Back to school

I  haven't had a lot of time to tat this week because it's back-to-school time.  I've been busy buying clothes and school supplies, meeting teachers and filling out paperwork.  School starts on Aug. 27.  Although I love summer with a more laid back schedule, I am looking forward to having some time to myself while the munchkins are at school.  

Over the last couple weeks, I have purchased two new vintage shuttles and several spools of Perfect Quilter thread, so most of my tatting has been playing with my new toys.  I love how the PQ thread tats and whipped up this pair of earrings.

motif # 12

The pattern is "Mirror" from Jan Stawasz's Tatted Treasures. The picture of this pattern in the book looks much larger, but with such small thread, the motif is probably about 1 inch from top to bottom.  The color is called Easter Egg, and it's a variegated pink/purple, even thought the dark purple looks black in the photo.

I also attempted to make the "Tiny Square Teapot" from Martha Ess' Tea is for Tatting, but missed a join and then skipped a line in the pattern and decided to bail on the project and start all over.

The trefoil at the top is supposed to be centered over the motif, but is lopsided because of the missed join and incorrect count on the chain leading up to that trefoil.  It only took me about an hour to get that far, so it wasn't like I'd lost 2 or 3 days of work.  This is also in a Perfect Quilter thread, color "Denim."  It is a variegated blue, the darkest color being dark blue, not black as it appears here.