Dragons and Snowflakes

Jane Eborall has given us the complete pattern now for her 2022 TIAS. It became a very cute critter, Doris the Dragon!

Here be dragons!

It’s always a surprise to what Jane’s TIAS will end up being, but never a surprise at how much fun it is. I love this little dragon! I did have a few issues with it, that’s why there are two instead of one. I don’t know if it was a bad ball of thread, if it was stored badly and developed a problem, or what, but the thread kept splitting and I broke it several times. I also wasn’t careful enough when following the pattern and made several mistakes of one sort or another on each of these. A couple of times I backed up, took out the stitches, and fixed the problem. There was one mistake where that wasn’t an option, which is why I made a second dragon. But they came out so cute in Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20, mistakes and all! If you are interested in making one yourself, check out Jane’s Tat It And See blog.

I love Doris so much I’m already trying to make up my mind what threads I want to use on my next one. The completed ones are going to be on one of my shirts, I just have to decide how to position them.

Dragons on my shirt on wandasknottythoughts
Dragons on my shirt

When not tatting the dragons I’ve been tatting the Isla Snowflake trying to decide on the stitch counts. Several elements on the original had one stitch count in one place and a different stitch count in others, and I need to figure out which ones work best before I write out the pattern. I also tried something a bit different on the spikes. Which do you like better, the original or the newer version?

Isla original on wandasknottythoughts
Isla original
Isla with different points on wandasknottythoughts
Isla with different points

Today we are experiencing some real snowflakes and lots of wind. We have been fortunate to not have as much ice or snow as places to the south and east of us have. We had to make an emergency run to get coffee this morning and just a few miles from us it was a lot worse. We can use the moisture but that doesn’t mean I like what comes with it. But it gives me a good excuse to stay inside and tat!

Do you have (or need) an excuse to tat?

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” J. R. R. Tolkien

Happy Valentine’s Day

I’ve been having fun this last week making heart earrings. I’ve even added beads to the January Hearts.

January Heart earrings on wandasknottythoughts
January Heart earrings

I have given several of these pairs away, to my daughters and a sister. I even kept a pair for myself! The little critter with the earrings is the Valentine my granddaughter made for me. She made these to give as Valentines to her classmates and I received one, too. Isn’t it cute?

While looking up hearts and heart patterns this week I reviewed how I posted about them since I started my blog. It’s amazing how many blog posts there have been in the last 10 years. If you are interested in the pattern, check out my Patterns page.

Thanks to all of you that have left comments about this pattern. I appreciate all of you! May you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

“And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Valentine’s Day is Coming

Valentine’s Day will be here in a week and like most years I think I have to re-invent the wheel, or in this case, the heart. Sometimes I do okay, sometimes I don’t. I think I did okay this time.

Red Hearts on wandasknottythoughts
January Hearts

I like the proportion of these hearts, which I don’t always get. These are made with only one shuttle and ball thread, simple and quick to make. Amazingly, I didn’t get overly complicated, LOL! I made these in Lizbeth # 671 Christmas Red in size 20, which makes a nice earring, but they wouldn’t have to be earrings.

Something else amazing, I have the pattern done for these already! Imagine that! I’ve added it to My Patterns page.

Speaking of patterns, I am making a few changes to the pattern page. The Keep and Share site where I have the downloads have a limit on how many downloads they allow in a day. If I want to allow more, it costs more. As I don’t charge for my patterns I don’t want to do that. I am changing which patterns can be downloaded to more recent or popular patterns. All the patterns are still available but may have to be requested by email.

I’ve been seeing a lot of tatted hearts on Facebook, Instagram, and blog posts the last week or so. Are you planning to tat hearts this year for Valentine’s Day?

“I enjoy celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s a nice way to say you’re thinking about your family, someone special, or dear friends.” Camila Alves

Jasper Snowflake

Remember the Jasper snowflake I put on the front of the Tree-topper angel?

Jasper snowflake on wandasknottythoughts
Jasper snowflake

I’ve finished the pattern! I’ve added it to My Patterns page. I’ve looked it over but did not have a test-tatter so there may be mistakes lurking. Let me know if one finds you! I’d love to see how it works up for you if you make it.

