Category: gift

Last-Minute Gift – Again

I didn’t plan on it being a last-minute anything, but I just didn’t get on it fast enough – again. I had the ideas and I still didn’t get to it in time. But I did get it done on time.

Once a month, other than a couple of months in the summer, there is a Bingo game put on by the American Legion Auxiliary which my sister is a member of. The entry is a white elephant gift, usually a bit nicer than I think of as a white elephant gift. I decided to take a bottle decorated with tatting. I had a month to do it and I did it on the day of.

Kitty on a bottle gift on wandaskottythoughts
Kitty on a bottle gift

I used my Button Kitty pattern for this, with a few modifications; beads for the eyes and nose, and a couple of extra rings. I used Lizbeth #HH10696 Autumn Orange Med with a 3/4″ (7/8th”?) 4-hole button, the beads are 8/0. The kitty looked a little lonely there by itself, but a few flowers made it look less lonely.

Kitty on a Bottle side on wandasknottythoughts
Kitty on a Bottle side

On one side I added this flower, made in Lizbeth HH20695 Bright Orange on a 1/2″ 4-hole button. It’s a simple ring and chain pattern. A doodled leaf in Lizbeth HH20684 Leaf Green Med helped sell it as a flower.

Kitty on a bottle other side on wandasknottythoughts
Kitty on a bottle other side

The flower on the other side of the kitty is made of HH20695 and HH20696 on a 1/2″ 4-hole button, also with a simple ring and chain pattern. I added two leaves on this side, the same pattern as the other.

I liked how this came out on the burlap wrapped around a Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce bottle. Looking at the picture – after it was given away – I should have put several rounds of jute around the top of the burlap. I think it would have given it a more finished look.

I finished the gift with a bunch of fake sunflowers to make it a vase. When the gift was won and opened there was quite a conversation about tatting among the attendees. That is always a win.

I haven’t finished the Luther’s Rose pattern yet. We took a little vacation, which put me behind on the pattern. My plan at the moment is to work hard on it this week. Maybe I can finish it by the weekend? I’ll try!

“Each day provides its own gifts.” Marcus Aurelius

Two Doves

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about making a wedding gift with a pattern from Filvolite Con Sabor. I finally finished the second dove and framed them together.

Doves of Peace by Frivolite con sabor on wandasknottythoughts
‘Dove of Peace’ by Frivolite Con Sabor

I made the second dove to face the first. Instead of an olive branch, I have the doves holding a heart (my January Heart, pattern found on My Patterns page), which I thought was appropriate for a wedding. They are mounted on a wooden plaque. The frame is an odd size, which I happened to have in a box of old frames. I think it turned out well.

I’ve turned in to Lisa at Tatting Corner one of the patterns I hope to teach at Tat Days this coming July. It has been test-tatted and the pattern corrected as necessary. I’m thrilled with how it has come out. The second item I submitted for Tat Days I’m revamping a bit. It was okay, but I kept fiddling with it. Now I have to update the written pattern and get it test-tatted. I’m much happier with it now.

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday, and this coming Sunday is Easter. I’m looking forward to this entire week (Holy Week) but it will be busy. If I have time I am considering tatting around another egg before the weekend, or maybe Saturday. I have the ones I’ve previously done out as decorations, enticing me to make another. We’ll see if that happens.

For the ‘Dove of Peace’ pattern and others by Frivolite Con Sabor, check out her Etsy shop.

John 12:13  They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! ” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

February Tatting

I haven’t tatted a lot in the last month or so due to one of my hands hurting. Not sure what I’ve done to cause it, but it lets me know when I hold a shuttle or try to grip things with my right hand. I’ve been doing the recommended stretches to help it get better, which it has, but I’m still going slow with any tatting.

What tatting I’ve been doing are small things, like working on the Arlo bookmark. I think I’m finally happy with the ends, so now I just need to finish the pattern. While doing this, I tried the stitch count on just the ends. By the time I finished this sample, I was thinking it would make a cute earring.

Short Arlo bookmark on wandasknottythoughts
Short Arlo bookmark

I’ve also been doing Jane Eborall’s TIAS (Tat It And See). A great way to tat without doing too much at a time, right? We’re only a couple of clues from finishing, and I’m still not sure what it is! This is up to day 12.

