Numbers 5 and 6, finally!

I'm finally not distracted by doilies, teapots, and whatnot to catch up a bit on the 25 Motif Challenge. Both are critters from Dianna Stevens' fantastic bookmark book Animal Bookmarks, A Tatted Zoo. First is a nice toothy 'gator made especially for a little boy I know. He specifically asked for a gator, so I had to oblige him.

I used Yarnplayer's 'Rain Forest for the dark green gator parts and LadyShuttleMaker's 'Rockies' for the gator's 'scales', size 80, of course.

Next is Number Six, a lion. My scanner does not like some colors, so this is not a true representation of what he looks like. He has a yellow bead in each eye, his mane is 'Golden Glow' HDT and his face is 'Coffee and Cream' HDT. Size 80, what else? He will also be leaving my possession pretty quickly. His new home is with a little girl who is a voracious reader. She chose his colors and I must say she has fine taste!



This week has been a good week. Thanks to all of you who wished me well. It worked! I've had a couple very large debts hanging over my head for longer than I care to say, but as of Thursday they are no more. Whew! I feel a thousand pounds lighter. No matter what happens to GM in the next few weeks, it won't hurt as much now. Not that I want them to go under, not by any means, but if I get laid off it won't be such a bitter pill to swallow.

I also bought a new dinette today. It was on sale for 50% off, can't beat that! A nice honey maple dropleaf with two chairs for $300. Can't wait to get it delivered( delivery was free, too!). There's a really cute doily that would look right at home in the center of it... :)

Spring, butterflies, and Tea

Hello everyone! The past week did not go well. It was one of those weeks that make me dislike the human race. Yes, it was really that bad. I expected the bad mood to follow me through the weekend, but Saturday turned into such a beautiful day that I forgot about my bad mood. The weather was nearly 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and yard sales galore. Aah, heaven! In honor of Saturday, here is Lindsay Rogers Swallowtail Butterfly from Tatting Miscellany. For the wings, I used size 80 'Brilliant Sunset' by Yarnplayer and black for the body, approx 2-3/4".



Of course yesterday had to be an absolutely dreary day. I know April showers bring May flowers, but I don't want to wait! While I was waiting, I sat down for some tea with Martha Ess' teapot, 'Antique Rose'. Once again, I used one of Yarnplayer's HDT colorways. This time it was Blue Pansy, in size 80 once again. So cute!
The teapot is approximately 3" tall, the creamer and sugar bowl are 1-7/8", and the teacup is a bit bigger than a quarter, or 1-1/8". For those who are HDT nuts like myself, the entire set was done with less than one skein of size 80 HDT. Obviously that will change depending on the size of thread you use.



Lastly, but certainly not least, I have been the recipient of another award. Thank you TattingChic for the Friends Award:

The Renee Award!

The ever so nice Tatskool, she of the Rainbow Bright and Blue Lagoon HDTs, was kind enough to find me worthy of the Renee Award, originally started by Bella Sinclair. The following is Bella's story of why and how she created this award:

This one is meaningful to me in three profound ways. Firstly, it was created in honor of Renee, one human being who has made such a difference in the lives of many just by being. Her honestly, wit, intelligence, and grit are a tremendous source of inspiration. She can elicit raucous laughter and guffaws in her banter, and then turn right around and offer the most heartfelt, gentle words of wisdom and emotional support. She is a spreader of love, simple and true. And her love is infectious.

Secondly, this award was created in collaboration with one of my best friends, Ces. She is, in Renee's own words, truly original. She is an incredible artist, both in pen and ink and paint. She is fiery passion with a gentle hand. She is laughter, fun, joy, intellectual stimulation, a sister. The concept and design of the award belong to Ces.

Thirdly, this is a brand new award, and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow. I hope it finds its way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns…


To honor the spirit of this award, I'd like to pass it along to my new friend in Blogland, KrystleDawne. She is quite talented and is up for any challenge tatting throws her way.

A little doodle

Just dropping in to say hello and to show a little doodle I was playing with. I'm still perfecting the Daisy Picot technique using shuttles that need to be emptied. This little butterfly is adapted from Yarnplayer's Simple Butterfly Bookmark. I simply replaced the center ring with a Daisy Picot and put a long picot between the big wings which I then snipped to make the antennae. I used Altin Basak thread in mint green and golden yellow. The scan makes the yellow look orange!

A UFO that won't be much longer

On Int'l Tatting Day, I started working on one of my numerous UFOs. It's 'Corona' from Ben Fikkert's Floriade. I thought I was going to tat a pleasant little doily in dainty pastels -- lavender, variegated yellow, and variegated green. See pic:


Somehow that morphed into this:


LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU? Hmmm...interesting how my mind works. I'm really liking how the colors work together. As you can see, I just started Round Four with five more to go. It will be interesting to how it turns out. When done, it will be approximately 12 inches across. The threads are DMC 80.

Mail call!

Look what came in the mail today! Martha's FANTASTIC Tea Is For Tatting!! Then there's some thread from Sherry -- Witches Brew, Tutti Frutti, and Spring Poppies, and yesterday Pam's Rainbow Bright and Coral Reef showed up all the way from Ireland. As you can see, I was just starting to unwind Pam's threads when the mailman came to the door.

What to tat first? Martha's teapots are one of those books that I will end up doing every single pattern from. And the patterns are done in size 80, which is my favorite thread to work with. I absolutely love it! Decisions, decisions....

It's Tatting Day!

Happy International Tatting Day, everyone! Eat lots of chocolate and tat to your hearts content!