Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Hanky Day #2

Today's winner is #6, Brooklynne Michelle! Brooklynne, please send me your mailing information!

If you're having trouble commenting, email me privately and I'll enter a comment in your name. Email me at ginab6 at yahoo dot com

The Hanky Fairy aka Garden Gnome suggested I give away some of those printed hankies to people who will actually do something with them so I decided this week I would give away a hanky a day. I have six hankies so there will be a new giveaway for six days.

So here's how it works: I will post a new hanky each day and if you are interested, just leave a comment. You can comment on any hanky you're interested in and overseas commenters are welcome. These are pretty easy to mail. I'll use the random number generator to pick a number though I won't be bothering with screen snapshots of the result. It just takes more time than I'm willing to put into it. Make sure I have a way to contact you. I'll update the previous day's entry with the winner's name. I will probably wait until the end and send them all out at once.

All the hankies are freshly laundered, lightly starched and pressed. They are different sizes but I forgot to measure them before I packaged them. Yep, they are packaged and ready to go! Two are embroidered rather than printed on and one is neither printed nor embroidered and is smaller than the others.

This is a Christmas hanky so you can get an early start on Christmas if you like. It has the same design on all four corners and has a scalloped edge. I have a lot of embroidered Christmas hankies too and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. The projects I have in mind are not seasonal so I may decide to part with them later.

Years ago I saw a hanky project online which they titled "pocket posies". They used pretty hankies, edged in lace and sometimes with silk ribbon embroidery which were specifically for the pockets of blazers that were so popular then. I still think it's a great idea even though I don't typically wear a jacket or blazer.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Hanky Giveaway Days!

The winner is #11, Am I still Me? from Diary of a Mom Gone Mad. Congrats & please send me your mailing information!

(p.s. - I probably should have mentioned I'll draw each day's winner right before I go to bed which is usually around 11:00 p.m. DST Eastern)

The Hanky Fairy aka Garden Gnome suggested I give away some of those printed hankies to people who will actually do something with them so I decided this week I would give away a hanky a day. I have six hankies so there will be a new giveaway for six days.

The odd thing is, most of these hankies have scalloped edges and I don't know how that impacts adding a tatted edging. I suspect it will be more of a challenge.

So here's how it works: I will post a new hanky each day and if you are interested, just leave a comment. You can comment on any hanky you're interested in and overseas commenters are welcome. These are pretty easy to mail. I'll use the random number generator to pick a number though I won't be bothering with screen snapshots of the result. It just takes more time than I'm willing to put into it. Make sure I have a way to contact you. I'll update the previous day's entry with the winner's name. I will probably wait until the end and send them all out at once.

All the hankies are freshly laundered, lightly starched and pressed. They are different sizes but I forgot to measure them before I packaged them. Yep, they are packaged and ready to go! Two are embroidered rather than printed on and one is neither printed nor embroidered and is smaller than the others.


This is the first one! The design is the same in all four corners. It's a average size hanky, not small. I can't believe how much nicer they all look washed and ironed!






Good Luck!







Sunday, May 29, 2011

All the ends hidden so far! I can tell I'm going to have to do this in segments for the simple fact that I get BORED! It's not like I'm going to have it done tomorrow. In fact, I'm figuring at least 6 weeks and maybe 2 months. It will be sleeveless weather by then, if we're lucky. Actually the temp is 86ºF right now and it rained like crazy so I'm sure it's thickly humid too. I haven't been out yet to test the water.

So, since boredom is making me procrastinate in so many ways, I'm going to assign only a few days a week for this project and move on with the overall 25 motif project. I like to show contemporary uses for the vintage patterns and I've been trying to stick to short easy-to-tat projects. I don't know what I was thinking of when I started this one!

I haven't even gotten through all the parts in this plate. I have two more, I think, and they are fairly simple if I remember right. I plan on doing the white version of #5 either tonight or tomorrow.

I've been procrastinating by jumping into other projects, bits and pieces here and there, as well as the sort & clean mission so there's a lot I haven't posted about yet.

I've mentioned Karen's beautiful work over at Contemporary Embroidery a few times. Bragged actually about the gorgegous pieces I bought from her. (blush) I sent her some tatting awhile back that I thought might be useful in her work. Cheeky of me, I suppose. Anyway, in appreciation she sent me two of her embroidered buttons. Aren't they sweet???? She's had some with pink in some recent giveaway posts and they are adorable. Her work is unique and elegant. I suppose it doesn't really fit in all that well in my home of random decorating but I really really love to look at it. It makes you want to touch it and fear touching it at the same time because it is mostly white and who wants to be responsible for inadvertantly soiling it?

