I got the latest Tatting Times today so tatted the first motif in it. This is actually a Christmas Present Bookmark but I didn't complete it. I didn't add the beads or finish it in length but I got the idea of how it will work out. There are a lot of options - as it is, it can be a great Autumn leaf. With the beads and using green for the outer part, it looks like a miniature Christmas Tree.

Yep - I have the holidays in mind! I made some little gift bags out of this fabric at the weekend so decided to dress a few up with some tatted trim. This is an edging out of one of the Japanese books. I'll get back to the 25 Motif Challenge soon. I need to make 6 more motifs to complete that one before the end of the year! I just needed a little change of pace and I couldn't resist all the new patterns I'm seeing pop up.

I was ingtrigued by "Mary's Butterfly" and finally found where the pattern was. You can access it HERE. Click on the word that says "aici". This one is done in Yarnplayer's Maple Sugar HDT. I didn't wind enough thread on at first so had to add more which meant ends to hide. Sigh....I seem to be doing that a lot these days. It takes about 4 yards on the shuttle.







I also tatted A Happy Bookmark from Martha's new book, Playing with Picots. It already has a home. Today is my son-in-law's birthday. This is also Yarnplayer's HDT - Forest.

It took me three tries but I finally completed Nancy Tracy's owl! I need to contact Nancy and ask her to check the text. I actually completed 2 owls without the beak but something was wrong each time. Finally I just followed the diagram only and then I still made one join one picot off but I'm done for now. I'm not normally an owl fan but this little fella just charmed me right away! He is Nancy's free pattern from Be-Stitched this month. It's not on the page yet but if you join the mailing list and request it, I'm sure she will send it.

Recent sunset

Finca Green 4565 size 16
Finca Peach 7646 size 16
Metallic MLI #601 50 from Japan
Pattern: Nami's Goldfish

You can also go to Nami's blog and download the link from there.

I will make a few changes the next time I make it. I will add the bead to my shuttle thread as that is my preference for adding beads. I will also go back and forth using split chains rather than cut and ties but this thread behaved so beautifully that it wasn't really a bother......too much. LOL! I like my fish to be sparkly and shimmery so I'm showing you the two views again, although this time they both show the thread.

The scan

The photo

The metallic thread was a dream to work with - no unraveling, snagging, fraying or breaking which is highly unusual. I can't remember where I got it but I believe it was from Rita Chochrane in Canada once upon a time. I think you can order it online too. Here is one resource but check around.

#19 in 25 Motif Challenge

Plate V, Figure 26

Finally, here's #19 in the challenge which is based on the vintage publication D.M.C. Tatting by Thse. Dillmont which you can download FREE HERE.

This is the center part which is all rings. They instruct you to go back and forth with "turn" and they do say to when to use short picots and when to use long ones but give no measurement so I was guesstimating. As you can see in the next segment, I think I could tighten it up a bit, slightly smaller picots, and it will look better.

Oops! Didn't realize I got my font smaller on this diagram but if you click on the photo, I think they show up bigger. This part takes 2 shuttles and the directions were confusing because they would refer to left hand shuttle, right hand ring, 2 shuttles, etc. Basically they were throwing Josephine rings off of chains. At one time, I thought I'd began again wrong and went back and frogged and Josephine ring OKAY....only to find out I didn't need to! I think the directions are off one stitch coming down one side but I corrected it in the diagram.

I do think slightly smaller joining picots and bare space threads would have been helpful although it did turn out better than I though it would for the first draft. A smaller thread tends to tat a bit nicer too. You can see where the tails come out which is also the beginning, that I forgot to join the picots together there because I didn't catch it in the original pic or read to the very end where it tells you to join.

Again, I don't know how to net so won't be doing that part. This would make a nice cross, or pendant, or one of a series of motifs in a small piece.

What will you do with it?

