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Two Crosses

I’ve mentioned before that my go-to gift for some special occasions are cross bookmarks.  Recently I had two such occasions, one sad, one happy.
I made a cross for my sister-in-law when they recently lost their son.  I couldn’t make up my mind which one to tat so I made up one.  I’m not sure I like it that much, but it looks okay. I’ve tried coming up with a name for it, but they are all sad – “Sorrowful Cross,” “Funeral Cross,” that type of thing.  I’ll come up with something sometime.
"Two Crosses" tatted lace cross made as a gift for a funeral. On wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
© Wanda Salmans September 2015
The other occasion was much happier.  We just installed a new pastor at our church, and what better gift to give him than a bookmark for his Bible?  This is a traditional pattern that I’ve made several times.  It tats up quickly and is a nice size for a Bible.

"Two Crosses" tatted lace cross bookmark from a traditional pattern. On wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

Both bookmarks were made in Lizbeth size 20 thread, in, I think,  #652 Royal Blue.  After making the first I still had plenty of thread for the second one.  It is a suitable color for men or women, don’t you think?
I’ve been doing a lot of tatting lately and still feel I don’t have enough time to do all that I would like.  The holidays are fast approaching as well as several birthdays and a craft show in November.  I just can’t tat fast enough.  Isn’t that the way it goes – when you’re busy you keep finding other things to do as well?  I’m thinking I should be making a few more cross bookmarks so I have a few handy when needed.
Oh! another something I want to be doing.
“People give one another things that can’t be gift wrapped.”
Nadine Gordimer
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Tatted Bag Trial and Error

In July I started a Round Robin Doily through Craftree.  I tatted several of the centers for my doily trying to come up with one I was happy with.  The last sample that I made before I did one ‘for real’ is almost the same as the final except it has several places where I changed stitch counts which I didn’t go back and change.  It was a trial.  But it still looked pretty good.
So I thought I’d use it for another sample. I thought this center would look good as the bottom of a tatted bag.  At least as the bottom of a trial tatted bag.
Tatted Lace bag from Round Robin Doily Center, trying out some ideas for a tatted lace bag on wandasknottythoughts
Round Robin Doily center as the bottom of the bag.
The first few rounds went very close to my vision except for a few changes in stitch count.  As this is a trial and the stitch count change very minimal I didn’t go back and change them, just left it as tatted.
Tatted Lace bag from Round Robin Doily Center standing up, trying out several ideas for a tatted lace bag on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted bag sides
For whatever reason I made the split ring round a bit too big.  I had even started with smaller rings and changed my mind – I’m not sure what I was thinking.  I like the idea, but definitely need to change the counts there.
The bare thread sections at the top are a little too long, Well, they might not be when I finally get a material lining made.  That is material around a larger ball of thread inside the bag, filling it out so I can see what works and what doesn’t.  If it was the actual lining I suppose the tatting would be stitched to it and it would work/look better.
I had a lot of fun making this.  I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it to finish all the details and make a lining for it as there are a lot of other things waiting to be done.  But when I do I will already know a few places I need to change.  It should go faster and easier then.
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
Henry Ford

