting here right now and do you know, I just ate a whole freakin' pint of butter pecan ice cream????

....yes...I am a stress eater. And I am going to the gym later (for a whole lot longer than I planned on!)

LOL! oh well....I'm almost finished with my Irish crocheting and I also tatted the other night but made a mistake and have not picked it up since. Probably tonight. Better to relieve stress with tatting than eating.

Lace - but no tatting

I got word from Lenore that she received my RPL piece to her. Remember I based it on some henna designs I've seen, taking one of the most basic shapes to work with. Even though my needlelace stitching needs more practice (poor tension and spacing) I love the way it looks overall. I'm anxious to see Lenore's to me which should arrive by tomorrow.

One of the cool things about Romanian Point Lace is that you can change the look by using different needlelace fillings. I made another motif for me and used the same interwoven circles here as well as the same backstitch center although I did it backwards so it shows the backside on the "front". I also used a different netting for the bottom of the heart shape. It's 2 buttonhole stitches per loop and I didn't include a bar thread like I did with the first motif. I also used a different filling for the heart arches. That's the part I'm not happy with. I need to either use more strings (and the loop wasn't big enough to provide more) or somehow adapt it to not look so stubby.

My 2nd watercolor brushwork class was last night. I really love seeing how everyone does the same thing differently. Same way with tatting. Take the same pattern and 6 people - you'll see 6 different threads, some will add beads, some won't. Some will change the picot count on purpose. There will always be one person who completely changes the pattern and one person who follows it exactly. It's our nature to reinterpret design to match our own preferences. That's how the universe evolves. I really don't understand people who get upset when someone interprets their pattern differently and ...well, we won't go there.

The instructor had already applied the miskit to each paper before we started so each person's daisies were going to be a little different anyway. Still...the application of color, brushstrokes, intensity, additional techniques....incredible differences. Mine probably had the darkest background and seemed more "Autumnish" compared to the others which were lighter and more delicate overall.

Here's some Irish Crochet I'm working on with only 2 more leaves and an edging left. It's a free online pattern from Piecework but I'm not happy with it. I've done Irish Crochet before with much clearer instructions. The "picot beads" on this are too big, IMO, and I don't like the way each round slipstitches in so many stitches to get to the next round. It's a pincushion and I think it will look fine when it's done but my feeling is that there is an easier way to accomplish the same thing.

And we shall return to our regulary scheduled tatting blog following this impromptu break.........

A collection of drafts....

I have a tendency to start a post and then get sidetracked, so clearing out those unfinished posts....


With permission from Designboom.
"designer's own words:
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"New Documentary film about women balancing lives and artists and mothers. Directed by Pamela Tanner Boll, co-directed edited by Nancy C Kennedy. Check out our website at www.whodoesshethinksheis.net! "

I got these links from http://www.starshyneproductions.blogspot.com/ which came from http://www.justbeconnected.com/
http://www.jamieridler.blogspot.com/

Sunday I went to Art on the Wabash at Tapewingo Park in West Lafayette. I was going primarily because of friend Kevin's photography exhibit but I also saw two watercolor teachers and my gourd art teacher, as well as members of my paint guild. I've been wondering how I can display lace as an art form for a long time. It will come to me. There are certain guidelines that tend to rule textiles out but not completely. I also saw one artist's work based on henna art which tickled me since my RPL is also based on henna art. I don't think he really appreciated my enthusiasm about it. You can tell when someone is trying to be patient, because after all..you just might buy something...but they really wish you would go away if you aren't really shelling out money.

I've been feeling a sewing binge coming on. The itch to stitch is bugging me.

I almost forgot in the busy line up of life that I was nominated for this award by Umi & Tsuru who has some beautiful dragonfly earrings featured in a giveaway! I was sorely tempted to enter but I rarely wear tatted earrings and thought someone who does wear tatted earrings should get them. I've been enjoying her blog for quite awhile and highly recommend you pay a visit.

