I tatted during December but have been so busy, mostly with family, I haven’t posted much. I did discover Lizbeth Metallic thread and have been trying it out. I’ve seen other tatters have used it and finally decided to try it myself. Handy Hands are raising their prices a bit so I bought thread before the new year started.
Snowflake in Lizbeth metalic thread
This is an old snowflake pattern of mine that I tried it out on. It tats so much better than other metallic threads I’ve tried! This is silver #311 and Turquoise Green #321. I love how it turned out, even if it has seven arms instead of six so not quite a snowflake.
Angel in Turquoise Green metallic thread
I tried the same Turquoise Green as an angel. This is my pattern which I modified slightly. This came out beautifully!
I bought several balls of the metallic threads in various colors. The silver and turquoise threads are the only ones I’ve tatted with yet, but I look forward to tatting in the others as well.
I have not yet had time to write out the tree patterns that I posted about a couple of weeks ago. Look for them sometime this year, hopefully in the somewhat near future.
It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/henry_david_thoreau_153926?src=t_busy
‘Tis the season to be very busy! If it’s not getting the house decorated and ready for guests it’s getting food or gifts ready. For those of us who craft our Christmas gifts, it’s also trying to get them finished! At least that’s me. How about you?
Back in October I started thinking of what I wanted for my yearly ornament that I give to family and close friends. I was early this year, not even waiting until December to come up with one. But I had so many different ideas about what I wanted to do I am still behind!
I have a whole box of old hymnals from our church that I thought I could utilize for ornaments. First, I made this folded paper angel, which came out very nicely. It doesn’t even take much time to make.
Music paper angel with tatting
I used two pages out of a hymnal to make it. The tatting is done in Yarnart Camelia thread, very simple rings and chains. Without the thread hanger, this angel is six inches tall. I love it. But just how do you put this in a Christmas card? I needed to come up with something else.
Several of my other ideas I barely started before I realized that they wouldn’t work or would take too much time. Most of them were mixed media of some sort, on the order of the angel where I tried adding tatting to paper and other backgrounds. I will probably revisit the ideas later.
Even when I thought I had an ornament that would work I couldn’t make up my mind.
Christmas tree ornaments for 2018
I decided to make trees. But I could not make up my mind just how I wanted to make them. I came up with a forest of trees, each one different from the rest. They are in at least three different threads – size 10 & 20, and two different shades of green. I sprayed them with Stiffy to help them keep their shape. As they blend in a lot on most backgrounds I sprinkled them with fine glitter.
Yes, I know, there are Christmas tree patterns out there, but I try to come up with something myself each year. I enjoy how they look all together here, though I’m not so sure of a few of them individually. But it doesn’t matter, these are going out in the Christmas cards the way they are!
Charles N. Barnard “The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!”
I am working on the ornaments that I put in Christmas cards to close family and friends. I also get side-tracked a lot.
I found a cute little tatted tree in a box I was looking through the other day and then saw another one in the Facebook group Tatters of Lace that was almost the same thing. While trying to empty a few shuttles I found one with green thread on it and thought that little tree would fit the bill to empty the shuttle. But of course, I couldn’t find where I had put the tree I had previously found OR the pattern on FB. So I did what I usually do and made one up myself. It is not quite the tree on FB, and I’m not sure just how close it is to the one I found and lost.
Little tatted trees
As I was cleaning and preparing the house for our Thanksgiving guests I had a thought about the tree pattern. Wouldn’t it be cute in fall colors as earrings?
Little tatted tree earrings
I thought they came out well. I could have tried matching up the variegations a bit to make the match a bit better, but I was in a hurry to get them done.
Fall tatted tree earrings
And I didn’t get them done in time to wear. Not for our Thursday dinner, nor for the other dinner we had Saturday. I did get them done by the end of the weekend and wore them Sunday around the house.
I wore them around the house on Sunday because we didn’t go anywhere at all. We had planned on taking our daughter and grandkids home that day but we had blizzard-like conditions, with several inches of snow blowing sideways, cold temperatures, and extremely bad driving conditions.
