Tag: edging

Old Edging and a DAL Snowflake

A few days ago I received an email asking if I had written out the pattern for an edging I made years ago. I hadn’t yet, but it seemed totally doable. It is a simple edging so it wouldn’t take long to write it out.

Kamryn Edging the 2nd time on wandasknottythoughts
Kamryn Edging

This edging is Kamryn, which I designed and made in 2015. When I made it back then, I had material picked out to go with it for a table runner. That changed by the time it was finished and ready to be sewn on, which you can read about in the blog post of December 4, 2015. This time I didn’t have colors picked out to make it in so I used thread I had conveniently close by. This was Lizbeth #671 Christmas Red and #650 Denim Blue Lt, both are size 20.

Thank you to Dana Morse for liking it and asking about the pattern. She also test-tatted it for me when I finished it, which was a great help. Thanks, Dana! For those that are interested in the pattern, the link is on the My Patterns page.

In the middle of May, Muskaan of T.I.P.S. Around the Home started a Design Along (DAL) for a Celtic snowflake. She made the first two rounds and furnished the pattern for them. The idea is to design rounds three, and four if you want, to finish it. I decided to join her challenge.

DAL Celtic Snowflake o wandasknottythoughts
DAL Celtic Snowflake

You can find the pattern for the first two rounds on Muskaan’s blog and her Facebook page. My pattern is jotted down on the pictures I put on Facebook. I’ll be writing my two rounds out better – eventually. She shared the snowflakes of everyone that joined the DAL on her blog. It’s amazing a different all the snowflakes came out when they all started with the same two first rounds.

This was a lot of fun to do. My rounds were not exactly Celtic, but round four did overlap with round three. This is going to make writing out the pattern a bit challenging. As Muskaan started this with just a shuttle and ball I kept to that, even though I usually tat with two shuttles so I can go in any direction the pattern takes me. In this snowflake, I utilized SCMRs (self-closing mock rings) to make the pattern do what I wanted. I used two colors so the different elements of the pattern can be seen. I used Lizbeth #650 Denim Blue Lt and #628 Salmon Med, both are size 20.

Now that I have a simple pattern done, I’m hoping to get back to writing out more of my patterns. Looking back at my blog I see that I am way behind on getting them written out. It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun.

Something new I’m trying is a YouTube channel. I’ve been thinking about it for a while but have been hesitant to start. Where to start? What do you talk about? Then I saw The ShuttleSmith, Karen Bovard-Sayer, introducing her channel on YouTube, and the idea of TattingTube. I think the idea of an easy way to keep tatting channels together is a good one. So I’ve started my channel, Wanda’s Knotty Thoughts, and joined her idea of TattingTube. I invite you to check it out.

“Design is thinking made visual.” Saul Bass

Thanksgiving

Can you believe Thanksgiving day has passed? It came and went so fast! We still have one Thanksgiving family gathering today, but I’ve put away my fall decorations and started on my Christmas decorating.

Table ready for family on Thanksgiving on wandasknottythoughts
Table ready for the family on Thanksgiving

This year we had a bit of rescheduling for some of the family get-togethers, so for Thanksgiving day we only had our daughters and their families and my mother over for lunch. We finalized the menu through texts a week ago. The meal was terrific, with minimal issues, as nothing burned and there was space for everyone at the table. We did add an extra table to the one in the picture so we could seat everyone, but no one was cramped. The weather in the afternoon was cool but sunny, so we ended up outside. Then we played a game before they all had to go home. There were a bunch of pictures taken!

I have been working on the edging for a Christmas table runner that I had been asked to do last year (!). She didn’t need it until this year, so I had plenty of time to get it done. Or so you’d think. I couldn’t make up my mind about the edging! I thought about it and tried several different things over the last several months, trying to come up with something I was happy about. I like the look of the edging I came up with, but I need to tweak it a bit more before I’ll be happy with the pattern.

Candy cane Christmas runner on wandasknottythoughts
Candy cane Christmas runner

The lady that requested the runner showed me another Christmas runner she had and her tree skirt so I had an idea of what type of fabric to use, and I still had a hard time choosing it. There were so many beautiful fabrics to choose from at Jo-Ann’s! And I needed to buy more than I usually do as she wanted a longer runner than I ordinarily make. The tatted edging also needed to be a bit wider than I have made in the past, another challenge.

In so many ways the tatting is the easy part. I rarely sew, which means it takes longer than I expect it to. And then I have to stitch the edging to the runner – on both ends! But the final result is worth it.

Now I’ll be working on perfecting that edging, as well as working on Christmas ornaments. I’ve had a hard time the last month or so not getting sidetracked from the edging by all the ideas I’ve had for other Christmas things. Now if I can just remember all those ideas!

