The leaves will soon be gone. These are from a maple outside the parking garage where I work. I zoomed in really close. There are still leaves on about half of my trees at home but they continue to drift down. The wind has been picking up lately and usually sometime in November we have a few days of bitterly cold rain and wind and they all come down within 24 hours. Today it is beautiful. Sunshine brightly shining, the temperature just cool enough to need a sweater or jacket, and the leaves are offering their last shout of glory.

Friday night was opening night for our lace display at TAF. I'll post more about that later. Saturday I met with lace member Sally again and we dyed our little fingers off! Sally has a new house that she's been in for only a few months. Last time we did the dying in her garage, with the door open to let the light in and a light breeze. It was too windy this time and without the door open, there isn't enough light so she decided we would do this in her kitchen. "Brave woman," I thought to myself but we learned before the afternoon was over that the dye didn't take on either the counter top or the floor. She didn't think it would because of the materials it was made of but we couldn't know for sure until something happened. One of her rubber gloves tore at one time and there were a few drops on the floor that cleaned right up. Some dripped when getting some out of the basket container and that cleaned up easily too. Our fingers didn't fare so well, however.

I actually started with some odds and ends of old lace that was damaged, mostly crochet but there is another woven piece that even Sally (a textile expert) wasn't sure about. I wanted to get the feel of it again before getting to the pieces I cared about.

Do you know how FAST time flies when you're having fun??? We were 3 hours into it before I realized how long we'd been at it and I still didn't have my favorites done!

I ended up working on all these pieces faster than I should have since Sally had another commitment and we were both getting tired. Even so, I'm happy with most of it. These maple leaves truly do reflect the bright autumn colors of the real thing. I just realized that if I'd had a 5th leaf, I could make a single maple out of the five!

Here are the oaks. Oak leaves usually aren't as colorful as other kinds. I decided to stay with browns and greens. Next time I will go for some golden greens too.

The small leaves were quick and since I didn't know exactly how I will be using them, I stayed with greens. We had used up all the lemon dye earlier so I just used the chartreuse for the yellow/light green accents. The lighter colors give the illusion of new leaves.

Again, I wasn't sure what I would use these for so I stayed with the traditional greens. I should also mention that we used a stronger mix this time. I think we can go with less next time. I also didn't do as much diluting and mixing of colors although they mixed a lot on the lace itself.

I like how these turned out but I would have liked to have played with these more. Next time I will play with values more. Time was getting short at this point though.

I scanned this one separately since it's different and with the tassel, it just made the rest of the bookmarks fuzzy when scanned together. The top is oxblood red and the bottom is deep orange. I just dipped each end in the color and let them come together in the middle.

I'll show some of the crochet bits in another post. I'm thinking they'll probably be used in embellishing something that hints of CQ. So, next time, along with shade values, I hope to work with warms and cools. Seems like the majority of my tatting is going in the dye pot these days!

I finished up the teal bookmark and it will go in the guest book for our lace exhibit. The ecru one goes in the dyepot. I ordered some additional dyes for our stash on Tuesday and they were already in Indy last night from California. I hope to tat two more oak leaves and maybe a pumpkin teapot bookmark for the dyepot but I doubt I can get all that done tonight. Friday night I will be at the opening night of our exhibit.

Interweave Press sends out a crochet newsletter by email and today's issue offered some guidelines about making a vest. While they are referring to yarn and crochet stitches, you can still use the information about measurements to help you design yourself a tatted vest.

Please tell me that isn't maniacal laughing I hear in the background!

If you've tackled a tatted runner or scarf, you can tat a vest. The amount of labor and the total amount of thread/motifs is probably going to be about the same.

No tatting to share. I've been busy helping set up our exhibit that starts Friday. I did think it was an appropriate time to repost the photo of this shuttle, a favorite I got from Georgia Seitz, with Autumn leaves inlaid, along with a recent find at an antique store. I'm pretty sure this piece is not an antique but I thought the embroidery was so well done that it was worth having. It was only $1 or $2. I can tat or crochet an edging for it later. It's tea towel size.

I did post on my other blogs some finds at those same thrift and antique stores. Dolls and embroidery if you're interested.

