My last snowflake...

of 2013!

This is just another doodle. I am pleased that I was able to tat so many snowflakes before Christmas, and I do thank Margaret for challenging me to do so!

I meant to post a picture of my little snowflake tree as my Christmas greeting, but the day was so busy with everyone here, I just never got around to it. Then we left the day after Christmas to visit Mom in Alabama, and we just arrived home late last night.

So, better late than never...

Merry Christmas, dear readers!

Let it snow! Day 24

We went to my sister-in-law's for Christmas Eve, and there I tatted my 24th snowflake. This one's another doodle without the doodad, because I forgot my crochet hook!

Karen and Larry loved the doily... yea! Of course I didn't manage to snap the picture in time to show their initial surprise.

The doily looks perfect in its new home, a table crafted by Larry's grandfather over 70 years ago in Rockford, Illinois.

I'm so glad I chose this pattern for Karen and Larry. The both were in awe, and they're planning on showing pictures to Larry's mom tomorrow.

I think Larry is right... this was the best Christmas Eve we've ever spent together!

Let it snow! Day 23

I tatted another quick doodle tonight... no pattern... just mindless tatting. You see, my brain is mush...

after finally finishing Doily 4 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. Here you see it just tossed onto my footstool. I'll block it tomorrow. Why is my brain mush? Well, with seven pattern repeats to go, I realized I'd left out a ring and a chain necessary to the design. So, I had some retro-tatting to do. After dinner tonight, I finished the last pattern repeat, only to discover that I had one pattern repeat too many! So, snip snip, re-tat, and ta-da!

Granddaughter Ella helped fill the final shuttle with thread...

and she was very pleased with the way "the big snowflake" turned out!

Let it snow! Day 22

I just tatted a doodle today... must concentrate on the doily... five and a half rounds to go!

Let it snow! Day 21

This is Doodad Snowflake #6. It's the same clover pattern as Doodad Snowflake #5 with the chains facing the opposite direction. The chains look a little wonky on this one. I was trying to use up thread on my shuttles, and I wound up having to join thread three times. That's something I'll keep in mind for future snowflakes!

I didn't really have much time to tat today. I spent the morning wrapping Christmas presents. Friends came for lunch. Daughter Joanne and family arrived from Minnesota late afternoon. Although we've been very busy, I am completely enjoying this holiday season!

Let it snow! Day 20

Here's Doodad Snowflake #5 with beads. I know... big surprise! ;-)

Let it snow! Day 19

This is one of my favorite quick snowflakes, Doodad Snowflake #5. I love clovers, and I suppose that's what makes this one so much fun for me. It does take a little more time to tat, but it's still pretty quick!

Let it snow! Day 18

This is the way yesterday's snowflake was supposed to look! This is Doodad Snowflake #4, minus the doodad, with a single bead replacing each picot.

Someday I'm going to take the time to figure out how to take a good picture. The beads really look pretty, but they don't show up well in the picture. Now that I've taken the picture, I can see that one of the rings is distorted. I wonder how that happened?

Let it snow! Day 17

Well, I goofed. Once again, I failed to follow my own directions.

Instead of tatting a variation of Doodad Snowflake #4, I managed to tat a variation of Doodad Snowflake #2. This one only has five beads replacing picots instead of the seven shown in #2. At least I didn't tat a snowflake that's identical to another. Whew! ;-)

See the difference? My chains are going the wrong way. Maybe I'll give it another try tomorrow.

Ooh! Ooh! I just noticed... this is post #1111! Pretty cool, huh?

Let it snow! Day 16

Here's another version of Doodad Snowflake #4. The difference between yesterday's and today's is the number of beads replacing the picots. Yesterday, I used three beads. Today, I only used one bead. The pink doesn't show up as well, but it still looks pretty!

Let it snow! Day 15

This time I tatted Doodad Snowflake #4 with 3 beads in place of each of the picots. It's much prettier in person than it shows in the picture!

Let it snow! Day 14

Today I tatted Doodad Snowflake #4. I do like my little snowflake patterns. That may sound a bit egotistical, but I like them because they're so quick to tat, leaving me time for my doily!

