May snowflake

May went by so quickly, I nearly forgot to tat my May snowflake for the Snowflake A Month Challenge at The Tatting Forums!

This is "Itsy-Bitsy Snowflake" from A Veritable Tatted Blizzard by Samantha Melnychuk. I put the quarter in the picture so that you can see just how itsy-bitsy this little flake is in size 80 DMC. It's so cute!

The shuttle on the left is one of my favorites from Grizzly Mountain Arts. The paisley shuttle is from Emsyjane. I do love my shuttles!

One gorgeous hanky!

I think Michelle's Aunt Rose-E would be pleased. I know I am!

Yes, I toyed with the idea of using a pink or blue edging, but I love the way the white edging pulls out the white flowers in the hanky. It's much more noticeable in person than in the photo.

Just don't look too closely... as I was pressing the hanky, I spied a few missed joins. Shhh! If I'm lucky, that blind man on the galloping horse will never notice! ; )

Pattern: "Clover" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior
Thread: Olympus Special No. 40

Hacked!

Dear friends and family,

My Yahoo email account has been hacked! Please do not open any suspicious looking email from me. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Diane

Back in business!

Lucky me! Apple tech support had the answers for me. I emptied my cache, deleted my cookies, and all is well. Thank goodness!

...because, I received a very special package in the mail today! Anika at Tatting It Up had a giveaway, and I was the lucky winner! I was expecting a handmade card, and I received so much more. Thank you, Anika!

Did you notice the hanky in the middle? It's my favorite color, blue!

I think I know just which thread and pattern I'm going to use. : )

I'm getting close to finishing the edging for my hanky from Michelle... four more pattern repeats! I should be finished with it sometime this weekend. I can hardly wait to show you how beautiful it is!

Very strange!

I'm a Mac user, and I've been using Safari as my browser for years with no problems. However, suddenly Safari and Blogger aren't playing together very well. I'm trying this to see if I can post using Firefox. Blogger is looking into the problem, so I'm not overly concerned. It is difficult to change surfing habits, though!

I've been reading all of the posts that show up in my Google Reader, but I haven't been able to post any comments. Please be assured that I am keeping up with what all of my Blog Buddies are doing!

I have one hanky left to mail. Most of them were mailed Tuesday or Wednesday. I hope you all have fun with them!

Blog Buddies, I need your help!

Dear Blog Buddies,

I cannot find where I put my blog buddy addresses. I do know they're someplace really, really safe! If you signed up for Diane's Great Hanky Challenge, would you please look at the challenge post and see if your hanky has a line through the name? If it does, the hanky is reserved for you, but I can't find your address. If the name of the hanky is missing, I have your address and your hanky is ready to be mailed. Please send me your mailing info at DianeCademartori at gmail dot com. I really appreciate your help with this!

Diane

P.S. - My apologies to Elizabeth (Group E Yellow), Isdihara (Group E Yellow), Bri's Bits (Group F Yellow), and Frivole (Group A Brown). I tried to contact each of you by replying to comments, but I think I went about it the wrong way. The hankies each of you chose were already taken. I still have the Deep Purple, Bright Green, and one of the Mother hankies left, if you are interested.

I still need addresses for:

Group D Scorpio - Beelizabeth - received, thank you!
Group E Pink M - Michelle - received, thank you!
Group F Pink Flowers - BlondEngineer - received, thank you!
Group I Pink Flowers - Sharren in Greenwood - received, thank you!
Group I Blue Flowers - Mimi - received, thank you!
Group K Yellow & White Flowers - Laivine - received, thank you!

Again, my apologies dear friends. I probably should have waited until school is out to try this, but I was so excited about sharing with you! When I find those addresses... well, I guess I'd better not make any promises!

Diane's Great Hanky Challenge!

Update #2: If the name has been removed, the hanky has been packaged for mailing. Thanks for such a wonderful response!

Update: I'm sorry I wasn't clear. Would you mind choosing just one hanky for now so that more people can have an opportunity to try tatting hanky edgings? Thanks!

Here's the scoop, tatting friends... I've gone a tad crazy bidding on vintage hankies on eBay, and I've gotten some tremendous deals. However, there's no way I'll have time to tat edgings for all of these hankies!

