Almost done!

I just finished round 7! One round to go! Daughter Joanne has laid claim to this one.


I think my next project will have to be out of Yarnplayer's Purple Punch, which arrived yesterday along with Marilee's beautiful stained glass pendant. Yes, I was a winner in her very early spring give-away!

I also have a new shuttle to play with! My Cherry Pop-A-Bobbin shuttle arrived in yesterday's mail also! I've received too many goodies in the mail lately... my to-do list is growing quickly!

Round 6

I've finished round 6, and I'm very pleased with the way this doily is coming together! I've found my blocking board and pins in the sewing room, so I'm all set to finish. Two more rounds to go!

Pattern: Hostess Set Doily
Book: Tatting Patterns by Mary Konior
Thread: Oren Bayan size 50, #066

Saving Beatrice

Poor Beatrice! She's been on hold since November 9, when I ran out of thread! Luckily, Tatskool had some of her luscious Raspberry Sorbet left, so I quickly ordered the last two skeins. For some reason, the mail system took F-O-R-E-V-E-R! ...a whole month to be exact! By the time the thread arrived, Dave had begun decorating for Christmas... he goes way overboard, and I have to put tons of my favorite stuff away. Naturally, I put Beatrice in a very safe place... too safe! When the thread arrived, I couldn't find my precious little doily anywhere! I dutifully wound the thread onto my dragonfly thread winder, knowing that Beatrice would show her pretty little face at some point.

When we were putting the Christmas decorations away, I found my beloved Beatrice! However, I had put the new thread in a very safe place, and couldn't find it anywhere! So, I put Beatrice in a very safe place, knowing that the dragonfly would flit my way sometime in the future.

Saturday, I decided to do a little organizing in my sewing room. Guess what I found... my dragonfly filled with beautiful thread! But where had I put Beatrice? I just couldn't find her. I won't tell you my sewing room is now organized... that would be a complete lie! However, I did find myself drawn back to the cluttered mess several times on Saturday and Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, I decided to give up on tatting for a little bit and work on my lace scarf (in the works for two years now). When I opened my knitting basket, guess what I saw smiling up at me... Beatrice! Luckily, I had placed the dragonfly next to my chair so that I could work on Beatrice as soon as I found her!

End of the story, right? Wrong! I happily tatted along, and when I thought I was finished, I realized I had one pattern repeat too many! So, I carefully un-tatted my precious HDT to the necessary point and prepared to finish my lovely little doily. Now are we at the end? No! I discovered that I made a mistake at the very beginning of the doily! I joined the second cluster of rings to the wrong picot on the first cluster of rings. I almost cried! But, I didn't... instead I carefully looked at the doily to see what I needed to do. I cut out the first ring, and carefully unpicked the second ring. I finished Beatrice about 9 last night, and now you can see her in all her glory!

Poor girl... she's been through a lot! I hope to carefully wrap her up and send her off to a friend this week. What!? I'm not keeping her for myself? No, she was started with a particular friend in mind, and that friend will receive her... better late that never! Luckily, I have enough Raspberry Sorbet to make a second one for me!

By the way, Beatrice, designed by Iris Niebach, is about 8 1/2" across in size 20 Raspberry Sorbet from Tatskool. Have I ever mentioned how much I love HDT? Oh, and even with retro-tatting, I finished this little beauty in 10 days... woo hoo!

Round 5

I'm really enjoying tatting "Hostess Piece: Placemat" from Mary Konior's Tatting Patterns. Round 5 was very simple, but it took me a long time to complete... I just couldn't stay awake at night this week! It's now 7 1/4" in diameter.

I'm also enjoying the thread (Oren Bayan size 50, color # 066), but I'm not sure where I bought it. I might have purchased it at the lace event in Lafayette, IN last spring.

Youngest daughter Joanne reminded me that pink is her favorite color, and she told me that she loves everything I make. Granddaughter Eva might have competition for this piece!

Mail call!

Sherry Pence's newest book arrived in the mail today along with a skein of her gorgeous HDT. Lucky me... it's my favorite color, blue! Now, which of these exquisite butterfly patterns should I try first?

Round 4

Well, here it is... round 4 completed! I wasn't very happy with round 3... it looked too close to round 2. Now I know why... my chains are 6 stitches too long, with 2 too many picots. I'm not going to go back and fix it. I'll just make sure I tat the design correctly next time. I was going to send this to one of my blogging buddies as a thank-you gift, but I just can't send it off with such a glaring mistake! ; )

The doily is now about 5" in diameter. The largest doily, called the Centerpiece is 14 rounds. I'm not sure if I have enough thread in this color to complete all 14 rounds. The Placemat is rounds 1-7, with round 14 as the finishing round. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to finish that far. I really like the way this is coming together, and it is really simple!

