cross – Page 2 – Wanda's Knotty Thoughts

August Split Ring Cross

I’ve been working on the runner but it is not a take-along type project. I don’t want to get it dirty or make mistakes due to inattention. Instead, when I’m out and about or don’t have much time to tat I’ve been working on the cross pattern I recently made.

Tatting while waiting on wandasknottythoughts — Tatting while waiting

I took our truck in for service recently. It was going to take long enough I got a loaner car to drive while it was in the shop. While I had the loaner I also had to do a little waiting in a parking lot. This was an opportunity to work on the cross. This time I was tatting it in a thread of a single shade instead of a variegated one. I like this much better for being able to see the pattern than I did the other thread.

August Split Ring Cross purple on wandasknottythoughts — August Split Ring Cross in purple

It came out very well. I gave it as a gift to a lady at our church. I was in such a hurry to get it to her that I forgot to take a picture of it on a plain background to use for the pattern. I like this background, but it distracts from the pattern when using it to make the cross. So I get to do another one!

That is actually a good idea. As I’m making the next cross I’m checking the pattern for mistakes. I’m finding I’ve left out quite a lot! I still have a lot of distractions.

I put out hummingbird feeders this spring and didn’t seen any until a week and a half ago. I’ve finally seen several!

hummingbird at feeder on wandasknottythoughts — Hummingbird at feeder

They are very fun to watch. And this feeder is right outside the window in front of my computer. When the birds show up it is very distracting! Anything I’m working on ends up taking longer than I thought it would.

I think I will have the pattern for the August Split Ring Cross done by next week. I have to finish tatting the cross again so I have a picture for it and fixing those pesky mistakes I keep finding!

“Art is pattern informed by sensibility.” Herbert Read

Distractions

I’ve been doing a lot of debating on my next steps on my daughter’s runner. I have been working on it, just not necessarily making much progress. I’m pretty sure it will be a Christmas present now, I might have it done by then.

This is not to say I haven’t been tatting or otherwise crafting. There have been a lot of things to keep me busy.

For the fun of it I made coasters for the people in my department at work. None included tatting as most are men and I’m not sure they would appreciate it. Not saying some men wouldn’t like it, just I don’t want to go to that much work for anyone that I don’t know would appreciate it. I’d prefer to give gifts that the recipient likes, not just what I like.

Coasters for work on wandasknottythoughts — Coasters for work

I had fun looking for material that I thought each one would like. They were appreciated by all of them. The little yellow character is an inside joke with one of my co-workers.

Another distraction is wanting to give a gift to a friend at church, so I made another cross bookmark.

August Cross bookmark on wandasknottythougths — August Cross bookmark

I like the pattern I came up with but not how it works up in this thread which is Lizbeth #113 Jewels in size 20. I think the colors muddle the center so much you can’t appreciate the pattern or the thread. I did start another cross with a single-color thread but made a mistake big enough I decided to start over. Then I had other distractions come up, so it is not done.

The other distractions were birthday presents. I forgot they were coming up and had to hurry to find something for them. I gave both of the birthday girls money, but I think that can be very impersonal even if it is something they want. I decided to give them each a little something more.

Green birthday bookmark on wandasknottythoughts — Green birthday bookmark

One of the young ladies likes green of any shade. I looked through my stash and found Lizbeth #667 Green Orchid Med and #684 Leaf Green Med in size 20. Of course, I couldn’t make up my mind which pattern to do but finally settled on this one. She was very happy with it.

Purple birthday bookmark on wandasknottythoughts — Purple birthday bookmark

The other young lady likes shades of purple. I found Lizbeth #632 Purple Med and #646 Purple Iris Lt. in size 10 in my stash. As both bookmarks needed to be done the same day – the next day – I found I was running out of time. I came up with this pattern, which when made in size 10 was long enough in the short amount of time I had left. I didn’t get to see her open it but I was told she liked it.

I’ve enjoyed my recent distractions. I really should be distracted to do more work around the house, but those aren’t nearly as fun.

“You can always find a distraction if you’re looking for one.” Tom Kite

A Bookmark and Scissors

Saying ‘bookmark and scissors’ together gives the impression of something bad happening, but that’s not what happened. It’s all good!

I’ve been thinking of what I might do for International Tatting Day and came up with the idea of making a few tatted buttons that I might give away. They are quick and fun and look pretty, a fun way to introduce or expose people to tatting. While looking through my thread, and different places I’ve put thread, I found a bag with a mess of threads in it – as in a terrible tangle. While de-tangling all of them, I found an almost finished cross bookmark.

Cross bookmark on Grandma's Bible on wandasknottythoughts — Cross bookmark on Grandma’s Bible

After finishing the bookmark all it needed was a spritz of water to flatten it back out. It was a bit curled up, but it came out great. Just in time for Easter. I’d been thinking about making one for my mother, and there it was!

The scissors were found by my wonderful husband. He randomly will look for things he thinks I might like and found this lovely pair for sale on-line.

