Steph's Stuff

A quick drive-by post! (Actual tatting content INSIDE!!)

2011-08-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

Four months! Where does the time go? Once the summer is gone, I'll have the time(and inclination) to update more often. In the meantime, click HERE. I've been featured by Teri Dusenbury!

If any of you fabulous tatters have done one of her pieces, she'd love to hear from you. Just drop her a line!

It is complete.

2011-04-26T09:02:00.000-04:00

My Rose Garden Tote is now complete. After one more rearranging of the pieces, and the addition of a few more flowers it was on to the final assembly. An hour or so of stitching while lying on the floor in front of the bag so as not to disturb the placement was all it took to end up with this:

Now it was on to the felting! Two wash cycles which included a pair of ragged jeans, some old gym shoes for extra agitation, and two days of drying resulted in this:

She is beautiful, yes? Wow, I am really impressed with myself right now. This tote turned out far, far better than I could have imagined it would be. I love it. The felting process shrunk the bag down to 16 inches tall and 15 inches wide, a most perfect size. All that worrying for nothing!

Thanks again to everyone for their kind comments and advice, especially Crochetbug. To do this, I relied heavily on her blog posts and notes of her adventure creating this bag. A special thanks to you, madame. Now I think I shall go see about finding another project to felt. Enjoy the day, everyone!

The sewing is about to begin!

2011-04-24T10:39:00.000-04:00

After much back and forth, and some more back and forth, the handles are now attached and the pieces arranged into something pleasing to my eye. Being that this is Easter Sunday and there are festivities planned, I'll probably not have the assembly completed today as I had hoped. At least that gives me one more day to avoid the inevitable felting! That part still makes me nervous, no matter the amount of encouragement and excellent advice I have received since yesterday. Thanks ladies!

The bag with curlicues:

Now the leaves:

And the roses:

I was really unsure of the clementine orange, but it really has added a nice contrast to the other colors.

A soon-to-be brand new bag(lots of pics)

2011-04-23T19:23:00.002-04:00

I have yet another bag in the works. This one takes me a bit out of my comfort zone because instead of just whipping it up with good old Red Heart Super Saver, this one is 100% wool! Yes, my first felting project is on it's way. The pieces are finished and waiting to be assembled. My apprehension at doing the actual felting process is holding me back from adding another FO to the list for 2011. I know that it's not the end of the world if it doesn't come out perfect, but what if it gets ruined in the washer and is completely unusable? All that beautiful yarn wasted! Well, it wouldn't be the first time a project has been trashed and I'm sure it will happen again so on with the assembly!

The pattern: Rose Garden Tote

The yarn: Stitch Nation Full O' Sheep in Plummy, Thyme, Meadow, Honeycomb, Clementine, Peony, and Poppy.

The pieces of the bag to be:

Currently measures 21" wide and 19" tall in its unfelted state.

The leaves and flowers:

I'm going to take my time putting this together because I don't have much experience working with pure wool and I really want this to be a thing of beauty. Not that I doubt my finishing skills, which are pretty sharp, it's that this is one of those projects that mean more than others. And with that, I'll call it a night! Enjoy your Easter Sunday everyone!

A productive Sunday afternoon

2011-04-17T19:07:00.001-04:00

So winter came back today. It actually snowed for a few minutes. Being a lifelong Michigander, you'd think I wouldn't bat an eyelash at this, but I wanted to cry. I am so sick of winter and dreary weather!

There was nothing and I mean nothing short of a disaster that was going to get me out of my apartment today, so I had to find something to do. I made some cute dishcloths that I found on a lovely blog called Cozy Things:

Pattern can be found here: Primrose Dishcloth

Then I made a most interesting pin cushion.

That pattern can be found here: Auntie Wainwright's 1-2-3 Pin Cushion.

Throughout the day, I also worked on my sewing box inspired granny blanket. Sixty-eight squares done and thirty to go! It looks so much nicer now that I remade the squares with green in them. The new green looks fabulous!

The old squares will not go to waste, though. They will be made into a pillow. Pictures of that soon. Well, back to work while I'm still feeling inspired. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone!

Stash control and an apron!

2011-04-10T13:48:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday! I didn't realize I had gone so long between posts. Again. Sorry about that. I get so hung up reading what everyone has been doing that posting is forgotten because I get busy clicking all the links and adding to my already-too-long project 'To-Do' list.

Anyway, I have done some things. I'm currently tatting a new doily which should be ready for show-and-tell by next weekend. The last doily I was working on, Tattyhead's 'Star Attraction' is lost! It just disappeared in the Great Unknown, tatting bag and all! Very sad about that. That bag was handmade for me by a friend. Back to the beginning for that one, I guess. The loss of the thread annoys me, too. It was Venus 40 thread bought at a trade show. If anyone knows of a site in the U.S. it can be purchased, please let me know.

On the crochet front, I just completed a new stash bag using some stash yarn. A concept that never occurred to me before, seriously. Logic, it's not for me, I guess! :D

The bottom is simply rounds of single crochet with increases of six per round. The outermost round is 144 stitches. The bag itself is the Peacock Stitch from Crochet Inspiration by Sasha Kagan. Three rows of sc for the top decreased by twelve each row to keep it from curling too much and straps made of single crochets to a length that pleased the eye. Nearly two skeins of Red Heart Super Saver in Frosty Green went into the construction of my new stash bag. It nicely holds seven 7 oz. skeins of yarn. Not too shabby.

And a quickie project for the kitchen was this Granny Square Apron found HERE. A couple hours and some Sugar 'n Cream yarn was all this one took. I love it!

Look! It's me showing off some of my new skinny-ness!

The granny square blanket inspired by my sewing box is currently undergoing a revamp. The green I was using is just wrong, wrong, WRONG! It drags the whole thing down, but instead of banishing it to the closet, I am reworking all the green squares with the green I was originally going to use. Always go with your first instinct! Something I never learn. Later today, I should have something to show for that.

Well, the sun is shining and it's nearly 80 degrees today so I am going to take a project outside and enjoy it. Hope you all do too!

Granny Inspiration

2011-03-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

The sun is shining and Spring may actually be trying to spring around these parts. *fingers crossed*

Sometimes granny color themes come from the oddest places...

My sewing box. I kept staring at it all last week. Then it hit me! A new granny square blanket. Off to the yarn store I went and after an hour or so of hooky time, here is what I came up with:

The colors are not true, but I think you get the idea! The green is a bit more green and the grenadine is not so shocking. I'll be combining these three-round squares with six- or seven-round squares. Have a good Sunday everyone!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-17T00:13:00.000-04:00

I'll be making a big pot of corned beef and potatoes to share with my coworkers in the afternoon and maybe have a nip of whiskey in the evening!

In the meantime, I'll finish cleaning up the 5, 219 yarn tails on my crochet Japanese flower piece.

Why I didn't hide them as I went along is beyond me. I got so sick of it I put it aside for a day or so to make something else:

This little stash basket is a free pattern from the Purl Bee. I was pleasantly surprised by how much yarn it holds when complete. In the pic, there are 25 balls stuffed in it. Sugar 'n Cream yarn was the way to go with this one. I only have about 100 balls of the stuff(no exaggeration). The little flowers are Lucy's of Attic 24 fame. Her blog is fantastic! Here is what it looks like empty:

I love this! Another one may be in the works soon. Have a good Thursday everyone!

What?! Two posts in one day?

2011-03-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

WARNING: This is a brag post.

One of the reasons I haven't been around is I've been working on a very special project -- ME. The reason you never ever see pictures of me is because I don't want anyone to see how very large(okay, fat!) I've gotten over the last 3 or 4 years. Finally fed up with wearing tents for t-shirts and buying my jeans on the fat girl side of the store, I joined a gym and started to watch what I was stuffing in my face all day, everyday.

On December 1, 2010, I was 185 pounds and measured 43-41-44. I'm only 5'1", so I was very round. Today(as of about 1:00 p.m.), I weigh 143 pounds and my measurements are 37-32-37. I'm girl shaped again! How about that? Believe it or not, it really wasn't that hard to do and it made this crappy winter fly by! Still not ready to post a picture of the new improved me, but I just had to get that out there.

It's growing!

2011-03-06T13:32:00.002-05:00

My throw for The Flower Bed CAL is growing! Another two rounds of motifs after this one will give me a smallish, but gorgeous hexagon shaped throw. It's also been a great stash killer so far, too!

The sun is shining today, so I thought taking a picture by the window would show the shine in the yarn. It's a mohair/nylon blend. Alas, it was not to be. I'm not really a pastels type of girl, but this is turning out way better than I had hoped!

edited to add: If you click on the picture, you can kind of just barely see a bit of shine!

A yarny post

2011-03-05T00:52:00.000-05:00

I've joined a Crochet Along here on Blogger called The Flower Bed. Tons of gorgeous flowers! I'm so sick of this dreary winter weather I thought it would be the perfect pick-me-up. I'm making a small throw out of some stash laceweight yarn I've been hoarding forever. For those of you who are interested, the pattern I'm using can be found here: Japanese Flower. This absolutely gorgeous flower works up quickly and is easy to memorize. My motifs are about five inches across using a 5 mm hook. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one!

She's alive! Alive! Alliiiiiive!!

2011-03-02T08:53:00.003-05:00

Howdy strangers! Just a quickie post to show I'm still around. I haven't forgotten about you all. Life has gotten in the way and then I just lost my tatting and blogging mojo for a while there. I actually tatted and have the pics to prove it!

The pale green heart is Dorcas's Heart. I think the woven picots really give it an interesting look. The little pink heart is Eva's Heart. Both patterns have been in one of my binders for years so I'm not sure what corner of the internet they came from.

This is Jon Yusoff's Hearts Entwined tatted using one of Tatskool's HDTs in sizd 80 from the Raspberry/Vanilla family. I love that pattern. Gorgeous.

And this is Tattyhead's 'Star Attraction' doily. I just started Round 6(or is it 7?) for the third time. It should be finished and blocked by this weekend. I keep either missing or making a join in the wrong place. I'm using some lovely Venus 40 thread I got at the Great Lakes Lace Guild's 'Love of Lace' event last year.

I'm still on a crochet kick. Blankets, blankets, blankets, with two more currently in the works...

Every single one of those afghans are made entirely with stash yarn and there are still three huge totes full of yarn in the craft closet! But I still don't have any yarn....or tatting thread. ;)

Hello there...