No pics today but brief update on what's coming up. This is a very busy week for me so not much tatting. However, I've been printing out a few exciting patterns - a fish by Nami, the cute owl from Nancy Tracy's Be-Stitched newsletter, and working on the next segment of my 25 motif challenge. No time to provide the links just now but just making a presence in tat-land!

Extra Winners

I found three more Old Time Crochet Magazines to pass on so I drew three more winners: #3, Marie, #20 Sharon, and #35 John. This is fun!

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I think this is incredible! A friend sent it to me.



Here's the video showing the making of it:



Wouldn't it be cool to see one with tatting?

Winter Butterfly

I finally got the Winter Butterfly done after several aborted starts. I tried doing the body in white, size 30 and the wings in pale gray, size 30, along with a silver blending filament, but it simply looked like mismatched whites, so I took the body off (which I'd done twice already because I forgot the antennae and then added the upper wing wrong three times!) and made a new one in the pale gray. The silver shows up much better with the gray but you can't see it in the first scan.

It seems awfully washed out compared to the other flutters, but I wanted that sparkle of a fresh snow. I'm wondering now if I can find tiny glass beads to put in the center of the bodies, like Mill Hill used to make. I thought a snowflake would be good for the Winter one.

The second photo is from my camera. If I take a photo at just the right angle, you can see the sparkle of the silver thread but you may have to click on it to enlarge it.

Now I just have to figure out what kind of background to frame them against. There are a couple of framers in town who are skilled about framed archival quality lace as well as other items. I plan to take Wendy's hanky to the same place.

Winner!

The winner of the Old Time Crochet Giveaway is Betty Yount, #33 in the comments. Betty's email doesn't show as she had to send me a private email to comment and I did not add it when I transferred the email.

Congratulations to Betty!

Here is the Canopy Bookmark from Martha Ess's new book, Playing With Picots.

It turned out to be a quick tat, good practice for split rings and using a picot gauge. It takes about 8 yards total plus extra for the tassle if you use a tassle tail. I do have some beads for the tassle that are a perfect match in color but I hesitate to use them since I bought them in Ireland years ago and have found since then that when wet, they lose their brilliant color like so many blue and purple beads do. I've already blocked it so it's unlikely I will need to wet it again unless it gets really dirty for some reason so I may tie some on anyway.

Don't forget to sign up for the magazine giveaway if you haven't already! You have to comment on THAT POST and be sure there is a way to contact you within the comment.

Giveaway!

****Please note! I've already rejected one comment that did not link back to a profile or ANY identification that would allow me to contact that person.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the tatters in those old publications? What about the names you never heard of before or since you saw it attached to a pattern? Was that their 5 Minutes of Fame? Now some online names may be entirely different from the tatter's published work name but still....wouldn't we still know them as a designer?

Well, my giveaway today features some unknown people to me but maybe someone out there in TatLand is familiar with them.

Here is a centerpiece by Mrs. J. C. Spencer. I thought this name sounded familiar but I wasn't sure where from. It seems Rebecca Hollenbaugh from PA wrote a column in Old Time Crochet and she picked this pattern from a February 1925 Needlecraft issue. Ah....I DO remember seeing Mrs. Spencer's name on a number of Needlecraft patterns.

Here is a Tatted Star Doily by Charlene G. Finiello. Nothing is mentioned about what state she lives in and I don't remember seeing her name before or even since. I think it's an intriguing design but I'm not likely to tat it.

And this pattern, Ice Crystals, is by Florence Anthony. I seem to vaguely recall that name from somewhere, but I don't know where. How many doilies are named Ice Crystals? Does anyone know?

Here is the magazine that contains all the patterns as well as an article about Tatting Techniques by Rebecca Hollenbaugh.

Comment on this post before next Friday, October 14th, at 5:00 p.m. ET. I'll pick a random winner before the night is over. No requirements other than a way to contact you because I won't have time to search. If leaving a comment is a problem, email me privately and I will add it to the comments myself. My email link is under my photo and on my profile. I will be out most of Monday so don't worry if your comment does not show up right away. Just check the next day.

