Trying to find a heart

A few weeks ago in February, I posted a picture of a heart I was working on. Even on my ‘Trial and Error’ bookmark I have a nice start of one. Then our homework for the Design-Tat class was to make one. I worked on it but then realized I had done the homework incorrectly. My work was not a complete loss as I got a lot of practice with diagramming what I was playing with, but now I have to start over on that. The hearts I came up with aren’t all that heart-shaped so maybe it’s good that I have to start over. But I thought I would share what I did as it’s almost all of the tatting I got done all week.

(I missed the picture the first time, lets try again)

Start with this…

Try #1

Try #2

Try #3

Anyone who’s taken Sharon’s course will know what I’ve been trying to do. Okay, doing wrong. I know what I need to do, now, and will get back on course.

I say I’ll get back to it but it might be a few days. I have three other tatting projects I need to get done as they are for other people. Ryan is done but not mounted yet. I’ve started my sister’s doily/runner but have a long way to go. And I have a piece I want to do for my daughter’s baby shower. I don’t usually have this many active projects going on at a time. I need to quit playing around and get on with them! (pep talk to myself). Maybe I’ll have more to show next week.

“Many fine things can be done in a day if you don’t always make that day tomorrow”

Ryan shows herself

Ryan, Flying Minor Norwegian Dragon designed by Anne Bruvold

This week has been very busy but I was still able to get some tatting done – amazing!

Ryan has finally shown herself. After hiding and being generally sneaky, she finally came out and introduced herself. She’s in DMC Cebelia size 30 in Christmas green and #797 blue with a single strand of gold metallic embroidery floss, which makes her a little bigger than Jarek. I was able to get her to hold still for a little while as we contemplated different colors to use in her new home. We haven’t yet come up with what either of us think will work, so we’ll have to keep trying.

I was a little apprehensive about using a strand of metallic floss in with the other thread as I’ve done it in the past and fought with it a lot. This time it worked great. I had very little trouble with it and the floss didn’t break at all, which is what I was most worried about. Somehow I also managed to put the right amount of thread on the shuttles. The first shuttle of blue made most of the body, then it was filled again for the rest. The last came off the shuttle while doing the last chain and I had to manage that last little bit loose. I almost asked for assistance holding it but made it all by my self. The shuttle of green did both wings with just a little bit left over. I guess I should mark that down for next time.

Based on “Angels in the Snow” by Miranda Rensberger

A friend of mine had a birthday last week – which I missed! I was trying to think of a little something to do for her while I cleaned out my tatting bag and found the start of “Angels in the Snow” by Miranda Rensberger that I had done to take step-by-step pictures for Tabatha. I suppose it was the angle I saw it, but it struck me that with a few additions it would make an interesting necklace. Then, of course, I was in a hurry to get it done and made all kinds of mistakes, like joining in the wrong place and adding too many stitches in a ring. It did come out well and the recipient liked it very much. It didn’t hurt that I made it in green, one of her favorite colors, Lizbeth size 20 in Seagreen Dk 688. I added black shell beads that I found at Wal-mart. They are textured not flat, and look much better than the picture. It actually came out just like I envisioned it.

I mentioned last week that a Kansas tatter had contacted me through my blog. Believe it or not, another Kansas tatter contacted me this last week. Wow! Two in two weeks! I’m hoping to get together with them in the next week or so but will have to play it by ear and see how things work out. Meeting them is really something to look forward to! A tat and chat – hehehehe! How fun!

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The right colors


Colors
My order of Lizbeth thread from Handy Hands arrived late last week, which included the thread I needed to make my sister’s birthday present. I’ve made a start of her gift but there is a long way to go, mainly because I haven’t decided exactly how I’m going to join them together or finish it off. I have a few ideas that are bouncing around the back of my mind about it, but they haven’t come together yet. Some of you might recognize the motif I’m using is from last October, the Priscilla Tatting Book No. 1. This time I’m using Lizbeth size 20 in 686 and 688, Seagreen Lt and Dk. The inner long picots are a half inch in length, probably a little long, but I like how it gives them a swirling effect 🙂

Some of the other colors that I ordered are ‘Paint Brush’, ‘Butterfly Breeze’, ‘Root Beer’ and ‘Peacock Blues’. A few of these I have plans for, others just appealed to me. I guess that means I’ll have to find projects to make with them. Not to justify their purchase but to have the opportunity to use them and enjoy their colors.