The guidelines for the award on are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog;
2. Link the person you received your award from;
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs;
4. Put links of those blogs on yours;
5. Leave a message on the blogs that you’ve nominated

I'll have to pass on the nominations this time. As you can see from the long column of links on the sidebar, there are so many to pick from. I haven't even caught up with my reading of them the past few days. I also love it that so many are updated on a frequent basis. You don't find that everywhere.

I douldn't find this little bit when I posted the mystery tatting this month. It was just a little sample of #2, I think, in two colors. I'd taken it to another room to dab some stuff on the cut end of the thread and forgot I left it there. LOL! I think you have to pay attention and switch shuttles to make sure you have one color for the inner petal and the other for the outside, plus have the chains all facing one direction. No reason why you couldn't have your chains going in another direction - experiment and see what happens!

Lenore and I finished our RPL within a day of each other. I'll show you the end results when she gets hers. I was so pleased with mine that I'm couching down another already. Once the cord is made and couched down, the actual needlelace does not take that long - if you know what fillings you want to use. I only used one of those shown in the practice flower last post. Who knows? I may include some RPL in an anniversary winner's package. Tami got one to finish for herself. I'm really wanting to make another teapot...just haven't found my original pattern, although I can print out another. I just don't like having to make the template. Once it's all put together, you can use it over and over and that's what I'm looking for - the one already put together.

While I'm not going to post a text-only mystery motif next month, I've been tatting what would have been the next one and I'll post it with directions and photos at the beginning of the month. I just won't have time to post text only and then come back two weeks later with the original. This is just so sweet - I can't wait for another month to show it! Now if I can just figure out what to put it on.

I had this Romanian point Lace flower started when I gave the program for my lace group. The red filling was done with the group but I used the rest of the petals to practice fillings Tuesday night and last night. I learned the backstitch wheel, petal weave, interwoven circles, chain stitch, and feather stitch. I really wanted to get the petal weave and interwoven circles down. Took me 3 tries to get the circles done in a way I felt comfortable with. The backstitch wheel and the petal weave were fillings I tried last week and knew I wasn't doing right. I got it this time. Now, just need to practice.

Wednesday night I took a watercolor class in brushwork with Rena Brouwer in Frankfort. The second half is next week. It's just really so much fun - I love looking at it the next day because it never looks like it did when I was actually working with it. I always think it's horrible. It's just so hard for me to visualize how it will look when it dries. The point of these classes is brushwork techniques so I haven't really made an effort to finish them completely.

I'm tatting too but have nothing to show yet. Life has just been very busy.

I had big plans to make four of these motifs and join them together as a small mat - but I knew I wouldn't have enough thread before I even finished the second one. I think that's the only time that has ever happened - and no way to readily get more. So they became coasters! I wanted to put them in an acrylic base but the ones I had (bought at a tat day somewhere once) were octagonal and the squares were too big to fit in.

Remember edging #2 in the last post? Well, it became a bookmark. I had some rickrack that matched beautifully and I couldn't resist threading it through the chains.

I decided to make a triangular goodie bag and decorate it with angels, since Tami's business is called Angelic Creations. One of the angels remains here, lopsided at the skirt because I missed making an extra ring. LOL! I really had too many distractions going on. There is chocolate and beads inside and oh pooh...I just remembered I meant to put in a "big eye" beading needle. Sorry Tami!

I also realized I forgot to scan the shuttle but that's okay. I did have fun making everything but started feeling guilty that it was taking me so long so I kind of rushed to get it all sent off.

September Mystery Tatting Revealed

Here are the 3 edgings listed last week as well as the 4th one that I didn't have time to test tat beforehand. I've put the original photo on top and my tatted version below. I told someone recently that my goal next year is to get a software program and learn to make diagrams. In the meantime, hope you find something fun to make these for!

