I’m a bit late to the party, but I made it! The day isn’t over yet. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Clover earrings
I wanted a pair of green earrings for several events this week. I waited until the last minute to make any, so they couldn’t be too fancy, but I wanted something a bit more than thread. I’ve had these little keys for years, never knowing what to do with them. They looked good for these earrings. They did end up being a bit longer than what I usually wear, but I like them.
I am a member of the lady’s bible group at my church. I decided this year that I would gift each of the members a bit of tatting for their birthdays, in their birthday month. There were none in February, four in March. I was planning on making crosses for them but ran out of time. They were not disappointed with these heart paperclips, even if they weren’t crosses.
March birthday gifts
Of course, I forgot to take a picture before giving any away. I did remember before I gave them all away. Too bad it’s a bit out of focus.
The weather here is mostly warm, trees and flowers are starting to bloom. Now we are expecting a hard frost… My poor apple tree.
“I don’t want to brag or make anybody jealous, but…I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.” author unknown
Christmas is only days away! Are you done with all your Christmas tatting? I have one more ornament to finish. The good news, it doesn’t take long. I’ve not only been doing tatting for friends and family, I’ve been doing a bit for me, too.
Snowflake 2010
This is my Snowflake 2010. I only tatted this to get the thread off the shuttles. I needed shuttles to tat with size 10 white and this is size 20 white. Yes, I have other shuttles, but these shuttles were right there, I might as well use them, right? You can never have too many snowflakes.
Christmas tree earrings
I have a Christmas shirt that is not a traditional Christmas color and I needed a pair of earrings to go with it. I used Lizbeth thread LizMetallic 323, Christmas Green, to make me a quick pair. These trees don’t take long to make and they are shiny and festive. They worked well with my shirt.
Both of these patterns can be found on My Patterns page here.
I’m finishing up my tatting for Christmas, what about you?
Wishing all of you a wonderful and merry Christmas.
“Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance – each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon.” – Deborah Whipp
It’s hard to believe Christmas is less than two weeks away. It seems like Thanksgiving was just the other day! I have been busy tatting, but time seems so short! Will I get everything done in time?
Every year I try to make a special ornament for family and close friends. I don’t usually think what they will be until I pick up the shuttles to start. This year I had a vague idea several months ago. I had found some cute beads at JoAnn’s that I just knew would look good in a Christmas ornament, I just didn’t quite know how. I tried a few things.
2023 Christmas ornament 1 try
This ornament is on a bangle bracelet. It is made with size 10 white thread and size 6/0 clear beads. The snowman almost looks like it’s in a snow globe, don’t you think? I like the look, but it took longer to make than I was happy with. I gave it away in a gift exchange with our women’s group at church.
I tried again using a bangle bracelet. It is also made with size 10 white thread and 6/0 clear beads. Without the ribbons, I wasn’t that excited about it, with the ribbons I was much happier. I gave this one to my mom.
Bangle Christmas ornament for Mom
Neither of these has become this season’s ornament. I’ve been working on what I have decided to be the ornament of the year but I’m not sharing that until I have given them out. And I still have a few to go.
The other day before I went to the party for the ladies at church, I realized I didn’t have a pair of earrings that I wanted to wear. I decided to make a simple pair.
Christmas earrings
They are not elaborate but still festive and went with the clothes I was wearing. I just love that a few minutes with a shuttle, thread, and a few beads left me with a cute pair of earrings. These are made with size 20 white and little red beads, 10/0 (?). A lovely little gift I gave myself.
I am leaving a gift for you, too. The pattern for the Compass Rose has been added to the My Patterns page.
Will I get everything done in time? Maybe, maybe not. But I’m going to enjoy the doing and not worry about the time. It’s a self-imposed goal anyway. I think I’ll relish the season instead of stressing about it.
What are you tatting for Christmas?
“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things, not the great occasions, give off the greatest glow of happiness.” — Bob Hope
I attended our church ladies’ Bible study group Christmas dinner and gift exchange a couple of weeks ago. Each of us was to bring a gift for a random gift exchange. I tatted a cross bookmark that I put in a book of devotions. And I forgot to take a picture of it! It was my August SR Cross, made in Lizbeth thread HH20-181 Cranberry Bush. It looked good, and the lady who received it was happy with it.
The dinner was good, the company was terrific, and the gifts were fun to see. We all were given three gifts: one from the gift exchange, and two from the hosts. The gift I got from the exchange was a beautiful quilted centerpiece. One of the gifts from the hosts was a cute Christmas tree ornament; the other was a machine-embroidered tea towel.