The newest dragon
Ryan hasn’t shown herself completely yet. Okay, I got excited about getting started on my sister’s gift and did that instead. I’m using DMC Cebelia size 30 with one strand of metallic embroidery floss, which makes the finished project bigger than one made in size 20 Lizbeth. Only her wings are missing yet, and then framing and finishing. I don’t think I’ll get her done yet this week as we’re having company this weekend – our daughter and her son will be here for a few days. Somehow having a two-year-old running around doesn’t give a person much time to tat!

Contact!
I had an interesting email yesterday from a woman who lives here in Kansas and also tats who would like to get together sometime. Oh, goodie, goodie! The biggest problem right now is I’m so busy with a lot of different things that our meeting might have to wait a week or two. But I’m sure eventually we’ll find a time that will work for both of us. I’m really looking forward to it.

Blogger issue
I happened to use a computer using Explorer to view my blog yesterday and I found out what Kathy and Margarette found – that the end of my 2/15 blog post was now showing in Wingdings! As I post using Firefox I hadn’t seen it before. I changed it, hopefully for all the different methods of viewing.

Japanese disaster
I’m praying for all those that have been effected by the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. May God bless and protect them from further harm. I don’t know how many who read this blog may live in the effected areas but I hope they are all safe.

In this disaster, as well as the ones recently in Australia, I don’t always know how I can help, one person a long way away. But there are ways, including donations of money to organizations that are capable of being there to help. The company I work for has employees in Japan and has announced that all are accounted for. Now the company is donating $1 million dollars to the Japanese Red Cross and getting out information on how the rest of us can help. It’s good to work for a caring company.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”
Helen Keller

Bookmark is done!

I’m finally done with my Trial and Error bookmark. It actually turned out better than I thought it would. Blocking helped a lot. There are a couple of things that made it into this bookmark I’ll probably try on other projects later on. It could be better proportioned for a better over-all look, but as my boss pointed out “put it in a book and I bet it will mark your place just fine.”

Gift

My sister’s birthday is coming up very soon. I have been talking about making her a runner for a side table she has for several years but have never even gotten started on it. So this year I am determined to get it done! The plan was to actually have it completed by her birthday. I thought about the colors of the living room and chose a couple of colors that I thought would work, Lizbeth 654, Navy Blue and 655, Wedgwood Lt in size 20. I got started on it and decided to get the actual dementions to finish it in a day or so.

Okay, these colors would have been great – in her other house. She recently moved and is painting her livingroom in shades of green.

She loaned me the paint chips of the colors she’s going to use so I could find out which thread colors would work. Lizbeth 686 and 688, Seagreen Lt and Dk are almost exactly the colors her livingroom is going to be. That meant I had to order thread. Of course, I had to order more than those two colors, right? I’ve ordered several more colors, including the Peacock Blue that Isdahara suggested to Handy Hands. This does mean, though, that her gift won’t be done in time for her birthday. But it will be done shortly after the thread arrives, really!
Blogger issues
It was commented on by several readers that the end of my post from February 15th was not readable – well, Kathy said it was in Wingdings! I’ve looked back in the edits of this post and can’t see any change in the font, so I don’t know how to correct it. Kathy copied it into a text program and changed the font so she was able to read it. If anyone else has that problem let me know. In future posts I guess I can delete and right it over and see if that helps.
Visitor?
I think I have a visitor but I haven’t gotten a good look yet. Jarek has assured me that Ryan will come out and meet me soon but wants to investigate the house first. I did get a glimpse of a glimmering tail in my philodendron this morning, but that was all. I guess I’ll have to have a little patience.

“If you can’t take the heat, don’t tickle the dragon”

“Meddle not in the affairs of the dragon; for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.”

