It’s Always Easy in the Beginning . . .

. . . to keep up, I mean.  Renulek’s Spring Doily 2018 is progressing nicely right now - of course, it’s only Round 3. I did purchase the pattern in anticipation of later rounds getting away from me, though.  (I know from experience how this is gonna go!) Her patterns are beautiful, so I love owning them anyway.

Renulek’s Spring Doily - Round 3

I’m enjoying this doily because it means SPRING is coming.  You wouldn’t know it by our Minnesota temperatures lately - mostly hovering around or below 0 F. We are definitely ready for winter to move along.

I also saw a cute heart pattern on a Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SparklingLightCreationStudio.GloriaNelson/  and decided it would be a good, quick project.  Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, other than clip it onto one of my bags.  I feel like I need to add to it some more, but we’ll see. My creativity is at a stand-still lately - just give me a pattern for now and I’m good. That might change next week - ha!

I can’t believe it’s FEBRUARY already! ❤️

Snowflakes and Wool #2

I lost this darned post!  I think I started it on my iPad, and finished it on my laptop.  I didn't save it on the iPad, and when I went back POOF.  Just the photos remained.  I have a love/hate relationship with technology sometimes.  We'll see, now I'll probably end up with two posts.

In summary - this snowflake is from somewhere on the Internet - I'd love to give credit if anyone knows where I got this?

This is my first attempt at Frivole's Snowdrop.  This is a GREAT pattern, but my tatting is needing some better concentration to avoid small mistakes.  

So much for keeping this one for Christmas - gifted already to a retiring coworker with a large Christmas tree.  I think of her when I see or make ornaments, so it was fitting! 

And I can't duplicate the story of this coat :(  BUT, this beautiful red wool liner was given to me to use the wool.  I took it apart and washed it to felt the wool.

I made this bag (surprised?) I followed the pattern, but found that he straps are too long for my taste.  The loop button closure is a bit too thick, so I'm not sure if it will be good to use, or fumbly. I saved the tag from the coat and put it in the pocket to add some decoration. A great bag for someone I think, I just don't need another.  SO, I offered it back to my aunt, who gave me the wool.

As it turns out, the bag will go back to my aunts friend - the woman who gave up the wool in the first place.  I can't wait to hear how she likes it.  It was her mother's coat!

And now, I have more beautiful red wool to use somehow.  The color just screams Christmas!

P.S.  And how weird is it that comments from the lost post remained?  It's not even Monday.

Avoiding the Doily

Yes, I am avoiding work on the Spring Doily.  I have only the final round to go, but it's just like me to feel a 'need' to do something else.  Just like the birthday quilt that needs only the binding to finish, and the wedding dress straps that need a little top stitching. Ha!  

Mom gave me some handwork thread to try - Sulky Blendables.  It's actually more for embroidery and appliqué, but I know others have tried it for tatting too, and it comes in nice variegated colors.  I thought I should try it out, and have been thinking I need a stash of cross bookmarks anyway.  And Mom needs a few more bookmarks to have on hand too.  Perfect diversion from actually completing any of the larger projects in waiting . . .

First I tried this little cross - the Pearl Cross Bookmark by Dianna Stevens. It ended up a little smaller in size than I wanted, and I didn't plan ahead well and ended up with a too-short tail for my liking. Oops.  I guess it will still keep one's place in a book, though.  

The Blendables thread seems to compare to about size 40.  Much nicer size than the sewing thread I tried - my eyes were practically crossed trying that.  Honestly, I thought it would be quite a feat to tat with tiny thread.  Surely it must be an accomplishment to be proud of, right?  I don't think I like it enough to struggle with it again.  I am not sure why one would use such tiny thread, I can't see the beautiful stitches anyway!

Back to trying out more of the Blendables colors.  I love Jane's bookmark pattern, so I thought I'd try the cross variation by Grace Tan. 