We were able to take the family back home on Monday with minimal road issues. We did have to take another day of vacation, but it was a better choice than trying to go through the weather on Sunday. On the way out the roads were still ice covered in areas, making driving a bit problematic still. The roads were much better coming home later in the day.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Now it’s time to get ready for Christmas.
Are you ready yet?
“Holidays – any holiday – are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together.” Lidia Bastianich https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lidia_bastianich
One of my aunts just had a birthday. She has enjoyed paperclip bookmarks I have previously given her and recently indicated she would like more. What could be a better birthday gift?
She was quite happy with these. Unlike a couple of other paperclip bookmarks I have made before, the tatting on these will stay up-right on these most of the time.
My mother-in-law passed away several years ago. Recently my father-in-law started going through his possessions as he prepared to move out of the house. There were a lot of tatted items I had gifted her that he no longer had a place for. This collar is one of them.
Tatted collar
I’m not sure just how long ago I made this for her, maybe 15? 20 years ago? I know it is made in DMC Cebelia size 30 Ecru (I had a lot of this thread). The pattern is in a book that I cannot locate at the moment so I can’t tell you exactly where it is. I have looked through the patterns listed on Craftree, where there are several that are very similar. The center edge does not match the patterns I located there.
She wore it several times I know. I washed and pinned it out when I got it. I am trying to decide which shirt I should put this on. I definitely plan on wearing it.
I have been tatting a lot, just not posting. I have so many things I want to do I have a hard time staying with one project long enough to finish it. I am working on the ornament I put in Christmas cards. After much adjusting and tweaking, I have it figured out – I think!
Thanksgiving is this week – how time flies! My side of the family will be our get-together at our house. I have so much to do to get the house ready! I’d rather be tatting than cleaning house, but I don’t have a lot of choice on what I have to do. I mean, we need the table to eat at.
Wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving.
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” William Arther Ward https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_arthur_ward_676240?src=t_thanksgiving
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
I started this doily on the trip home from our Colorado vacation this year. The thread is size 10 Lizbeth #621 Dusty Rose Light. I hadn’t realized it was size 10 when I grabbed the ball before the vacation, but I was glad it was. It made it much easier to see and work with while traveling, as it was cloudy and rainy almost all the way home causing the light to be a bit uncertain. The larger size thread and the light color were great to work with in those conditions.
I came up with this center, not certain it was just a center. When I got this far I decided I’d try another round, see where it went.
Pink vacation doily round 4
My aim while tatting this was to keep it simple, something to keep my hands busy and still see some of the passing scenery without having to think too hard. I know that the scenery along I80 in western Nebraska isn’t all that interesting, but you never know what you might see when traveling. This fourth round fit the bill of not having to think too much.
Then it was a question of “is this done?” I decided the answer was “no” and tried another round.
Pink vacation doily 5th round
This round was easy also, the most complicated part – besides keeping the count right – was the Josephine rings and they aren’t hard. I think this last round gives it a nice finished look. The size 10 thread leaves it at about 5 1/2 inches across.
I want to do this in size 20 though that will make the overall size smaller. I suppose it can be a coaster instead of a doily.
“Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs.” Susan Sontag www.brainyquote.com
The last week of September my husband and I joined some friends of ours for a week in a cabin in Colorado. We have vacationed with this couple multiple times, they are very long time friends. Like all the other times we’ve vacationed with them, we had a fantastic time.
During the eight hour drive from our place to Fort Collins, Colorado where we spent our first night, I did a little tatting.
Blue thread medallion with finding center
For all that I try to have a variety of tatting threads and miscellaneous items with me when we travel, I’m never sure what I’m going to work on after we leave the house. Once we were on the road and I delved into my travel stash I found this finding and a shuttle that had this size 20 blue Lizbeth thread. I had thought to bring the ball with me so was able to tat this piece. I finished it the first evening.
After we started through the mountains I didn’t tat much due to the marvelous view. I had been afraid all the aspens and willows would have already changed colors and possibly dropped all their leaves before we got there this year – we are two to three weeks later in the year than usual – but there was plenty of fall colors still showing. We were so busy that I barely touched my tatting for several days.