Trial and error

I continued on with my bookmark trial from last week. I’m using it for trying a few different ideas, seeing how a few things work together. This would probably be a good exercise for using a drawing program though I didn’t take the time to try it. It might lay a little a little flatter and be more aesthetically pleasing without all the thread if I had. I have learned a bit, though – like, it’s easier to tat the inside first, then the outside (like I didn’t know that already!). The other way ’round is a little trickier. I did the outside first, trying to find a shape I liked. I’m not exactly happy with this shape but I didn’t want to cut it off and try again, so I started trying ways to stiffen the shape a bit by adding additions in the centers. I like how some of them look, just not necessarily together. There are still a couple of things I want to try as I’m this far with it. Might as well get as much out of it as I can.

A little trade
Isn’t this picture pretty? I’m not sure if this is crewel or tapestry work or exactly what. I was given this in exchange for some tatting.

For my wallpaper on my computer at work I have a picture of Crosby, the Norwegian Flying Dragon. The other day a friend and co-worker was in and commented on him. The next day I came into my office shortly after the start of work and found a large frame in my chair, positioned so with the picture was facing the back. It’s a beautiful piece of work in a beautiful frame. There was absolutely nothing to say who put it there or why. So I start asking around. My friend said his sister had made the picture but, for whatever reason, he didn’t want it anymore but he would like a dragon. If I liked the picture he’d give it to me in exchange.

Anne B has stated that she doesn’t want the dragons sold, but trade is acceptable. She had mentioned thread to make the dragon in exchange for it, but I thought this trade was in keeping with her wishes, so I agreed. Now I have to find the just the right thread – he said he likes blues and greens. Hmmm, maybe peacock colors….

Tatting Tea Tuesday
This has been a tea-less Tuesday, but for a good reason. We have been encouraged at work to stay healthy or try to get healthy and they’ve done some of that encouraging by offering money to have a health check done. They brought in a company this week to take our blood to check for cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose, take our blood pressure, height and weight and give us our BMI and body fat numbers, all in just a few minutes. They gave us a monetary incentive – we might as well take advantage of it, right? As both my husband and work at the same place we went in together this afternoon before work to have our fingers pricked. The down side in this is that you are not supposed to eat or drink anything but water for eight to twelve hours before the appointment – there went my tea. And no trip to IHOP, either.

We planned our day to go in about ninety minutes before work so we could get our fingers poked then go to lunch. We went to a nearby Applebee’s, which worked out well except then I was ready for an after lunch nap by the time work started. What we go through for our health 🙂

“In the future we’ll all have 15 minutes of fame and 15 minutes of healthcare” Nicole Hollander

“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs” Joan Welsh

“In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties” Henri Frederic Amiel

“To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life” William Londen

A little distraction

This is all I have to show for tatting this week and it’s not even done. I had a little distraction this week, which I’ll get to in a moment, and what I’ve been trying to tat hasn’t worked out quite the way I’d like.

I started out with an idea to utilize my new knowledge and skill of SSSRs (single shuttle split rings) on, maybe, a bookmark. I had a pretty clear idea what I wanted to do and how, so loaded up a couple of shuttles with Lizbeth size 20 in Lilac Dk. #641 and started. It actually went really good, putting my shuttles just where I wanted. And then things didn’t happen quite like I had imagined.

I knew from doing the dragon’s bodies that SSSRs didn’t behave quite like regular split rings – obviously, there’s just one thread instead of two – but it didn’t really hit me just how different until I had the first row of SSSRs done exactly how different they are. They were kind of, well, wimpy. Some of it could be that I’m new enough at it that it was my stitches that were the main culprit, but whatever the reason, I did not like how it felt and reacted, though it looked like I wanted it to. So I cut out the offending rings (it’s not easy to open a SSSR after it’s closed!) and tried something else.

In the Design Tat class Sharon is teaching us that using drawing software can be quicker and easier to use in testing out some designs than actually tatting them. And I’m working on it, but I’m not there yet so it was back to the shuttles. I should have tried the software, because I didn’t like where I was going with the next try.

So this is where I’m at. I like the start, I just need to re-think what I want to do next.