2023 TIAS day 12 on wandasknottythoughts
2023 TIAS day 12

Something has to attach at the top, but how exactly, I don’t know. It’s a person, right? Maybe? You never know with Jane! There are a lot of fun guesses over on the Tat It And See blog. Jane’s next clue for the TIAS is in a couple of days. I understood her to say there are two clues left. I’m looking forward to seeing how we finish this up. Are any of you doing it?

I’ve also been doing a few small bookmarks using my January Heart pattern on large paper clips similar to what I did for my niece last year. A couple are thank-you gifts, the other one for a friend. I have two more I’d like to make before next Wednesday. They are small enough I think it’s doable.

Trio of heart bookmarks on wandasknottythoughts
A trio of heart bookmarks

One of these is for an aunt, who recently sent me a couple of souvenir coins. She got these coins at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Fransisco, California when she was eight years old.

Animal League coin on wandasknottythoughts
Animal League coin with a dog on one side

This coin is very lightweight. I’m thinking it is aluminum.

Animal League coin with a cat on wandasknottythoughts
Animal League coin with a cat

I never thought much about how long animal care organizations existed.

The coin she thought I’d want is this Coleman coin.

1939 Coleman lantern coin on wandasknottythoughts
1939 Coleman lantern coin

This coin is much heavier than the other, feeling more like an actual coin. You can tell it’s been carried around a lot, enough to rough up the lantern on it.

1939 Good luck Coleman coin on wandasknottythoughts
1939 Good luck Coleman coin

I started work for the Coleman Company in Wichita, Kansas in 1979. I never worked in the lantern factory, but it was a very important part of the company. This coin is so cool! I’m going to have to come up with a way to display it.

Now back to a few stretches, an ice pack, and my collection of things I would like to be tatting.

“Every experience, good or bad, is a priceless collector’s item.” Isaac Marion

Wishbone Thimble Holder

My sister’s birthday was a few weeks ago. My present to her was a turkey wishbone thimble holder that she had requested to replace the one I had given to her years ago which had broken recently. I mentioned in a previous post that I had started it but run into a bit of a problem. I started again and had another problem.

Broken wishbone on wandasknottythoughts
Broken wishbone

I can’t blame the dog this time. I sat on it. I had been sooooo careful and then I lost track of it for just a minute! That’s all it took. So I had to start over.

Turkey wishbone thimble holder on wandasknottythjoughts
Turkey wishbone thimble holder

Even after having to start it three times, I got it done in time for her birthday! My sister loved it! I was thinking of making another change that morning but talked myself out of it. I can make those changes on the next one! This is done in Lizbeth size 20 # 663 Bright Turquoise Dark and # 632 Purple Medium. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a better picture, this one does not show the true colors, it’s washed out.

I got the idea of doing this from a thimble holder I received from my husband’s grandmother a long time ago. I understood her sister made it.

Great aunt's thimble holder on wandasknottythoughts
Great aunt’s thimble holder

You can see that the basket is crocheted with the tatting on the outside. The ribbon was already this threadbare when I got it.

Back of great aunt's thimble holder on wandasknottythoughts
Back of great aunt’s thimble holder

The wishbone is much smaller than the ones I’ve been getting. Looking at it I thought it might be a chicken wishbone, but I think it was from a much smaller turkey. It looks like the tatting was done separately, then added to the crochet that was done around the bone. The thread is at least a size 10. I’m not sure if this is the original color or it has been discolored with age. I’m not about to try washing it, I’m worried it might start coming apart. It has been hanging in one of the bedrooms in our house for years.

I had never seen or heard of something like this before being given this one. Since then I saw one in an antique store. I should have bought it when I saw it, but I didn’t. I’m sure I make these a bit differently than my husband’s great aunt did, as I spray mine with a sealer before adding the thread. I’ve made a few of them over the years, but this is the first time I’ve broken the bone in the process. I’ll have to be more careful next time!