I love the look of this cross, and it works into a very nice size bookmark with the Blendables.  I really didn't mind tatting with this thread as long as I didn't need to un-tat my stitches much.  I did some un-tatting that led to a break that led to some ranting.  But only once.  A good long rant that addressed many unrelated thoughts  :)

And, I started another book too.   There are just so many things I want to do, and not enough time to do them all.  And many times I find that completing a few smaller projects gives me the satisfaction of actually completing SOMETHING, and then it's easier to get back on track with the larger projects.  Weird? Nah. Just the way my crazy brain works I guess.  Besides, I can squeeze in some reading at lunchtime easier than I can accomplish much tatting.  Wouldn't want to waste any time, you know.

Back to the worst (but most necessary) deadly time-sucker tomorrow.  The job.  Takes up a lot of time, but I gotta pay for all these hobbies somehow :)  I'll get back to finishing the Spring Doily. Soon. 

Josephine Rings

Josephine Ring Medallion - (pattern HERE)

Lizbeth #154 (Wildflower Garden) size 20 thread

I've realized that small tatting projects suit me well these days.  I have a doily I'd like to start when the snow flies and the evenings are longer, but some quick projects to satisfy the bug will suffice for now.  There are some quilting projects to work on too - but I better continue going to work until I win the lottery. 

I saw this on Pinterest over the weekend, and decided it was a perfect small project to remember how to make those Josephine rings.  The pattern page is great for choosing technique-specific patterns to practice.  

Sewing Season

I had this great idea for my daughter to make Christmas gifts for her office staff.  They all enjoy the nearby coffee shop, so when I saw this Coffee Cozy Pattern, I thought it would be the perfect thing to make and give with a gift card for Christmas.  So, we spent a Saturday getting started - she choosing fabrics and cutting, and me showing her how these go together.

These are gonna be CA-YUTE!

We got a couple of them done checking out how it was going to work, and were satisfied with the result.

So, while hubby and I went off for our last state park visit of the year, my daughter stayed to Ruby-sit and work on her cup cozies.  She is not an experienced sewer, so she had a little bit of trouble. A few goofs and no experience trying to correct them.  Each one got a little worse, until she sewed one that came out inside out somehow. Nothing that can't be fixed, but when you don't know how to fix it, it's frustrating! I think she did great sticking with it without anyone to turn to at the moment she needed some help, and the issues aren't that awful.  But she gave up and left me this note:

We'll get them fixed. 

I have a couple of thoughts about the pattern too.  I don't think it necessarily has to have the curve that many patterns seem to have. A simple 12 x 5 rectangle would be just fine.  I would also use a whole hair binder instead of just half of one to give it more room for adjusting on different size cups.  Embellishments could include some tatting.  I think I need one of these :)

DooDad Tatting

I finally got around to tatting something with a doodad .  Thanks to Diane and her double-doodad dare last year, I had been trying to figure out first where to get these doodads, and second, how to attach some tatting.  I admit I was only skimming blog posts about it for lack of time, but I love the filigree findings and the idea of attaching tatting - particularly for jewelry.

Fox included some doodads in a package to me recently, so it renewed my curiosity.  I happened upon some doodads in a unique bead store just by chance, and realized what I found were called 'filigrees' or 'filigree findings' and ARE for making jewelry.  Duh.  I guess I really wasn't paying attention.

TOSHTI

I didn't make any jewelry, but I decided to try Jon's pattern "Toshti" found HERE.  (See Dianes' modified version HERE.)  I used size 20 HDT, but I think I should have used size 40 thread with this particular doodad.  I guess it doesn't really matter, as I have no particular use for it in mind.  Yet.  And this pattern seems to work with round or square doodads.

I also picked up some odd shaped filigree findings - diamond- and crescent-shaped, but I don't exactly know how to create something with them.  (Can't take me into a bead shop looking for doodads, I guess - I come out with things I don't need.)  I still need to follow a pattern, and hesitate to even try modifying an existing tatting pattern.  

So I'm a year behind with doodads.  It's fun to try new things - but maybe I should try some goal-setting to pare down my to-do list.  Ha!  Setting goals can be my first goal.

Tiger Eye Earrings

Finally.  I sat down and finished this pair of earrings in no time.  I think I could have done a better job, but I think they are just fine considering no one will see them both at the same time when I wear them.  

 These are Elizabeth Zipay's Tiger Eye Earrings, and I finished one earring a LONG time ago.  [Like last September.]   