That little distraction I mentioned earlier: it started when I decided to take advantage of an offer I heard when I was listening to Pandora radio on the internet. It was for a couple of free audio books from audible.com. The first book I chose was Jeff Dunham’s All By My Selves Walter, Peanut, Achmed, and Me read by Jeff himself. I loved it! It has a lot of laughs in it. If you don’t know who Jeff Dunham is or would like to know more check out jeffdunham.com and this.

Okay, I can tat and listen to audio books. But then I started looking for a second free book and I saw a Lois McMaster Bujold title I didn’t recognize. It was a new Miles Vorkosigan book! Oooo, I was so excited! Bujold is one of my favorite authors and the Vorkosigan books are the greatest – if you like space opera (as Ms. Bujold has described it). I of course had to get it, but should I get the audio book or the printed version? I hurried over to Amazon.com to see what they had. They had it listed, of course, but did I want to order it or go to a local store to get it sooner? Audio or printed? Getting my hands on it sooner and printed won out and to the bookstore I hurried.

It is only out in hardback yet but that didn’t matter, I wasn’t going to wait for paperback or the library. For the next couple of days I got almost nothing else done that didn’t absolutely have to be done. Even sleep was something of an option, at least for as long as I could keep my eyes open, then it was up and at it again as soon as I could the next morning. Ahh, I love a good Miles story! Then it was back to other things, all that I had ignored for a couple of days including tatting. The book lay on my table, finished but not yet ready for it’s home in the bookshelves.

I had noticed when I bought it that it had an announcement on the front about a CD-ROM in it and had found the sealed envelope in the back but hadn’t opened it yet. I finally took the time to find out what it was. And, oh, wow! It contains the new book, Cryoburn, and the entire Vorkosigan Saga in multiple formats – that’s all 14 novels for free! It also contains all the cover art, pictures, essays – all kinds of stuff. And you can do almost anything with it you like, including make copies and give them away. The only thing they don’t want you to do with it is sell copies of it, otherwise it’s yours to do with as you like.

This is well worth the price of the hardcover. I already have all the books in one form or another, but I love it anyway. If I ever get a Kindle or other digital reader I can read the books on them, too. This is a really sweet deal.

Well, next week I shouldn’t have such a distraction and I’ll try to have a bit more tatting done. I do have a list of things that I want done…

“Eloquence consists of persuading people of things they desperately want to believe.” – Miles Vorkosigan, Komarr

“Aim high. You may still miss the target but at least you won’t shoot your foot off.” – Elli Quinn

Adding to my 25 Motif Challenge

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day Monday. I had every intention of posting this weekend but time got away from me again. I was working on this heart, writing and diagramming the pattern and I didn’t get it done! So I decided to post it today. February has Valentine’s Day and is considered American Heart Month, but I think hearts are appreciated any time. This one is made from Lizbeth size 20 in #147. This is #17 of my second 25 Motif Challenge.

This last week Tabatha, from Crafting with Tabatha, asked for some help with ‘Angels in the Snow’ by Miranda Rensberger. Tabatha is very new to tatting, having started just this year. This is a pretty ambitious pattern for one so new, made with two shuttles and SCMR, but she is doing an amazing job tatting already so I think she should be able to make this. I’d seen this snowflake on Miranda’s blog and other places where others had made it, but I hadn’t yet purchased it. Tabatha’s questions gave me a good excuse to buy the pattern and help Miranda raise money for the Brain Injury Association of New Mexico at the same time.

Angels in the Snow © Miranda Rensberger

I made this in Lizbeth size 20 in #662 Turquoise Lt. and #657 Ocean Turquoise Dk. While I didn’t find this difficult I have been tatting quite a bit longer than Tabatha and I still remember when this would have been a problem. I started this again, taking pictures as I went to help her understand what she was supposed to be doing. I checked her blog this morning and she’s made a good start. I’m naming this #18 of my second 25 Motif Challenge.

