A Little More Tatting

Jane Eborall's Fandango Bookmark

I've been doing a little bit of tatting lately. Above you'll see the beginning of Jane's Fandango bookmark. It's really pretty and the pattern works up quickly. I'll post a picture of the completed, blocked bookmark soon.


I can't seem to get enough of these bookmarks that I started a few posts ago. They are so much fun to make and I love having a few around as thank you gifts, etc.

Busy As A Bee

Well, this past month has just flown by! We've been so busy. At the beginning of the month, I watched our four grandchildren while their parents went on a Hawaiian cruise. Everyone had a good time. This was their first cruise together and they really enjoyed it. It was also the longest time they had been away from the kids since the first one was born six years ago. All the grandchildren were fantastic and I really enjoyed being with them.

My husband has been remodeling a house and finished it just a week ago. He must be exhausted because even though he was up early and gone all day while he was working, now that it's done, it's hard to get him out of the house. LOL

We just got home from a four day motorcycle trip with a bunch of friends. Most people wonder if I ride on the back or ride my own. I ride my own motorcycle. It's a very shiny white Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail and I love it.

But even with all the stuff that has been going on, I've still been able to get some tatting done. One of the things I love most about tatting is how portable it is. I pack it in my motorcycle bag and take it with me everywhere I go. I made two bookmarks for the friends who put this four-day trip together and while we were gone I was able to make a third one just to have as an extra.

One last thing. I just bought an embroidery machine! I've never had one before so I'm very excited about it. I love to sew all kinds of things and I know this will be a lot of fun to use. I can embroider on clothing or pillowcases or quilts and with all the grandchildren (8 plus 2 more on the way), I'm sure it will be well worth the investment.

Well, I have lots to do so enough writing for now. I'll post more pictures later - some tatting, some embroidery, and maybe even some motorcycle pictures if anyone is interested in seeing them.

A Duet of Color

Like so many other tatters, I love Mary Konior's patterns. This is Duet out of the Tatting with Visual Patterns book. The pattern consists of rings only and for the book, it was done with two rows but I added a third row to contrast the plain white center row.

Her patterns are lovely and I will be tatting more of them in the near future.

If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see it full-size.

Valentine Snowflake and Angel

It's a little late on Valentine's Day to be sending gifts but I finished a heart motif that I wanted to do for Valentines so here it is.

Instead of tatting a simple heart, I used Jon Yusoff's Hearts in a Snowflake so that I can add this snowflake to my collection of flakes that will be sent for use on the Palmetto's Tat Day's fundraising quilt.

I've never had a chance to attend any of the tatting conferences so I'm going to try to make it this year to Palmetto's Tat Days. I'll keep you posted on my progress of getting that confirmed.

Jon's snowflake tatted up so quickly that I also did Birgit's Simple Angel pattern just for fun. I enjoyed making both of these motifs and am looking forward to making more snowflakes for the quilt.

A belated but heartfelt Happy Valentine's Day wish to all of my fellow tatters. I hope you were able to spend a little special time with your loved ones!

Airplanes & Wreaths?

They don't have anything in common other than being finished during the same week. I know, what a letdown, huh? Sorry.

The beaded wreath, pattern by Laura Bobay, is something I started right after the holidays because I tatted one and gave it away. I only did the first round on the wreath I tatted and gave away and I really wanted to do both rounds because it is such a pretty wreath. So here it is:

 

The second item I just finished was Jane's Tat It And See (aka TIAS). She had all of us guessing until the very end and I was very surprised to see that it turned out to be an airplane. I know Jane loves critters and I was sure it was going to be an alligator. Oh well, that's part of the fun doing her TIAS motifs - you never know what it is until it's done. Thanks Jane for another wonderful TIAS. It was fun!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I think I'll go tat a pretty heart to celebrate.

It Feels Good to Be Tatting Again

It's amazing what a few months away from tatting does. I've really missed it and now that I'm starting up again, I have so many new patterns to try and beautiful thread to use that I don't know where to begin.

I figured I would start with some simple motifs and increase in complexity as I get back into my comfort zone.

