Tatting Corner’s Tat Days part 4

I have been tatting but nothing I can share. I designed a pattern I hope will be accepted for Tatting Corner’s cruise next year. I have sent it to a couple of test tatters, two for shuttle and one who also needle tats. The shuttle tatting pattern has been approved by the testers, now I’m just waiting on the needle tatter to help me with needle notations. I can’t share this until sometime after the cruise.

Yes, I still have things to share from Tat Days. It was a busy week, from when we left home until we returned.

When we got to the Tatting Corner shop Thursday (7/7) morning my husband immediately started looking for things for me. I had to stop him as I had plans for the auction on Saturday – we couldn’t spend all of our money right away! We did keep a few things he liked and a few things I picked out.

Mahogany shuttle on wandasknottythoughts
Mahogany shuttle

This is a Mahogany shuttle that Jack liked. I’ve already been using it and it tats nicely. The clover shuttle is there for a size reference.

Celic shuttle on wandasknottythoughts
Celic shuttle

This is a redwood Celic shuttle. I thought at first it was a Celtic shuttle, but it’s too wide for that style. I finally looked it up online. Celic is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to Wikipedia, make what you will of that. Google maps show it in the northeast part of the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I take it to mean that it is from or like shuttles of that area. I haven’t tried it yet.

I picked up a couple of shuttles from nekonomekoubou. I don’t know that I’ll ever use them but I think they are so cute!

Cat shuttle on wandasknottythoughts
Cat shuttle
Bird shuttle on wandasknottythoughts
Bird shuttle

Aren’t they gorgeous? My granddaughter loves the cat one. The clover shuttle is there for size comparison. I’m afraid to use them yet, afraid I’d drop them! For now, I’ll just admire them.

On our way to Indiana, we stopped for the night in Hannibal, Missouri, which is the boyhood home of Mark Twain. The area we were in looked intriguing but it was so hot we didn’t feel like getting out to look around. We went to the Riverside Inn where we had a room for the night and didn’t go out again. Our rooms had a view of the Mississippi River and a Mexican restaurant down the stairs and through a door. That was the extent of our exploring that evening. The next morning we did drive through the area but it was too early for most things to be open.

The lighthouse in Hannibal on wandasknottythoughts
The lighthouse in Hannibal

We had planned to meet with Diane, the Lace-lovin’ Librarian, and her husband for lunch on Wednesday but they had problems with their water well and couldn’t make it. It was disappointing but completely understandable. Instead, we stopped in Springfield, Illinois to see the area where Abraham Lincoln lived just before they went to Washington, DC. Neither Jack nor I had ever been there. We only spent a couple of hours there but it was interesting.

Abe's house on wandasknottythoughts
Abe’s house

Lincoln’s house was the only building you had to have a ticket for and go on a guided tour of. The timing wasn’t right for that so we only saw the outside of it, plus the neighborhood. If we get back in Springfield we’ll try to go back again.

On the way home, we went through Vandalia, Illinois, and stopped there for a bit of lunch. We were surprised to notice they have a miniature gateway arch.

Vandalia arch on wandasknottythoughts
Vandalia arch

You can see that it is much smaller than the one in St. Louis, LOL.

Jack was going to turn back and get on the Interstate the same way we got off, but I saw something interesting on the map that I wanted to check out. It was easy to get to and close to the next Interstate entrance.

The Kaskaskia Dragon on wandasknottythoughts
The Kaskaskia Dragon

The Kaskaskia dragon actually breaths fire, for a few tokens. We didn’t buy any so I didn’t see it breathe fire, but the mouth sure looked like it did.

Kaskaskia Dragon on wandasknottythoughts
Kaskaskia Dragon
Vandalia knight on wandasknottythoughts
Vandalia knight

The knight looks like he’s gotten the rough end of the deal.

I don’t recall seeing the sign, but I understand this tourist attraction is to draw people to the Kiskiskia Dragon RV park. I’m not advertising for them, we just enjoyed the dragon.

I’m hoping to have some tatting done by next week that I can share. I still have things to share from Tat Days, like the items I bought at the auction. Let’s see if I can post by next Monday!

