Tatting Tea Tuesday

Tatting Tea Tuesday is here again. I haven’t done a lot of tatting this week and one of the things I did make didn’t get it’s picture taken – oops.
Saturday my husband and I went to a wedding in Oklahoma. I didn’t think I’d get to go because of work. But, big surprise, we didn’t have to work so we headed south. As it’s about a three hour drive I decided to tat the wedding couple a cross bookmark, something I didn’t have time to make before. (And of the three choices of colors I had with me, I picked the wrong one. I had their wedding colors with me, I just didn’t know that was it! I’ll bet they’ll like it anyway.) I didn’t take a picture of it because I didn’t think about it. I had the camera, just not the thought.
Something I have been working on this week is a challenge from Sharon on her Design Challenge blog.

This came out looking like I imagined it would, but it is kind of a pain to make, with a lot of reversing work. On the second, two color one I tried the method for making chains of NOT reversing but also not flipping the stitch. It works (I did it, I did it!) and it’s not quite so persnickety a pattern this way. Of course, you have to pay attention and remember NOT to flip the stitch…
I like the look of this and I’m counting this as #23 on my 25 Motif Challenge. And though I don’t use beads much, I’m thinking of trying this with beads. This could be my snowflake for the Christmas season. I try to come up with a new one every year for friends and family. I may just have come up with it a little early this year.

Tatting Tea Tuesday

I’m back! but I have very little to show for the last week or so. Our daughter and grandson stayed a few extra days more than planned – which was wonderful by the way! I didn’t get much done tatting-wise, but that’s okay. Much better to visit with them while they’re here, I’ll have time to tat later.

I did get a little bit done, stress on the “little”. I finished this up this morning with a cup of *hmm* coffee while the grandson took a little nap.

This is supposed to be a horseshoe. To go along with the horse head I’ve made. Well, not quite with the one that’s already made as the colors don’t go together very well. But I’m thinking on a card or bookmark with a horse-y theme. This horseshoe isn’t quite right, but I was not exactly focused the whole time I was making it. It looks more like a “U” than a shoe, but I think I can fix that the next time around. And thought it’s not perfect I think I’ll have this as my #22 in the 25 Motif Challenge.

Well, that’s it, the entire extent of my tatting over the last week or so. Maybe I’ll have something more by next week.

Grandson is visiting!

No pictures today – too busy. My daughter from Omaha is here with the grandson! Woo-hoo!

Haven’t seen them since May and he has changed soooo much! He’s crawling and has two teeth.

They’re going to be here for a week, so I doubt I’ll get much tatting done. If I do accomplish anything with thread and shuttle I’ll try and post it. Maybe at breaks at work I can do a little…

Okay, he’s doing more cute stuff, gotta stop and watch. Everyone have a good week!

Coasters for Tatting Tea Tuesday

The coasters are done! Okay, a day late. But I wasn’t going to be able to give them to my daughter until later in the week, so I was safe!
I think they came out pretty good. They were made with Handy Hands Lizbeth thread size 20 in varigated green #144 and dark red # 670. I’m calling this #21 of my 25 Motif Challenge.

It’s amazing how the varied color combinations make them each look so different, don’t you think?

I was going to set my cup of tea on one for a visual of their use, but it didn’t work out. I ran out of time.

For anyone that’s interested, here’s the pattern. WARNING: there may be mistakes lurking. Tat at your own risk.

Shay’s Birthday Coasters

Round 1 2 shuttles Make all picots small, for joining only

Sht1 R 6-6. R 6-6. RW Ch 9 DNRW Sht2 R 6-6 DNRW Sht1 Ch 9 RW

*Sht1 6+6 to p of prev R. R 6-6. RW Ch 9 DNRW Sht2 R 6-6. DNRW Sht1 Ch 9 RW*

Repeat between * 8 times, last time join last R to first R. Cut, finish ends as desired.

Round 2 Shuttle and ball. Joining picots indicated as j, others longer as desired.

R 6+6 to any Sht2 R of prev round. RW. Ch 10 RW. R 2-2-2-2j-8 RW

Ch 6-2–2-2+ to 4th p of prev R Ch10 RW.

Repeat from beginning of round 2 all the way around, join to base of first R. Cut, finish ends as desired.

A castle, some big rocks and two shuttles

On the 4th of July my husband and I went on a little day trip, just the two of us. We left all the housework and home projects behind and headed off to have a day of fun.