September Mystery Tatting
Original by Sudie Sherrod, Needlecraft March 1925
Updated by Regina A. Brummett

Clr = close ring
Rw = reverse work
+ = join


#1
RA = ring A
RB = ring B

RA: 4 (- 4) 3 x, clr, rw
Ch 5, rw
RB: 4 + last p RA, 4 (- 4) 2 x, clr, SLT (shoelace trick)
*Ch 6 – 5, rw
R 9 - 3 – 6, clr
[R 6 + last p of prev r, (3 - ) 2 x, 6 clr] 4 x
R 6 + last p prev r, 3 – 9, clr, rw
Ch 5 + p prev ch, 6, SLT
R 4 + last p of RB, 4 ( - 4) 2 x, clr, rw
[Ch 5, rw, RB rw] 4 x, SLT after last RB instead of rw
Repeat from * length desired


#2
*R 10 – 10, clr, rw
Ch (1 - ) 7 x, 1, + p prev r, 1, ( - 1) 7 x, + at base of prev r**
Ch 10, rw
Repeat * to ** (now referred to as double ring or DR)
Ch 10
DR, which means to make the 10-10 ring and then + 1st or corresponding DR at 4th p of outer chain or [ ch 1-1-1-1 + 4th p of corresponding outer ch, 1-1-1-1, + p of r, (1-) 7 x, 1, + at base of r)
DRs will zigzag in opposite directions and join to DR before last one made
Continue for desired length
~tip: chains are all facing in same direction


#3
Cloverleaf begins
*RA (ring A) 9 – 3 – 6, clr
RB (ring B) 6 + prev r, (3 - ) twice, 6, clr
RC (ring C) 6 + prev r, 3 – 9, clr , rw
Ch (4 - ) 4 x, 4, rw
RA and + to last p of prev cloverleaf with 1st p
(RB joining to last p of prev r) 3 x
RC, rw
Ch (4 - ) 4 x, 4, rw
Repeat for desired length


#4
2 shuttles wound CTM
If you use 2 shuttles with different colors, you will have to SS (switch shuttles) or SLT to get the colors where you want them differently from the directions.

Cloverleaf
R (3-) 3 x, 3 clr
R 3 + last p prev r, 3-1-1-3-3, clr
R3 + last p prev r, 3-3-3, clr, do not rw, SS (switch shuttles
Ch 7-1-1-1-7, SS
R 1- (2-) 8 x, 1, clr, rw
*Ch 1 (-1) 5 x, miss 1 p of r and lj (lock join with shuttle thread) in next free p
Repeat * 4 x, joining 2nd 5p segment at 3rd p to middle p of last r of cloverleaf and join last 5 p segment to base of r.
Ch 7-1-1-1-7, rw
Repeat from beginning, joining 1st r of cloverleaf at middle p to middle 5p segment of 4th segment.
Continue for length.

September Blog Anniversary Winner!!!

Before I go back out and finish up mowing, I thought I better let you know who this month's winner is so you don't sit in anticipation too long!

Congratulations to Connie Angeline of New Jersey!!!!

Oh wait...that's in webdings...

Congratulations to Connie Angeline of NJ!!!!!

Hankies & What NOT to do in a TIAS!

I wasn't going to do the latest TIAS largely because I thought I would not have time to finish it - or even begin, to be honest, but here I sat this morning, in front of the computer, in my nightie still, and wondered what to do with the UFO of the previous post. Dangerous thoughts when you are surfing catch-up with the tatting blogs.

***IDEA*** I'll just use the threads wound for the UFO for the TIAS! Ha!

That meant I had to find a medium color per the directions as the other two are light and dark. Hmmmm...well, I had this spool of King Tut sitting on my desk that I'd found somewhere, forgotten about from whenever I bought it and never used. Looks like the same size as the other threads. (mistake #2) So I wound and tatted. (mistake #1) As you can see, these are tiny.

