Category: Christmas

Pinwheel Snowflake

It’s that time of year again when our shuttles turn to snowflakes and other winter and Christmas things. Unless you’ve started already, which I should have. Every year I tell myself I’ll start early, maybe even in January, and every year I don’t. So I am behind and trying to hurry and get my Christmas tatting done. How do I do that? By designing another snowflake.

Pinwheel snowflake 1st version on wandasknottythoughts
Pinwheel snowflake 1st version

I started out with a ‘traditional’ center to make the finished version have six points. In the second round, I tried something a bit different. It took me a while to get from the curve with five rings to the straight chain. Several things I tried didn’t work out too well, but this solution worked pretty well.

Pinwheel snowflake version 2 on wandasknottythoughts
Pinwheel snowflake version 2

The second time I made the snowflake I thought having it in two colors would be nice. When I got to the straight chain I changed it up again, making it a spiral instead. I liked this but thought something could be done with the center. I wasn’t sure it looked finished like this, so I also added another round.

Pinwheel snowflake version 3 on wandasknottythoughts
Pinwheel snowflake version 3

On this try, I made the center slightly different but still just rings and chains. I think I made it a bit too frilly on the rings, though. The added third round gave it a whole other look. I wondered how this would look in two colors. FYI, the thread was still damp from blocking when I took this picture. The picots were dry but the tatting wasn’t.

Pinwheel snowflake version 4 on wandasknottythoughts
Pinwheel snowflake version 4

I like the center of this one with fewer picots on the rings and the different lengths of the picots on the chains. When making the spiral chains on the second round I made too many repeats, making the chains longer. I didn’t realize I’d done this until I was farther along and didn’t want to go back and fix it so I just made all of them the same. Not bad, but I like the shorter chains a bit better.

All of these snowflakes were made with Lizbeth size 20 thread. The first two are in Harvest Orange #694 (I think) with the center in Autumn Spice #136. The blue one is Country Turquoise Lt #660. The red and white are Christmas Red #671 and Snow White #601. The first two measure 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) across and the other two measure 4 3/4 inches (12 cm) across.

Looking at the pictures on the screen I’ve changed my mind, I think the first two snowflakes look finished without the last round. They look okay with the third round as well. What do you think?

“Be willing to accept help. Look at what the pinwheel can do with a little help from the wind.”

Trees and Angels

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We did. Christmas Eve I finally got a few Christmas decorations put up and decorated a tree.

Christmas tree 2020 on wandasknottythoughts
My 2020 Christmas tree

This isn’t exactly a tree, it is several branches from some evergreens that we took out of the yard a couple of days ago wire-tied together. The shape is not quite right, but it brought the scent of a real tree indoors, didn’t cost anything, and, when decorated, looked festive. The only ornaments on it that I made this year are the music angel and the round paper ornament. All the others are ones I randomly found as I got my Christmas decorations out. I found quite a few more tatted ornaments and hung them around the house.

The little time I’ve had to tat I’ve been making the Small Angel. Which isn’t hard, but that left wing! Making it look like the right is a bit of a challenge. It’s all in the picot size and the chains. And maybe the join for that longest picot.

Small angels on wandasknottythoughts
Three small angels

As you can see, neither of the red angels have wings quite like the original gold one. And they don’t even look like each other! I think the wings on the red angels look more like leaves than wings, but they still look okay. I must be holding my mouth wrong as I tat to make them so different! I’d love to see how they turn out for anyone that makes them.

Usually, between Christmas and New Years’ things for us slow down a bit, but this year it’s not that way. There are several things that need to be done before the new year, so many that we don’t have much time to do as we’d like. I have tatting plans that will have to wait a little bit more.

What are your plans for the New Year?

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” Woody Allen https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/woody_allen_136686

Christmas 2020

Can you believe it is only three days to Christmas? The year has gone so fast and the last three weeks must faster (it seems to me!). I have been so busy I haven’t gotten as much tatting done as I would have liked, but, looking back, I’ve gotten more done than I thought.