About the September Angel pattern I have spoken about, there has been another delay. I had the whole thing written out but needed to make a correction. I printed it out to test tat it and noted the corrections that needed to be done. For an unknown reason, my computer shut down. When I went back to the pattern half of it was gone! Not sure what the glitch was, but thank goodness I have the printed version. Now I just need to re-write the parts that disappeared.

“The memories we make with our family is everything.” – Candace Cameron Bure.

Random Tatting

Yes, it has been several weeks since I posted – again! Just when I think I’m getting into a schedule, life happens and everything changes. Then I get out of the habit and I don’t get around to it. I’m sorry, I’ll try to do better!

I have been doing some tatting. I added a bit more to my purse.

Added tatting on my purse on wandasknottythoughts
Added tatting on my purse

I thought it needed a bit more than what I started with. This vertical strip I put in stiffener before sewing it onto the bag. Now I have something to compare with the method I used with the others. I’ve had several nice comments about my purse since I put it on. 😊 I think I have the stitch count figured out for the square, now on to writing it out.

On the way to making the square, I also made a round medallion.

7 points on wandasknottythoughts
7 pointed medallion

It’s kind of a snowflake but it looks a bit off. I think it would look better if I’d made it with six or eight points instead of the seven that I did. To me, this looks a bit wonky, not just because it is blocked badly. I’ll probably go back and play with it another time.

We’ve had a temporary pastor for our church for the last several months. We said a fond farewell to him this last Sunday as our new pastor will be here this weekend. I added a cross bookmark to his card.

Graduation bookmark on wandasknottythoughts
Graduation bookmark

For some reason, I kept breaking the thread while making this. I think it came out okay in the end.

I have a whole list of items I want to tat but am finding myself not getting to them. I need to knuckle down and get started but my mind keeps going in random directions, not accomplishing much at all. Hopefully, I’ll soon become more focused.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” Greg Anderson

Birthday Table Runner

I mentioned in my last blog post about making a table runner for my daughter’s birthday. I didn’t get it done in time for the 4th of July or her birthday, but I thought I would have it done by now. But, no, I don’t. It is taking longer than expected, but not because I didn’t have the edgings done. It got a lot more complicated.

Colors and material for edging on wandasknottythoughts
Colors and material for edging

I found this cute patriotic material at JoAnn’s in June. My daughter usually decorates for the different holidays and I thought she’d like it. Then I had to see if I had thread that would work with it. Christmas-y red wouldn’t work, and I didn’t think that white would work well, either. I had these colors on hand, and think they will work as an edging. They won’t be laying on top of the material, just hanging off the edge.

Birthday runner edging maybe on wandasknottythoughts
Birthday runner edging start

I started with the red, Lizbeth 673 Terra Cotta in size 10. The first two rows came out more open than I expected, so I added the blue, Lizbeth 656 Wedgewood Dark in size 20. That was interesting, adding it to the middle of the two completed rows. It came out okay. Then a row of Lizbeth 602 Natural in size 10. I thought I was done.

Then I looked at the length of the material I planned on using, a full two yards, 72 inches. With a half inch hem on each end it would have a finished length of 71 inches. Maybe the edging was a little short? So I added a row, which didn’t add a lot of length but gave a more finished look (?) to it.

Birthday runner edging finished on wandasknottythoughts
Birthday runner edging finished

Yay! Ready to sew up the material and add the edging.

Then I confirmed the length of her table. 70 inches. Hmm. I’m not liking how the finished runner would end up laying on the table.

My daughter and I are discussing what we want to do now. Options would be: 1) cut the material short and make a shorter runner with all of it on the table, or 2) make an insert to lengthen it so the ends hang off the edges of the table. We’ve come up with an idea, now to play with it and see where we end.

Now that more tatting is in the forecast, I needed to order more threads. I’m almost out of the Terra Cotta and I don’t have the Wedgewood in size 10, which I’m thinking I’ll need. I had a bit of a panic when I went to order these at Handy Hands and found out the Terra Cotta in size 10 was out of stock. Luckily, Tatting Corner still had some. Yay!

At the rate I’m going, my daughter will be getting it for Christmas!

“Energy spent now preparing for tomorrow is sure to bear tasty fruit.” Fortune cookie

Second Edging Complete!

Yes, it’s true. I’ve completed the second china hutch edging AND put it on the shelf!

