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.

Spring Doily 2015 update

Here is my spring doily after 4 rounds.

I'm using Omega thread in size 50.  The color is called "Natural" and looks like unbleached cotton, white, but not bright white.  It gives the doily a very old fashioned look.  I have actually finished round 5, but haven't scanned it yet.  So for the first time ever, I am actually caught up to the current round.  If you would like to join the fun, go to Renulek's blog (click on link) and scroll down till you get to round one.  She releases the pattern for each round on Friday.  It is great fun and tatters from all over the world are making the same doily in many differnt colors.

Doily Update

When Renulek started posting the pattern for her 2015 Spring doily, I really wanted to jump on board immediately, but still had not finished the 2014 Spring doily.  I told myself I would not start another large project until I finished the 2014 doily, so here it is in all it's glory.

It's not yet blocked and ruffles a little around the edges (which is my own fault because I misread the pattern somewhere around row 10 or 11, omitting a thrown ring all the way around, but I figured since the mistake was consistent, it wouldn't matter.)  Hopefully I can block it into submission.  I plan on sewing it to a piece of fabric and framing it, so I might be able to sew the ruffles down.
This is my first large project, and I learned a lot about myself as a tatter.  First, that it is okay to put the project away for awhile when I got bored with the colors or the pattern.  Taking a break with smaller projects gave me the short term gratification of completion.  Second, no matter how little I accomplished in one sitting, every stitch counts.  Some days I only managed to complete 2 rings and chains.  But there is a finite number of stitches to every project and as long as you keep at it, it will get done.  Third, the final product is worth the rounds of tedious repitition.  There were times when I wanted to quit because I was so bored with the same old stitch count.  But I stuck with it and am very proud of the result.  So it's on to the next doily.  This is what I have so far of the Renulek 2015 Doily.

I`m actually almost done with round 3, but haven't taken a picture of that round yet.  I chose a traditional off white color this time (Omega 50 Natural) because I have seen so many lovely doilies in a traditional solid color that are just beautiful.  Now, Omega is not my favorite thread.  It's a bit uneven in places a little softer than Lizbeth, but The Tatting Corner is having a sale on this thread, 50% off.  I cannot pass up a bargain, so I stocked up on the colors I like as this is a close out sale and will probably not be available anymore.

New Tatting Book

I purchased a new tatting book a couple weeks ago, as if I need another book.  It's called "Tatting Patterns 3" by Elaine Gan (not Grace Tan, sorry!!).  I'm always looking for small patterns to use up left-over thread on my shuttles, and this book is perfect for that. It contains mostly jewelry patterns.  Here are a few things I have tatted from this book so far.

As you can see, I haven't sewn in any of the ends yet, but you get the idea of what they look like.  The patterns are very easy to follow as there are in both written and diagram form.  The book is only in electronic format and you can purchase it here:  http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/jewelry/other/tatting-patterns-3/128457

Life has been pretty hectic lately and I haven't had much time to post to my blog.  I'm a little behind on Jane's TIAS but will post that when I'm done.  I've also started Renulek's Spring 2015 doily. So many projects, so little time.

Earrings

I have been working on earrings lately, not because I wear a lot of earrings.  I rarely wear them.  I mainly want to empty a ton of shuttles that have leftover thread from previous projects.  But I also have a guilt complex about starting a new project when I still have two almost finished larger projects.  I only have about 12 more repeats of the last round of Renulek's Spring Doily, last updated here.  And I only have about five repeats of that hanky edging. So it would be crazy for me to start another project, right?  So, in an attempt to be a good girl and finish my WIPS while staving off bordem, I made these earrings.

They are a super simple pattern that I found on Jane McLellan's blog It literally took me like 30 minutes to make each earring.  And since it's all rings, it's perfect for emptying shuttles.  Here's me modeling them.

The next earring pattern I found on MaryLena's blog.  It's a heart pattern, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I decided my daughter makes a better earring model than I do. We also had a lot of fun making up her face in preparation for the "photo shoot."  Here is a close-up of the earring.

 I made these in blue because I was emptying a shuttle, but I will definitely make them again in red with pearls.  All the beads give the earring a nice weight.

My daughter made me promise to include a picture of her with her cat, so here it is.

New Favorite Cross Pattern

I really like tatting crosses as bookmarks because most people still have a hard copy of the Bible to put it in.  Books, on the other hand, are now digital for many people, so a tatted bookmark may not be put to use.  I was very excited when I saw Robin Perfetti's cross pattern and purchased it before Christmas, but am just now getting around to tatting it.  I decided on one solid color because I thought the pattern would really shine.  

 I really love how this cross turned out.  It has a lot of visual interest without being too complex to tat.  If you are comfortable with directional tatting and switching shuttles, you will have no problem with this pattern.  The only "problem" I had with this project was over estimating how much thread to load onto my shuttles.  I filled both shuttles almost full, and that turned out to be way too much as it only required about half of each shuttle.  So I decided to make another cross, but this time using contrasting colors.  Here's how the second one turned out:

I like this one even better.  It's like a cross within a cross.

I think this will be my go-to cross pattern for awhile.

Happy New Year

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a very belated Merry Christmas.  I was woefully unproductive in my Christmas tatting this season.  Every so often, I have to take a little break from tatting; I just don't feel motivated to tat much.  This year, my tatting break came right before Christmas.  I did manage to get a few things accomplished, but nothing like last year.  Here is the sum total of my Christmas tatting for 2014:

Pretty pathetic considering last year I made at least 10 snowflakes and a few bookmarks and crosses to give out as Christmas presents.  The small snowflakes were used to adorn jars of homemade peach jam that I made over the summer.  My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law were the lucky recipients of that yummy jam.