2010-08-17T00:56:00.004-04:00

Hello all! I know I haven't contributed much this summer, but I have been following what you all have been doing. Such lovely stuff! Other than Martha's fabulous block critters, the tatting bug hasn't been biting. It's been all about crochet. Until today, that is. I saw Diane's rendition of Anne B's Dragon Wing Doily and just HAD to do one for myself!

Isn't it beautiful? Such vibrant colors! I used Yarnplayer's hand dyed thread size 80 in 'Brilliant Sunset' with some pink Miyuki 15/0 seed beads on the picots. It measures 2-7/8" (7.3 cm) across. Now I just need to find a really small bud vase or votive holder.

I've been trying to ignore the fact that autumn is right around the corner and I've done a pretty good job of it. But I couldn't help but notice that the leaves on the big maple at the end of the driveway are beginning to turn colors. *cries* While autumn is pretty and smells nice, it also means winter is too close for comfort. Snow, sleet, ice, and scarves...

The first of many I'll be crocheting this year. This is the Boteh scarf from Interweave Crochet. I used Bernat Baby Jacquards Florals yarn. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the yarn stripes itself into flowers and leaves(the pink/white/green). The yarn is even prettier when knitted, something I have yet to learn.

Well, bye for now. I'll try not to go so long between tatting posts!

Today at the beach

2010-07-27T16:06:00.000-04:00

I saw...

These little ladies kept waddling past my blanket looking for something to eat. Then, as I was walking the shoreline. Look waaaay out there...

It's the resident swan couple. How many cygnets are there this year?

Four! Last year, there was only one baby.

Here they come!

On the left is Big Daddy. He is nearly four feet tall. I wouldn't want to make him mad. Last year, he went after someone who got too close to his baby. This year's cygnets have feathers of pale gray. They stayed on the beach preening and relaxing for nearly fifteen minutes before swimming off. Usually they don't come ashore at all. My guess is because there were no kids they felt it was safe.

They were definitely the highlight of the day. I took some tatting with me, but it never did make it out of the bag. Too many other interesting things, I suppose. Well, there is tomorrow.

A thank you!

2010-07-06T11:18:00.000-04:00

This is just to say thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's blog post. Blogger has seem to have lost it's mind and is eating any and all comments. It's the heat, the heat, I tell ya.

Wow, is it hot enough for ya?

2010-07-05T19:38:00.000-04:00

Yet another 90+ degree day here in the metro Detroit area and I see a good portion of the eastern US is a bit toasty, too. At the last minute, I chose to go on vacation this week. Good thing. Who wants to be in a plant in crap like this?

Anyway, today's vacation plans were nothing fancy. Used book stores and thrift shops were the order of the day. That is, until my truck's radiator decided to split in three places. Luckily, a friend's repair shop was right down the street. Two hours and a new radiator later, I was back on the road. I wasn't really too much in the mood to shop after that, but I did stop at a couple places. The best find of the day? This:

Other than yardage of edging or hankies, I rarely find tatted anything. Look at this, isn't it gorgeous? It's combined with crochet between the rounds. Here's a close up of the detail.

The crochet chain stitches are so nice and neat. I love it. I suppose I should give it a wash, but I don't know how old/new it is or what I should use. Anyone suggestions will be greatly appreciated. The owner of the shop I bought it in said she may be getting more tatted items this week from the same estate, so I am going to make another trip in a couple days.

And with this bit of show-and-tell, I am off for the day. A bowl of Edy's Rocky Road ice cream is calling my name... Stay cool people!

Happy Birthday, America!

2010-07-04T14:47:00.001-04:00

"Betsy" designed by Kate Splawn

Foxy lady!

2010-07-02T15:57:00.000-04:00

Now that the recipient has received the original, here is what I believe to be the final test tatting for Martha's new critter book. I give you The Fox...

I'm kind of sad to see the test tatting end. It's been such a nice surprise to find a new goodie in my inbox every few days. Congrats on the new book Martha, and can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

It's not a fish...

2010-06-25T10:52:00.000-04:00

it's Martha's dolphin!

Mary had a little lamb...

2010-06-19T23:26:00.001-04:00

it's fleece was white as snow.

Yes, another of Martha's critters!

WILL WORK FOR PEANUTS

2010-06-16T00:54:00.000-04:00

Yep, you guessed it. Another Martha Ess creation. I love him the best so far....

Another block critter!

2010-06-11T09:12:00.000-04:00

I meant to have this posted last night, but I was tired. Verrrrryyy long day, yesterday was. Anyhow, my critter from Martha for today is a ferret! (Ignore the stray thread ends sticking out. That was an oopsie). He is just too cute!

BZZZZ...bzzz....bzzzzz

2010-06-09T12:34:00.000-04:00

Brace yourselves. I have actually picked up the shuttles and tatted something. The great lady of block tatting, our very own Martha Ess, has given me the opportunity to test one of her new block critters. Meet the hornet. Who knew those testy, stingin' little devils could actually be cute?

I'm a bad, bad blogger

2010-05-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

I don't mean to go so long between posts, but before I know it a week or more has passed. I'm good at keeping up with your blogs(yay for the iPhone!), though. Anyway, here's the update of the past week in case anyone's interested.

Last Saturday was the Great Lakes Lace Guild's Love of Lace at the Livonia Civic Library.

Banner is made of all different types of lace.

Bobbins from around the world.

Quite the success, it was! Bobbin lacers, tatters, and other types of lace were shown and there were lessons in bobbin lace and tatting for anyone who wanted to learn. There was a LOT of interest in all the lace types, so much so, that the tired phrase 'Tatting is a lost art!' should be immediately banned from the English language.

I took the opportunity to try bobbin lace. On. My. God. I could get addicted to that. It was so much fun. I made a fish:

My fish, name tag, and commemorative bobbin.

Not a very fancy or difficult fish, but I did it! My very first piece of bobbin lace. Now, I know how I am with my addictive personality and all so I had to come up with a way to keep myself from dropping a load of cash at Holly Van Sciver's booth on bobbin lace supplies. The deal I made with myself is this: I will occasionally purchase a pair of bobbins and when I have two dozen bobbins, THEN I will buy a pillow, books, etc. Let's see how long this deal lasts...

ZigZag Corner and Kathy Kirchner were the other two vendors for the event. People came from miles around to shop. So much good stuff, I just stood in the middle of the room and looked around for a minute or two just to take it all in. I was a good girl and only bought the bobbin in the previous pic and some thread...

Venus, Altin Basak, and Lizbeth threads.

I even got some tatting done!

This is the start of 'Primrose Path' by Mary Konior. I'm using size 80 Peach Pandorea HDT and vintage Lily in pale peach. The Lily thread is slightly thicker than the HDT, but it's not making a difference so far. *fingers crossed* Other than that, I still haven't done much tatting. There's something in my brain that says "summer equals crochet" or "summer equals cross stitch", so I kind of lose interest in tatting for a few months. That's OK, though. I'll more than make up for it come autumn.

Speaking of crochet, I'm past the halfway point in squares production for my afghan. It looks like there will be lots of left over yarn, so there may be a pillow to match. My goal is to be finished with the afghan by July 4.

Shown in my lovely woven basket rescued from the Salvation Army store for two dollars!

I would probably be further along on my afghan if my attention span wasn't so short. After Love of Lace, I stopped at a needlework shop that is near the library and picked up floss and fabric for a cross stitch sampler I've been wanting to do. This is Bluebird's Message(Loose Feathers #23) from Blackbird Designs. I'm going to give it to my mom when it's finished.

So that's all I've been up to in between the intrusions of work and real life. Hope the weather is as glorious in your neck of the woods as it is in mine! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Some yarny goodness

2010-05-18T00:23:00.001-04:00

Twenty-four down, one hundred six to go! A lovely bamboo-y rainbow...

Edited to add: I just noticed the date and realized today is my two year blogoversary! I'm impressed. There have been many forays into the blogosphere, but none have ever lasted more than two or three months. Obviously, I found a great bunch of people to blog with for the last two years. Thanks, everyone!

Still not tatting...

2010-05-15T17:46:00.002-04:00

I just can't get interested at the moment! You'd think with thousands of yards(or meters if you're not in the U.S.) of thread and more patterns than I could ever possibly do, I could find something interesting to make. But, nope, it ain't happening. Instead, my latest project is an AFGHAN(<------click there). A nice, colorful, summer-y throw to be made with luscious bamboo yarn. I've never worked with bamboo before, but I am loving it. So soft and cool to the touch, it's perfect for the warm weather. The yarn was a bit pricy, $5.00 USD per skein, but I think it's going to be worth it.

Yarn is Spa by naturallycaron.com. Colors are:(front row) Berry Frappe, Ocean Spray, Green Sheen, (back row) Rose Bisque, Coral Lipstick, and Soft Sunshine.

A post that is NOT tatting related! Look if you dare...

2010-05-10T23:50:00.000-04:00

I'm tatted out. Nope, just not feeling it lately. Crochet has been the craft of the moment. I love making potholders, dishcloths, and towels! Cliche, yes, but I love them none the less. Ravelry with it's tons of free patterns and my huge stash of Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn fuel the addiction, but it's all good! I actually use the stuff I make, so it's not like it's all for naught. Here's what has come off the hook...

A pair of towels in the shape of aprons. The patterns are from Annie's Attic, in case anyone is interested.

And a spiral potholder. This pattern is a Ravelry freebie. A bit tricky due to having four working yarns at once, but worth the hassle.

Thanks for looking and hope all you moms out there had a great Mother's Day!

Een Tulp*

2010-05-01T18:57:00.004-04:00

*Dutch for 'a tulip'.

Sharp eyed Isdihara was right. It's a tulip. The reason for a tulip? It's Tulip Time in Holland! Holland, Michigan, that is. The western side of the state has a strong Dutch heritage and they celebrate it every May. Always a lot of fun and more tulips than you can shake a stick at.

My tulip is actually German in nature because it was designed by Adelheid Dangela and can be found in her book Mustersammlung I. Tatted using DMC threads in pale peach, melon, and light green it measures nearly 12"(30.5 cm). I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and want to get it framed. I still have to get my big butterfly framed, but cash is a bit tight at the moment. Just another thing to add to the list of things to get done.

Happy Monday!