Second china hutch edging on wandasknottythoughts
China hutch 2 shelves done

The top one is the first one, the bottom one is the second. It looks like I should have made one more repeat for the length, but I’m not going back. It doesn’t have as many repeats as the first one due to picot length. The second one is a bit more consistent with the length of the joining picot in the first row. I might be able to adjust the way it lays on the shelf to fit the width a bit better.

Second china hutch edging w/doors on wandasknottythoughts
Two edgings are done on the china hutch

With the doors closed, the way they are most of the time, you can’t see that the edging does’t quite reach the sides. The first edging needs to be straightened just a bit, LOL! I’ll get to that later.

I am still working on the third shelf edging.

Third china hutch edging not quite done on wandasknottythoughts
Still working on the third edging

I’m on the second row of it, too. I just keep running into things that need to be done that are more time sensitive than the edging, both tatting related and otherwise.

In the otherwise category, I’ve taken care of a couple of the grandchildren several times that I hadn’t planned on. Whether at their house or our house there are other things to do than tat. My granddaughter likes watching videos that show how to make Barbie accessories, so we’ve made a few of those. Good thing I have a bunch of crafty things handy!

“You don’t have to get things done all the time to be productive.” David Harsanyi

Third edging started

Start of 3rd china hutch edging on wandasknottythoughts
Starting the third shelf edging

I’ve started on the edging for the third shelf of the china hutch! Yippee!

I finished tatting the second shelf edging yesterday and am now blocking it. Then I have to stitch it to the lace to hold it to the shelf. I’m hoping to have it done by the end of the week.

I did a bit of other tatting this weekend or I might have been a bit farther on this edging. That I’m this far after waiting all these years is pretty amazing. From where I sit typing this post I’m looking right at the china hutch with it’s one edging done. It is inspiring me to continue as nothing else could do.

“Indeed it is better to postpone, lest either we complete too little by hurrying, or wander too long in completing it.”

Tertullian

Tatting by P. Melanie Vliet

P. Melanie Vliet contacted me a few months ago apprising me how she had used my pattern “Flagged Edging” to make a garter for her son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law’s wedding.  She actually made two, one to keep and one for the groom to toss. She added beads for a little added elegance.

Wedding garters tatted by P. Melanie Vliet using 'Flagged Edging' on wandasknottythoughts
Wedding garters tatted by P. Melanie Vliet using ‘Flagged Edging’

I love her manikin leg display!  Can you guess what it is?  It’s a box of oatmeal wrapped in skin-colored paper inside a pair of old pantyhose.  What an inventive way to display garters!  She’s going to exhibit them at this year’s Orange County and Southern California fairs.  The wedding party won’t miss them; that event isn’t for several more months.  I hope she does well with them at the fairs.  I give them top marks!

Using the same pattern as a start she also made herself earrings.

Earrings made using 'Flagged Edging' by P Melanie Vliet on wandasknottythoughts
Earrings made using ‘Flagged Edging’

Amazing, aren’t they?  I would never have thought of using the pattern like this.

Melanie has used another of my patterns, ‘Hanging Basket Edging’, to decorate an eye-glass case.  I love the colors she used.  Another great job!

Tatted glass case cover done in 'Hanging Basket Edging' on wandasknottythoughts
Tatted glass case cover done in Hanging Basket Edging

Thanks, Melanie, for letting me share your wonderful tatting here on my blog. Such a wonderful way to imagine tatting.  Good luck at the fairs!

P Melanie Vliet is a member of the Facebook group “Tatters of Lace.”  It’s a closed group but you can request to join if you are a tatter.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.                       Albert Einstein
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_imagination.html

Sometimes you get lucky

I took some vacation days recently, not because we were taking a trip or anything but just to have some days off.  I had all kinds of plans on what I was going to do, work on and get done.  Yes, I had plans.

What’s that line – “the best laid plans of mice and men”?   Like usual, most of my plans didn’t work out, though some did in a modified way.

The first day I had off I worked on a few miscellaneous things.   I worked on the blog, fixing things that didn’t import correctly.  There are a lot of posts to go through, many still to go.  I went through a few boxes of items that need to find homes in my new kitchen.  Laundry was washed and folded.  Not a total loss of the day but less done than hoped.

In the evening I was ready to sit down, watch TV, and tat.  Unfortunately, I was not in the middle of any projects that I could do and watch TV at the same time.  I needed a new project but of course I couldn’t remember any of the several I’d been thinking of.  To give myself some ideas I went through my craft room, picking out random items to ignite my imagination – or at least some enthusiasm.  I spread them across the table to analyze for tatting inspiration.