The first thing I chose was a needle tatted bookmark from Roger's Needletatting Proboard forum.

 

The instructions were fantastic and it worked up very quickly with a butterfly at one end and a clover at the opposite end.

Happy New Year!

I wish all of you a wonderful and prosperous New Year.

I hope we all find a little extra time to do the things we love, spend more time with friends and loved ones, continue to dream, and create beautiful memories.

Many blessings to you and your families,

Tatteristic!

Still Tatting

I feel bad that I've missed writing almost two months' worth of tatting posts to my blog. It's been a very busy time and I didn't have much to show. I hope you'll forgive me this one time.

We've been on vacation twice this year. Each time I took my tatting with me but didn't accomplish very much. Then it got crazy busy at work, and don't even get started on how many family birthdays there are this time of the year.

Enough excuses, I'm back and I'm still tatting.

When I saw Laura Bobay's beaded wreath on Tat-Man's (aka Mark Myers) website, I knew I just had to make it. The only Christmas green thread I have is size 10 and it was too big for my taste so I found a leafy green Lizbeth thread in size 20 that I liked much better. I hope Tat-Man and Laura won't mind that I didn't actually do both rounds. After I finished the first round, I like it so much that I included it in my In-Tatter's Christmas Exchange package. I'm starting another wreath and this time I promise to do both rounds. The wreath was needle tatted and has clear seed beads between the large rings. If you click on the photo, you'll see the full-size picture.

I've also been crocheting some baby beanie hats and making some large tote bags for gifts. So you see, I really have been busy at a combination of all things crafty.

I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and you're looking forward to the Christmas season.

(Revised 11/30/10 to include Laura Bobay's name as the designer of the beaded wreath.)

A Little Tatting Here & There

I don't have any new pictures to post of tatting, but I have been working a couple of things - not just tatting. I've been sewing quite a bit lately and made some baby gifts for an adorable little girl born in August. I made her mom a nursing cover and she received a pink quilt and taggie blanket.

Believe it or not, they are made out of the same fabric so they match exactly. I'm not sure what's going on with these pictures - must've been different lighting when photos were taken.

  

Cluny tatting still eludes me. I've been practicing with different size threads and am still not able to be consistent enough. I've used both a shuttle and needle for practice and sometimes my petals look nice and sometimes they are just a mess.

As with anything that is new, I know it takes a lot of practice and I will continue to practice my Cluny leaves. However, they can be a little frustrating so I will be tatting other things in between.

I'm working on the Amusement Doily right now with a new Lizbeth #40 thread and I'm loving it. I want to make a few more snowflakes so I bought another ball of white thread just for that.

Tatting Snowflakes for the Holidays

I posted these on my 25 Motif Challenge blog but I also wanted to post pictures here so that everyone can see what I've been working on.

I tatted the first one on vacation and the second one right after we returned because I thoroughly enjoyed the patterns in Lene Bjorn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting book.

There are 22 more in this book that I want to try and complete between now and the holidays.

A New Toolbar for Tatteristic!

I'm testing a new toolbar which you'll notice at the bottom of your screen.

It's free from Wibiya.com and has a ton of features for sharing, communicating, and monitoring your blog or website.

There are many additional options for sharing photos and posts and keeping in touch via all kinds of social media.

I still want to add some features but I wanted to get it installed and give it a try.

Please let me know what you think about it. I'm always looking for new ways to share info and improve communication.

Shepherd Hook Bookmarks

There was a question from Tatknot in a comment to my last post. I had mentioned wanting to make some shepherd hook bookmarks and she wondered what they looked like.

Here's a picture. They are about 5" long and flat so they slip nicely into a book without any bulk added when the book is closed.

You've probably seen something similar but called by a different name. Here's what it looks like inside a book.

The motif is just a simple clover pattern with a charm. I found the hooks at Joanns and they only cost about $1.50 or so.

Thanks for asking about them. I'm sure others wondered what I was talking about too!

Getting Back into Tatting

We're back from vacation and I'm looking forward to spending many evenings tatting. I've missed it.