First we visited Coronado Heights. This is a hill named after Francisco Vasquez de Coronado for his visit to Kansas in 1541 looking for gold. This is the castle at the top. It was built in the 30’s along with a freestanding fireplace and picnic tables around the summit.

The views from the top are spectacular. You can see for miles in all directions over the farm/ranch land that surround it. This picture is looking south from one of the picnic tables. The day was partly cloudy and breezy which made it an excellent day for a visit in July. We’d both been here before but not since we were kids.

Then we went a little farther north and visited Mushroom Rock State Park. This first picture is what it looks like as we drive up. If you can make it out in the center of the picture the top of one of the ‘mushroom’ rocks is visible. In the distance you can see what the area around the park looks like.

These pictures are of my husband and I with some of the large rocks that the place is named for. Who would have thought to find rocks like this in Kansas?

My husband took these pictures by setting the timer on the camera and then running to be with me by/on the rocks. (That was fun to watch!)
It’s has been wet so far this summer so it was very green. This made for a very pleasant visit. It can get pretty dry over the summer.

And then we drove to Salina to check out a few of the antique stores there. We’re not big into antiquing, but enjoy it once in awhile.
I found this box in one of the stores. I think it was a jewelry box, but it may have been a sewing box. I have decided it is a tatting project box. It is to sit next to my chair to hold shuttles and notions in the drawers and current threads and projects in the top. I’ve been looking for something of this nature for quite some time, so I couldn’t very well leave it there, could I?


And then, in a store across the street I actually found two shuttles. One of the owners mentioned that shuttles are usually snapped up almost as soon as they put them out. So I got lucky!

The white one has no markings on it that I could tell. The store owner had no information about either of them, other than they were tatting shuttles. She was quite surprised that I tatted and commented about it being a “lost art.” She didn’t even know how shuttles were used or what it signified if the ends were close together. Both shuttles have some thread on them, and they definitely “click”!
The black one has a trademark name on it. Can you make it out? I had a lot of trouble taking a picture where the name is readable.

The name on the black one is “Gloria” with ‘trade’ on one side and ‘mark’ on the other. I don’t think I’ve heard of that before. Anyone know when or where it was made?
They were both in the same display box, so were for sale by the same seller. The white one has definitely been used quite a bit – it’s just a little warped where the finger and thumb would be positioned. The black one also looks used but not to that extent. What a find!

All around it was a great day. We had fun hiking around two wonderful sites on a beautiful day and then found some treasures to take home with us. We finished off the day at home with our feet up, sipping on root beer floats.

I could do with a few more days as nice as this one!

Tatting Tea Tuesday July 7

It’s Tatting Tea Tuesday again and I’m still busy with my daughter’s birthday present of coasters. So I brewed a cup of tea and kicked back to tat.
Thanks to all of you that shared with me ideas of what colors you thought would look good for the coasters. Most liked the red. And I still was unsure. So I thunk and I thunk and…
this is what I came up with.

Obviously they haven’t had the ends clipped – in fact one still has to have the end connected to the beginning.

I finished the sixth one after I took the picture. Can you guess which one of these needs it’s opposite?

I’ll have to have them done before next week or else they’ll be late. I’ll post a picture of the finished coasters when they’re done. I think she’ll like them.

Butterflies

As I mentioned earlier, I was in a butterfly exchange through InTatters. This is the beautiful butterflies I got from my exchange partner, CindyK from Minnesota.

The large one is “Green Butterfly” designed by Martha Ess, found in the Intatters patterns. She made it with Lizbeth thread size 20 in “Jewels” and DMC Cebelia size 20 white. And she sent the little one to keep it company. Aren’t they wonderful?

CindyK considers herself a beginner as she’s only been tatting a few years. She just finished Phase one of the T.A.T. program. If you get the chance stop on over to congratulate her on a job well done! I think she did a great job on these butterflies. Now I just need to decide where I’m going to display them…

This butterfly is the one I sent to CindyK. This was a lot of fun making. I tried Lizbeth thread for the first time with it. I have seen that a lot of people are trying it and liking it so I bought some. And I really really like the Caribbean!

So I just had to do this butterfly in it. This is the Southwest Butterfly by Tatting Goddess made with Lizbeth size 20 thread, Dark Purple #633, Caribbean #122 & Black #604. (www.esnips.com/web/TattingGoddessPatterns). I’m calling this #20 of my 25 Motif Challenge.

