Birthday Table Runner

I mentioned in my last blog post about making a table runner for my daughter’s birthday. I didn’t get it done in time for the 4th of July or her birthday, but I thought I would have it done by now. But, no, I don’t. It is taking longer than expected, but not because I didn’t have the edgings done. It got a lot more complicated.

Colors and material for edging on wandasknottythoughts
Colors and material for edging

I found this cute patriotic material at JoAnn’s in June. My daughter usually decorates for the different holidays and I thought she’d like it. Then I had to see if I had thread that would work with it. Christmas-y red wouldn’t work, and I didn’t think that white would work well, either. I had these colors on hand, and think they will work as an edging. They won’t be laying on top of the material, just hanging off the edge.

Birthday runner edging maybe on wandasknottythoughts
Birthday runner edging start

I started with the red, Lizbeth 673 Terra Cotta in size 10. The first two rows came out more open than I expected, so I added the blue, Lizbeth 656 Wedgewood Dark in size 20. That was interesting, adding it to the middle of the two completed rows. It came out okay. Then a row of Lizbeth 602 Natural in size 10. I thought I was done.

Then I looked at the length of the material I planned on using, a full two yards, 72 inches. With a half inch hem on each end it would have a finished length of 71 inches. Maybe the edging was a little short? So I added a row, which didn’t add a lot of length but gave a more finished look (?) to it.

Birthday runner edging finished on wandasknottythoughts
Birthday runner edging finished

Yay! Ready to sew up the material and add the edging.

Then I confirmed the length of her table. 70 inches. Hmm. I’m not liking how the finished runner would end up laying on the table.

My daughter and I are discussing what we want to do now. Options would be: 1) cut the material short and make a shorter runner with all of it on the table, or 2) make an insert to lengthen it so the ends hang off the edges of the table. We’ve come up with an idea, now to play with it and see where we end.

Now that more tatting is in the forecast, I needed to order more threads. I’m almost out of the Terra Cotta and I don’t have the Wedgewood in size 10, which I’m thinking I’ll need. I had a bit of a panic when I went to order these at Handy Hands and found out the Terra Cotta in size 10 was out of stock. Luckily, Tatting Corner still had some. Yay!

At the rate I’m going, my daughter will be getting it for Christmas!

“Energy spent now preparing for tomorrow is sure to bear tasty fruit.” Fortune cookie

Independence Day earrings

I hope that all Americans out there had a safe and fun Independence Day yesterday. I did. We had two family get-togethers, one for lunch and one for supper and fireworks. It was great to celebrate such a wonderful holiday with family.

The day started out with us attending church as usual but dressed in holiday colors. Shortly before leaving, I realized I didn’t have any appropriately colored earrings. With only a little time to work, I corrected that problem and tatted myself a pair of earrings.

Independence Day earrings 2021 on wandasknottythoughts
Independence Day earrings 2021

They are only blue and white because my blouse was red. By putting the white on the outside the earrings were more easily visible. I was afraid if I did it the other way, or all blue like I thought about, they would be harder to see. They came out very well and worked great with my attire.

I have been working on the edging for a table runner for my daughter’s birthday. I only found the material which inspired me a couple of weeks ago on a quick visit to JoAnn’s. Unfortunately, it wasn’t time enough to get the runner done by this weekend when I’d see her. I’m still going to finish it and give it to her in a couple of weeks, whenever I get it done. It is in patriotic colors, but there are other days to celebrate our country than just July 4th. Hopefully, I’ll have it ready to share here by next week.

“To survive in peace and harmony, united and strong, we must have one people, one nation, one flag.” Pauline Hanson

How to make a point

In several of my recent posts I’ve talked about using a SSSCh to make points in chains (LWML Logo, Practice points, and Still on Point). I’ve shared the motifs and earrings I’ve made with them both here and on Facebook and had a lot of requests about how I did them. Ninetta Caruso has done a photo example on her blog ninettacaruso.blogspot.com from 7 June 2019 about making them, which is where I went to learn how to do them.