We had a beautiful 4" snow overnight, which really helped put me in the Christmas spirit. I love nutcrackers, and this year they're standing at attention at my living room window.

My grandchildren love choosing a nutcracker to take home with them. These are the ones they can choose from this year. My grandson plays soccer, so I'm hoping he chooses the soccer nutcracker. It's certainly not a run-of-the-mill nutcracker!

Let it snow! Day 13

I think this will be my last adaptation of Doodad Snowflake #3. I put the doodad back in the middle, and I used one bead in place of each Josephine ring. I miss my picots and my Josephine rings, so it's time to move on!

Let it snow! Day 12

Here's another variation of Doodad Snowflake #3. The inside rings have two beads in place of the picot. I'm not sure I like the two beads. Three looks so much better to me. The Josephine rings have been replaced by a single bead.

This one looks okay, but I really miss the Josephine rings. I think they really make the snowflake.

Let it snow! Day 11

Here's another version of Doodad Snowflake #3, only this one has no doodad! I like the look of this one, but I still prefer having the doodad in the center. The snowflake seems to hold its shape better, and I like that little bit of added weight.

Let it snow! Day 10

This adaptation of Doodad Snowflake #3 has beads on the outer rings instead of picots. I kind of like it!

Let it snow! Day 9

This is Doodad Snowflake #3 (see tab above for pattern). This is one of my favorites because of the Josephine rings. I love Josephine rings!

My third grade girls finished reading the Craftsy article I wrote about tatting shuttles. They asked if there was anything else they could read, so I brought up my blog. They loved seeing all the snowflakes, and they asked if there was any way to see who was reading my blog. I took them to the stats page, and they were fascinated! They asked if they could come back tomorrow to read more, and they asked if they could read my blog at home. I think I'll be putting some tatting kits together over the Christmas break. I'm having so much fun with my young tatting enthusiasts!

Let it snow! Day 8

Here's another version of Doodad Snowflake #2!

Pink beads replace the picots on the outer rings, and they replace the doodad in the center. Guess what? I'm starting to take a fancy to pink!

The doily is progressing. I'm now over halfway around the outer edge. I think I may have to go to the pizza parlor to get a box for it... without pizza, of course!

Daughter Alison took this picture of snowflakes on her car this morning. While Dave and I were out and about today, I kept trying to see a single snowflake. It just didn't happen. I wonder if it's because I'm far sighted? 

Let it snow! Day 7

Look at this... I managed to follow my own pattern! ;-)

This is Doodad Snowflake #2 with pink beads replacing the picots on the outer rings. I think it turned out cute!

Let it snow! Day 6

Oops! I messed up following my own pattern! This is supposed to be an adaptation of Doodad Snowflake #2. I didn't notice until I was finished that all I did was tat a chain with beads every two stitches instead of tatting a chain and then having a thrown-off ring with a bead every two stitches.

Oh, well! It still looks cute, and I'm sure my pink-lovin' granddaughters will be very pleased with it!

Let it snow! Day 5

Today I have Doodad Snowflake #2 (see tab above for pattern). I've made two changes to this pattern. The outer rings have 7 picots instead of 8, which I needed to do for my own peace of mind. I just couldn't stand seeing the snowflake off balance when I added the hanger!

The other change I made is to the inner rings. Instead of 4 - 4 - 4 - 4, I tatted 5 - 3 - 3 - 5. I think it lies a little flatter, but I could be wrong.

Some of my third grade girls asked me about my tatting a couple of days ago. They couldn't remember what it was called, they just remembered that I was going to be writing about it. Luckily, I had a Spinning Wheel glass mat in my purse. I usually travel with tatting. Do you? ;-)

Today I pulled out my iPad and showed the girls my blog. They loved the snowflakes and the Spinning Wheels. Three of them said that some day they'd like to learn how to tat. Guess who's going to be giving tatting lessons at lunch recess to those who are interested? Luckily, I have a few goodies that I can share!

Let it snow! Day 4

Another Doodad Snowflake #1... this time I used the doodad, but replaced the Josephine rings with beads. I think I'm done with this snowflake for a while... time to move on to something more interesting!

Let it snow! Day 3

Here's another version of Doodad Snowflake #1 (see pattern link above). This time I only used on bead for each picot in the center. I think I like this way better.

