Eye Candy!

Last evening I was going through some more of my needleart magazine collection. I've always wanted to sew heirloom clothing, especially christening gowns, so I've managed to acquire a nice collection of stitching magazines through the years. I've noticed tatting is often used as an edging on many of these gowns and little girl dresses. One I looked at was Sew Beautiful, issue #74, 2001, a Martha Pullen publication featuring heirloom sewing. I was intrigued by one article about the use of a technique known as "shaped tatting". It is made with purchased tatting -mostly edgings with a crocheted beading or header which is left in place when stitched as an insertion. This particular article describes shaped tatting. The beading is removed and then the edging is shaped on netting, but can be on fabric too. It is pinned in place and then hand stitched at picots and other major points. There were diagrams showing how to place so that you would get the results shown below.

This is the dress in its entirety. Many of the projects in these magazines have a tear out pattern included as an insert.

Remember this is an edging, not a motif, that has been stitched into a specific shape.

Same here. Then silk ribbon embroidery and beads were added to embellish it and make it look like a butterfly. In a way, it seems like a lot of trouble but if you don't know how to tat, it's another option.

I was thrifting yesterday during my lunch hour. I found this remnant of fabric which I was prompted to buy in case I decide to make something for little Ellie. Cost = 75¢

I also found this beaded angel ornie which I bought for the beads! Cost = 50¢

And I spied this pretty vintage bag, also for 50¢! It opens up into a long strip with three pockets. I have no idea what I will do with it but I couldn't pass it up!

Nope...I didn't buy this beautiful shuttle. I've been watching it on Ebay, one of Rosita's, but the bidding was beyond my means as I knew it would be. Sometimes a photo is just as good though.

Hope you enjoyed the eye candy today!

I did it! I made Mark's Elegant Heart! If I'd known it was really going to work out, I would have used a more color-suitable thread. LOL! I would also have used the same color for the 3rd thread that is needed to do purl tatting, sometimes referred to as "pearl" tatting. But it's okay since I really don't have to hide these threads, although it would make a nice motif if I did.I think the remainder of the Wintery Tree will be much easier since I don't have to come to a point anywhere. When I make the real tree, I'll just put a beautiful star at the point and any little boo-boo's will be moot.



I had quite a bit of fun looking through http://whatnottocrochet.wordpress.com/ yesterday. Some images are NOT suitable for children, btw. There was once a blog about things that should never have been knitted. It was so successful that they wrote a book and I've never seen them again! Actually there were more things I would have knitted that they made fun of than what I would crochet from this site. I had to agree with 98% of their choices. Sometimes it wasn't the pattern but the color combinations. I was never a big fan of the 70's colors anyway.

I really didn't venture out all that much this weekend and the one time I did on Sunday, it poured rain! I slept a lot and went through some of my needlecraft magazine collection. While I'm actually culling, I'm finding adorable little girl things that I have yet another chance to make now and I was reminded of things I DID get to make for my now 17 year-old-granddaughter. For instance, a pillowslip. I embroidered the crinoline lady and added a crocheted skirt. Loved doing that. I think I cross stitched Taz and a few other looney tune characters on pillows and shirts for the boys. I didn't cross stitch much - that was pretty much the extent of it. It was also before I learned to tat so most of what I made was knitted or crocheted or sewn. I crocheted her a beautiful tooth fairy doll with a bag too. Gosh, I hope I still have those instructions.

I've been strongly drawn to other forms of stitching the past year or so and much of it is along the line of embroidery although it is a lacy embroidery that I pursue. I've been especially intrigued with Karen Ruane's Contemporary Embroidery, and recently jumped at the chance to buy one of her hand embroidered silk purses. And I did jump! She had only mentioned them in her blog that day and by the time I got there, only one was left. I wanted one with color in the embroidery but I love this one too. If both had been available, I would have had to choose only one since it's a little pricey for me but what a treasure!

I'll have more views on my lace blog if you're interested but I wanted to show it here too. It's on silk and isn't it exquisite?

Can you imagine some tatted lace in very fine thread being in those circle centers? I'm thinking of all those bits and pieces I have just laying around....if you check her blog you'll find all kinds of inspiration!

I did tat the last version of the butterfly body bookmark although if this had turned out, it was going to be a bracelet since it's beaded. I tried bridging the two motifs in the center with an additional chain loop but it threw the symmetry all out of whack so I decided I was DONE with this and it's time to put it away.

I still have those committments I've been procrastinating on to do. The lining for the tatted bag and 6 more tree ornaments, plus I wanted to do some RPL for the exhibit. I'm going to a bobbinlace program with the L.A.C.E. group next weekend so I have to get ready for that. At this point I also need to mow outside again and I have flowers waiting for me to get them in the ground! Between the heat and rain and other activities, not much is getting done outside.

Last night I was going through some old I.O.L.I. (International Old Lacers Inc.) newsletters (The Bulletin) and decided to tat a heart bookmark in the Summer 96-97 issue. It's designed by Ronna Robertson who was a member of I.O.L.I. chapter Appaloosa Lace Guild. (and current Treasurer for I.O.L.I.!)