Christmas 2020 tatting on wandasknottythoughts
Christmas tatting 2020

Looking back, there was more tatting done for Christmas than I thought. I’m not sure how many of the music ornaments I finished this year, but everyone I had planned to send cards to received one, so it was several lol! It’s amazing how much time can be spent on such small tatting!. The angel wings came out great, and the angels were well received by the few that got them. I didn’t give anyone the small angel, but that was designed and tatted as well. Not bad!

Speaking of the small angel, the pattern is done and available! Please email me a request.

Small angel Christmas tatting 2020 on wandasknottythoughts
Small angel Christmas tatting

Now I’m on to more Christmas things, namely getting the house cleaned up and decorated so it looks Christmas-y!

Merry Christmas to all of you.

“Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” Alexander Smith https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alexander_smith_379476?src=t_christmas

Ornaments and Angels

I was on vacation last week, which was a good thing. I spent a lot of time making the ornaments to send out as Christmas cards. I would never have gotten as many made if I hadn’t had the week off.

Some of the ornaments for cards on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament cards for Christmas

Another batch of cards done except for the hangers.

More ornament cards for Christmas on wandasknottythoughts
More ornament cards for Christmas

These all have hangers now. There are still a few that need tatting as well as the hangers.

The good news, most recipients have theirs. Some were to be mailed yesterday but didn’t get picked up. I don’t know if the mail came early or we didn’t have a postman come by, so I’ll drop them at the post office today.

While I was tatting small things for these ornaments, I took a bit of a detour and did a small angel.

Small tatted angel on wandasknottythoughts
Small tatted angel

This is one of the few times I jotted down some ideas and a drawing before starting to tat. I had to make an adjustment due to a slight miscalculation, but it came out like I wanted it to. I even jotted down the stitch counts – amazing! I might get the pattern out later this week, though maybe not the nice drawing. We’ll see.

I was very busy last week with more than just the Christmas cards. There were so many things that had to be finished before this last weekend. The good news is that those things did get done. Now I can do a few of the other things that didn’t get done yet. Like putting up decorations in my house. But I have to clean a bit before that. Christmas is how many days away??

Are you ready for Christmas?

“It’s true, Christmas can feel like a lot of work, particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you’ll find you’ve created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul.” Caroline Kennedy

Christmas Cards

Have you sent your Christmas cards yet? I have not. Have you received any yet? I have not. And when you receive them, how do you display them?

Displaying Christmas cards is a conundrum for me every year. Every year I receive such beautiful cards and I don’t have a way to display them. Some years I’ve had a string where they can be clipped to and be seen. Some years I don’t have a place to do that. One year I had a cute basket I put them in, but they did not display well. Then when the season is over I hate to throw them away because they are so beautiful and some have wonderful messages or greetings. I keep a lot of them, but really, then what?

This year I decided to make them. Now, I’m not much of a card maker. I have a cousin who does that sort of thing beautifully, and tattingmargaret at Margarets Designer Cards does lovely cards. But I thought I’d do my own cards this year, at least to the few that I’m sending them.

Ornament card 1 on wandasknottythoughts
My first try at an ornament card

This is my first try at making a card that is an ornament as well. It can be hung as an ornament on the tree, or where-ever, and saved for another year, too. It incorporates some of the hymnal pages and a little bit of tatting. I was pleased with the first one, so a made a few more.

Ornament 2 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #2
Ornament3 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #3

I suppose they are not really cards, though I put our Christmas greetings, the year, and our names on the back. Does that make them cards?

One of my daughters was over and I drafted her to help me cut out the paper. That made things go a lot faster.

Ornament 4 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #4
Ornament 5 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #5

Some I like better than others. Some worked, color and tatting wise, better than others. But the over-all look of them came out better than I was thinking they would.

Ornament 6 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #6
Ornament 7 card on wandasknottythoughts
Ornament #7

I even incorporated a decorated button on one. Right now on Facebook the wonderful Lace-lovin’ Librarian Diane Cademartoi has started another group, this time with decorated button ornaments. I’ve done a lot of decorated buttons before, but the group inspired me to do a few more. This decorated button decorates an ornament.

Seven Christmas ornaments on wandasknottythoughts
All seven Christmas ornaments I’ve made so far

I gave out five of these already and they were well received. But I’m going to need a few more. Good thing I have the circles cut out already! But, wait! I don’t have enough tatted parts yet. I’d better get on it!