2010-04-26T13:47:00.000-04:00

Some actual tatting to show today. It's not done yet and I'm not going to tell y'all what is it. This is the first time in a week that I've held a shuttle. You see, I was just walking along minding my own business when out of nowhere I pulled a muscle in lower back across my left hip. In all honesty, I can say I've never felt anything like that before. The pain kind of took its time to hit, but when it did, Owww, owww, owww! Then a wave of nausea washed over me and I nearly fainted. That's really saying something for me, because I have an extremely high tolerance for pain. For the next two days, I kept having spasms and couldn't sit or stand up straight. Ice packs and really good prescription painkillers were the order of the day. Since I couldn't sit up, I couldn't tat, but I could crochet. Nothing to show on that front right now. Maybe later.

Now that I can sit up, I can tat! This is it so far. By the weekend, it should be complete and ready to display. I'll say this much about where the pattern originates-- it's German.

Lady Marjorie

2010-04-20T06:28:00.001-04:00

Like Martha, I was one of the lucky ones to test tat a lady for Heather, the Tarnished Tatter. She designed the most gorgeous tatted ladies! This is Lady Marjorie, and she is pleased to make your acquaintance. A lovely Southern belle, Marjorie is tatted with Altin Basak 50 threads. She is about 5" tall. I had a great time tatting her and welcome the opportunity to test tat for Heather again.

My thread stash...(Warning: lots of pics!)

2010-04-19T02:09:00.006-04:00

Crazy Mom wants to see our HDT stash, so I heed her call. I see that the pictures are a bit out of focus. I keep forgetting that I don't need to hold this new camera so close to the object to get a halfway decent shot. More than half is size 80, with some 20 through 50 thrown in. I'm pretty sure there are a few missing. The yarn daisies are wrapped with my favorite-est HDT of all, Pansy, created by Yarnplayer. You can also see my favorite pair of tweezers for opening rings. The bent and angled tips let me grab the core thread without having to hold the tweezers tightly.

Well, I can't stop there. Here is some more of my thread stash:

A mix of Altin Basak and Oren Bayan Turkish threads. A three-cord thread that is a bit soft to work with, but I love it. Kind of hard to tell, but there's about 50 balls in that box. I do believe there's some Manuela 20 lurking in there, too.

DMC Perle Cotton in sizes 8 and 12. Total crap, I hate it. When I first learned to tat, it was with perle cotton, so not knowing any better I bought loads of it. Now that I know better, it just takes up valuable space in craft closet. The reason I don't like it is because perle cotton has a bumpy texture which obscures the appearance of the stitches. I like my stitches to look crisp.

Finca perle cotton, sizes 8, 12, and 16. Wait a minute, didn't I just say I hate perle cotton? Not this one! Finca has a gorgeous finish, even the larger sizes and it's shine is beautiful. Great for making baby bonnets and booties.

A mix of Flora sizes 20 and 50, DMC and Olympus threads. Flora 20 is OK, but the 50 is superior. Shame it's discontinued. Olympus is like a piece of thread heaven and DMC is better for crochet than tatting. I don't know what it's doing mixed in there.

Lizbeth. Do I really need to say anything else? Another 40 or so balls in there.

Some, I say some, of my size 80 stash. I'm pretty sure there's another box containing about 100 balls hidden around here somewhere. The large purple container is mainly vintage threads, Lily, Star, J&P Coats, Coats & Clark. There's a few oddballs in there such as Collingbourne's, Twilley's and some whose names escape me at the moment. I would dig for them, but there's over 200 balls in there and it's 2 a.m. as I'm writing this, so maybe another time. The smaller container is DMC and Majestic/Venus. Soon to be joined by Lizbeth 80, no doubt.

I can look at these pictures and still say to myself, "I don't have any thread. I should buy more." Spoken like a true addict.

Lastly, the tools of the trade. Shuttles, shuttles, and more shuttles. The gold Clovers are in the upper right hand corner of the box are the only pick-less shuttles I will use. I love the feel of them in my hand. They have a silken feel to them that makes having to use a hook for every join worth the effort. A few other tools like coilless safety pins, tweezers, needle minder,picot gauges, and a hook set on a chain. I made the hook set myself. Working in a factory has its advantages!

More about the coilless safety pins. I've read on a few blogs that they've been hard to find. Joann's has them. They can be found in the bead section of the store, by the jewelry findings. If I'm not mistaken, the large size are 50 to a pack, and the small are 100 to a pack. Hobby Lobby also has them, but I think they are in the sewing notions department. If you're still having problems finding them, email me and I'll help you out! :)

Lace Day in Michigan, May 22, 2010! Come join us!

2010-04-11T01:12:00.001-04:00

Lacers of all kinds are more than welcome. We will demonstrating for the public to spread our love of lace far and wide. So bring your bobbins, pillows, needles, hooks, and of course, your shuttles!

For you Canadian folks, it's only a 30 minute drive from the Windsor/Detroit border! Come on down.

Vendors will be Holly VanSciver, Kaye Judt, and Kathy Kirchner.

Yesterday's haul

2010-04-03T05:13:00.000-04:00

Before I begin, I have to say I have fallen hopelessly in love with my new blog background. Isn't it the cutest? This one is definitely staying for a while.

Now on to the tatting! I couldn't resist the call of a good Joann's one day coupon, which was 25% off the entire basket. Here's some of the highlights of said basket:

Some gorgeous new colors of Lizbeth. There was only one ball of each left, so I snatched them up. The glare from the camera makes it hard to tell, but they are Vineyard Harvest, Lt Seagreen, Dk Seagreen, and Dk Boysenberry. The Boysenberry really knocks my socks off, which is noteworthy since I am not a fan of fuschia-like shades. I have plans for that one already. Now the box is a set of Gütermann threads. It was on clearance for $9.97, so of course, I had to snap that one up, too. Here is what was inside:

Oooh, pretty! Each spool holds 100 meters of thread. It looks like the thread is about equal to size 100. I think it'll make nice hanky edgings. The final really interesting goodies I picked up were these:

Three pairs of Gingher scissors. The pair on the left are 3-1/2" Epaulettes, the center are 4" spring action snips, and on the right are 3-1/2" stork scissors. Also shown is one of the sheaths they come with. Gingher snips are a bit pricy, but they are worth every penny. Being on sale for 50% off made them extra hard to resist. I also picked up three packs of Clover shuttles, a Clover crochet hook and a bunch of Lily brand Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn. I'm feeling the urge to make some new potholders and Sugar 'n Cream is my favorite to use. Lots of pretty colors!

One other thing, Gina recently commented on the reliability of Lizbeth thread and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree. I'm currently working on something using mint green and have had the plies untwist and become so tangled I had to cut it out and start over. Also, there's been splices in almost every ball of size 20 I've picked up in the last two months. I've yet to have this happen with the 40, so maybe it's just a temporary problem, especially with the size 80 about to launch in another month. I still buy it because of the beautiful colors and it works up so nicely. Still, I would have to echo Gina by saying buyer beware.

It's OUR day!

2010-04-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

Happy International Tatting Day everyone! I'm sure you are all indulging yourselves in your favorite activity(tatting) and snacking on your favorite treat(chocolate). At this very moment, I am eating a very large bowl of chocolate ice cream and trying to write this at the same time. It's nearly 80 degrees and sunny today. YAY! Spring is really here. The gorgeous weather is making me feel flowery, so let me show what I started in honor of the fine weather we're having...

This is Jon Yusoff's Rosette Doily. I'm making it a bit larger to fit a large round end table. The thread is Olympus 40 in lime green and shaded lavender. So nice and springy. My fickle self was going to start a Myrtle Hamilton doily, but I am easily swayed so Myrtle will have to wait for another time.

Enjoy the day and I hope you're having as beautiful weather as we are here in Michigan!

Finished...finally!

2010-03-27T17:12:00.002-04:00

Here it is! I had hoped to have this done to unveil for this past Tatting Tea Tuesday. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Then I said I'd wait until this coming week to show it, but I have no patience for that kind of stuff. So, here she is. Meet Kirsten:

This is one of Adelheid Dangela's beautiful butterflies. Kirsten measures 7-3/4 inches tall and 8-1/2 inches wide. I used size 80 threads in DMC black and yellow, a vintage J&P Coats in red for the three-ring clovers and Tatskool's 'Flame Lantana' for the four-ring clovers. And about 462 ends to hide(not really, but it felt like it!), the reason it took so long to get it done.

If the colors look a bit odd, it's because the window is to the left and it's a bright sunshiney day here is SE Michigan. Well, it was when I took the picture fifteen minutes ago. Come on, Spring! Get here already, will you?

Oh, one more thing. For all the effort that went into this, I'm counting it as Motif 14 for my VERY overdue 2009 Challenge.

It's been a month?!

2010-03-21T23:09:00.001-04:00

     Wow. Time flies when you're doing.........nothing. Nope, not a thing. Other than a few purchases, I haven't done much of anything tatting related. A mix of the winter blues and school made me lazy, I suppose. The winter semester is always the heaviest, not necessarily the hardest. I just completed Cost Accounting, which made me want to rip my hair out, and Intermediate Accounting, which emphasizes the theory behind the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and IFRS, the international financial reporting standards. I am happy to say I passed both classes with high marks, thus preserving my 3.8 GPA.
   My work schedule has changed, too. I am not a morning person, so I choose to work the afternoon shift. It's been my favorite shift for many years, but I was made an offer I couldn't refuse to work the newly added midnight shift. Four days, ten hours. That means my workweek begins at 8:00 p.m. on Monday and ends Friday morning at 6 a.m. I am LOVIN' it. I didn't think I would, but I do. It's peaceful and I can play with my new addiction, er...iPhone all night long. Damn AT&T for giving me a free one.
     Because of my new schedule, I got my tatting mojo back in a big way. Here's a little sneaky peek of what I'm working on:

If all goes well and I don't have to cut out a mistake(again), I should have something to show in a day or two. I've always wanted to have something special to post for Tatting Tea Tuesday, but never do. Hopefully that will all change this week!

Now for the product endorsement segment of the show. Being crafters, we all get aches and pains, and we all get dry skin from time to time. Well, I have the cures!