If you saw how slick the current publications are compared to the old ones, you would be amazed. So I really wasn't all that upset with the errors in the pattern. It is all text with a photograph. It starts off with a clover which automatically tells you it probably has 3 picots (as does the photo) but the instructions left a picot and 4 ds out of the first ring! There were a few other typo errors and I ended up tatting one near the end which I didn't see until I had it finished. Even so, it's a lovely bookmark and very easy to tat. The thread is some I dyed and is probably the mystery size 30 3 ply cotton as it was a tad bit fuzzy.

This issue has an article about tatting with beads by Judy Banashek and includes a split ring beaded bracelet pattern by her. Bobbie Demmer also wrote a column about beads and tatting and there was a snowflake pattern by Patti Duff. There was a poinsettia bookmark pattern by Sue Lantzer. This is in addition to several bobbinlace and needlelace articles and patterns. I believe the annual membership to I.O.L.I. is around $30 unless it went up a bit and I know it's a little more for overseas but it's a wonderful organization. They have a fabulous library (which is administrated by Cathy Kozlowski, a member of my lace guild) for members who can borrow books on any kind of lace for up to three weeks. Many many many of our tatting designers have donated a copy of their books to the library so this is a great way to look them over if you are undecided about purchasing them. They also have a lending library of videos and DVD's that can be borrowed through a different process and administrator. There is a deposit involved which is returned when the audio materials are returned. Mark Myers, our favorite Tatman, is the website manager. The membership directory can help you find other lacemakers in your area or an area you are traveling to.

Well, this wasn't intended to be a promotion for I.O.L.I. but I do think it is a worthy organization and often wish I had the time and energy to be more involved in it. If you have the opportunity to look through some older Bulletins or even current issues, I urge you to do so! You might decide to join yourself or get your lace group chartered through them.

I'm working on the butterfly body bookmark again tonight. This one will probably end up being a bracelet but the directions are the same so it's a way to double check my revisions. I also installed my new Serif drawing software today but I don't expect to actually get into using it for awhile yet. I've arranged several vacation days to give me 4 day weekends and it will be one of those weekends that I'll devote to learning the system and then diagramming all my designs. I've found a website to host pdf files and intend to eventually move my updated patterns there. I find E-Snips hard to use and lacking in many areas but until I can update my patterns, I'll leave them there.

Wow...11:30 p.m. already! I took a very long nap this afternoon so I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the moment!

(Update ~ the reason I wanted to show where I used a split chain is that years ago, after I learned the split ring and the split chain, I didn't know where to use them! This is just one example but hopefully, it will help you see possibilities in other patterns.)

I still haven't finished rewriting the bookmark but that was because I ran out of thread on my shuttle and out of steam in my energy stream at the same time. LOL! I did want to show how I figured out how to do this all in one pass. In the original butterfly body, you had to cut and tie and then join in the middle of the chain loops. I realized I could make a split chain at this point where the second part joins and then finish the first segment on the return trip. In this scan, I labeled the first split chain and you can see that I continued on down and then came back up the other side. The second split chain happens in the same place basically, where the chain loop would normally be joined into from the lower body.

This scan shows the second half of the split chain completed and you can see it's now in a position to continue with the chain loops around the remainder of the upper body. The second half of this split chain is actually making the first part of the 5-5 chain loop so the next element is to complete the second part of the loop and join.

Here's the second half complete and from here I'll do the normal 5-5 chain loop, joining to the next picot. I'll end up at my beginning point and from there, do the entire segment again in the opposite direction. I do need to work on a way to stabilize that jumping off point though. In the first one I tatted, I added a little chain segment and then connected there but I haven't done that this time since I changed something else in the beginning ring.

Here are some sites where you can learn how to do split chains:
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/classes/gssplitchain.html
Fast & Easy split chain by Marie Smith
Original from Jane Eborall
From Snowgoose
Another from Snowgoose
The only tutorial I found for needle tatting but the graphics are broken.
Update: The current site for needle tatters is
http://needletatting.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=splitrings and you do have to register to access the files. Thanks to Shannon for the link!

Some days just aren't meant for needlework of any kind. Last night wasn't my best of nights to begin with and I started it off with a nap. That should fix everything, huh? LOL!

Someone had asked for the bookmark pattern and I finally remembered to marry the original and my corrections except I couldn't understand my own corrections! I'll have to retat and see what I meant so I set that aside for another time.

At some point I'd found the Asian button templates I bought while in Australia back in 2005. Wow...was it really that long ago? I decided to make the teardrop shaped one and these are the results. It took me several times to get the hang of it and it's very doubtful I'll make another. You have to glue or stitch down the ends on the back. That pretty much ruined it for me. I glued mine and even after that and scanning, I pulled on the top loop and it distorted the shape so they're very fragile once complete. I didn't expect that. I thought they would be tight. The other one is the round shape. I don't think I'll even try it. I got it out after this one last night but didn't feel inspired to pursue it. I'm not sure what I'll do with them now. Might see if my grandsons want to work them.

Here's my other sad attempt at being creative. This is the "Elegant Heart" from Mark Myers which is also the top part of his "Wintery Tree", the motif I really wanted to tat. I've attempted this several times too but I'm real close to figuring it out now! I don't know if I'm reading the text wrong or what but I'm better off ignoring the written part and following the diagram. I still tried to do both but you can see it didn't quite work out. I'm going to try it again but this time I'll start at the point and I'll make sure my rings are the same on both sides of the heart. Mark is very good at this sort of tatting but it requires borrowing Jane's brain cell #3 for me. (now she knows where it slips off to now and then!) I just love that tree and I'm going to tat it come hell or high water! Once I do, I think I should be awarded an honorary "masters" in tatting!