I plan to be home earlier tonight and maybe get something done...like the rest of the laundry. I also want to tat one more teapot bookmark and a few oak leaves for the dye pot which will be happening on Saturday! I might even try to tat a pumpkin teapot bookmark in ecru and make it unique with the dye.

Sooooo....who designed the heart that I show titled "Enchanter"? That was my burning question last week when I found the pattern in work files that I was sorting out. Thanks to Google, I found out the designer is Jon although it took a few tries with different search words. Apparently I copied it to a word document and neglected to put the name on it. There is a pdf link to the same pattern which has Jon's name on it. I try to remember to copy & paste the url too but sometimes I forget. I often copy & paste the pattern onto a word document rather than highlighting and printing from the website. Even though I select "print selection", it often doesn't show up right so it's easier to just put it on a word doc and then adjust the margins or photo size from there. "Print Selection" also does not show the url. I think Jon didn't have the pdf ready at the time.

So that was last week....and last night I tatted the heart last thing before going to bed. Another quick and easy tat! It's really sweet. I bought some new Lizbeth thread on Saturday, size 40 this time, in Razzle Dazzle. I hope I have better luck in a different size. I put 4 yards on each shuttle and while I haven't measured what's left yet, I think I probably have at least 2 yards still left. The finished heart is no bigger than a quarter. I really like it.

Sunday was a whirl of sewing, cleaning, and catching up with chores. I could actually use a few weeks of time to catch up with. I also rediscovered odds and ends of things I'd forgotten I had. My grandson's Link tunic is done except for sewing the tab down, putting velcro on the armbands and elastic into the hat.

I cut the remaining sage and basil from outside and it's drying a bit right now. I'll freeze most of it tonight. I got a recipe online for sage tea. Here's the info from http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_sage.htm

When one is suffering from symptoms like sore throat, tonsillitis or loss of voice or from mucus accumulation leading to congested lungs, then sage would be the best bet for providing immediate relief. Sage tea can be used in these cases. The tea can be made in this way: steep 2 tsp. dried or fresh sage leaves in 1-1/4 cups of boiling water for half an hour. Then strain, sweeten with honey (if desired) and drink a half every few hours as needed. Add 1/4 tsp. of fresh lime juice and gargle well before swallowing. This will provide great relief for a raw, painful and irritated throat.

While it may be true that more and more mothers of today believe in breast feeding their infants, so that the infant remains healthy and free from infections, it is also a fact that not many mothers are aware of how exactly they can stop nursing their babies when they are old enough and need to be weaned. Mothers keep producing extra milk, and this becomes completely unneeded when the babies are off the breast. This is when sage can help; two cups of warm sage tea a day for up to 7 days is quite capable of drying up the milk supply quite nicely. Bring 1 qt. of water to a boil and steep 8 tsp. dried or fresh sage leaves in it for 45 minutes, covered. Then strain, add honey and drink.

Sage is quite pungent and I imagine it wouldn't take much to flavor tea. I love the smell of it but I would only add a very small amount to regular batch of black pekoe tea. I suspect too much would be detrimental considering how effective the prior paragraphs claim it is. In fact, the article states nursing mothers and pregnant women must use caution as it can dry up the milk and also cause contractions. As with any herb or natural remedy, research all the effects and ask your doctor or pharmacist if they interact with anything.

This is going to be a busy week. Tonight I help hang our display at TAF (Tippecanoe Arts Federation). If you click on the "Exhibits" tab, you'll see us listed in the second exhibit - Threads Through Time. I'm really anxious to see how our tree turned out. Oh pooh...forgot my camera! Well, the phone cam works.

Beads & Leaves

I saw that Jane Eborall responded to some one's question about beads in tatting and thought I'd expand on that a bit. I taught a class last year about the kinds of beads and different ways to add them in. It seems a lot of tatters are confused about using beads and so are reluctant to try them.

I scanned some different size beads next to my shuttle to help differentiate the sizes. Those brown beads in the middle are size 11/0 seed beads, the ones you see most commonly sold and used. They work well with most sizes of thread.

The blue ones to the right of the brown ones are size 10/0 and you'll see them quite often right alongside the size 11/0,again a size commonly sold and used.

