Independence Day!
Author: wandasknottythoughts@gmail.com
Changing Crosses
I’ve been very busy the last two weeks, sometimes even with tatting! Every time I try to sit down to post, other, more pressing things came up. But I’m back today 🙂
I am still working on my shelf edging. It is about 3/4 of the way complete and it’s a convenient project to take in the car. If I didn’t have other projects to do, as well.
A friend of mine got married last weekend. Of course, I had to tat something, which was a cross bookmark in her wedding colors. I thought it turned out well. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t taken a picture of the finished cross until the day after I gave it to her. If she puts it in her Bible I might be able to take a picture one Sunday when I see her at church. If I remember! I used Lizbeth #632 Purple Medium. For the tassel, I added several strands of #605 Silver, both in size 20.
When deciding which cross to tat I first looked through ones that I had completed. I found several that I had done and either made changes or mistakes. I suppose that is determined by how they come out, right? If the change looks good, yay! If it doesn’t, then oops, don’t do that.
The white cross on the left is a doodle, so I can’t say it’s had changes made, but does it work?? The purple one is Milan with a mistake/change at the top, not sure I like it. The blue cross is April’s Cross with a few changes at the end of the arms, which I did purposely and I like the change. The multi-colored cross is January Cross without split rings.
One cross that I purposely made changes to was ‘January Cross 2019’. A tatter contacted me about the pattern, wondering if it could be done without split rings. I thought about it and came up with version 2, changing the split rings to rings and chains. It changes up the look only slightly. I posted about the original version last year. Both versions can be found on My Patterns page.
This coming weekend is Independence Day here in the USA. I usually come up with some kind of patriotic tatting. I haven’t done that this year – yet. Another project to delay the edging. Well, the edging has been on the back burner for years, what’s another couple of days?
“Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.” William Arthur Ward
“William Arthur Ward Quotes.” BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc, 2020. 30 June 2020. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_arthur_ward_190444
One Edging Done
I’ve started tatting on the second of three edgings I need for my china hutch. The first one has been attached to the ribbon and put up in the hutch.
I found this lace ribbon at a local second-hand shop some time ago, buying it not because I had a specific use for it at the time, but because I might find something to use it for later. This ribbon will be mostly hidden when it’s on the shelf. The pattern on the edge of it made it easy to stitch the tatting to.
This is my china hutch with my collections of china and random other items. My grandpa used this up until he died 30 some years ago. I’ve been using it ever since. I think the shelves are original and are a bit bowed. I’m cautious about putting too much weight on them. An antique for sure, though it was never a high-end piece of furniture.
This looks good. A little wavy, maybe, but I’m happy with it. Originally I had wanted a more scalloped edging, but I can live with this.
This gives me incentive to finish the other two edgings!
The edging shows up nicely even with the doors closed. The edging pattern is my design. I don’t know if there is a similar pattern out there somewhere but I was not following someone else’s idea when I tatted it.
The weather is hot here in the center of the USA, higher than average. This is keeping me inside looking out the window instead of being outside. A good excuse to tat more, right?
“Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.”
“H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Quotes.” BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc, 2020. 16 June 2020. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_jackson_brown_jr_124509
China Hutch Edging
Surprise! I’m back! I know, it’s been a long time since I posted last. I haven’t been tatting much and I got out of the habit of blogging about it when I do.
Something I’ve thought about doing for a long time is making edgings for the shelves in my china hutch, which belonged to my grandparents. I acquired it about 30 years ago after my grandfather died. After thinking about all these years I finally started.
This is made in Lizbeth #603 Ecru in size 10. It would be wonderful to make it in a smaller thread, size 20 at least, but I would like to finish it in my lifetime. Doing edging for three shelves in a smaller thread would take much longer, with a higher likelihood of my putting it down and not finishing it.
The first edging is done. This is a simple pattern in two rows that goes quickly, the total length 32″ and 1 3/4″ deep. The plan is to attach it to a wide ribbon with the ribbon laying on the shelf with the tatting hanging over the edge. I finished blocking it but still have to trim the thread ends. Sewing it to the ribbon hasn’t happened yet, but I have started tatting for the second shelf. Maybe I can get that done this weekend.
“Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is.“
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/charles_m_schulz_137425?src=t_home
Earrings
There are a lot of tatted earrings out there on Pinterest, which inspired me to make a few. Most of the ones I’ve been seeing have beads and/or other sparkly things on them. For all that I don’t use beads and baubles much, I do have quite a few stashed. The problem is they are stashed in a location that is hard to get to at the moment. So a quick trip to JoAnn’s was in order to pick up one or two.
It was supposed to be a quick trip to pick up a specific type of dangle bead. If you have shopped at JoAnn’s you know they have discounts on things and, if you are lucky, what you are shopping for is what’s on sale. I was lucky! A large part of the bead section was on sale. My quick trip was not quick.
I ended up buying many more beads than I intended. By a lot! In my defense, at 75% off I figured that now was the time to buy any I even thought I could use at some point in the future.
Surprise, surprise, I went home and actually used the beads I had gone to look for.
I found this pattern on my computer from a previous online search. I do not know the designer and haven’t seen them anywhere lately on line. If anyone knows the designer, please let me know so that I can give them credit.
I’ve made two pairs of these, one in purple the other in pink. I started a third pair that just didn’t cooperate. I’ll come back to it later.