Ah well...this evening I'm going to rework the bookmark and hopefully clean off the top of a chest of drawers that embarrasses me every time I pick jewelry to wear off of it. It has been neglected for far far too long!

Almost forgot - I wanted to mention that I only show 25 links to blogs on my sidebar but you can click on the bottom to see them all. The reason I mention this is that the most recently updated will always show up, but there are some that are actually websites or for some reason don't have a feed that shows them updated. Mark's pattern and technique website is like this. You'll have to click on the list and go way down to the bottom to find it on another day. I have it linked to my mention of his patterns today but if you want to find it in the future, you'll need to find it on the list. You might discover some other interesting people if you do that too.

I spent Friday and Saturday in a workshop to get my CEAS, a certification that is not currently required but probably will be in the next few years. At any rate, it's helpful for my job. I have been doing ergonomics, mostly office ergonomics, for nearly a decade now. I was pleased to find there was only one new thing I learned about office ergonomics and it was more of a personal experience advice thing. I did learn a little more about Labor ergonomics, which is the weak area in our department for the simple reason that there is not enough manpower and resources to focus on it pro-actively. It's in the works though.

I brought way too much with me to do. I didn't feel good after sitting in a freezing room all day and my back has been hurting from something I did while mowing (???) and the conference room chairs were far from comfortable. I tried knitting and it looked like a 6 year old had done it so I abandoned that. I looked through some beading magazines I brought with me because I wanted to try some simple projects but couldn't bring myself to pull anything out of the bag and sort. I didn't even feel like tatting. So I read. The night before I had finished up a book, High on Arrival, by Mackenzie Phillips,a disturbing memoir. When we're young, we often dramatize the events in our lives because they ARE high drama to us, but reading about someone else's life and drama certainly puts it in perspective and makes one grateful for the simpler challenges in life.



So my next book (can't believe I'm getting to read this much!) is one I picked up at the Half-Price Bookstore a few weeks ago. It caught my eye with the title The Lace Reader. It was fiction so I knew it wasn't a how-to book. The website says it was on the bestseller list but obviously I never knew that. LOL! The character reads lace like some people read tea leaves. Now for those who think it's all woo-woo stuff, I've always viewed tea leaves, candles, bones, stones and such simply as tools of focus. The Rosary in Catholicism serves the same purpose, as does prayer and meditation. It's a way to focus inward and connect. Prayer has been called the state of asking and meditation the state of receiving an answer. Many people are able to do both but you can never do both at the same time. You can't be in a state of asking and receiving at the same time. One will follow the other and often very quickly, seeming instantaneous, but there is a gap between one and the other. So...I'd never heard of "lace-reading" though the overall concept is familiar to me and I found it intriguing. I've only started the book. In 2003, I made a trip to the East Coast, meeting and visiting friends I'd met online. Near the end, I stayed with a friend in Cape Ann (mentioned in the book) and one day we drove through Salem on the way to his doctor appointment. My friend was a wealth of information about the "witch" town as well as Cape Ann's former glory days so I'm finding the location exciting in this book too. The lace seems to be bobbin lace and already I'm learning new stuff about that. I wonder if the author makes lace herself? Well, it turns out she made up "lace-reading" but really...think about it....how many AHA! moments or wonderful insights have you received while making your lace? I think I'll enjoy this book much more than Phillips' "High" book.

I got home last night, still not feeling 100%, but I wanted to do something besides unpack. LOL! For a long time, I've been wanting to go on a dragon rampage. A tatted dragon rampage. Anne's pattern sort of popped up in front of me last night so ...why not? I tatted a dragon. Started it anyway. When I realized it was after midnight, I stopped and left the rest for today.

I don't know why I keep trying to put eyes in the ears of these dragons! When I was done, I realized my beads were in the ears or head of the dragon so they weren't eyes at all. So...it just means this is a female dragon and those are earrings! She's got all the fluffy picots so that means she's a girl, right? You can find the pattern on Anne's blog! I hope to make more soon but I have other commitments still in the works.

Eliz suggested the body of the butterfly would make a good bookmark. I had just figured out how to tat the body in one pass, by making a split chain where the lower body was originally started and I knew the whole thing wouldn't take all that long so I gave it a whirl. This is another thread I dyed but I think this one must be the "unknown" size 30 cotton. Vintage. 3 ply. Fuzzy. Soft. I didn't like the way the thread itself worked up. When I got back to the beginning, I tatted the same body in the opposite direction since it didn't seem nearly long enough for a bookmark. In the end, it's not a bookmark I like, but I do think it is more masculine than most I see. I got fed up with the thread and tatted it rather poorly. I also think the design needs some tweaking to turn out really nicely. If anyone wants the directions for this part, please email me privately. I won't be able to send them until after the weekend though. I'm leaving for some training tonight and won't be back until Saturday evening. I need to make a few minor corrections on the pattern that I initially wrote up too.

