What do you do when you have leftover thread on your shuttles? You find something small to make with it of course. I thought an ice drop would fit the bill to use up some of my remnant threads.
Panya Ice Drop
I still had Lizbeth #638 Christmas Green and #671 Christmas Red size 20 on a couple of shuttles, so those are what I worked with. I started with the idea of the basic ice drop pattern with a few minor adjustments, then added the outside round. The center is a blue glass gem from The Dollar Store.
I don’t recall seeing this particular pattern before so I named it. If I am incorrect I’ll acknowledge the author and update this.
Ice drops are fun to make and usually don’t use much thread. Once you know how to make the basic ice drop you can enjoy creating so many different variations to fashion each one a little different. Or make the same one over and over and still have fun tatting them. There isn’t much to limit your ice drop creation. Except maybe the length of your thread and how many centerpieces you have.
“Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” Lauren Bacall brainyquote.com
It has been a while since I last posted, mostly because I haven’t been tatting a lot lately. I kind of got out of the habit. We were very busy for a while, then I got sick and had no interest in doing anything, then I found other things to do. This didn’t mean I didn’t think about tatting, I just didn’t do very much of it.
Happily, I’ve gotten my tatting groove back! I even made a few things for St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Patrick’s Day Penny Ice Drops
I made these four Ice Drops with penny centers to send to one of my daughters. I think you could say these are made with the basic Ice Drop pattern found on the Ice Drop Addicts Facebook page. I didn’t actually follow it, but I’ve made it before. I did adjust counts to accommodate the pennies, but there is a pattern for that, too.
Because I didn’t refer to the patterns I made a few – let’s say, minor adjustments, that I didn’t think through very well. It still worked, just came out a little different than expected.
Two St. Patrick’s Day Penny Ice Drops
The Ice Drop on the left was the first one. I miscalculated when I put the penny in, putting Lincoln’s head in the wrong location (I thought it would look funny with him looking down instead of out). I made the hanger long and joined it so Lincoln would sit correctly. Then I noticed the chains didn’t sit quite right, either. Do you see it?
I made a couple Ice Drops with the chains the same way before I figured out what was going on with them. After that, I ordered them the other way.
I mailed four pins to my oldest daughter to get them to her before St. Patrick’s Day. We were visiting our other daughter on the Friday before, so hers I hand delivered. Because of another project I was working on – non-tatting related – I didn’t have all of them tatted by the time we left. Guess what I was doing on the trip up there? I made sure to take the beads and pins with me so I could finish them up before they were handed out.
I needed four pins for my other daughter but forgot to make one for me. So I finished that one on Saturday afternoon and promptly gave it away as well. The pins were a big hit.
I’m glad I’ve finally gotten back into the habit of tatting.
“Positivity is like a muscle: keep exercising it, and it becomes a habit.” Natialie Massenet https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/natalie_massenet_653263
I think I might have mentioned before that I have a wonderful husband. Just in case I haven’t – I have a wonderful, thoughtful, sweet husband! 🙂
He knows me very well. Instead of flowers for Valentine’s Day, he got me a beautiful Abalone tatting shuttle.
Abalone shuttle for Valentine’s Day
The other side looks a bit different from the front.
Abalone tatting shuttle flip side for Valentine’s Day
According to the seller, it is a 19th-century shuttle. It looks and feels lovely. It came a few days early, but he couldn’t wait to give it to me.
I look forward to using this one. Only at home though. It is so smooth and slick it will be a bit hard to hold on to. I would hate to lose it in the car or the floor in some strange place. I plan to keep this one for a while.
Wishing you all a fantastic Valentine’s Day!
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”Charles M. Schulz brainyquote.com
This is ‘Larissa’, done in Lizbeth size 20 white, an ice drop that came about because I wanted to change up from the one I had been doing. This isn’t my favorite, but once I started I figured I should at least finish it. I almost didn’t, but it did come out better than I had expected.
The last few weeks I’ve only been tatting sporadically. I’ve been reading more than anything in my free time instead. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t get much else done.
My next project is to write out the several ice drop patterns that I’ve done. Unless I get distracted by my shuttles or another book.
“Who I am, what I am, is the culmination of a lifetime of reading, a lifetime of stories. And there are still so many more books to read. I’m a work in progress.” Sarah Addison Allen www.brainyquote.com
December just flew by! We were so busy with family, work, and church I had to make choices of what things were done and what was left undone or to do later. I have some things to blog about they are some of those things to do later.
