Tag: bag

Mail from Fox and Others

Have you been following Fox’s adventures in Armenian Lace?  She entertained us with her undertakings with this different type of knotting for several weeks.  For all that it enticed her into trying it she decided it just wasn’t something she wanted to continue, so she called it done, over, not for her.  She even put her newly acquired books up for sale.
And I bought them.
When I saw her trying Armenian lace I looked it up on YouTube and thought it looked interesting.  And when she put her books up for sale I thought it must be a sign.  Fox put the books in the mail right away and surprise, surprise, they came in the mail the same week!
Priscilla Armenian Lace book from Fox wandasknottythoughts
Mediterranean Knotted Lace book from Fox wandasknottythoughts
Tatting by Fox
And look what else she included in the package – a lovely tatted motif and a piece of Armenian lace she made.  And a needle to start it with.  Thank you, Fox, for gifts!
Tatting and Armenian Lace from Fox wandasknottythoughts
Tatting and Armenian lace by Fox
I’m glad the books got here so quickly but I have no idea when I’m going to have a chance to try it.  I have a lot of things I’m working on right now and once in a while I still have to do things like wash dishes and clothes and cook and go to work – you know, the not-so-fun but essential things in life.
I’ll get to it eventually.
A couple of weeks ago when I posted about my tatted bag Bernice from Knot Vortex asked how big it was. Well, Bernice, it had this ball of Omega thread inside to fill it out so I could get a good picture of it.  I should have put a ball of Lizbeth thread beside it to give some perspective (as I know a lot of people use Lizbeth but I’m not sure how many use Omega) but the Clover shuttle should give you an idea of size.
Tatted hand bag with ball of Omega thread and shuttle to show size wandasknottythoughts
Tatted bag by Wanda Salmans

 Tatted hand bag with ball of Omega size 50 thread and shuttle to show size wandasknottythoughtsTatted bag by Wanda Salmans

 I’m still trying to decide how to make the lining/insides of the bag though I haven’t spent a lot of time on it.  Besides, letting ideas percolate for awhile helps me come up with solutions that usually work pretty well. Putting it on a back burner for a little bit doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about it.

I’m busy making things for a craft show right now.  I just bought some beautiful material at Jo-Ann’s that I want to make into runners for the show, which will need edgings, and I need to work on gifts for Christmas.  Of course I don’t have the right colors or enough of the right colors for what I want to do so I had to place an order for thread which meant more mail!

Don’t you just love getting packages in the mail?

“What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp.”
Author Unknown

quotegarden.com

Tatted Bag Trial and Error

In July I started a Round Robin Doily through Craftree.  I tatted several of the centers for my doily trying to come up with one I was happy with.  The last sample that I made before I did one ‘for real’ is almost the same as the final except it has several places where I changed stitch counts which I didn’t go back and change.  It was a trial.  But it still looked pretty good.
So I thought I’d use it for another sample. I thought this center would look good as the bottom of a tatted bag.  At least as the bottom of a trial tatted bag.
Tatted Lace bag from Round Robin Doily Center, trying out some ideas for a tatted lace bag on wandasknottythoughts
Round Robin Doily center as the bottom of the bag.
The first few rounds went very close to my vision except for a few changes in stitch count.  As this is a trial and the stitch count change very minimal I didn’t go back and change them, just left it as tatted.
Tatted Lace bag from Round Robin Doily Center standing up, trying out several ideas for a tatted lace bag on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted bag sides
For whatever reason I made the split ring round a bit too big.  I had even started with smaller rings and changed my mind – I’m not sure what I was thinking.  I like the idea, but definitely need to change the counts there.
The bare thread sections at the top are a little too long, Well, they might not be when I finally get a material lining made.  That is material around a larger ball of thread inside the bag, filling it out so I can see what works and what doesn’t.  If it was the actual lining I suppose the tatting would be stitched to it and it would work/look better.
I had a lot of fun making this.  I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it to finish all the details and make a lining for it as there are a lot of other things waiting to be done.  But when I do I will already know a few places I need to change.  It should go faster and easier then.
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
Henry Ford

The birds and the – teacups

I so enjoyed decorating the small bag the other day that I have decided to do a few more.

Originally my idea was to have a shape in material as a background then decorate it with small bits of tatting and maybe a few buttons.  The idea with these was that they would be quick and easy to do.   
Sure.

I have the general idea for them, I just can’t make up my mind for the particulars!

I thought this was a cute idea, but some of the ‘snowflakes’ look more like flowers.
I’m not sure they look ‘finished’ yet.  I think I still have a little work to do. 
Autumn has finally arrived here.

Looking out my backdoor.  I love the different shades of color in the trees.

This was just over a week ago when the trees were still almost completely dark green then. You can see how dark even through the snow.

