I’m a little slow getting this Tatting Tea Tuesday post going, but I’ve definitely been drinking tea – lots and lots of plain ol’ green tea. Hot tea has a soothing effect on my sore throat. Yes, I have the dreaded cold. It’s hard to get motivated, or even get my brain to concentrate on anything. Not that there hasn’t been tatting, just slowly, and some by others.

Others, as in Wendy from Umi & Tsuru and Fox from tat-ology. Both volunteered to tat my Design-Tat homework motif “Elcie”. Check these out:

“Elcie” tatted by Wendy with long picots. Quite a different look.

And “Elcie” tatted by Wendy with shorter picots.

This is how Fox tatted it. Isn’t it nice in red?

What is kind of funny is I had just finished tatting Fox’s “Abigail” when she sent me the picture of “Elcie”. So I had to show Fox how I had done her “Abigail”
“Abigail” design by Fox
tatted by Wanda

In Red! 🙂

Thank you both for testing out the pattern for me!

The only other thing I’ve done this last week is this bookmark. It is suggested practice of crossed picots from “Advanced Tatting Patterns +” by Judi Banashek. I definitely need to work on them! Its done in Lizbeth #142 in size 20.

Well, that’s all folks! It has taken me all day to write this much. Hopefully I’ll feel better next week and do a little better job.

Homework

Do you remember when you were in school as a child? Did you ever ask why you had to learn a certain skill/subject? Back then, you could never see how you would ever use it and homework could be a real pain. And then you’re older and taking classes, through a school or because of your work, on subjects that you are interested in. Then the homework isn’t quite the drudgery because you can see the where, why and when you’ll use the knowledge. It doesn’t mean it will be easy, though.I’m taking Sharon’s Design-Tat class, learning how to design tatting and then how to share it by writing out the pattern. One lesson was to design a motif, with part of it given to all, and a part of it we each were to come up with ourselves. That wasn’t too hard, and was fun. But then the next lesson was to write it out – not as much fun. But after a bit of stress and several starts (and re-starts) I finished that, too.

So, what do you do with a motif? I’ve done lots of them over the years, but when they’re done, just what is their purpose? Some I’ve done in white and hung on my Christmas tree, though they may not be a snowflake, and a few I’ve put in frames. Quite a few are tucked away, hidden from sight, because I didn’t have anything planned for them. I think the main thing done with motifs is to join them together to make mats or runners or tablecloths – something bigger anyway.

Okay, I have a motif: let me try to make something bigger.

I played around with my motif a little and soon realized that it, at least to me, did not lend itself to be joined together, not as it was anyway. The edges are very frilly, and when two are joined together as designed end up with overlapping picots. Not very aesthetic. So I made a few modifications, which helped a little, though I still wasn’t happy with them. I played around with them a little more and came up with adding corner pieces. Much better. This design leaves the finished piece a little floppy as there aren’t many joins to the center. I found that a bit of hair spray after blocking does a great job of stiffening it enough to fix that without being too messy or taking too long to dry (hair dryers are a wonderful tool)

Both the single motif and the mat are made in Lizbeth size 20 in white. I’m going to call the single motif #15 of my second 25 Motif Challenge and the mat #16. I’m hoping someone in the class will be kind enough to test-tat the motif. It really does a help a lot to have someone else read over a pattern and try it. I always see what I know should be there, not necessarily what’s really there. I haven’t written out the changes and additions to the mat pattern yet – I’m waiting on the proofing of the other pattern first.

And now, on this pretty Tatting Tea Tuesday as I sip my “Constant Comment” tea (“tea flavored with rind of oranges and sweet spice”) – which was a gift from my Advent swap partner – I’m going to share what my wonderful husband did for me this weekend.

He made me another shuttle!

It was hard to take pictures of this; I had a hard time getting the camera to focus. Finally I got the right setting on the camera and was able to take some clear pictures but not as good as I’d like.

