Rings and Dragons

Fall has arrived here in the lower midwest, with cooler temperatures and leaves that are starting to change. I have made it through Halloween and am ready to decorate for autumn and Thanksgiving. I did have fun doing a bit of decorating for Halloween, including making a couple of costumes. There has also been tatting done, some in fall colors.

Tatted rings on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted rings

These two rings are made with the same pattern, one that I doodled. The ring with the button started as something else when I realized it wasn’t going to work, so I changed it up a bit and made a ring. Orange (this is Lizbeth #694 Harvest Orange Med) has never been one of my favorite colors to wear so I added the button. I had enough fun with it that I decided to make another ring, this time in Lizbeth #136 Autumn Spice. The doily background was made a few years ago and surprised me with how well it looks with the fall colors of the rings and pumpkin. I’ve been working on a couple of other things, but that will be for another post.

The local county historical society put on a costume parade for kids and their pets the Saturday before Halloween. My granddaughter was very interested in going with their dog. Her costume for Halloween was a dragon so we decided to dress the dog as a dragon, too. My daughter suggested that we dress the dog as a sheep, which would have been much easier, but it was too late, my granddaughter wanted a dragon.

Two dragons on wandasknottythoughts
Two dragons

During the week before Halloween, my daughter and her kids went shopping with me for items to make the dog’s costume. We found pink felt and fairy wings at a second-hand store that was the basis of the costume. As we didn’t know exactly what we were going to need to make it at that time we ended up using some green felt that I already had to make part of it. My granddaughter helped me with ideas, cutting out the felt, and putting it together. Amazingly, once we put the costume on her, the dog didn’t have any issues with wearing it. I think she looked pretty cute in it.

My granddaughter’s costume had been ordered online, which consisted of a tail, wings, and a mask. The sweats that were ordered to wear with them didn’t come in, so others had to be worn. But it was a pretty bare-bones costume and the mask hurt my granddaughter’s face. These deficiencies weren’t known until way too late to do anything about it for the parade. But there was time to do a little something before going trick-or-treating the next night.

Costume changes on wandasknottythoughts
Costume changes

While we were still in town after the parade we stopped and picked up some gray felt. It took several hours but I came up with a different mask, some shoulder pieces, and even horns. The mask didn’t hurt her face like the purchased one and was not as heavy, either. The arm pieces broke up her profile without restricting her movements. She still wore the wings and tail that her mom bought, as well as a gray pullover jacket to keep warm. She seemed very happy with the end result and I think the costume was much improved. I had a lot of fun making both it and the dog’s costume.

Though I plan on putting out Thanksgiving and autumn decorations I need to get busy making things for Christmas. I’m not sure what I’ll be making for family and friends this year. I only have a few weeks left, I’d better get on it!

Have you got your Christmas tatting done yet?

“Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it’s about finding the imagination and costume within ourselves.” Elvis Duran

Tatting in the movies

This is my opinion. I am not compensated for anything mentioned in this post.

I was watching a Christmas movie yesterday (yes, I know it’s not Halloween yet!) and there was a dress with tatting on it!!

I was searching for something to watch so I could sit down and tat. I’m not into watching scary movies so those are out. I just wanted something kind of light-hearted, maybe with a little humor. There are a lot of Christmas movies streaming right now so I tried a couple and found them too silly so went on to another one. I found the 2015 movie “The Spirit of Christmas”. I’d never seen this one and it sounded interesting.

The movie is a little different than most Christmas movies as Christmas isn’t the center of everything. It is a romantic mystery set at Christmas time about a ghost. I was pleasantly surprised by it and my husband liked it, too. Parts of the movie take place in about 1921. And one of the characters wore a dress with tatting on it!

Tatting in "The Spirit of Christmas" movie on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting in “The Spirit of Christmas” movie

I think tatting was on the dress cuffs as well, but I’m not sure. But this is obvious! So cool!

If you are into this kind of show, I highly recommend it. Not just for the tatting.

“The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it’s as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

Book and button

Last week our library had a book sale which I actually had time to go in and check out, which is dangerous. I like books. I like to browse through books of all sorts, getting lost in all the interesting things they present. It is also very easy to give them a nice new home. My husband was fortunate that I only brought three home with me, for the amazing donation of $5. One of them was a tatting book in very good condition.

Library book on wandasknottythoughts
Library book I found

This book is edited by Barbara Foster and published by Handy Hands Tatting Publications. It is a reproduction of a 1952 Australian book written by Norma Benporath with a few additions from Barbara.