Gifts from the dinner
The Bible study group wasn’t the only gift exchange I’ve had this year. This last Sunday my side of the family had our Christmas dinner and gift exchange. We play a form of the White Elephant game, with all of us interacting and having a good time. A few of us also give gifts outside of the game, which isn’t required but is a lot of fun. My sister gave all of the ladies hand-embroidered tea towels.
Little red truck tea towel
Last year I started decorating with Christmas decorations in the little red truck theme. She knew this and did my tea towel with the theme. It is so cute!
My birthday is coming up so she also gave me another embroidered gift. Previously, she had given me the runner – which I am supposed to put an edging on – and now she gave me the pillowcases. One day I’ll get to the edging, maybe for both the pillowcases and the runner.
Matching runner and pillowcases
In the previous post, I shared my new pattern, September Angel. This is the 2022 ornament that I am giving to close friends and family. While I’ve been making them I’ve noticed that it wouldn’t take much to make a tree with the pattern. So I tried it.
Christmas Tree 2022
While coming up with the stitch count for this little tree I could see how the angels and the trees might make cute earrings, so I made some of those, too.
Christmas Tree earrings September Angel earrings
I gave these earrings to my daughter. And, again, I was in such a hurry I forgot to take pictures of them. My daughter was very sweet and did a photo shoot with them. They were such cool pictures I had an awful time choosing between them for which ones to use. The earrings came out as well as I hoped they would.
I’ve posted the pattern on the My Patterns page. Unfortunately, when I did that I seem to have broken the links to all the other patterns. This pattern is the only one currently that works. I’m working on the others but won’t get them all fixed tonight. If you’re interested in another pattern but it won’t come up for you, please email me and I’ll get it for you, or try again a bit later.
Here in Kansas, we are expecting an Arctic cold front in a couple of days, along with some snow. How much snow depends are where you are located, anywhere from one to six inches. Listening to the weatherman, it sounds like we won’t have it as bad as a lot of the country. Here, mostly very cold with a few hours of blowing snow. We might even have a white Christmas! We don’t have that every year. I think for the next few days I’ll sit back, tat, and try to stay warm without going outside.
I think I’ll stay in and keep warm while I tat
My husbands’ side of the family is not having the family Christmas until after the 25th. There are some family members that will be gone until after that. The day isn’t as important for gatherings as is the family that will be there. Having it after Christmas is okay by me, it gives me a bit more time to get ready for it.
What are you busy with?
“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” — Burton Hills
While working with all the threads in autumn shades, I thought it would be great to make some earrings. I have some really cute owl beads I wanted to use, so I tried a few different things in an attempt at earrings I like. Most didn’t work out as I envisioned but what I ended with looks okay.
Owl bead earrings
The split rings have a tendency to twist, but that’s the nature of split rings. They are fun to wear.
When you think of fall, Halloween, or Thanksgiving, pumpkins come to mind. I came up with these earrings.
Orange pumpkin earrings
I think I’ve seen patterns for pumpkins similar to these, but this is my take on them. I gave them to one of my daughters, who was thrilled to get them. She has a sweater that they look great with. Sometimes I get things right!
I’ve been working on several other tatted things, but I’m not quite ready to share them yet. So I’ll share a few pictures of our most recent vacation.
We spent the last week of September in Colorado with another couple. We rented a house together in Grand Lake, an area we’ve been to several times, but the first time in town. It was a terrific house with beautiful views.
The view south from the deck
This is the view south from the deck of the house, overlooking Shadow Mountain Lake. The colors were wonderful! I took pictures from this vantage every day so I can look back and see the changes in the trees. We loved the time we spent on the deck.
A magpie on the post
We had several magpies that came around the house daily and entertained us with their antics. Between the cost of gas and eating out, we spent a lot of time at the house instead of traveling around the area as we usually do. This was not a hardship. We took turns cooking which somehow is not so much of a burden when shared with friends. We also enjoy playing cards together, something we do every year on vacation with them. This year we just played a lot more.
I didn’t get much chance to tat while we were at the house but I took advantage of the chances I did have.
Tatting with a view
I sat by the big picture window to tat so I could enjoy the view and the light. It did rain a few times while we were there as you can see by the drops on the window.
Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park on wandasknottythoughts
One of the reasons we like the area around Grand Lake is how close it is to Rocky Mountain National Park. This gives us a chance to go into the park to see the wildlife, mostly the elk. We go in the fall so we can hear the elk bugle during the rut. It is exciting to hear!
On our way home from Grand Lake, we caught sight of a herd of bighorn sheep. Amazingly, they were on the outskirts of the Colorado town of Empire. They were obviously used to traffic, just keeping an eye on us but not running away.
Big horn sheep in Colorado
FYI, we do not approach too close to wildlife. We keep a safe distance from the animals to take pictures, usually staying in the vehicle. These sheep were very close, but we never got out of the truck.