This shuttle is made with, we think, Japanese walnut; he actually got the wood from one of our neighbors. In the pictures it looks like the sides are rough but they are actually smooth. In person it looks the same, you touch it expecting it to be rough. It’s also very light weight. The color was much lighter before the hand rub polyurethane was applied. The tips don’t, and aren’t supposed to, meet, but when dangled the thread doesn’t unwind because of the way the slots are cut. I will have to keep a crochet hook with me when I use this shuttle because it doesn’t have a sharp point, but that’s okay, I have several hooks:) It’s a little longer than the Clover shuttles I usually use, but not bad. I think it will hold a bit more thread than a Clover, too. It might be a good shuttle for when I use beads.


Can you tell I’m a little excited about this shuttle??

May this be the start of wonderful new year
May you have enough thread for all your projects
May your shuttle always hold just enough thread
And may there always be a little tea with your tatting on Tuesdays: )

Happy New Year!

2010 is almost over

Can you believe the year is almost over? It’s been such a busy year it hardly seems possible.

I look back over the year and think of all places I went, the new things I’ve tried,
and the people I’ve met – I must say it was a year well spent. We went on several great trips, both with family and by ourselves, and made wonderful memories. I learned
several new tatting techniques that will open up all kinds of possibilities for
projects this next year. I met some great people in the travels I made this year as well as
locally and on-line, people I hope to keep in touch with in the years to come.

The last week I did some tatting, some right up to Christmas Eve, but then the projects were done or they weren’t and it was time to enjoy family and friends. We had
great get-togethers with both sides of our families (the in-laws and the out-laws, LOL!) and
still have one to go. It has been a wonderful holiday season.

I did want to share one more gift I received from my Advent swap partner. She really
spoiled me this year.

Check it out – she sent me Yarnplayer’s Layered Ring Christmas Tree pattern! I was thinking about getting this but hadn’t yet taken the time to order. She also sent me a tension-adjusting
tatting shuttle! (I haven’t tried it yet, but I will soon!) It came in a cute little tin. There was
also a beautiful beaded tree ornament that she made – very nice, very sparkly! Her
son had her include someSpongeBob Squarepants candy books for my grandsons and their families and one for us, too. And a large ball of size 30 white thread. She was very
generous!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Christmas this year. And may your New Year be filled with wonder and joy!

Getting ready for Christmas


… and I’m still very busy. I have quite a few things yet to tat before the big day arrives. I did take a little time out from all that to make this bookmark for The Tatting Forums’ bookmark-a-month challenge, just for fun: ) It’s made in Lizbeth color 625 size 20.

I was thinking how busy I’ve kept myself the last several weeks, and though it’s been fun it’s also getting to be a bit stressful as the day gets closer and I don’t have everything done. So I took a little time out for a different kind of fun. With a nod to Isdihara of Ambitatterous, famous for her twisted lyrics, and an apology to Clement Clarke Moore, sit back and enjoy a cup of tea this Tatting Tea Tuesday while I leave you with a poem that I – hmm, adapted – from Mr. Moore.

‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the house

I was still stirring, and I think so was a mouse.

The stockings weren’t hung, the mantle was bare,

I sure wasn’t ready for Christmas to be here!


Patterns of lace were strewn all over the bed,

While visions of things undone danced in my head.

With thread on the table and a cat on my lap

I couldn’t settle my brain on one thing to tat.


When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.

Hanging down from the table a part of my stash

Caught me off guard, I went down with a crash!


The glitter that fell from the table like snow

Gave quite a shine to my head down below.

When, what to my watering eyes should appear,

But a miniature person in fancy foot gear.


She was dressed all in lace, from her head to her toes,

And her clothes were all covered with lots of picots.

An array of bright thread she had clutched in her hand,

And she looked very lovely, in fact very grand.


Her eyes – how they twinkled! Her tresses, how lovely!

Her cheeks were like roses, her stance very queenly!

Her red little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

The dress she was wearing was as white as the snow.


She spoke not a word, but went straight to her task,

What she was doing I had no thought to ask.

And plying the thread, not seeming to bustle,

She made gorgeous lace with a bright silver shuttle!


Her hands flew through the thread, this lovely small elf,

And I laughed as I watched her, in spite of myself!

Each piece as she finished she laid on the table,

Fine tatting she made, her face very tranquil.