You probably know what these are, don't you? If you've done any tatting on cabone rings, curtain rings, or plastic rings as they've been known as, you recognize them. These are tiny, only 1/2" diameter. I was looking for 3/8" ones but I suspect that's the inside diameter of these. They're the smallest I could find.

I started a major tatting project with them last night. But since I've already got two big projects in the works, I'm not going to show you any more of it. Besides, it might not work out. This is another one that will take several weeks. I was inpired by something crocheted. How's that for a hint?

I'm going to run in town now and see if anyone is available to cut my raggedy hair. Be sure to check in each day this coming week. There's a little giveaway coming.

Friday, May 27, 2011

I hope to finish up the "sorting and cleaning" this weekend and get back to tatting more prolifically. In the meantime, I work on bits and pieces when the opportunity arises. I started this motif by Lyn Morton in Tatting Patterns during my lunch hour yesterday.

It's called Hearts & Flowers and is tatted in size 20 Lizbeth thread. Sorry, I don't know the colors as I don't have the package anymore and it's not on the label. I've actually been using the Lizbeth more for crochet or needle lace since I can work around the slubs and knots more easily so it's handy and I still try to tat with it. No problem this time but I've had problems with this same ball so don't think I've changed my mind about the thread's suitability for tatting! LOL! I've not had a problem yet with the size 40 though. Anyway, this motif turned out nicely but I did have to wet and pin it to block.

I've also been working on some needle lace, simple edgings. There are something like 12 categories of needle lace and I'm not sure where this would fit in. It's a buttonhole stitch and I got it last night out of a 1916 Home Needlework Magazine I was browsing through. The edging on the right side is from figure 1 in the diagram and the edging at the top is figure 2. I really like figure 2. The scan from the book is below.

I left the description in the scan. It only cost 40 cents for the towel stamped and with a plain border. BUT, you could get it for 5 cents if you also got a new subscriber for them. The book itself was only 10 cents!

I love looking at the embroidery patterns in these books and wish they survived somehow but I've yet to hear of any central location where you could find any. The illustration for the edging was a bonus and I think it makes a very delicate trim that any stitcher could easily do.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Done, done and done!

My son got home Saturday night so before he left on Sunday to meet up with friends, he moved some heavy stuff so I could get to the last few storage bins in the basement. I got through all those yesterday, boxed up several containers for Goodwill, and am ready to tackle what is upstairs a second time before it's all put away. I have 3 or 4 more empty storage units now and hope to increase that by a few more. Unfortunately, I had to come back to work today so I hope the "roll" picks back up when I'm off again!

I got the kitty cat done and also a snail. I decided to do the snail instead of a bunny since I hadn't done it before. The grass trail behind the snail is tricky and I didn't really have colors handy when I got to that part so I just did a few tufts and then switched to split rings and a tassel to end it off. The snail is a Lizbeth thread but I forget the name of the color.

Well...off to a work appointment!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

I'm in the process of tatting the cat bookmark from Dianna Steven's book, A Tatted Zoo.
Amazon says it is out of print so look for it from the individual vendors.

I'm making this for my great-grandson and will probably make a bunny one too. They're so cute. He has not forgotten. My sister stopped there the next day and we look enough alike that he gets confused about who is who. He asked her if she brought her sewing and she was completely lost on what to answer. I should have it done already but I got sidetracked on some needle lace I'm learning. I'm tatting it in some size 40 thread I got from Tatskool. I call it Tequila Sunrise but it's actually called Flame Lantana, after a flower. I'd forgotten it was size 40 so the bookmark is smaller than others I've made.

A few days ago I decided to upgrade to IE9 since it was offered along with some MS updates. Oh my....it did not play well with Blogger at all! It took me the better part of the morning to get the information that it actually was IE and not something I wasn't understanding. So I uploaded Google Chrome as suggested by someone and I was able to publish my blog - my lace blog. Hadn't written here yet. Unfortunately, not all browsers are the same. Fortunately for some people, from their POV, but for me, it's a pain. Chrome is fine but I can't tell you how many times I closed everything I had open by accident! It also wouldn't show my work email with the folders which I need to refer to sometimes so I was using IE for that email and Chrome for all the rest. Today I tested blogger on IE to see if it would publish now and it did so apparently that glitch is gone. I'm still getting used to IE9 but at least I'm only using one browser now. Another thing I couldn't do with Chrome is create a shortcut to my computer from the site. It did have some features I did like, so not all was lost and I still have it when I need it.

