Clearly I have a boo-boo here! I think I started to finish it right but it looked wrong, so I snipped it out and finished it like this. Now I can see that it is still wrong! So I'll fix it tomorrow or another time. Too late this evening. There is an additional edging that goes around this part. I really don't like this book. I realized after the 2nd join to the center that the chain around the bottom rings needed to be joined together, but it does not mention that anywhere in the pattern. The whole thing is very confusing.

But I shall prevail!!!

Early stage of Sunflower Doily

I got back to the little doily I was working on last night. Didn't get a lot done as I was also working on a little cross-stitch needle roll. Cross-stitch is not one of my strong points and I had to unpick several stitches that I'd put in the wrong place.

In my recent cleaning frenzy, I became aware of a tub of kits I've picked up here and there, on clearance and at garage sales. It is my INTENTION to get some of these made in time for Christmas.........hence the side trip into cross-stitch.

It's easier to see mistakes when it is scanned and enlarged. LOL! I was counting picots on the doily and it looks like at the very beginning, I have too few, but they might just be folded under. I can definitely see where I hid my ends on the center motif, although I'll fix that in the blocking. I'll also even out my picots then. This thread is finer than size 12 - close to the size 80, but slick. And if I have to unpick a stitch, I have to be careful not to separate the threads. Colorwise, I'm anxious to see how it will look when it's complete. I like the way it's taking shape so far. I think this thread would be very striking with the Maple Leaf that was originally in the February 1975 issue of Workbasket. This is Tammy's rendition of it. I've printed it out to try when I'm done with the doily. I tatted the leaf before from the Workbasket pattern and made it into a bookmark for a friend of mine. I think I will do the same for another friend, using this pattern, and see if it works up a bit easier. I think for the bookmark, I just eliminated the stem for all but the bottom motif - hmmmm, I think I put a tassel there. I'll have to go look at my photos. I remember I made a mistake on the last leaf, missing a ring! And it was a thread sample Nell sent me so I couldn't go back and make another one because I didn't have enough thread. LOL! So my friend definitely has a one-of-a-kind.

Well, think I'll fix a late breakfast and motivate myself to do something not computer related.

Speaking of male tatters, look at the work of this prolific tatter in Poland. Look in the gallery (galeria) for eye candy. I particularly liked the hats and vests. I tried one of the online translator sites, but Polish wasn't listed. Oh, I liked the baskets with flowers too.

I'm hoping to get in a little tatting in this evening. I need to start switching over to winter clothing too. All the sandals are put away but I need to haul out the sweaters and sweatshirts.

I'm not sure now where I put some of my tatting when going through that cleaning blitz.

Once I get the carpeting scheduled, I can put things back in order. Hopefully it will be soon!

There are some fantastic male tatters - almost all are designers too, I've noticed. Browsing around on the web tonight, I find this site by Tatt-ED . And he's designed this lovely doily, Sarah's Claddagh Doily , and has posted the directions on his site too. This is a nice one to frame or attach to a little pillow. He's designed a dragonfly too, if you are collecting dragonfly patterns - I've seen several now.

Of course, everyone knows about the Houtz brothers, Gary and Randy. Everytime I see them at a lace event, I have to look at their shuttles and watch them tat with the innovation that they do. I have one of their shuttles, and shame on me, for not making myself sit down and learn how to use it.


There's Ben Fikkert, a Dutch tatter with his own books and designs too.

Look at this gorgeous fan by male/female team Edwige Renaudin & Sylvain Le Guen.

The Tatmeister! Let's not forget the great historian of tatting - consultant to the Lace Museum. He has some patterns as well as photos of his own intricate work. Fascinating story of how he came to be a tatter too.

And then there is Mark, our very own Tatman. I'll be seeing Mark on Oct. 18th when I attend the Ft. Wayne Tatting Day! I met Mark and his lovely wife, Kim, a few years ago at the Indy I.O.L.I. And wow! He's got a blogger himself!

Well, I didn't intend to focus on male tatters this evening, but it just kept on rollin'! And I've missed a few. I remember a David from Australia, and another Tatman, Roger? who does needle tatting. You'll find him on the MSN Tatting Needle Two group. And there was another fellow who's name escapes me now, but I remember he went to Ireland the year after I did and managed to hook up with a tatter I didn't know about.