“Life is all about sharing. If we are good at something, pass it on. That is the pleasure I get from teaching – whether it is television or books. We should all share.” Mary Berry

Tatting was done!

I’m still doing Jane Eborall’s TIAS, and it’s up to day 8. There have been a lot of guesses that it might be a seahorse, but after day eight’s installment, I don’t think so. Maybe a gecko? It’s fun guessing even if I don’t get it right.

TIAS day 8 on wandasknottythoughts
TIAS day 8

I have actually gotten some other tatting done, too. I was in a bit of a funk with tatting, knowing I have several things I should be doing but not having the inspiration to do them. Doing small, simple things has gotten me back in the frame of mind to be creative.

I had some beads I picked up at Michael’s a week or so ago. I have been wanting to practice tatting with beads and these owl beads were an inspiration to do so.

Owl earrings on wandasknottythoughts
Owl earrings

I used Lizbeth #122 Caribbean size 20 because I love the color. This is a simple use of beads, but you have to start somewhere, right? The owl beads were what I really wanted to do something with. There are several things I could do better and will do a bit differently with the next pair of these I make. I gave this pair to one of my daughters and want to give a pair to my other daughter as well.

I had plenty of the Caribbean on the shuttles to play with after the owl earrings. I want to review what I would fix/change before making another pair so thought I’d do something else. February and Valentine’s Day is coming up so hearts sprang to mind.

Doodle heart on wandasknottythoughts
Doodle heart

This one was okay, but I could see it a bit differently shaped so I tried another heart with a bit of a change. I liked the change enough I made a pair of earrings.

heart earrings on music runner on wandasknottythoughts
heart earrings on music runner

Don’t they look good on this runner? My sister made this for me for my birthday. She told me about it while she was embroidering it because she thinks it will look good with tatted edgings. I think so, too. This is one of the things on my need-to-tat list.

While looking for shuttles I found a small piece of tatting I did some time ago. I can’t find a picture of it so I’m not sure how long ago I made it. I’m pretty sure I was just doodling again when I made it. Unless someone recognizes it?

Snowflake doodle on wandasknottythoughts
Snowflake doodle

It looks kind of wonky, doesn’t it? I didn’t block it except for pulling it this way and that to make it lay nice. I decided I’d add another round, so found the thread I made it with and jumped right in.

Blue snowflake on wandasknottythoughts
Isla snowflake

This is made with Lizbeth #660 Country Turquoise Light in size 20. I like how it came out. I was fiddling with the chain length and the small rings as I was making it, so some are one size and some are another. But that is easy to fix. This is what happens when you don’t know what you’re doing when you start, LOL. I’ll have to try it again.

Today I’m working on another pair of heart earrings, this time in red as befits Valentine’s day. It was such a nice day the dog and I spent most of it outside. I did some tatting outside, too. I tried to get a picture of me with the dog, but she wouldn’t cooperate.

Tatting outside in January on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting outside in January

Kansas has a wide range of winter weather, from mild to nasty. Today was mild and beautiful- sunny, light breeze, and 66 degrees F. How could I spend it indoors? But our nice weather is coming to an end tomorrow with nasty weather here by Wednesday.

Weather in Kansas January 31, 2022

Yep, it’s supposed to start snowing Tuesday night, keep snowing through Thursday morning, with wind chills in the -10 to -20 range. I could do without that. We are very blessed to usually not have as much bad, or cold, weather as other parts of the country, but it is winter. Six months from now I’ll be complaining of the heat, LOL!

“I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” Vincent Van Gogh

Mistakes and Oopsies

I have found that my dog takes up a lot of my time. She likes to have my attention, and I like to watch her play and explore her world. This equals not as much tatting time or as much computer time. I need to pay attention to both of those activities that I am putting elsewhere – the dog! This leads to not much done on any of the patterns I’ve been working on, or much tatting at all.

I have been keeping up with Jane Eborall’s 2022 TIAS. She is up to day 6, and so am I. There has been a bit of drama getting there. I finished day 3 and started on day 4, where the bead would be added. I got the first ring of day 4 done when I noticed I had made a mistake on day 3. Instead of starting over, I decided to take out the previous two rings to where the mistake was. Things did not go as well as I expected.

Thread broken day 3 on wandasknottythoughts
Taking out a mistake from day 3

I don’t usually have much trouble opening rings. Not saying I always can, but more often than not I can. This time I broke the thread of shuttle one.