The purple/pink ones to the far right are known as micro beads at the store I bought them from. I have some that are even tinier. These work with the fine tatting threads in sizes 70, 80 and smaller. The problem is that the center hole is smaller and you need a very fine beading needle to thread them. If you are adding the beads as you tat, it's almost impossible to find a hook that is fine enough to pick them up. I'm not sure that even the size 16 hook will go through the hole.

Going in the other direction, the beads to the left of the brown size 11/0 beads are size 6/0. They are decidedly bigger and often look clunky on fine threads. These are best paired with size 10 or bigger threads. I like to use them as the eyes in some of my tatting though.

The beads to the far left are either 8mm or 10mm. You wouldn't really use these or bigger beads in tatting except as a single focal point in the design. They're heavy and work best with bigger threads. It depends on the design, of course. Marilee (Yarnplayer) has some wonderful designs with larger beads strategically placed and they make a nice balance.

There's a lot more you can learn about beads - different shapes and the kind of material they are made out of. I see Bree has already posted an excellent explanation and will be continuing it so be sure to go there and see all the different kinds of beads! I may show how they are put on the shuttle and ball thread later if there is interest.

In the meantime, here's an example of the difference between using a size 11/0 bead and a 6/0 bead. I tatted both of these seahorses from Jane's pattern.

The ecru one has a size 11/0 bead for the eye and the other one has a size 6/0 bead for the eye. It really pops in the bigger one, doesn't it? The thread is size 30 in both cases. The pattern calls for size 20 thread but I tatted the ecru first in the size 30 I've been using so I had to tat the colored on in size 30 also to make a fair comparison. Neither are tatted exactly to the pattern since I want to dye the ecru one and beads will be added later when used for embellishment.

Look at what we tatted at Tatting Guild!!!! Totally unplanned and unaware of my search for the perfect oak leaf, Kaye Judt designed one! There are various types of oak trees and the leaves and nuts are a bit different on each. I was looking for the White Oak Leaf.

I have no idea what that thread is. It was on a floss holder without any information. It was just enough for the leaf. I don't remember having this thread or even anyone giving me a sample like this. I didn't particularly care for it in terms of tatting but it came out ok. The ecru one will go in the dye pot. It took me slightly less than an hour to tat at home. At guild, I barely got through the first half.

Kaye plans to put the pattern in another book and may possibly teach it in the coming year.

More of the same....

I made the chains leading to the clovers on the maple leaves only 8 ds instead of 10 which seems to work out nicely. I also decided to tat a smaller maple in size 70, the vintage thread from Argentina that I posted about months ago.

I tatted most of a seahorse yesterday too but my idea of turning it into the loch ness monstor disapated because the head (Jane's pattern) did not make me think of the loch ness monstor. Hmmm....maybe if I borrow the hippo head???

The more I tat of these motifs to dye, the more ideas I come up with. I can't believe I've tatted so many of each motif. I usually don't like to keep tatting the same thing over and over, especially in white or ecru! Talk about BORING! But I keep envisioning them in full technicolor and I guess that is what inspires me to keep at it. After this playdate, I think the next one will be more defined. I might tat a whole scene and then dye it accordingly. Oh my....delusions of grandeur!

A driver ran a red light and T-boned my son late this afternoon. No one hurt fortunately. He's using MY car for his date tonight.

Two more leaves! The maple leaf is from Tammy Rodgers diagram. I had the original too but used Tammy's except I added a picot between chain segments at the clovers so that I could join them. Tammy's overlapped and I didn't really want that. On the original, they don't overlap. Next time, I might just make the chains a few stitches shorter there.

The small leaf is from Karey's book, Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf. It's quite easy and fast too so I'll probably make more of those.

I tried Ruth Perry's celtic maple leaf last night but I did something wrong. I knew there was something wrong in the second vein but I couldn't find my mistake so I continued until it was time to outline them all and I gave up at that point. I'll try again on another day. I was really tired last night. I even laid on my floor at work during lunch (on a coat) and napped a few minutes. Today I napped a bit when I came home. Maybe it's the change of seasons. Maybe it's the stress of so many home things going wrong. I don't know. I sleep well. Wide awake tonight!