Oops! Almost forgot Tim Tenclay. Not sure I have a link for him.

Maybe by the weekend I can show you my little doily in the sulky thread.

Today, two co-workers and myself went up north to do some farm inspections. I took some tatting with me to do while riding. I decided to try the Sunflower doily in Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. I'm using a Sulky variegated, #932-2245, in Autumn colors. It's a slick feeling thread and quite small. The thing I don't like about this book is that it never tells you when to reverse your work. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. It can take me a while to figure it out from the photograph and I really wish they had gone to the bother to note it.

I've spent all evening cleaning out 3 bedrooms so the guy who is coming to measure for carpet tomorrow can get around. That means much of my tatting is now scattered in bins and down in the basement.


Hmmmmm, I'll bet that variegated thread would make a great cat from Becky's book! Sort of a tortoise colored cat.

sigh......................I'll be busy much of the next 2 evenings so very little tatting will get done.

HUMMERS!!!

Finally, I got the little bugger done!

I almost gave up on the metallic thread because it would break and be nearly impossible to attach a new thread to without a big knot. I did have to attach a new thread once, in the wing picots. I learned to go very very slowly. So there it is, attached to a cord with flower at the end, to make a bookmark. I have it in the envelope and after a short note, it will go to a friend whose hummingbirds enchanted me.

This is an adaptation of Sherry Matthews' hummer, which I linked to before. The thread is Sulky metallic #142-7027. I also used it as a blending filament with the black (DMC size 80 tatting thread) to make the flower and cord. It behaved very nicely while it was with the black. The changes I made in Sherry's design were where the chains began in the wings. I made the first chain as the directions say but after that I completed the row with 4 ds, p, 4 ds, j below. Then coming back, I ch 5 ds, p, 5 ds, j below. The last ch was something like ch 7 and attached to the last p. The next row of chains was something like ch 1, long p, ch 1 for a total of 4 long p, then attach to the row below. I used a picot gauge to graduate the size of the picots, going from largest at the tip of the wing to smallest near the body. I ended up just making chains to go from ring to ring in the lower body after the wings. In some birds, I made some big picots at the tail end and some I didn't It does give the impression of tail feathers a bit though.

Now what am I going to do with all these practice hummers?????

I've been spending Thursday evenings at my sister's house, scrapbooking. She creates superb memory books, while I approach it with good intentions - that means I never get around to it. So we've started working on them together so I can work through the tons of photos I have and put them in some kind of order. Right now I'm working on a book about my east coast trip, but I'm hoping it will motivate me enough to get the four kids' books done. By Christmas.

So that's where I went right after work last night and my outside light wasn't on so I barely saw Jan's mail (in a tin!) sitting on the porch floor. It wasn't until this morning, as I fed the cats that I saw a package on the ledge. Bugs & Beasts by Becky Dempsey! Click on her name if you want to know how to order your own. I admired Becky's cat a long time ago when I saw it in a Birthday card RR hosted by Maus. Besides the cat, I also particularly like the bunny rabbit and the squirrel.

This has just been the greatest week! I made plans this week to visit Hope Green in November!!! Hope has been such an inspiration to me. She once sent me her samples of the split chain to help me see how it would look. Once I mastered split chains, there was nothing I couldn't do in the world of tatting! I love comparing notes with her and this visit will be a real treat. I may wear the same clothes for days to save room in my luggage for all the tatting stuff I'll bring. LOL!

On top of all that, I've been visually entertained by yet another friend's awesome photos of the landscape, sunrises, and nature around his home in Vermont.

I also got to spend an hour or so with another friend I seldom hear from on IM the other night. I swear, I'm just blissin' out here! How much better will the coming days get???


OH, not meaning to forget the surprise package from another friend with CD's and pressed flowers and a cool wire lizard.........and other little goodies. And of course, the shuttle from Jan. And the fellow who hand delivered my ebay win (an MP3 player for my son).

My friend Jan, a non-tatter who lives in Washington, sent me her Grandmother Bellknap's shuttle. It even had a bit of old thread on it that I tatted into a blossom. This is the only French Ivory shuttle I have that I know the history of. Thank you so much Jan!

Here is a bookmark I made a few years ago. I saw it in an exchange or website and was intrigued by the interwoven picots. I finally tracked down the person who made it and she was able to give me the following directions to help me work out my own.