“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.” Reba McEntire

August Split Ring Cross

I’ve been working on the runner but it is not a take-along type project. I don’t want to get it dirty or make mistakes due to inattention. Instead, when I’m out and about or don’t have much time to tat I’ve been working on the cross pattern I recently made.

Tatting while waiting on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting while waiting

I took our truck in for service recently. It was going to take long enough I got a loaner car to drive while it was in the shop. While I had the loaner I also had to do a little waiting in a parking lot. This was an opportunity to work on the cross. This time I was tatting it in a thread of a single shade instead of a variegated one. I like this much better for being able to see the pattern than I did the other thread.

August Split Ring Cross purple on wandasknottythoughts
August Split Ring Cross in purple

It came out very well. I gave it as a gift to a lady at our church. I was in such a hurry to get it to her that I forgot to take a picture of it on a plain background to use for the pattern. I like this background, but it distracts from the pattern when using it to make the cross. So I get to do another one!

That is actually a good idea. As I’m making the next cross I’m checking the pattern for mistakes. I’m finding I’ve left out quite a lot! I still have a lot of distractions.

I put out hummingbird feeders this spring and didn’t seen any until a week and a half ago. I’ve finally seen several!

hummingbird at feeder on wandasknottythoughts
Hummingbird at feeder

They are very fun to watch. And this feeder is right outside the window in front of my computer. When the birds show up it is very distracting! Anything I’m working on ends up taking longer than I thought it would.

I think I will have the pattern for the August Split Ring Cross done by next week. I have to finish tatting the cross again so I have a picture for it and fixing those pesky mistakes I keep finding!

“Art is pattern informed by sensibility.” Herbert Read

A Thank-you Goat

For Mother’s Day one of my daughters gave me a gift certificate for a massage at a place called ‘The Pushy Goat’. We were going to plan a day for us to go together, making a day of it, with lunch and shopping. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, we didn’t have a chance to use it until August.

When we did get my massage set up we ran into all kinds of setbacks, one thing after another. Amazingly, things worked out well, we got our day out and had a wonderful time.

I wore a pair of tatted earrings to my appointment, which started a conversation about tatting with my therapist and her boss. After getting home I started thinking about sending my therapist a thank-you note with a bit of tatting in it. And what better example of tatting than a goat to a business named ‘The Pushy Goat’?

A goat for a thank-you note on wandasknottythoughts
A Thank-you goat

The pattern is Jane Eborall’s goat pattern, made in Lizbeth River Blue Dark in size 10. I’ve made this pattern before, back when Jane did it as a Tat It And See. This came out well, but I didn’t make the chin picots long enough. In fact, my granddaughter thought it was a dog. I added some thread to the chin and combed it out, making it more recognizable as a goat.

I finished the goat then had to come up with the card to put it on. I want it to be easy to mail but of a size that, if she wants, my therapist could frame it. I cut the paper to fit in a 5×7 frame. I’m going to put the thank-you message in the upper left corner and glue the goat down about where it’s at. I’m pleased with how it turned out.

I did not get any compensation from The Pushy Goat for this post. I just had a good experience there.

“Don’t approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side”

PROVERBS

Read more: https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/goat-quotes/#ixzz6Y59HCAPw

Gifted Crosses

In between working on the china hutch edgings I’ve made several cross bookmarks as gifts

This one is April’s Cross that I gifted as a wedding gift. The bride sent me a picture of it as I did not remember to take one of the finished bookmark before I gave it away. It came out nicely.

April's Cross wedding gift on wandasknottytoughts
The finished wedding bookmark April’s Cross

I also made one to celebrate a baptism. Well, I made two, as I wasn’t happy with the first one. The pattern is my take on a traditional cross.

Traditional cross bookmarks as gifts on wandasknottythoughts
Two cross bookmarks in my version of a traditional pattern

Both of these are made in size 20 Lizbeth thread #605, Silver. I wasn’t thrilled about the length of the long arm of the top one, it didn’t look proportionally correct with the other arms. So I’ll keep the first one for me.

Both recipients were pleased with their gifts, which also makes me happy.

Now I need to stay on task and finish the third edging for the china hutch.