So let's review mistake #1. Sherry says to use size 20 thread. Good choice for any new project as it lets you see what you're doing clearly...compared to quilting thread. It's okay to use size 10 or size 30 or maybe even 40 or 50, but I can see this may well be a problem using this tiny of a thread. If I find another block of time, I'll start over with bigger thread. LOL!


Mistake #2. Don't just quickly eyeball two threads and think, yah...they match. When I put the two threads together, I can see the difference. This is a high resolution scan that helps point out the difference and I could see it without the scan but I wanted to show it in a way that could be seen easily. The top thread is King Tut by Superior Threads. I love tatting with this thread. You can see from the scan that it's smooth. What you can't see is that it's also crisper than the other thread. I'm not sure how they size these. On the label, it says #40/3 and I believe the 3 means it is 3 cord but it's certainly much smaller than size 40 thread so I could be wrong on that. It's an extra-long staple cotton which is desirable.

The bottom thread is Majestic by HH, size 70. I don't know why I said it was Venus other than the label is green like the Venus labels. You can tell it's a tad bit bigger and the fibers show a little although they do not on the ball of thread. They look very smooth there. It tats up beautifully too, but the high-resolution scan does make you aware of the difference in threads.

So do I go on with the TIAS with the teensy non-matching threads or not?

I probably won't but it was a fun exercise in block tatting, tiny threads and looking at the differences in threads.


Here she is! I did make an organza flower but it didn't look right. Too poufy and the wrong shade of blue. I'll go to Factory Card Outlet today and find a box to put it in. I'm anxious to see how Libby likes it.

I bought the card from Tami Drader of Angelic Creations. It includes the poem about the wedding hanky/christening bonnet although you can get something else if you prefer.

Name this pattern!

Arrgghhhh! My pitiful offerings this week are so meager I'm reduced to showing UFO's!!! Really, I'll have more to show once Tami gets her package and the mystery tatting is revealed.

In the meantime....as I was digging through a baggie with ribbon in it, I found 2 shuttles and 2 balls of Venus size 80 thread and this motif in progress. I vaguely remember having a plan....somehow of using the two colors together or in contrast, but I have no idea what I was tatting! I realize there is not much to go on, but I thought it might be fun to see if anyone recognizes the pattern. Guesses might at least give me a clue of where to go looking. LOL!

I believe I have a few more UFO's like this around. I even have one little thingie that looks like a really cool little 3D flower that I love, have not seen before, and I even wrote down the number of stitches and made a few notes, but I can't figure my notes out now. It was ...ah...we'll say "creative" in a way that I've now forgotten how to duplicate. You know, you're playing around, twist this, join there, come back this way....

Well...down to almost 3 weeks til the wedding. I'm finishing the corner on that hanky this weekend and resting up. I've felt quite energy-challenged this week. But today, I got my dancing shoes and a bag to go with my dress! So glad to have that out of the way. Don't look too close - I need a pedicure and that's on the agenda this weekend too!

I got the Romanian Point Lace cord couched down last night...or was it the night before? The days are beginning to blur. I still need to hide my ends and secure some joinings. I played with needlelace last night for about a half hour. There is so much potential in this design. Do I focus on the heart shapes or de-emphasize them? I did keep track of how much cord it took. I had 100 inches of cord made and after I finished couching, I had 59 inches left, so it took 41 inches. I thought it took more than that. And then after that, I found a bunch I already had made up in the RPL drawer. I have a couple of 3 drawer plastic storage units. I've designated drawers for RPL, bobbinlace, knitting (which took up 3) and I think I have embroidery or - oh, stitchery kits in another. I have more stuff than what will fit in the drawers but I was trying to organize the newer crafts, like bobbinlace and RPL, which I don't have a lot of supplies for yet, into one place.

Dear Tami is being very patient while I finish up her package. I thought I was done and then decided to do something which is taking another day or so, but I will have it mailed out before I draw the next winner.

As for now, I'm going to try to get in an early night!