Scissors with crosses with crosseswitand cross bookmark on wandasknottythoughts — Scissors with crosses

Aren’t these an interesting pair of scissors? I don’t know much about them except they look like they have been used a lot. I didn’t find any makers marks on them. They are not exactly thread scissors as they are too large. I tried cutting some thread scraps and they cut very cleanly. A bit stiff but that might be remedied.

I didn’t know I had a scissors collection, but I must have. This isn’t the first pair he’s bought me. He’s such a sweety! Now I need a way to display them, right?

I’m hoping things go well for Thursday, April 1, ITD. If all goes as planned I will tat in public, sip on a tasty beverage, and share chocolates.

Let everything you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14

Gifted Crosses

In between working on the china hutch edgings I’ve made several cross bookmarks as gifts

This one is April’s Cross that I gifted as a wedding gift. The bride sent me a picture of it as I did not remember to take one of the finished bookmark before I gave it away. It came out nicely.

April's Cross wedding gift on wandasknottytoughts — The finished wedding bookmark April’s Cross

I also made one to celebrate a baptism. Well, I made two, as I wasn’t happy with the first one. The pattern is my take on a traditional cross.

Traditional cross bookmarks as gifts on wandasknottythoughts — Two cross bookmarks in my version of a traditional pattern

Both of these are made in size 20 Lizbeth thread #605, Silver. I wasn’t thrilled about the length of the long arm of the top one, it didn’t look proportionally correct with the other arms. So I’ll keep the first one for me.

Both recipients were pleased with their gifts, which also makes me happy.

Now I need to stay on task and finish the third edging for the china hutch.

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Changing Crosses

I’ve been very busy the last two weeks, sometimes even with tatting! Every time I try to sit down to post, other, more pressing things came up. But I’m back today 🙂

I am still working on my shelf edging. It is about 3/4 of the way complete and it’s a convenient project to take in the car. If I didn’t have other projects to do, as well.

2nd shelf china hutch edging on wandasknottythoughts — Still working on the edging for the 2nd shelf

A friend of mine got married last weekend. Of course, I had to tat something, which was a cross bookmark in her wedding colors. I thought it turned out well. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t taken a picture of the finished cross until the day after I gave it to her. If she puts it in her Bible I might be able to take a picture one Sunday when I see her at church. If I remember! I used Lizbeth #632 Purple Medium. For the tassel, I added several strands of #605 Silver, both in size 20.

April's Cross v2 on wandasknottythoughts — April’s Cross in one of the bride’s colors

When deciding which cross to tat I first looked through ones that I had completed. I found several that I had done and either made changes or mistakes. I suppose that is determined by how they come out, right? If the change looks good, yay! If it doesn’t, then oops, don’t do that.

Several tatted crosses with changes on wandasknottythoughts — Several tatted crosses I found with changes

The white cross on the left is a doodle, so I can’t say it’s had changes made, but does it work?? The purple one is Milan with a mistake/change at the top, not sure I like it. The blue cross is April’s Cross with a few changes at the end of the arms, which I did purposely and I like the change. The multi-colored cross is January Cross without split rings.

January Cross 2019 ver 2 on wandasknottythoughts — January Cross 2019 ver 2

One cross that I purposely made changes to was ‘January Cross 2019’. A tatter contacted me about the pattern, wondering if it could be done without split rings. I thought about it and came up with version 2, changing the split rings to rings and chains. It changes up the look only slightly. I posted about the original version last year. Both versions can be found on My Patterns page.

This coming weekend is Independence Day here in the USA. I usually come up with some kind of patriotic tatting. I haven’t done that this year – yet. Another project to delay the edging. Well, the edging has been on the back burner for years, what’s another couple of days?

“Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.” William Arthur Ward

“William Arthur Ward Quotes.” BrainyQuote.com. BrainyMedia Inc, 2020. 30 June 2020. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_arthur_ward_190444

Another Cross

Good news! My picture program problem has been resolved. I had to reinstall it, but it now works again. Yay! Now I have to catch up on formatting the pictures I have taken and want to use.

I made several more sunflowers since the last time I posted but not much in the way of pictures of them. Because I gave almost all of them away before I took pictures. I went on a bus trip and tatted six or seven of them and didn’t get much in the way of pictures. I have a few that might work but I have to look through a bunch that I took on the trip. Now that my program is working again maybe I can find a few that will show up well.

Back a while ago, maybe the end of last year, I made a cross that was almost all chains. I made another one very similar a couple of weeks ago and now have the patterns done.

First Cross of Chains on wandasknottythoughtss — First Cross of Chains (ver 1)

It doesn’t look like I took pictures of this when I first made it, but it was in the group picture I took for this years International Tatting Day. It only has the one ring at the center, everything else is regular chains. This is in a Lizbeth thread size 20. Unfortunately, at the moment I can’t find the ball of thread that I made this from so I don’t know the color number. It’s a shade of green is all I’m sure of.