I wonder why I wait so long to finish something so simple sometimes?  I guess I was in no hurry to finish the second one as I didn't have any earring wires.  AND, I was hoping to find a better way to get beads onto the thread without flinging them all over the place :) 

Frivole suggested trying a long-eyed beading needle awhile back, and I finally found what I think she was talking about:

The eye is pretty much the length of the whole needle, which makes it incredibly easy to thread. The needle is fairly long as well, so you can get quite a few beads on it. These are a definite must-have for me, since I am enjoying playing tatting with beads lately.  Thanks to Frivole for the tip :)

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Twin Cities Tatters

And a quick update on the Twin Cities Tatters.  We met for some tatting yesterday, and we were thrilled to actually have some new faces join us!  We actually had 7 tatters occupying a corner of the Caribou Coffee shop for 2 hours.  Some young man even leaned in and asked what we were doing because he said "it sounded like we were having so much fun."  Well!  That just says it all, doesn't it?

A Butterfly Heart

Last year I used up leftover thread by tatting some hearts.  That worked well to empty some shuttles, so I thought I'd do it again - however - I've only gotten one heart done so far:

Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart

This is Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart as found on the Wayback Machine.  I have yet to block it properly to make it stay where I want it :/  There are so many great tatted heart patterns out there to try, but I'm just not going to get to them this year.  Where did January go, anyway?  

Bead Inspiration

Diane did it! (Don't you love a tattletail?) She inspired some bead use in my tatting with a little gift from her visit to Minnesota.  I was SO jealous to miss out on lunch with Diane and Michelle over Christmas break, but Diane left some goodies with Michelle to deliver to me. 

A beautiful little tin full of thread and matching beads.  PLUS, a little latch hook and some rings.  I think it was a hint that I needed more  beads in my life!  I was so excited to have beads to match the thread that I didn't know what to make first with such a fun gift. I decided on the December Snowflake pattern that Frivole so generously shared as her final creation of 2012 HERE.  This is a great snowflake pattern done in one pass, and good to practice with beads.  So wonderfully easy and relaxing to tat that I messed up the first one and didn't even realize it until I bragged some to myself that it was going very well.

Neither of my snowflakes lie nice and flat even after blocking, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing to create that problem.  Maybe I 'snug' a bit too tightly?  Anyway - thanks to Frivole for the pattern, and to Diane for the bead inspiration!  I'm thinking Valentine hearts with the pink combination . . .

Blossoms and Hearts

My first attempt at the Blute 1  pattern of the Tischband Tat Along  Challenge from the Umi & Tsuru blog.  I decided to join in the Tat Along because it's an eye-catching pattern, and it helps me a great deal to be tatting the same thing as others to have something to compare to.  If you'd like to join the challenge, leave a comment here.  

Lady Shuttlemaker's Kopper Patina, Size 40 HDT

Once again, my tension is inconsistent.  Dang it!  I was thinking the first blossom I did (on the left) was maybe a bit too tight, but I like the look of it.  I had a heck of a time attaching my chains on that first one, and then I remembered leaving a very small bit of thread at the beginning of each chain in a similar pattern.  So, on the second blossom I left that extra thread for attaching, but now I think my tension was looser.  Ugh.  I'm not  happy with how this looks, but if nothing else, this will be great practice for my tension.  I think I will un-attach that 2nd one and try again!

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And still working on hearts, I've also accomplished that Clover Drop Heart twice to empty a few more shuttles. (I failed miserably and trashed it back HERE.) I especially like the pale pink one with the brown edge.  I love having some empty shuttles again!



Trashin' It

Continuing with more hearts to empty my shuttles, here's Hearts on a Paperclip by Ellen Lai:

And I was so enjoying this pretty heart pattern!  This one is the Clover Drop Heart by Nancy Tracy on Be-Stitched.

