I’ve been making several of my Button Kitty because they are fun to make. Thanks, Marie Mccurry of West Pine Creations for sharing the kitties she made. Check out the post on my Facebook page to see them. She added beads for eyes and such cute ears!
I also have a few ideas about other things to do with the pattern. I’ve been trying a few things, which aren’t bad but I’m not sure they turn out quite like my vision.
From a cat to something else
I had already thought of making the ears bigger but I loved Marie’s addition of the beads for the eyes. I also thought maybe a bigger bead for the nose. I got all that. But what is it?
Then I tried again.
Another try
I did the beads again and the nose a bit differently. I like it, though I did goof on one of the eye placements. But again, I’m not sure it looks quite like I what I had in mind. Cute, though.
So, what do you think they look like?
“We live in the world our questions create.” David Cooperrider
I had an idea the other day where I wanted a tatted square. I reviewed some of my pattern books, looked through patterns and projects on Craftree, and paged through pictures on Pinterest. I didn’t see any that was quite what I had in mind so I started doodling.
1st try at a square
I do better designing with thread in my hands than I do with either pen and paper or computer screen. I can envision the end result better and I can change things up as I go to see what works and what doesn’t. My first try was in size 10 thread. You can see where I made a few changes as I went along. It ended up okay, but there were a few things I was disappointed with.
2nd try at a square in size 20
I was a bit happier with my second try in size 20 thread, though it still wasn’t quite what I had envisioned. I made a couple of these squares, adjusting the stitch count slightly, which made it closer to my ideal, but still no.
3rd try at a square in size 30
I tried a third time, now in size 30. Making thrown rings off the center chains changed the look a lot, which changed up what I ended up doing on the outside round, too. This square made me much happier, though the center ‘poofed’ up a bit. A slight stitch count change and blocking flatted it out a bit.
Three squares
The change in thread size is quite obvious here. Which one do you like the best?
6 squares together
Here are six of the small squares joined together. Even with all the thread ends still attached and not blocked I was pleased how it was working out.
9 squares together
I am satisfied with it now there are nine squares together. With the strings trimmed and having been blocked, the patterns created by the joined squares are visible. It looks better at a distance I think. (Not due to bad tatting but to see the patterns!) You can see how small it is in contrast to the regular-sized Clover shuttles.
9 squares with an edging
The joined squares didn’t appear finished so I added an edging around it and blocked it again. It looks completed now. I can see I wasn’t directly above when I took this picture, it doesn’t look as square and even as it actually is.
The finished doily is 5 1/2 inches across made in size 30 DCM ecru thread. Why in such small thread? Because I have several balls of it that I have thought I should use for something. I suppose I could join a few more squares together – a lot more! – and make a tablecloth or something.
Maybe not. That would take me forever!
“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise – it makes you stretch.” Mary Kay Ash
The other day I was surfing through Craftree (an on-line tatting/fiber arts forum) enjoying all the wonderful projects when I saw a Mignonette beaded shuttle bag. This enticed me to YouTube to see how it was done which I found very interesting. But interesting enough to try it?
Mignonette tatting – do I like it?
I had a couple of shuttles with thread left on them, so I used those to test out the pattern for Marie Smith’s Beaded Mignonette Bags, minus the beads. It was kind of fun. I did increase in two rounds instead of one, which made the piece pretty flat.
Trial Mignonette tatting
Another couple of rounds caused it to round up nicely. This is the first time I’ve tried mignonette tatting and enjoyed it. But to do an entire piece this way?
It takes a lot of beads to make one of those little bags. A LOT. At least for a person who rarely uses beads. So, do I still want to try it? Maybe I should dip a finger into all of that before threading a whole tube of beads – just in case.
Dipping my finger into the beaded mignonette bag
The little finger-tip bead experiment was a success, I liked it.
Now, what color thread and beads to make the entire project? I hunted through my stash for a tube of beads I bought who knows when that I have wanted to use with Lizbeth Caribbean thread some time, some place. Now looks to be that time.