      On the left is Tiger Balm ointment. I don't care how bad you hurt, just rub some on and you'll start to feel better within a few minutes. It's very aromatic(clove oil), but the heat it gives is long lasting and penetrates right to the bone. Much better than Icy Hot or Ben-Gay. One of my Laotian coworkers had me rub some on my thumb once and I've been hooked ever since. That thumb had been giving me problems for a couple years. Ever since I started using Tiger Balm, I've never had so much as a twinge of pain in that thumb. It helps immensely when my elbow acts up, too. You can find it at your local Walgreen's for about $7.00 a jar.
   The hand lotion on the left is Olivella. As you can see, it's base is olive oil. The best stuff I have ever used. It heals dry cracked skin and torn cuticles quickly with NO greasy feeling. It smells great, too. You can definitely smell the olive oil, but there's also a hint of orange and lavender. A bit on the pricy side, $8.49 for a 2.5 ounce(75 ml) tube, but a little goes a long way. The only brick-and-mortar store I've ever found it at is Bed Bath & Beyond, although I have seen it available on Amazon for decent prices. Try it, you'll like it.

Well, here's hoping for a nice uneventful finish for my sneaky peek. See you all soon!

Opal

2010-02-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, one more. This curvy, swervy little flutter is named Opal. Her little wingtips need to be a little tighter, but I like her just as she is. I used Yarnplayer's 'Purple Pansy' in, yep, you guessed it, size 80. She measures just over 4 cm.

Diamond

2010-02-20T14:26:00.000-05:00

Another one from Lady Shuttlemaker's latest book! For this one I used a vintage J&P Coats thread in size 70, color 177. She measures 2-1/4" (5.7 cm). This butterfly is good practice for those who want to sharpen his/her skills at following diagrams as there are no written instructions for this one.

What a difference a few hours makes when it comes to tension! I made one wing last night before I went to sleep then did the other today. I couldn't get them to match to save my life. Thanks to a bit of creative blocking, I managed to make it a little less noticeable.

Well, hello there

2010-02-19T11:57:00.004-05:00

I'm still here! I've been laying low for a few weeks due to another elbow injury. In my normal oblivious-to-my-surroundings state (i.e., not paying attention), I smacked my right elbow on a steel beam bruising it inside and out. For the first two weeks, there were issues with my middle and ring fingers going tingling and going numb. No permanent damage, though. As the injury faded, so did the numbness and tingling. I was seriously considering what life was going to be like without shuttles and crochet hooks. This is the same elbow that has been problematic. Nothing like making it worse!

Having been completely pain free for a week now, today was my first time back on the shuttles. Lady Shuttlemaker's new book promptly arrived on my doorstep this past Tuesday, and I've been dying to get at it! Not being able to make up my mind, I just opened the book and whatever page it fell to is the butterfly I did.

Meet Lilly. This teeny tiny flutterby is done with Yarnplayer's oh-so-fabulous 'Vibrato' in size 80. Yes, I deliberately started at the same point in the thread so the colors would play out the same on both sides. It took me a few minutes to get my groove back after not tatting for weeks and weeks so this is not my best work, but she did turn out pretty cute.

Now that the rust is knocked off, it's time to get back to work on some UFOs, such as Jane's TIAS. Sorry, Jane!

New goodies

2010-01-21T00:15:00.000-05:00

Look what the mailman brought today:

Ruth Perry aka Rozella Linden's new book! She has a positively gorgeous daffodil that I am just dying to do. Time to practice my Celtic knot tying. Ruth also included a nice little bonus in the envelope...

A Riego book! How sweet is that? Looks like it's time to buy some more thread. Pffft...like I really need a reason to add to my stash, which believe it or not is running kind of low. How is that possible?

In Memoriam, Mary Konior

2010-01-19T13:01:00.000-05:00

TIAS Day One

2010-01-05T13:16:00.000-05:00

It's that time again, Tat It And See time! I'm using Olympus 40 for the variegated sections, but haven't decided what the solids will be yet. I'll make up my mind when the time comes, I suppose! So here we go with Day One:

After this post, I'm going to add a pic for each day in the sidebar beneath my blog list (if anyone cares). I think that will be interesting way to see step-by-step what it is morphing into.

groan Back to work!

2010-01-05T00:54:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day back to work after nearly three weeks of lounging about. Why, oh why can't I hit the Powerball jackpot? I'm still feeling the fearful aftereffects of the movie, Paranormal Activity. I have YET to set foot in my bedroom for anything other than a change of clothes and that's only during daylight hours. Ha. A few of my oh-so manly male coworkers admitted they had the crap scared out of them by that evil, evil movie, too. Now THAT is funny!

To kill some time before work today, I tatted one of Teri TATBiT Dusenbury's adorable hearts. This one is Nellie's Heart. The center reminds me a bit of a checkerboard and I really love it. I used a deep purple Flora thread in size twenty. At its widest point, the heart measures 2-1/8". Grrr...I see I split the threads in the picots again while blocking it. Hate when I do that! I'm thinking I need to do another of Teri's hearts. Sadie's Heart or Unchained Heart possibly. And Yes!, I'm in the mood to tat hearts lately.

Paranormal Tatting

2010-01-02T12:45:00.002-05:00

I needed something to pass the time because I was too afraid to go to sleep last night. You see I like to watch movies all by myself at nighttime. More often than not, it's usually something a bit on the creepy side. The outright gory ones like Hostel and Saw(which is one of the dumbest franchises ever) I tend to avoid. Now films that kind of nestle themselves in the back of your mind and make you wonder 'what really is that little scratching sound I hear?' and 'Are those footsteps?' when you are all alone are my type of movie!

So with that in mind, I popped in 'Paranormal Activity'. Oooooo, big mistake, big BIG mistake. If you've never heard of this film, a quick synopsis: a couple has been experiencing what could be paranormal activity in their home and decide to film the daily goings on to see if there really is something haunting them. Absolutely terrifying movie. No gore, just frightening. I can not remember the last time I was that scared after watching a movie. For all the fear and lost sleep, it's definitely one of the best movies I've seen this past year.

Now that the damage was done, there was no way I could go to sleep. So I randomly pulled a book out of the stack, a ball of thread and tatted this little heart from Karey Solomon's Tatting From The Heart using Yarnplayer's 'Pansy' HDT in size 50:

Oooh, a sharp and pretty photo for once. My new camera rocks! As if it wasn't obvious, I did manage to fall asleep and survive the rest of the night to make this post today. Heh, I am just not right in the head sometimes...

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to you all and may your shuttles never be empty!

#8, ,#9, #10, #11, #12, and #13

2009-12-30T21:19:00.004-05:00

So I was too lazy to complete the 25 Motif Challenge. What can I say? I'm a procrastinator. Actually, I got interested in other things this past year and the time flew by. And after the first three or four, I don't think I was too thrilled with my choice for the challenge so it just kept getting pushed back. A few more animals have come off the shuttles since Christmas, though. I definitely won't be finished by the time the ball drops tomorrow night, but I will have all my critters completed within the next couple weeks. In the meantime, here are the fruits of my labor...

(Going clockwise) The flamingo is from Martha Ess' Critters On The Block, the gecko is Pamela's gecko from Jane's pattern pages, the lovely swan is Mark Myers', the cocoa bunny is also from Mark, the kitty I do believe is from an old, old Workbasket, and the pig bookmark is from Dianna Stevens' Animal Bookmarks: A Tatted Zoo.

The gecko was definitely my favorite to do, but the beads that should have gone along the spine weren't cooperating so I omitted them after cutting the mistakes out FIVE times!

I also received a belated Christmas present today. After months of whining and moaning about what a piece of crap my camera is, Santa swung back by and left me THIS under the tree. It may not be the fanciest, most expensive camera, but I love it and it's the thought that counts. And I've been playing, oh yes, I have been playing all day! Thanks, Santa!

edited to add: I overlooked a package! Said package contained a 4GB memory card and a carrying case. The card was promptly inserted into the camera and has room for nearly 1,500 pictures and the new camera is now safe and snug in its new case. A good day it was, a good day.

A doily...

2009-12-26T11:15:00.003-05:00

Christmas is over, the snowflake fever has abated, so it's time to move on. I am woefully behind on my 25 Motif Challenge, which I will start catching up on TODAY. I promise. In the meantime, here is a little doily from Blomqvist and Persson's Tatting Patterns and Designs. It worked up fairly quickly. In between visiting and running errands on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I had it tatted and loosely blocked. It's called Sunflower and it's tatted in not very sunflower colors, but it is oh so pretty! I'm already yearning for spring.

Tatted using Lizbeth 20 in Golden Yellow Medium, Antique Violet Medium, and Leaf Green Medium. The doily measures about 7" across. For both the violet and green, two completely filled SewMate shuttles completed the rounds with approximately a foot of thread left on the shuttles, in case anyone wonders.

Have a great Saturday and relax!

To all my bloggy friends!

2009-12-24T20:25:00.001-05:00

I just want to wish you all a very Merry (or Happy) Christmas! Much love to you all!

Bella Nina

2009-12-22T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here is another Terry McGuffin bell. It's a shame that the bell ornaments have been discontinued.

For the twentieth time, I really need a new camera!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

2009-12-21T17:26:00.004-05:00

Jingle all the waaaaayy!!!

Bella Mia

Liberty Bell

Somewhere in all the clutter, there are two bells from Terry McGuffin's Thirteen Bells book. Both bell covers are tatted using Altin Basak size 50 threads with 15/0 or 11/0 beads.

Thanks to Karen for pointing me in the right direction for the glass bells!

Yet another snowflake and a wee tree

2009-12-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

Tatskool's challenge to work through Lene Bjørn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting has been fun to watch. I love that book, but my attention span isn't long enough to attempt such a challenge. After seeing her interpretation of the Ninth Day of December, I decided to do one too!

Not too shabby. I was going to do the other block tatted flake, Eighth Day of December, but I couldn't figure it out. Maybe some other time. If you look closely, you'll see one of the points are discolored. The condensation from the bottom of my drinking glass dripped on the thread causing it to run. It's size 40 Lizbeth, color 631. Isn't that the strangest thing? Has that happened to you?

I haven't tatted any trees this year, so it was high time I did one! This is Monica Hahn's Oriental Christmas tree. I used a dark green Flora 20 that was hidden in my stash. To liven it up a bit, I added a bunch of seed beads to mimic tree lights. It's a cutie, I must say. Too bad I forgot to give it a trunk....

Coming to you live from....

2009-12-16T13:13:00.001-05:00

...my new laptop! No matter what I did, the old one just kept bogging down, freezing up, and all the other crap that goes along with a dying PC. So I said, "To hell with this thing! I'm buyin' a new one!" So I did. And a new router. And a new wi-fi printer. Any other time I would be feeling buyer's remorse, but not this time! Set up was a breeze, too. I had the laptop and printer on a secure wireless network in fifteen minutes. Quite pleased with myself, I am. This is the first time I've done this.