I was happily using up thread on two shuttles, and it was looking like I would have enough to finish with little to spare.  And then . . . when I attached the 2nd clover to the center ring  . . . I realized I'd attached the first one wrong.  %#$@&%$@!  I am NOT picking this out to go back and correct the join.  Apparently I attached it to the 9th picot of the ring from the wrong direction.  I seem to do this fairly often - and then go back and unpick when (if) I realize it soon enough.  The maddening part on this one is that I had attached it the first time, thought I had it wrong and went back and "corrected" my mistake.  Hhhmpphh.  It was probably right the first time.  I will get 2 more emptied shuttles out of this - but not another heart for my stash.  I'm trashin' it and starting over because I really like this pattern!

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And speaking of "trash" - I'm so enjoying dabbling in upcycling and trying to be creative.  Well, I'm a good copier anyway.  Ha!  I have a trash stash now too.

Here are a few basic instructions on those wine bottle stoppers since Diane asked:

I used 7/8" corks and a #16 finishing washer.  The sizes and the name of the washer took the longest to figure out - but with an energetic Home Depot employee, we got it by looking at a picture!  Nice guy - must have experience with crafters :)

Hubby drilled holes in the corks, and used the original keystock (the piece between the 2 knobs) and cut it to go into the corks about 1/3 of the way or so.  (That keystock may need to be glued into the knob to be sure it's going to stay there.)

He glued that finishing washer to the top of the cork, and then used a lot of glue in the hole to place the knob.  He then used a clamp (?) to hold the pieces together while the glue dried. These photos are from a couple that are being taken apart to do again, as the cork ended up crooked.  I heard a voice in the garage that said something like, "Gosh darn it these little buggers are hard to take apart.  That's some fine glue!"  Well, that voice said something like that, anyway.

In any case, my photo isn't the greatest here, but I thought I'd show you how nicely these stoppers go with my decor. 

I'm thinking it would be fun to find doorknobs to sort of match some of the fun wines out there. (I'm thinking Marilyn Merlot, Mommy's Time Out, Elephant on a Tightrope, Arrogant Frog, etc.)  That would be a fun gift!

Shuttles and . . . Doorknobs?

I have too many shuttles with leftover thread on them just waiting to be used.  Sooooo, I've been making hearts to keep ahead of Valentine's Day with whatever thread is on the shuttle(s) I grab.  This is making for some odd colored hearts, but I will certainly have a nice stash to add to Valentines.  I have sort of been on a mission to find and save small heart patterns too.  Wow!  There are so many wonderful patterns out there.

This is the Tatted Heart found HERE.

 I really like this pattern - found HERE.

And this is one from a 1988 Workbasket. Looks a little lopsided!

I like that it looks lacy with all those picots. 

(Too bad I didn't try a little harder to keep the picot size uniform.)

 

I've been tatting little hearts during my lunch breaks too. 

I think I'm just excited to be AHEAD of the holiday for once :)  Ha.

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 Remember those old doorknobs I have ?  Diane was right.  Wine bottle stoppers.  Just something I saw for a ridiculous price and thought "I could make those!"  So, of course, I was on a mission to figure out how to make them.  Hubby and I looked at pictures and visited the hardware stores until we finally got it, and then voila.  Another project for hubby - much to his dismay delight.  He loves it when I come up with new projects.  (Well, projects for me, anyway.)   We have about 15 of these now. I craft in bulk, remember?!

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I got these from a very good friend in the mail last week. 

She said they just reminded her of me.   

She knows me well, don't you think?

I Craft in Bulk . . .

Even though it seems like books and bookmarks are being replaced by e-readers, I felt the need to get another bookmark done for my stash.  Since I love the Lizbeth Island Breeze, I dug out one of my favorite bookmark patterns found HERE, and whipped this one up in no time.  Michelle also recently used this pattern for a great bracelet HERE.  What is it about bookmarks?  I think I love to tat them because they are a quick accomplishment!

While I was sitting in my "woman cave" sewing in the thread ends on my bookmark, I used my little needlekeeper.  I love this little thing because it's so small, and easily fits in the smallest of tatting containers.  And while I was taking photos for my last post, I realized that Island Breeze thread matched some felt I had purchased to make some more of these needlekeepers. I always seem to have to make everything in BULK.  Why?  I dunno.  I just do!  Does anyone else do that?  I think the habit lingers from my days of being a daycare provider and having craft supplies to make everything in multiples.   I won't say how many years it's been since I did that . . .