I got more cleaning and sorting done in the basement yesterday, emptying 3 more storage cubes. Yay! I'm going through the remainder this afternoon so maybe I'll have everything back in place by next weekend, including moving what is upstairs down to the basement. I found a needlepoint kit that I had never finished. It was a Christmas ornament, booties, personalized with your child's name and the year. I had done the center on both booties, with my youngest son's name, Jesse Smith, and the year, 1982, his 2nd Christmas. I made myself pitch it. I probably un-pitched it 3 times but in the end, it's in the bin. Now the bag isn't in the garbage can yet, but no worry, I won't pull it out. Sometimes you have to be strong! He's 29 years old now. HE DOESN'T CARE! LOL! And there are plenty of other things that I did complete. He is not deprived and I didn't enjoy that kit anyway. That's why it never got finished! It was one of several kits I bought at an after-Christmas clearance CHEAP. Ooooohhh....I hear you groaning.....you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!

BTW, speaking of clearance,at one time, Walmart was trying to sell these magazine holders for $7 each. In Designer colors along with other desk accessories.

Well, apparently they were overstocked because they were on sale a few weeks ago for half price and I just happened to be in the store. I bought six of them. See how nicely my tatting books look on the shelf now?

When they were still regular price, I did find some black plastic holders for less and bought three, no four, of those. They are wider than the white ones but the back is narrower than the front so they don't sit as nicely on the shelf. They're okay but I was glad to see the white ones on sale. I still don't have all my books here though. I plan to get rid of my collection of How-to books in the near future so that should open up an inch or two.

And these are my binders of printouts. There is a second row as full as this one and several that are not on the bookshelf at all. Not all the printouts are tatting, but the majority are. Some are sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, "other" crafts. I hope to get a second bookshelf.

I don't know if I can get rid of any tatting books. I think some of the vintage stuff is reprinted in other formats so if I would just take the time to sort it out, I might open up some space that way too. Really...I feel blessed. Once upon a time all I had for tatting was Workbaskets and the patterns in the How-To book. A little over a decade later, I'm overflowing. May you also be so blessed.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I have 11 motifs so far and very few ends hidden. I was staying at my daughter's last night to watch my great-grandson while they did something else. I planned to hide ends then but the needles I brought were not easy to use for this. So I tatted a few more motifs and called it a day. My grandson is fascinated with the tatting and took every shuttle out of my bag. This is the empty shuttle bag and the thread was size 40 so not something a little kid could use. He wanted to tat. First he wanted me to tat him something but I had no patterns or other thread with me. Then he wanted to tat. I made him a ring with the rest of what was on a shuttle but it was a tiny thread and he was extremely upset that he couldn't undo the ring. It was almost bedtime so you can imagine the tears that ensued. I promised him a bookmark for his story books when I come again.

I took a couple of days of vacation, partly because I just need the break and partly to get started on some domestic issues. An electrician was to show up at 11:00 a.m. to give me an estimate and didn't. Didn't call....nothing. I suspect he lost the paper with my address, name and phone number. Even so, I'm miffed. It seems like everything I've done in the past 24 hours has been "off" so I'm not making any major decisions until I feel more settled. My back has been hurting too and with Cameron sitting on my lap last night while I was on a very soft sofa, it just seemed to make it worse. So I'm taking it easy today. Sort of. I just put in a second load of laundry and I would so love to mop the kitchen floor. I sat on the floor quite a bit yesterday while sorting out magazines and I think that contributed to the pain. I'm trying to get all the storage units out of the living room so I'll have room to do yoga which I've found helps my back tremendously.

Overall, I haven't been making as much lace, preferring to make open space instead. My son is gone camping which helps as far as me getting things done without having to work around him. Now, if I just felt better, I could get so much done!

Geesh, sounds like a whiny post but really, I'm doing well...just remembering to take it easy and enjoy the time off.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

My lace quild met Saturday and the program was LaRae Mikulecky's Celtic Bookmark. I'm not sure where Dagmar found it since it's not easily found online anymore. Links are after the photos.

This brought back early tatting memories. I was mesmerized by LaRae's bookmark and had to tat it. I wish I could find that sample so you could see (or I could) how much my tatting has improved! I had so little thread back then and tatted it in size 5 perle cotton. I don't even know where I got that thread since it is not something I normally buy, ever, but I do remember it was big and in two shades of green.

