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
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
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
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.
The calendar shows that it is fall and now it feels like fall – mostly. We’ve had a few nights where there was a freeze and some days of cool weather and then there is today. When I got up this morning it was still 66° F with enough humidity that all the sidewalks were so damp it looked like it had rained. It’s currently cloudy and windy with an expected high of 77°. The average temperature for this time of year is around 60°. Friday they are projecting a high of 49° and staying around that for over a week. Fall in Kansas, don’t you love it?
I actually have some fall decorations out already. I’m usually terrible about decorating early enough to enjoy them before the season is over, except maybe Christmas. For some reason, I’ve gotten into the fall season early (for me!)
My fall decorations
I’ve been working on an edging that I need to have done ASAP, which is for a Christmas runner. It’s not far enough along to share yet, but I’m finally excited about it. Unfortunately, it is in white while I want to tat in more fall colors.
When I have the chance I plan on writing out the pattern for the October Snowflake that I spoke about in my previous post. I’m sure it will look great in other colors.
In early October I shared a picture on my Facebook page of a new angel I’ve designed but never shared here.
September Angel
I’ve been working on the pattern and thought it was almost ready to share, but looking at these I realize I’ve made a mistake. It’s a minor mistake but means it will delay sharing the pattern. Very soon, I hope.
While scrolling through Facebook the other day (a dangerous rabbit hole to go down!) I saw a cute way to make Christmas trees using toilet paper rolls. The site is coleykuyerart.com if you want to check it out. It is so easy I thought I’d try it. I even had just emptied a roll of toilet paper, perfect timing. I didn’t decorate it but can think of so many easy ways to do so.
TP roll Christmas tree and two angels
I did this quickly just to see if I liked it. I will be making more of these but cutting them a little more carefully. I have a granddaughter I believe would have fun helping me do this.
This post would have been out sooner as I was almost finished with it yesterday. I know I saved it several times but this morning there was no trace of it. I had to start all over. Bummer.
Now I must get back to the runner edging. What are you working on?
“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Charles Dudley Warner
Are you ready to be visited by ghosts and goblins?
Bonnie dressed up for Halloween
The local Historical Society was going to have a “Mutts and Monsters Parade” like they had last year but had to cancel due to staffing issues. My granddaughter and I were disappointed as we had been planning dog costumes for a couple of months already. Due to being busy with other things I hadn’t put much time or effort into the costumes before hearing of the cancelation. But I still thought it would be cute to dress up our dog. I found this little ladybug costume at Dollar Tree for a couple of bucks. It is a kid’s costume, not a dog’s, but it works for pictures. She sat very nicely – okay, I was lucky enough to catch her sitting still for about a half second.
Our church youth group put on a Fall Festival last night, serving chili and cinnamon rolls. Then they had games outside, like kickball, bocce ball, and corn hole. They also had pumpkins to decorate (with paint pens) and a bonfire to make s’mores. There were also hayrack rides. The weather was perfect, crisp and cool! There was a nice turnout for it, too. It was a wonderful night! I played corn hole, decorated a pumpkin, took a ride on the hayrack, and roasted marshmallows.
The pumpkin I decorated
You can see by this poor gourd that I don’t have much imagination when it comes to pumpkin decorating. Some of the other pumpkins were so much better! But it was fun to do it.
My tatting lately has been working on an edging. Okay, it was supposed to be an edging. I wasn’t getting anywhere with the edging before it morphed into a snowflake.
October Snowflake
I did the original in all white and finished it with another round of tatting. When that was done the legs were not visible at all. I tried it again in Lizbeth #136 Autumn Spice in size 20 with Mocha Brown Dark #692 as the chains. I am happy with how this turned out.
And now I’m back to working on the edging that should have already been done. And snowflakes. And Christmas ornaments. What are you working on?
