Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2019
Author: wandasknottythoughts@gmail.com
Heart challenges
On Valentine’s Day I posted this new heart. Since then I’ve been working on the pattern for it.
This Pensive Heart is made in Lizbeth thread size 20. Somewhere along the way I’ve misplaced the ball and now I can’t remember the color name or number. It is a dark purple, which made it somewhat challenging to tat without plenty of light. Dark color notwithstanding, it worked up smoothly.
I tried it again while I wrote out the pattern. This time I made it in Lizbeth size 10 Grape Dark, which is a lighter color than the first heart. It also worked up smoothly except for one spot on the second half where an inside picot is needed between two chains. I had no problems with this when I made the first heart but had some trouble when making this second one. Maybe I thought about it too hard. I’m also trying to figure out what to call or reference this technique. I know I’ve seen it somewhere.
I made a third heart trying to follow the pattern I had jotted down. This time it is in two colors, Lizbeth Sky Blue Dark # 707 and Denim Blue Light #650 in size 20. Again I had trouble with that one inside picot. Why didn’t I have trouble with the first heart but have trouble with the rest?
I haven’t finished the pattern yet. I’m hoping to have time this weekend. Maybe I’ll figure out what I did with that picot the first time that worked so well. And have a way to describe it.
“If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any moment.” Carlos Santana
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January Cross 2019
Have I mentioned that I ordered several of the Lizbeth Metallic threads? Have I mentioned that they are easy to tat with? I have? Oh. Well, here I go again
I’ve used a few but not all of them yet. In ‘December Tatting’ I used Lizbeth Metallic Silver #311 and Turquoise Green #321. In ‘Old Snowflake in New
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to tat but I knew I wanted to use the Violet in something not too big that doesn’t take too long to make and nothing too complicated. I like to have bookmarks on hand because they are easy to mail and they work for so many occasions, so this what I set out to do. I like to make crosses, but not the same ones every time. So I made a new one.
I’m amazed at myself – I used this metallic thread to design a new pattern. I didn’t start with a cotton thread of any size, I started with this. The biggest issue I had was trying to count the stitches. The glittery thread makes it a little hard to see the stitches in
I was very inspired when I named this cross – January Cross 2019 (LOL!) I guess a name is just a designation to differentiate one like item from another, so it doesn’t have to be poetic, right?
After using the metallic thread I made this pattern in Lizbeth Purple Medium #632 size 20. It came out a bit smaller than the ones in the metallic thread even though Handy Hands claims it is similar is size to size 20. Similar is the keyword.
I’m happy with this cross. It has four thrown rings and two split rings but still an easy pattern to
“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.” Nate Berkus
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Happy Valentine’s Day 2019
Old snowflake in new thread
I found a tatted snowflake in a drawer recently, made from a pattern that I came up with a few years ago, maybe from 2010 or 2011. This is one that I never wrote down (it is
So I made another one, this time with six arms. I also gave it a name, Snowflake – Adie.
This one is made in Lizbeth #328 Antique Gold (I think! It might be #300 Gold) and #316 Raspberry Pink. I love how it turned out!
The next one I made I switched up some of the stitch
I was asked about the pattern so thought it was time to write it out. I tatted the second one of these with it so I’m hoping I caught all (most?) of the mistakes. There are a couple of stitch count options mentioned
I was going to put it on My Patterns page but I found out that a lot of people are not able to download the patterns. This is because I’m getting too much traffic for the server where they are stored. For the moment, until I can figure out what to do about
I’ve been very pleased with the Lizbeth Metallics thread. My biggest problem has been threading a needle to sew the ends in. I found an embroidery threader which works wonderfully! I have several other colors of this thread that I’m looking forward to trying out, I just have to decide what to make with it. Maybe hearts?
“We are like a snowflake all different in our own beautiful way.” simplethoughtsquotes
December Tatting
I tatted during December but have been so busy, mostly with family, I haven’t posted much. I did discover Lizbeth Metallic thread and have been trying it out. I’ve seen other tatters have used it and finally decided to try it myself. Handy Hands are raising their prices a bit so I bought thread before the new year started.
This is an old snowflake pattern of mine that I tried it out on. It tats so much better than other metallic threads I’ve tried! This is silver #311 and Turquoise Green #321. I love how it turned out, even if it has seven arms instead of six so not quite a snowflake.
I tried the same Turquoise Green as an angel. This is my pattern which I modified slightly. This came out beautifully!
I bought several balls of the metallic threads in various colors. The silver and turquoise threads are the only ones I’ve tatted with yet, but I look forward to tatting in the others as well.
I have not yet had time to write out the tree patterns that I posted about a couple of weeks ago. Look for them sometime this year, hopefully in the somewhat near future.
It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau
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Getting ready for Christmas
‘Tis the season to be very busy! If it’s not getting the house decorated and ready for guests it’s getting food or gifts ready. For those of us who craft our Christmas gifts, it’s also trying to get them finished! At least that’s me. How about you?
Back in October I started thinking of what I wanted for my yearly ornament that I give to family and close friends. I was early this year, not even waiting until December to come up with one. But I had so many different ideas about what I wanted to do I am still behind!
I have a whole box of old hymnals from our church that I thought I could utilize for ornaments. First, I made this folded paper angel, which came out very nicely. It doesn’t even take much time to make.
I used two pages out of a hymnal to make it. The tatting is done in Yarnart Camelia thread, very simple rings and chains. Without the thread hanger, this angel is six inches tall. I love it. But just how do you put this in a Christmas card? I needed to come up with something else.
Several of my other ideas I barely started before I realized that they wouldn’t work or would take too much time. Most of them were mixed media of some sort, on the order of the angel where I tried adding tatting to paper and other backgrounds. I will probably revisit the ideas later.