Each chain has 4ds, 1 lpic, 1ds, 1lpic, 1ds, 1lpic, 4ds, 1lpic, 1ds, 1lpic,
1ds, 1lpic, 4ds........ does that help? ;o) ( per Cygnett777 - I still don't know her name).

While visiting Bina's page, I found one done by Riet. I like the form of hers a bit better. It looks like the directions are in Dutch, if that is them behind the photo. Perhaps that was where mine originally came from - I do remember I decided to make the clovers instead of rings, but I'm not sure what else I changed. It found a home elsewhere so I don't have it anymore.

And here are photos from The Feast of the Hunter's Moon. There are hundreds of individual tents/locations. We have a prime spot not far from the entrance. The spinners were close to us, after the knife maker. I ran out of film before I could get more photos. The Indians and the Voyagers were missed, for instance.

The sign that explains it all.

The Lafayette Lacers tent among others.

A closer view of our spot.

The wind was ready to take my bonnet. Bette is next to me. I'm not sure who the other lady is. She and her husband are both in the photo.

Tatting Day with Heirloom Corner

Finally, here are the photos from September 6, 2003. For some reason, while I was in NY, the date feature on my camera was activated, but it was the wrong date, showing 1994. LOL! I just now changed it, but I have several rolls of film that have the date with 1994 stamped on the photos.

I don't remember everyone's names, unfortunately. Click on the photo to see a larger version. Thanks to my friend Tim for helping me figure out how to do thumbnails!

Here is Kaye with the group.

Mary Harris and Janet Groves

Mary Ann who entertained us with a wonderful shuttle story she had written at the end.

Ceil and granddaughter - 2 of the 3 generations of that family that come every year.

Some of the shuttles collected by Carol. She brought 3 cases of them!

I finished another hummer last night but I'm still not happy with it. It's that tail end that I can't figure out exactly how I want it. I'm scrapbooking at my sister's tonight so I may not have time to work it out, but I'm off tomorrow afternoon - going hunting for carpet and running some other errands I've not been able to get to.

Got another fake ebay email yesterday. Two in 2 days. I just forward them on to Ebay's spoof/spam section. Every time they tell me it's fraud. Good thing. If I had thought it was real, I wouldn't have bid on the MP3 player I got for my son's birthday. He found it yesterday so I bid and ended up winning. LOL! The seller just lives in the next town over. Could almost go pick it up.

The last tea-for-one that I bid and won was actually 2 of them..........and I don't want 2, so I'll be listing that extra one before long. If I ever have time to list stuff again. I'm looking for another digital camera too. Mine is outdated for the computer, altho I could probably find a patch or new drivers that adapt, but I want something that does detail better. At the time, it was a decent camera. I'll see what my sister has tonight too.

I'm looking for other tatting blogs. So far, I've only found 4 or 5 true tatting blogs. There are tons of knitting ones, but I want TATTING! I'm going to create links here for your viewing pleasure. I'll also link some tutorials that are good. One of my appointments today for an ergo expressed a desire to learn to tat, so we'll get together one of these days and do that.

I'm also picking up some reliable info for thumbnails so I can put more detailed photos on to link to.

Almost time to go!

I thought I messed this up as everything looked way too big at work, but it looks fine at home. I picked up photos from the Tatting Day with Heirloom Corner and some shots of the tent at the Feast, but I meant to be in bed a half hour ago. I'm off now.

I sat down to tat this evening and realized I left my current tatting on top of a file cabinet in my office.

So, I decided to try out the metallic thread I bought over the weekend at JoAnn Fabrics. I wanted something shimmery and with red/green to simulate the hummingbirds colorful shimmery body. So here is my test of 3ds rings and chains. What I don't like about metallic thread is that the metallic part breaks and exposes the white core thread. I have another thread of the right color to use, but it has no shimmer to it and it's a size 12 - a tad bit bigger than I want.


I tatted a snowflake during the winter with a gold metallic and it was a big pain. I'm not sure I really want to tackle 2 hummers with this thread. Yet I'm sure it will be beautiful if I do.

I also bought a nice variegated in autumn colors in the Sulky too. It's a bit heavier thread and not metallic. I need to wrap this hummer up so I can get on to other stuff. Like the reindeer that is half done.