Halloween is an opportunity to be really creative. Judy Gold
I’ve had to move on from critters to snowflakes, at least for a while. My sister and I will be in a craft show in October and I need to work on items for that. Now, if I would repeat more than one piece at a time with the same pattern I’d be better set for that. I have a hard time making the same thing over and over at one time.
Pinwheel in white
I did make a few of my Pinwheel snowflakes in size 20 white. Of course, now I have to starch it. There is no way this will hold up as a tree ornament without starch.
Two-layered snowflake in white
I came up with this two-layered snowflake instead of using a pattern already available. I have a few others in this pattern in different colors, which are really cool looking. (I haven’t taken pictures of them yet). I like this. This one is made in size 10 thread.
8-point snowflake with cabone center
While at Tatting Corner‘s Tat Days in July I took several classes with cabone rings, and now I keep seeing places I could use them. This is a simple snowflake with a 1/2 inch cabone ring at the center, made with size 20 thread.
(I do not get any benefits for mentioning Tatting Corner)
Blue snowflake with cabone ring center
I like how this one came out. I used size 10 thread and a 1/2 inch cabone ring for this one. I even added beads!
I much prefer working in almost anything other than white. With white, any dirt on your fingers and hands is transferred to the thread. I swear, even if you clean your hands constantly, it ends up looking dirty. My sister pointed out that most of my sales have been ornaments in white, so I guess I need to keep making some. But those ones in color are so much fun!
Now what I really, really need to do is put the finishing touches on a bunch of pieces I’ve done. You know, sewing in the ends and cutting them off, starching if necessary, and blocking them. I’ll be excited about them when they are done and ready to go, but right now I’m in tatting mode!
Thanks to all of you that have been following along with my critter ideas on Facebook. I’ve had so much fun with them and seeing all the ideas about them from others. There will probably be more eventually. I still haven’t come up with a dog that I’m happy with.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”Wayne Dyer
So many things are going on right now that have created delays in my tatting life, including posting. If it’s not one thing it’s two others. But the good news is that I finally finished the pattern for the Isla Snowflake! Yay! It is listed on the My Patterns page.
Isla Snowflake
I have done some tatting in the last two weeks I just don’t have pictures ready. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and taking meals to family. Now I know why I didn’t cook like this when I was working – it takes a lot of time! And the cleanup isn’t pretty, LOL! I find I use a lot of dishes – as well as knives, cutting boards, pans, and measuring devices. I’m glad I can do it and they appreciate it, but my, the time it takes!
I did remember that yesterday was pi day, did you? I even made a pie! It was a pudding pie and it was yummy! I did take a picture –
A pie for pi day 3.14
but I forgot until we had eaten most of it! Everyone enjoyed it though most didn’t know what I was talking about when I said it was pi day. It doesn’t matter, it was just an excuse to have pie.
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
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
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
Remember the Jasper snowflake I put on the front of the Tree-topper angel?
Jasper snowflake
I’ve finished the pattern! I’ve added it to My Patterns page. I’ve looked it over but did not have a test-tatter so there may be mistakes lurking. Let me know if one finds you! I’d love to see how it works up for you if you make it.
“Life is all about sharing. If we are good at something, pass it on. That is the pleasure I get from teaching – whether it is television or books. We should all share.” Mary Berry
Last week I showed you the tree-topper angel I have been working on. I didn’t think it was quite done but was looking good. I’ve worked on it a bit since, though it still has no wings.
Tree-topper angel without wings
I added the Jasper snowflake to the front of the skirt, which I think made it look much better. I had been thinking of something different for it, but I had a snowflake that needed a home due to an oopsy on my part.
Jasper snowflake with a problem
Notice the one arm that is different than the others? That is the third arm I made and didn’t notice the mistake until I was done with the last arm. I went ahead and hid the ends and figured I’d hang it on my tree. And then the light came on with a solution to the problem. You can’t even see there is a problem with it once it was attached.
What I didn’t show in the previous post was how I made the head, which is a wine cork.