I’ve been working on my daughter’s birthday coasters, which I’ll post another day. I think I’ve come up with a solution as to what color to make them.

Yesterday my husband and I went for a day trip, just the two of us. In the afternoon we stopped by a couple of antique stores and spent a few hours browsing through all of the neat – and not so neat- things in them. I have serveral things to share after I have the pictures uploaded. I’m pretty excited about all of my finds.

But that is for another day. We’ve been very busy this weekend – we had three days off from work! – with family and friends and just spending time together. I feel so much more relaxed than I have for weeks.

That’s all for today. My shuttles are calling to me. I better do something with them before they tie themselves in knots.

Tea and Tatting again

Well, it’s Tatting Tea Tuesday again. I made up a cup of tea and sat back to tat.
Today I’m working on coasters for my daughter’s birthday. She chose two colors and I’m trying to decide if I can use them together, or should just use one or the other. The tatting is going to be attached to denim from old jeans.
She chose this Lizbeth thread in green variegated and antique red in size 20. I like them both,
I just don’t know if I like them both together. Make it all in the green, all in the red, or together?

I think the pattern will work. If I leave it like this it will be about 4 inches (about 10cm) across. I’m planning on making four to six of them – it will depend on how many I get done by her birthday!

Now, if I can just make up my mind how I want to do the colors….

A little bitty doily and a horse

A few weeks ago I needed an ecru doily for a gift. I had a colored doily but found out that the recipient really liked ecru as this was more in line with her home decor (I like to please). Soooo, as usual, instead of going with an existing pattern I tried to come up with something that didn’t take too long. And this is the result.

I call it Arches Over Arches. This is made with DMC ecru (of course!) in size 30. I came up with this from a center I found in my old stuff that was made with size 10, which was much bigger. I think this was supposed to be an edging that went wrong. But it made a nice center for a doily.

The other two rounds I came up with this time around. I have several ideas for the next time I make it – and I do have plans to make it – and my husband has a couple of really neat suggestions, also.

There’s nothing here to compare it to so you can’t tell the size. It’s pretty small, only about 4 inches across. So maybe it’s too small to be considered a doily, but I would use it under a vase for a single rose or some such, so I call it a doily.

I’ve also had another idea in mind that I worked on last night. After seeing all the neat ideas of using a large paperclip as a bookmark, I thought a large paperclip with a horse head would be neat. Now, I make my own bookmarks and doilies and such, but coming up with something like this has not turned out well. I’m not showing my attempts, just say they met a quick end. But the Internet is our friend and makes finding the many wonderful people with great ideas easy to find if you go looking.

If you go to ds9designs you will find that Debbie Arnold has a very cute seahorse pattern. I saw it and thought “if you start here and leave that off, it would make a really nice horse head pattern.” So last night I tried it with thread I already had on a shuttle. (The colors would have made a wonderful seahorse!)

.

This is made with Lizbeth Caribbean size 20. I think I need to make the base a little wider and the neck maybe not quite so long. Then I need to try putting it on a paperclip. Maybe in a horse-y color. And then again, maybe not. To be continued…

Most of this last week was spent finishing the butterfly for the Intatters butterfly exchange. I got it done in time (just barely!) and sent it off to Cindy in Minnesota. After I know she has it I will post a picture of it. I thought it came out well and I’m looking forward to sharing it.

Tatting Tea Tuesday

This morning I brewed a cup of herb tea – mint, mmmm!- and sat down to work on my exchange butterfly and what do I see but a BIG mistake! I missed a join and a chain, and it wasn’t the last thing I did, either. Grumble, grumble, *sigh*

Instead of finishing the butterfly I retro tatted. And it’s dark thread so it took me awhile (the eyesight is one of the first things to go, obviously!) to get back to where I started last night. I knew I was tired last night, but I didn’t know I was that tired! If I had just not picked it up after work I would have been done with the wings by now!

And then I had trouble reading the pattern for the middle! I turned it this way, and that way, and turned it over…. I finally figured it out (I think) but again, didn’t get as far as I thought I would.

So instead of showing at least a part of the butterfly – as a hint until the recipient gets it – I have nothing to show for my tatting time today. I spent all my time either retro tatting or tatting and had no time left for pictures.

But the tea was delicious!