This is tatted in size 20 thread and to be honest,I'm not sure it's all that much better. As I was blocking it, I noticed I missed a ring in the joining (3rd) round and that's what made the one end a bit wonky. I couldn't believe I didn't see it until I blocked it!

I don't really know which side is the "front" side but this is the side I like best - perhaps depending on how the colors are added. I still think it's too thick to be a bookmark but the design is unique (and I also learned that it's an adaptation to Rosemarie Peel's celtic motif in another publication!) and would make a beautiful cuff or choker or decorative band. (A galoon!) Looks like one of my chains got mooshed while in the scanner this morning. See what happens when you try to hurry?

You can find LaRae Mikulecky's original pattern here at this tiny url: http://replay.web.archive.org/20001023121346/http://www.picotnet.com/Patterns/celtic/celtic_bookmark.htm

I didn't realize that Lenore English had done an adaptation of LaRae's design too which you can find at this tiny url: http://replay.web.archive.org/20090829095257/http://geocities.com/tatt3r/celtbkmk_1.html

Update: I thought I was being helpful by using the tiny url but apparently not so I've put in the original wayback machine links, which are long, but should be easier to access.

These are links to the patterns at the wayback machine so you might want to copy and paste the patterns to a word doc and save it to your own computer.

This isn't true celtic design in the sense that celtic is one continuous line that interweaves within itself. There used to be a lot of discussion about that distinction so I thought I'd mention it before someone else does.

The base of this pattern is all split rings so if you want to perfect your split ring technique,this is a good one for that!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Here's the Plate 1, figure 4 motif in progress. I like this blouse but the sleeves are too long for my short arms so I'm going to cut them off to around elbow length. I thought these little flowers would soften the stripes. I have both the burgundy and green threads to match the other stripes but I'm not sure which I'll use for the header on the insert-turned-edging yet. You can see how small these are tatted in Flora size 50.

I've ended up filling one shuttle and then I only wind the second shuttle about 12 times, just enough to complete the split ring and provide the core thread for the outside chain. After I complete the motif, I cut and tie and then reload the second shuttle for the next motif. It goes really fast. In fact, I made another since I took the photo of this. It will take me as long to sew in the ends! I will probably hide the current ends before I go further so that I won't have so much to hide at the end. I'm estimating 18-20 motifs for each sleeve.

Remember that I cleaned off the storage units so the cats could look out the window? Well, they've also found the perfect spot to annoy me. Chewie does this every evening when I get home and get on the computer. I wouldn't mind the paw but those little claws really irritate me. My son even clipped them recently but he must have missed a few. My son's cat will get up there and sniff my hair. Then she'll put her paw on me or more often than not, in my hair. She keeps the claws in though. If I turn and look at her, she starts rolling all around, hoping I'll play.

Lace guild this morning and my granddaughter's music performance tonight. Full day!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Last week I read this post at C J Stitching & Blooms where she mentions velvet ric rac! Well....I've never seen velvet ric rac so I moseyed on over to macybrookboutiuqe and helped myself to three purchases!

I think I'll have to order some more next month. Isn't it elegant and plush looking? I have some vintage ric rac patterns in the left hand sidebar that I've been wanting to play with more. I already have some metallic ric rac and floral ric rac (I usually just spell it ric rac) so this is another kind to add to the mix. Funny thing is, I don't even like ric rac as an embellishment! But for some reason, this combination of tatting and ric rac or SRE/CQ with ric rac makes my heart sing.

What I haven't figured out is how to adapt or match the ric rac size to the thread size. I've always felt a bit hesitant about posting those patterns because I remember having trouble with the number of stitches and having to play with it - thread size, number of stitches, size of the ric rac. That's a lot of variables. The velvet ric rac is a bit bigger than the average ric rac.



Oooohhh...have you made the ric rac flowers before? Can you imagine them in this velvety softness?

Last night I got the Home Arts Magazine from 1914 that I won on Ebay. I really didn't know what was inside although the front listed the macrame bag in bold type. I couldn't believe it when I found this fabulous tatted beaded bag!

I know the scan is a bit blurry but I'm intrigued by that fringe at the top and bottom. From what I can make out so far, it's done by tatting the 1st half of the ds for "x" number of stitches,making a picot,and then tatting the 2nd half of the ds in the chain - then there is a long chain so that it turns and as you do the same thing in the opposite direction, you join to the picots and the chain wraps around itself creating this fringe. Oh beads are involved too, but my brain could only process so much information last night.