Original cover of library book on wandasknottythoughts
Original cover of library book

Except for the later additions the patterns in this book are all written in the long form.

Example of written patterns from book on wandasknottythoughts
Example of written patterns from book

This method of writing out patterns is not used much anymore, for good reason. There are other, easier to read, methods that also take up less space that are used today. I learned to tat reading this kind of pattern but I would probably note down in an easier form any pattern I make from this book.

There are other things in the book, too, like a a short history and a few tips and hints on tatting, tools, and mounting tatting to material, as well as pictures and written directions for tatting. I love reading about this kind of thing. This book had not been used much, which is sad for the library (probably why it was in the sale) but exciting to me, giving me the chance to purchase it.

I have been tatting a bit, mostly around buttons and other small things. I have other projects going on that I’m working on but nothing to show yet. One button that I did yesterday was to wear to my granddaughter’s volleyball match last night. They were having a ‘pink out’ night, their way of supporting breast cancer awareness and support. They had QR codes posted around the gym so you could donate money on-line if you wanted. They encouraged everyone to wear pink, which is great, but I don’t have anything that is pink. I had to make something.

Pink button and ribbon on wandasknottythoughts
Pink button and ribbon

I used Lizbeth #622 Pink Med in size 10 to make these. I added a pin back to the button and wore it on my shirt. I made a second ‘ribbon’ and wore them as earrings. It was fun seeing all the kids at the school in their pink shirts, skirts, and face paint. FYI, my granddaughter’s team won both matches, yay!

My daughter helped me do a bit of Halloween decorating in my yard this year though not in my house. It was a lot of fun but I think I’ll just do Autumn and Thanksgiving decorating inside instead. I can leave it up longer that way. I haven’t done much ‘fall’ tatting but I suppose fall isn’t over yet. Maybe I’ll get a bit of it in before I start the Christmas tatting.

“Books are a uniquely portable magic” Stephen King

Victor and other fall things

Believe it or not, I have finished the pattern for the Victor Snowflake! Amazing, isn’t it? If you are interested, please leave a comment or email me for the pattern.

Victor Snowflake in fall colors on wandasknottythoughts
Victor Snowflake in fall colors

When test-tatting Victor I decided to use Lizbeth # 694 Bright Orange and # 698 Fudge Med in size 20, because it is fall and I felt like using fall colors. Using two colors helps define the pattern, which is helpful when writing it out.

I’ve been getting out the fall and Halloween decorations in the hopes of putting a bit up in the house. I usually decorate at work not so much the house, but this year is different. Now I have to decide what I’m putting where, and how much. It would look best if I clean up the house a bit first, so this may be limited. I think I’ll leave the spiderwebs until after Halloween, LOL.

One thing I have already hung up is the quilted ball ornament I received from Isdahara way back in 2009. She had a giveaway on her blog, Ambitatterous, and I won! The really fun part about the giveaway was that we actually met up for her to give me the prize.

Victor Snowflake and quilted ball for fall on wandasknottythoughts
Victor Snowflake and Quilted ball by Isdahara

Not only did she make this lovely quilted ball but she added tatting to make it extra special. The pumpkin on the front and back is ‘Tatted Pumpkin’, pattern by Sherry Matthews ©2004, and the edging is ‘Pumpkin Vine Edging’ pattern by Heidi Sunday. Isdahara doesn’t do much with her blog these days but she is the admin for the Facebook group Summer Snowflakes. Always fun snowflakes to see there if you’d like to check it out.

To enter Isdahara’s giveaway you had to make up a ‘fractured quote‘ about tea and tatting. Tatters came up with some good ones! Below are the two I came up with. Not saying they were good, but they were fun to make!

“Tea and tatting – Mmmmm, two of life’s exquisite pleasures that together bring near-bliss” tattrldy (mis-quoted from Christine Hanrahan)

Hey diddle duddle, the cat and the shuttle
Tatting all over the room
The little dog sipped on honey and tea
And wrapped all the knots on a spoon
tattrldy

Another snowflake

I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t complete any tatting while on vacation, which is true, but I almost did. I finished this snowflake the day after we got home.

Victor Snowflake on wandasknottythoughts
Victor Snowflake

I still had the Lizbeth #674 Garnet Dk on my shuttles while trying to decide what I wanted to do. I started the center and was very happy with it. I’m not as happy with the outside arms, probably because the dark thread made seeing the stitches hard when I didn’t have the best lighting. Which was often. The reason the arms are a bit wonky is, I suspect, incorrect stitch counts as well as different tensions. This is what happens when you put it down and pick it up at odd intervals while making it.

