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.” Â 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
It seems like a long time since I last posted. Oh, it has been! Every time I tried to sit down to post something more urgent or import came to my attention. If it wasn’t for the family it was for the church. There were grandchildren’s ball games to attend, their concerts to enjoy, a few birthday parties to celebrate, and several activities with the church. All of these events included some length of travel. Unfortunately for my tatting, I was driving instead of a passenger to most of these events, so very little was accomplished.
Sadly, what little tatting I have completed lately has been for funerals; one of my husband’s cousins and the father of a friend of mine passed within a week of each other. Both had been ill for some time so they weren’t surprising, but that doesn’t make them any less hard on the families.
Traditionally, I put a tatted cross bookmark in the sympathy card. I usually have several already made, kept in a drawer to be handy for such occasions. I’m sure I have a couple somewhere, but they are temporarily misplaced. Still, I needed two. One I started on the way to work and finished on the way to the funeral. The other I was actually able to sit down at home and do.
Tatted Cross Bookmark in Autumn Spice
This one was finished on the way to the funeral. The best background I had was my leg. It is in Lizbeth size 20 #136 Autumn Spice.
Tatted Cross Bookmark in Vineyard Harvest
I took the time to tat this one at home. It is in Lizbeth size 20 #131 Vineyard Harvest.
I am now trying to figure out how to I’ll find the time to tat Christmas ornaments. Every year I include them in Christmas cards for family and special friends. I haven’t even started. I haven’t even decided what I’m making yet.
Do you think I could tat them in my sleep?
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” Â Norman Cousins
October 31 most people think of as Halloween – trick-or-treating, jack-o-lanterns, and scary movies. But it is also the anniversary of the Reformation, a change in religious, political, intellectual and cultural life in 16th-century Europe. It is usually thought of as starting in 1517 when Martin Luther’s 95 Theses was first published. Â This year is the 500 anniversary of that event. In Bible study, we’ve been learning about Luther’s life and influence. One of the things I learned about is Luther’s seal, known as Luther’s Rose and how it represents his theology.
Tatted Luther’s Rose
A few weeks ago while I was talking about something else I had tatted, our pastor had jokingly said something about me tatting Luther’s Rose. That got me thinking about how I could do it. So I made one.
Tatted heart for Luther’s Rose
The red heart was the first thing I tried. I reviewed other tatted heart patterns and pictures I found on the internet and in my books at home. I put this one together, which is very similar to a couple I saw. It has a few small mistakes but no-one will know except me.
Tatted cross for Luther’s Rose
I tried several versions of a small black cross before I ended up with this one. The version I thought I was happy with ended up being a bit too small, so I had to enlarge it a bit. This is a very simple pattern that came out well as the center of the Rose.
Tatted rose and outer rings of Luther’s Rose
The white rose was the hardest to come up with – at least to get started. Once I started it just came together. Okay, I just kept increasing each round by two picots :-). There are a few things I would do differently if I made this again, but overall I’m happy it.
The blue round was only having to decide on how many stitches in each chain fit around the rose. Luther’s rose description does not describe having green leaves but I think it helps define the separation of the rose petals.
The first of the gold outer rings was easy, too, again just getting the stitch count to work. The second round was a little trickier. I wanted to use Catherine Wheel joins but I’ve never used them in a project before. YouTube is a wonderful invention! I was able to watch Marilee Rockley do Catherine Wheel joins over and over until I got them right!
After finishing the tatting I needed to mount it. I had a large frame at home that would have worked, then I saw one at the store that would work sooo much better. Or a least looked like it fit the project better anyway. I chose two shades of grey cardstock to display it on, with two layers around the tatting so it didn’t get squashed up against the glass. I don’t have a round stencil that fit around the tatting so I used a cottage cheese container – worked great!
Luther’s Rose mounted and framed
As part of the display, I included the meanings of the theology of the Rose. It came out very well!
At church, we celebrated Reformation today, October 29. I took my finished and framed Luther’s Rose and presented it there. I think it will look great there. My pastor liked it well enough he took my picture.
Finished Luther’s Rose at church
I get no compensation for any of the links in this article.
“Known commonly as Luther’s Rose, this symbol was devised as a personal seal by Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation and founder of the Lutheran Church, to symbolize his personal theological beliefs. It is now generally used to symbolize the Lutheran Church.
Luther describes his emblem:
The first thing expressed in my seal is a cross, black, within the heart, to put me in mind that faith in Christ crucified saves us. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”
Now, although the cross is black, mortified, and intended to cause pain, yet it does not change the color of the heart, does not destroy nature — i.e., does not kill, but keeps alive. “For the just shall live by faith,” — by faith in the Savior.
But this heart is fixed upon the center of a white rose, to show that faith causes joy, consolation and peace. The rose is white, not red, because white is the ideal color of all angels and blessed spirits.
This rose, moreover, is fixed in a sky-colored ground, to denote that such joy of faith in the spirit is but an earnest and beginning of heavenly joy to come, as anticipated and held by hope, though not yet revealed.
And around this ground base is a golden ring, to signify that such bliss in heaven is endless, and more precious than all joys and treasures, since gold is the best and most precious metal. Christ, dear Lord, He will give grace unto eternal life.”