I’ve been to the fair

"Martha" tatted lace doily Kansas State Fair Blue Ribbon Winner 2015 wandasknottythoughtthoughts.blogspot,com
“Martha” doily © Wanda Salmans
Tatted by Wanda Salmans
I almost didn’t enter anything into the Kansas State Fair this year but at the last minute – the first day you had to pay a late entry fee –  I decided to.  I didn’t have time to make more than one item but I found two places I could enter tatting.  There is only one tatting class and then there is a class for holiday decorations in any fiber medium.  For the tatting class I entered the Martha doily I made back in February. I am excited that I got first place but very disappointed in how very few entries there were.  A grand total of three.
Judging is done against a standard as well as against other entries, so they do not have to give out ribbons if the items do not meet those standards – finished nicely, clean, even stitches (though the judge might not know tatting they probably know knitting and crochet or other lace-making techniques.) It is subjective to a point.  But the judge still liked mine enough to give a blue. That makes me happy.
My pumpkin holiday decoration came in third.  Considering there were more entries and they were in different mediums I’m pretty happy with the result.
"Autumn Pumpkin" tatted lace design by Mark Meyers tatted by Wanda Salmans, 3rd place in Holiday Decoration 2015 Kansas State Fair wandasknottythoughts
“Autumn Pumpkin” © Mark Meyers
Wall hanging by Wanda Salmans
Here is a picture of the other holiday entries. I’m not sure where the blue ribbon – 1st place – item is, I didn’t see one with anything.  Maybe they got a best of class or show and was put in a different place. (My granddaughter wouldn’t get out of the way for me to take a picture but wouldn’t hold still either.
2015 Kansas State Fair Holiday Decorations all entries as seen on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
Holiday Decorations at the Kansas State Fair 2015
My granddaughter did like the second place entry, a crow holding a basket with a watermelon theme.  There was another similar crow with a sunflower theme but I couldn’t tell if they were supposed to be together or if someone else had a similar entry.  They were both cute.
Holiday Decorations from 2015 Kansas State Fair as seen on wandasknottythoughts
Overall I was disappointed in how few entries there were throughout the domestic arts categories.  The last time I was there I seem to remember quite a few more of about everything – quilts, crochet, knitting, all of that.  I have told myself that I must enter more things in the fair next year.  I did go to another building that had categories that I think I could find a way to enter with tatting – I’ll have to give it some thought over the year.
“It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.”
Gianni Versace
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TARDIS Bookmark

TARDIS bookmark, tatted lace, tatting pattern by Anne Bruvold, as found on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
TARDIS bookmark © Anne Bruvold
tatted by Wanda Salmans
One of my nephews was a big Dr. Who fan – a Whovian – I thought would really enjoy one of these bookmarks, one of Anne Bruvold’s patterns.  I tatted these in Lizbeth #652, Royal Blue, in size 20.  I had meant to give one to my nephew for his birthday in a few months, but sadly I can’t do that now.  Instead I am giving one to each of his sisters as a little remembrance of him.
“When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”
Author Unknown

It’s not what it looks like

My first thought was ‘this is a book of tatting’.  The doily on the cover is what caught my eye.
Nope.  It’s a book on making felt dogs.
I didn’t buy this book.  I didn’t even think to check if the doily was credited to someone.  I was tickled that there was tatting on the cover, though!
I was at a Jo-Ann Fabric store looking through the books when I saw this.  I had just got the text with a 20% off everything coupon so was checking to see if there was anything I really, really needed there.  I did pick up another package of shuttles (who doesn’t always need more shuttles?) and thought I’d check if they had any books on tatting.  I didn’t notice any, just this one.  The dogs in it were very cute and I thought about buying it.
That’s just what I need, another project.  I’m in the middle of about four projects right now and having trouble knowing which one to pick up at any given time. I’m very excited about all of them!  There just isn’t enough time in a day to get done all that I want to.That felted dog on the cover is really cute though….

 “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
Groucho Marx

Putting them all together.

Don’t ya just hate it when you know what pattern you want to make but can’t find where you put it?
I have that problem especially when I print patterns from the computer.  That one or two pieces of paper are fine for a while then they just disappear!  I think there is a secret place somewhere in my house where loose patterns go to party and I’m not invited.
This even happens with my own patterns.  I have written out and shared patterns here on my blog plus I have some that I’ve not finished writing out or diagramming yet and once in awhile I actually want to tat them again.  I go looking for those printed sheets and can’t find them anywhere (I think I hear them snickering at me as I search for them.) Yes, I could just reprint them but I hate to do that when I know I have them printed somewhere!
I started thinking that if they were all together in a folder or notebook that they would be harder to lose.  Think about it, it wouldn’t be as easy for them to slip between the seat cushions or fall behind the end table, or find other ways to sneak off to their private little party.
I began by printing off the patterns I’ve posted here – they are the most complete.
Putting all my tatting patterns together in one place wandasknottythoughts
I printed them in booklet form, reducing the patterns from the original size of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper to be half that size.  A few of them ended up being on two pages but most worked okay on one side.  The print is a bit smaller of course, but mostly can still be read easily.  The finished size of 5 1/2″ by 8 1/2″ makes it a nice size to take with me if I want – this size will fit in my purse.

