Tag: wings

Coffee and TIAS

I’ve been tatting the larger wings, checking if I’ve got the pattern correct. Good thing these wings were just practice and not planned for something. There was an incident with coffee yesterday…

Coffee on the wings on wandasknottythoughts
Coffee on the wings on wandasknottythoughts

Coffee stains don’t come out well. I suppose I could just put these in coffee and stain them as if I meant to do it. But I haven’t made the facing wings yet, I’d want to do them all together so they come out looking the same. I’ll have to keep that in mind to use them somewhere in the future. It would be a shame to waste all that thread and the time tatting for something like this. The coffee stains will just make them look old, I can work with that.

As I mentioned last post I’ve joined Jane Eborall’s 2022 TIAS (Tat It And See). We are on Day 3. No surprise I have no idea what it will be. I’m thinking it will be an animal of some type as she has just said that a bead will be added soon. But that doesn’t really narrow it down much on what it could be. She has a great imagination and a lot of skill. If you haven’t seen her patterns yet check them out at http://www.janeeborall.freeservers.com/, there are all kinds! Her TIAS is at https://tatitandsee.blogspot.com/ if you’d like to join, or just follow along with how everyone else is doing it.

2022 TIAS day 3 on wandasknottythoughts
2022 TIAS day 3

This is my version of the 2022 TIAS through day 3. Jane has said that we only need one bead but I have a habit of losing beads all over the floor or just in the mess of my table. While I was getting one bead I thought I’d better get a spare or two, just in case. How’s the TIAS going for you?

I haven’t done much with writing out the pattern for the wings this week, just the tatting. I haven’t been on my computer much, too busy doing other things. I guess I need to buckle down and work on it, maybe with coffee. I’m not taking any bets on getting very far with it though, except on the coffee.

“I don’t need an inspirational quote. I need coffee.” OurMindfulLife.com

Wings, a Dog, and TIAS

I’m currently working on the pattern for the larger wings. This means there’s nothing to share with that yet. I’ve got the written part down, but haven’t proofed it well yet. I’ve started the diagram but have a long way to go on it. Depending on how much time I get this week to work on it, maybe test tatting by next week.

I’ve done almost no tatting in the last week. I’ve had a cold (not the ‘Rona) which left me feeling very un-enthused about doing anything. I watched quite a bit of TV with idle hands, which is unusual for me.

Feel good or not I haven’t been completely idle – we got a new dog just before Christmas from a local animal shelter. We had been looking for a few weeks but there hadn’t been any small- to medium-sized dogs at any of them. We didn’t have a breed in mind, just one not too big or not too small, not a puppy but not real old, house trained preferred. We finally found a Corgi mix just shy of one year old that we both liked. Still with some puppy traits but with some adult traits. Now I have to get out and walk and be a little more active. Good things. She doesn’t mind the cold weather at all.

Our dog on wandasknottythoughts
Our new dog

So far she chews her toys and leaves things on tables and such alone. No shoes have been chewed yet. I do have to be careful of my tatting, but only one slightly messed up coaster has been found. She hasn’t seen me do a lot of tatting yet, but the click-click of winding shuttles did catch her attention today.

The shuttles I was winding are for Jane Eborall’s 2022 Tat It And See, which started today, January 12. As it is completely unknown what it will be yet, any color of thread will do. I decided on Lizbeth #130 Island Breeze in size 20. As I wound my second shuttle out of the corner of my eye I see our dog reach up and very carefully take my ball of thread from the arm of my chair. She dropped it immediately when I told her to; I think she thought it was one of her balls. This is the first ball of thread she’s tried to take. Warning! Make sure there aren’t any lying around where she can get them!

2022 TIAS day 1 on wandasknottythoughts
2022 TIAS day 1

As usual with Jane’s TIAS I have absolutely no guess as to what this will be, but they are always fun. Anyone else joining in this year?

Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most. Al Capp

Working on the Wings

I’m still working on the pattern for the wings I used for my tree-topper angel. I modified the wings I used for my hymnal angel and am happy with how they came out for the tree-topper, but I think the larger wings could be done better. I’m also modifying the original pattern because I think it could be done better, as well.

Larger wings on the tree-topper angel on wandasknottythoughts
Larger wings on the tree-topper angel

I attached the wings on the tree-topper angel without joining them together. It has a much wider body than the hymnal angel, so it was impractical to join them as I had the other. When I tatted these you could say I was ‘winging’ it, trying to make them big enough to work with the body of the tree-topper. I would like to write out the pattern, but with something I am a bit happier with.

I made a wing only slightly modified from my original wing pattern in size 10 and the version of the wing I’m working on now, also in size 10.