Look at what I won from Jane at Five Minutes of Fame! A package of fabric charms! This is just a small sampling of the 18 fabrics in the pack. They are small 5" squares of fabric. Jane offered a giveaway for her 300th post. I loved this very same group of fabrics although all I saw was the one with the Christmas tree on top. I thought I could embellish the tree with some tatting and beads. I also have a long-standing desire to make a Christmas quilt and these color coordinated fabrics can get me started nicely.

Then the dear woman had surgery and couldn't get around as well....I'm amazed she was able to follow through after all that. Thank you Jane! I'll be working with these as soon as time allows...not for a few months yet.

In the meantime, I crocheted the remainder of some DMC into the Romanian Point Lace cord. I'll be couching it down later this week. Thought I would get to it this weekend but I've run out of time.

I got the ribbon for the hanky and even got it threaded through but I haven't finished off the ends yet....again, I ran out of time, but should get it done tomorrow night.

I've also been tatting the last of Tami's anniversary win. I should be finishing it up right now so that I can send it off tomorrow but it looks like it will be another day yet. Where does the time go?

I wonder how our tatting friends have done in South Carolina for the Palmetto Tat Day? We should be hearing about it any time now!

September Mystery Tatting

There are actually 4 edgings but I haven't tatted the last one yet so it will be a bonus pattern when the original is revealed on the 15th. I've copied the directions exactly as published although on the 3rd one, I added "continue for length desired". Please note it does not say to reverse work anywhere. You'll have to figure it out on your own. Otherwise, these are some of the easier ones to figure out. If you want to post your efforts on your own blog, go ahead. It's only another week before I show the originals and I'm really busy in my personal life right now and won't have time to pull them together in a slide show this time. I will also be skipping October since I will be gone a lot of the month.

HAVE FUN!!!

September Mystery Tatting
3 edgings

#1
Ring of 4 double knots, ( picot, 4 double knots) 3 times, close;
A chain of 5 double knots;
A 2nd ring, joining by 1st picot of preceding ring;
*A chain of 6 double knots, picot, 5 double knots;
A ring of 9 double knots, picot, 3 double knots, picot, 6 double knots, close (this ring forms the 1st petal of the flower);
A 2nd ring of 6 double knots, join to the last picot of preceding ring, (3 double knots, picot) twice; 6 double knots, close;
Make 3 more rings like 2nd, joining in the same way;
Then for the 6th ring, or petal, make 6 double knots, join to the preceding ring as before, 3 double knots, picot, 9 double knots, close;
Chain of 5 double knots, join to picot of long chain, 6 double knots;
A ring like 1st ring made, joining to the 2nd ring made, or preceding ring by side picot, as before;
(chain of 5 double knots; a ring, like 1st, joining to preceding ring by side picot) 4 times;
Repeat from * to length desired.

#2
*A ring of 10 double knots, picot, 10 double knots, close;
A chain of (1 double knot, picot) 7 times, 1 double knot, join to picot of ring, (1 double knot, picot) 7 times, 1 double knot, join at base of ring, thus forming a double ring;
*a chain of 10 double knots;
A double ring (repeating from * to *);
Chain of 10 double knots;
A double ring, joining to preceding by 4th picot of outer ring, or chain;
Continue the length, alternating chains and double rings, and joining each double ring , or outer chain, to preceding by side picot.

#3
A ring of 9 double knots, picot, 3 double knots, picot, 6 double knots, close;
A 2nd ring of 6 double knots, join to last picot of preceding ring, (3 double knots, picot) twice, 6 double knots, close;
A 3rd ring of 6 double knots, join to last picot of preceding ring, 3 double knots, picot, 9 double knots, close (the 3 rings forming a cloverleaf);
A chain of (4 double knots, picot) 4 times, 4 double knots;
A ring like 1st ring of cloverleaf, joining by 1st picot to last picot of 3rd ring of cloverleaf;
A 2nd ring like 2nd ring of cloverleaf, joining as directed;
2 more rings, like 2nd, joining in the same way, then a 5th ring like 3rd ring of cloverleaf, joining as before to preceding ring;
A long chain like that first made;
Repeat, joining next cloverleaf by 1st picot of 1st ring to last picot of 5th ring of flower.
Continue for length desired.

