Weaving Wednesday

This is pattern #5 - Ribbing from the Square Deal Weave-Along. The blue is Lion Brand Baby Soft. The green is Red Heart... weaving with worsted weight is very hard on my hands, but I like the look!


When I get stuck on any type of needlework project, I tend to abandon it... sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. Then I move on to something else, something that at least seems easier! This is the beginning of my newest tatting... Design #1 from page 7 of Tatting: 60 Original Lace Treasures by Christel Weidmann. The thread is Yarnplayer's "Summer Trail" size 50. I didn't measure, so the space between the rings is not the 1/4" that's called for. I'm going to finish this one anyway. I want to see how it turns out with incorrect measuring... I can be pretty stubborn!

Reading is fundamental!

So, I was reading Sharon's blog about adding a link. Sherry Pence had already e-mailed me excellent instructions, so I was really reading to get a different perspective. I was amazed to see that Sharon had all sorts of cute little icons above her text pane. I followed her directions... still no icons!

When I opened up my Blogger account this morning, I found a cute little link to Macintosh... I'm a Mac user at home, Dell at school. Guess what? Safari (the browser suggested by Apple) isn't fully compatible with Blogger... therefore, no icons!

Next step... download Firefox. Ta da! I have icons! And now, when I spell check, my spelling actually gets checked... no error message! I don't have as many icons as Sharon, but I'll take anything at this point! I sure wish all these computer applications would play nicely together... it sure would make life easier... or at least computing!

Autumn Leaves

This pretty little leaf is from Nancy Tracy's Tat's Where I Stopped (p. 32, November - Autumn Leaves). I used Yarnplayer's "Summer Trail" size 50.

Believe it or not, this little leaf took me hours! The directions are wonderful... I just couldn't make a lock join to save my soul! I worked on this beauty for the entire Chicago Bears football game, about a half hour this morning, and about another half hour when I got home from school. I think I need to find where I put my tatting videos and take a refresher course! I'm much better when I can watch an expert demonstrate techniques... words and still pictures just don't help me get the message processed correctly so that my hands can function!

Lots of little flowers...

To help get myself back in the tatting groove, I chose to make some little flowers from Mary Maynard's Tatting Rings of Flowers. In no particular order, they are: #1, #9, #10, #11, and #15. There's also one I can't identify, so I must have made a mistake... oops!

The squares are pattern #4 - Double Outline Diamond from the Square Deal Weave-Along. Can you tell what my Wednesday night challenge is?

Gidget loves Moondoggie!

Thanks TATBiT! I wonder if the bear pins will help us with the Chicago Bears? They play to the north. They have training camp to the south. Oh, my!

Trying out links

My good friend Sherry sent me instructions on creating links, so I have to try them out!

LadyShuttleMaker

Sherry, it worked! Thank you so much! Now I have to put my instructions in a really safe place... not too safe, or I'll never find them again!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Sherry to share 7 facts about myself!

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

7 facts about myself:

1. I don't know how to link to Sherry's blog, so I have to post her blog address: http://ladyshuttlemaker.blogspot.com/. It's a good thing I'm an elementary library/computer teacher... some of the 5th graders know more than I do!
2. I haven't been able to figure out how to get my picture to show up when I comment on other people's blogs... I think it must be because I'm a Mac user! I also can't use any of the short cuts shown at the bottom... when I try, a mail window pops up... too weird!
3. Six and a half years ago, I hurt my shoulder playing volleyball. As a result, I couldn't lift my left arm. Despite months of treatment, I could not lift my arm higher than shoulder level. Then, a year and a half ago, I fell down the stairs... hit every one! I can now lift my arm straight up... go figure!
4. I have at least 114 tatting shuttles... I'm sure there are some tucked away that I just can't see right now. I also have at least 50 tatting books/leaflets. However, I didn't really start tatting in earnest until last spring.
5. I love olives! My favorite ones are Paesana Country Mix... mmmmm!
6. I collect kitchen gadgets and cookbooks, and I love good food... but I really don't like to cook.
7. I'm fascinated by tangrams, origami, and snowflakes... among other things!

I really don't know how to link, but I'm tagging...

Jullie at http://jullieteo.blogspot.com/
Jana at http://eloomanator.eloomanation.com/
Jan at http://stillplayingwithstring.blogspot.com/

Can you be tagged more than once? I hope not... I don't think I can come up with 7 more facts about myself!

Back in the groove... I think!

I just realized that the end of October is very near, and I promised myself that I'd make an October birthday present for a friend of mine. Denise suggested that I decorate a shuttle. Several years ago, Denise took part in several shuttle exchanges, so she's pretty experienced with it. This is my first time! I'm not sure how practical a decorated shuttle is, but it was fun to make!

The melon colored shuttle has the partial Mary Konior motif that I tatted a couple of weeks ago. The green shuttle has flower motif #10 from page 13 of Mary Maynard's Tatting Rings of Flowers. I used King Tut #927. I really love working with King Tut!

Do, do, do, lookin' out my back door!

It's hard to believe we're under a tornado watch until 11 p.m.! Dave just missed the picture he wanted of the sun shining through the clouds. I'm always amazed at the beauty all around us!

Distracted

I've really been distracted for over a week. That must be the answer! I just can't seem to follow patterns! I've made more mistakes in the past week than I ever would have thought possible! As a result, I have no completed tatted pieces. So, tonight I decided to weave. On the left is the Fancy Weave pattern, and on the right is the Basket Weave pattern from the Square Deal Weave-Along. I hope I did these right!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend!

I couldn't wait to see the diamond pattern emerge, so I wove 3 more squares. I do like the result!

Fragmented fragment

I was inspired by Tatman's recent posting about tatting with fine thread. This tiny piece is part of "Briar Fragments" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior, page 81. I used King Tut quilting thread, color #934. I'm amazed at how tiny a piece I was able to tat... with no mistakes! I'm not sure if I'll make the other half of this fragment, or leave it as is to decorate a shuttle.

The blue square is pattern #2 - Crossroads from the Square Deal Weave-Along. The directions suggest making multiple squares to create diamond patterns. I may have to do that!

Then there were three...

I finished two more Bell Flowers (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior), one in solid pink, one in variegated pink. I wish I had ordered a deeper pink for the solid, but obviously I didn't. I haven't decided what I want to do with them, so for now they're residing in my curio cabinet. The pinks are size 20 Flora.

Windowpane Lace

A week or so ago, Sherry asked me if I had any plans for the motifs I've been working on... and I had no plan! This morning I woke up and thought, why not sew the motifs onto the 4" squares made on my Weavette loom? I joined the Square Deal Weave-Along, which started yesterday. I had already decided to make 3 of each square (one blanket for each of the grandchildren). I like the tatted motif on the plain weave square on the left, but the motif on the right seems lost in the Windowpane Lace. Maybe I should just try different colored thread for the tatting... I have plenty to choose from!

I could abandon the blanket idea and join squares to make cute little bags... plain weave squares with tatting motifs attached on one side, patterned square on the other side. I'm starting to get the hang of making the cording for Romanian Point Lace... I could use that for the strap... just like Teri Dusenbury! Have you seen her bags and hats? They're wonderful!

Bell Flower

This picture does absolutely no justice to the beautiful thread "Leafy" from Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. The shuttle is from Sherry Pence aka LadyShuttleMaker. The pattern is Bell Flower from page 46 in Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.

The directions call for 3 motifs to be grouped together. I wanted one in green as the foliage, but now I can't decide what color or colors to use for the other 2 motifs. Any suggestions?