I spent part of the evening earlier with my youngest grandson. We went out for pizza and when we got back, I helped him prepare a native dish of sweet corn bread for a class project. It did look tasty when it was done. So I didn't get home until late and my brain was ready to sleep by then. The bag was meant to put your fan and gloves in when you got to a party.

Remember my irritation with the way the crochet part of that last vintage tatting turned out? I found some information at Free Craft Patterns. They have several vintage tatting patterns and some are combined with crochet. They state that the "crochet thread is 2 sizes smaller than the tatting thread." I'm pretty sure mine was 2 sizes smaller but maybe not. Anyway, I'll make sure the next one I try is at least that much smaller. I've actually started on a project using that last pattern but haven't gotten far. I've made 2 motifs in size 50 thread. which means they are about half the size of the others. I forgot to bring the right ball of thread with me yesterday and today I managed to tat the beginning of one motif until I had to open the last ring which was a split ring. My lunch hour was over by then so it will have to wait. I should be able to have something to show soon though.

So glad Blogger is back up! I missed seeing new posts by my friends!

Monday, May 09, 2011

Another One!

Yeah, it bothered me just a bit that I didn't get the picots to come out right although I think I like the frayed part better. I had enough thread on the shuttles to make another so I did. I said no more than 3 yards but each shuttle had about a foot over 3 yards and I used all of the white and all but about 12" of the red.

This one doesn't have beads either but it's a quick tat once you get through the picot daisy start. It's really easy and a good one for someone wanting to get started with the picot daisy technique. The rest is just "rings and chains".

I had to get up really early to get to work for some training and then after nearly 2 1/2 hours straight of talking, I thought I was going to go hoarse. Instead, within an hour of being back at the office, I had a lot of sore muscles. I'm not used to standing that long straight - and I was walking around about 70 chairs to get in front of the group periodically. Not the best set up for a presentation but at least we had plenty of room this time. My back was hurting too until I came home and finally put a few plants in the ground that I bought a week or so ago. Must have stretched my back in all the right places.

Here's your laugh for the day!



I really hope they threw the stick for that poor dog after all the entertainment he provided them.

Sunday, May 08, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

I was looking for something else when I found this heart pattern on Jon's Pattern Pages. She designed it in memory of her mother and it just seemed fitting that I tat it today in memory of my own.

I didn't have too much of a problem remembering how to do the daisy picot but for some reason, my first long picot would not come to the front like the others so....I clipped and frayed them all, but I really did want Jon's version!

ps...I used 2 to 2 1/2 yards of size 20 thread, 3 yards tops! I put on way more than that and just measured what was left. Always good to have an idea of how much thread to wind.This is my mother, Dot, in 1948 as a senior in high school. She was 16. She didn't turn 17 until she graduated in May. She wasn't much for pink but she did love red so I made the heart in red and white. She wasn't good at everything and she didn't know everything but she sure could make you feel like you did. I think that was her special gift not only to me and my sister but to anyone who came in contact with her. She is dearly missed, still, after all these years. She passed away in 1988 from cancer.

I posted the beginning of this crocheted gerbera daisy on my lace blog but thought I'd put it here too, just because it is pretty. It's not quite done. I ordered some findings for the back and then I'll stitch the center flower down along with a bead or button and some padding.

If you're from the midwest and maybe a few other select places in the States, you know this is SHROOM season. That's really just fun slang for mushroom or specifically, yellow morels. My oldest son came by today to wish me Happy Mother's Day along with a gift...and then a second gift of these mushrooms when he came back up the hill from hunting them. YUM! I have them soaking now. Can't wait to fry them up and EAT! I've also talked to most of the other kids and the day isn't over.

I spent a good part of my morning tweaking some safety training I'm doing tomorrow. I'm still sorting and cleaning, sorting and cleaning. The mower wouldn't start so I had to buy a charger and it's charging now. Of course, I also noticed the front wheel is going flat. I really need to take some vacation and catch up but that's not going to happen for at least a few weeks. My car was backed into by someone in the parking garage and so a good part of this week was involved with the car in the shop. Didn't cost me anything but time and annoyance and really, stuff happens. In the overall scheme of things, that was nuttin'.