In light of all the requests, I’ve decided I’ll try something new and do a video of how I’ve done them. In the video I use a second shuttle to make the SSSCh but it can be done with finger tatting if you’d rather.

This video has no audio except for the click of the shuttle, so no sound is needed. I’d love to hear from any who watch it on how it played, if there were any problems, and if it was helpful. This is my first try at this and I’m hoping it goes well.

This is also the first time I’ve tried anything on Youtube. Look at me, doing something new and scary, LOL!

‘If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.’ John Wooden

Still on Point

It wasn’t intentional, really. I was making a thread sample for a friend to take with her to look for material and ended up with some of the thread left on the shuttle. On a whim, I decided to do another small motif and ended up with points again.

Another 12 point medallion on wandasknottythoughts
Another 12 point medallion

I made the center and thought it was too small so did the next round. It was okay but I still had thread left so I played with different ideas for another round. Several were cut off as I didn’t like them before this one.

If this was blocked with pins instead of just dampened and laid flat the outside round would look more even. As this was just for fun I haven’t done that yet. If ever. I like the look the way it looks just as it is.

I have gone from having no real plans on what to tat next to having several. This is a good thing, as I’ve been a bit in limbo on what I want to work on. One of these days I may take my own advice and make a list of things I want to make so I don’t forget. Then I’d always have an idea for the next project. Right?

“I always say don’t make plans, make options.” Jennifer Aniston

Found

My mother is going through a lot of things with the thought of selling her house and my sister and I are helping. We have come across so many things that bring back many memories. We are also taking items to second hand stores, keeping some things we can use or want to save, or disposing of them in other manners, as dictated by their use or sentimental value. But some things are a surprise.

Box of miscellaneous laces on wandasknottythoughts
Box of miscellaneous laces

Somewhere, probably some garage sale, my mother found this box of miscellaneous laces. I took it first to see if there was anything I might want and them I’ll give it to my sister. She does a lot of sewing and can probably use most of them. I like lace but have no need for nearly this much. But I found some interesting things while looking through the box.

Crocheted lace found on wandasknottythoughts
Crocheted lace found

I don’t crochet myself, but I’m pretty sure that’s handmade crochet mixed in with the machine-made lace.

19 crocheted lace 2 on wandasknottythoughts
19 crocheted lace 2

It looks like the lace is attached to the blue ribbon, but it’s not. I haven’t unwrapped any of them so I don’t know how much is there. But a lot of work and time are wrapped around these pieces of cardboard.

There was also some tatting in the box.

Tatting found in the box of lace on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting found in the box of lace
Closeup of the tatting from the box on wandasknottythoughts
Closeup of the tatting from the box of lace

There are 54 inches of the red, single-shuttle tatting, maybe made for an insert? The doily is 7 1/2 inches across with a material center of 3 inches across. The picture makes it look very stained, but it is still damp from a quick blocking done so I could see what it looks like. The doily center seems a bit too big for the tatting, but if properly blocked it might be better.

I don’t know if my mom knew about the tatting or not, but I doubt it. She would have mentioned it to me I’m sure. A nice surprise to find it.

I also found the earring wires that Marie sent me! They were on different earrings than I thought they were, and if they had been a snake I would have been bitten several times while looking for them.

Angel wing earrings on wandasknottythoughts
Angel wing earrings on

These are my Angle Wing pattern made in Lizbeth Metallic #HN20325 Gem Stone. These are bigger earrings than I usually wear and the color does not show up well with my hair color. But they were fun to do, so why not? And the earring wires make it easy to change out with other things.

It’s fun finding things you weren’t looking for. And in those you are.

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. Greg Anderson

Practice Points

I’ve been busy with many things other than tatting over the last few months as you can probably tell by my lack of blogging. I’ve thought about trying to post more often, then something else comes up. Then I lost the habit. So let’s see if I can find it again.