“Travel becomes a strategy for accumulating photographs.” Susan Sontag

Dragons and Snowflakes

Jane Eborall has given us the complete pattern now for her 2022 TIAS. It became a very cute critter, Doris the Dragon!

Here be dragons!

It’s always a surprise to what Jane’s TIAS will end up being, but never a surprise at how much fun it is. I love this little dragon! I did have a few issues with it, that’s why there are two instead of one. I don’t know if it was a bad ball of thread, if it was stored badly and developed a problem, or what, but the thread kept splitting and I broke it several times. I also wasn’t careful enough when following the pattern and made several mistakes of one sort or another on each of these. A couple of times I backed up, took out the stitches, and fixed the problem. There was one mistake where that wasn’t an option, which is why I made a second dragon. But they came out so cute in Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20, mistakes and all! If you are interested in making one yourself, check out Jane’s Tat It And See blog.

I love Doris so much I’m already trying to make up my mind what threads I want to use on my next one. The completed ones are going to be on one of my shirts, I just have to decide how to position them.

Dragons on my shirt on wandasknottythoughts
Dragons on my shirt

When not tatting the dragons I’ve been tatting the Isla Snowflake trying to decide on the stitch counts. Several elements on the original had one stitch count in one place and a different stitch count in others, and I need to figure out which ones work best before I write out the pattern. I also tried something a bit different on the spikes. Which do you like better, the original or the newer version?

Isla original on wandasknottythoughts
Isla original
Isla with different points on wandasknottythoughts
Isla with different points

Today we are experiencing some real snowflakes and lots of wind. We have been fortunate to not have as much ice or snow as places to the south and east of us have. We had to make an emergency run to get coffee this morning and just a few miles from us it was a lot worse. We can use the moisture but that doesn’t mean I like what comes with it. But it gives me a good excuse to stay inside and tat!

Do you have (or need) an excuse to tat?

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” J. R. R. Tolkien

Rings and Dragons

Fall has arrived here in the lower midwest, with cooler temperatures and leaves that are starting to change. I have made it through Halloween and am ready to decorate for autumn and Thanksgiving. I did have fun doing a bit of decorating for Halloween, including making a couple of costumes. There has also been tatting done, some in fall colors.

Tatted rings on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted rings

These two rings are made with the same pattern, one that I doodled. The ring with the button started as something else when I realized it wasn’t going to work, so I changed it up a bit and made a ring. Orange (this is Lizbeth #694 Harvest Orange Med) has never been one of my favorite colors to wear so I added the button. I had enough fun with it that I decided to make another ring, this time in Lizbeth #136 Autumn Spice. The doily background was made a few years ago and surprised me with how well it looks with the fall colors of the rings and pumpkin. I’ve been working on a couple of other things, but that will be for another post.

The local county historical society put on a costume parade for kids and their pets the Saturday before Halloween. My granddaughter was very interested in going with their dog. Her costume for Halloween was a dragon so we decided to dress the dog as a dragon, too. My daughter suggested that we dress the dog as a sheep, which would have been much easier, but it was too late, my granddaughter wanted a dragon.

Two dragons on wandasknottythoughts
Two dragons

During the week before Halloween, my daughter and her kids went shopping with me for items to make the dog’s costume. We found pink felt and fairy wings at a second-hand store that was the basis of the costume. As we didn’t know exactly what we were going to need to make it at that time we ended up using some green felt that I already had to make part of it. My granddaughter helped me with ideas, cutting out the felt, and putting it together. Amazingly, once we put the costume on her, the dog didn’t have any issues with wearing it. I think she looked pretty cute in it.

My granddaughter’s costume had been ordered online, which consisted of a tail, wings, and a mask. The sweats that were ordered to wear with them didn’t come in, so others had to be worn. But it was a pretty bare-bones costume and the mask hurt my granddaughter’s face. These deficiencies weren’t known until way too late to do anything about it for the parade. But there was time to do a little something before going trick-or-treating the next night.

Costume changes on wandasknottythoughts
Costume changes

While we were still in town after the parade we stopped and picked up some gray felt. It took several hours but I came up with a different mask, some shoulder pieces, and even horns. The mask didn’t hurt her face like the purchased one and was not as heavy, either. The arm pieces broke up her profile without restricting her movements. She still wore the wings and tail that her mom bought, as well as a gray pullover jacket to keep warm. She seemed very happy with the end result and I think the costume was much improved. I had a lot of fun making both it and the dog’s costume.