Even when I thought I had an ornament that would work I couldn’t make up my mind.
I decided to make trees. But I could not make up my mind just how I wanted to make them. I came up with a forest of trees, each one different from the rest. They are in at least three different threads – size 10 & 20, and two different shades of green. I sprayed them with Stiffy to help them keep their shape. As they blend in a lot on most backgrounds I sprinkled them with fine glitter.
Yes, I know, there are Christmas tree patterns out there, but I try to come up with something myself each year. I enjoy how they look all together here, though I’m not so sure of a few of them individually. But it doesn’t matter, these are going out in the Christmas cards the way they are!
Charles N. Barnard
“The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!”
Little trees
I am working on the ornaments that I put in Christmas cards to close family and friends. I also get side-tracked a lot.
I found a cute little tatted tree in a box I was looking through the other day and then saw another one in the Facebook group Tatters of Lace that was almost the same thing. While trying to empty a few shuttles I found one with green thread on it and thought that little tree would fit the bill to empty the shuttle. But of course, I couldn’t find where I had put the tree I had previously found OR the pattern on FB. So I did what I usually do and made one up myself. It is not quite the tree on FB, and I’m not sure just how close it is to the one I found and lost.
As I was cleaning and preparing the house for our Thanksgiving guests I had a thought about the tree pattern. Wouldn’t it be cute in fall colors as earrings?
I thought they came out well. I could have tried matching up the variegations a bit to make the match a bit better, but I was in a hurry to get them done.
And I didn’t get them done in time to wear. Not for our Thursday dinner, nor for the other dinner we had Saturday. I did get them done by the end of the weekend and wore them Sunday around the house.
I wore them around the house on Sunday because we didn’t go anywhere at all. We had planned on taking our daughter and grandkids home that day but we had blizzard-like conditions, with several inches of snow blowing sideways, cold temperatures, and extremely bad driving conditions.
We were able to take the family back home on Monday with minimal road issues. We did have to take another day of vacation, but it was a better choice than trying to go through the weather on Sunday. On the way out the roads were still ice covered in areas, making driving a bit problematic still. The roads were much better coming home later in the day.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Now it’s time to get ready for Christmas.
Are you ready yet?
“Holidays – any holiday – are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together.” Lidia Bastianich https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lidia_bastianich
Gifts
One of my aunts just had a birthday. She has enjoyed paperclip bookmarks I have previously given her and recently indicated she would like more. What could be a better birthday gift?
She was quite happy with these. Unlike a couple of other paperclip bookmarks I have made before, the tatting on these will stay up-right on these most of the time.
My mother-in-law passed away several years ago. Recently my father-in-law started going through his possessions as he prepared to move out of the house. There were a lot of tatted items I had gifted her that he no longer had a place for. This collar is one of them.
I’m not sure just how long ago I made this for her, maybe 15? 20 years ago? I know it is made in DMC Cebelia size 30 Ecru (I had a lot of this thread). The pattern is in a book that I cannot locate at the moment so I can’t tell you exactly where it is. I have looked through the patterns listed on Craftree, where there are several that are very similar. The center edge does not match the patterns I located there.
She wore it several times I know. I washed and pinned it out when I got it. I am trying to decide which shirt I should put this on. I definitely plan on wearing it.
I have been tatting a lot, just not posting. I have so many things I want to do I have a hard time staying with one project long enough to finish it. I am working on the ornament I put in Christmas cards. After much adjusting and tweaking, I have it figured out – I think!
Thanksgiving is this week – how time flies! My side of the family will be our get-together at our house. I have so much to do to get the house ready! I’d rather be tatting than cleaning house, but I don’t have a lot of choice on what I have to do. I mean, we need the table to eat at.
Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving.
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arther Ward https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_arthur_ward_676240?src=t_thanksgiving
Searching for a square
I had an idea the other day where I wanted a tatted square. I reviewed some of my pattern books, looked through patterns and projects on Craftree, and paged through pictures on Pinterest. I didn’t see any that was quite what I had in mind so I started doodling.
I do better designing with thread in my hands than I do with either pen and paper or computer screen. I can envision the end result better and I can change things up as I go to see what works and what doesn’t. My first try was in size 10 thread. You can see where I made a few changes as I went along. It ended up okay, but there were a few things I was disappointed with.
I was a bit happier with my second try in size 20 thread, though it still wasn’t quite what I had envisioned. I made a couple of these squares, adjusting the stitch count slightly, which made it closer to my ideal, but still no.
I tried a third time, now in size 30. Making thrown rings off the center chains changed the look a lot, which changed up what I ended up doing on the outside round, too. This square made me much happier, though the center ‘poofed’ up a bit. A slight stitch count change and blocking flatted it out a bit.
The change in thread size is quite obvious here. Which one do you like the best?
Here are six of the small squares joined together. Even with all the thread ends still attached and not blocked I was pleased how it was working out.
I am satisfied with it now there are nine squares together. With the strings trimmed and having been blocked, the patterns created by the joined squares are visible. It looks better at a distance I think. (Not due to bad tatting but to see the patterns!) You can see how small it is in contrast to the regular-sized Clover shuttles.
The joined squares didn’t appear finished so I added an edging around it and blocked it again. It looks completed now. I can see I wasn’t directly above when I took this picture, it doesn’t look as square and even as it actually is.
The finished doily is 5 1/2 inches across made in size 30 DCM ecru thread. Why in such small thread? Because I have several balls of it that I have thought I should use for something. I suppose I could join a few more squares together – a lot more! – and make a tablecloth or something.
Maybe not. That would take me forever!
“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise – it makes you stretch.” Mary Kay Ash