Thank you Sally

All the way from across the pond, and just in time to lift my spirits, is a lovely package from Sally from Tat's Heaven, a beautiful Rosewood post shuttle handmade by "I'm in the garage."

It goes so nicely with my Applewood pop-a-bobbin shuttle, that I decided to tat something using both shuttles.  I'll show you what it is when it's finished. : )  But Sally didn't send just a shuttle, I got all these other goodies, too.

The shuttle came wrapped in that adorable little burgandy bag with a beautiful heart motif on the outside. But that's not all:  I also got some lovely flowery coasters and the whole package smelled wonderful with the rose sachet.  Thank you Sally for a great giveaway!

For my Dad

I want to dedicate this post to my father, Charles Collins, who passed away on June 27 at the age of 87.

He was a wonderful man and a good father.  He will be dearly missed.  He was the first man I wanted to marry when I was 6 years old.

I will get back to posting about tatting soon.  I do have some things to show.

Test Tatting and a few Other Things

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted.  The end of the school year just finished and that is always a busy time: end of year projects, concerts, teacher gifts, etc.  But school ended last Friday and we are now officially in Summer!!  The weather has been hot and sunny and we have been going to the neighborhood pool every day.

I was one of the lucky test tatters for Robin Perfetti's new snowflake pattern.  I tested "Crystalline" and I really love this snowflake.

This one is tatted in size 40 Lizbeth Blue Ice.  It measures about 3 1/2 inches.  It's tatted in three rounds.  The first two rounds make a really nice round medallion for a necklace.

 I may try to add beads to it and see how it looks as jewelry.

I made a second version of this snowflake in size 80 white Lizbeth thread.

This time I omitted the thrown rings between the points of the snowflake in the final round, one of the options in the pattern.  It gives the snowflake a more pointy look.  Here they are side by side.

The size 80 snowflake measures about 3 inches across.  I think I like the size 40 thread better for hanging on a Christmas tree.  It makes more of a statement, but the little 80 thread size is very dainty and delicate.  I really can't decide.  Anyway, Robin's snowflake patterns will be for sale soon on her Etsy site.  She has a link on her blog.

For teacher gifts this year I made bookmarks.

This beautiful pattern is by Jane Eborall and you can find it here.  I think this pattern is so cleaver the way it intertwines flowers and vines, and it tats up pretty quick once you understand all the little twists and turns.

And finally, I am still working on Renulek's  2015 Spring doily.

I'm about two thirds around the pretty tulip round and still working on it off and on.  I can't work on a project this big all the time.  I like the little snowflakes and bookmarks to give me a sense of accomplishment.  I hope to finish this doily by the end of the year.

So, you see, I have been tatting, just not blogging.  But now that summer is here, I should have more time for both!

Awesome Cross and Doily Update

I recently finished this cross designed by Robin Perfetti and I can't tell you how much I love this pattern.

I love the density of this pattern.  Even though it's tatted in size 80 thread, it is of substantial size, about 5 1/2 by 3 3/4 inches.  The pattern is easy to follow, but you have to pay attention.  Each ring of the "scallop" is a slightly different stitch count.  It lays very nice and flat without blocking or even ironing.  The two colors make it look like a cross within a cross, but I would also like to try it in a solid color. I used Lizbeth Lime Green Medium and Azalea Medium in size 80.  You can find the pattern for free here on Robin's blog.  It's called the "Priscella Cross."

And here is my Renulek 2015 Spring doily after round 7.

It's getting big, about 8 1/2 inches across in size 50 thread.  Can't wait to tackle the next round.

Happy Easter

Hope everyone has a happy Easter!

And it wouldn't be Spring in Texas without bluebonnets.

More Doily and Easter Egg

I'm making steady progress on Renulek's 2015 Spring Doily. This scan was taken after round 6.

I'm now a couple rounds behind, but that is partly by design.  When I was keeping up and completing the rounds as they were being published, I found some tips on other blogs that would have been helpful.  I couldn't take advantage of those tips because I was already on the next round.  So I'm going to lag behind, let ya'll make the mistakes and publish tips. Then I'll swoop in and do the round the easiest way possible.  Does that make me a tatting cheater?

Another reason I've fallen behind is that other projects are always beckoning.  I have always loved Renulek's tatting embellished Easter eggs, so I'm in the process of making some.  I got these eggs at Hobby Lobby and painted them to look like this.

  I added a couple layers of Mod Podge to seal in the color.  Then I tatted this pattern.  Here's how it turned out.

When I wrap it around the egg, it overlaps slightly, maybe because my eggs are not exactly the same size as Renulek's.  I'm not quite sure how to finish it off.  I'm thinking I can apply a layer of Mod Podge to the back of the tatting and glue it around the egg, then glue rings with 6 picots each to the top and the bottom to lace thread through.  Any suggestions?

Doily Update and Snow!!

I continue to make progress on the Renulek Spring 2015 doily, but not without some setbacks.  Here is round 5 completed.

This was the perfect time for a light press as it was ruffling a little and those little flowers were not behaving themselves at all.  Since the rings of the flowers are not joined together, they tend to get all wonky, so I pressed each one into place. That way, I wouldn't have to untwist them when they were joined in round 6.  I had a few issues starting round 6,  mainly of my own making.  I misinterpreted the pattern and started joining the larger rings (12-12) onto the wrong picot of the previous chain.  The round was ruffling badly, so sadly, I took the scissors and snip, snip.  Luckily, I had only completed a couple pattern repeats.

As you may have seen or experienced, the US is having a crazy winter, and the craziness finally came to Texas.  We usually get about one snow/ice storm per winter where the kids get off school. Up until last week, we had not had any serious winter weather and I thought that we would get through the season with no snow days.  But in the last two weeks, the kids got off Feb. 23-24 for ice, early release on Feb. 27 for snow, and the again today for snow.  If it doesn't warm up enough today to melt the snow and ice, we may have tomorrow off as well.  Since we get so little winter weather in Texas, there are basically no snow ploughs or equipment to clear the streets. Mother Nature has to do that for us.  Here are some pictures of my daughter playing in the snow from last week.