Author: wandasknottythoughts@gmail.com

‘Sunflower’ doily

Earlier this year I designed a small doily that I call Arches over Arches. For my blogoversary giveaway I made the doily in Lizbeth Falling Leaves size 20. This thread has such a wonderful fall look. I was then inspired to put a brown center in it.

And this is how it turned out.

Doesn’t it remind you of a sunflower?

I hadn’t posted this earlier because I wanted to make sure the winner of my giveaway – Trayna – had received it before I shared it here. It was hard to wait! I really like how this turned out : )

And now fall is almost over and it’s time to think of Christmas and winter weather.
Today is supposed to be the last really nice day for awhile. Sunny, not too windy and pleasant temperatures. After today the temperatures will return to a more normal range – in the 40’s – so we are planning to put out our Christmas lights this morning. Not that we put out a lot of lights, but I would much rather do this when the weather is mild and then enjoy them when it’s cold and snowy!

And then it’s back to tatting snowflakes. Between the colder weather and the Christmas lights, it should really get me feeling festive!

Thanksgiving is here, and then comes Christmas

Yesterday, as I was getting home from work (late, late) I realized I had missed having tea with everyone for Tatting Tea Tuesday. It didn’t dawn on me until then that it was even Tuesday! I’m sorry I missed it! I hope every one had a nice cup of tea and enjoyed a little tatting.

Here in the States tomorrow is Thanksgiving, also commonly known as turkey day because the traditional main meal of the day is centered around a turkey, be it roasted, fried or smoked. I don’t want to forget the reason for this holiday, which is to remember all the things we have to be thankful for and give thanks for them. I’m very thankful for my wonderful family – the kids, the aunts and uncles, cousins, parents, and of course, my very loving husband. I’m thankful for the great friends that we have, many of them so close as to be like family themselves. Even though I’ve been known to complain about the long hours that we’ve had to work this year, I’m very thankful that I have a job during this time when many people don’t. And I’m very thankful for the Internet, that I can share my love of tatting with people no matter how far away from me they are and meet new friends that share that same passion. I have much to be thankful for!

After Thanksgiving comes Christmas, very close around the corner. Among other things, I’ve been working on snowflakes. I try to send one in each of my Christmas cards to close friends and family, and make it different every year. This year I’m working on these two. The finished multi-colored snowflake is made with a pattern I’ve posted about previously here . I’ll probably put it in a bangle for people I hand deliver cards to, but probably not for the ones I’ll mail, as I’m not sure it would mail nicely.

The white one is new this year, too. I very much like the looks of this one, and it’s pretty quick and easy to make. I’m trying it in the multi-colored thread as well. At least on this background it’s not showing up as well as I’d like. I’ve found that I love the look of this thread, but what background to use for pictures? The white one is made in DMC size 20, the others in Lizbeth Christmas Delight size 20. I’m counting the white snowflake as my third motif in my second round of the 25 Motif Challenge.

I got a nice surprise from my mother yesterday. She’s been doing a lot of cleaning, getting rid of things she doesn’t use or need any more. She found a stack of old Workbasket magazines that she gave to me for the tatting patterns! These are mostly from 1987 and 1988, with one from 1989. Isn’t she sweet to think of me? She was concerned I already had different patterns for some of the things in them – cross bookmark, hearts, etc. – until I explained to her that wasn’t a problem. Who wouldn’t want a variety of edgings, bookmarks, hearts, and the like?

I remember back in the day when the Workbasket was one place you could find tatting patterns. There weren’t nearly the amount of books available as there are now, and no Internet to find patterns on-line. Of course, the patterns are written in long hand, so can be somewhat hard to follow. But, hey, in those days I didn’t complain because this was all I knew, and who would I complain to? I didn’t know any other tatters! I did make a few notes here and there in my short hand – much closer to how a lot of patterns are written now! One more thing to be thankful for 🙂

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig – with butterflies and snow

We made it home at last, in time for Tatting Tea Tuesday. I say it that way because who doesn’t sleep better in their own bed? I had a wonderful time in Washington, DC and loved the visit with my daughter and her family. Though I didn’t get to see a lot of the sights of the area – at least up close and personal – it was an enjoyable vacation, too. But it is nice to be home again.

For the last two weeks the tatting I’ve gotten done has been in a limited number of colors because I didn’t take a large variety of thread. I really didn’t anticipate getting a lot done. Which I didn’t. What I did get done was simple patterns that I didn’t have to concentrate on too much. Between taking care of the grandson (ooh, so sweet!) and meeting new people (daughters’ in-laws), seeing the area, and then the long trip home, my mind wasn’t into thinking hard. So what has been posted and these few butterflies and the heart are the entire amount of tatting I’ve done in two weeks.

The heart is again Tracy’s Heart by Heather, done in Lizbeth thread size 20 black and Victorian Red. I used two shuttles and adjusted the pattern just a little so the bottom ring was in black instead of red.

