Aahh! Red!

Same pattern, different color... I love it!

The last purple flake...

...for now! I've grown tired of tatting with purple, so I think I'll take a break. Maybe I'll go back to Victorian Red for a while.

I may have tatted another flake or two since between the last post and this, but if I did, I didn't take a photo. The flakes I have will be mailed to Mom for her fundraiser at the end of this week. I hope they go over well!

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy. The first couple of days after my car accident, I just didn't feel like tatting much. Good thing... my daughter asked for some help with the middle school play. I was very happy for the distraction, and I didn't feel at all bad about losing tatting time. Now that the play is over (it was fantastic!), I'm in the mood to tat again.

Black Beauty is still in the shop. We hope to have her back this weekend. We were very surprised to learn that there was $7,000 worth of damage. Thank goodness for insurance!

And another...

I just can't stop tatting with purple!

One more purple flake...

I wish I could capture the purple of this snowflake with the camera. It just looks black to me on the computer screen. I've been taking my snowflakes to school for all the teachers to look at, and they love the Purple Dk and Victorian Red. Funny... the Blue Ice is still my favorite!

Denise went shopping!

...and surprised me with this adorable little Mary Engelbreit tin bucket and a ball of size 20 Lizbeth. The thread, Falling Leaves, matches the colors of the leaves on the bucket... too cute!

Her timing was great! I needed a little cheering up...

I was in my first car accident on Sunday. My poor little car! She's not even a year old, and we waited so long to get her... ten and a half years. Luckily, no one was hurt, and my car was the least damaged of the three. My Little Black Beauty will be home soon, hopefully as good as new!

I've finished two more purple snowflakes.

I'll keep tatting snowflakes until the end of October. I wonder what tatting binge will take hold next?

Tollway Tatters November 17

Sue Anna and I talked yesterday, and we've set the next Tollway Tatters for Saturday, November 17. If you're interested in joining us, please email me for details (Diane Cademartori at gmail dot com).

We love meeting tatters!

Purple snow?

Yes, it's true! There is such a thing as purple snow. I learned that by researching snow with my students. In fact, if you Google purple snow, you will see that a portion of southern Russia was blanketed with purple snow in March of 2010. One of the interesting facts that my students and I learned is that snow can be a variety of colors, depending on the dust in the air. The purple snow in Russia had dust from Africa!

Maybe the snow wasn't this deep, dark purple, but purple snow does exist!

A Passion for Purple

I never used to like purple, but it has always been my daughter Carol's favorite color. What can I say? It's grown on me over the years, and now it's one of my favorites... not as nice as blue of course, but still very pretty!

Mixing colors

I had some thread left on shuttles (what a surprise!), so I decided to experiment. The center is Christmas Delight, and the outer chains and rings are Victorian Red. I don't think it looks awful, but I'm not sure the two red really go together. Still, I think it's pretty enough to hang on a tree!

Lovin' the Victorian Red!

I've really enjoyed tatting with Lizbeth Victorian Red. It's really putting me in the Christmas spirit!

These are the last three of my 7 flakes. It's kind of nice having 7 patterns... I stay on task, and I enjoy tatting with new colors.

Snowflake #3

Snowflake #2

Snowflake #1

Too keep myself organized, I put my snowflake supplies in a basket. These are all the threads I'd like to use, along with the doodads, jump rings, and ornament hooks I need for each snowflake. I treated myself to a little cleaning on Monday, and I feel much more focused now!

I had a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday. My youngest daughter's father-in-law sent me a book and two shuttles from Slovakia. I suppose I'll have to wait until Joanne and Jan come to visit so that I can get a translation. I wonder how my son-in-law will like reading to me? ;-)

Two more Victorian Red snowflakes

I am so glad that Kristine asked me to tat a snowflake in Victorian Red!

I finished this one before school this morning,

and I tatted this one tonight. I'm having too much fun!

Doodad Double Dare #18!

Martha posted her Doodad Double Dare today, and she's sharing her pattern! Hop on over to her blog and leave a comment. I think you'll like what you see!

This Doodad Double Dare has been so much fun. I really have no idea how many doodads I shared, but I'm glad I did. It's been so much fun seeing all the fabulous ideas!

I managed to finish another snowflake in Victorian Red today. I really like this color!

Victorian Red

I'm so glad my friend Kristine asked for a red snowflake! I've started my next set of seven in size 20 Lizbeth, Victorian Red #670. This is my #7 snowflake with a slight change on the outer rings. I think I like it better!

Weekend Tatting

What do you do when you get new shuttles? I ooh and ah over them, rub them between my fingers...

turn them over and admire the loving care that went into creating them...

and then I put them to work! In case you don't recognize the craftsmanship, these lovelies are from La Cossette. From left to right... Cherry Blossoms, Kaleidoscope, and Green Fairy. I've been waiting for Green Fairy to be available again... she is a wonderful tatting companion!

I finished three Blue Ice snowflakes on Saturday...

completing the set of seven.

I thought of dropping this round one from my collection, but it appeals to me even though it doesn't really look like a snowflake.

Today I tried tatting with metallic floss. The sheen doesn't show up very well on the computer, but they are very pretty in person. One skein yielded two snowflakes. I used three strands of the floss on each shuttle. They're a little larger than the size 20 Lizbeth flakes, about 3 1/4" across.

Needless to say, floss is much more expensive than a ball of Lizbeth! I don't think I'll tat with metallic floss very often. It's time-consuming to separate the threads, and it's very hard on my fingers!

It's about time!

Daughter Joanne called this morning and informed me that I haven't been posting frequently enough! Apparently she's been watching my blog to see what I'm doing with snowflakes. So, these pics are for you, Joanne!

Christmas Delight

Blue Ice

Blue Ice

My Internet connection has been really slow at night. I understand they're upgrading the equipment, and the upgrade was supposed to be finished last week. I hope it's finished soon! 

I haven't been too concerned about my Internet connection, because daughter Carol has asked me to help out at play practice a few times. I am so flattered! I'm in charge of keeping the kids quiet while rehearsal is going on. There are 46 middle school students in the play. That's a lot of munchkins to keep quiet, especially when there's a scene with only two to four characters on set! The play, Aladdin Jr. is in three weeks. I'm really looking forward to this production!

Special request

My friend Kristine requested this snowflake in red. Isn't it pretty? I used size 20 Lizbeth, Victorian Red #670. I hope you like it, Kris!

I tweaked my snowflake pattern from the other day, using longer chains and smaller rings. The center rings are 4 - 4 + 4 - 4. The chains are 8 - 4. The outside rings are 4 - 2 - 2 - 4. I think I like this version much better!

My favorite!

At least it's my favorite so far! I love the Blue Ice Lizbeth thread... perfect for a Santaflake!

Here's the close-up you asked for IsDihara!

This is my current Spinning Wheel glass mat (my favorite pattern from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior). The thread is Navy Greens, hand-dyed by Jess for my daughter Alison. I just love the color combination! When Jess sent the thread, I quickly scanned her note and thought I saw Nancy Green... my mom's name! You can bet I did a double-take when I saw that one!