The past few days I've spent a little time visiting the blogs who left a comment on mine during the OWOH (One World One Heart) event last Spring. I'm surprised at how many stopped blogging since then. Of course, many use it as a way to advertise their craft business and I suspect it hasn't been the most profitable year for many. I'm looking forward to participating again if Lisa continues the event.

I've become addicted to tatting for the dye pot. I've been noting everyone's seahorse dragon and want to tat one. Hmmmm...guess I could do it in ecru. Actually, I was thinking of tatting the loch ness monstor somehow between the seahorse, the dragon and Anne's chinese dragon. I have too much on my plate, I think. Yikes! After 11:00 p.m.! I need to get to bed!

There I was, blog-browsing, and decided to check out the tutorials on Jezze's blog. Somehow I missed it before but a few other tatters left comments, so I thought I'd point it out here. Jezze tried to teach herself to tat from books. She finally figured it out from some videos which prompted her to improve on the usual drawings. It might help you visualize the movement of the thread and shuttle better so check it out!

I did it! Here are the celtic leaves from Ruth Perry's book, Celtic Tatted Leaves and Flowers. These are Morning Glory leaves and probably the simplest ones in the book. I had the stitch count memorized by the third one and could easily manipulate the chain into the looped centers by the fourth one. I made so many because they were so quick and easy! There are a few other leaves in this book that I will try. No Morning Glories though and now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen a tatted Morning Glory OR a tatted Petunia, which is similar in shape. But...I'm not tatting flowers right now.

These are oak leaves from my yard, a tiny sapling that I actually need to pull out. I like the big leaves with the "fingers". There are all kinds of Oak leaf shapes but I'm partial to the round lobed ones, which are more defined than these are.

Look what I got in the mail! I bought this pack from Gypsy Feather's Etsy shop. The fabric underneath just happens to be some I bought last night when I got the fabric for my grandson's Halloween tunic. (he's going to be Link from The Legend of Zelda) When I found out the fabric on a certain table was 50% off the already discounted label, I ran back and grabbed it just to get a yard. Turns out it was changed in price again and I got it for only $1.00!!!!! It goes very well with the the green lining fabric I got for the tunic. I think I got too much of the green so this will give me something to pair it with for other projects later. Sounds like a good excuse to me.

Yes, that is tatted hen & chicks. I haven't unrolled it to see how much. Some silk ribbon. Beads. A lace circlet flower with sequins in the center. A jeweled button cover. A glass dangly which is really what caught my eye, besides the color collection, some tatting thread and a length of crocheted lace which I will probably put in the dye pot. It was a fun selection.

I was browsing a booksite just for the fun of it and found this. I love Mary Konior's books and mine are well used and treasured. No disrepect to the dear lady is intended at all, but to the seller who is trying to capitalize on her out-of-print books to the tune of $2,640 - REALLY?

I was gone a good part of the weekend, catching up on grandkids everywhere. All are great, healthy and warm my heart. On Saturday, I tatted this oak leaf from Karey Solomon's self-published book, Tatting Turns Over a New Leaf. I'm not sure I got the outside right and I might change it if I tat it again.

Last night I tatted part of the rose leaf from one of Toni Storer's 3D Flower books. The rose leaf is actually 3 leafs and this is one of the small side leafs. I don't want them too big so I stopped there. Since they're part of a 3D flower, floral wire is tatted over in the center but I just tatted over the tails. Kinda but not really purl tatting.

Next, I'm looking at some of Ruth Perry's celtic leaves. Trying to build up some courage. heheheeh....it takes focus to interweave those chains just right.

This is another book I borrowed from the I.O.L.I. library. I thought it was all bobbin lace but it's actually any lace featuring bees, birds and butterflies. They are mostly bobbinlace but there are some RPL and other types of lace too.

Imagine my suprise when I found a TATTED butterfly near the back! The body is crocheted and stuffed, I believe.

My furnace is working now. The tech brought out the required motor and had it installed in less than 15 minutes. I found out I have a good space heater. It helps that it wasn't subzero weather but even so, it kept the main part of the house at 70º which is what I have the furnace thermostat set at.