I bought these two shuttles at The Feast of the Hunter's Moon. The smaller one is brass and the other is a pierced bone shuttle. Same pierced design as the one I got at I.O.L.I., but this one is narrower. I was hoping they were a different design too, but that's okay. Actually, I got this one cheaper. Plus, the dear man took a dollar off each one since I was getting 2 of them. Whoo-whee!

It rained through the night, which did cool things off, but they warmed in the afternoon. I was getting sweaty in all those clothes! After my time slot of demonstrating, I walked around and checked everything out. Only bought the 2 shuttles. I was kind of looking for some yarn to knit a shawl for the next feast, but I didn't find any I considered affordable. $10.00 per skein................probably a fair price for hand-spun and dyed, but I've seen better hand spun and dyed, so I decided to look around for awhile.

Lots of good stuff to eat.......................so I ignored my diet for the day. I've lost 10 pounds, it's okay to have an off day. Before my demo, I had an herbed pork chop, an apple sundae, and a lemon drink. Then after, I got some smelt and a diet coke, then found an apple dumpling, and then a honey butter croissant. If I'd known there were apple dumplings at the other end, I would not have gotten the sundae - it was just apple slices drizzled in caramel with peanuts, but it would have been easy to pass up. Then I had no room for French Onion Soup, or Ham & Beans, or Corn on the cob, or a buffalo burger, or Voyager Stew, or................lots of other stuff. But I definitely wanted an apple dumpling and a french pastry.

If I eat at all tonight, it will be a lettuce salad. I don't want anything else that is heavy.

I wasn't well prepared for the Feast this year. I was so busy getting my outfit done that I didn't look up any background historical stuff to refresh my memory. I almost forgot to bring some extra thread. Maybe next year.

The Iroquois were dancing and socializing again. Same people, I recognized the singer. Then there was a celtic band.......singing bawdy songs and having a great time with the crowd. Watched a bit of the canoe races. It was a lovely day even if it was warm with the clothing.



Well, time to catch up on chores here at home.

Check out Get Crafty. Down near the bottom there is an ad for a crocheted skull. The cool part though, is that you can click on the link and it will download (you have to have flash for it to show) and then when you put your cursor over the skull, it spins like crazy!

I finished the chemise and one skirt tonight. I'd like to make another skirt, although they are so bulky with those dingy drawstring waists..................and Cathy is letting me borrow a cap in case I don't get mine made. People are so funny. Cathy mentioned in her email that there was a chance of rain on Saturday but Sunday looked very good. Then Wilma, our dept. secretary, Ms. Doom & Gloom, made a point of telling me thunderstorms were predicted both Saturday and Sunday. I'm counting on the sunny day myself.

So far, I've made 4 hummers and I'm not entirely happy with any of them. Close, almost...............but not quite. I couldn't work on it again tonight - had to start my feast clothes. The chemise is almost done, just working on the neck casing. The skirt is pinned together so that will only require seams and a casing. Also want to make an underskirt or overskirt - not sure which it will be. I don't know if I will have time tomorrow night or not.



I can't seem to get the body curve just exactly the way I want. Soon, however, soon.

Well, here are the remnants of Tat Day with Heirloom Corner. It was a joint effort, with Kaye Judt, Mary Harris, and Jennifer Titus sharing preparations. Jennifer held it in her quilt shop, The ZigZag Corner. It was a little challenging to find, but I only went past it once. Last year I had a devil of a time finding the location, which was different from this one. There were many of the same faces, plus a few new ones. I remembered to take photos this year - last year, we all forgot. There was a little mixer to remind ourselves what we had in common. Then we had show and tell. Merie has a beautiful shawl in the works. I love the shuttle collection of Carol's. Too many individual items for me to remember now.

Then we broke for lunch - prepared by Jennifer and delicious!

We had a class by Mary Harris showing us how to do the lockstitch chain, up there in the upper right. I stumbled around a bit at first, but then you can see where I "got it". She also showed us how to make the same size picots on a ring, using a crochet hook or other round cylinder to measure. Then Kaye showed us how to make the motif I have started in pink and blue. She had it done in red and white and it looked candy-striped. I only got 2 of the 4 rings done right. Clearly, I'm going to need to practice this technique. Then we had a tat-off, run by Mary Harris and Mary Ann won that. That's what the white edging is - my practice strip. We all ended up with prizes though. And in between it all, we went in and shopped in Jennifer's shop. I ended up getting 3 balls of size 80 thread.