My mind must be elsewhere lately. This is a motif from a Vida Sunderman book which should be the same at both ends. When I finished the clover at the second end and was almost finished, I realized I'd left out a ring segment. It was late and I had no specific purpose for this motif so I just finished it off as is. It sort of reminds me of a Christmas bulb ornament. With a tail, it would make a nice bookmark. The thread was some size 16 Finca which is finer than size 12 perle cotton but very similar in sheen and twist.

Pat Winter had a link on her blog to Crafty Storage, a blog about storage methods. I dunno....I think they are way too organized there for me. LOL! I've noticed most of them have see-through containers. I have some, but most are not. Yeah.......it's like Christmas all over again when you open them up! heheheheh....I love rediscovering my stash. Sometimes I feel a little dismay at having forgotten something but I also love the re-inspiration. I need to go through my boxes. And I do need to reorganize. My "studio" is the one room I haven't touched in over a year. I've been busy sorting stuff from the basement and closets but this room has become a catch-all and I can't find things I need to find.

I really can't have some stuff out in the open. It gets dusty. Cats tend to climb and nosy into places they shouldn't. Then things get dumped and lumped together. Hmmm...maybe I should schedule some vacation SOON!

Tatting Tea Tuesday 6-1-10

Okay, it's not Tatting Tea Tuesday, but Tea on Tuesday is popular with other bloggers too! Art in Red Wagons has a list of blogs that focus on tea on Tuesday!

And look at what else I found! Mary McCarthy used to publish KNOTS, a tatting newsletter, back in the mid 90's til the early 2000's. Looks like tatting and tea went together back then too!



In my advancing years, I wonder sometimes if it is possible to become ADD? I don't tolerate boredom as well. My mind goes in dozens of directions at once. Maybe I'm just more aware of it because I'm less constrained by obligations.

I was actually looking for the butterfly that Two Shuttles has been looking for information about. I know I've seen it - that inner diamond shape rings some strong bells, but I can't find it anywhere. I remember it because the one I saw originally, not the yellow one on flickr.com, was also in two colors and I remember thinking I didn't really like the way it worked in that case. I do like the yellow and white one so it's probably about color choices. I'm pretty sure it's an individual pattern, not one in a book, so I was looking through one of my binders of printouts. It wasn't there, but ..... something caught my eye.

I had this printout from a butterfly round robin that I took part in at the turn of the century. (heheheheh....that was fun to say!) It's one I made for someone, though I don't remember who now and the page showing all the round robins is long gone. Apparently I didn't get a scan so I printed out the one on the page. I didn't have a scanner then and had to go to my sister's to scan my tatting. I didn't always make it and my camera was not a good one for lace. Then again, it could be on some OLD disc hidden away somewhere. Anyway...this is my only record of it.

It was actually meant to be a handkerchief corner and was originally tatted in size 70 thread. If you have The Tatter's Treasure Chest, it is on page 73. The photograph in the book is not very clear at all.

By scanning the book photograph and making it bigger (click on the pic to see it bigger), you can see the details a little better. I didn't have that advantage the first time I made it. I always knew I'd done something wrong but couldn't quite figure it out. Now was the time to sort it out! (never mind all those other projects in the background!)

I remembered enough to know I wasn't willing to try it in anything smaller than size 40. I think this thread is actually size 30. Do you know there are SEVEN different pieces that must be tatted separately???? I came up with a few shortcuts but I still had seven different pieces to tat.

The directions say to start with the ring just below the head and then tat the head. Since you have to leave a space of thread for no really good reason except to jump to a picot, I changed the order of things and tatted the head ring first. Then I tatted the ring starting the body. This is where you end up leaving a space of thread. Instead, I made a split ring, splitting at the very last picot since that was where the thread space was going to. From there, you tat around making little loops. Now this is where I so wish I could have found a way to continue on with the body but since the next segment STARTS where the lower picots are, it just seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I also changed the bottom long picot to a double picot just for fun.

(I now see that I probably could have done a split chain where I first joined thread for the lower body and continued on with the lower body which tats down and then back up the other side, continuing around the upper body.)

Each upper wing and each lower wing was tatted and attached during the construction. The ending place was not able to be manipulated so that you could tat the other half of the wing on that side. That's because each segment started in the middle and worked outward. There was no way to work inward and achieve the same effect. If you tat this butterfly, keep in mind that you only need a yard or so on the ring shuttle for any given segment. I put on two yards but the only time I used most of that was in the body which had five rings. For the upper wings, no more than 1 1/2 yard per wing and for the lower wing, no more than 1 yard. Since I did the split ring on each segment to avoid the thread space and it was only TWO stitches, I just left the chain thread on the floss holder. The pic above is the upper wing completed. It reminds me of one of the Star Wars ships. LOL! It's really tight and curls up on itself. Might be a design element to keep in mind for a future project.

This is the completed butterfly waiting to be blocked. BTW, blocking is a nightmare! When I wet this thread, it gets kind of hard. It doesn't want to be manipulated very easily. I used a bigger crochet hook to help pull out each point after making it as flat as I could with my fingers. It used lots and lots and lots of pins!

Here is it on the blocking board, waiting to dry. I also used the shaft of my crochet hook to slide in between the pins and flatten out the chains that kept wanting to turn. This flutter has a wingspan of 4" and is 3 1/2" high counting the antenna.

