Category: cross

Pizzaz Tatting

Grape Pizzaz anyway.

Tatted cross in Grape Pizzaz size 20 Lizbeth on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted cross in Grape Pizzaz

I spent most of Tuesday in a waiting room while my mother underwent a medical procedure.  It was supposed to be at 9:30 A.M. but of course they want the patient there early.  I arrived at 8:30 A.M, a little late to see her as they took her to the back at 8:00 A.M.

And then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  They finally started the procedure at 12:10 P.M.

Then we waited some more while the procedure was done.  Which took two hours.

Then we waited some more while she was in recovery.

I have been making a few bookmarks to refill my gift supply.  Most recently it has been the Graduation bookmark in Lizbeth Grape Pizzaz size 20.  I’d finished one in it and begun another.  This thread is what I had in my purse Tuesday morning.  The only thread I had in my purse.

Two tatted crosses in Grape Pizzaz size 20 Lizbeth thread on wandasknottythoughts
Two tatted crosses in Grape Pizzaz

Finishing the cross was the first thing I tatted in the waiting room.  I could have done another one – or two, or three – during the wait but I chose to do other things.

Waiting room tatting in Grape Pizzaz size 20 Lizbeth on wandasknottythoughts
Waiting room tatting

Tatting around the button was because, um, I had the button.  The butterflies and flowers as small things I make when there isn’t much thread left on the shuttles.  I use these on letters and notes to brighten them up 🙂  A clear glass gem from the bottom of my tatting bag became an Ice Drop.  Thanks to Diane for having the information on her blog to refresh my memory on how to make them!

I took quite a few breaks from tatting during the waiting for lack of a strategy for the day.  If I’d had a large project with me a lot could have been accomplished.  Alas, I didn’t have much of a plan for tatting, so was unprepared.  How odd of me.  This was not a surprise procedure, I should have had a better plan.

The good news is my mother is doing well.  She’ll have to take things easy for a while, but she is at home where she can be comfortable.

I have found several UFOs I should work on.  I’ve also started a list of things I want to tat.  Hmm, which will it be?

“Don’t wait for the perfect moment.  Take the moment and make it perfect!”

Bookmarks

My tatting this week consisted of making a couple of cross bookmarks. I started with the one on the right, with an idea of how I wanted the ends to look. I started several times because it didn’t work quite right. I did this in tatting instead of with computer software because I had more time to do it that way. I would have liked to do it with software but it’s a little harder to take my laptop everywhere than it is my tatting. That’s one of the great things about tatting, isn’t it? The portability.

I am pretty happy with the result of the first one. I used a SCMR on the ends of each arm and one in the center as well. I did have a little trouble making up my mind about the tassels on each end, trying several different things before I decided that the spiral tails looked right. The entire pattern is straight forward and easy which will make it an excellent bookmark to make quickly give for special occasions.

There were a few things I thought might work better done slightly differently so made another one. On the second cross I made the end SCMRs a little bigger and each of the thrown rings a little differently, too. I had planned on doing the center the same way as the first cross but I made a little mistake that I didn’t notice ’til I came around the next time. I thought it would work, so continued on with that change. I actually like this center better than the first. I did plan the tassels a little better this time so I didn’t have to start over and over and over. Using a software program might have helped a little here also, to decide on the size of the rings compared to the rest of the cross. I definitely need to take some time to utilize more of what I learned about software designing in the Design-Tat class.

Both crosses are made with Lizbeth size 20 threads, center in #633 dark purple, outside in #127 Butterfly Breeze. These are #19 of my second 25 Motif Challenge. I am working on writing out and diagramming the pattern for these – again, need computer time to get it done. I’ve got a good start but still have a long way to go.

I’m still drinking hot tea on this Tatting Tea Tuesday. The weather has been rather cooler than normal this spring so it’s still more appealing yet than iced tea. Today Cinnamon Apple Spice really hit the spot. I think I’ll make another cup and work on my next project.

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” Pat Riley

Tatting Tea Tuesday and Motif #10

This morning I’m enjoying a glass of iced Vanilla Rooibos tea, which I have come to like very much. It is described as “a lush and indulgent blend of rooibos, Tahitian vanilla, cinnamon, apples and peaches” (Tazo box label). Mmmm. I’m drinking my tea with my feet up -ignoring the dirty house – glad that I’m inside instead of outside. We’re currently enjoying very hot weather, but that should be no surprise, it is August in Kansas.

There has actually been a lot of tatting done this week but there’s very little to show for it. Several things have gone directly into the trash after completion, or maybe a little earlier. I was trying for some earrings – there are so many beautiful creations on others’ blogs that I just had to give it a try – but my first try was pretty ugly. First, I don’t use beads very much, and second, some days things just don’t work!! It did get a little better on my second try.

This is the only picture I have of these, because I was lazy and didn’t snap a picture until I was on my way out the door. I was on my way to enter a few things in a local county fair, including these. I had this last minute thought that I should enter some tatting that wasn’t “old fashioned”, something to show that tatting could be modern and fun. These are a long way from being as pretty as, say, any that I’ve seen so far, but I will wear them. My sister liked them, too. These are made in Lizbeth #682 Country Grape, Dk, size 20. I’m going to consider them motif #10 in my second 25 Motif Challenge.

I also made another cross bookmark in the same color based on the motif from the November 1953 Workbasket. I don’t know how I made such a mess of hiding the ends when I was done, but it is terrible! : (
Oh, well, I guess I need bookmarks, too.

Wishing you all a little time for tea and tatting.