4 inch round cotton doily - project inspiration

Hmm,  a round doily center.  I’d purchased this quite some time ago but never was moved to make an edging for it.  That day I was inspired by it.  A review of several thread colors led to using Lizbeth size 20 in #159 Easter Eggs.   I gave a little bit of thought to what I was going to tat and started, attaching to the doily as I went.  I did not count the holes to determine the outcome at the finish, I just started.

"Harper" tatted edging 2016 found on wandasknottythoughts
“Harper” tatted edging © 2016 Wanda Salmans

Sometimes you just get lucky.  I didn’t have to adjust where I attached to the doily by one hole.

"Harper" tatted edging in Lizbeth size 20 in Easter Eggs #159 © Wanda Salmans on wandasknottythoughts
“Harper” tatted edging in Lizbeth size 20 in Easter Eggs #159

I’ve made a lot of edgings for runners but rarely for anything else.  I had never attached to a doily or runner in this manner, joining to it as I went.  Normally I make the edging, make the runner to the same width, and attach to it as the last step.  I can’t believe it worked so well!

Though I didn’t plan it as a challenge that is absolutely what it was.  I’m calling this #13 in my current 25 Motif Challenge.  Even if it’s not actually a motif.

I’m delighted how this edging came out and overjoyed at the finished doily.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

“Give luck a chance to happen.” Tom Kite                                        ww.brainyquote.com

 

A short edging

Short edging in Rainbow Splash on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
A short edging in Lizbeth #184 Rainbow Splash size 20
 I have an aunt that is currently in assisted living while undergoing rehab after surgery.  Outside of every room in the facility is a shadow box with glass shelves.  The shadow boxes for those people that are there for long term care usually have quite a few things in them, from pictures to miniatures to postcards and such. My aunt is not expected to be there for a long term but it does look sad to have the shadow box empty.  My mother has been finding cat miniatures at garage sales to put in my aunt’s box to give it a happier appearance.
I kept thinking her box needed a little tatting.  While I was visiting the week before Easter I showed her what colors I had with me and offered to make an edging for her box.  She chose Rainbow Splash.
I envisioned doing something quick and easy that would hang over the edge of a shelf.  That is what developed but not quite as I saw it in my mind’s eye.
Then there was the problem of attaching it to the shelf.  At first I thought I would use sewing thread to go around and around the shelf, attaching to the edging as I went.  I thought it wouldn’t be too noticeable.  But that didn’t work at all.  My husband suggested gluing it to the glass.  As I happened to have a glue stick with me I gave it a try.  It worked great.  As it’s just a regular glue stick the edging should come off easily when she goes home.  The glass should clean off easily as well.
My aunt is very happy with the edging.  She makes sure she mentions it to whom-ever is assisting her as they come and go to her room.
I wanted to get the edging done by Easter – which I did – so pretty much went with the original idea.  There are a few things I want to change the next time which should make it hang nicer without twisting.  I think the edging came out well for a ‘quickie’.
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
Salvador Dali

Hanging Basket Edging Winter Runner

I made this edging for a table runner back in August.  I hadn’t been sure I was going to be happy with it, but it turned out looking good.
'Hanging Basket Edging' © Wanda Salmans on a runner November 2015 found on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
Hanging Basket Edging © Wanda Salmans
I was in a hurry when I took this picture and I didn’t notice how crooked it looks.  It didn’t look like that when it was hanging up.  This just shows that I’m better at tatting than I am at sewing 🙂  This runner was given as a gift for Christmas.
"Medallion Cross Bookmark" © Wanda Salmans found on wandasknottythoughts.blogspot.com
Medallion Cross Bookmark © Wanda SalmansI noticed a bookmark in my Bible that I made several years ago and thought I would make it again.  I couldn’t find anywhere that I had written down the pattern so thought I would.  Jotted it down on paper and lost it.  Re-wrote it.  Then tried to diagram it and found my vector program has a problem just after I upgraded to Windows 10.  Serif Draw X8 is supposed to be compatible with Windows 10 so maybe it got corrupted during the upgrade.  I uninstalled SDX8 and re-installed and still get an error.  I tried installing an update but still no luck.  I have put my problem on their forum and hope to get an answer.  If not it will be direct contact with Serif.  I’m used to this program and like it, it’s a real problem to not have it work.

It has been quite a week.  Besides the program issue we’ve had some trouble with the Internet so I had trouble posting.  We’ve also had a lot of things happening at the house getting ready for a bit of remodeling.

There has been some other distractions as well.  You may have heard about the shooting at Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas.  Hesston is just down the road from us.  It was quite a shock to have something like this hit so close to home.  I don’t personally know any of the people that were shot but people I know do.  In such a small community, something like this effects everyone.
It’s wonderful how the entire county has joined together to get through this ordeal and help those who need it.