So...back to the needlearts!

Three Kings

I tatted two more kings last night and the star. They are in three different sizes of thread, because I was thinking about perspective. The further away an object is in a scene, the smaller it is. The closer the object, the larger it is so I was sort of trying for the illusion of distance by changing the size of the king. (The pattern is in Rosemarie Peel's Yuletide Tatting, published 1992, if you missed earlier posts)
The closest King is in Lizbeth size 20. I think it's Caribbean. The yellow one is Cebelia size 30 and the furthest away is Krystle's Midsummer Night's Dream which I think is size 40. Yep, I checked my Etsy history. LOL!

So then I wondered about the background again, particularly if one were to put these on a card so I scanned in deep red and then a more neutral peachy ivory card.

Then I did deep forest green and the order of the motifs is changed a bit too.

I don't make cards myself but I sometimes add a touch of tatting to them. I probably won't do anything with this but I wondered if cardmakers or scrapbook makers would find them useful? I'll have to get input from my sister but I'm happy to hear from anyone else since she tends to be biased and loves everything I make in hopes I'll give it to her. LOL! and I have to put "LOL" because you can't see me smiling or know my body language. You might think I'm being sarcastic or dinging her in some way otherwise.

They are very quick to tat. I didn't time them but it's probably only 15-20 minutes for me. I think it was only 1 1/2 yard on each shuttle and then I had some left over on one and not so much on the other. That's real clear, isn't it? Kinda like grandma's cooking - a pinch of this, a handful of that. Her hands were long and slender, not short and stubby like mine.

The portable heater has kept the house surprisingly cozy. I close off the rooms that aren't being used, but I do find if I have more than 2 heaters running on the same line, we pop a circuit. My son has one in the basement so that and one upstairs appear to be the limit. My electric bill is going to jump probably. A new furnace is in my plans but not til next year. I wanted to get central air at the same time. So hopefully this repair ( new inducer motor to arrive Monday) will get me through the winter.

It's so beautiful out! I think I need to be tatting leaves. OHHHHHHH.....leaves in ecru to dye in beautiful fall colors! Ooooohhhhhh...stop me...til I eat some breakfast and empty the dishwasher and start some laundry!!!!!! STOP ME!!!! STOP ME!!! It's almost too late............

More blinged shuttles from Umi & Tsuru! Aren't these lovely? I think the one with the roses is especially appealing. My other Clovers are feeling rejected lately because I use these blinged beauties so much!

Here's is one of the 3 Kings from Peel's book. This is size 30 Cebelia and it is much smaller than I expected. I probably had enough thread on the shuttles to make the entire set of 3 but I want them in different colors. Rosemarie shows them on a card and said that is how they look in size 80. Even so, I expected this one to be bigger! It's very easy to tat although it took me awhile to figure out what an 8mm picot was and was that the height or the length? I figured out it was the height. That picot looked like a toothpick or something in the photograph and I didn't realize it was a picot until I read the instructions. It's a very good diagram except there are no numbers or starting point marked so I traced the diagram and filled all that in from the text. It was first published in 1992 and notation has changed considerably over the past 18 years!

I tend to tat the fun symbols of Christmas more than the religious ones. After years of study, I can't say I subscribe to any one belief, seeing the connection in all and more or less developing a concept I'm comfortable with but I appreciate all the different interpretations. There is a cowboy analogy popular in the Western part of the nation that is surfacing and Ruth Ann Adams tatted a wonderful representation of it. I'm trying to find time to put her pattern in writing and diagram form and as soon as I do, I'll post it here with her permission.

As I was writing this post, the furnace repairman showed up, made his diagnosis and gave me the bad news.....bad inducer motor. He just left to try to track one down. Might have to order one and it probably won't show up until Monday if that is the case. Sigh...I think it's going to be a lean holiday season.

Steampunk & Shuttle Bling

Steampunk according to Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.[1] Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history.

So now you know. Right? I was reading on Pin Tangle about Sharon's daughter's performance in Clockwork Butterfly and she linked to some google images of Steampunk Fashion which still didn't define it for me. Now that I know steam power is a relevant aspect of it.....I sorta get it. LOL!