So, I quick sewed up a few needlekeepers!  And then tatted a short section of the bookmark pattern for one cover.

And then on with another heart pattern for another cover.  Ah, something I can use these little motifs on!  This is the Peacock Heart, and is done in Size 20 Lizbeth Tropical Punch.

So, I now have a little stash of needle keepers.  Ha!  I need one for every tatting bag, right? 

Either that or everyone is getting one for Christmas!

Hearts and Shuttles

My teardrop pendant gets better each time!  This is a wonderful learning piece for me - the pattern is fairly simple, but I'm learning about tension.  I seem to pull rings closed nice and tight, but I have trouble keeping the chain tension consistent.  I won't post another picture until I get it the way I want it :)  In the meantime, I've taken a break to tat some other small motifs.

Frivole posted this wonderful diagram of Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart.  I had to try it - such a pretty little heart to have on hand with Valentine's Day coming up.  I think this may lead to more hearts, as I've been digging in my patterns for every heart I can find.  Frivole also posted another wonderful diagram of Susan Fuller's Hearts Desire - a big favorite also.  I am so grateful for diagrammed patterns after looking through all those wonderful old books and having my eyes cross trying to read the patterns!

Here's the Butterfly Heart in both Lizbeth Size 20 Island Breeze & Size 40 Mocha Swirl.  Not bad except for the  final join and hiding of ends.  Sigh.

I really love the colors in that Island Breeze thread.  It just happens to match several pieces of felt I have in my cave.   Hhhhmmmm.

 And something else I've been waiting for from Frivole's Etsy shop . . .

Ta Da!  My new shuttles.  I was jealous of everyone's beautiful shuttles from LaCossette, but now I have some of my own.  My first request was . . .

A BLUEBIRD (what else?!)
He looks quite happy!

And then I saw these gorgeous PANSIES and had to have one also:

I think the pansies will live in this cute shuttle sock (that Teresa was so kind to gift to several of us way back in December) - they match!  Knitting something this tiny is just amazing to me.  It could be a new . . . NO . . .  I don't need any more hobbies.

 

OK, I will stop admiring my new shuttles sometime today, and start using them :)

100 Posts to Celebrate

It's taken me almost 2 years to post 100 times. I started this blog thinking I would just write about my life and things I like to do, and I had something to write about 2 and 3 times a week. I had no idea I would meet so many kind, generous people out there!  I've slowed down to posting only once every two weeks or so - maybe it's that winter is getting OLD around here!  Once again, there is a winter storm warning that will dump 10-15" or so of new snow on us by tomorrow. Enough already.

I haven't been tatting much the past couple of weeks - a little here and there, but I ended up with mistakes and missed joins.  My heart just wasn't in it - too many other things going on.  Busy at work, and busy at home too.  I did have a chance to work on practicing the SCMR with this Very Small Butterfly, and the Gr8 Butterfly.

I am inspired again, though, after our tatting gathering yesterday! As great as it is to have tatting friends online, it's so good to have other tatters to talk to and bounce things off of in person also.

I thought I'd celebrate this 100th post in some way.  The tendency is to celebrate the blogging accomplishment with a giveaway of some kind, so I thought I'd give away this bag with an assortment of perle cotton thread.  Just leave a comment on this post (with the number 100) telling me what you like to read about on blogs (tatting or not!)   Here's the giveaway bag:

The drawstring bag has 8 interior pockets. (The ball of Lizbeth is only to show size.)

AND

I thought I'd add a trade also - to celebrate all the talented tatters out there that have shared ideas, patterns and tips.  I would love to trade this bag for something (of course it's another bag - what did you expect from a bag lady?)  Let's trade anything tatting related - like HDT, shuttles, pattern books.  Just comment on this post with your favorite tip on storing your tatting supplies (and the word TRADE).  Here's the trade bag:

This bag is the Dorset Bag - a free pattern provided by a generous crafter.

I will draw both winners on Friday evening, February 25th and post them on Saturday morning.  Make sure there is a way for me to contact you.

It has been a pleasure meeting so many inspiring crafters, and reading everyone's blogs for instructions, patterns, tips and techniques.  Here's to 100 more posts :)