This is ‘Triana’ by Megzaela, one of my classmates in the Design Tat class. I test tatted this in Lizbeth size 20 color (?). This was an interesting challenge. None of the elements were that hard but you have to pay attention to which way’s up and where you join. I found I had made a join incorrectly after I was completely done so it has not been fixed. Apologies, Megzaela! This will be #19 of the 25 Motif Challenge.


‘Triana’ © Megzaela 2010

While I was blog surfing this week I happened upon Peachtree Cottage Creations and noticed that one of the bookmarks she had made kind of looked like the one that I had designed last fall. And it was! If you haven’t been over there you might go check it out. In this particular post she was trying to decide how best to stage a couple of bookmarks for a photo. She has a lot of really nice things she’s done on her blog, well worth a visit.

On this Tatting Tea Tuesday I’ll leave you with a couple of quotes in keeping with a month dedicated to hearts and love.

Poetry is the song of the heart, molded by the mind.

– Roger W. Hancock –

The thing about falling in love,
is that if you do it right,
you never have to hit the ground.

– Kendall Lepitzki –

Dragon sighting

This little guy flew in on the Arctic wind blast that gusted in yesterday. My boss thinks he’s an Ice Dragon due to his coloration. I haven’t gotten much out of this small dragon, mainly his name, which he says is Jarek. He does seem to be attracted to my earrings that I had laid on the table – they don’t look too shiny here but the picture doesn’t do them justice.

When he first arrived he and I had a few problems. He twisted and turned and generally was a bit of a pain and wouldn’t lay down, making me feel quite ambisinister. He finally settled down a bit when he saw my earrings. He looks to be a Flying Minor Norwegian Dragon, in shades just like Lizbeth #142 Turquoise Twist, as described and patterned by Anne Bruvold, though I haven’t seen his type described yet. While trying to get information of where he’s from he indicated that there may be one or two more dragons flying in soon. How exciting!

Something not quite as exciting, but definitely intriguing, is Jane’s TIAS. I still have absolutely no idea what it might be. I think Isdihara’s suggestion to it being a skink is the closest so far, but that thought may easily be changed as we get closer to the end.

My version of the TIAS through day 7

I’m sure there are lot of you out there that are being effected by the really nasty, cold, icy, snowy weather that’s happening on the eastern half of the United States. Here in Kansas, in the middle (where I am) we didn’t get much in the way of ice and only a little snow, but the wind and cold are definitely letting us know it’s winter. At 2:30 PM it’s 7° F, wind gusts up to 44 miles per hour, creating a wind chill of -13° F: translates into, it’s cold! I know there are places that have it much worse and/or will be getting it much worse, but it’s still cold! Good news, my boss called a little bit ago to let me know they canceled work tonight – yeah! I don’t have to get out in this! Whoopee!

I’m enjoying multiple cups of hot tea this Tatting Tea Tuesday, which are definitely helping me enjoy being inside instead of out! Now that my day has opened up I’m hoping to entice a few more dragons inside. Do you think if I raid my jewelry box they might show up faster?

“The Lenox Globe (in the collection of the New York Public Library) bears the phrase ‘HC SVNT DRACONES’ (i.e. ‘ hic sunt dracones ‘) on the eastern coast of Asia,
‘Here Be Dragons!’, they warned “.
taken from draconian.com

TIAS, Test tatting and Trying something new

On this Tatting Tea Tuesday the TTT could stand for this week’s tittle – I put a lot of T’s up there! I’ve let my housekeeping laps a bit so I can do other things – terrible of me, I know. Today as I ignore my chores again I’m drinking Vanilla Rooibos tea and writing this.

TIAS day 5 2011

Jane has posted up to day 5 of the 2011 TIAS and I’m still right in there with ’em! Yea! I still have no idea what it’s going to be, I don’t even know if this is right side up or if whatever-it-is is standing on it’s head ☺. There have been some really cute guesses so far, but Jane still isn’t telling.

This week I tatted a couple more motifs designed by my classmates in the Design-Tat class. This one is by Nina Libin. I liked it in the white she made it in and really liked it when I made it in two colors. The two colors change the look, letting you see the flow of the pattern more clearly. Sharon suggests that we design in white or a light color but then seeing how color can change our patterns is fun, too!