Would you like to take part in a little hanky madness? Choose one of the hankies below, post your choice in the comments so that everyone will know which ones are taken (I'll try to keep up with marking off the ones that are spoken for), send me your mailing address, and I'll get one of these little beauties out to you ASAP! There are absolutely no strings attached. Believe me, I've kept plenty that I'm not quite ready to give up, and I still have far too many on hand!

I'm not good at coming up with names, but I'll try to name the hankies in groups that will help both of us out. First come, first serve. Please note that some of these hankies already have some machine-made lace attached to them, so you might have to do a little snipping.

I hope you'll post pictures of what you do! Happy tatting!

Group A: All gone!

I'm not sure why this picture turned sideways, but...
Group B: All gone!

Group C: All gone!

Oops! Another one turned sideways!
Group D: All gone!

Sideways pictures seem to be a theme here!
Group E: All gone!

Group F: All gone!

Group G: All gone!

Group H: All gone!

Group I: Yellow Mother - for shannon_in_love

Group J: All gone!

Group K: All gone!

Let the hanky madness begin!

And the winner is...

#25 Nautical Knitter! Congratulations! Please send me your mailing info and your shuttle choice, and I'll get it off to you right away.

Thank you to all 47 people who entered the drawing. You are the best!

May Tatting Shuttle Giveaway!

That's right tatting friends! It's time for another shuttle giveaway! These little beauties are decoupaged with fabric and glitter nail polish. There's one for me, one for Denise, and one for a lucky person who leaves a comment on this post. The winner of the giveaway can choose which shuttle he/she would like... lavender, pale yellow, or blue. I'll probably draw Monday night. Good luck!

Pink?

I think the pink looks better in the picture than it does in person. I'm not sure if this is the right color, but I do like the pattern! It's "Cottage Border" from A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior. I do love Mary's designs!

The thread is Fincrochet No. 30. The shuttle is from Emsyjane.

Too white?

I started tatting Mary Konior's "Clover" from Tatting with Visual Patterns. I like the pattern and the thread (Olympus Special No. 40), but I'm not sure if this is right for the hanky. I have plenty of hanky blanks, so I know I'll use the edging for one of them. I'm also planning on trying some pink, blue, and green threads to see which one I like best.

In the meantime, I decided to tat a cross bookmark.

This is "Camilla" from Tatted Bookmarks - cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. The thread is size 40 Lizbeth Caribbean, one of my favorites! It's funny, I've avoided tatting this cross before, because I thought it was composed of split rings. I'm so glad I tried it. This is one of the easiest cross bookmarks I've ever tatted, and one of the prettiest!

Star-struck tatting!

This is Rick-Rack Star from Oh My Stars! by Kaye B. Judt. I've done better rick-rack tatting. I'm really not sure what I did differently with this. One thing I really like about Kaye's patterns is that she tells you how much thread to wind on each shuttle. This little star calls for 5 yds. of thread. I think when I make my next Rick-Rack Star I'll use smaller joining picots. I'll also pay closer attention to the way my rick-rack looks!

My friend Denise and I are also each crocheting Lisa Naskrent's Dahlia Shawl, which can be found in the Spring 2011 issue of Interweave Crochet. This is a very pretty shawl, and the four row pattern is easy to follow once it's been established. I know I don't have enough yarn to make the shawl, but I'm hoping to have enough to make a triangle neck scarf. If not, it's not a big deal. At least I'll have made use of some of my stash! I didn't feel like playing with camera settings this morning. The yarn is really a deeper, richer purple. It's what I have left over from making the shrug I wore to my daughter's wedding last summer.

I've also been perusing hanky edgings. I have so many to choose from! I'm also trying to decide which thread to use to decorate the beautiful hanky I received from Michelle. Should I use a solid color, a variegated, or a multi-colored thread? Should I stick with white so that the beautiful hanky is the focal point? Should I use a narrow edging or a deep one? Feel free to state your opinion. It may help me make a decision!

Pssst! You can see the hanky on yesterday's post!

Jackpot!

There wasn't much in the mailbox today... just two packages!

I was a winner in Michelle's hankie giveaway, and along with this beautiful vintage hankie, I received a ball of Lily thread, some clear rings and a clip, a barrette to decorate, a piece of chocolate, and some tea... yum! Did you notice the bathing beauty card? That's exactly what I look like in my swimsuit! ; )

I also received two shuttles from The Shuttle Shop... a Winder Shuttle, and a Tatted Shuttle (my tatting encased in an acrylic shuttle). I love my new shuttles!

Have you checked your mailbox lately? : )