Then I made another pair of earrings that are much simpler. They also used the same drop beads. I didn’t follow a pattern here, just something uncomplicated and easy. With beads!
These went much faster. I like using the smaller beads along with the drop.
I also played around with another type of bead. This took a lot more thought to use them.
The first two are very unbalanced due to the weight of the hummingbird bead. I did better with the third one by adding another bead with the flowers, but it is still not balanced correctly. I’m still working on them.
I keep looking through the beads I picked up that day, dreaming of how I can use them. Some are going to be very challenging to use with tatting so I may have to do something else with them. There are so many it will take years to use them all. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it?
Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent. Billy Graham
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/billy_graham_626358?src=t_waiting
Another Cross
Good news! My picture program problem has been resolved. I had to reinstall it, but it now works again. Yay! Now I have to catch up on formatting the pictures I have taken and want to use.
I made several more sunflowers since the last time I posted but not much in the way of pictures of them. Because I gave almost all of them away before I took pictures. I went on a bus trip and tatted six or seven of them and didn’t get much in the way of pictures. I have a few that might work but I have to look through a bunch that I took on the trip. Now that my program is working again maybe I can find a few that will show up well.
Back a while ago, maybe the end of last year, I made a cross that was almost all chains. I made another one very similar a couple of weeks ago and now have the patterns done.
It doesn’t look like I took pictures of this when I first made it, but it was in the group picture I took for this years International Tatting Day. It only has the one ring at the center, everything else is regular chains. This is in a Lizbeth thread size 20. Unfortunately, at the moment I can’t find the ball of thread that I made this from so I don’t know the color number. It’s a shade of green is all I’m sure of.
This is the second version of Cross of Chains. It is made with Lizbeth size 10 in #646 Purple Iris Light. It is made with two rings and a tighter center.
Surprisingly, I already have the patterns for these done. Okay, they aren’t all that complicated, but it is still unusual for me to have them done already. If anyone is interested in them, please email me for the patterns.
“Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.” https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lou_holtz_629632?src=t_positive
Patriotic tatting
Independence Day has come and gone and I finally am posting a bit of patriotic tatting.
We traveled to western Kansas for some 4th of July family time this year. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way, plenty of time to get a bit of tatting done. At least on the way out; I had to drive for a while on the way back. We had a wonderful time visiting with family we only see every couple of years.
I have trouble sometimes tatting with red, white, and blue threads. I want to get all three colors in without getting too busy with it. This time I used a button for the white and alternated with red and blue thread. It was a challenge to tat this in the car; I kept getting the four shuttles tangled as the car swayed and bumped down the road. I am pleased with how it turned out, though it might work better next time with a smooth button. I used Lizbeth threads #671 and #707 Sky Blue Dark in size 20. I’m working on writing up the pattern.
I have tatted quite a bit recently even if you haven’t seen me post. I’ve been having trouble with my picture program. It acts like it’s opening and then doesn’t. I finally paid more attention as it started and noticed that it shows the wrong version trying to open. I plan on calling the help desk about it when I have an uninterrupted few minutes, though I’m not sure when that will be. Until then I am using an older program which works okay, it just doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the other. And then when I tried to add the picture to this post it put it in sideways, even though it didn’t show as sideways. The third time it finally showed up correct.
Looking forward to having my picture program start working! Maybe I’ll post sooner!
“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. Alexis de Tocqueville www.brainyquote.com
Sunflowers
Can you believe it? I actually tatted a sunflower and finished it! Several sunflowers even! Yay!
I’ve been wanting to make small sunflowers to decorate a few things for a trip I’m taking this summer. I found a necklace of tatted sunflowers on Pinterest from a Japanese site called Creema, which I based these on. I have kept changing things up as I figure out what works for me and what doesn’t.
These all have a single brown ring with eight picots in the center. The outside rings are facing out with short chains between which join to the center ring. All three of these have different counts for the outward facing rings, and all are made with Lizbeth 170 Pineapple Parfait and 692 Mocha Brown Dark in size 20. The #170 was already on a shuttle and is yellow, so it works, right?
I’m pretty happy with these, but still not done yet. The shuttle of #170 made these sunflowers and few that ‘wilted’ and were disposed of before I moved on to Lizbeth #616 Daffodil Med. The ones in #616 are made with pointed chains, which I will share later. They are made a bit differently, the only ring being the center.
Tatting is again more in the forefront of things I want to do, but life still gets in the way of my tatting plans. I’m easily distracted from moment to moment by other things that need to get done, and unfortunately, some are more important than tatting. But, hey, I made several sunflowers! Yay!
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do. Helen Keller
Faux Tatting
Recently we were in an office waiting room that has some beautiful antique furniture. When we’ve been there before the china hutches and shelves were empty. This time they had different antique collections in them. While looking those over I noticed several framed doilies that I had to get a closer look at.
Aren’t these pretty? There is a lot of inspiration for tatted medallions in these.
I haven’t been inspired to tat much lately, too many other things are taking my attention and energy. I have a few plans for tatting that I’m gathering my threads for today, small projects for quick satisfaction. Planning on having more time to tat! (Crossing my fingers for more things not popping up!)
“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.” Madeleine L’Engle https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/madeleine_lengle_122317
International Tatting Day 2019
I hope you have had time for a bit of tatting today for International Tatting Day!