When her tatting was done, when finally she finished,

Then as quick as she’d come she suddenly vanished.

But I heard her exclaim, ‘ere she faded from sight,

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good knot!”


Based on “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore


PS Real quick – did you see the lunar eclipse last night? Pretty cool, wasn’t it?

It’s white all over

Snowman and snowflakes, all in white, at least inside my house. (No snow on the ground here, and I can live with that.) Working all in white is what I’ve been doing all week. The cute snowman is something I saw on line and decided I just had to try. It’s made from an old, inside-out sock (it was washed!). I gifted it to one of my grandsons yesterday. Well, actually, I gave it to his mother to put out on a shelf for decoration because my grandson really liked it when he saw me working on it the other day. I had to do a few things a little different than the directions called for, but I think it turned out well.

The snowflakes are ones I’ve come up with this last week trying to decide what I wanted for my 2010 Christmas card snowflake. After making all of these I’ve decided the one I will consider this year’s snowflake is the one at the top right.

Speaking of snowflakes, did you see what Kathy did with one? She hung it from the inside a clear plastic ball ornament. It looks great! I’ve got to try this. I know I had some clear glass ornaments somewhere but I can’t find them. If I don’t find them I’m going to go get some! I just love this look. Great idea, Kathy!

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’m enjoying a cup of Raspberry Royale tea, a gift from my Advent swap partner on Ravelry. I wasn’t sure I’d like it because I’m not that fond of the taste of raspberry, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s pretty good: ) In the spirit of TTT I’m trying a new technique (to me) I saw online yesterday. Who knows, if I really like this, and I can do it, my snowflake for the year may change.

For my Advent gift today my partner sent me a cute little crocheted stocking for the tree and a ball of hand-dyed thread from Crochet 4 U 2 Dye 4 in “Mistletoe”, size 20. I’m looking forward to using it. Isn’t she the sweetest swap partner ever?

I hope you are taking the time to enjoy the season, without getting too stressed. Take a few minutes for yourself, have a cup of tea and tat a few minutes this week – a gift to yourself.

A busy busy elf

That’s how I’ve been lately, very busy! I’ve been working a lot on Christmas things, both for swap partners and for family. But I can share a few of the things I’ve been working on now as some were for an advent swap and have been opened.

Something to brighten the evenings

This is a candle jar that I decoupaged with red tissue paper then added small tatted snowflakes. There was also a candle tucked inside. I had never done decoupage before I started adding a little bling to my shuttles and now I can think of so many things I could do with it. In fact, I have all kinds of things in mind for Christmas gifts now that include a little decoupage. Now if I only have the time!

A little sparkle for my partner to hang on the tree.

Napkin rings to add a little Christmas cheer to the her table.

A stocking for the mantle with a little chocolate inside!

I had such fun thinking up all kinds of things to send. It couldn’t just be snowflakes, I needed a variety! I’m hoping she’s having as much fun opening them as I had putting them together.

I have also received some wonderful gifts in return. These are just a few of the great gifts I’ve opened so far.

Kooly the Koala

This is a Kritter Craft Case from Clover. Isn’t it cute?! It’s a semi-hard case that will be just perfect for a tatting project.

A little something to dress up my dish soap!

A dishcloth, a notepad and a size 12 crochet hook

And today the cutest hot pads!

This advent swap has been so fun! There is talk of doing this again next year and I am seriously thinking about it already! I will certainly start making things much earlier, though: )

In the midst of all this crafting I’ve also been trying to find time to put up my Christmas decorations. The tree is up but not decorated (it’s one that already has lights so it doesn’t look too bare) and that’s about it so far. Maybe this weekend…

Speaking of decorating, did you hear? Sharon has won Isdihara’s decorated chocolate box contest? If you haven’t seen Sharon’s box you definitely should check it out. Check out all the others, too, the links are on Ambitatterous, Isidhara’s blog. There are some very cute decorated chocolate boxes! This was a fun competition. Congratulations, Sharon! You had an awesome entry.

I’m enjoying English Teatime tea this morning that was in the box of gifts from my swap partner. I’m fortifying myself for another busy day of playing elf. I have a long list of things that I would like to get done before Christmas though I keep telling myself if I don’t get them done it won’t be the end of the world – no sense in stressing over doing things that should be fun!