Ok, now for something tatting related. This is Half Ring Snowflake #2 from Mark Myers' book, Tatting Pattern For One Shuttle, Book One. I love this book!! My fingers are crossed that Book Two will be on its way soon. I used size 80 HDT, color Plum Tickled(I think) from Lady ShuttleMaker. Approximately 1-1/2 inches across.

Edited to add: Wow, the scan quality of this new printer is fabulous!

Merry Christmas from Handy Hands!

2009-12-12T00:50:00.002-05:00

Let's shop, shop shop!! As if we really needed a reason.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS ** 15% discount** Good ONLY December 11-December 15

COUPON code 1215 use just the numbers in coupon field when you checking out.

RULES:
1. Coupon has to be in the coupon field for discount to apply.
2. Coupon CAN NOT be combined with any other discount, just the shipping and handling if you are a newsletter subscriber.
3. This offer is only good for internet orders.
4. Discount does not apply to previous orders.
5. The discount does not apply to the newsletter or back issues of the newsletter.

Coupon CAN be used more than once, tell your friends.

LIZBETH THREAD - Remember it is on SALE until December 30, 2009.

Size 40 - SALE $3.95
Size 20 - SALE $3.75

The Size 10 will be in stock the last of December, we are taking pre-orders now. The 15% discount will apply to the pre-orders.

NEWSLETTER subscriber(those that pay for it and receive it by US mail three times a year) remember to use your S & H coupon if your order is over $35.00.

NOTE: The coupon Expires at Midnight Eastern Time (EST)the last day of the sale listed above. NOTE: there is a 3 hours difference from California time (PST). Discount applies to retail orders only.

And the tree is up!

2009-12-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

My little white tree that was supposed to be a tatted rainbow tree. Why do I say supposed? Because I seriously miscalculated just how many of the little suckers I'm going to need to fill this little bitty tree, that's why.

Click for larger view

Once I got the tree up and looked at the paltry pile of tatted ornies, it was down to the basement to get some more so it didn't look like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Most of the glass ornaments are older than me, but I love them. The topper is blown glass that I found in an antique shop for $6. It has a sticker on it that says Made in Germany.

If you grab a magnifier, you can spot a few of the tatted ones in there. I may have to rethink this 'size 80 only' policy so they can be seen without squinting! See the old pink plastic ornament that looks kind of like a Big Top tent? There is a metal spinner in the center that turns at the slightest breeze. When the tree lights reflect off it, it gives the impression of twinkling lights. There are about ten different ones all over the tree. Some of you may remember them in your childhood.

This next picture is of my favorite glass bulb. Painted in the traditional Polish style, I bought this at Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan. If you've never been there, go! There's lots to do and at least half of the visitors are from out-of-state or another country.

Well, that's it for now. I have to get back to tatting so my poor little tree can be called a TATTED rainbow tree.

More snowflakes!

2009-11-29T18:37:00.002-05:00

First up, the one no one wants to do because of all the bare thread spaces! The First Day of December from Lene Bjorn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting. I don't think I did too badly. I used DMC size 80 in color 3756, a very, very pale blue. Looking at it again, I see I split the threads on some of the picots when I was blocking it. Oops!

Click pic for larger view

Next is Snowflake 17 from Joann Stearns' Christmas Ornament Collection. I used a vintage J&P Coats, size 70 thread. Can't ever get enough of pansy colored thread.

The big one in the center is another from the Stearns book, number 19. Size 20 Lizbeth in Sherbet Delight. I don't really like how this one came out. The color is pretty, but size 20 thread looks too heavy for a dainty snowflake, so I am going to be sticking to the finer sizes from here on out.

Fourth is Teri Dusenbury's Loop-de-Loop Snowflake. This one was tatted using Lady Shuttlemaker's Seaweed HDT in size 80. You can find the pattern in Teri's e-Snips account. Looking at the scan, I see a bunch of mistakes with this one, but it was a lot of fun to tat so I'll do it again and make sure it's perfect.

And last, but certainly not least, is 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' from Karey Solomon's Tatting For The Tree. This was a tricky one. I had to open rings and retrotat this one three times, but it was worth it. I tatted this one with Yarnplayer's 'Brilliant Sunset' in size 80. What a rich colorway. It was the perfect choice for this one, I do believe.

Earlier today I made a trip to Michaels to see what was left on the shelves. Big mistake! Everyone was still acting like a bunch of maniacs snatching and pushing merchandise, just generally being rude and classless. So I cut the trip short and left with a couple packages of glass ornaments. I found some iridescent onion shaped ones instead of the usual round ones. If anyone has any bell shaped ones they'd like to get rid of, I'll gladly take them off your hands. Looks like I'm going to try to tat some ornament covers next weekend. Wish me luck.

Snowflakes!

2009-11-27T12:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a great holiday. Yesterday was a nice dinner and afterward, to fight off the turkey coma trying to overtake me, I pulled out the shuttles and started tatting some ornaments. My rainbow tree will be very skimpy if I don't make some headway quickly. I think tomorrow I will dig it out of the basement and see what I can do with it. Good thing it 's a small tree.

Ornament One is from Susanne Schwenke's Spitzen-Kreationen. Originally, it was 5-pointed, but a snowflake has six! I used some vintage Lily size 70 thread.

Ornament Two is from Kaye B. Judt's Oh My Stars!. The technique used on the rings is what she calls TAK (tatting alternate knots). It's similar to a Maltese Ring, except instead of having the stitches in opposite directions they all stay on top. This was my first experiment, so it's not the greatest piece, but I like it. There's sure to be more. I used Altin Basak 50 threads.

Ornament Three is from Lene Bjorn's Snowflakes in Tatting. I love this little flake. More vintage thread for this one, Star 70. The thread in candy colors like this are my favorites.

Ornament Four is from Festive Tatting by DMC using Tatskool's world reknowned Rainbow Bright thread in size 80.

Right now the living room floor is covered in thread, tatting books, and print outs from the 'Net. Snowflake fever has me in its grip! So I am off to create a blizzard....

Tat Day at Zig-Zag

2009-11-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

Since you're reading this, that must mean I made it back from Tat Day in one piece. It was a lot of fun and I am now on the lookout for other Tat Days within are within a five- or six- hour drive. The drive down was nice and really showcased just how crappy the roads in Michigan are and how slow people drive in Ohio and Indiana (ha!). At one point, we stopped off for a bite to eat at a McDonalds near enemy territory...err, I mean Lima, Ohio. A quick glance around the restaurant made so, so happy that I forgot my University of Michigan sweatshirt. The place was awash in red and gray and chances were better than even that we wouldn't have made it out alive for all the Buckeyes shirts, hats, tattoos, etc., that were in there! We got our asses out of there before someone caught wind of the Michigan license plate in the parking lot.

That was the excitement for the day. From there it was an uneventful two or three hours to Greenfield, Indiana. We got a room, had supper at Cracker Barrel and spent the rest of the evening talking and tatting.

Up and early Saturday morning, breakfast, and off for a day of tatting. Of course, I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to show. Zig-Zag is a cute little store that was once a house. As soon as I stepped through the door, I felt like I was at home or in heaven. Tatting supplies galore! I could feel the cash I brought just burning a hole in my pocket. But no time to shop, it was time to tat! At each seat was a gift bag of stuff for the tatters. It says Zig-Zag Quilts and Baskets on the bag, but the flash is hiding it.

Georgia Seitz was the guest teacher for the day. She is such a funny lady and she had lots of stuff in store for us. Our first project of the day was a candy cane reindeer.

The only tatting we did for Rudolph here was the eyelashes around his googly eyes. Not quite as easy as it seemed, but after three or four or five tries, I got it!

Ok, so you can't see them very well, but it was fun. The other project was to decorate a 3-D Christmas tree, which was a four-sided tree cut from green construction paper. Pearl tatting and some variations was to be the technique used to make the garland, but I didn't get it done because I kept screwing up and it was fun just to be talking to everyone so I have nothing to show for that one! The it was time for lunch and to shop a bit. Lunch was fantastic! Sandwiches, a veggie tray, a cheese tray, two different kinds of soup (the potato soup was heavenly!) and cookies and brownies for desert.

This is the part I really wish I had brought a camera for -- the tatted pieces brought by the other ladies there. One lady brought some beautiful baby bonnets and booties, a 3-d angel with pineapple motif wings (that I want, want, WANT!) and some other really pretty pieces. Someone had brought a very old sample book that was absolutely fascinating. Ornaments, doilies, a beautiful hat, and a shawl tatted by the Great Lakes Lace Group VP, Merie, were also highlights of the day. There was a little wrought iron tree for everyone to hang ornaments on for an ornament contest that day. I entered a beaded poinsettia and Ruth Perry's Celtic snowflake. Now it was off to shop...

I wasn't done yet, but there was so much stuff that I didn't get to the books yet and it was time to go back to class. First I want to say that Georgia had everyone laughing all day. The next thing she had in store for us was a pop-up card. We used Josephine knots to decorate some elements of a Christmas card she passed out for all of us and showed us how to make a pop-out in the center of the card using a motif. For practice we used motifs that are oopsies or 'pattern adaptations', if you prefer. That project was a lot of fun, but I have no idea what I did with mine so you'll just have to use your imaginations. Our last project of the day was to decorate a small organza bag with split rings and beads. Basically, we used very long beaded picots and joined them in a swag fashion.

Example: Beaded picot on Ring One joins to Ring Four, BP on Ring Two joins to Ring Five, etc. I forgot all about this one until I started writing this post. I will find mine later and show what I mean. By now it was getting towards the end of the day. Jennifer and Kaye of Zig-Zag had gifts for everyone. I got a neon green Sew-Mate shuttle ( Love it!). Before wrapping it up and calling it a day, there was still the ornament contest winner to announce. Jennifer said, "Who had the poinsettia?". I said to myself, " I know she just didn't say the poinsettia. Oh my God, my poinsettia was voted the best?!" You could have knocked me over with a feather I was so surprised.

My prize was a gift certificate to spend in the store,which I promptly did.

I am still smiling as I write this. At the end of the day, as we were all packing up and chit-chatting, a lady who I knew I knew from somewhere (but couldn't figure it out for the life of me) said she had trouble deciding which to vote for -- my poinsettia or the Celtic snowflake. It was Ruth Perry herself! She was sitting at the end of my table knitting a sock all day. Ha Ha!