I did manage to do a little tatting while on vacation and finished a pretty snowflake. As I was tatting on the plane, at the airport, or during the cruise, many people stopped and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was tatting and showed them my work. I took a bunch of small butterflies and gave them to everyone who inquired. All of the butterflies were much appreciated but I realized I would have liked to have had something a little larger to give to people.

I think I will make up some of the shepherd hook bookmarks with the hanging motif and give them to anyone who asks about tatting. They are a little more substantial, not so easily misplaced, and could even be re-gifted to friends or family if desired.

More to follow. I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

Tatting on Vacation

We are in Alaska. I brought a lot of tatting with me to work on thinking there would be quiet times when I would want to tat. So far, we've been so busy that I haven't even taken it out and looked at it.

However, we did have a three hour flight to Anchorage and I was able to get it out and do a little work. The lady next to me told me her grandmother tatted but no one else in her family learned how to do it. I gave her a butterfly that I brought with me. I was thinking about leaving tatted bookmarks and other motifs as thank-you gifts to the hospitality staff throughout our trip.

Yesterday it was a clear, sunny day as we rode the train to Denali. Today I think it will probably rain. We're planning on taking the Natural History Tour today and won't get back to the lodge until 11:30pm. It's amazing that it stays light outside that late!

Learning to Make Cluny Leaves

With much thanks to Mimi Dillman and Elisadusud, I think I finally figured out how to tat cluny leaves!

I watched the videos over and over and read the instructions step by step and slowly made some progress. Thank you to everyone who suggested tutorials - they were very helpful.

Here are my first two attempts (that were worth photographing!). The same No. 10 thread was used for both. The top pair was shuttle tatted and the bottom pair was needle tatted. (Clicking on the picture shows more detail.)

I wanted to be sure I could both shuttle and needle tat these because I switch back and forth between the two styles depending on what I'm making.

For anyone who is interested, I found the technique to be the same for both shuttle and needle.

However, just for learning the technique of how to make cluny leaves, you don't really need a shuttle or needle. For me, wrapping my loom hand required the most practice. Passing the shuttle or needle or just the thread by itself, was the easy part. Closing the cluny leaf requires pulling on the threads to tighten up the leaf and as long as you've read the instructions or watched videos and know which threads to pull first and last, that part of the technique just requires a little patience.

You need enough open space in the 'loom' hand to pass the shuttle back and forth. If needle tatting, the open space can be much smaller. Tension using either method is the very important and at first your 'loom' hand gets tired and cramped. I relaxed my fingers without even noticing it which made the passes back and forth rather loose and sloppy.

I'm not sure why the shuttle tatted clunies have sort of a right-angle bend at the beginning of the second leaf. Perhaps I twisted the thread after the chain? I'll have to keep any eye on my next set and see if it happens again. If anyone knows what I did that caused this, please let me know.

Well, now that I have the feel of how to tat cluny leaves, I can safely say that many more practice sessions are in order to work on consistency and symmetry.

Because I struggled to learn this technique, I wrote down my own instructions along with a few pictures for future use. I don't want to forget what I did a few months from now if I put it aside for other tatting and try to come back to it later!

As soon as I have finished a motif with cluny leaves, I'll post pictures here and add it to my 25 Motif Challenge.

Don't you think cluny leaves would look fantastic as part of some crazy quilting? I do.

Now it's time to practice, practice, practice.

P.S.
If you've been hesitant like I was to learn how to tat cluny leaves, or tried before and gave up, I say give it another chance. They are beautiful in all of the tatted pieces I've seen and I'm glad to be able to add them to my list of tatting accomplishments.

Catching Up On All the Tatting Blogs

I've been tatting away on various projects but none of them are very inspiring right now. I've started and stopped a number of times and just can't seem to decide what I want to work on next.

When all else fails, I tat little butterflies or other small motifs to use up thread left on shuttles. I guess I think if I have empty shuttles, I'll be ready to fill them with beautiful thread for the next tatting project.