And here it is! You might notice that the upper wings look a little different from the blue version. That's because I joined in the wrong place with the blue one. You're supposed to join at the 2nd free picot and I joined at the top one which turned it upside down. I also did something else wrong that I haven't discovered yet because the last chain joins in sequence to the whole while the blue one was just sort of hanging there. I don't know if I would dare to tackle this one with beads or not. While it was a challenge to tat, it wasn't all that much fun. I'm ready to move on to other patterns and other threads!

But ....you know....wouldn't this make a gorgeous "stained glass" flutter? I'll leave that to someone who's more accomplished at that than I am. (furtive glance at Marilee)

WINNERS!!!!!!

Whoo Hoo! The Random Number Generator offered up three numbers in this order: 75, 27, 14

#75 is Tattin' Kat. Since there was no email available, Tattin' Kat has 3 days to send me her mailing address. If none is received, I'll get another number. This is why it is very important to have some means of contact when you leave a contact. I also left a comment on her blog so I really hope this new tatter gets her prize!.

#27 is Jane Eborall. I was tickled to see this as Jane has entered every one of my giveaways and always says, "I never win anything!". And she didn't....but this time, she didn't make that comment, and look what happened! I guess there is something to be said about not jinxing yourself. Not much else to say about Jane. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the 100+ patterns on her pattern page and her connection to her sister Sally, whose husband has been busy turning out new shuttles to satisfy the typical tatter's craving!

#14 is Singtatter, who is a very generous and creative tatter herself. You may remember all the paperclip designs she gifted to the online tatting class. Her blog is full of her other creative projects so take a look if you haven't been there before.

Congratulations to everyone!

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read my blog. I hope it's helpful in some way. I will admit my blog is first and foremost for ME. It's a way to record what I do with tatting, which includes mistakes and what I learned from them. If I only put what was perfect on here, what would be the point besides eyecandy? I was isolated from most tatters when I began. To be honest, there still aren't all that many tatters who live locally and most of the new ones were taught by me, Kaye Judt, or Carolyn Regnier. I still have to go to Tat Days or Lace Days to meet up with other tatters in person for the most part. Carol Amich lives close but even so, we probably only see each other once a year. So that means list groups and blogs are the most common means of communication and I love it because it allows me to talk with tatters from ALL OVER THE WORLD!

It was this blog that led Jane Smith's daughter to find someone who tatted to give her mother's tatting supplies to. The internet has brought us together in wonderful ways and sometimes in common sadness. This is Memorial Day in the States, a day we set aside to honor those who have gone before us. This is everyone, not only those who served in the military, although we publicly honor those wonderful people too. I learned yesterday that Wilma Walker, a Cincinnati, Ohio tatter, passed away, so it seems only fitting that I include a tribute to her memory in this post. Ruth Perry often visited with Wilma and gave her a ride to events. Ruth has passed on this request from the family:

The family requests that no cards or flowers be sent, but that each one who wishes to do something in her memory: "Plant a tree, help someone in some way, or donate to your favorite charity."

Last Chance

to enter THE DRAWING before I pick three winners in the morning!

Good luck to everyone!

I finished Sue Fuller's Heart's Desire last night. The thread is one I dyed. In fact, I have three very similar colorways on floss holders because I was at the end, tired, and wanting to be done. I'm really not fond of this color combination, at least on the skein and floss holder, but if you've ever had to wind a skein onto a floss holder and then tat it.....you know it never ends up the way you think it will. It reminded me so much of red and purple, which the Red Hat Society likes to flaunt, but the colors next to each other jar every nerve in my system, so I was really hoping it wouldn't be that bad.

And it's not. The red is more pinkish and the purple is more bluish. It did turn out pretty but I can promise you I would never buy this colorway intentionally! But that's just my preferences. I noticed on Nita's blog from a few weeks ago that she used a Lizbeth thread with this kind of colorway. Hmmmmmm.....

Well...I just remind myself that it's all for fun! LOL!

I like to find positive messages in magazines, hidden in the advertising or completely out of context with the message. I forget what this one came from but it took some creative cutting to come up with this. I am a firm believer in finding the positive in everything, no matter how bleak it seems. Of course, there are those who are determined to find a negative message hidden in everything....so there is balance in all. You get to choose which you want to find.

For a little while last night, I attempted to stitch a needlelace "spider" in the diamond shape there in the lower half of the heart but I couldn't get the thread or heart or needle to cooperate. It kept pulling the edges in too close. If I'd had the heart basted down instead of pin-basting, I might have had more success.

I'm currently taking a break from mowing. I have to wait for my son to move his car and some logs out by the firepit. I was in town earlier today and bought some herbs to plant, plus one tomato plant and one hanging fuschia. I expect to spend a good part of today outside. I miss the days when I could break up the gardening throughout the week. Trying to do it all in one day isn't very successful. We only get the bare basics done. He's having friends out tomorrow and it's not raining for a change so there is LOTS to do!

I've been thinking about where I'm going with this off and on. I don't feel compelled to DO SOMETHING, but sometimes I get a little nudge, a whisper in my ear, "why don't you try this?". Recently I posted a link to an Italian website showing stunning home decor and fashion emellished embellished with tatting. Several years ago, I had links to some Japanese tatting that showed tatting displayed in beautiful backgrounds and in more detail than what we tend to see in the States. From time to time, I've encouraged readers to go one step further, stir up the imagination and inspiration. I am absolutely thrilled to see tatting growing and know that it is far from being a lost art, and is, indeed, developing in leaps and bounds. Yet most of the tatting I see is still little motifs, bookmarks, and now - jewelry, which is still a small project overall. I think one reason people like tatting is because it is so portable but another reason is the instant gratification. You can tat a snowflake or a bookmark in an evening.