How about you? Do you have your cards done?

“The Church knew what the psalmist knew: Music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church’s greatest ornament.” Igor Stravinsky

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Arches Over Arches Doily

Back in 2009, I made a doily that I called ‘Arches Over Arches‘. I had originally thought to call it ‘Arches’, but Yarnplayer had recently made a doily of that name, so I had to come up with something else. I am not good at coming up with names for the items I design and make, so I just modified the name a bit. I made the same doily later that year but in different colors and called it a sunflower. Other people liked the doily and requested the pattern, but I never got to it. I was recently contacted by another person who requested the pattern, and I thought it was about time to put it together.

The problem is I didn’t write down dimensions or specifics for diagramming the pattern. So, I needed to make the doily again.

Arches Over Arches doily first round on wandasknottythoughts
Arches Over Arches doily first round

This time I’m using Lizbeth #181 Cranberry Bush in size 20. It was in a thread collection of Christmas threads and I hadn’t tried it yet. As I’m thinking about Christmas gifts now, it easily suggested itself to this doily. I like how this came out.

Once I got started this doily goes pretty quickly. The hardest part, for me, is the long chains. If I’m not careful, I lose count and have to recount to make sure all of the chains are the same length. Then of course, there is the tension on chains. Careful, careful!

Arches Over Arches doily Christmas on wandasknottythoughts
Arches Over Arches doily Christmas

I noticed after I uploaded the picture that the center doesn’t look quite round. I didn’t do a good job of blocking it, did I? The chains look pretty good. They have to be blocked or they are all over the place.

The center is right at two inches across, with a total diameter of just short of nine inches. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to add a center as I did with the sunflower version. I think I’m going to write out the pattern this way first, maybe add the center later. I am working on the pattern now, looking for it to be done in a day or so. If you are interested in it, let me know.

As soon as the pattern is done, it’s on to Christmas tatting in a big way. I didn’t leave much time for that, did I?

“All experience is an arch, to build upon.” Henry Adams

Medallion Modifications

I have been thinking about what I want to do for Christmas ornaments this year, the ones I will give to family and close friends. I’ve been surfing Pinterest, blogs, and Craftree for ideas. There are some really cool things out there, but none have them really tripped my trigger, so to speak.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing with a medallion I first made a few of years ago when I went to Palmetto Tat Days. I came up with a medallion I used in an outfit for the costume contest they had that year. I made quite a few of these for the costume and had a few that were made but didn’t get used.

Shuttle-shaped medallion on wandasknottythoghts
My Shuttle-shaped medallion

Thinking of Christmas ornaments I gave a thought to making this medallion a bit larger and adding beads. I added a few stitches to each of the rings and chains, made the joining picots big enough for beads.

Shuttle-shaped medallion first try with beads on wandasknottythoughts
Shuttle-shaped medallion first try with beads

It didn’t come out quite like I thought it would. Not that it’s bad, just not as expected. So I tried again.

Shuttle-shaped medallion with beads second try on wandasknottythoughts
Shuttle-shaped medallion with beads second try

This one didn’t come out quite like I hoped, either. Again, not bad, just not what I was hoping for.

The first one is closer to the shape I was looking for but was open in the center. The second one just didn’t keep the shuttle shape as much as I’d like.

Shuttle-shaped medallions, all three on wandasknottythoughts
Shuttle-shaped medallions, all three

I did succeed in making them larger, and I do like them with beads. I’m just not sure this is what I want to make as Christmas ornaments this year.

I used size 10 Lizbeth threads on all of these, so it is obvious that I did get the goal of making them bigger right. They just didn’t meet all of my goals. I’m not saying I don’t like them, they just didn’t come out quite like I was looking for. But I now have two modified medallions to hang around the house. Or maybe at work. This was not a waste of time. But when is tatting anything a waste of time?

The hunt continues for what I want to make for Christmas ornaments. Are you tatting anything for Christmas this year?

“Most discoveries even today are a combination of serendipity and of searching.” Siddhartha Mukherjee

Magnifier Case

December just flew by! We were so busy with family, work, and church I had to make choices of what things were done and what was left undone or to do later. I have some things to blog about they are some of those things to do later.