Though I plan on putting out Thanksgiving and autumn decorations I need to get busy making things for Christmas. I’m not sure what I’ll be making for family and friends this year. I only have a few weeks left, I’d better get on it!

Have you got your Christmas tatting done yet?

Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it’s about finding the imagination and costume within ourselves.” Elvis Duran

Framed for Flying

I finally got the dragon framed.  I tried it in four different frames before I settled on this one – it was not too dark or too bright for the tatting.  And it doesn’t leave the dragon lost in a too-big frame, either.  I finally came up with a background I like, too.  It looks pretty yellow here though it’s not, it’s more of a green/blue with a bit of a pattern in it.  Even in this smaller frame it kind of looked bare there all by itself. To fill it up a bit I printed ‘How To Fly’, a short excerpt from Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, on the background paper.  The print is a light blue so it’s just barely there.  Black print overwhelmed the tatting.
It came out pretty well, didn’t it?
It’s all boxed up and ready to be sent – a birthday gift ready to fly to its new home. 
It’s only a couple of weeks late.
“The time to worry about flying is when you’re on the ground.  When you’re up in the air, it’s too late.  No point in worrying about it then.”
Denzel Washington
www.brainyquote.com

Dragon done

Flying Minor Norwegian Dragon © Anne Bruvold
Lizbeth Twirlz Winter Ice #403 size 20
I finally finished the dragon, but not using SSSRs.  Jeff Hamilton left a comment about using regular Split Rings to make it instead of SSSRs, which I’ve also used when making one of these dragons, and I decided it was a great idea for this one, too!  A tail made with SSSRs can be manipulated a bit more than one with regular SRs but it still comes out looking right.
And it was so much less frustrating!  It came out right the first time.
Now I need to figure out what to do with it, as in what background? what frame? And should I add flames? The picture shows it in an 8×10 inch frame with a glimmery black background, which may or may not be used.  The dragon shows up really well but, no matter the background color, I think it needs a little bit of something with it.
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
Auguste Rodin
www.brainyquote.com

A Sorry Tail

I haven’t been tatting much this week, instead doing a lot on our house project. This has de-railed me a bit from my tatting to-do list but I did finally decide to start one of AnneB’s dragons for my son-in-law.  A dark blue had been suggested but I thought a dragon would look good in one of the Lizbeth Twirlz threads, so I ordered the Winter Ice #403.
As I don’t do Single Shuttle Split Rings (SSSR) very often I re-watched AnneB’s YouTube video to refresh my memory, using a shuttle filled with a random thread.  It came back pretty quickly, so on to the dragon!
Four starts later (it might have been five) I have some semblance a decent tail.  I think it must be the way the thread is colored that it makes it hard to work with doing SSSRs.  
  
 I’m not exactly pleased with this tail but I might – might- use it.  Or I might start over – again.
When pulling out my copy of the dragon pattern I found the pattern for Ringtrim, which AnneB says is for practicing SSSRs for the larger dragon, so I made one.  I certainly could use the practice!

Ringtrim came out well, with very little problems.  Before starting I was thinking to make him a zipper pull for my purse then forgot to add the lobster claw hook, so I just made an extra ring for it.
You can see that Ringtrim is on the lobster claw, which is on another hook, which is on a ring, which is on the zipper. I’ve lost several zipper pulls (not tatted) and have just left the hooks and rings there.  Attaching Ringtrim like this leaves plenty of hook to grab and pull without actually pulling on him.  I’m hoping he’ll stay awhile this way.
Ringtrim turned out okay, now I’m ready to get back to the larger dragon.  The fifth (or is it sixth?) time could be the charm.
“It’s never okay to give up on yourself.
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
Failure isn’t falling down, 
it’s refusing to get back up.  The reason why
people give up so fast is because
they tend to look at how far they still
have to go, instead of how far they 
have gotten.
If plan A didn’t work,
the alphabet has 25 more letters,
stay cool.”
idlehearts.com