International Tatting Day!

Well...I shouldn't wait for the summer to be over to post everything. My granddaughter will be 3 months old by then and this will be a book! So I decided to do a monthly post until I'm ready to get back here. I am getting a lot done.

The OWOH event was back in February but there were 2 prizes I won that took awhile to get here.
This cute pin, which I knew as a "kilt pin" back in my youth, came from a lady in Israel with a couple of handmade beads on it. Can you tell which ones are the handmade ones? Her name is Shirley van Der Veldt and her blog is (love this name!) Things That Make Me Go Whoo! I love those rings she just made. You can visit her Etsy shop here.

This original artwork came from Pam Aries in Florida. Unfortunately, she didn't put the name of her blog in her emails. I found it after the initial notification but have forgotten the name. I'm sure it's on the list of participants though and you could always contact her by emailing me if you wish.

I was going to try to visit and email every participant who commented on my post during the OWOH event but I think I got sidetracked at about #35 and haven't pursued it further - I will.

Vinnie tatted a couple of small doilies and then tatted a heart using one segment of one doily. I'm not much for tatting doilies, even though I do still want to try doily #1, so I tatted this heart instead in some of Tatskool's choco-raspberry in size 40.

I added picots and an additional chain at the top, then I tatted a tail and it has become a birthday gift to my first Mother-in-law.

It's probably just as well that I'm not blogging. This was worthy of a rant. I'm still not convinced of the reliability of Lizbeth thread. The colors are to die for but I keep running into issues. There isn't a single one I've used that didn't split at some point when I retro-tatted. Usually a split thread is one I've picked at a lot or rarely just poked in the wrong place, but this thread has performed like this more than I think is a fluke. This little clump came from a ball of pumpkin colored thread that I bought recently from either Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's. I had used between 15 and 20 yards when I came across this. I was just winding it on the shuttle - - nothing sharp had been poked in it and it hadn't been wound and unwound or anything to stress the thread. I still haven't used enough thread on any ball to know how it looks from beginnning to end. I'm trying not to be too pessimestic about it - I know it's very popular. Buyer beware is all I'm saying.

I happened to find this on flickr when I was looking for something else and the link took me to an Etsy shop so I ordered it. After seeing the other items there, I recognized them as the work of Little Lace Lady. It's quite sweet.

One thing that has consumed a lot of my time was making this baker's dozen of earrings that a friend requested I make to sell in her spa. We'll see how it goes.

The baby's room once the painting and trim was done.

The bonnet as of 3/22/10. I'm not at all sure this is going to work out so I'm going to trim a cloth bonnet with tatting so that I will at least have something for the baby shower! You'll have to wait for next month's summary to find that out!

On March 25th, a Ft. Wayne tatter named Millie was visiting relatives locally and contacted me to see if we might meet. Well hey, I don't pass up a chance to meet a tatter!
I wanted to give her a little gift so what would be more appropriate with Easter coming up than to tat an Easter Egg? Easter egg #23, in fact, from Tatted Easter Eggs by Kristen Wind Hansen. I don't know why I haven't made more eggs from this book. Someone else posting one on their blog prompted me to look my copy up.

The thread is a Coats thread, size 20, that I bought in Ireland, probably in 2002, my last trip there. The ball is getting puny because I liked the color a lot and have used it in the past for many tattings. I was surprised at how big the egg turned out - about 4" x 2 1/2". This book has a minimum of instruction. You have to refer to the symbols in the front to know what they mean. The only instructions on this page: 2 shuttles; Make the Easter egg in one round.

I had to study the diagram quite closely. There was a tiny triangle to indicate "paperclip" which I didn't even know until much later. I thought it meant starting point and figured out I needed a paperclip there. I actually needed to put the paperclip there every time I ended up on that side to make an inverse picot to join in. (about 35 times) The diagram looked like two rounds but she said to make it in one round....so that's when I figured out the rings were thrown off the chains. (34 of them!) I got a little confused by the numbers too. Where some larger rings were, the numbers 4 and 4 were underneath. I actually had to retrotat when I finally figured out that meant the upper chain part, not the ring. I did get it done in one round.

So I blocked it and then decided to add the ribbon with the button here. Originally, I was going to make a bookmark but it was so big, it would have looked funny. This way she can use it as a photo frame or hang it or whatever she likes. Turns out she scrapbooks so it's even possible she might use it there.

I had a great time visiting with Millie. We sat in Starbucks and talked for THREE hours! Wish I'd gotten a photo!

And here are my last tattings for April 1 - International Tatting Day!

More eggs from Tatted Easter Eggs by Kirsten Wind Hansen. Easter Egg #19 had me skeptical clear up until I blocked it. It looked pretty in the photo but not quite so in the actual tatting. I made a mistake or two but I'll leave it to you to find it. If I tat this one again, I will use 2 shuttles instead of shuttle and ball - just now noticed it actually says TWO shuttles! I was doing a lot of SLT's. (shoe lace trick) I would also add a picot on each loop of the "bow" to attach the triple rings to. They are not done as onion rings but rather a ring and then two chains which is how I prefer to tat these anyway. I believe it was a size 20 thread, Coates. I really like it since it is blocked. Already in a card for a goddaughter.

The second egg that looks like it came from a peacock is Easter Egg #3. I've made this one before and always forget to block it so that it has a "swirl" to it. It's tatted from some Superior Quilting Thread, 30 wt. which is about size 40 or 50.

The next is Easter Egg #5. You can do it one color but I really like using two. I suppose you could mix it up even more by using 4 colors and making each part a different color ring from the chain. It's very simple and quick. I used some Flora size 40 for this one. This one is already in a card too!

The last one is Easter Egg #8 and I was disappointed in it. Maybe I should have stuck with one color but I was feeling adventurous. The disappointing part was the spiral chain. Even with blocking it just did not look as neat as the photo. Maybe another stab at it would come out better as I would focus on making the spirals more even.

I will be tatting even more eggs before Sunday.

In the meantime,if you celebrate Easter - many warm and loving wishes to you with friends and family and the same if you do not celebrate it.

TODAY - Tat, Eat Chocolate, and tell everyone you know about tatting!!!!!

Sabbatical

I completed the T.A.T. Artisan phase at the weekend and it goes in the mail today. Immediately after that, I started a baby bonnet - tentively.

I got the pattern from Tatman's website, under vintage patterns and actually started on a whim. The directions don't say what size thread to use so I used size 80. LOL! No, I don't like to torture myself. It was a pretty color and I wanted to see how it might work up. I think it might be too fine for this however and if that's the case, it will become a doll bonnet. I've already found an error in the instructions. The round after this one does not match the photo, grainy as it is, so I've changed the directions to match as well as I can tell. Except for all the retro-tats, it's been going along quickly.

February has come and gone and I ignored my blog anniversary - forgot it actually. February 13 marked the end of 7 years of blogging here. I'm reminded of the saying that the cells in the human body are completely replaced every 7 years.

It wasn't on my mind at all but I've decided to take a sabbatical from blogging for awhile. I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to keep up with what is going on in the tatting community and will continue to read everyone's blog. I'm just not going to blog myself for awhile. I have a couple of projects I want to focus on that I wouldn't blog about anyway so deliberately stating I won't be blogging helps alleviate some of that guilt I might feel about not posting.

I'm still available by email of course. I also have a few video tutorials in mind that I hope to add here. The blog itself may undergo changes as I update certain features. I can't tell you at this point if it will be several weeks or several months, but I'll be back. I just want to put my attention elsewhere for awhile. I'll also be deactivating my facebook account, for those who might notice my disappearance.

In the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful Spring! It's almost here. Can you hear the birds singing?