I had planned to go to the zone meeting of our LWML and was working on the earrings of the logo. I didn’t get to go to the meeting but I still like the earrings. Marie, from West Pine Creations, was so sweet and sent me earring wires that are easy to change out so I can wear them.

LWML logo with changeable earring wires on wandasknottythoughts
LWML logo with changeable earring wires

You might notice that the two earrings are not quite the same. I had a pair with the gold wires Marie sent me, which I wore, then put in a safe place. So safe I don’t remember where I put them. I know they didn’t go far. These two are my practice pieces, working out what stitch count I liked best. I would have made me another pair but ran into a bit of a setback.

Tangled purple thread on wandasknottythoughts
A bit of a setback

The ball of Lizbeth #HH20641 Lilac Dk thread somehow got tangled badly. It might have something to do with being put in my purse and it getting out of the bag it was in… I wasn’t about to cut off and toss if I could untangle it, but that did put me off of working with it for a bit. So I started something else.

I still can’t get the points of the hearts to look the same every time so thought I would practice the SSSCh (suspended chain). You have to have a chain to practice it, so I made something with chains.

12-point SSSCh practice on wandasknottythoughts
12-point SSSCh practice

I had a shuttle with Lizbeth Twirlz HH20403 Winter Ice that was left over from something or other so I used it. I came to the conclusion this wasn’t the best choice for this type of practice. It isn’t always easy to see the stitch count with this type of thread. But once I started I finished it. I do see an improvement.

When this was finished I liked the look so much I thought I’d do it again. It reminds me of a flower so the next one was made to look more like one.

12-pt SSSCh flower on wandasknottythoughts
12-pt SSSCh flower

As you might notice, I did get the Lilac Dark untangled. I didn’t spend a lot of time blocking this, just enough to have it lay flat. The petals are a bit uneven-looking that might be alleviated with better blocking though it looks good the way it is. The yellow thread is Lizbeth #HH20616 Daffodil Med.

(Has anyone else noted that Lizbeth thread numbers now indicated the size? The balls of thread I have don’t have the HHxx before the color number but I like how it is in the catalog. Makes it easy to know you have the size you want.)

Our life has maybe slowed back down a bit but I can’t say it’s back to normal. My husband has just changed shifts at work. We used to be able to drive together and see each other a lot. Now, it’s just in passing most days. This is a temporary change, at least for now. We’ll see how things go. And I’ll see if I get more or less things done with more personal time on my hands, LOL.

‘Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.‘ Anton Chekhov on brainyquote.com

Tatting in public

On April 1 I was able to tat in public. It isn’t always easy to get out this year to do so, but much easier than last year. I would have like to be in a slightly better spot, but being out was better than not going at all.

tatting in public on ITD 2021 on wandasknottythoughts
Tatting in public on ITD 2021

I invited my sister to go with me to a local coffee shop called Norm’s. The place was pretty busy so my choice of sitting was limited. Though no-one stopped to talk, my sister and I enjoyed a lovely visit.

My sister’s birthday was several weeks ago. She found out she had been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID 19 the day before, so instead of taking her out to celebrate then, she was quarantined. The good news is she didn’t didn’t get it! So we celebrated it on International Tatting Day.

After visiting at Norm’s for a while I took her to lunch. With the last year the way it’s been, we haven’t had the opportunity to get together much. The time flew by, making the morning seem very short.

For her birthday I gave her a bracelet I made of Liz Metallic # 319 Turquoise Blue.

Bracelet in Turquoise Blue Liz Metallic on wandasknottythoughts
Bracelet in Turquoise Blue Liz Metallic

I like this thread but it does tat a bit different than cotton thread. I notice this a lot on the chains, especially when they are long chains. It still came out well, and she was excited to get it. This is one of her favorite colors. It is a simple pattern but the metallic thread gives it a fancy look.

We had a wonderful time and I got to tat in public. Not a bad way to spend International Tatting Day. And there was chocolate.

‘Frequent conversations will fill your heart with joy.’ From a fortune cookie