Since I haven't figured out what I want to work on, I decided to catch up on all the tatting blogs. Everyone is making such beautiful tatted items and that inspires me. Thank you tatters for posting and sharing your work.

I think I'll check out my pattern books and look online and try something I've never tatted before. One technique that seems very popular right now is cluny tatting. So far I have failed miserably at making clunies so I will look for more info online and perhaps some new videos and give it a try.

Any suggestions on where I might find instructions for making clunies? Videos are great because I'm very much a visual learner. It reminds me of learning to make split rings and split chains. I tried and tried and tried and finally the light went on and I got it. I'm hoping for the same reaction to making clunies!

Word of Caution About Blog Comments

Some of you may already know this, but I just recently figured out something about comments.

I love reading all the comments other tatters leave on my blog but I don't publish them without looking at them first, and this is why. I've been involved in the tatting community for almost two years and am pretty familiar with many names and bloggers but I don't know everyone. While I'm not afraid of a few negative comments here and there, I am very cautious about spamming and other malware that is prevalent everywhere now.

As I was looking as some of the comments I've received, one trend I noticed was after that after a very innocent comment there were a bunch of underlined dots. I didn't immediately recognize the name and wondered why there were 10-15 dots at the end of the comment.

Now, I admit, I often end my sentences in email or when texting with 3-4 dots...it's kind of my way of letting the recipent know that my comments are open-ended and hopefully they will reply with further thoughts or information.

What was interesting about these comments was when I hovered my mouse over the dots and looked at the bottom of my browser screen, all kinds of trashy website URLs came up!

Spammers have figured out a way to create links using this method.

So, fellow tatters, be wary of unknown bloggers or odd comments you see on your own blogs and check them out (hover don't click) before publishing.

Just my two cents' worth but I hope it helps someone.

One more thing - if you receive comments in a foreign language, copy them into a translator (Google has one) before you do anything else. You'll be surprised and probably disappointed in what some of them say...

2010 Tat Days Quilt Block

Not very long ago, I volunteered to finish a quilt block for the 2010 Tat Days put on by Palmetto Tatters Guild. Here's a photo of the quilt block I received:

Well, I looked and looked at the block trying to decide what sort of crazy quilting/tatting I would add. I tatted up some edgings and tried them out; some I kept; some I did not. I tried a number of different single motifs to fill the 'center' area but finally ended up tatting a rose motif for it. I added some butterflies with beads; more tatted edgings; and even a little lace with buttons, and this is what it looked like when I sent back to Georgia.

If you double-click on the photo itself you'll be able to see much more detail.

It was fun to work on and inspired me to practice some embroidery stitches for future projects. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished quilt and I can tell from the other blocks I've already seen, that it will be a huge success!

Big and Small Tatting

As one of my 25 Motif Challenges, I tatted a doily. Even though I was afraid I might get bored doing a doily, I actually found it to be quite fun and kind of relaxing to tat. Some of the rounds were repeats of previous rounds so there were easy tatting times.

It's called a Clover Leaf Doily by Linda S. Davies and I found the pattern at www.craftown.com. It's about 6.5 inches across and was shuttle tatted in Lizbeth #20 thread; a medium leaf green and ecru.

After finishing the doily and while I pondered which tatting project I would start next, I decided to tat up some butterflies. I decided it would be fun to make teeny, tiny butterflies since I had just finished a large project.

These butterflies are all needle tatted and less than 1/2" across. I used a pretty pink Sulky Rayon thread; an ivory hand quilting thread, and blue outdoor UV resistant thread. Quite an interesting array of thread I have on hand, don't you think?

What should I tat next? I still haven't decided...but I'm thinking about doing something with cluny leaves since I've never done them before. I'll keep you posted.

Love to Tat

I don't know about you, but after a long day at work, I really look forward to spending a little time tatting.

There's just something wonderful about picking out a new pattern (or sometimes an old favorite), searching through thread for just the right one, winding the shuttles (or even threading the needles), finding something good to watch on TV and settling in for an evening of tatting.

I can't wait to get home and start tatting!