It did delay my focus on some electrical work and getting my new garage in the works though. My middle son has made great strides in cleaning up the deadwood and cut wood in the driveway so I'm pleased with that. We still have so much to do before I can get a garage put up but I'm also excited that where the old garage is, will be a new patio area. I might actually be able to get some lawn furniture and lounge in the sun with pretty flowers and birds and squirrels and .......oooh...skunks. We found a dead skunk yesterday in the garden-yard while my son was burning brush. We put the carcass in the fire and the smell soon went away. And I saw a baby snake in my flower bed by the house the week before. I've bought a few flowers to put in, but haven't had the time or energy to follow through. Or it's been raining. Lookin' good today though!

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Motif #7 in 25 Motif Challenge

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted one of these! I posted #6 last on March 27th. I had this part done by Lace Day on April 9th. This is still Plate 1 and it's figure 4 in the series from D.M.C. Tatting.

I'm always in awe of the neat and consistent stitching in the brochure's samples. I'd like to know what their process was.

Again, this is tatted in DMC 20 Special Cordonnet. I was able to climb out of the center by making a split ring at the last ring where the rings joined but I could NOT figure out a way to go from one motif to the next without cutting and tying.

So I joined each motif as I tatted it to the previous motif. It really wasn't a big deal since I was only making the 4 motifs but if I were making an insertion of any length, this would be one of those long-term ongoing projects.

I was really unhappy with the crochet part. It was easy to do but it just looks so loose and poorly tensioned. I'll have to check my notes, but I believe I used a smaller thread since that seemed to work on the last insertion.

It did inspire me to try out something I've been thinking about - tatting the transition row and using the picots to make the heading. This was as far as I got before getting sidetracked. I don't remember where I was going with this so hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to play with it more. I'll write up the instructions then too. I just wanted to at least get it posted. At this rate, it may take me years to finish the challenge!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Nora

This is Nora from Tatted Butterflies by Adelheid Dangela. It's tatted in Tatskool's Berry Burst, size 40, and Venus Black, size 40. I'm disappointed in how puny it looks in the scan as the colors are really very vibrant. The camera shot was even more washed out.

I kept making mistakes in the stitch count of the rings and just made them consistent all around. Then I realized I was off on the outer chains by a stitch or two also. It might have been more noticable with a bigger thread but it wasn't really a problem with the size 40.

Enough of this diversion! I'm back to the challenge now. It's been so busy between work and home lately that I haven't had a lot of spare time. I hope it slows down soon.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Olivia, from Tatted Butterflies by Adelheid Dangela

After all that fabric sorting, I thought it was time to finish up the motif I gave you a sneak peek at a few days ago. I don't remember doing this one before. The body is done in some thread I dyed last year. I think it is size 20 or 30. The yellow is Flora size 50 and the purple is explained next. It measures 4" wide and 2 1/2" tall.

I put two threads together back when I was making the pincushions. I started an edging for the sachet and didn't like it so then I tried a different thread that I liked better. That left me with 2 full shuttles of thread. So last week, needing a tatting fix, I tatted the bottom wings of Olivia. I just wanted to see what it looked like tatted up and I did not tat it exactly right. The end towards the body actually has fewer stitches and some joining picots but I made it the same on both ends, not intending to make the whole thing. By the time I came back to it, I'd forgotten I wasn't going to complete the butterfly and I picked up the shuttles and tatted the upper wing with yellow for contrast. That's where I left off in the earlier post - but then I didn't have enough thread for the second wing. I thought I'd find the thread easily but ...Murphy's Law dictated NO.

It took me quite awhile to even remember the thread. I did know one was the variegated glace. It was in an entirely different box, one I'd used to dump everything into when I needed the table for something else. That's the one I couldn't find. I thought I had the right purple but then I noticed the tiny bit on the shuttle was skinnier than what I'd found. So I looked more and noticed a spool of purple thread with a partial edging attached. I remembered it was one of my samples for the pincushion/sachet so I matched it against the old thread and it fit. Together, they are slightly larger than the Flora so actually, I have 3 sizes of thread in this piece but they seem to go together okay.

I like it better than I thought I would. It's not nearly as big as I expected it to be and maybe that's because of the smaller thread. I'm sure I've used size 20 for the majority of flutters I've made from this book. Everything is black and white in the book so it's kind of hard to envision how each looks in color until it's done. I also didn't make the antennae the same. It's supposed to have the antennae tatted separately and joined but that would be more ends to hide so I just made very long picots that I knotted on the ends.

I'm working on another flutter from the book and then I hope to get back to the 25 motif challenge pieces.