The butterflies are based on a pattern by Monica Mancenido, aka soyloquesoy, found on Intatters. It’s a simple little butterfly with a simple little stitch count. I decided to make it, but wasn’t on-line and hadn’t really checked the stitch count. So what I got are the butterflies you see. The one top left is the closest to her original pattern – not quite, but close – and then the top right with a lot of picots on the outside. The two bottom ones I added the thrown off ring for a head as well as more picots. They are all done in Falling Leaves Lizbeth size 20. Another cute way to use the last of the thread on a shuttle.

I’m enjoying a nice cup of hot tea today (mint), much needed as the weather is pretty chilly. The thermometer says it’s 39 degrees F but it’s gray and cold-looking outside. The last few days in Washington were wet with the tail end of Ida causing lots of rain but they are now enjoying nice, sunny weather. We come home to snow flurries and rain. Ahh *sipping tea* but it is nice to be home, no matter the weather.

Tatting Tea Tuesday with IsDihara

I’m still here in Washington, DC, with my daughter and her family. Shortly after I got here I received an email from IsDihara. As she lives close by, she asked if I’d like to me her. !!! Of course! To meet another tatter and one who blogs as well – oh, yeah!

We didn’t meet right away because I was here to help my daughter after she had surgery. By this week she was feeling much better and ready to get out of the house. So I emailed IsDihara and we arranged to me at the Potomac Mills Mall. And on Tuesday, no less!

Here we are, IsDihara on the left, me on the right, having a cup of tea. As neither of us knew what the other looked like it was like, how will we know who the other is? As I knew we (my daughter, her baby and my husband) were there first I figured the easiest way to let her know that it was me was to pull out my shuttles. So there we sat, in the food court of the mall, me tatting away. She had no trouble finding me!

I was so glad we could meet! As my daughter said to me later, IsDihara and I could have spent all afternoon talking. And she brought me the prize I won from her Halloween giveaway! How fortuitous is that!
Isn’t this pretty? This isn’t the best picture – it’s wonderful in person. It has a tatted pumpkin edging around it and the front has a pumpkin. Check out her blog Ambitatterous, I think her picture is better.

It was a great afternoon, a wonderful Tatting Tea Tuesday!

I have gotten a little tatting done. As I’m away from home I only have a few colors to work with so I’ve been doing a lot in the Lizbeth Falling Leaves in size 20. These two butterflies are my pattern, with Lizbeth size 20 black as the body and the edging. The heart is Tracy’s Heart, by Heather from The Tarnished Tatter, in the same threads. This heart is easy to do and will come in handy for notes and letters and such.

This has been a great week here with my daughter and her family. And a little extra bonus meeting another tatting blogger! And I’ve even seen a little of Washington – more tomorrow, I hope!

Happy Tatting everyone!

Adventures in Traveling

On my trip to Washington, DC I had to change planes at O’Hare airport in Chicago. I’d never been there before. I was fortunate to have enough time to get from one terminal to the other without rushing. I just followed the signs and had no trouble finding the other gate.

It’s amazing what you’ll find in airports. I certainly didn’t expect what I saw. And I just had to take a picture.
This was by the gift kiosk for the museum. Pretty cool, isn’t it? It was a surprise to me!
I’ve gotten very little tatted this week. I’ve been chasing a little boy for a week – makes it a little hard to tat! I have taken a little time during his naps and such to get a little work done but nothing that takes a lot of concentration in case I have to put it down suddenly. I’ll take some pictures in the next day or so of what I’ve gotten done and post later.
The sun has finally come out here in DC, and the temperatures are supposed to be a little warmer, too. We’re hoping to go to park today. Oh, boy, that will be fun!

Tatting Tea Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

I’m having tea in Washington, D.C today.
What am I doing there, you ask? Well, one of my daughters was having surgery and I came out to help for a few days. The surgery was nothing serious – if you can call any surgery not serious – but she would be down for a few days and the grandbaby is not quite one year old. Can you imagine trying to keep up with an eleven month old when you’re supposed to take it easy? Not possible! So I flew out to help her out.
The surgery went well, so at least that is now off our minds. And she’s getting along pretty well, which is great. And being here with the baby is lots of fun. Okay, I love seeing my daughter and son-in-law, too, but babies are babies and they don’t stay that way very long. You gotta grab the chances when you can to enjoy them!


I haven’t had a lot of time to tat – the baby moves pretty fast, gotta keep up – but I did get a couple of hearts made, one on the plane on the way out. I’m doing these hearts for Heather at the Tarnished Tatter. She has a friend, Tracy, who is having a double mastectomy on November 11. Heather is a great friend, helping out in a wonderful way. She has designed a tatted heart which she invites others to make and send to her so she can give them to Tracy with words of encouragement before and after the surgery. I’m sending these to her to help out.

I’m counting this as my second motif in my second round of the 25 Motif Challenge.

I’m hoping to see a few of the sights while I’m here in DC. So far I haven’t really been out of the house yet, but I’ll be here for a little more than a week. The other night when I got in it was raining, besides being late. There is suppose to be some sun before I go, and I’m hoping there will be some of the fall colors left, too.

Whether I see very much of the area or not, at least I get to visit with the family for a little while. That definately makes the trip great!

And the winner is…..