Shuttle Bling isn't new. We just have better ways to bling. It wasn't all that many years ago that I was having fun painting shuttles. These are what I have left.

The first three were not quite up to par, in my eyes and the last two were amongst my favorites. The last one is hand painted and I kept it for ME. I have to admit I decorated them (what we called it 5 years ago) just for the fun of it. I didn't consider them terribly useful for tatting, but they weren't Clovers and I am partial to Clovers for my working shuttles. I've also received some as gifts, here and here and here, and they were Clovers. (Sherry Townsend, Gail Owens, Sue Hanson) Here are some painted by Sherry Townsend back then. I think she sold them on Ebay.

We used a lot of nail polish then. I eventually started using acrylics and painted much of the detail myself. I really do like these nail decals to add just a little touch of personalization now. I'd like to try a little decoupage too but it will have to wait until a slower time for me.

It's been busy lately. Thursday evening I had loads of mail delivery show up. A book I'd ordered for 75¢ plus postage came, non-tatting. The yoga mat and bag I'd picked as my 20 year anniversary gift from Purdue arrived. I just opened it today. Now...to find a yoga class.

My new buttons from Older Rose came and you'll see them further on down. A few other things I'd ordered came too. What an evening!

So in the last post I told you about knitting, practicing the continental method.

This is how far I got before I decided to rip it all out and start over. This all cotton yarn has a soft feel to it and I decided to make it into a winter neck scarf for one of toddlers in my life, children of friends. I decided this one was too wide for little people and I really thought a pattern that looked the same on both sides might be nicer. Not that kids care about right side, wrong side at that age.

So I started over with the garter stitch and a narrower width. This might go to my great grandson or one of the two baby sons of a friend but I will have to knit a second one no matter who it goes to for the "other" toddler in their family. One is a girl and I haven't decided if this will look too girly for boys or not. Need outweighs looks though.

I couldn't believe how fast these buttons arrived! I ordered two more of Gerry's buttons and she surprised me with an extra button, one with roses! Oh my...wouldn't that look nice on the crocheted sachet I made a few years ago?
In fact, I had to go in and dig it out of my sock drawer and lay the button on it to see! I think it would need a clever bow behind it, but doesn't it look pretty? It might be better on something similar but square shaped so the button would be centered and the main focus.

I went to Gerry's Etsy site to get the link and I see she has a haunted house button, for all you Halloween enthusiasts! Only ONE. And now I want a chickadee button, but it will have to wait for next month's paycheck.

Yesterday morning was my lace guild's meeting, Lafayette Lacers. We have a new member, who is also named "Regina". She tats! A newbie, but we'll fix that. While I'm on the subject of my lace guild, I want to mention our Lace Day, the one we have every other year, alternating with Circle City Lacers, will be April 9, 2011, so mark your calendar. It will be at the same location, for those who have been there before, at the Methodist Church. We'll have the usual fabulous array of vendors including Tracy Jackson Kathy Kirchner, Kaye Judt/Jennifer Titus, and John Aebi. We're also having several mini-classes - different laces and subject, not all tatting since this is an all-lace guild. It's 10:00 - 4:30 Eastern DST. Go. Now. Write it on your calendar! Did I mention it's free? The only charge is for classes. Details later.

I've mentioned a few times that we've been getting ready for a month long exhibit at the Tippicanoe Arts Federation which starts October 29th. Yesterday we were trying to wrap up loose ends about the exhibit. Another project we have going is a small Christmas tree that we decorate with handmade lace and donate to a group that auctions it off as a fundraiser. Last year they got $300 for it. The tree this year will be part of our exhibit until we have to take it to the auction group. Carolyn Regnier has been coordinating the tree (and Lace Day) and as an incentive to get our ornaments in and to destash, she has been offering thread. Yesterday, she also gave tatters a shuttle. A blinged shuttle. (Wendy, see what you started???) A new colored Clover shuttle!

Here's the one I picked! I've already tatted with it. I used the one I got from Wendy and this one to tat another teapot bookmark in ecru. I didn't bother to scan it since it's the same basically as the last one. It went in the dye bag. I can't wait to see how those pieces are going to turn out!