Tatting Tea Tuesday with Tea and Tatting!

Greetings and Salutations! This has been a good week! A girl’s day out on Thursday with my sister was a load of fun. We got our nails done, went to a wonderful scrapbook store in Derby called ‘Scrappin’ Time’ (you may recall I just got back from vacation), had a relaxed lunch, visited with my daughter and her family, then went to JoAnne’s and spent lots of money! What could be more fun than that?

Then Saturday I had the evening to myself so I spent it going shopping again! Okay, didn’t spend nearly as much, and it wasn’t quite as much fun because I was by myself, but still! Went into a quilt store to drool over the material and found out they are going to be having a beginners quilt class at times I can even attend – amazing! A friend of mine had mentioned she was going to be going to this, but I hadn’t realized what the times. So we’re both signed up for it now.

Then it was on to the Salvation Army store to see if there were any good bargains to be had. And look what I found!

I’m almost positive I’ve already got a copy of this, but at $0.49 I couldn’t leave it there. It had a doily pattern and a motif pattern in it. I went home and made one of the motifs. Then I made another one. A simple pattern but nice look. These haven’t been blocked yet, but except for the clovers at the ends of the arms it lays pretty nice. I say that though the centers bowed up a little, then found out if you make the picots of the little rings longer that problem goes away.

I know this because I tried it on the third motif. When I was almost done with this one I thought “just extend one leg a little bit and it will be a cross” and it was.

The two-toned blue cross is made out of Manuela size 20 in color 019 (dark blue) and a DMC blue that I don’t have labeled. The variegated, unfinished cross is made from an unknown brand, size 30 thread that my mother gave me. I just added four more of the small rings to each side of the forth leg of the motif, and wa -la! a beautiful cross.

The second cross is for my mother as well as being made from thread she gave me. That was another thing that made it a good week: she picked up a bag of crochet thread from the senior center to give to me. I didn’t take it all because most if it was white and ecru! There were several new balls of thread, but I can’t see me ever using that much of regular crochet thread. I’ve gotten spoiled with Lizbeth and and few other types of thread that are much smoother and easier to tat with. But it was so nice of her I thought I’d make her a little something in the thread she liked the most.

I had more trouble with that thread than I’ve had in a long time! It was fuzzier than what I’m used to as well as being somewhat old – it kept breaking on me. Well, at least three times, and that’s only because I started being v-e-r-y careful when I closed rings. And then at the end I got in a hurry and cut off the threads a chain and ring early 🙁 Adding thread again for the last ring was a pain, but I was able to squeeze in the last chain with the little tail of the chain thread. Then I ran out of time. If I wanted a picture of it for this post I didn’t have time to sew in the ends. You can see what I chose to do about it.

I’m calling the original motif as #8 in my second 25 Motif Challenge, and the cross as #9.

The title says there will be tea and there was. My daughter gave me a box of Tazo vanilla tea, which I can’t remember the actual name of it. It has vanilla, of course, and a little peach and is very good. I had it on ice today. Though I was inside I saw that the outside temp was already 102 degrees (F). It made me hot just thinking about it.

Until next week, may you all have a little time for yourselves with a little tea and tatting.

Chamomile any one?

Anyone out there like chamomile tea? I haven’t actually tried it myself, though my neighbor really likes it and recommends it. I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to trying some new things and this is one of them. I’m not saying I won’t, just that I haven’t taken that step yet. So this Tatting Tea Tuesday I drink just decaffeinated tea of an unknown brand instead of something exotic or exciting.

The subject of chamomile came up the other day when our neighbor, a really great guy, was mowing our lawn for us. Probably because it was getting pretty tall. And because he’s really a great guy. But when he got to our driveway up by the house he left a large patch un-mowed. He stopped and explained he thought it was chamomile. We both agreed it smelled very good where it was mowed. These plants are where we don’t want plants, though. My DH is planning to get rid of them soon.

I’m not much on plants, herbs or edibles from the field, so I did a little (key word, little) checking on the Internet about chamomile. I understand that it has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries in Europe and then here in the States as well. It sounds like it could be very good for you as well as quite tasty (so they say). Wikipedia also says that it can become quite a pest because it spreads out everywhere, including in fields where it’s not wanted. I must agree, what’s growing and spreading in our driveway is going everywhere! So whether it’s chamomile or not, smells nice or not, some of it is going bye bye very soon.
I don’t know for sure if the little plant in the picture is chamomile or not but it looks kind of nice there with my tatting. The colors are not quite true-to-life though. The cross actually has purple as the outside, not blue.

The little doily is the center of the one I’ve been working on for several weeks. I’m not very happy with the way it lays now that this much has been blocked. The ds count has to be corrected for it to look better, so this is as far as this one is going. The next one will be in another color with a few more stitches in the pattern!

The cross bookmark is one of my patterns. It will have a ‘tail’ on it soon. I made one just like this for an insert in a wedding card last week but didn’t take a picture of it before it was given away, so I obviously had to make another to share, right? It is made with Lizbeth size 20 thread in Springtime, I think. (The label came out of the middle *ahhhh*) It’s pretty anyway. The outside is also Lizbeth size 20 in purple but which shade I’m also not sure of except it’s pretty close to K States’ purple.

Pretty sad, isn’t it? Until I started this blog remembering what the colors were was only a very minor thing. But sharing what I’m doing with others means keeping track of these things. I’ll have to find a better way of keeping the labels with the threads, won’t I? While I’m making changes I might just have to give chamomile tea a try.