We’ve had a hot and dry summer here, and most of the state is in extreme or exceptional drought. This morning we awoke to rain! It was not heavy and not much of it, but the right kind. If it had been much heavier it would have just run off instead of sinking into the ground. We’re hoping for more, but we will take what we can get. Sunday we had high winds with a lot of blowing dust and temperatures in the upper 80’s. Today the highs are supposed to be about 55° F with much less wind. Maybe autumn is finally here!
“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” Anthony J. D’Angelo
Since the craft show, I’ve continued making sunflowers, because they are fun to make. I have also wanted to tat in oranges and browns — you know, fall colors. These aren’t usually colors I tat in except for around Halloween, but I’ve been inspired by the (finally) cooler weather and the sunflowers. Not that I have anything particular to tat in these colors…
I finally just loaded a shuttle with Lizbeth #694 Harvest Orange Med and tatted around a button. I even added beads! This made a lovely earring, so I made another one for pair of earrings. This color works with one shirt that I have, so I wore the shirt and earrings to church this last Sunday. I did grab the wrong size button for the second earring so I had to make a third medallion to get the set.
A set of earrings in Harvest Orange
I usually tat while watching TV, which I did Sunday afternoon watching the football game. I have several things I need to work on but they need my full attention, so I started – something – with Lizbeth #136, Autumn Spice. I like where this is going, but with the button center, it’s not really a good doily. But it could be hung up as a decoration.
Autumn decoration in processAutumn decoration finished
The finished piece is more true to the actual thread color. It came out nice, don’t you think?
Do you ever wonder what to do with the pieces you finish? I do sometimes. While decorating the house for the season I had this idea for a sunflower.
Sunflower decorated bottle
This is a beer bottle with a string of lights in it. The sunflower is on a string around the bottleneck so it can be removed if I want. The green bottle makes a nice back drop for the sunflower.
Sunflower on a lighted bottle
The sunflower looks good on the bottle even with the lights on. The light string is pretty cool, the battery is in the cork. I’m thinking of doing a few more bottles like this. It will give the house quite a lovely ambiance, don’t you think?
“Now Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt.” William Allingham
I hope that all Americans out there had a safe and fun Independence Day yesterday. I did. We had two family get-togethers, one for lunch and one for supper and fireworks. It was great to celebrate such a wonderful holiday with family.
The day started out with us attending church as usual but dressed in holiday colors. Shortly before leaving, I realized I didn’t have any appropriately colored earrings. With only a little time to work, I corrected that problem and tatted myself a pair of earrings.
Independence Day earrings 2021
They are only blue and white because my blouse was red. By putting the white on the outside the earrings were more easily visible. I was afraid if I did it the other way, or all blue like I thought about, they would be harder to see. They came out very well and worked great with my attire.
I have been working on the edging for a table runner for my daughter’s birthday. I only found the material which inspired me a couple of weeks ago on a quick visit to JoAnn’s. Unfortunately, it wasn’t time enough to get the runner done by this weekend when I’d see her. I’m still going to finish it and give it to her in a couple of weeks, whenever I get it done. It is in patriotic colors, but there are other days to celebrate our country than just July 4th. Hopefully, I’ll have it ready to share here by next week.
“To survive in peace and harmony, united and strong, we must have one people, one nation, one flag.”Pauline Hanson
My mother is going through a lot of things with the thought of selling her house and my sister and I are helping. We have come across so many things that bring back many memories. We are also taking items to second hand stores, keeping some things we can use or want to save, or disposing of them in other manners, as dictated by their use or sentimental value. But some things are a surprise.
Box of miscellaneous laces
Somewhere, probably some garage sale, my mother found this box of miscellaneous laces. I took it first to see if there was anything I might want and them I’ll give it to my sister. She does a lot of sewing and can probably use most of them. I like lace but have no need for nearly this much. But I found some interesting things while looking through the box.
Crocheted lace found
I don’t crochet myself, but I’m pretty sure that’s handmade crochet mixed in with the machine-made lace.
19 crocheted lace 2
It looks like the lace is attached to the blue ribbon, but it’s not. I haven’t unwrapped any of them so I don’t know how much is there. But a lot of work and time are wrapped around these pieces of cardboard.
There was also some tatting in the box.
Tatting found in the box of laceCloseup of the tatting from the box of lace
There are 54 inches of the red, single-shuttle tatting, maybe made for an insert? The doily is 7 1/2 inches across with a material center of 3 inches across. The picture makes it look very stained, but it is still damp from a quick blocking done so I could see what it looks like. The doily center seems a bit too big for the tatting, but if properly blocked it might be better.