Cross of Chains 2 on wandasknottythoughts — Cross of Chains 2 (ver 2)

This is the second version of Cross of Chains. It is made with Lizbeth size 10 in #646 Purple Iris Light. It is made with two rings and a tighter center.

Surprisingly, I already have the patterns for these done. Okay, they aren’t all that complicated, but it is still unusual for me to have them done already. If anyone is interested in them, please email me for the patterns.

“Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.” https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lou_holtz_629632?src=t_positive

Medallion Cross Bookmark Pattern

Medallion Cross Bookmark

Finally! I think it’s ready!

The pattern is on My Patterns tab.

This sample is made in Lizbeth #657 Ocean Turquoise Dark in size 20.

5/26/15 – the patterns page is not up yet on this site. Coming soon.

I hope there isn’t any trouble getting to it. The hosting site changed a few things and I had a little trouble.

Now on to other things.

“Being the first to cross the finish line makes you a winner in only one phase of life. Its what you do after you cross the finish line that really counts.”

Ralph Boston

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Medallion cross once more

Tatted Medallion Cross Bookmark on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

Medallion Cross Bookmark © Wanda Salmans

I seem to have a lot of these crosses now, all just a little different from each other. I keep trying different stitch counts, looking for just the right pattern.

This cross is in Lizbeth Twirlz #404 Mermaid Lagoon. I’m not all that excited about how it looks in this thread. I also had an awful time taking a good picture of it. This is the best of the lot. Can you tell that is a piece of white printer paper behind it?

I think I finally have the pattern done to my satisfaction. I still need to tat one with this stitch count to go on the pattern page. I started one, then I lost it under my seat in the car. Up until then I thought I’d have it done today, but that was the end of working on it while we were driving. I lost a bit of tatting time so it won’t be finished as soon as I’d hoped.

Due to a couple of rainy days my kitchen didn’t get finished until Tuesday, but the construction is done! *happy dance* What this means is I now have to put things away. I have lots of cabinet and drawer space and I have no idea where I want a lot of things. We just started putting items in cabinets where we (I) think is a good idea, at least at the moment. If they don’t work there I guess we’ll rearrange. Pictures will be coming as soon as I get a chance to download them to the computer.

Through all of this mess and muddle I’ve been tatting small things like this cross. Now I need to move on to other things. Not sure if I can call them bigger and better, but different anyway.

“See any detour as an opportunity to experience new things.”

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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Lace in the dust

In an earlier post I mentioned we are remodeling our kitchen. As you can imagine, it is a dusty process. There is dust everywhere! It gets into everything!

A couple of days ago I was looking for something in a drawer in the living room and found something unexpected. I wasn’t even sure what it was at first glance because I couldn’t think of anything I had that looked like it.

This is a glasses case. There was a hanky with a tatted edging laying across it in the drawer. The dust infiltrated the drawer and left a lovely pattern in dust on the case. It’s amazing how disappointed I am that I messed up the pattern when I picked up the case.

Dusty tatted lace - dust left an impression on a glass case. The tatted edging of a hanky echoed in the dust. wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

The good news is that the kitchen is almost done. We can actually start cleaning up some of the dust, as most of that work is about over. The contractor is putting the finishing touches on. I may have my kitchen done by the weekend! The background in the picture is my new kitchen counter. Isn’t it pretty?

I’ve been working on the pattern for the Medallion Cross bookmark. I want to review it a bit before I post it but I’m hoping to have it ready in a couple of days.

“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”

William Bernbach

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/dust_3.html

Eenie, meenie, meinie, moe

Two tatted Medallion Cross Bookmarks on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

in Lizbeth #122 Caribbean size 20

I shared this bookmark a few weeks ago.

Original tatted Medallion Cross Bookmark on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

This is how I made it originally. Well, not quite, but almost. After looking at this picture I thought there must be a way to make the medallion center look a little better. For the last several weeks I’ve thought about it and tried a couple of different things.

Tatted Medallion Cross Bookmark version 2 on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

This version has several changes. In this one the chains are joined at the arms to make it a bit less likely to twist. The long, bottom arm is also made with one ring at the top of it instead of two. The picot count has been reduced making it less frilly. It came out pretty well, but is it the way to leave it? Maybe the long arm should be a bit thinner?

Tatted Medallion Cross Bookmark version 3 on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com

Version three is the same as v2 except for the long arm. It was made a bit skinnier by making the ring and joins between the sides a little different. Not bad, but good enough? Is this the way to leave it and write the pattern?

The chains are joined at the arms where they weren’t before and now both of these versions cup slightly. In a book they would probably soon loose the cup and wouldn’t be noticed, but it’s not pleasing. Looking at the picture of the original it’s obvious that the way the chains were modified changes the look of the medallion more than planned. Maybe the chain stitch count needs to be altered back to how it was.

Hmm. What do you think?

Which version should make it to the pattern page?

“Eenie, meenie, meinie, moe

Catch a tatter by the toe

If she hollers make her tat

Rings and chains to make a mat

My mother told me to pick the very best one

and you are not it!”

Children’s choosing game –

modified 🙂

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