Wishing all of you a blessed Christmas season. Take a little time for tea and tatting, and maybe a little time to reflect on the reason for the season.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

My Secret Santa, crazytatter, from the Intatters exchange sent me some really cute stuff!

The little guy on the top left is a giraffe paperweight, very cute! The two little boxes have paperclips in them, one regular sized and the other large. There is also a large-eyed needle taped to the inside top of one box, and when I say large-eyed, I do mean large. I’ve never seen a needle quite like it. There is also some neat little stamps for scrapbooking or what ever, a Christmas-y bookmark that she tatted for me (very nice!), and a journal to write in. Wasn’t she generous? Thank you, crazytatter!

I also joined an Advent Swap on Ravelry. You make/buy/use-from-your-stash gifts for every day of December through Christmas. This is the first of three boxes from my exchange partner, Medictabs.

Look at all the presents!

She also put in a few little things for right now. I wonder how she knew I’d like these?

Tea!

It was just in time for Tatting Tea Tuesday, so I’m trying the Cranberry Apple. Yum! The CD with the snowman on it is a mix of Christmas songs! I’m taking it to work to listen to tonight. It has a few of my favorite songs on it, isn’t that great?

A lot of the tatting that I’ve been doing was made for these exchanges and now that they’ve all been mailed I’ve actually got a little bit of tatting done that I can show. And guess what? They’re snowflakes. Surprise! Okay, not really.

The top one is a pattern from a few years ago but I added glass silver seed beads to it to give it a little shine. The larger one on the right is the center of one from last year but with a different outside round. I’ve got a look in mind that I’m trying to achieve, so tried something a little different this time. It didn’t come out quite like I had in mind – not bad, just not quite “it”. The other two are variations on a theme, so to speak, one with six points and one with five. Again they didn’t come out quite like I envisioned, but they still look pretty good. All of these are headed to the center this year’s Christmas cards – cards I need to get busy with very soon! All of these snowflakes were make with Lizbeth white, size 20.

May you all have a wonderful week, with a little tea and tatting somewhere in there!

Making wreaths and wrapping gifts

I got up on Tatting Tea Tuesday and had a cup of Cinnamon Apple Spiced tea and tatted for a couple of hours – with a lot of interruptions. The whole day was full of interruptions and re-dos, actually. My tatting was a couple of wreaths, which aren’t hard – if you just follow the directions! I started the first one three times because I didn’t pay close enough attention to what I was supposed to do! My own fault; there were just too many things going on that kept pulling my attention away from my tatting (one is about three feet tall and gets into everything! Very cute though.)

Chain Christmas Wreath by Susan B. Taliaferro

I’m counting the Chain Christmas Wreath as #14 of the 25 Motif Challenge. Considering how much trouble I had with these I can definitely say it was a challenge. I like this pattern well enough I’ll be making more for this Christmas – the shuttles are already wound anyway, might as well 🙂 Susan has the pattern posted on InTatters if you’d like to try it. I’m not sure of the thread, Handy Hands tucked it into an order I made back when Lizbeth was new. It’s a green with a slightly blue tint, but it looks very nice as a wreath with red beads.

I have been tatting like mad the last week, but everything is for gifts, so I can’t show them until I know they’ve been opened. Other than that I’ve been wrapping said gifts. In fact, most of my day has been spent wrapping gifts, in between running after my two year old grandson that is staying with us. His mother had to go on a short overnight trip and my DH had to work, so it was just the two of us – oh, boy. He gets into absolutely everything if you don’t keep your eye on him constantly!Secret Santa gift from xstchntat

Look what I received in the mail! Look at all the goodies! These were sent to me by xstchntat for the Intatters Secret Santa Exchange. The bookmark was part of a group that won second place at the Arizona State Fair – it’s lovely. A ball of Christmas Delight, 116, Lizbeth thread, size 20 (but it’s labeled Mocha Brown Dk, 692!). Three balls of Coats and Clark thread, size 70, variegated pink to white, variegated green to white and variegated pink, blue, white. A skein of pink Lola color 135 Rayon thread from EdMar which looks a little finer that size 20. Two cute little mittens that would look good on stitch markers (strivers), a Clover shuttle and…

Handmade Podauk Shuttle and striver!
a handmade striver and a handmade shuttle! The shuttle is made from Podauk wood and is very light. You can see it’s smaller than the Clover shuttle. I think it will work very well with the size 70 thread she sent. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but I’m very much looking forward to giving it a try. I know I’ll be using the striver soon as I have another project I need to do this week that needs several.