Wings in two sizes on wandasknottythoughts
Wings in two sizes

The new wing is quite a bit larger than the original. The newest version I’ve been working on is slightly bigger than the one I put on the angel.

Wing comparisons on wandasknottythoughts
Wing comparisons

When both are made in size 10 you can see that the newer version is only slightly bigger than the one on the angel but I think is a bit firmer. I also am leaving off the joining picots on the outside of the chains, but they can easily be added back in if desired.

Angel wings in two sizes on wandasknottythoughts
Angel wings in two sizes

Wings A and B are the newer pattern, A in size 20, B in size 10. C and D are the old pattern with a slight modification in the centers, C in size 10, D in size 20. I’ve been debating about the stitch count of the chains but I think I found something that works.

Now the hard work starts – writing up the pattern. It feels like walking after I learned to fly.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall. Ray Bradbury

Happy New Year 2022

Happy New Year! We’ve made it through 2021 and have entered 2022. Let this be a year of finishing things started in the past, enjoying what is happening in the present, and welcoming new challenges that come to us in the future.

Yesterday here in the middle of the USA the day was cloudy and warm – about 65 degrees F – and today it is cloudy and cold – 11 degrees F at 10:00 AM and still falling. It is also windy, with snow and sleet. What a way to go from one year to the next! I’m glad I don’t live farther north where it is much colder!

Yesterday I spent a lot of time outside with the dog, enjoying the nice weather while it lasted. In the evening, watching the clock tick down to the end of the year I did a bit of tatting. I’m working on the modified wings I used for the tree-topper angel.

Modified angel wings on wandasknottythoughts
Modified angel wings, from the oldest on the bottom to the latest on the top

I started with wings I made last year for the hymnal angels. But the size of my tree-topper angel was too large for the wings, even in size 10 thread. That is what I made the wings in originally, but they weren’t big enough for the tree-topper angel. I made a set from the pattern with a few modifications and attached them to her but I’m not happy with them, exactly. I think they could be done better.

I worked in size 20 thread last night as that is what I had on my shuttles. I’ve made a change, or two, every time I’ve made them. I think they are getting better.

When I started this post I noticed that the one I had made for this last Monday didn’t get posted! Oops! So I posted it today as well as this one. What a way to start the year!

May your new year be full of plenty of time for tatting!

Angels for Christmas

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I should make for my Christmas ornaments this year. These are gifts I give to close family and friends, each year different from the others. Some years I get an idea and everything comes together easily, other years, not so much. This year it was a little bit of a search but it came together rather nicely once I started.

I started thinking about something I had done a few years ago. In 2013 I decorated small bags with bits of tatting. On a couple of the bags, I had a bird made of material and a tatted wing. I liked how this wing came out and thought I might build on it for something more.

Bird with tatted wing on a bag on wandasknottythoughts
Bird with tatted wing on a bag

I wondered if I could use this wing to make wings for angels. This is a simple pattern that didn’t take long, which is always a good thing especially when I have a limited amount of time to get things done. Of course, I’d need two wings and figure out how they will attach to each other.

Angel wings on wandasknottythoughts
Angel wings

I’m very happy with how these came out. You might notice that the center of these wings has seven rings instead of the six rings of the bird’s wing. This was an un-noticed modification that I didn’t plan on. It changes the shape of the tips slightly, but in a pleasing way, so this is what I continued to do.

Something I wanted to incorporate in the ornaments this year was sheet music. Several years ago our church bought the most recent version of hymnals. We still had the previous two versions of hymnals, but not enough places to put all of them. The bookstores locally don’t have much call for this many hymnals, but I hated to just throw them away. Guess what? I kept them. I’ve been looking for some way to utilize them ever since. So I thought I would incorporate them in my ornament this year.

The first angel on wandasknottythoughts
The first angel

This is my first attempt, which I’m happy with. Then I had to make more.

Wings for angels on wandasknottythoughts
Wings for angels

Then it was on to making a bunch of wings. I wanted to give angels to my family at Thanksgiving, so I had to get a move on. If I don’t make mistakes they don’t take very long and I can get a lot done while I’m the passenger on the way to work. I thought white would be a bit too stark to go with the hymnal music, so I made all of them so far with Ecru in size 10.

Choir of angels on wandasknottythoughts
Choir of angels

Check out my choir of angels. I got all six of them that I needed to get done just in time! You can see I changed up the body just a bit, but either way, they came out well.

I still have a lot of Christmas tatting to do, more wings and a few other things, too. What are you tatting?

UPDATE – The pattern for these wings is done! It is on the My Patterns page.

“When we are touched by something it’s as if we’re being brushed by an angel’s wings.” Rita Dove https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rita_dove_345421