Overall I’m happy with this snowflake, which I’m calling Victor after where I started it. I’m thinking this might be my family Christmas ornament this year, but I could change my mind at any time.

Victor, Idaho, is a cute little town right on Idaho state highway 33, just five miles from the Wyoming state line. The town has some nice businesses, several of which we visited while there. We did find the street parking kind of odd, none of us had seen it before. All the cars have to back into the parking spots on the street.

Victor, Idaho parking on wandasknottythoughts
Victor, Idaho parking

We were asking ourselves what was going on when we spotted the sign.

Victor, Idaho parking directions on wandasknottyhtoughts
Victor, Idaho parking directions

At least they gave directions. The street is marked with a line to give you space so you can pull over in preparation for backing in. Speaking to one of my daughters when we got home I was told that she had seen this before in a business parking lot. I guess you never know what you are going to find when you travel.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” travel ad

Back from Vacation 2021

We went on our yearly vacation last week. After days of getting things unpacked, laundry done (mostly), and the yard mowed, I can finally start going through all the pictures I took, some of which you’ll find in this post. I only got a small amount of tatting done while we were gone, and nothing at all completely finished.

I take a lot of pictures, hoping that a few will come out without blurring, missing the subject altogether, and be worth keeping. I love digital pictures! Remember when you had to buy film, take pictures that you have no idea if they are what you want, and pay to get them developed to see even if they were bad? Yeah, I like digital pictures. But now I take so many it takes a while to go through and I rarely get any printed, good or not. There are always upsides and downsides to everything, aren’t there? There is a lot of pictures included in this post.

We went west again, to Idaho this time but we did make a stop at a place I’ve wanted to go to for years, coming close but never getting there, Devil’s Tower, Wyoming. Some of you may remember it from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s very impressive. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

Devil's Tower, Wyoming on wandasknottythoughts
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming

While in the car headed to our destination I thought I’d empty the shuttles of the Harvest Orange Medium thread I had left from the August Split Ring Cross I had made with it. I liked where this was going until I made a core thread join and split the thread. I could not get the join undone! I might try to save it later, but it was impossible in the car.

Orange thread in a tangle on wandasknottythoughts
Tangled thread while emptying shuttles

Before leaving the house I grabbed a couple of balls of thread to take with me. As usual, I didn’t really have a plan on what to tat while on vacation so I just take several colors of thread and hope for the best. Why I grabbed Lizbeth #674 Garnet Dark in size 20 I don’t know. I like the color but it is very dark which makes it hard to see in uncertain lighting. But after emptying the shuttles of the Harvest Orange, I wrapped them in the Garnet and started tatting. I think this is partially why I didn’t finish anything.

I started this next with a vague idea of what I wanted to do. There were too many distractions and I only got this far. Another idea I might come back to at another time.

An idea in Garnet Dk on wandasknottythoughts
An idea in Garnet Dk

One of the distractions was Yellowstone National Park. It is a huge park, with many features to see as well as wildlife. We stopped to see Old Faithful, the famous geyser that erupts at somewhat regular intervals. Recently it erupts every hour to an hour and a half for two to five minutes while everyone just sits around and waits for it. We watched it twice the day we were there, and some of that waiting time was a good time to tat.

Waiting on Old Faithful on wandasknottythoughts
Waiting on Old Faithful
Old Faithful on wandasknottythoughts
Old Faithful
Me tatting at Old Faithful on wandasknottythoughts
Me tatting at Old Faithful

Here’s another start that didn’t get finished. I don’t like this much, it didn’t go as planned at all. Yes, it was a vague plan, but not this. I didn’t have good backgrounds for my tatting pictures so I used postcards I picked up. This one is of a Pronghorn. We saw a lot of these on our trip this year.

Another unfinished object while on vacation on wandasknottythoughts
Another unfinished object while on vacation

This year we stayed at a cozy cabin outside of Victor, Idaho, which is about five miles west of Wyoming and west of Grand Teton National Park. It is cheaper to stay this far away from Yellowstone, anything closer can be quite pricey, though it makes for long days in the car. For all that the cabin was in Idaho, we spent most of our time sightseeing in Wyoming.

Tatting at the cabin in Idaho on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting at the cabin in Idaho

We frequently travel in autumn hoping to catch the color change of the leaves in the mountains. When we got there this year there was some color and when we left there was more. I think we hit it about the right time. We also got there just after it snowed in the mountains, in fact, we had to detour because some of the roads in Yellowstone were closed due to snow.