So that was the Tat Day at ZigZag. A great time was had by all and I am looking forward to next year.

It's been a while!

2009-11-17T13:51:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while. Computer problems had me disconnected from the world. I'm surprised by how isolated I felt. I truly felt like I was lost in a cave for these past weeks.

Anyhow, enough of that! What I really came to tell you all is that I'll be going to my first Tat Day this weekend. If anyone is in the Greenfield, Indiana area this Saturday, meet me at ZigZag Quilts and Baskets for their annual tatting day. Georgia Seitz will be teaching. Ooooh, I am so excited! I've been tatting, but I ain't showing until after tat day. It's nothing spectactular, but I am going to make y'all wait.

Well, it's time to get to work so I'll begin catching up and commenting on everyone's blogs tonight when I get home. Missed you all!

Plastic Rings and Christmas

2009-10-18T23:18:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday, all! I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely autumn weather we're having. Here in southeastern Michigan, we've been having unseasonably cool temps and dreary days. This weekend turned out to be a gem, though. Clear skies and a bit milder. Temps in the mid-50s, instead of low 40s. Brrrr....

I have been tatting some lately. I wanted to show battatter's bat, Batflight, but he's gone, gone, gone. He's obviously lived up to his name and flew out the window or something. Instead, I'll show a couple pieces from Jon Yusoff's Tatting With Plastic Rings. So far, I've done Melati ( top) and Kincir (bottom). The only size rings I had in my stash were 18 mm, so I decided to try size 80 thread . Not too shabby considering I don't really have too much experience working with ring, which is also why I omitted beads. Please excuse the camera flash...

I've been a good girl and stayed away from eBay lately. That is, until last week. The little voices in my head were telling me to get over there or else miss out on something big. And wouldn't you know it, they were right! The Number One book on my 'Must Have' list was just waiting for me to come and get it. None other than Pam Palmer's The Twelve Days of Christmas. After seeing the gorgeous Partridge In A Pear on Carol's blog a year or so ago, I was on the hunt ever since.

I am pretty good at guessing just how high an auction will go and was pretty sure there would be a lot of action on this one, but I was wrong. Only a couple low bids and it was mine. I am currently deciding on what threads to use for each day. This is going to be fun and they'll look great on the tree. A few more views:

I'm thinking about mounting each motif on a scrap of fabric inside small decorative cross stitch frames. Another thing I have no experience with, so if anyone has any ideas on how to make this easier, let me know. And for the record, no I am not going to make six, seven, eight, etc., of each Day. Otherwise, they wouldn't be done until Christmas 2017!

Once upon a midnight dreary, .....

2009-10-14T00:05:00.002-04:00

...while I pondered, weak and weary.

From Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven -- perfect midnight Halloween season reading. That's not really a raven, it's a Creepy Crow (but it damn sure looks like a raven!) designed by the one and only Battatter, Carol Amich. If you're a Halloween lover like me, this book is a must have. I'm currently working on a few more of the patterns from her book.

SHRIEK!!

"Scared Silly" by Birds of a Feather

Stitched on 32 ct. Sparrow

Weeks Dye Works flosses

Ol' Jack O'Lantern flipped his lid and scared the kitty! Scared him silly, even. My latest stitchy project that was actually a WIP from last year. I lost it last year and gave it up for gone, but it was actually hiding in the Halloween decorations. I think the orange fill-in around the inner edge of the frame is perfect! Jo-Ann's did a great frame job once again. In this pic, you can see the mounting board behind the camera. That's just because of the camera flash. It's not really visible at all. If you look closely, you can see Heidi Sunday's 'Pumpkins On A Vine' trailing over the edge of the frame. (click pics for a larger view) A fun little thing to tat!

Hope everyone is doing well! Work and school are killing me at the moment. Well, not really killing me, just my tatting/crochet/stitch time! Oh, the agony....

Yet another Gerbera daisy post

2009-09-18T00:36:00.002-04:00

I've getting tons of emails today about this one. Come to find out, Kersti at InTatters started a thread looking for the pattern to this doily also, originally named Arlene's First Place Win. Here it is in picture format. To save it, click on the picture, right click, save. That's it! Now it'll never be lost again.

If there is anyone out there in Blogland who knows the lady or is the lady who designed this, I'd like to thank you for such a fantastic piece of tatting!

Edited to add: it's a good idea to add the picture I'm talkin' about, wouldn't it? Let's try this again, shall we?

I've been framed!

2009-09-17T00:03:00.000-04:00

First a thank you everyone who heard my plea and sent a copy of the doily pattern I was looking for. It's flattering to find out just how many people actually stop by for a visit! I humbly thank you all.

I just got back one of my cross stitch pieces from the framer. Before I unveil, let me say that I have come to appreciate the 50% coupons Joann, Etc. and Michaels put in the paper week after week. Cuz I'll tell ya, if I keep this up I will be one broke chick.

"Remember Me" by Birds of a Feather

The picture is not a very good one so you can't really see the detail well. The frame actually looks like old distressed barnwood. I thought it worked well because the threads used to stitch are overdyed which have that nice blotchy old look. The now familiar background which shows up in a lot of my pictures is my tat/crochet/cross stitch chair. The best thing about it (besides being comfortable) is that it's made for vertically challenged folk 5'4" and under! What? A chair I can actually sit in and not have my feet hang in midair? Sold!! One of these days, I'll make a post about my stitchin' corner. That is, if I can remember....

Mmmm.....thread

2009-09-12T13:19:00.001-04:00

Keeping going with the autumn theme, some luscious goodies courtesy of LadyShuttleMaker herself! The paler skein is 'Autumn Medley' and the bottom is 'Cornucopia'. Good leaf and gourd tatting colors, that is, if I can find a tatted gourd somewhere. Designing is not my forte.

Krystle had the most excellent idea for what to do with my punkin jar. Fill it with thread! Perfect answer if I do say so myself.I only have 451,004 balls of it. It never occurred to me because, well, I can't exactly see the forest for the trees. Now I need to find more jars...

Tattycat asked me to post another picture of the Gerbera doily, so here it is! You can also see it peeking out from under the pumpkin jar in the last photo:

Gerbera doily revisited

2009-09-11T01:02:00.001-04:00

A few of you may remember what I called the Gerbera Daisy doily? Well, Jane from South Africa did one, too, and was kind enough to email me to show me her version. I really like the colors she used. On the center, she ran out of light green thread so she dyed some light blue thread green to finish the project. I think it turned out fabulous! The blue-green on the final round really works well with the flowers. Thanks for thinking of me, Jane!

I'm thinking I may want to do this one again, but I can't seem to find my copy of the pattern. If anyone out saved it, can you send it to me? I would be eternally grateful.

Fall!

2009-09-06T15:30:00.007-04:00

Even though the calendar says it's still summer, fall has arrived. Autumn has never been my favorite season because it means winter is on its way. This year instead of mourning the cold dreary weather to come, I've decided to embrace autumn for all it's worth! The colors, the scents, the fantastic crafts ideas.... all of it! I follow approximately eleventy-thousand blogs and the love you all have for the season has forced me to FINALLY open my eyes and see the season for all its beauty. Thank you!

So, some fall tatting...

The pumpkin (Lizbeth 20, Harvest Orange) is Mary Maynard's pattern, possibly the best tatted pumpkin pattern in Tatland. I love it. The two leaves on top of the pumpkin are Karey Solomon's from her book Tatting Turns Over A New Leaf. I used DMC Perle cotton and Sherry Pence's Granny Delicious' HDT, and the bottom leaf is a Ruth Perry Celtic style maple leaf tatted in, what else?, Marilee's 'Sugar Maple' HDT. I see she has a new batch in her Etsy shop, too.

My favorite holiday is Halloween, so I had to do another cross stitch project. 'Remember Me' from my previous post still isn't back from the framer yet. JoAnn's has a three week back up due to a 60% off framing special they have going on right now. I better get my butt up there quickly with this one or else Halloween will be over before I get it back. The text doesn't show up well in the picture because of the camera flash. If you are so inclined, click on the picture for a bigger, better view.

"By the pricking of my thumbs... something wicked this way comes"

"Something Wicked" by La-D-Da
35ct. 'Havana' by Weeks Dye Works
DMC flosses

And lastly, a nice little dollar store find keeping with the autumn theme -- a cute pumpkin canister for only $2! It's made of nice thick glass and holds about two quarts. I don't know what I'll do with it yet, but I'm sure to think of something.

And with that, I'll wish you all a happy Sunday! For those of you who have tomorrow off (me!), enjoy your Labor Day festivities!

Deal of the day

2009-08-28T15:13:00.003-04:00

Impulse shopping. I know I shouldn't, but I do it -- all the time. Driving down the road determined to get from Point A to Point B without any distractions when BAM! out of nowhere I'm pulling over because a shop window has attracted my attention. Kind of like birds and their love of shiny things.

So anyway....today it was the antique shop near my favorite Michaels. They always have very unique furniture and whatnot out in front, but until today I have managed to resist the urge. Good thing, too. Most of their items are ridiculously overpriced even by antique shop standards. Back in a dark, dusty corner an old armoire caught my eye. When I opened the door, lo and behold, look what was sitting on the shelf:

Five dollars for the four of them! It goes without saying I snatched them up and home with me they went. The armoire itself turned out to be a piece of mass produced crap constructed in the 70s at the earliest. That's okay, though. The thrill of discovering the Pricillas properly sated me. Could you just imagine the buyer's remorse the next day if I'd have bought that thing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Halloween is two months away, but...

2009-08-27T00:52:00.006-04:00

I don't claim to be good at cross stitch, but that doesn't stop me from going on a binge a couple times a year. Primitive and Quaker styles are the ones that give me the irresistible urge to grab a Q Snap frame, fabric, needle, and flosses. After two years in the stash box, I finally got around to this one and there are two more ready to go -- one from La-D-Da and the other from The Primitive Needle. It's off to the frame shop in the morning!

"When I am dead and buried and all my bones are rotten

when this you see remember me lest I should be forgotten."

"Remember Me" by Birds Of A Feather
32 ct. Meadowlark linen
Weeks Dye Works flosses

Notice the red lettering in the rhyme spells out B-O-O. I think that is so cute and yes, I am easily amused.

Grr....this is what I get for not being careful. Condensation from the bottom of my glass dripped and caused the red to run into the fabric. I'm just going to tell everyone it's supposed to look that way. Yeah, that's the ticket...

What does your rainbow look like?