The finished hanky!

Except for the blue ribbon. The bride didn't have any blue for the traditional "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" and asked if I could incorporate blue into the hanky somehow. I have 3 different kinds of blue ribbon that I considered. I really like the sheer organza ribbon on the right but it barely shows up. The blue at the bottom was too bold but the blue on the left looks appropriate. There's not enough to go around the hanky so I'll pick some up tonight and hopefully find some just a smidgeon wider. If the organza looked good, I was going to make an organza rose to hide the start/end of the ribbon weaving in the embroidered corner. I think the satin ribbon might be too bulky for that but I may make one anyway to at least test out. I'll probably disguise it with some pearl beads and a tiny bow. I'll show Tami's card with it when I'm done.

I decided to add some stats....The hanky is tatted in DMC cordonnette size 50. It took 15 minutes to tat each curlicue part on the top half of the edging and there were 10 on each side plus a bigger one on each corner. The bottom half of the edging was less involved and I didn't really time that but I estimated 7-8 minutes for each segment which again involved 10 on each side and a bit less in the corner. So the tatting involved around 17-18 hours, not counting winding shuttles and retro-tatting mistakes. Then there was the blocking and sewing on to the hanky and pressing (plus a soak in oxyclean) so it ends up being a minimum of 20 hours involved and probably closer to 25. If I were to charge mininum wage for my time, it would be over $100 for this hanky and that doesn't even include materials. That's why I don't sell my tatting.

I could make a simpler edging that would go quickly and perhaps that would be more feasible if I were trying to sell them. For now, I just think it's a really really nice gift.

No tatting pictures today so I'm using a photo from some flowers my kids got me last Spring. I'm sure getting a lot of mileage out of those flowers. I've used some for my desktop background and for another blog.

I've been tatting but some is for the August anniversary winner and some is the bridal hanky. I was going to post an update but I am so close to the end and expect to finish it today and attach to the hanky. Once it's blocked, I'll take a photo. If I make this edging again, I'll make all the picots except those on the outermost edge very tiny joining picots. I've made a note in my book to remember that. I still cringe a little bit when I write in a book. My mom made a remark once when I was a girl about never defacing a book by writing in it and I still think of it every time I write in a book. My tatting books are workbooks though and if I don't write a little note about an improvement, I forget and make the same mistake the next time I tat it, unless it's something I tat very frequently.

I've also started the crochet cord for the Romanian Point Lace motif I'm exchanging with Lenore. I finally printed my inspiration out and I think I have it the size I want. I will make duplicate copies of the pattern now and pencil in some needlelace stitches until I find what appeals to me. Needlelace is not my strongest point so I'll have to research that more. I expect to get the cord couched down this week.

The kids came yesterday and helped me clean out the garage. I could not have done it without them. A lot of it was tools and stuff that the boys either never took with them to begin with or left here the last time they moved home. My garage is deteriorating badly and no longer protected its contents from the elements so a lot of stuff was pitched, but I think everyone took home something they wanted or needed. My daughter and her kids pitched a tent out by the firepit and stayed all night. I had planned to join them for a little while but I was exhausted and hurting all over by 10:00 p..m. when they started and I couldn't get to bed fast enough. I've lived here since 1977 and it's amazing how much you accumulate. My next project is the basement which houses a lot of my craft stuff. I go through bits and pieces here and there, but I get sidetracked SO EASILY when it comes to those boxes. That cleanout may lead to some giveaways but I don't think I'll get to it until after the holidays.

Well, back to tatting. I think I'll have the edging done in about 45 minutes. Then I need to soak it in oxyclean so it will be the same bright white the hanky is! I haven't decided if I will wash the sizing out of the hanky or not, but in the end, I probably will just so I can block the lace properly.