I did get some tatting done, including several Ice Drops (to be blogged about later). A last minute gift that I tatted was for our pastor’s wife, who has a lot of trouble with her eyes. I had been thinking of getting a magnifying glass for her for a while, but I wanted one that was easy to use and portable. I found one at Hobby Lobby a few days before Christmas that was almost exactly what I had envisioned. It just needed some way to be carried that kept it nice and was easy to access.
Magnifier and case with tatting
The felt and thread I already had at home. I design tatting but I’m not as well versed in designing with material but I was able to come up with a case made out of the felt. Of course, it couldn’t be left plain. Lizbeth Caribbean worked well with the purple felt. The tatting on it looks simple but I had to make it hard – the edging has rings on the other side, like the gem in an Ice Drop.
The entire case and tatting were done Christmas eve day/evening. You can’t make a case for something you don’t have or I would have started much earlier! I thought about attaching the tatting with fabric glue but decided that as much use as it might have, sewing was a better option. The purple paracord I had left over from my Tat Days costume worked well for the lanyard part.
Magnifier case with tatted edging
I’m happy to say that the recipient loved both the magnifier and the case. It will come in handy at church but also for things like reading labels at the store and menus in restaurants.
I’m hoping to blog a bit more frequently than I have been lately. I not only have been tatting some but also taking a few pictures. Maybe not everything, but most.
Here’s to a new year with lots of time for tatting! And taking pictures. And blogging. 🙂
“The beauty of handmade is in the imperfections. Anything perfect is machine made.” craftprofessional.com
One of my granddaughters had a program this week, which meant I traveled up to Nebraska to see it. Instead of taking the time to cook supper, we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday in Bellevue. As we walked in I was pleasantly surprised to see a tatted star ornament hanging from the hostess desk.
Tatted star found on display at Ruby Tuesday in Bellevue, Nebraska
Of course, I brought it to my daughter’s attention. The manager over-heard my remark and commented how surprised he was that someone recognized what it was.
While we were waiting for our order the manager came over to talk about tatting. His mother tats items like this then gives him a stack to pass out at work during the Christmas season. I learned that his mother is 88 years old and has been tatting for about 10 years. She has tried teaching people to tat – to share the fun – but most have decided it was too tedious (?!) for them.
I had brought my collection of Ice Drops with me to visit the family so the children could choose which one they wanted for their tree, but did I have them in my purse? Surprisingly, no, I had left them at the house. I showed him a picture of the Cosmic Ice Drop I’d made, which he thought his mother would like. It was an amicable conversation.
I wished it would have worked out that I could meet his mother. As that wasn’t possible during my short trip I decided to give her the Cosmic Ice Drop. After the program, we went back to the restaurant so I could deliver it to him to give to his mother. He was amazed that I would do this. But it is the season of giving, isn’t it?
“Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” Boris Pasternak picturequotes.com
It’s that time of year when I start getting worried I won’t have my Christmas tatting done in time. It would help if I started earlier, but every year there is some reason or reasons it doesn’t happen. My main seasonal tatting is making a tatted ornament of some type to give to family and special friends. I’m just now getting started on them, and there is definitely not enough time to get them done!
I think I’m making Ice Drops again this year. I made simple, basic ones last year.
This year I’m getting a little more adventurous! Of course, they’ll take longer…
I started out with a Cosmic Ice Drop, pattern by Nicola Bowersox.
Cosmic Ice Drop in white without any beads
It’s not very cosmic without the beads her pattern calls for. I used white thread and a clear center. It came out well and I remembered how to do it – yay!
Ice Drop with red gem center
The Cosmic Ice Drop pattern is beautiful, but I don’t have time to locate and use beads in my tatting this year as I’ll be doing a lot of it in the car. So I came up with a different outside. I also had to modify the back, as the gem is cut like a diamond and sticks out the back.
Ice Drop back side with red gem center
I’m going to try some with darker thread, maybe blue. The white shows every bit of dirt that might be on your fingers. If I’m going to get many done I might not have pristine hands to tat with all the time.
I haven’t figured out how to tat in my sleep yet. I’ve dreamed about it but there is no solid evidence that tatting was done when I wake up. I guess I’ll have to stay up later instead.
“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.” Sara Raasch