And we got this incredibly nice tote bag with a pocket!

It really is so much fun getting together with other tatters!

The threads are here!!!! This is machine embroidery thread so it is on spools like sewing thread and about the same thickness. It's quite strong and a little slick but I also got knots easily as it tends to unflip if I went too fast. Unfortunately, the sun was already too far down in the horizon to have time to get the ultraviolet reaction. So here is the butterfly I quickly and loosely tatted. Maybe tomorrow I can show it to you as a purple butterfly!


In the meantime, I'm going to work on the hummer again. I didn't like the second version last night. Something wasn't right.

later................I taped it to the car window while driving so it would be exposed to light. It did get lavendar, but didn't stay. It seems it only changes when exposed to UV light and then goes back to white when the light it gone. bummer!

Whoo-Hoo! I just ordered some threads from here. What a cool thread to play tat with! They are white but change color with exposure to sun, or I imagine heat, like body heat. You can also get color threads that morph to another color. And lots of other items, like beads, appliques, nail polish.......

Wish I would have them in time for Tatting Day - - - oh well.

I have an excuse to tat a hummingbird now. Found 4 patterns!!!! First, I thought I might do Kathy Lowe's hummer. It might be too big for my purpose, however. Then I remembered seeing one in my books so I went on a search to compare. I found one in Tatting Online by Elizabeth C. Zipay and another in Tatting With Friends by Jana Nicol-Holley. Both books can be ordered through Georgia Seitz but she's in the middle of a big move so it may be awhile before anyone can order, likely sometime in October. Both of those hummers were outlines though and I want it filled in. I contacted Carol A., remembering she brought one to our Lace Day in April that she made. Gorgeous colors, but hers was in 3D and stuffed. I need a flat one. She led me to here , where I found a hummer by Sherry Matthews, as well as numerous other patterns. A nice MSN Needle Tatting group to join, if anyone is interested. I've decided to use Sherry's as a model, but I wanted different wings, with long and graduated picots, to give that fluttery effect. So far, so good. I'm ready now for the tail and beak, not sure what I'm going to do with the tail as I don't want rings - actually, an idea just came to me. I'm making this into a bookmark so it needs to be tiny - I'm using DMC size 80 tatting thread. I'll put the hummer at both ends of a tatted cord done in ric rac or twist stitch. With this fine thread, it will be about perfect. The body now is about 1 1/4" long and the wings are a bit longer. I may change the wings to make them a bit shorter. With the long picots, it might look better.

I taught myself to tat in 1998. I can't believe how much tatting related stuff I have accumulated in five years! Once upon a time, I could fit everything into a little wicker case, not much bigger than a lunch box. Sure can't say that anymore! I've got the two towers filled and once I have the bookcase where I want it, it will hold everything else. I hope!



I'll show the hummer bookmark when I'm done. I'm still playing with the design for now.

Somehow, Witt's webpage disappeared, but no matter, she made a new one. I'll bet that book of poetry about the chickens is good too!

I started this yesterday and got sidetracked with other things. I'm still sorting and cleaning. It's really hard not to stop and try some of the things I've found and forgotten I had! LOL! I found a cross-stitch card kit that I bought on clearance cheeeeeeep with the intention of putting tatting into it. I found books I sorta forgot I had. I have sooooo much thread - time to get to tatting and using some up. But first, I have to make some clothes for the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. "The Feast of the Hunters' Moon is a re-creation of the annual fall gathering of the French and Native Americans which took place Fort Ouiatenon, a fur-trading outpost in the mid - 1700s. It is held annually in early autumn on the banks of the Wabash River, four miles southwest of West Lafayette, Indiana. More than 8,000 participants re-enact this event creating a feast for your senses. Smell the wood smoke, hear the report of the rifles, savor authentic food and more"

It's usually held the early part of October but the date was changed this year for some reason. I think it will work out better. October either rains or is sooo cold. Last year was just perfect though. I even got a little warm, sitting out there on my bale of straw, demonstrating tatting. A tad bit uncomfortable too. I really wish they had Renaissance Fairs locally. No tatting then, but I love the atmosphere of that time period.

Well, more busy stuff to attend to today.

I just found a new source for tatting instructions. Not only tatting, but just about any needleart you can think of, including how to make your own whip and hammock, and including Japanese links. All these things too! Didn't you always want to know how to make and wear a sarong??