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Split rings and beads

One of my daughters had a birthday recently. We took her and her family as well as our other daughter and her family out to lunch to celebrate. The day before her birthday I thought about tatting her something (I always leave it to the last minute.) Earrings can be quick and easy – relatively speaking – so I decided to make her a pair.

Split ring and bead earrings on wandasknottythoughts
Split ring dragonfly earrings

The dragonfly wing beads I bought last year from JoAnn’s, the same time I bought the beads for these earrings. I used Lizbeth metallic thread #311 for the finished earrings, but, I didn’t start with that thread. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to make them so I practiced with cotton thread first.

Three tries for dragonflies on wandasknottythoughts
Trial and error for the dragonfly earrings

My first try was with cotton thread and single shuttle split rings. I was not happy with them at all. They might be good after a bit more refresher practice, but there was a time limit for getting them made. I like the look of the split rings in the middle one, but they looked a bit too big. So I made the split rings a bit smaller, which resulted in a happy tatter and a pretty set of earrings.

I used a few other beads bought at the same time for my Christmas gift ornaments this last year. They were made almost the same way as the earrings but with different stitch counts.

Beaded split ring Christmas ornaments on wandasknottythoughts
Beaded split ring Christmas ornaments

The biggest issue I had with these ornaments was I couldn’t put them in my Christmas cards to send them! Which in a way was good, as I didn’t have enough beads to make as many ornaments as I usually do. But those that received them were thrilled with them.

I don’t tat with beads often, usually because I make messes with them. I tat a lot in the car, so beads end up on the floor, between the seats, or lost. Okay, I’m also impatient with how much slower I tat with beads than tatting without. But once in a while beads are fun to work with, and usually turn out pretty good.

“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.” Denis Waitley

Three Color Edging

I try to tat something special every year for our Independence Day on July 4. This year I didn’t even think about it until the very end of June. I debated about making an ice drop of some sort, but only for a short time. Then I thought about using beads. I rounded up blue beads and loaded my shuttles, one with red thread, the other with white.

That design lasted for two rings, then I decided it was a bad idea. I unloaded all the beads I had put on the shuttles and re-wound them with the red and white threads. I was ready to try something else.

Concepts kept percolating in my head but nothing solidified. Then I woke up July 4th with a notion that I was confident would work, though it would require another shuttle with a ball.

Start of the 3 color edging on wandasknottythoughts
Start of the 3 color edging

The idea came together nicely.  Elements I had to refine were the lengths of the chains and getting them to work together. Then keeping all the threads untangled!

The purpose of the edging was to go around a glass yogurt jar I had. These jars are much too nice to put in the recycle bin when emptied of their yummy-ness. I had decorated one a short time ago using a similar edging, but it was done with only two shuttles. This would be a bit different.

Yogurt jar waiting for tatting on wandasknottythoughts
Yogurt jar waiting for tatting

I was using the same count in the clover as I had last time but adding another ring in-between clovers. As this made the edging longer, instead of being at the top of the jar it fits at the bottom of the jar.

3 color edging on a jar on wandasknottythoughts
3 color edging on a jar

My decision to decorate this jar was not done solely to put it on my blog. We were invited to spend the evening at our daughter’s house to enjoy the holiday with her family and I wanted to take a hostess gift. Something in-line with the celebration but nothing too big.

3 color edging on a candy jar on wandasknottythoughts
3 color edging on a candy jar

Adding soft peppermint candies to the jar finished off the gift. The edging is tight enough on the jar to stay on but loose enough to take off if the jar needs washing.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.

I am working on the pattern for this. Look for it soon on my Patterns page.

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” Mark Twain                              brainyquote.com

Disclaimer: The jars are from Yoplait French Style Yogurt “oui”. I have not received any type of compensation for mentioning it.

Itty Bitty Shuttles

Shuttle Earrings on wandasknottythoughts 2018
Shuttle Earrings

Check out what my wonderful husband got me for my birthday! Aren’t they pretty??

Silver Tatting Shuttle Earrings on wandasknottythoughts 2018
Silver Tatting Shuttle Earrings

He knows me so well. I think I’ll keep him!

“Even on my bad days I’m still happy with the man I married” everydayhusbandquotes.com