I did get some tatting done, including several Ice Drops (to be blogged about later). A last minute gift that I tatted was for our pastor’s wife, who has a lot of trouble with her eyes. I had been thinking of getting a magnifying glass for her for a while, but I wanted one that was easy to use and portable. I found one at Hobby Lobby a few days before Christmas that was almost exactly what I had envisioned. It just needed some way to be carried that kept it nice and was easy to access.

Magnifier and case with tatting on wandasknottythoughts 2018
Magnifier and case with tatting

The felt and thread I already had at home. I design tatting but I’m not as well versed in designing with material but I was able to come up with a case made out of the felt. Of course, it couldn’t be left plain. Lizbeth Caribbean worked well with the purple felt. The tatting on it looks simple but I had to make it hard – the edging has rings on the other side, like the gem in an Ice Drop.

The entire case and tatting were done Christmas eve day/evening. You can’t make a case for something you don’t have or I would have started much earlier! I thought about attaching the tatting with fabric glue but decided that as much use as it might have, sewing was a better option. The purple paracord I had left over from my Tat Days costume worked well for the lanyard part.

Magnifier case with tatted edging on wandasknottythoughts 2018
Magnifier case with tatted edging

I’m happy to say that the recipient loved both the magnifier and the case. It will come in handy at church but also for things like reading labels at the store and menus in restaurants.

I’m hoping to blog a bit more frequently than I have been lately. I not only have been tatting some but also taking a few pictures. Maybe not everything, but most.

Here’s to a new year with lots of time for tatting! And taking pictures. And blogging. 🙂

“The beauty of handmade is in the imperfections. Anything perfect is machine made.”   craftprofessional.com

 

Ice drop for Christmas?

It’s that time of year when I start getting worried I won’t have my Christmas tatting done in time. It would help if I started earlier, but every year there is some reason or reasons it doesn’t happen. My main seasonal tatting is making a tatted ornament of some type to give to family and special friends. I’m just now getting started on them, and there is definitely not enough time to get them done!

I think I’m making Ice Drops again this year. I made simple, basic ones last year.

This year I’m getting a little more adventurous! Of course, they’ll take longer…

I started out with a Cosmic Ice Drop, pattern by Nicola Bowersox.

Cosmic Ice Drop in white without any beads on wandasknottythoughts
Cosmic Ice Drop in white without any beads

It’s not very cosmic without the beads her pattern calls for. I used white thread and a clear center. It came out well and I remembered how to do it – yay!

Ice Drop with red gem center on wandasknottythoughts
Ice Drop with red gem center

The Cosmic Ice Drop pattern is beautiful, but I don’t have time to locate and use beads in my tatting this year as I’ll be doing a lot of it in the car. So I came up with a different outside. I also had to modify the back, as the gem is cut like a diamond and sticks out the back.

Ice Drop back side with red gem center on wandasknottythoughts
Ice Drop back side with red gem center

I’m going to try some with darker thread, maybe blue. The white shows every bit of dirt that might be on your fingers. If I’m going to get many done I might not have pristine hands to tat with all the time.

I haven’t figured out how to tat in my sleep yet. I’ve dreamed about it but there is no solid evidence that tatting was done when I wake up. I guess I’ll have to stay up later instead.

“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” Sara Raasch

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Ice Drops

Ice Drops inspired by LaceLovinLibrarian Diane on wandasknottythoughts
Ice Drops inspired by LaceLovinLibrarian Diane

I didn’t make snowflakes to go in Christmas cards this year.  Instead I was inspired by LaceLovinLibraian Diane to tat Ice Drops.   The only draw back is that I had to hand deliver them.  I ended up not making as many for Christmas as I would have if they were flat and could be mailed.

These were a lot of fun to make.  They also don’t take very long.

Diane inspired a lot of people to make these.  I’ve seen them in different colors, too, with beads and sequins.  I may eventually tat some in colors other than white, but for Christmas these worked out great.

I am now making a list of UTPs (Unfinished Tatting Projects).  The goal is to finish those first before getting in to other projects.

Now to remember where I put all those UTPs.

“I recently took up ice sculpting.  Last night I made an ice cube.  This morning I made 12, I was prolific.”   Mitch Hedberg

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