Okay, you’ve waited a-l-l day with bated breath to see who won my giveaway.
You’ve waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
You may have thought I had forgotten.
You may have wondered if maybe the site had problems and didn’t update.
Well, wonder no more. 
The wait is over. 
You can breathe now, the winner has been chosen.
I gave the name of each person who entered a number.  I used a random number generator to choose one number.
And the winner is…..
******
*****
****
***
**
*
(Would you like to know what took so long?  It was a long day where things didn’t go quite as planned.  I meant to do this first thing, but then….)
Oh, all right already!   
I’ll tell you who won!
The winner is
Trayna!
Congratulations, Tayna!  You have won a wonderful box of goodies from me! 
Thank you everyone that entered.  I’ve had a lot of fun trying to figure out what the prize was going to be.  I’m hoping Trayna enjoys getting it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
As this is so late I’m not sure I’m going to be posting tomorrow for Tatting Tea Tuesday.  It’s going to be another very busy day.  But I plan on having at least one cup of tea, tatting for at least a few minutes (it will probably be in the car!) and maybe have a little chocolate. I envite all of you to join me tomorrow for a little communi-tea and do a little tatting of your own and take a minute for yourself with a cup of tea (or coffee, or hot chocolate, or hot apple cider, or coke or pepsi – okay, the beverage of your choice!)
Happy Tatting everyone!

Tatting Tea Tuesday in Kansas City

Monday I took my mother to Kansas City for surgery that was scheduled for this morning. There was a lot of time spent in waiting rooms today. During which time I was mostly tatting.  I’m probably going to regret it tomorrow as I didn’t take very many breaks. But I did get a lot done. And had a couple of cups of tea while I was at it.

What I spent my time on was a technique that was  mentioned on InTatters the other day. I saw a thread about using the Larks Head Picot Join as described by Lily Morales. Patty D had some great pictures she shared about when to use it and put up a link to the directions. 

Now I have been using a lot of variageted thread lately which leads to joins that either look wrong or have a spec of the wrong color showing.  Not liking the look much, I definitely had to try this out.

For my practice piece I chose to do the heart in “The Gentle Art of Tatting Pattern Book 1” by Patricia A. Rizzo.  It’s a book of easy pieces, but I thought this would be a great pattern, not having to think too much about the pattern so I could concentrate on the technique.  I made it in “Falling Leaves” Lizbeth thread in size 20.  Isn’t it a pretty color?

I did get the idea of the LHPJ pretty quickly, but doing it consistantly was not so easy.  One time I would get it, the next time I’d pull the wrong threads and just tie a hard-to-get-out knot.  I think I’m getting better – at least until the next time I try it!

I’m going to count this heart as the first motif of my second round of the 25 Motif Challenge, because it definately was a challenge!

Look what I got!

See what came the other day?
A box of Lizbeth thread from Handy Hands! Whoopee!

This is all size 20, mostly solid colors. To coordinate with some of the variegated colors that I bought last time. Don’t they just look yummy?

I did get a couple of variegated threads, like Western Sunset. It sounded so pretty I just had to get some. Not sure what I’ll make with it, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out.

Lizbeth has just wonderful colors. I usually buy just one or two balls at a time, but if you have to pay for shipping, you might as well buy enough to get free shipping, don’t you think?

Now I’m going to have a hard time deciding which color to use first! I did have a thought, though – maybe I should make samples with each of the colors. I’d have a thread and a size sample and I’d get to use all of the colors soon! Okay, I’d have to wrap shuttles a lot, but I’m sure I could figure out just how much each sample takes and only wrap that much. Hmm, I’ll definitely have to think on that.

The candle on the table is “Pumpkin Spice” and it smells wonderful! It makes the house smell sooo good. It is an inspiration to use those fall colored threads that I just bought – like I need any more incentive!

Don’t forget to leave a comment if you want to enter my giveaway. One more week!

And check out LadyShuttleMakers giveaway, too. She’s also shared pictures of her “Girl Cave” – I want one!

The good and the not-so-good.

This week has had it’s good moments and it’s bad. Let’s start with the good. I won Isdihara’s Fractured Quotes: “Knot-TEA” Parody & GIVEAWAY! This was a lot of fun to enter. She asked that you write a ‘fractured’ quote about tatting and tea, based on a quote, to enter. I wrote a couple, not necessarily that good but they were fun to come up with.

Now for the not-so-good. I’ve worked on several pieces this week. And none of them have turned out like I planned. The above is one of them. Can anyone see what’s wrong with the unfinished piece on the right?

The problem started because I started the piece with a different size thread than I’ve used before. In the past I’ve made it with size 10 but this time I thought I’d use the size 20 Lizbeth I just bought. Nothing wrong with that – I knew it would be a little smaller. And I added another ring to make it bigger. One ring. That doesn’t work with the rows that follow. So, I had to start it over. **sigh**

I also was going to make a cross bookmark for friend. I probably still will, but I mis-counted the repeats in the long arm and made it too short. **sigh** There should still be enough thread on the shuttle to start over.

I think I just need to slow down a little, sip a little tea, and do it right the first time!