Category: beads

Teacup for Tatting Tea Tuesday

Isn’t this little teacup with the candle inside cute? I saw it and just had to get it for a Tatting Tea Tuesday post. It’s from a candle shop in Silver Dollar City, Missouri. They pour a lot of candles there, in the most marvelous scents! This one happens to be Bayberry. They make the candles right there in the shop; you can watch and talk to them about what they are doing. They also have a dipping station where you can dip your own candles. You actually buy white candles in any of several different sizes (4 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch) then you dip them in different colour waxes for any color combination your heart desires. I had a picture of the ones that I dipped but it seems to be lost in cyber space somewhere. It will have to be shared on a different post.

The lovely little doily the cup is sitting on was designed by the wonderful AnneB (Anne Bruvold), she who designed the Minor Norwegian Flying Dragons. I tatted it a while ago and thought I had shared it here on my blog but I haven’t found it, so I must be mistaken. I know it was done in size 30 thread but I don’t remember in what brand or color, and measures about four inches across. I’m sharing it now because a friend of mine asked if I would make her one. The pattern for it can be found here. If you are interested in more of Anne’s patterns, you can find them at Nuperelle.net (there be dragons!) Some are in English and some are in Norwegian.

This morning I got up and took the pictures of the teacup and doily, several of the dipped candles, then worked on adding the suggestions of the test tatters to Heart’s Honor bookmark. I didn’t get any tea drank or any tatting done during all that. I did tat a whole ring and chain at my in-laws’ house (not of this doily, another project) and then, well, a mess. I was being soooooo careful with my tube of size 10/0 seed beads when I spilled the entire tube of them all over the floor. So instead of tatting I picked up seed beads. The tube says it has 10g of beads and I must have spilled 9.99% of them – there were only about a dozen lonely beads left in the tube when I picked it up. Most have been recovered but quite a few went into my purse, which will be emptied and de-beaded at home.

I didn’t get the pattern for Heart’s Honor up yet – I had hoped it would be today – but it should be in a few days.

“Inanimate objects can be classified scientifically into three major categories: those that don’t work, those that break down and those that get lost.” Russell Baker

Christmas Ball Ornament

This is my first Christmas ball ornament to cover in tatting. The Monthly Challenge for December is ornaments of any type. This is my answer to the challenge! I’ve admired balls covered in tatting but had never tried it, thought it would be too hard. This one is made with DMC Cebelia size 20 thread #816 with 3mm gold beads. The beads are mostly in the rings and end up in the ring’s mouth. I loved how Michael (Msquared) had done the beads on his ‘Snowflake and Silver’ and thought I’d try it. It didn’t come out looking quite like his did, but I thought the result worked quite nicely.
I was asked if I would share the pattern, so here it is, untried by anyone but me. I tried to add a diagram on how I finished off the bottom but I couldn’t get it to look right in the post. So if anyone happens to try this and can’t figure out just what in the world I was trying to say, leave me a comment and I’ll try to answer it (a little more clearly!)
Abbreviations:
RW – Reverse Work; DNRW – Do Not Reverse Work
B – bead; Ch – Chain; R – Ring; p – picot; + – join
Christmas Ornament in Blue and Red
Pattern is for a ball 2 ¼“ in diameter, using size 20 thread. Number of stitches in chains will need to be adjusted for different diameter balls and thread sizes.
2 shuttles, beads on both
Top
*Sht1 R (with one bead in R) 2-2-2-2-2-7 Close. Bead will be at R mouth. RW
Ch 10 B 10 join to 5th p of prev R. RW*
Repeat between * until there are 10 rings and chains.
$ Ch 15 DNRW
Sht2 (with one bead in R) 5-5 Close. Bead will be at R mouth. DNRW
Sht1 Ch 15 join to base of next R. DNRW $
Repeat between $ all the way around. Cut and finish ends

Middle
@Sht1 (with one bead in R) 2-2-2—2-2-2. Close. Bead will be at R mouth. RW
Ch 15 DNRW
Sht2 R (with one bead in R) 5+5 join to R of Top, pull p through a loose bead before joining. Close. Bead will be at mouth of R. DNRW
Sht1 Ch 15 RW @
Repeat between @ around. Cut and finish ends

Bottom
^ Sht1 R (with one bead in R) 2-2-2+2-2-2 join to long p of Middle R , pull p through a loose bead before joining. Close. Bead will be at R mouth. RW
Ch 10 DNRW
Sht2 R (with one bead in R) 5-5. Close. Bead will be at R mouth. DNRW
Ch 10 RW ^
Repeat between ^ around. Cut and finish ends

Insert ball into tatting. As tatting is adjusted around ball evenly, pin in place.
When happy with placement insert a pin in the center bottom of ball. Thread needle with about 12” of tatting thread. With thumb hold down about 2” of thread, then pull needle through p of 5-5 R opposite the pin. Count 5 or 6 rings over, pull thread through p, repeat, each time going on the far side of the pin (thread will have to make a turn at the pin). This will weave the rings evenly at the bottom. Tie and cut when happy with tension. Work in loose end and cut. Remove pin.

On to other things – I’m working on another of Bob’s coilies, except this time I’m pretty sure you’d call it a doily, as it’s in size 10 thread and is quite a lot bigger than the one I did in size 30. I’m thinking of trying another round on it to make it a bit bigger. This is going to be a Christmas gift and I’d like it to cover a little more table space. I’ve actually finished with Bob’s pattern and now I’m deciding my next step. Stay tuned for further updates, and maybe a picture.