Tree topper angel cork head
I had the body figured out easily but had been stuck about the head. What is something I had on hand that was the right dimension? I thought of buttons and beads but nothing I had looked right. Then I thought of a wine cork. I cut the back off, the part that fits in the bottleneck, cut a circle of felt, and added a bit of tatting. The tatting is stitched to the felt and the felt is attached to the cork with a thumbtack. That was all great, but I wasn’t sure how to attach that to the angel. My solution is a toothpick. The body is sturdy enough it works.
That looked good from the front, but a little bulky from the side. I did a bit of re-thinking and decided to make the head a bit thinner.
Tree-top angel with modified head
I’m much happier with this. It looks good on the tree.
Our Christmas tree
I did get enough Jasper snowflakes done to give to my family with the Christmas cards this year, but just barely. I keep getting distracted by other things, including trying to come up with wings for the tree-topper. I also made a scissors keeper for my sister. Which I forgot to take a picture of – she had to send me one.
Scissors keeper
I have made several keepers for myself and she liked the idea. This one is made in Lizbeth #122 ‘Caribbean’ in size 10. She embroiders a lot and likes that you can use the scissors without taking them off and without losing them. These scissors have a sheath that covers the points so you don’t get stabbed while wearing them.
We had our last-of-the-season family get-togethers at our house this last weekend. After cleaning up after that I can now relax and enjoy my clean, decorated house for the rest of the holidays. And remember the reason for the season.
Merry Christmas to all!
Joy to the World
Joy to The world! the Lord is come Let earth receive her King Let ev’ry heart prepare him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world! the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And wonders of His love And wonders of His love And wonder wonders of His love
I had a plan, one that would have the house ready for guests and get my Christmas tatting done in time for cards and other gifts. I say ‘had’ as I’m not doing a good job of sticking with it.
We are having my side of the family over for Christmas, so some house cleaning is needed and some decorations put up. I’ve been doing a bit of both cleaning and decorating but I keep getting sidetracked, so some things are done, others not so much. But sometimes cleaning one area creates a mess in another area. It would be very helpful if I was better organized. I’ve gotten more of the outside decorations up than the inside. It helps that we’ve been having unseasonably warm weather the last several weeks, which makes it nice to be outside.
I’ve also been working on something for myself, not exactly what I need to be doing right now. Every year at Christmas I think how great it would be to tat an angel for a tree topper, and every year I haven’t done it. This year I’m doing one, but not how I expected to do it.
Tree topper angel
I’ve always envisioned one completely tatted, or maybe white, frilly material edged and decorated with lovely, dainty, white tatted lace. Instead, I’m working on a felt angel with red tatting in size 10 thread. Not exactly dainty or frilly.
I was playing with a piece of white felt the other day while watching TV, not really paying much attention, rolling it up and such. I found it in a cone shape and thought about how it would make a good body for an angel. Then I had to figure how to do the head and arms. I’m still trying to decide how to do the wings, and will probably do more on the skirt. I’m not sure if that will be this year or next. All of the tatting on it is in DMC #816 is size 10. It already looks good on top of the tree.
Felt angel on top of the tree
What I should have been doing instead of working on the angel is working on snowflakes to put in the Christmas cards. I’ve made a few but not enough, and not all of them have the ends sewn in. None of them are stiffened.
Jasper snowflake
This is Jasper, a snowflake that takes less time than the Pinwheel snowflake. I am not sure, but I think I may have seen something like this elsewhere but I don’t know where. I was not looking at anything when I made this except whatever was on TV at the time. I have several finished, most in some shade of red in size 20, one in size 40, and one in size 10 threads. This last one will have to be mine as I didn’t notice a major mistake on one leg until I was on the last leg. It will look good on my tree. But I need more so they can look good in my Christmas cards! I really must get on them before it is too late.
There are less than 15 days until Christmas. Are you ready?