Idaho fall color on wandasknottythoughts
Idaho fall color

This was a road just outside of Victor that we checked out early one morning hoping to see some wildlife. We only saw two deer, one maybe a 6-point buck, the other a spike (only one point). It was still a nice drive.

Snow-covered mountains in Yellowstone on wandasknottythoughts
Snow-covered mountains in Yellowstone

This is looking east over West Thumb, a part of Yellowstone Lake. The weather was warm after the snow, so these mountains probably lost most of that snow cover within a few days. It was great seeing them with this much snow.

Teton Mountains, Wyoming on wandasknottythoughts
View of the Teton Mountains, Wyoming

We took a little jaunt up to the Grand Targhee Resort, which was recommended as a pretty drive. It was. Once there we turned around and drove back down. There was a lot of color and some beautiful views.

I did get one piece of tatting done shortly after we got home. I’m not all that happy with it and it has a few mistakes (dang that dark thread!) which I’ll share next week. Now I get to go back and enjoy all the pictures a little more slowly and re-live a bit of the vacation.

“Happiness is enjoying the vacation, then enjoying them again through the pictures we take.” Wanda Salmans

Found

While cleaning out my aunt’s apartment, my sister and I found some pretty neat things. It’s not like she had lots and lots of stuff because she didn’t. In fact, when she moved into the apartment she pared her things down a lot. So what we found must have been important to her.

These old needle books were found in her sewing box. I believe two of them were give-aways. The other one was 25 cents! Both the blue sewing kit and the Farmer Needlebook say they were made in Germany. I wonder how old they are?

Needle books on wandasknottythoughts
Needle books found in her sewing box

You can see these needles were used. Check out the huge needle on the right! My aunt was ready for any sewing problems that came up.

Needle book needles on wandasknottythoughts
Needle books

We also found these cute little change purses! What a fun idea! My aunt was in the Red Hat Society for many years, so I’m sure that’s where she got the one and maybe the other. Have you ever seen this idea before? (The shuttle is there as a size reference only)

Little sock change purses on wandasknottythoughts
Little sock change purses

This bookmark that I gave my aunt in 2017 for Easter we found in her desk. I know it was from 2017 because she wrote the date on the back and then laminated it. The lamination flattened the tatting but it is very sweet that she wanted to keep it nice.

Easter bunny bookmark on wandasknottythoughts
Easter bunny bookmark

I’m very glad we finally finished cleaning out the apartment. There are so many things we put on hold when this came up so we could take care of it, but family does what is needed.

I had started doing some cleaning at my house before I was needed elsewhere and I’ve been finding a lot of things I didn’t expect. It’s funny sometimes what you find that you have forgotten about. Check out this picture of me from Christmas 1994.

Tatted tie from Christmas 1990s on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted tie from Christmas 1994

The tie I’m wearing is something I made for one of my daughters several years previous to this. I dreamed it up when she had a special dress-up day at school and needed a tie. This makes me want to look for the picture of her wearing the tie! The teddy bear is wearing a collar I had made for my mother-in-law that really wasn’t big enough for her. But it fit the bear very nicely!

I still have a lot of cleaning that needs to be done at my house. It will be interesting to see what else I find.

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hummingbirds, Sunrises, and Sunflowers

I’ve been very busy this week with a lot of unplanned things going on. Mostly I’ve spent my days helping clean out the apartment of one of my aunts. By the time I got home every day I was too tired to do much else. I was able to work on the Vacation Snowflake 2020 pattern, though I didn’t finish it until this morning. But it’s done! If you would like it, please email me and I’ll send it to you.

Vac snowflake 2020 pattern done on wandasknottythoughts
Vacation snowflake 2020 pattern done

Busy or not, I have been taking time every morning to go out to see the dawn. It is lovely that time of day, mostly quiet except for the sounds of birds and insects. For all that it is awful about the fires in the western states, all the smoke in the sky from them makes for beautiful sunrises.

Kansas sunrise in August on wandasknottythoughts
Kansas sunrise in August
Kansas Sunrise in September on wandasknottythoughts
Sunrise in September

September is time for the hummingbirds to start their migrations to the south. We’ve had at least five or six of them around our place this year. I only started putting out feeders last year, so I’m very excited to see them around. They start coming to the feeders before sunrise and before most of the other birds start getting around. Then they come back off and on all day. They are so fun to watch, they keep me distracted. My cheap entertainment LOL.