2009-08-20T22:27:00.000-04:00

Your rainbow is strongly shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

And it's only 11:30 a.m.

2009-08-20T11:38:00.002-04:00

First the toaster blew up in a pretty blue shower of sparks, then the microwave fritzed out. In order to save the other kitchen appliances from an untimely death, it was to the basement to do some laundry. Nope, that didn't work out either. The washer is stuck in the wash cycle. It keeps agitating, but won't drain or go to the rinse cycle. It's currently unplugged from the wall and half full of water. Hmmm...gremlins, perhaps? Now it's off to the local laundromat with a soaking wet load of sheets in a thunderstorm, no less. Maybe I'll just wait.

The Halloween bug bit me yesterday, so I went through the black hole known as the crafts closet to see what I could find to work on. I settled on a cross stitch sampler from Birds Of A Feather. Digging around some more, I even came across a piece of linen and the exact flosses to work it with. There should be something photoworthy in a day or so.

On the tatting front, I did a few more snowflakes for my rainbow tree. They haven't been blocked yet. All patterns come from Tatting by Myra Piper. The flake done in white/Coral Reef is size 40 while the rest are size 80. The color choices were simple blind grabs from the thread basket.

I'm still here and....40?!! Oh no!

2009-08-14T13:57:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! Here I am. Took some time off because I had to heal. Wrist and elbow troubles laid me low so I needed to recover. A knot had developed in my left wrist right at the base of my palm. At first I thought it was a cyst of some sort, but it turned out it was the tendon bulging. I had to wear a brace to limit movement and couldn't do anything thread related for a few weeks. The days of sitting and tatting for hours on end are over! *sob* While recuperating, I used the time to catch up on some reading...

Tattycat being my inspiration, I am attempting to create a rainbow Christmas tree this year. Joann Fabrics had white pre-lit trees on clearance for $15, so I bought one.My first three flakes of the '09 season are from Jon Yusoff's snowflake collection. Next I'll be starting to work out of Myra Piper's tatting book. These took five days to make, now that I'm all worn out!

And lastly, to toot my own horn, it's my birthday today! 40th to be exact. Yay me! I made it. Here's to another 40...

A tatted....

2009-07-01T16:43:00.003-04:00

clock? They're not really, but they're obviously tatting inspired. I want one! Oh, how I do love ETSY.

A bit o' this and that!

2009-06-30T12:04:00.004-04:00

First off, if you haven't entered this GIVE AWAY: do it now! I rarely ever enter these things, but I had to do this one!

The end of June already! Time really does fly when you're having fun. Even though I haven't posted anything lately, I am trying to keep up with everyone's doings in blogland. Easier said than done. Lots of good things going on around here, I'll tell ya!

As for me,I've been trying to finish up some UFOs and destash, at which I am failing spectacularly. My Ben Fikkert doily is next on the list -- again. A huge mistake which meant cutting out an entire row made me put it down in disgust. Now that I have more thread, it's time to tackle it once more.

For all the UK people, here is one especially for you. You all inspire me so much. From Lindsay Rogers' Tatting For Special Occasions -- Mats, the Rose and Thistle Doily.

The full picture:

For those who don't understand the symbolism, the yellow center represents the Welsh Daffodil, the English are the Roses in the second row, and the Irish Clover and Scottish Thistle are on the outer row. This one was a doozy to make, I redid the outer row twice and still want to do it again!

On the crochet front, it's been mini tote bags for kids. The back side is left blank so they can customize them in whatever way grabs their fancy. These were done for a friend teaching at a summer camp up north:

Purple Fans

2009-06-10T23:23:00.003-04:00

Click on picture for a better view!

The crocheted bookmark can be found here: Crochetroo. And the tatted fan is a design by Mary McCarthy. I think it was originally published in Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

Ravelry fun

2009-06-08T18:53:00.002-04:00

The Ravelry addiction is getting stronger! There's just too much cool stuff to do over there. What I think is going to be a five-minute browse unfailingly turns into thirty. I'm slowing building up my project, library, and stash lists. Before too long, it'll be half a mile long.

I've completed about half of the squares needed for the HPL afghan, so I figure it'll be another two or three weeks before I get it finished. I'm also donating a few quickie items to be sold at a craft fair, but have no idea about pricing guidelines. The pic shows a couple of the patterns (found on Ravelry, of course!) I used. Each of the floral hotpads took approximately ninety minutes and the dishcloths about an hour. I used Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn. No worries about melting that way.

I also tatted up a bunch of paperclips using Singtatter's patterns that are on Georgia Seitz's Online Tatting Class site. Those will be priced at 25 cents.

A new HPL project

2009-06-02T21:17:00.004-04:00

...but it's not tatting! I've joined the yarny, knotty goodness that is Ravelry and I'm hopelessly addicted. So many goodies to make, so little time. I must have logged about 20-25 hours over there and haven't even scratched the surface yet. I love it! If you click the little blinking Ravelry badge, it will take you to my page which is a work in progress itself. So without further adieu, my latest project.

The yarn! Originally, I was going with mossy greens and soft plums, but then I saw these two and my mind was changed instantly. The variegated is named Earth&Sky and the solid is Aruba Sea. I love turquoises and browns together.

The motif! The solid color rounds are hairpin lace. The two joining rounds of variegated use post stitches that give the square a nice texture. When all the squares are done they'll be joined with single crochet stitches in Aruba Sea. My HPL tension is still not that great, but once I sew the squares together it won't be as noticeable, I hope. I've decided that I'm going to invest in a nice HPL loom from StitchDiva.com, because the one I bought to make this afghan is a piece of crap. The pins keep sliding out of the bases, so I ended up having to wrap a rubberband around one end to keep it all together.

Another heart!

2009-05-27T16:27:00.003-04:00

They say hindsight is always 20/20, so I really should have done this sooner and posted it for Memorial Day. Ah well, better late than never! I have always loved this pattern, but I have mixed feelings about how this one turned out. The rice beads are too long at the top of heart causing it to be a bit misshapen and I should have used down (or is it up?) joins for the split rings making the stripes. That little dot of color on the next row bugs me.

A friend of mine who also just recently was pink slipped stopped by for a bit today. She couldn't understand how I wasn't climbing the walls with boredom! I showed her the aforementioned stack of books and the piles of patterns, threads, crochet hooks and shuttles. She was too intimidated by the tatting shuttles, but she did pick up on crochet basics pretty quickly. So I threw together a beginners kit of a hook, a few balls of yarn, a granny square pattern and a list of crochet sites and off she went! And with that a new crocheter joins the ranks. Maybe I can get her to attempt the shuttle later...

The details: Altin Basak 50 and 10 rice beads. Approx 3-1/2" tall and 3" wide. Not a bad pattern for emptying shuttles as it used very little thread.

Life and such

2009-05-26T21:32:00.006-04:00

Well, it's now the third week of being unemployed. I'm actually enjoying myself. Maybe too much! I've been making a dent into my stack of unread books and making a new list of books to be read at the same time. Looks like that stack will never get any smaller at that rate. My local library is my new best friend.

The closet that has been in desperate need of organizing is now organized, but for how long is anyone's guess. We're talking about the crafts closet. Need I say more?

During my hair pin lace fever I received a friendly email from tatter Hope Green complimenting my on my HPL. She said I made a wonderful start to her day. Well, her email was definitely a highlight of my day, too! Thank you, Hope, for your nice words. It's always a pleasant surprise when a fellow tatter/blogger writes to me.

Browsing the blogs, I came across a post about buttons and beads on Tat's Heaven's blog. So pretty were those hearts that I was consumed with the desire to do one for myself. Of course, it didn't quite turn out that way because I found a pattern for the most gorgeous beaded heart that I ended up doing that one instead. Working with beads and buttons makes me want to do more, so I'll be matching up some more thread and patterns tomorrow.

I used Flora 50 in dark red with 11/0 purple seed beads and 1/2" purple buttons. The heart and beads are actually a nice royal looking red and purple, but as usual, my scanner likes to make everything lighter.

I really need to get working on the 25 Motif Challenge again, but you know me -- easily distracted!

OK, just one more hairpin lace post...

2009-05-18T18:48:00.006-04:00

...and I'll stop boring you all! I still need to work on my tension, but I'm definitely getting the rhythm of flipping this thing around. The motif is Lenore English's snowflake. I used Lizbeth threads in Cotton Candy and the coordinating light peach. The adorable little fan is from Gina's TattingGoddess Yahoo! forum. I tatted it using Lady Shuttlemaker's "Spring Poppies" and DMC color 798 in size 80.

This little foray into hairpin lace turned out to be a lot of fun. It's opened up a new avenue instead of the usual tatting or crocheting. Even though design is not my forte, I can put a little twist into whatever I'm working on if I feel the urge!

And one other thing, the mailman brought a little treat from Tatskool! I can't show it yet, but it's quite yummy....

More fun with hairpin lace

2009-05-17T09:20:00.003-04:00

Yesterday endeup up being rainy and windy so instead of yard sale-ing, I practiced making hairpin lace. Instead of using a 'staple', an adjustable loom was used. That turned out to help a lot. The adjustable loom is lighter and the flat bottom makes it easier for me to handle. I could hold it against my body while making the loops, which gave the stability I needed to improve my tension. Here are the fruits of my labors:

Both patterns came from the archives of Georgia Seitz's Online Tatting Class. The little doily was designed by Saundra Hameed and done in size 10 Cebelia. Yes, I missed a loop, but you all don't see that. The little bitty angel is from Martha Ess. She was also made with Cebelia, size 30 this time.

Searching the internet for more hairpin lace information led me to StitchDiva.com. This site has some gorgeous needlework patterns in the latest fashions. There are some excellent hairpin lace tutorials on the site. They show start-to-finish how to put together a loom, making the strips, and how to join them. I found it to be strange that I could only find said tutorials using Google with the keywords "hairpin", "lace", and "tutorial". I didn't find a link anywhere on the site itself. Strange, but then again, maybe I needed to register to see them.

Today I will finish the not-so-pretty 1970s colored teapot set and take it to its new home. I'm leery to see the 2009 version of a 1970s kitchen it will be residing in. Brown, gold, avocado green, and burnt orange. Some things do not need to resurrected for nostalgia's sake! I'm already having flashbacks to being seven years old again.