Late last night I felt a need to tat with color again and I got out Jane's Christmas Tree/Brooch Pattern. Jane likes to put the beads on as she goes. I don't. I like to have them on the thread and ready to push whereever I want. There are advantages to both methods, but I decided to work out how to add them first. This is very similar to the way Dianna Stevens designed her beaded amulet bag. I wasn't real sure about the sides so I made the split rings but when I do it again, I may try just chains. I don't think it's too bad for a nearly-midnight tatting adventure. I want to try it with two colors of green beads like Jane's photo too. I really do love all the different Christmas tree patterns. I might make up a collage some day of all the trees I've tatted.

One last note. I borrowed this Christmas Tattig book by Rosemarie Peel from the I.O.L.I. library. I think I borrowed it before but I wanted to see it again. It's one of the few books of Rosemarie's that I don't have. I see a few motifs I want to try before I send it back.

I haven't forgotten the giveaways or the tatted cowboy scene I've mentioned in the past month or few days...but I'm still not prepared to show them. Soon!

Confusion and a Surprise!

I was following up on some links from my google alerts on tatting and found http://www.newlacepatterns.com/. This site only says it's by "admin" but it has posts that I recognize from:

http://tatt3r-lace.blogspot.com/ (Lenore English)

and

http://elizabeths-lace.blogspot.com/(Elizabeth Zipay)

And I think some others too - but I don't know who. It appears to be a collection of favorite blog posts and covers knitting and all kinds of lace. None of mine, btw. LOL! At any rate, I think it's probably not a legitimate thing to do. Unless the "admin" has permission from the bloggers, and I have a feeling that is not so. You might check and see if any of your posts are there. I noticed a whole bunch of new ones today.

Tuesday night I found a notice from the mail carrier saying I had a package to pick up at the post office since I wasn't there to sign for it. I put the notice in my purse, a new one with a new pocket for that sort of stuff, and hoped I wouldn't forget. I did. But I was reminded this morning before I left home and stopped on the way into work. Now I knew a surprise was coming all the way from France so I was excited to see what it was!

Check it out! Lace in Britain!



"Embroidery cut (Renaissance brogue), on tulle, netting knotted lace Irish crochet, needle, pin Bigoudin, etc.. Dans la même collection que Dentelles en Bretagne, voici un historique et usages sur costumes, technique et terroirs. In the same collection as lace in Britain, here is a history of costumes and customs, technical and soils. C'est aussi 150 illustrations et tous les points dessinés, par étapes, avec patrons et modèles. It is also 150 illustrations and all points drawn in stages, with patterns and designs."

Chris is the lovely soul from http://www.dantelezenn.com/ who has translated some of my patterns and some from others into French for her tatting friends. Her blog is inactive right now as she just moved. Once she gets settled in, we'll see her beautiful work again! In the meantime, I'm enjoying photos of lacemakers of the past and all kinds of lace and even the projects at the end. One of my lace guild members used to teach French at the local high school before she retired a year or so ago. I hope she is there and can give me some insights on some of the pages.
On yet another note, I received some vintage tatting and crochet books from a woman whose 94-year-old mother-in-law no longer can use. Lynn wrote me, "My mother-in-law's name is Margaret Gianella Bruno and is 94 years old. She lives with her husband of 70 years in New Jersey but suffers with bad arthritis in both of her hands. Throughout her life, she and her many sisters (along with her mother) did all kinds of needlework creating beautiful pieces for all of the family. ..... It makes her very sad to not be able to do the intricate patterns she used to do when she was younger."

Lynn herself has no skill or interest in learning at this point in her life and asked if I knew anyone who could use them. I asked for a list of titles as I didn't want to take anything if if was valuable and she could get compensation for them. They are all fairly common vintage titles and I even have most of them, so I'm going to offer them as give-aways over the next few weeks. Although this blog is about tatting, some of you also crochet. There are a dozen or less books so I'll break them up into two or three at a time which allows more people to have a chance to win something. I think it's really great that Lynn is trying to find a home for them instead of just dumping them somewhere.
Just as I got to work this morning and was walking from the parking garage to my office (at least 7 minutes to walk!), I got a call from my son saying the crew was there to repair my roof from the tree damage! Yay! That means only one more issue, the garage, and maybe I can relax. Well, actually there are several issues related to my house that I want to take care of soon, but that will be the major one.