Instructions for Sewing Yukata (Unlined Kimono)
Making the Rubakha Pattern (Russian garment)
Simplistic Instructions on How to Make a Kilt
Making a Mongol Coat
Making Turko-Mongol Trousers or Turko-Persian Pants
How to Tie Headtie and Wrapper
How to Tie and Wear a Sarong
Sarong Ties, Uses, etc....
Ways to Wear Sarongs or Pareos
How To Make A Skyrong (sarong wrap skirt)

I was looking at the Free Pattern site today since I haven't been there in ages. There are a few new tatting patterns, mostly cro-tatting, if anyone is interested.

While I was there, and since I do multiple crafts and needlearts, I checked out the others too and found a 3D crocheted apple. It looks like a lot of chain stitches ........ so I'm thinking I can convert this to tatting, I'll betcha! The stem and leaf looked fairly solid - meaning it's a good excuse to practice cluny leaves. So I'll put this project in line with all the others. LOL!

I'm sooooo thinking of Christmas. Ideas bippedy-bopping galore!

It looks like I have the twin towers in my living room. Both 5 drawer storage bins are there while I sort tatting stuff into them. One is for threads, the other for everything else you use in tatting, except for the books. I'm wondering if I can really fit everything in them. They are also on wheels, which is very convenient. I could conceivably roll them to wherever I'm tatting and not be jumping up and down looking for this and that.

One drawer is absolutely stuffed with size 20 thread. I don't think I can get any more into it and I found 4 more balls last night. And I still haven't sorted the stuff in my bedroom. Most of that is supplies, but I know there is thread in there too.

I'm putting all the beads in one drawer. I'm not sure my compartmentalized container will fit. I think it is too long.

I'm putting frames and other ways to display tatting in another drawer.

Which reminds me, I bought a clear glass lidded vase at Walmart yesterday. They also have a shorter version, more like an apothecary jar with a flat lid. I think I can put a small tatted motif in the lid and then potpourri in the jar!!! Or maybe decorative soaps - I got all that soap making stuff for Xmas and have only made soap once. Time to get busy again. I used the blue motif I posted earlier to test my theory last night. I need to make some kind of cardboard base circle underneath to hold it in place and just have a receipt wadded up in there right now, but the colored cardboard/tagboard will work nicely.

Tatting Day with The Heirloom Corner on the 6th. I need to send my registration fee in and get busy decorating a shuttle. Ooooh, oooh - ideas are jumping into my head!!

I've been meaning to mention that the August issue of Anna has needle tatting in it. There are a couple of doilies, a couple of doily edgings and a couple of decorative bands. I'm intrigued with what they did with the bands. One is a tie on a candle and the other is threaded through one of those decorative bowls/plates that have the holes around the outer edge. It's really a very nice touch. You could use any insertion pattern.

I'm trying to finish up another sample motif. I was testing a new thread and a new pattern. I don't think I put enough on the shuttles though. I also got my crinoline girl pattern out. Soon!

Hot Damn! I can't believe I forgot! I was sitting here on the computer thinking about posting and remembered I had a package in the mail from Georgia!!!! It's the chess set pattern!!!! Whoo-Hoo! Now, who wants to take bets on whether I can get it done for Christmas???? My son-in-law collects chess sets, so this is perfect. I also know he wants one of my tatted rosaries too.

I got busy when I got home and forgot all about opening the package. LOL! I've been in town already and bought a 2nd five drawer bin for my tatting stuff and while I was there, I saw these pearly muliticolored plastic bracelets for kids - well, I just had to buy some to do the tatting in a circle thing. Also picked up some paint cards because I want to paint a room.

Some days just can't get any better.



Oh yeah, here's the motif I was working on - nearly forgot that too!

Now that school is starting again, the stores are full of back-to-school stuff, including storage bins. I was in Walmart tonight and gave in and bought a 5 drawer see through thing. Perfect for storing my tatting supplies in because I can see what is where. I think I need another one though. This one will probably only hold my thread, now that I've started filling it up. I need a second one for the "embellishments", as I like to call them.