GOOD LUCK!

I saw Umi n Tsuru's post today about Martha's new book, Playing with Picots, and realized I had been remiss in not posting about it myself! I was fortunate enough to be a test tatter for Martha but the surprise and delight came when I saw the book and the patterns I did NOT test tat!
So I set out to tat the first bookmark that caught my eye, loading up shuttles with Marilee's HDT, Purple Glory, which was gifted to me by the very generous Sue Anna. (If you have not visited any of these links, you should - what a treat!)

I try not to beat myself up too much for mistakes but sometimes it really is called for. I misread Martha's directions and made 3 LP at the bottom of each ring instead of 3 ds, 1 LP. I realized my mistake on about the 3rd ring. It's not like I didn't know something was wrong. I kept looking at the diagram and wondering why she only showed ONE LP coming out of the bottom of each ring when I had THREE. What makes our brains stubborn like that? And I know better than to use a special thread for the first tat of anything. So what to do? Keep going and see if I could salvage it? Keep using 3 LP or switch back to see how it actually looked? I decided to switch back. While I do like the multiple LP's, I would need to add additional stitches to the top half of the ring to balance it out and then I would probably need to change the stitch count of the side chains. I really love the original design, delicate and airy - reminiscent of Asian trees whose names I don't know.

So maybe I'll find a way to turn this into a hair ornament or bag it up with other "modifications" destined for someone's crazy quilting someday.

I'm so tempted to add beads to this but I do not use beads in my bookmarks unless it is in the tail part that hangs out of the book. I'll have to use the thread in something were I can use beads...maybe some earrings????

And I WILL use it to make this beautiful bookmark the right way.

No new tatting but I did finish stitching this down on the pillowcase. I do think I'll make a hen & chick edging for the edge. In fact, since that is such an easy on-the-go project, it will be perfect for my frequent comings and goings right now. It will probably use up this particular ball of Lizbeth thread too. I hope I don't need more as it won't match, I'm sure.

I now have a section of electric overhead lines underground now. They eliminated the overhead wires in a heavily wooded section leading to the house. Unlike overseas, you have to request and pay for underground relocation of overhead electric wires here. The final inspection revealed I need to upgrade the electric panel in the house. It's something I've wanted to do anyway for a long time, but the timing sucks. I don't have a choice as to when. It must be done by the 20th now. So I'll be scrambling this next week to get that arranged.

Last night I repaired a tie for my son. It was one I bought him for Christmas for way too much money for the little bit of fabric involved.....and now a loose thread that ran up and down the whole thing? This is the kind of annoyance I've always had with ready-made clothing. Buttons and zippers and hems always seem to need repairs in a very short time. When I put on a button - it's NOT coming off. Hems don't pull out and I avoid clothing with zipper. You could say this 60+ body finds elasticized clothing easier to wear but more than anything, I hate replacing a broken zipper. Give me elastic, pretty ties or hidden pockets anyday!

Sigh....I just filled a shuttle with that thread. Fortunately, it was just full as about 8" out there was a knot. I can cut it at the knot and not be concerned. 'Nuff said!

I've actually been doing more crochet and embroidery on quilt blocks than tatting but I did want to show what I'm working on.

This is an edging from a Norma Benopath booklet. I got it while I was in Australia in 2005. As you can see, it looks a little rough and that's because it's done so danged oddly! I will do one more of the big flowers and then see how it looks at the bottom of the bag. The most votes were for option #3, at the bottom, but many also suggested something at the top too and I agree. If only one or the other has tatting, it seems a bit unbalanced. I might use a pink edging for the top. I'm not sure this one by Norma will be right for it. I may have to tat it again to make it look it better. You tat a center ring on the big flower with picots and then work rings around it......which means an alligator join and some....mmmmmm....precise engineering. There is probably a better way and it will come to me, no doubt, once I finish this tat!