Putting all my tatting patterns together in one place 2 wandasknottythoughts

I did not make any changes to the way the patterns show on-line except for the size.  Each one still has their own definitions instead of one page at the start of the booklet.  The pictures are still the same.  I printed on both sides of the paper.
This has given me a lot of respect to anyone who self-publishes, whether it’s patterns or any other type of book.  This was quite a bit of work – trying to get patterns with two pages to face each other instead of back-to-back, putting them in the order I want, and trying not to miss any.  They are mostly in alphabetical order except for a couple that needed to be on facing pages which caused them to be a little out of order.
As I finish up new patterns I will probably just put them in new booklet instead of trying to add to this one.  Having done this one I have some ideas on how I would do it differently the next time.
This was a fun exercise.  And maybe these will now be a bit harder to lose. They will just have to miss the party, ha!
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.”
Steven Wright
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Hanging Basket Edging

Hanging Basket Edging - shuttle tatted in Lizbeth size 10 in Ecru and Fudge Medium
Hanging Basket Edging © Wanda Salmans 2012
I’m working on another runner edging in Lizbeth size 10 #603 Ecru and #698 Fudge Medium.
I’m doing my Hanging Basket Edging that I have on my patterns page. When I designed it I made it in size 20, the size I usually work in.  It lay nicely without a lot of blocking.
This time, with this thread, it just isn’t looking quite as nice as I thought it would. I admit I made a mistake, making one ring smaller than the pattern calls for, but I repeated the mistake consistently, making that the pattern all the way across. I didn’t think it would make much difference. I don’t know if it really does make that much difference or it’s just the thread size difference, or something else entirely, but I’m not liking how it hangs very much. I’m going to finish both runner ends and  block them well and see how they look.  It might look better when finished.
I guess if I’m not happy enough with them to take to a craft show I’ll have a runner just for me.
I guess a mistake wouldn’t be a total loss then, right?“Mistakes are proof you are trying.”

Spider Web Snood

I’ve finally been spending a little time on Craftree.com finding out more of what it has to offer, discovering more of the helpful things that are being added all the time.  There is a large library of books and patterns you can look through with descriptions of the books, what kind and how many patterns in each, and other facts about the books you might find helpful. These books can be added to your personal virtual bookshelf which makes it easier to find a pattern when you don’t remember which book it’s in.  And just keep track of which books you have so you don’t buy duplicates. 🙂
This weekend I went through most of my books and added them to my virtual bookshelf there.  I found several I forgot that I had!  One of these forgotten books was from Dillie Delights, “Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts” by Marsha Brackner.  I haven’t thought of this book in years.  Looking through it I remembered I had made (and still have) a snood sized for a doll.  I went looking for it and actually found it!
"Spider Web Snood" © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts tatted by Wanda Salmans
“Spider Web Snood” © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts
tatted by Wanda Salmans
I made this snood with size 30 DMC Cebellia thread, though the book recommends either size 10 or 20.  I don’t remember exactly what year I made it must have been either in the late 80’s or possibly the very early 90’s.  It was before I started tatting exclusively Front side/Back side, I just don’t remember when I started that.
"Spider Web Snood" © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts another view tatted by Wanda Salmans
“Spider Web Snood” © 1986 from Twinkling Stars and Small Tatted Gifts
tatted by Wanda Salmans
The book has several snood patterns that are suggested could be used as bags and pin cushions.  I only remember making the one snood out of the book even though my daughters were young and had long hair at the time.  I have no idea why I didn’t try making at least one for them.
Besides the snoods the book includes patterns for two stars, a snowflake, and a candy cane.  There are also suggestions for ways to use tatting.  I would consider most of the patterns good for beginners as there are few advanced techniques used.  There are no tatting instructions included but does have definitions of how to read the patterns in the book.  For technique help it refers to several other Dillie Delights books.
I’m sure these patterns wouldn’t take very long to make.  I have granddaughters now, I wonder if they would wear a snood?
“How can I control my life when I can’t control my hair?”
Author Unknown