It's rare that tatters go bigger though. I'm not willing to tat curtains or tablecloths or bedspreads, but I would tat sections of curtains, tablecloths or bed accessories. In fact, it's been in my mind for years now to tat inserts for some kitchen curtains as well as the edging. My first attempt wasn't pleasing and I haven't revisited it. I'm pretty much covered up with other projects for the time being.

All that said, I came across an ad for a juried show in Canada that some of you might be interested in pursuing, especially if you live in Canada. It's called Stitches Across Time, and currently has some exhibits showing but the juried show is also meant to inspire you to create even more beautiful pieces. The deadline is February 28, 2011 so I hope at least a few of you consider designing and submitting something. Tatting can use all the exposure we can give it. Update - you must be a Canadian citizen to enter!

Last night I finished crocheting the cord that goes with the beaded bag I tatted from Sharon Brigg's book, Transitions in Tatting. I have the fabric to line it with so all I have to do now is sew the lining, attach the cord, and a fastener for the flap. The lining will probably take the longest since I have to create the pattern and figure out if I want to include the flap or not. I hope to put this in our exhibit next fall at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation along with several other lace items. Too bad the beads don't show up all that well but perhaps once the lining is in, they'll pop out.

I finished the cord early enough last night to start some tatting, Sue Fuller's Heart's Desire in one of my dyed threads, the one I have so much of! I barely started before knocking off to bed so it will be awhile before I show it.

I will probably post again before the weekend is over. I'm so happy to have a 3 day weekend!

I forgot that yesterday was Tatting Tea Tuesday. I was thinking about an entry for next week but completely forgot that it was actually Tuesday right then!

Here's the motifs laying on a piece of muslin. I have some ivory silky fabric like the purple and was kind of thinking of using an insert of that in the purple bag. I've put the motifs on gold and they kind of get lost in it. Decisions, decisions!

I have to show this....this is lace I tatted and attached to a nightgown in 2000. I took it with me to Ireland that year so I know exactly when it was done. LOL! I didn't tat it on, I stitched it after so I'm going to take it off now as the nightgown itself has seen better days. You can see the lace has held up well though. The lace was a "forget-me-not" vintage edging. I'm sure you've seen it. I used Gutterman top stitch thread as the only way to get good thread was to order it then. I love it that I can order online so easily now or even go to a few local stores or Zig Zag Corner in Greenfield, a little over an hour away, when I want the good stuff. This wasn't really bad, but it did tend to grab a bit when I closed the rings. It was about a size 20. I still have several spools. I should either crochet with it or use it in needle lace.

It's a very hot week here. It's been almost 90º or like today, over 90º and Monday was horribly humid. I sure hope it cools off soon. I don't have my AC in yet and since it's an OLD window unit, I'd like to look around for another first. It doesn't usually get this hot this early.

I like it that everyone is enjoying the giveaway suspense. There's already 50 entrants but you have til next Sunday night to leave a comment on THAT POST! And for the person who questioned if a random generator ever picked #1 - yes, I had it do that once. It DOES happen!

Reeeeeeeaaaaaallly Big Giveaway!

I had to visit Miss Ellie yesterday and then my son & I stopped at 1/2 Price Books and then Applebee's so it was on the late side when I got home and I didn't have the energy to artistically arrange the giveaway. So....I'm going to fudge a bit.

There will be THREE giveaways, all shown here and drawn for on the same day, Monday, May 31st (Memorial Day). A good portion of my giveaway are items that I received from from Jane Smith's estate. You may remember I featured her in a Memorial Day post last year.

I've kept a few things but I believe her daughter wanted her supplies to go to someone who loves tatting. I'm honored to receive them but I also want to share the legacy. So to celebrate 250,000 visitors (mostly tatters I would assume)and Memorial Day and Tatting, here's what's up!

They are not grouped but I will separate them into three groups before I do the drawing. That means you won't know exactly what you're winning! The shuttles are plastic Boye shuttles and one has thread on it.

I may have even more but for now, these are going to three lucky winners!

This is thread from Jane's stash and I added a few of my own - all sizes 60, 70, and 80. I may add to this before next Monday if I have time to go through my stash. I purposely photographed it this way so you wouldn't know exactly what colors are there!

Now, from a lucky visit to a second hand store, I got this box of vintage threads. I used one of the balls to hand dye thread. While it does break if I snap it, I tried tatting with it and it was fine closing rings.

One row is size 70 and the other row is size 80. Each winner will get one ball of each. I'll keep the rest.

And then again from Jane's stash, there are nine vintage hankies, plain, with hemstitching so they are easy to attach edgings too. Each winner will get three, one colored and two white. Somebody might get more than one colored but everyone will get at least one.

So, each of the three winners will receive something from each of the photos above and maybe more if I dig up some time and energy.

Please enter only once by leaving a comment on this post only. I will not respond to comments on the blog but I can respond privately. That's only because they are NUMBERED now and I don't want to mess up the sequence.