Dark purple medallion
The next time I picked up my shuttles I made this small medallion in purple size 20. This was not a good choice to tat with. It is such a dark color it was hard to see the stitches while in the cabin, especially when I made a mistake and had to untat. I did finally get it done.
Pink vacation doily in size 10
The next time I started a project I chose the lightest color thread I had with me, size 10 light pink. I hadn’t realized it was size 10 at first, but it was a good choice. I started this on the way home and didn’t finish it until after we got home. This picture is not of the finished doily, I’ll share that later.
The cabin we stayed at had several chipmunks that were extremely friendly. We could see right away that had been fed before. My friend immediately decided to buy a bag of critter food (seeds, peanuts, corn). These little critters kept us entertained the whole week with their antics.
Chipmunk advice
I had one chipmunk come to check out my tatting. When he saw it wasn’t anything to eat he abandoned me in search of more tasteful things.
Curious fox
We had another visitor. This fox would come by twice a day. He would pose for us and gave us time to admire him through the cabin windows.
Bull elk in Rocky Mountain National Park
Our cabin is on one end of Grand Lake, just down the road from the west entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. We bought a seven-day pass, which we used every day. There is a campground about 10 miles inside the par where it is very common to see elk, usually in the evening. One evening this magnificent bull elk was there keeping an eye on his harem. At one point he and one of his ladies ran past our truck so close he almost scratched the paint with his horns.
The trail to Cascade Falls
My husband and I took a hike one day on the trail to Cascade Falls. Did I mention that there was still a lot of fall color to be seen?
Colorado River west of Grand Lake
This is the Colorado River just before it enters Shadow Mountain Lake. My husband stopped the truck in the middle of the road so we could get this picture. The only thing I did to this picture is crop it to get rid of the window frame. I can hardly believe these gorgeous colors are real.
The timing for our vacation was right on. We caught the color change when we thought we would miss it. The weather was pretty warm for the end of September, but not hot. One week after we got home Trail Ridge Road, the highway through RMNP over the continental divide, closed due to snow.
It was such a wonderful vacation. But like all good things, it had to come to an end. We are now back to work with only memories – and a lot of pictures – to remind us of our beautiful week in the mountains.
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” Emily Bronte
My mignonette bag was not forgotten, I just lost the tube of beads that I needed to finish it.
The good news is I found them and was able to finish the bag.
Mignonette bag finished
I only needed a small amount of thread so I used the smaller Clover shuttles to finish the bag. The top edge is hardly ruffled at all because I didn’t re-read the pattern for the number of beads suggested, I just used three on each chain. At the time I thought it was enough and later I wasn’t going to go back and do it again. I still do not have the pull string done, but that is a minor issue.
You can see that it ended up a bit on the narrow side. I’m thinking of using it to carry my lip balm, which fits quite nicely.
I am pleased with how this came out, and how easy it was. It is likely that I will use mignonette tatting again, maybe in one of my patterns.
“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, it in your imagination.” Napoleon Hill www.brainyquote.com
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
Four years ago I made a small doily in a tiny thread. I was so pleased with the look of this piece I always planned to try it again.
Two doilies
This week was the week to try it again. Originally I used a very small thread, maybe size 70 or 80, though I couldn’t be sure because it was thread that was on an old shuttle that I had been given. This time I used size 20 in Lizbeth #662, Turquoise Light and Lizbeth #652 Royal Blue.
You can see just how much larger it is this time when made in size 20. It was also much easier to tat as well, between being a larger thread that I am comfortable using and being a new thread – I have no idea how old the pink variegated thread is. It was old enough that it gave me problems with breaking before I was done. This time employing two colors instead of variegated gives it a different look, too. The newest doily came out well. It is also easy to make, using only a shuttle and ball with only normal rings and chains.
I thought I would make the doily a bit bigger yet by adding a few rounds. So far I’ve added one more round then I ran out of steam. This round makes the outside a bit less rounded and smooth.
Not-so-tiny doily
I might yet add another round, there are several ideas floating around about it. But not today. I am in the middle of two other projects and have several I want to start. Now I just need the time to do them.
“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped” – Tony Robbins