Maybe I should decorate a bag with a snowbird…
“It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.”
Aesop
brainyquotes.com

The Wedding Box and Other Gifts

Yes, there was yet another wedding I needed a gift for. If you think I’ve said that once or twice before recently you are correct – this makes four weddings this year.  This one was a small affair with the date set just a few weeks before the event.  There wasn’t much time to come up with a tatted gift, or at least one that incorporated a little tatting, but of course I had to try.
What to do when there is only a little time?  Look through things you’ve already made!
Remember about three years ago when Isdihara had a decorate-a-box-of-chocolates contest?  Well, I still have the box I decorated – not the snowflakes but the box itself and the edging around it. I started by changing out the paper cover (yes, it’s still brown but there is a sparkly decoration on it this time!) then had to put together what went inside.

Money is always good for newlyweds, isn’t it?

But instead of a gift card or check I gave them cash, taped end-to-end, folded and the ends taped to the top and bottom of the box.   When it was opened the money accordioned out, kind of like a slinky. The bride and groom got a kick out of playing with it 🙂
And then there was a little girl with a birthday.  Other than knowing she likes pinks and purples I had no idea what to do for her.  But at least being a girl I could do ‘pretty’. 
This is a 6″ by 6″ canvas bag – not counting the handles – I got from Walmart.  It’s one of those that come in a package of three, plain and unadorned, to be decorated as your heart desires.  Mine desired a pretty material heart surrounded by tatting.  I also tatted around a purple button for a little accent.  I was going to add a bit more bling but ran out of time (surprise, surprise).  I put a cute set of stationary and a pen in it, which turned out to be a great idea according to those who know.  She was at school when it was delivered so I haven’t heard if she likes it or not.
The next gift I made (actually the first of these three) was not for a birthday or wedding or anniversary or any other special day, but a just-because gift.  I saw a pretty scarf while on vacation I thought my mother would like.  I also thought that a pretty shawl pin would be nice to hold it in place. I had just the thread picked out to put on one but had to figure out how to put it together.   

As you can see I didn’t figure out how to add the tatting.  I played with wire and beads but just couldn’t see how to make it better with tatting.  I still want to try making a shawl pin with tatting on it, but this time I was happy even without it. 
“The heart of marriage is memories; and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and can savor your reruns, then your marriage is a gift from the gods.”
Bill Cosby
brainyquote.com

Edging for a bag

I’ve been wanting to add tatting to one of these bags for myself for quite some time but never took the time to do it.  As you can see, I finally did it! 
The bag is a planetE by Eco-Stream from Wal-mart, brown with ecru lines, 17 inches wide by 14 inches tall (not counting the handles). The tatting is a size 10 thread in turquoise but unfortunately the label disappeared a long time ago and I don’t remember the brand. The beads are from a container of mixed pink beads.  I used Fabric Fusion from Aleene’s to glue the edging to the bag. I don’t know how well it will hold but as this is for me I’ll use the bag and find out just how good it is. 
The edging is a simple one I came up with, one that wasn’t complicated and wouldn’t take long to make.  I thought I had measured it to fit the top of the bag but miscalculated a bit.  I had to bow it down a bit to fit.  I see I didn’t do a good job keeping it even when I glued it down.  I guess I’ll just have to live with it that way.  Unless it comes off, then I guess I’ll try to do better next time. 
After having little snow and mostly warm weather all winter – with temperatures around 50 and 60º F – we were hit with two major winter storms in less than a week.  At our house we got about a foot of snow last Thursday.  A lot of businesses as well as schools and church functions were cancelled, including the plant where I work.  Then Monday we had blizzard conditions with very wet, heavy snow and a forecast of another seven to twelve inches.  I wasn’t looking forward to driving in it and ended up not having to – they cancelled work again.   Because it was right about 32º F the snow actually was melting almost as fast as it came down, so we didn’t get as much measurable snow as predicted but we still got several inches that drifted.  
This picture is looking out my backdoor to the neighbor’s yard Monday afternoon.  Pretty if you don’t have to go out in it.  You have to understand, in this area we’re lucky to get three or four inches of snow at a time, maybe all winter.  To get one storm with a foot of snow is pretty unusual – to get two within a few days of each other is very rare indeed.  We certainly can use the moisture, but oh, my, this much snow at once is ridiculous!   

FACT: Between the two storms Wichita, KS broke its record for the most snow in any month since records have been kept – since 1888 – with 21 inches, 14.2″ in the first storm and 6.8″ in the second storm.

I did get some tatting done yesterday afternoon while I was home but no pictures yet.  I didn’t get as much done as I was hoping to, but more than if I had gone to work.  And I actually finished something!

“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels.”