Hummingbird on a hook on wandasknottythoughts
Hummingbird on a hook
Two hummingbirds at the feeder on wandasknottythoughts
Two hummingbirds at the feeder

Down the road from us, there is a place called Kansas Maze. Some years they do a corn maze and a pumpkin patch. This year they are doing a Sunflower patch. They even have props and a raised platform to give you cute picture opportunities. They were supposed to have a Sunflower Market craft show a couple of weeks ago but we had so much rain the night before/morning of, they had to postpone until this last weekend. Unfortunately, it did cost them several vendors but they still had enough to make it a worthwhile trip. I had planned to go to it with my sister, but with the date change that didn’t work out so I went by myself. I’m glad I did.

Homegrown sunflower on wandasknottythoughts
Homegrown sunflower

This sunflower is from our yard. It’s much smaller than the sunflowers they are raising as a crop at Kansas Maze. We have quite a few, though nothing compared to the Maze.

School of sunflowers on wandasknottythoughts
School of sunflowers
Flight of the bumblebee with a sunflower on wandasknottythoughts
Flight of the bumblebee with a sunflower

Farmers around here are harvesting their corn right now. Between all the dust they are raising doing that and the smoke in the air, my allergies are giving me fits! Thank goodness for allergy mediation! The only problem with them is if I sit down very long I get sleepy. Good thing I haven’t had time to sit still very long. I have a long list of things to do, and that doesn’t count the tatting I have planned.

Has your summer been going as planned?

“Wherever life plants you, bloom with Grace.” Old French proverb

Revisiting a Snowflake

Last year while on vacation, I came up with a snowflake. I came across a picture of it this week and thought I would try writing down the pattern. I jotted down the stitch count and made it again. Did you know it’s easier to tat than put into words what you tatted?

I remember thinking about this snowflake and wondering if I should have stopped one round earlier. When I made it last year, I didn’t take any interim pictures, but I took a picture of it at this stage this time.

Vacation snowflake 2020 3rd round on wandasknottythoughts
Vacation snowflake 2020 3rd round

I guess if you like snowflakes without pointy tips this is okay. It might make a nice center for a doily, too. The good news is that when I write out the pattern a person could stop here if they wanted.

Vacation snowflake 2020 finish on wandasknottythoughts
Vacation snowflake 2020 finished

I made several mistakes in this but I’m not worried. This was to get the stitch counts and the techniques, which I changed up in the middle for a couple of things. It still came out pretty well. I did it in three shades of green: Lizbeth #187 Green Ice for the center, # 687 Peppermint Green for the next two rounds, and #638 Christmas Green for the outside, all in size 20. I’m not sure that I care for how the greens look together after I finished it. When I picked them out from my stash – with no natural light – I thought they were okay. When I was tatting with them I had my doubts about them going together, but by that time I just wanted to continue.

The finished snowflake is 5 inches (127 mm) from point to point. I have my notes and scribbles but I haven’t started the diagram yet. I don’t mind putting it down on paper, and sometimes it’s fun, but most of the time I’d rather be tatting.

“Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action.” Alice Childress

Pattern Conundrum

I’ve been working on the pattern for the August Split Ring Cross I recently made. I have the diagram done and the written part done, but I am having problems making up my mind on how to add the different pieces to the pattern. I’ve made a couple of detailed drawings/directions but am unsure just where to place them in the written pattern.

August Split Ring Cross in Harvest Orange Med on wandasknottythoughts
August Split Ring Cross in Harvest Orange Med

I’ve made a detail for the facing 3-ring sections and for the corner sections, then one large one for the overall cross. The overall diagram does not have the stitch count as the count is repeated over and over and I think the detail will show it more clearly. In the written pattern, do I start with the details on the front page and then the overall, or visa-versa? I keep changing my mind.

I also have a couple of pictures with details of how I did a few things. I’m thinking I’ll add those at the end, a separate page for these. I suppose I could put the detailed drawings on this page as well. Hmmm.

I’m saying the pattern is done for now but I might change it up later. If anyone wants the pattern, please email me. And let me know if you like the layout of the pattern.

I’m still working on the runner but it is a larger project which I only work on at home. If I have time this week to sit down and tat I’m hoping to get the tatting part done. Then it will be putting it all together, which also means sewing. I’d much rather tat. We’ll see how far I get with it in the next week.

“Saying ‘yes’ to one thing means saying ‘no’ to another. That’s why decisions can be hard sometimes.” Sean Covey