I spent last night knitting for a change. I purchased some needles and yarn on a whim at Walmart one lunch hour and kept them at work, playing YouTube videos on cast-on methods during other lunch hours. Yesterday I was bored with the cast-ons and decided to knit. Well...like many things, it's addictive and I just kept knitting, taking it home and knitting more last night. It will probably be a scarf for one of my little friends/relatives by the time I'm done. I rather enjoyed the simple knitting. I am suprised at how comfortable I'm getting with the continental method of holding the yarn in your left hand. It was awkward months ago when I tried it but I was going lickety-split yesterday even though I haven't knitted in months!

This is the mantra for anything new you want to learn: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Tatting Tea Tuesday

So...this is becoming a habit too ~ one to empty a shuttle and one for the dye pot! The little round teapot is from Martha's book too and it's the first time I tatted that one. I thought I had enough thread but it turns out it only tatted half the pot. I had to add in another thread and of a different color! I missed the half moon ring for the handle as a result and went back and tatted a chain handle instead. I'm not crazy about folded rings although it does make it possible to tat this one in one pass. It was a clever way to add the lid too. It's quite tiny, probably the size of a dime.



I'm off to bed early tonight. For real this time. I'll leave you with a photo I took last year that feels very Autumnish.

Did you think I was recovering from all that Saturday night partying? LOL! Nah....only a little. I was catching up on laundry, dishes, and some cleaning. Then I tatted!

This is the Simple Heart from Vicki Clarke's blog. It really is simple and fast. I made both of them last night, including the tassle. The colored one was to empty a shuttle and the ecru one goes in the dye bag. I even tatted another little teapot but haven't tatted the tail yet. It will also go in the dye bag as it is ecru.

I think I'm developing a minor addiction. Every pattern I look at to tat, I wonder, "how will this look with dye painted on it?" Good thing I got a whole bunch of ecru thread, huh? I almost bought a ball of white Cebelia at Michael's the other night but I put it back and decided to hold out for a coupon. I want to compare the Cebelia (a 3 cord thread) and DMC Cordonette (6 cord) and Lizbeth which is also a 6 cord. I've already done the DMC cordonette ( or is it Cordonnet?) and Lizbeth both in white in the same pattern and same size thread. One motif turned out smaller than the other but it's not unusual for different brands to vary a bit when tatted up.

I am significantly tired tonight. Stayed up til midnight last night (bad me) and then got up on time. Mostly on time. It's like the latest I can get up and get to work. Then my son jumped in the shower ahead of me because I usually am done by then, so I was late anyway. Not a problem, but I really try not to do that too much. That means an early night for me, but I have to stay up late enough to make sure the son brings in the potted plants outside since we have a frost advisory. I've got my two kitties in too...while my son's are banned in the basement. I'll have to let them up before too long and I'm sure my kitties will want out then. Such is life with cats.

Well, I'm off in another hour to Nine Irish Brothers for a meal and to meet up with some single friends for a fun night. But first, I thought I'd show you what I've been up to in the past 24 hours.

I added the tail to the first bookmark I tatted and then tatted another from some of the thread I dyed last May. Neither are blocked yet and I haven't even hidden my ends on the second one but I'll do that tomorrow.

This afternoon I took a class with one of my favorite watercolor teachers, Rena Brouwer, at the Frankfort Public Library. She thought it would be a short class and we'd be out early. Ha! No Way! The painting on top was first and we used the back of a leaf to "stamp" the paper. She always shows lots more things to do with any technique but this was my attempt at creativity. One of the things I love is seeing how everyone else's work turned out. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera.

The second painting was actually the more involved one. Both are on 6" x 8" paper so these are not huge works of art. I'd like to do both again, differently. We were literally still painting at 4:00 p.m., the end of class. I'm always amazed at how different they look when I get home compared to when I am there. I guess because I'm right on top of it when I'm painting. They also look different when you mat them.

At some point, I'd like to combine my painting with my tatting but I'm going to have to get a whole lot better with the painting before I do that!