Thank you, xstchntat, for the wonderful gifts!

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving this week, and take a little time out for tea and tatting if you can!

Tatting Tea Tuesday with Chocolates


Have you heard? Isdihara, from Ambitatterous is having a contest, to decorate an empty box of chocolates with tatting. The one she likes the best will win 25 balls of Lizbeth thread of your choice! 25 balls of Lizbeth! For that I have to at least try!

Okay, how do you decorate a box of chocolates? I was having a terrible time coming up with a theme or idea, so I went with what I was working on. Snowflakes. I don’t know how good an idea it is, but I came up with something! The box didn’t show off the snowflakes very well so I covered it in brown paper, which shows off the white thread very well. Then I tried laying out snowflakes on the top in different arrangements. That looked way too busy no matter what arrangement I tried them in, so I reduced it to just one larger one. I’m not sure about this, but it’s what I came up with. I hope you like it at least a little bit, Isdihara!

I have been very busy, both with tatting and with other crafty things, but they’re all for gifts so I can’t show them yet. I’m in a Secret Santa exchange on Intatters and an Advent swap on Ravelry, besides having projects to make for family and friends. As the Internet things have to be sent out first they’ve been first on my list to do. I’m getting close to being done with those – I think! I have done a few things I’ve thought about for awhile but never got around to trying and I’ve been pretty happy with ’em. They’ll be shown in future posts, after I’m sure they’ve all been opened.

I’m still working on snowflakes today as I enjoy a cup of peppermint tea. I keep humming Christmas songs which helps keep me in the gifting mood. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!”

May you all have a wonderful week with a little tea and tatting if you can!

Fall Housekeeping

So, I was trying to get a little more organized (don’t laugh, it could happen) and cleaning out my “tatting cabinet” – an old dresser that sits in our living room and holds most of my thread. As I was going through all the balls of thread I kept finding shuttles, all holding at least some thread of one sort or another.
The problem, of course, is I don’t know what the threads are. I’m sure I have most of the colors/sizes somewhere, but is it worth it to try to figure that out with the (usually) small amount of thread on them? I think I’ll be making a lot of butterflies and flowers to try to empty them out. I’ve got a lot of Christmas tatting to do and I could use a few empty shuttles:- )

Speaking of Christmas tatting, I did get a few snowflakes done while on the trip back from Washington, D.C. I figured I needed a lot of snowflakes for the Christmas cards, and if I only took one color of thread it would take up less space. And maybe I wouldn’t get too sidetracked and start something else!
The one on the top left was supposed to be like the one on the top right, but I knew before I started the outside round that my stitch count was off and it wasn’t going to work, so it was modified a little. The one in the middle and the one on the bottom left were supposed to be the same, and again, the stitch count changed just a little. But it will work. I made the small ones – they are about an inch across – for project I’m working on. It was fun trying to come up with very small six-pointed shapes. Okay, some have more points than that, but they’re snowflakes if anybody asks, and all are made with Lizbeth white in size 20.

For my trip I took my tatting in my new tatting tin. It’s an Altoid mint tin that I decoupaged (I keep finding things to cover!). It holds two shuttles, the short crochet hook, the scissors, the necklace they attach to and the needle book. It fit very nicely in my purse and looked great while doing it.

Today for Tatting Tea Tuesday I’m sipping hot Cinnamon Apple Spice tea I found at the store the other day. It smells and tastes yummy! I’m not sure how much tatting I’ll get done today though – I’ve been neglecting the house since I’ve gotten back from D.C. I really need to get things done before it gets too out of hand.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week.