Start of mignonette beaded bag
I succeeded in stringing about 200 hundred beads on each side, as explained in the pattern. It was supposed to be 250 beads on each side but I was short of patience. The Sew Mate shuttles I used are a bit small for this many beads strung on. The tips were a touch loose and the thread and beads made them a smidgen too fat to be comfortable, but I consoled them the beads wouldn’t stay on long.
The 5th round
It started taking shape nicely. With all the beads strung on at the beginning of the project, I didn’t lose any on the floor.
Thumb sized
This worked up a lot faster than I thought it would. I was able to work on it during my commute to work. Some of the moves to the next row are a bit, hmm, shall we say, not so pretty? But that started to get better as I continued.
Changing rows is not so invisible
I watched videos by both Gina Butler and Frivole to make this bag. Frivole tells you to switch shuttles after climbing down to the next level, which is how I made this one. I wonder what this variegated thread would look like if I had done it Gina Butler’s way?
Almost done
By this time I’m getting pretty excited. Look how far I had come?
Sometime about here I didn’t pay enough attention. Somewhere about here I made several mistakes.
The end of the thread
One shuttle ran almost completely out of the thread and the other ran out of beads. Neither issue is a tragedy, but they sure slowed me down. I unwound the thread on the one shuttle – almost at the end – and added the beads I would need to finish the round, and continued on to that end.
Adding thread isn’t impossible. I’ve watched Gina’s video several times, she makes it look easy. Before I do that I need to ask myself “how much further are you going to go?”
To be continued…
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
I continued on with my bookmark trial from last week. I’m using it for trying a few different ideas, seeing how a few things work together. This would probably be a good exercise for using a drawing program though I didn’t take the time to try it. It might lay a little a little flatter and be more aesthetically pleasing without all the thread if I had. I have learned a bit, though – like, it’s easier to tat the inside first, then the outside (like I didn’t know that already!). The other way ’round is a little trickier. I did the outside first, trying to find a shape I liked. I’m not exactly happy with this shape but I didn’t want to cut it off and try again, so I started trying ways to stiffen the shape a bit by adding additions in the centers. I like how some of them look, just not necessarily together. There are still a couple of things I want to try as I’m this far with it. Might as well get as much out of it as I can.
A little trade Isn’t this picture pretty? I’m not sure if this is crewel or tapestry work or exactly what. I was given this in exchange for some tatting.
For my wallpaper on my computer at work I have a picture of Crosby, the Norwegian Flying Dragon. The other day a friend and co-worker was in and commented on him. The next day I came into my office shortly after the start of work and found a large frame in my chair, positioned so with the picture was facing the back. It’s a beautiful piece of work in a beautiful frame. There was absolutely nothing to say who put it there or why. So I start asking around. My friend said his sister had made the picture but, for whatever reason, he didn’t want it anymore but he would like a dragon. If I liked the picture he’d give it to me in exchange.
Anne B has stated that she doesn’t want the dragons sold, but trade is acceptable. She had mentioned thread to make the dragon in exchange for it, but I thought this trade was in keeping with her wishes, so I agreed. Now I have to find the just the right thread – he said he likes blues and greens. Hmmm, maybe peacock colors….
Tatting Tea Tuesday This has been a tea-less Tuesday, but for a good reason. We have been encouraged at work to stay healthy or try to get healthy and they’ve done some of that encouraging by offering money to have a health check done. They brought in a company this week to take our blood to check for cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose, take our blood pressure, height and weight and give us our BMI and body fat numbers, all in just a few minutes. They gave us a monetary incentive – we might as well take advantage of it, right? As both my husband and work at the same place we went in together this afternoon before work to have our fingers pricked. The down side in this is that you are not supposed to eat or drink anything but water for eight to twelve hours before the appointment – there went my tea. And no trip to IHOP, either.
We planned our day to go in about ninety minutes before work so we could get our fingers poked then go to lunch. We went to a nearby Applebee’s, which worked out well except then I was ready for an after lunch nap by the time work started. What we go through for our health 🙂
“In the future we’ll all have 15 minutes of fame and 15 minutes of healthcare” Nicole Hollander
“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs” Joan Welsh
“In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties” Henri Frederic Amiel
“To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life” William Londen