Yahoo! I'm easing back into tatting again. I finished a motif out of one of the books I bought at I.O.L.I., Tatting for the Beginner - Snowflakes, Crosses, and Edgings. Already, I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner. The 1st one I made has an error in the pattern, showing 4 repeats of 2 ds and most have a p between, but one didn't say p, so I put it in there or it would have been 4 ds between. So I ended up with 4 p that I had to continue throughout. No problem, but I can see now that the 2 ds was a repeat in error. Now I'm working on a 2nd motif and it calls for a "tie, clip" which I assume means cut and tie - but I changed it to make a mock p, since the next round starts at the p. The chain stitches are designated as "ball 4 ds". LOL! I wondered if it was from another country and then I read the very front and see these were by a woman now deceased, so I think it may be a mixture of old and new techniques melded into one woman's way of expression. The patterns are nice, but I think it would be difficult for a beginner to work out. So here is the 1st motif and I wondered what I could do with it? Ta-Da! I stuck a ribbon through it for an instant bookmark, but what I would really do is make a series of these motifs, attaching them at the appropriated picots, and then thread the ribbon through. Or use a wider ribbon. This one slips through too easily.

The one I am working on now is red and size 50 Flora so it should be smaller. It's a sort of flower shape. I'm looking for something suitable to put in a small frame. That reminds me, I bought some 5 x 7 frames in Cape Cod with a shell motif on the frame, so I'm looking for a suitable motif for that and just thought of one! Jane's seahorse! And there are several fish motifs. Now what about color? The frames are a sand color. I don't know where I want to put them yet either.

My youngest son just moved out so my entire house is going to be slowly revamped. Who knows where my craft room will end up? Might as well be the living room! LOL!

Look at this tatting by Minako - very fine thread - you can see the comparison with the coins!

I've been reading this little book about tatting - about one woman's journey of self-discovery in the process of learning to tat. My oh my! I do identify with her! It took me literally weeks also to self-teach myself this craft. I also describe it as my passion - this teasing of thread and air into something delicate and wispy, yet amazingly strong. The search for patterns, the intricacies of dozens of threads. Soother of discomfort.

It's a nice little read. Perfect for the tatter who is temporarily out of commission yet yearns for the world/word of tatting. A nice collection of the myriad of thoughts we all have at one time or another as our shuttle or needle plys the thread.

You can order it from Witt herself by emailing: wittsc@virtual1.net
The cost is $10.00 plus shipping US$.

The days have just been packed! I'm reading a book about tatting that I'll tell you about later, maybe tomorrow. I forgot and left it at work tonight.

This evening I put away a lot of the shopping I did on vacation. Rediscovered treasures! I got a little teapot chimes in Cape Cod. A teapot cookie cutter plus spices for tea cookies in Vermont. A book about herbs. Maple syrup. Two necklaces and a pair of earrings made from coal. One of the necklaces is a cameo made from coal. Two hanging candle holders that are completely different in Cape Cod. I have about 3 in my bedroom as it is. I got these to put in the living room though. I like hanging candles.

And here are the tea-for-ones I found on my trip. The yellow one is from Vermont. The one on the far right is one I found in an antique store in Montreal, hand painted even! The other 3 are from Cape Cod.

Here are the 2 samples from the book Snowflake Roses by Denise Munoz. The pastel variegated is some Altin Basak I had and the turquoise variegated is the Oliver Twist thread I bought at I.O.L.I.



And here are my new shuttles, also purchased at the I.O.L.I.

Not a bit of tatting lately, but I'll be home soon and will catch up. Might do a bit shortly as it is a quiet moment during my visit. In Montreal right now. I found a tea-for-one earlier in an antique shop that I will go back and get later. I'm having a wonderful time!

I'm resting up today for the next week's travel. Last 2 days were in NY - didn't buy much but spent it with friends - much better time doing that anyway

Off and on today, I've been working on a 2nd rose snowflake from that same book. This one is tatted from the Oliver Twist - a royal blue variegated in size 70 or 80, don't remember for sure which. It's almost done. It's quite a fine thread, smooth, and working up nicely. Would like to have it just a smidgeon bigger though. I drove around a bit and found a 7-11 and got some chips and diet pepsi twist.

One of the books I bought at the I.O.L.I. convention is "Snowflake Roses" by Denise Munoz. I really like the motifs. I started one today while I was doing my single load of laundry at the hotel facilities, and tried to work it a bit on the bus ride to NY, but gave up after an exceptionally long tunnel. But I'm sure I'll have it done by the time I get home and I can scan it for show & tell.