At that point, I decided I might as well go on to the previous ring where my mistake was and fix the thread when I got back to it.

Broken thread on shuttle 2 as well on wandasknottythoughts
Broken thread on shuttle 2 as well

Opening the next ring I broke the thread on shuttle two as well! It might have been faster to just start over at this point, but I added the thread back on and continued from there. Now I have a mess of thread ends that need to be cut off.

TIAS repaired and on to day 4 on wandasknottythoughts
TIAS repaired and on to day 4

I’ll cut the ends off later. I usually leave them somewhat long so they don’t work their way loose before I’m done.

TIAS through day 6 on wandasknottythoughts
TIAS through day 6

The TIAS is now through day 6. I’m still not sure what it is, maybe a bird? Several people have guessed seahorses. But it is only day 6, it could still be a lot of things, and Jane isn’t saying!

One of the few other things I’ve been working on is a wishbone thimble holder for my sister. (My first ever blog post was about making one of these!) The one I had made for her years ago had been broken. She supplied a turkey wishbone with the request I make her another. I had prepped the wishbone by sanding it to make it smooth and then sprayed it with a clear sealer. I had the bone covered with thread but had not started the tatting yet when…

Wishbone mishap on wandasknottythoughts
Wishbone mishap

One of the few things the dog has gotten into that she shouldn’t. I thought the sealer would disguise that it was a bone, but I guess not. And I didn’t have it far enough out of reach. Now I get to start over. Oh, boy.

“What’s so fascinating and frustrating and great about life is that you’re constantly starting over, all the time, and I love that.” Billy Crystal

Coffee and TIAS

I’ve been tatting the larger wings, checking if I’ve got the pattern correct. Good thing these wings were just practice and not planned for something. There was an incident with coffee yesterday…

Coffee on the wings on wandasknottythoughts
Coffee on the wings on wandasknottythoughts

Coffee stains don’t come out well. I suppose I could just put these in coffee and stain them as if I meant to do it. But I haven’t made the facing wings yet, I’d want to do them all together so they come out looking the same. I’ll have to keep that in mind to use them somewhere in the future. It would be a shame to waste all that thread and the time tatting for something like this. The coffee stains will just make them look old, I can work with that.

As I mentioned last post I’ve joined Jane Eborall’s 2022 TIAS (Tat It And See). We are on Day 3. No surprise I have no idea what it will be. I’m thinking it will be an animal of some type as she has just said that a bead will be added soon. But that doesn’t really narrow it down much on what it could be. She has a great imagination and a lot of skill. If you haven’t seen her patterns yet check them out at http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/, there are all kinds! Her TIAS is at https://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/ if you’d like to join, or just follow along with how everyone else is doing it.

2022 TIAS day 3 on wandasknottythoughts
2022 TIAS day 3

This is my version of the 2022 TIAS through day 3. Jane has said that we only need one bead but I have a habit of losing beads all over the floor or just in the mess of my table. While I was getting one bead I thought I’d better get a spare or two, just in case. How’s the TIAS going for you?

I haven’t done much with writing out the pattern for the wings this week, just the tatting. I haven’t been on my computer much, too busy doing other things. I guess I need to buckle down and work on it, maybe with coffee. I’m not taking any bets on getting very far with it though, except on the coffee.

“I don’t need an inspirational quote. I need coffee.” OurMindfulLife.com

Wings, a Dog, and TIAS

I’m currently working on the pattern for the larger wings. This means there’s nothing to share with that yet. I’ve got the written part down, but haven’t proofed it well yet. I’ve started the diagram but have a long way to go on it. Depending on how much time I get this week to work on it, maybe test tatting by next week.

I’ve done almost no tatting in the last week. I’ve had a cold (not the ‘Rona) which left me feeling very un-enthused about doing anything. I watched quite a bit of TV with idle hands, which is unusual for me.

Feel good or not I haven’t been completely idle – we got a new dog just before Christmas from a local animal shelter. We had been looking for a few weeks but there hadn’t been any small- to medium-sized dogs at any of them. We didn’t have a breed in mind, just one not too big or not too small, not a puppy but not real old, house trained preferred. We finally found a Corgi mix just shy of one year old that we both liked. Still with some puppy traits but with some adult traits. Now I have to get out and walk and be a little more active. Good things. She doesn’t mind the cold weather at all.