I also completed this bookmark.

The pattern was a free download off some website, but I can't find the link.  Does anyone know where this pattern comes from?  I would like to give the designer credit.  The thread is Lizbeth Juicy Watermelon and Lime Green Medium, both size 40.

This bookmark is a free pattern on Robin Perfetti's blog on her Free Patterns page.

I really love this pattern because it lays nice and flat without blocking.  Plus, it's wide and stable in size 40 thread.  Not to mention it's a beautiful design.  I wonder how hard it would be to adapt this pattern into a cross?  The original pattern is in the public domain as an edging and Robin adapted it to make the bookmark. (See her blog post about it here).  Is anyone up for a design challenge???  I would do it myself, but I know the limits of my talent.  I can follow a pattern, but can't create one.  I admire all of you who can design from scratch or see many possibilities in an existing design.

I am not a Professional Tatter!

Why do I let myself get talked into tatting items to sell?  It all started when I gifted a earring/necklace set to my friend. This is the pendant.

  She wore her tatted jewelry to Square Dancing (yes, some people still square dance in Texas).  All of her friends complimented her on her accessories and asked where they could get a set.  My friend then approached me with a proposition to make and sell them.  I was so flattered that people would pay good money for something I made that I agreed. I was also still very enthusiastic about the pattern and wanted to try it out in different colors.  Well, for the last month, I have been doing nothing but tat pendants and earrings in the same pattern, and I could just scream.  I have gone down this path before with the same result.  I get all excited about earning money from my tatting, then get bored with the project(s) before the obligation is over.  I think that is the problem:  the obligation.  I tat for fun and enjoy the freedom of moving from project to project at will.  I have a lot of obligations in my life: work, family, housework.  I don't want tatting to be just another obligation where I can't choose the pattern or colors that I want to work with.  As soon as I get stuck with a project, the tatting Muse leaves and all inspiration goes with it.  For this reason, I will never become a professional tatter.

Okay.  Now that I got that out of my system, let me show you some Christmas tatting that I have managed to squeeze in.  This is a snowflake by Renulek.  The pattern is here.

And this red beauty is from Jon Yusoff's  book "Elegant Tatted Gem's."

And finally, one completed Christmas tree earring.

This is a pattern from Jane Eborall and can be found here.  My version of the pattern has a variation without the button, which is what I did here, but her current pattern only has it with a button in the middle.  I wonder where the button-less version went???  (Update: Jane sent the link to this pattern.  I don't know why I couldn't find it.  Here it is.  Thank you Jane!!) 

And to all my American friends, have a Happy Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends.

Working on Jewelry

I have made several more pendants and earrings based on Ewa's pattern found here (with my modifications found here.  These are the earrings

that match this pendant:

The thread is Perfect Quilter in red and beige.  I really liked how it came out in the smaller thread, so I make another set in size 70.

The purple set is done in vintage Coats and Clark purple size 70 and Oren Bayan color #4433 (the dark purple).  I love Oren Bayan threads.  They are very smooth and easy to work with, not twisty at all.  I also added silver seed beads to this set, but they don't pop on the scanner like they do in real life.

And finally, this lovely pair of snowflake earrings.

The pattern is called Mirabelle and I purchased it here on Etsy.  It is designed by Joelle Paulson, aka Frivole.  It's done in size 80 Lizbeth thread in white.  (I know there's a boo-boo in the left earring.  I missed a join on the last ring, but it's not very noticeable when I wear them).

Chain Tension Challenged

While reading blogs the other day, I came across a beautiful pendant pattern on Ewa's blog. Here's a direct link to the pattern.  I thought that would be a beautiful pattern to tat up as Christmas presents for a few family members.  So I tatted up the pattern and this is the result:

 I couldn't get the tension tight enough on the long chains between the trefoils. (There are three elements to this piece.  The trefoils are woven in between the ring and chain centerpiece and then the outside rings are added last, kind of like Celtic tatting.)  I tatted that trefoil part a second time and still couldn't get it right.  Here is the back side to show how loose the chains are:

It looks nothing like the beautiful picture that Ewa  has on her blog, but I wasn't ready to give up yet.  I thought I would try to incorporate those trefoils into the existing chains of the center element.  This would eliminate one round (and the thread ends that go with it)  and hopefully the tension problems.  I had to adjust the stitch count a little bit, but here is the center motif as one round.

   That little motif is beautiful by itself as a pair of earrings.  When I added the outer round, here's how my version of the pendant turned out.

I used Lizbeth Christmas Green and white in size 40 and silver seed beads on the outer chains.  It doesn't have the Celtic weaving that I like so much about Ewa's pattern, but this version is easier for me.

Here's another one tatted in Perfect Quilter red and beige.  I like it a lot in the smaller thread, too.

I think the solid colors work best with this pattern.  I did my original experiments in a variegated thread because that was what I had on my shuttle at the time.

Ewa has graciously granted me permission to post the modifications to her pattern.  Here is how I tatted round 1.  Round 2 (outer rings and chains) does not change at all.

Ewa's Pendant, modified
2 shuttles

Sh 1     R  8-4-8
Sh2      R  10-10
Sh1      Ch 8
Sh2       R 8-2
Sh2       R2+4-4-2
Sh2       R 2+8
Sh1       Ch 8
Repeat until you have 4 trefoils, and 4 inner and outer rings.

Thank you, Ewa, for sharing your beautiful pattern and allowing me to play with it a little.  Happy tatting everyone!