I probably won't get to tat any more today. I really have to get some groceries in, and my daughter Alison is coming to spend the night with Eva and Aidan. We have all sorts of things planned... look through jewelry making books, choose beads for projects. learn to spin with a drop spindle, warp my loom, watch movies... I don't think we'll get it all done, but we'll have fun trying!

Round 3!

Round 3 was extremely easy. I tatted it while Dave and I watched Julie and Julia. Round 4 looks pretty simple, too. I'm not sure if I'll manage to get it done tonight... maybe tomorrow.

Tatting Round 2

I just finished the second round of Hostess Set Centerpiece from Tatting Patterns by Mary Konior. I love the pattern. I love the thread (Parlak Oren Bayan Dantel Ipligi, sizd 50, color #066). Most of all, I LOVE my new silver shuttle from LadyShuttleMaker! The shuttle arrived in yesterday's mail... just in time for round 2!

I love the size and weight of this little shuttle. It's about the size of a Clover. I'm not sure how much thread it holds... I was counting, but I lost count! As I was tatting today, I thought about the pretty tatting pattern molded into the shuttle. Then it dawned on me... it's Mary Konior's Leaf Braid, my favorite shuttle-only pattern!

Something new

I love Mary Konior's books! Every once in a while I pull them off the shelf and browse through the pages, admiring the simple elegance of each design. I've been in the mood to make a doily larger than my favorite Spinning Wheel glass mat, but I couldn't decide which pattern to use. This morning I decided to start on the Hostess Set from page 45 of Tatting Patterns. Mary states that this pattern is from Penelope Book 3 from the 1950s.

I can see lots of possibilities for this pattern. Round 1 pictured here would be just the right size for the coasters that I purchased last summer if I use a slightly finer thread. This is the Oren Bayan size 50 that I used on the last two crosses. Because this piece is tatted in rounds, I'm assuming that it could be finished off after any of the rounds and still look complete. An advantage that I see to tatting in rounds is that if I run out of thread, I can just stop! It will be fun to see how this one turns out. How far will I go? As far as this ball of thread will take me!

Cutting it close!

Although Eva liked the pink cross I posted earlier this week, she really wanted one like her mommy's. What's a grandma to do? Make another cross, of course!

I left the ends of the threads hanging so that you could see just how close I came to running completely out of thread! I have never finger tatted before, but it was a necessity if I didn't want to completely remake the tassel. I find finger tatting to be very confusing! I could have joined a new thread I suppose, but that seemed a little ridiculous for the final chains. I could have given myself a little more leeway... the last chain has 8 picots instead of the 7 called for in the pattern. Oops!

You could be a winner!

Check this out (I found out about it from my daughter, Alison)... a really cool bag that you could win!

@kellymooreclark is giving away a bag! Go enter to win! http://kellymoorebagblog.com/

Tatting in pink...

My seven-year-old granddaughter, Eva, requested a pink tatted cross. If she approves of this one, I'll get it off to her in the mail this week. The pattern is from Mary Konior's Tatting Patterns. It's 2 3/4" x 4 1/4" in Parlen Oren Bayan Dantel Ipligi, size 50, color #066.

Here's the scoop...

I ordered this book sight unseen for two reasons: 1) it's an Ondori publication, and I've never seen an Ondori publication that I didn't like, and 2) the cover is blue, and blue is my favorite color! With these strict standards in mind, I took the plunge and spent the money! I have no regrets... the book is beautiful!

Although the text is in Japanese, there are beautiful pictures and very clear diagrams. What do you get for you money? Rose garden doily, Fairy doily, Duchess doily and coaster, Water lily beaded doily, Rosette tatted pieces on Dresden Plate quilt block, Tie (women's not men's), Cathedral window wine glass cover, Summer time pin cushion/hat/barrette, Dream floral hair pieces, Angel necklace, Rainbow (3 hanky edgings), Nostalgia small garment bags, Clover edging on linen circle, Maypole edging on linen circle, Victorian Poesy two small bags, Floral box (one round, one square), Pot-pourri sachet (2), Shoes and pouch, Tatting bag, and Tea time (3 pincushions, 1 needle holder, 1 tape measure).

The dark green piece on my previous post is part of one of the sachets. Tell me now... are you inspired?

Japanese motifs

I've started another Spinning Wheel glass mat, but in the meantime I wanted to broaden my horizons, so I pulled out two of my Japanese tatting books. The light green motif is from The Tatted Artistry of Teiko Fujito. The thread is size 20 Flora, #228. The dark green motif is from A New Approach to Tatting by Yusai Shokoin. The thread is Parlak Oren Bayan Dantel size 50, #063.

Vanilla Sky Spinning Wheel

I finally finished my most recent Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. The thread is size 20 Vanilla Sky from Tatskool. The two bookmarks are Stumpy from Kersti Anear. The other two little bits are my favorite way to use up thread on a shuttle... Leaf Braid, also from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.