Our dog on wandasknottythoughts
Our new dog

So far she chews her toys and leaves things on tables and such alone. No shoes have been chewed yet. I do have to be careful of my tatting, but only one slightly messed up coaster has been found. She hasn’t seen me do a lot of tatting yet, but the click-click of winding shuttles did catch her attention today.

The shuttles I was winding are for Jane Eborall’s 2022 Tat It And See, which started today, January 12. As it is completely unknown what it will be yet, any color of thread will do. I decided on Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20. As I wound my second shuttle out of the corner of my eye I see our dog reach up and very carefully take my ball of thread from the arm of my chair. She dropped it immediately when I told her to; I think she thought it was one of her balls. This is the first ball of thread she’s tried to take. Warning! Make sure there aren’t any lying around where she can get them!

2022 TIAS day 1 on wandasknottythoughts
2022 TIAS day 1

As usual with Jane’s TIAS I have absolutely no guess as to what this will be, but they are always fun. Anyone else joining in this year?

Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most. Al Capp

Working on the Wings

I’m still working on the pattern for the wings I used for my tree-topper angel. I modified the wings I used for my hymnal angel and am happy with how they came out for the tree-topper, but I think the larger wings could be done better. I’m also modifying the original pattern because I think it could be done better, as well.

Larger wings on the tree-topper angel on wandasknottythoughts
Larger wings on the tree-topper angel

I attached the wings on the tree-topper angel without joining them together. It has a much wider body than the hymnal angel, so it was impractical to join them as I had the other. When I tatted these you could say I was ‘winging’ it, trying to make them big enough to work with the body of the tree-topper. I would like to write out the pattern, but with something I am a bit happier with.

I made a wing only slightly modified from my original wing pattern in size 10 and the version of the wing I’m working on now, also in size 10.

Wings in two sizes on wandasknottythoughts
Wings in two sizes

The new wing is quite a bit larger than the original. The newest version I’ve been working on is slightly bigger than the one I put on the angel.

Wing comparisons on wandasknottythoughts
Wing comparisons

When both are made in size 10 you can see that the newer version is only slightly bigger than the one on the angel but I think is a bit firmer. I also am leaving off the joining picots on the outside of the chains, but they can easily be added back in if desired.

Angel wings in two sizes on wandasknottythoughts
Angel wings in two sizes

Wings A and B are the newer pattern, A in size 20, B in size 10. C and D are the old pattern with a slight modification in the centers, C in size 10, D in size 20. I’ve been debating about the stitch count of the chains but I think I found something that works.

Now the hard work starts – writing up the pattern. It feels like walking after I learned to fly.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall. Ray Bradbury

Happy New Year 2022

Happy New Year! We’ve made it through 2021 and have entered 2022. Let this be a year of finishing things started in the past, enjoying what is happening in the present, and welcoming new challenges that come to us in the future.

Yesterday here in the middle of the USA the day was cloudy and warm – about 65 degrees F – and today it is cloudy and cold – 11 degrees F at 10:00 AM and still falling. It is also windy, with snow and sleet. What a way to go from one year to the next! I’m glad I don’t live farther north where it is much colder!

Yesterday I spent a lot of time outside with the dog, enjoying the nice weather while it lasted. In the evening, watching the clock tick down to the end of the year I did a bit of tatting. I’m working on the modified wings I used for the tree-topper angel.

Modified angel wings on wandasknottythoughts
Modified angel wings, from the oldest on the bottom to the latest on the top

I started with wings I made last year for the hymnal angels. But the size of my tree-topper angel was too large for the wings, even in size 10 thread. That is what I made the wings in originally, but they weren’t big enough for the tree-topper angel. I made a set from the pattern with a few modifications and attached them to her but I’m not happy with them, exactly. I think they could be done better.

I worked in size 20 thread last night as that is what I had on my shuttles. I’ve made a change, or two, every time I’ve made them. I think they are getting better.

When I started this post I noticed that the one I had made for this last Monday didn’t get posted! Oops! So I posted it today as well as this one. What a way to start the year!

May your new year be full of plenty of time for tatting!