On Monday, May 31st, in the morning, I will use a random number generator to pick three numbers. Remember, enter only once; make sure I can contact you either through your profile or information you leave; and have fun dreaming!

At some point during my hiatus from blogging, I milestoned a quarter of a million visitors. It's nice to know I'm still interesting. (Very Big Smile) I'm putting together a giveaway so stay tuned. So far, it looks like there will be 3 separate giveaways but they will take place at once.

Here's the last of my hand dyed thread. There are four that are very similar just because I wasn't clear on what was what and it was late and I was running out of steam. I plan to use some of this in my needlelace and RPL also. In fact, I already used the dark green to do the outline in my leaf. You can see it on my other lace blog.

Then, the other night, I happened to find yet MORE dye in baggies in a cup that I'd forgotten about so I decided to try dying some of my lace bobbins. I will embellish these with more paint and goodies but this is the dye-stained base.

You saw this motif before. Same thread and same pattern but without beads. Fox tatted it too, but without beads, so.....sssshhhhhh! She's become addicted to beads now and if she sees this, I know she'll do it again WITH beads!

I'm tatting the 3rd motif and deciding what fabric to use for the bag. I had something gold-ish in mind but as I walked out to refresh my drink earlier, my eyes spied this silky purple. Hmmmm....maybe? Don't forget there will be bigger beads/pearls in the center rings.

I was in Trader Buck's yesterday, a flea market sort of place, and saw a purse I really liked only because it had pintucking. I LOVE pintucking. The bag itself was too small and there were no pockets inside in the lining, plus I didn't like the round wooden handles particularly. But it did occur to me that I could use a similar design (i.e. pintucking) in addition to the original design. I still haven't converted the cm to inches to know how big the original is. I may change radically from that once I do know. LOL! I'm feeling ELABORATENESS coming on. Must be from being exposed to all the girly girly things lately! BTW, Mom, Dad & Ellie are home now and the stream of visitors continues. I'll see them again probably on Sunday. This son lives about 45 minutes away so it takes a bit of planning to "drop in". (I always call, no matter how close anyway.)

I have even more I could post about - OH - I did want to mention that I purged my friends list on facebook, limiting it to family and local friends mostly. I get to interact and keep up with the majority of my tatting friends by their blogs, listgroups and emails, so please do not feel offended that I defriended you. It just works better for me to separate it all out.

And I'm off to finish tatting that 3rd motif!

Tatting Tea Tuesday 5/18/10

I'm glad I started this early! Turns out my new granddaughter may very well be born today!

I get mail from my readers every so often, some with questions and some just to say hi and some like to show me something they made that was inspired by something on my blog. Melissa, known as BeeLizbeth online, doesn't have a blog so I asked permission to post what she made.



This was my gift for my mother for Mothers Day. She loved it. It's based on the Square Teapot from Martha Ess' "Tea Is for Tatting." It's made from "Yarnplayer's" Celery, size 20, "Lady Shuttle Maker's" Victorian Valentine, size 50 and some Lizabeth white size 20. I mounted it on a pin back but it was easier to scan before doing that. ~ Melissa

Isn't that creative???? I forgot all about this tea brooch that I posted about last October! And that reminds me, a local library is having Wednesday Tea, with a speaker and all the tea and cookies you can consume (nicely). I'll have to find my pin and wear it along with some earrings I have!

I was hoping I would have time to stitch up a teabag sachet like the one found here at Mademoiselle Chaos but it wasn't to be.

I didn't even have time to email and ask for permission to post photos of the last link and this one. This one is not tatted either but I'm sure it could be. It's a teacup saucer and cup on a ring found at the Bugs & Monstors Etsy Shop.

Okay, ya'll sip your favorite tea, pick up your shuttle and imagine me holding a healthy, beautiful baby girl! Yes, I'm taking my camera!

Comments

I just remembered this morning that I commented on something yesterday and before the comment verification box popped up, I had closed the window. Grrrrrrr

I was on my way out and thought I would come back and try it again...only I forgot and now I don't even remember which blog it was!

This happens a lot. I don't understand why, on some blogs, the verification box is right there at the time you make the comment so you know to complete it, but in other blogs, the verification box pops up after you hit "submit". Many times all you see then is the top of the blog and unless you scroll down to check, you don't even know you needed to put something in the verification box. Frankly, I don't know how my comment box appears. I'm automatically logged in when I go there so I'm not sure how it comes up to others. (note - this part was started last week!)

I now have numbered comments! I told you where to find instructions in my last post but then they didn't seem to work for ME. So I emailed Jon, because she got it to work, and the main difference seemed to be she had her comments "embedded below" which is one of the options in Blogger that I never really understood. When I changed to that format, however, the numbering showed up. Thank you Jon!

Here's a peek at the first batch of threads I dyed last weekend. I finally got them all wound but there is another batch drying. Pat sent home LOTS of the leftover dye and my first chance to use it was Tuesday night. Late. So I dyed the rest of what I had presoaked. I wanted to paint some lace too but couldn't find it and it was too late in the evening to go hunting. It was last night before I rinsed the second batch and it will be ready for me to wind onto floss holders when I get home. I have a new appreciation for those who dye and sell their threads. I would never have the time and patience. Or room. It's fun to do and sparks my creative juices but it would take a lot of prep work for me to do even small amounts.