I don’t know if my mom knew about the tatting or not, but I doubt it. She would have mentioned it to me I’m sure. A nice surprise to find it.
I also found the earring wires that Marie sent me! They were on different earrings than I thought they were, and if they had been a snake I would have been bitten several times while looking for them.
Angel wing earrings on
These are my Angle Wing pattern made in Lizbeth Metallic #HN20325 Gem Stone. These are bigger earrings than I usually wear and the color does not show up well with my hair color. But they were fun to do, so why not? And the earring wires make it easy to change out with other things.
It’s fun finding things you weren’t looking for. And in those you are.
I’ve been busy with many things other than tatting over the last few months as you can probably tell by my lack of blogging. I’ve thought about trying to post more often, then something else comes up. Then I lost the habit. So let’s see if I can find it again.
I had planned to go to the zone meeting of our LWML and was working on the earrings of the logo. I didn’t get to go to the meeting but I still like the earrings. Marie, from West Pine Creations, was so sweet and sent me earring wires that are easy to change out so I can wear them.
LWML logo with changeable earring wires
You might notice that the two earrings are not quite the same. I had a pair with the gold wires Marie sent me, which I wore, then put in a safe place. So safe I don’t remember where I put them. I know they didn’t go far. These two are my practice pieces, working out what stitch count I liked best. I would have made me another pair but ran into a bit of a setback.
A bit of a setback
The ball of Lizbeth #HH20641 Lilac Dk thread somehow got tangled badly. It might have something to do with being put in my purse and it getting out of the bag it was in… I wasn’t about to cut off and toss if I could untangle it, but that did put me off of working with it for a bit. So I started something else.
I still can’t get the points of the hearts to look the same every time so thought I would practice the SSSCh (suspended chain). You have to have a chain to practice it, so I made something with chains.
12-point SSSCh practice
I had a shuttle with Lizbeth Twirlz HH20403 Winter Ice that was left over from something or other so I used it. I came to the conclusion this wasn’t the best choice for this type of practice. It isn’t always easy to see the stitch count with this type of thread. But once I started I finished it. I do see an improvement.
When this was finished I liked the look so much I thought I’d do it again. It reminds me of a flower so the next one was made to look more like one.
12-pt SSSCh flower
As you might notice, I did get the Lilac Dark untangled. I didn’t spend a lot of time blocking this, just enough to have it lay flat. The petals are a bit uneven-looking that might be alleviated with better blocking though it looks good the way it is. The yellow thread is Lizbeth #HH20616 Daffodil Med.
(Has anyone else noted that Lizbeth thread numbers now indicated the size? The balls of thread I have don’t have the HHxx before the color number but I like how it is in the catalog. Makes it easy to know you have the size you want.)
Our life has maybe slowed back down a bit but I can’t say it’s back to normal. My husband has just changed shifts at work. We used to be able to drive together and see each other a lot. Now, it’s just in passing most days. This is a temporary change, at least for now. We’ll see how things go. And I’ll see if I get more or less things done with more personal time on my hands, LOL.
‘Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.‘ Anton Chekhov on brainyquote.com
Can you believe we are halfway through March already? The temperatures are mild, the grass is green, and some trees have leaf buds, ready to open and welcome spring.
I’ve done a little tatting in green also.
Clovers in metallic green
In my last thread order, I bought Liz Metallic #343 Christmas Green. I thought this was an opportunity to try it out. I’ll add a safety pin or something to these so they can be worn on St. Patrick’s Day this week. All you need to celebrate is just a touch of green, right?
Something I noticed using this green was the color came off on my hands. Maybe I didn’t notice the other colors of Liz Metallic I’ve used recently because they are a lot paler, the color not as deep. You can see the green left a trail of color on my finger.
Leaving a trail on my finger
A week or so ago I emptied a shuttle of Lizbeth Twirlz #404 Mermaid Lagoon. There aren’t that many Twirlz colors, so it wasn’t hard to know what the thread was for once. I was rushed when finishing these earrings as I wanted to wear them and we needed to leave. I got a bit sloppy sewing in the ends, which is why the tails show a bit.
Twirlz Clover earrings
I’m happy enough with the earrings that I’m wearing them anyway. There was just enough thread on the shuttle to get these two clovers done. How lucky is that?
I’ve been seeing a lot of Easter-themed tatting recently, mostly Easter eggs. The eggs I’ve seen are very inspiring, but I don’t know that I’ll get much done in that regard. Other than around buttons like I’ve done recently here and here. But it isn’t Easter for another couple of weeks, so, who knows?
Are you tatting anything for March or the Easter season?
One rainy day in the spring
A tatter made ring after ring
The thread 'round her finger
She found it to linger
A colorful mark from the string