Hairpin Lace

2009-05-15T23:06:00.006-04:00

A while back I came across some hairpin lace looms in assorted sized. I was intrigued, so I bought them. I've seen hairpin lace incorporated into other types of lace -- knitting, crochet, and of course, tatting. Now that I've got plenty of time on my hands, I gave it a whirl tonight. I used a 1-1/2" loom. Books that teach hairpin lace fail! They don't show the flip. Yes, hairpin lace has a flip -- the hook! Once I got that part down, it was easy. This is my first attempt. Not pretty at the beginning, but I got better as I went along. I'll practice some more tomorrow. For anyone who's interested, this is the Youtube clip I learned from. Excellent!

These are different examples of some of the looms I bought. They come in sizes from 1/2" all the way to 2". Tomorrow I will be going yard sale-ing. Hopefully, I 'll hit paydirt and find some inexpensive old pattern books. Not that I don't have a bunch already. :)

Hmmm...not too sure about this one

2009-05-14T19:13:00.003-04:00

I am in the process of tatting one of Martha Ess' Antique Rose Teapot sets for a friend. As hard as I tried to convince her otherwise, this is the color she chose. I don't think I really like it, but it's not my opinion that counts here. I think it would have looked nicer if I would have used ecru for the chains. What do you think?

If it looks a bit crooked, it's because it hasn't been blocked yet.

An update on life ( no pics today!)

2009-05-13T09:48:00.000-04:00

Well, it finally happened. I joined the ranks of the unemployed last week.

When I was given my pink slip, the first thing that went through my head wasn't, "Oh no, what am I going to do now?". It was, "Now I have more time to tat and finally figure out those hairpin lace looms sitting in the closet". My strange reaction is due to the fact I knew it was coming and made my peace with it. A friend of mine kept telling me to stop worrying myself sick because it won't change the situation and that I should just consider it a long deserved vacation. So that's what I am going to do.

There's no car payment or mortgage to worry about and the credit cards are paid down to a nearly zero balance. I suppose I can weather this storm. No pity or sympathy, please. I don't feel sorry for myself at all. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

Enough of that! Some tatting news...

I am now a member of the Great Lakes Lace Guild. It's so nice to finally get to talk to other tatters in the flesh. This weekend is a lace convention, but it was full so I'll just stop by to shop the tables. Karey Solomon will be there!

DS9 Designs has Lizbeth thread now. It's $3.75 a ball. Excellent! I love Deb Arnold's stuff, especially her patterns.

Lastly, we're finally getting a Hobby Lobby in my area! I've seen so many people post about that place I was beginning to think I may be missing out on something. So, I'll get to see for myself shortly. Of course, I already signed up for the mailing list in case there are any good coupons....

Anyhow, hope everyone out in Tatland is tatting up a storm and have a good day!

I hope everyone's having a great day!

2009-05-07T13:14:00.002-04:00

Singtatter's paperclip butterfly in Autumn Medley and Coral Reef HDT and Adelheid Dangela's Diana in Tutti Frutti HDT.

Jane Eborall's tatting (dolly) bags

2009-05-04T12:55:00.006-04:00

Last week I ordered one of Jane's dolly bags. It came today! Now that was fast. My old bag is getting a bit tattered and torn. Here are a few pics:

The bag's pockets are nice and stiff so it stands nicely on its own. Very convenient.

Here it is filled with stuff. The usual tools -- shuttles, snips, tweezers,hooks, a pen for jotting notes, bead threaders and a couple coilless safety pins pinned to the side. What's really cool is that it holds three 20 gram balls in the bottom with room left on top to put your work-in-progress. What you can't see well is Jane's very own 'Made by:' tag in the side of the bag.

And finally, here is the closed bag completely full of stuff. Nothing poking out, not can anything work its way out of the pockets. I love it! Thanks Jane!

Numbers 5 and 6, finally!

2009-04-25T14:38:00.006-04:00

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

2009-04-20T11:15:00.004-04:00

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!

2009-04-11T15:34:00.004-04:00

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

2009-04-10T22:23:00.004-04:00

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

2009-04-06T11:33:00.005-04:00

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!

2009-04-04T13:12:00.004-04:00

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!

2009-04-01T12:11:00.001-04:00

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

I found it!

2009-03-30T23:22:00.003-04:00

I've gotten some requests for the pattern of what I call the Gerbera daisy doily. After an hour or so of retracing my e-steps, I found the link!

Click --------> HERE

Gerbera daisies

2009-03-30T01:30:00.004-04:00

...in a vase.

In a doily!

As you can see, it's too big to fit the scanner bed. I found the pattern online somewhere. Originally it was done in blue and white, but I just had to jazz it up. If you couldn't tell, yes, I think it looks like gerbera daisies. It was a marathon tatting session. I worked on it all day today (Sunday), and my hands will make me pay for it so I doubt I'll have any goodies to show for the next week or so. I used the Turkish Altin Basak threads in size 50, which is similar to size 30. It's approximately 12" across. It was my way to bring some spring into a dreary snowy day!

Edited to add a crappy pic of the entire doily....

Still egg crazy

2009-03-23T12:29:00.005-04:00

Mimi Dillman's small Cluny Egg. My hand gave out before I could do all the clunies on the big egg, so it's just the little one for today. I'm almost out of my egg phase, maybe one or two more, but then that's it!!

This is another one from Tatted Easter Eggs and a cross, Maria, from Tatted Bookmarks by Lene Bjorn.

I'm woefully behind on the Challenge, although I have started motif No.5. It's not my fault, though. It was the eggs. They were too tempting! ;)

Happy first day of Spring!

2009-03-20T15:55:00.003-04:00

Well, we've made it through another long dark winter! Here's to a nice warm spring.

Pattern is by Edda Guastalla and can be found on Georgia Seitz's awesome website.

Another Egg!

2009-03-20T07:38:00.004-04:00

I started working my way through the book Tatted Easter Eggs yesterday. For this one, I used Altin Basak thread in lavender and pale yellow. This is such a great thread to use. The knots slide nicely and it comes in lots of pretty colors. So without further adieu, Egg No. 19:

Hippity Hoppity...

2009-03-15T12:26:00.004-04:00

Easter's on its way!

It's all about eggs right now. I just received my copy of Tatted Easter Eggs by Kirsten Wind Hansen and some of the FANTASTIC Lizbeth thread from Handy Hands. The quality of the Lizbeth reminds me of Anchor Mercer thread, smooth as silk and handles being retrotatted very well. It was definitely worth the wait.
The eggs I ended up tatting weren't even from the book. Instead, it's Mark Myers',aka Tatman's, 'Bunny In An Egg' from his website. I downloaded it when I first learned to tat about 7 years ago. While flipping through some pattern binders I came across it. I think the reason I didn't tat it back then was because I didn't know how to do split rings and definitely not a ring thrown off the second half of a split ring. So here it is and at the bottom of the post I've included a link where you can download it. I uploaded it to a free PDF hosting site because I haven't checked to see if Mark has Tat-man.net back up and running.

First, a bunny in white...

And a chocolate bunny. It's just not Easter without a chocolate bunny!

The white bunny is tatted in Flora 20, and the egg is Olympus 40, creamy pastels. The chocolate bunny is tatted in cocoa Lizbeth and the egg is Manuela 20.

Click HERE for the pattern! The link is good for only 30 days.

Ebay owns my soul

2009-03-14T22:02:00.006-04:00

Happy Saturday! Now that the winter semester is done and I feel good as new, I'm finally getting some tatting done. I've been meaning to post all week, but I got caught up in reading everyone else's blogs that I forgot. There's just so many of them now it boggles my mind.

I'd like to show you all some goodies I found on eBay! Tatting related items have become very hot. The pickings are not as good as they used to be and when I do find something, there's usually a pretty active bidding war for if. I am such an addict it's not even funny -- more like pathetic. The mailman hates me. He doesn't even bother hiding it. He just throws the packages at my door and walks away. I'm pretty sure it makes his day when he hits the door just right and knocks the wreath down. Jerk.

Anyhow, here is a shuttle carved from bog wood inlaid with malachite. It's so pretty I think I may just get a shadow box and display it.

I found this book for $2.00. When Cluny fever strikes again, I'll be ready. The illustrations are not too clear, but since it was so cheap I can't complain.

The crown jewel of my latest eBay finds! It's Ben Fikkert's Floriade. Beautiful, beautiful patterns. I've been wanting this one ever since I saw a very colorful doily on Celtic Dream Weaver's blog.

Hello all!

2009-03-04T17:07:00.002-05:00

Long time, no blog....or tat for that matter! A couple things have laid me low. First, I managed to strain my neck and shoulder making it too painful to look down or hold anything up for more than a few minutes at a time. Second, I have been completely bogged down with coursework the second half of this semester with two weeks yet to go. Ugh. I've begun tatting again, but I don't have anything to show. But I will soon.

Thanks to Tatting Goddess, I FINALLY got to meet some tatters in real life!! She put me in touch with a very nice lady named Merie. I was invited to attend a meeting of an offshoot group of the Great Lakes Lace Guild. It was so much fun. It was the first bit of tatting I'd done in at least a month. I can't wait until the next meeting. We're going to be doing eggs and crosses for Easter. Yay!

Looking around, I see there is so much stuff I have missed and tons of new blogs to get acquainted with. It's so nice to see how tatting is skyrocketing in popularity. Oh, I just noticed I missed another TIAS! I am definitely going to have to get the pages for that.

Even though I haven't been tatting, I have been buying! I'll post some pics later this week of some of my new goodies. Now I'm in the mood to buy some new thread. Does anyone know if Handy Hands is shipping the Lizbeth thread yet? If so, I'm going to be heating up the old credit card.

Enough for now! I've missed you all and I am off to catch up on everyone's blogs...

Afghan progress and Motif #4

2009-01-18T15:41:00.003-05:00

The baby afghan is coming along. I have 12 rows left to crochet. I have to admit, it's adorable. A pic will go up once I'm finished. The deathly cold temperatures finally broke and another four inches of snow have fallen. It's a sultry 23 degrees here today and the icicles have been falling off the eaves with deafening crashes all day today. I've had enough. Please there be an early spring!

I had to put the crochet aside so I could do another motif for the challenge. Meet Seaweed the Seahorse. He was tatted with Lady Shuttlemaker's 'Seaweed'(quite fitting, don't you think?) HDT in size 80, which makes him about 3-1/2" high and 1-1/4" wide.

You can find the pattern at the DS9designs website. For those who are not familiar with that site,Deb has some great patterns for free and for sale. She also sells beads, King Tut and Valdani threads, and some beautiful tatting bags.