Look at this GORGEOUS bag by Kathy over at http://www.shawkl.com/

The stitching is incredible and caught my eye first when it was featured in Needlework News over at Craft Gossip. But THEN...I saw the tatted fence! Isn't that clever and doesn't it just fit in so perfectly? Kathy also has a Design Studio where she sells her creations.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

There is a clematis vine on a trellis just outside my garage and I've been noticing a redbird flying away from the very same spot whenever I get close. I took a peek earlier last week and saw there was, indeed, a nest with eggs. I couldn't tell how many as I didn't want to get too close and cause the mother to abandon the nest. My middle son, Jason, took me out to breakfast/lunch today and when we got back, I remembered I had my camera with me after hearing the mom fly past when I got stuff out of the car. So I stuck the camera at what I hoped was a good angle and took two photos. One was just leaves but this one shows at least ONE new birdie in the world. Happy Mum's day Red Lady!

Yesterday, two lace guild members and myself drove up to Chesterton and spent a wonderful morning dying fiber under the tutelage of Pat Winter! I say fiber because they dyed mostly silk ribbon and I dyed cotton thread. It's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun! I was the designated klutz this day, spilling dye a grand total of THREE times! I am not usually this clumsy but I hadn't slept well the two nights previous and it all caught up with me last night. I laid down on the sofa at 9:00 p.m., thinking I'd snooze for 20 minutes or so and then rinse out my threads. HA! I woke up at 10:30 p.m., made my last email check and went to bed, not getting up until 8:30 this morning! I think I was just tired.

So before I left with my son this morning, I rinsed all my threads and hung them to dry. They're still a little damp so I've got out the rest of the skeins I'd presoaked and started finding containers for the dye I brought home with me. I need to go get some more containers. LOL! But I will play more when I return.

Before I left Chesterton yesterday, Pat gifted me with this beautiful seascape brooch and I wore it on my jacket today at the restaurant. I can't get over all the tiny tiny details in it! My son looked at it and said, "hmmm...kinda busy..." LOL! I forgot he had lasik and probably can't see those teensy details all that well.

Last night before I ended up on the sofa, I finished tatting this motif I started the night before. I think the thread is some I bought from Karey Solomon at a Tat Day somewhere. It doesn't show so much in the scan, but I really like the confetti-like appearance.

I got the motif from this book, the picture on page 18 if you have it. It's really kind of hard to see but there are three of them on a bag and it's tatted with beads plus a center pearl is added during stitching to the bag. This one was a test tat for me, to see how the thread and the pattern worked out. I believe I will tat three now, with beads, and also make a bag as instructed and sew the motif to it.

And hey, if you want to see some stunning tatted lacework, go to this website: http://www.artedeldettaglio.com/eng/index.php
This is the home page with a slide show but check out "articles" which shows and describes tatting embellished items that are stunning. I've said before that we tend to tat small items but there are some people who go beyond that and tat works of art. Maybe I should attempt to make something on a larger scale. Some day.

Whaddya Think????

How do you like the new 3 column look? That part really didn't take long because I've done it on another blog or two, but finding a background.....pshew! I'll bet I've looked at two hundred backgrounds this evening and my back hurts and my eyes burn. I don't like the stark white centers but most have that or a dark color which meant I'd have to change the color and font of all my text elements and I wasn't in the mood to do that tonight, so this is it for awhile. I'll still be tweaking it but I've wanted a 3 column blog for ages and ages!

I was at Michael's Crafts at the weekend and they had some grab bags for $2 each. I fondled and poked and pressed the white plastic bag up against whatever was inside looking for something good. I got two bags. One was tagged "artist grab bag" and the other was "misc grab bag". I could tell they had brushes but thought they were the CHEEP craft kind. I was actually hoping for other good stuff in the bag and there were a few things, but THE JACKPOT was a total of 47 artist's brushes between the two! I paint. I have a good supply of basic brushes, but these are all the other brushes I would like to buy but can't justify the expense! I was so excited. I sat at my kitchen counter for well over an hour on Sunday, peeling off the stickers and labels that were on them, looking them all over. Tatting is one of my passions. Painting is the other.

That's Diogi (pronounced like you're spelling D-O-G), my son's cat. I was trying to take a photo of the brushes and she was hoping there was something there for her. Or maybe it was the natural bristle brushes that got her attention. You know...squirrel, sable, badger....

Isn't this beautiful? My daughter crocheted it for her sister-in-law's baby shower - yep, same one I went to! She went to a lot of trouble to get just the right colors as well as the right pattern. It will go in the baby's room very nicely and the green is a nice balance for all that pink!

For those of you who have lots of badges and award signs on your blog, there's a way to manage them! Go to Mommy Moment and learn how to make a scrolling sidebar widget. One reason I stopped accepting awards and such was because it can easily eat up room on your blog and eventually clutters it so much that it's hard to see the newer stuff (and you can see I've already got LOTS of stuff!). They have lots of good information under Blog Tips/Tutorials. I could have used this tip during the OWOH giveaway! It's how to set up your blog for NUMBERED COMMENTS!



Knitting humor! I originally saw this on Little Grey Bungalow but went to YouTube to get a smaller version. Wish tatters came up with some funnies!

No actual tatting this time. I've been working on needlelace and if you've been observant, you noticed I added the link to a new blog up by my picture.

So much to do and so little time!