Design © 2010 Nina Libin

As I’m going through this class I’m learning how much goes into writing the patterns, how to write the pattern to explain to all who read it what each step needs to be to get the same results I did when it was designed. We’re writing them out in long form, in short form and then diagramming them. Each type of pattern writing has it’s good points and bad points, and some are easier to do than others. After reading patterns of classmates, how they have written their patterns, I’m looking at my own pattern writing more critically, seeing how they phrased things to make themselves understood and asking myself “have I accomplished that?”

In a Christmas swap this year I was given a Nifty Knitter by Tabatha. It’s a round plastic loom with pegs that you wrap yarn around. It comes with a tool that’s got a hook which is not nearly as small as a crochet hook and not bent as far, more like a 90 degree bend. You use this tool to catch one wrapping of thread on a peg and pull it over the top wrapping on the same peg. Okay, it’s easier done than said. So in the last couple of weeks I’ve given it a try and found it’s rather fun, and very easy. These looms come in several sizes; small, medium, large and extra large. I was given the smallest loom that makes hats small enough for infants and with it I was able to make two small hats.
Hats done with the Niffty Knitter

Many ages ago I learned the basic stitch of knitting in school. So that no-one had to spend money on something that may never be used again the class used sharpened pencils as knitting needles. And, yes, the pencils marked the yarn a bit but we didn’t care. It was a cheap way to learn and we had fun – who wouldn’t want to do something like this a few times during school instead of math or English or such? But that is as far as I ever went with it, a pot holder or two (it was a good thing we didn’t have to pay for knitting needles!). I never thought I’d make anything like a hat. I feel so accomplished!

If it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right. – Bob Basso

Motifs, TIAS and Tea

Motif
I am in the current Design-Tat class that Sharon is doing. We’ve designed our motifs and are learning how to write them out, both in text and with diagrams. We are also supposed
to test tat some of our classmate’s motifs, both to help them write better and for us to learn
to write better as well. This is the second one I’ve successfully done.

Design by Barbara Barney, 2011

We all started with the same basic center and had to design a second round. Didn’t Barbara do a great job on coming up with something totally different? This was fun to do and I can think of several places to put a motif like this. I was trying to empty a couple of shuttles so the threads aren’t exactly the greatest match but they still aren’t too bad. The center is Lizbeth #114 Sea Shell and the outside is Lizbeth #641 Lilac Dark, both in size 20. And I got to use my new shuttle that I got from a swap partner for Christmas. It handles nice but it’s going to take a little bit to get used to it.

TIAS

My day 3 of Jane Eborall’s TIAS

This year I’ve joined in on Jane’s TIAS. I started the one last year and life got in the way so I didn’t finish it. I’m hoping to do better this year. So far, so good! I’m using Lizbeth size 20 thread in #657 Ocean Turquoise Dk and # 662 Turquoise Lt. I have no idea what this is going to end up.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, TIAS stands for “tat it and see” – Jane’s idea of how to have fun in the winter. She gives just a little of the pattern every few days without telling us what it’s supposed to be. We try and follow along and make guesses as to what we think it will be. It’s fun because there are people from all over the world doing this together. Not quite like being in the same room with other tatters but kinda close. If you’d like to try it there’s no time limit to start or to finish so you would have plenty of time to join us. Here’s a link to Jane’s blog and a link to the TIAS blog, where she posts the updates.

Tea
Did you know that this is National Hot Tea month? Over at favecrafts.com they have several tea-related crafts in honor of Hot Tea Month. So today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’d thought I’d share one of them with you.

Image courtesy of favecraft.com
They call this an Upcycled Tea Box, made from an old book (sorry, Diane, it wasn’t my idea!). They even have a video to help teach you how to do this. They suggest it as a gift for Mother’s Day. Do they think Mom has to hide her stash of tea?

It’s taken me almost all day again to get this posted! I have to figure a way to get done a little earlier than this. But I am happy with what I have achieved this week, and that I did actually get this posted on Tuesday!

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort
Franklin D Roosevelt