Random tatting

The zipper pulls on my purse are wearing out.  The purse has fake leather pulls which last okay, but the material that actually attaches to the zipper do not.  As these pulls are used a lot something needed to be done.
Original zipper pull on my purse
The plan was to get black grosgrain ribbon to go on the ring and tat around that.  The problem was there was no black grosgrain ribbon to be found anywhere in the stores I was able to check, including Hobby Lobby.  There were spaces on the shelves where this ribbon usually is but every place was out of the black.  There were a lot of other colors but of course nothing that matched or coordinated with my purse.
Except white.
White ended up the only other choice.  All the thread colors worked okay with it, but I think the black would have been better.
Tatted zipper pull on my purse on wandasknottythoughts.com
The pull is longer than the original, but that isn’t a problem.  The tatting is doubled so it looks the same on both sides, so no matter if the purse is open or closed the pulls hang with the tatting visible.
Thanks to Marilee Rockley for tatting only partway around a do-dad.  I don’t know why I never thought of that.  I wanted a pair of earrings to go with a blouse but didn’t have a lot of time to make them. I was inspired to make these even though I would have liked to add beads as well.  When I’m in a hurry beads are not a good idea.  Check out Marilee’s cute little earrings on her blog,  they are very pretty.
Simple tatted earrings on wandasknottythoughts.com
I’ve just finished tatting the center for my Craftree Round Robin doily.  After several starts at tatting it I finally did it without mistakes.  Now I need to write out the pattern and get everything sent off in the mail.  I think I’m the last one in the group to get their center done.  I’m looking forward to seeing every one’s doilies.
I’ve also been working on an edging but have gotten frustrated with it.  One of the colors keeps twisting so bad the rings are hard to close.  Yes, Fox, it is Lizbeth thread.  It’s only one of the balls but that is more than enough!  I’m going to try to finish anyway as the thread colors go well with the material.  Wish me luck 🙂
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Round Robin

I am participating in a round robin doily on Craftree. Each of us are designing the center of a doily then sending it on to another tatter to design each consecutive round until each person in the round robin has done a round on every doily then it is sent back to the original tatter.  In the end there will be five unique doilies.
I’ve started three times on my center for this.  The first two weren’t bad just not what I have in mind for this project. I’m finally happy enough with the third try to send it to someone else to see what they will do for the next rounds.
Okay, I’m happy with the pattern but I have to actually finish tatting it to send it on 🙂
Start of the Craftree Round Robin 2015 on wandasknottythoughts.com
Round Robin start 2015
I looked for a thread color that will set off this doll-sized tea set that I found in an antique store on the way to Colorado earlier this month.  It has six tea cups, tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl, all like new.
With that in mind I’ve decided to make this doily in Lizbeth size 20 in a shade of pink.  The label in the center of the ball says it’s #617 Magenta Med, but it looks a lot closer to #608 Coral Pink Med on the computer monitor.  I wonder if sometime when using this thread I got the labels mixed up???  I’m going to have to have a ball of thread to go with the center of the doily when I send it so I was going to order thread anyway, but now I’m going to have to order both colors so I get the right shade.
Someone twist my arm.
Like I’ll only order one ball of thread at a time anyway.
Except for this doily there hasn’t been much tatting done lately.  I’ve been distracted.  I found a book series that I just couldn’t put down.  There are five books in the series and I read all of them in less than a week and a half.  If you like fantasy stories I recommend The Legend of Eli Monpress series by Rachel Aaron.  It is a lot of fun to read.
(I was not compensated in any way for reading or mentioning these books.  I just enjoyed them a immensely!) (She also wrote Nice Dragons Finish Last, which is also a fun read.  I’m waiting on the next book of that series which is due out soon! I wasn’t compensated in any way for reading or mentioning this book, either!!)Now that I’ve read the entire series I can focus more on tatting again. I’m sure the other members of the round robin would appreciate it 🙂

“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.”
Audre Lorde
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