The arm of my chair is sure a handy place for photographing little snowflakes!

Let it snow! Day 2

For the second day of Margaret's challenge, I chose to replace the Josephine rings and the doodad from Doodad Snowflake #1 with pink beads (see the tab at the top of the page for the pattern). I think the three beads for the Josephine rings are fine, but the three beads for each center picot seems to be a bit much.

I'm not overly fond of pink, but with four granddaughters, I'm pretty sure the pink will be a hit!

Let it snow! Day 1

Margaret asked me to join her in tatting one snowflake a day until Christmas. I do love tatting snowflakes, and I've decided to do some experimenting with the doodad snowflakes I designed last year. If you're interested in my little patterns, check out the tab at the top of the page.

This is Doodad Snowflake #1 in size 20 Lizbeth, Snow White. The pattern can be tatted without the doodad. I found my doodads at Fire Mountain Gems. The S hooks are from Wirestorm Creations.

I spent Friday cleaning up after Thanksgiving, not a big deal since everyone helped clean up after the feast!

Right now the house is in a bit if disarray because we're in the middle of decorating for Christmas. Dave tends to get carried away, especially when he knows the grandchildren will be here for Christmas! I enjoy the decorations once they're up, but I get all tense when I see boxes of decorations spread all over the house. Hopefully, Dave will get it all out of his system today! ;-)

Getting ready!

We've cleaned up from Thanksgiving, and today we are getting ready for Christmas! Dave has been busy washing windows and putting lights on the tree. I'm sure that the people driving by our house at 55 mph will be able to notice that the windows are clean. ;-)

As soon as the tree is in place, I'll start decorating. That's our deal... Dave does the lights. I do the ornaments.

In anticipation of today's activities, I decided to get in the Christmas spirit by tatting a Christmas tree.

This is Ruth Perry's Tatted Christmas Tree 2013, a great little pattern! Ruth has beads at the base of the tree, but I decided to try a doodad because they were sitting right next to me. My next one will have beads just like Ruth's. Oh, yes... there will be more Christmas trees! Thank you, Ruth!

I used size 20 Lizbeth #601, Snow White. I purchased doodads from Fire Mountain Gems, item #H20-8942FX. This is a multi-pack of 500. I know... that's a lot of doodads!The S hooks are from Wirestorm Creations. Some day I'll be brave and try some of the colored S hooks!

What's in your basket of Christmas tatting?

1/3

Isn't it looking great? I really am enjoying this pattern. Even though it is very large, it has been a very easy pattern to follow. I'm really looking forward to seeing my sister-in-law's reaction to it on Christmas Eve!

I was saddened today to read of the passing of Jan Stawasz. I have both of his books and some of his shuttles. I greatly admire his work, and I'm sure there are many in the tatting community who will miss his talent.

This fall has been incredibly busy, and I've been enjoying every moment! I do take time to read all of the blogs I follow every day, although not all at one sitting. I have been aggravated by the fact that I can only leave comments on about half of the blogs I visit. I wonder if it is a problem on my end? I suppose it's something I'll have to investigate when I have a little more free time.

I probably won't have time to post again before Thanksgiving Day. The festivities are at my house this year, and I'll be spending tomorrow cleaning, shopping, and prepping for Thursday. I love Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One quarter!

That's right... I'm one quarter of the way around, and I love the way it looks. No time to chat... have to tat!

Lofty goals

My goal was to finish this by Thanksgiving. I'm not sure that's possible with 32 pattern repeats and an hour and twenty minutes for each pattern repeat. It's not that there isn't enough time in the day. I probably could finish two repeats a day if my hands could hold out!

I'll just keep going. I don't really have to finish by Thanksgiving, just by Christmas Eve, and I'm confident that I can finish by then! :-)

Only one pattern repeat...

That's all I have in me tonight.

I did watch the clock to see how long it took... one hour and twenty minutes. I shaved ten minutes off my time. I feel like a speed tatter!

The final round

...is going to take a while!

I'm pretty sure each of these pattern repeats took me about an hour and a half, although I didn't actually watch the clock. There are 32 pattern repeats... only 29 to go!

One more round!

I was able to tat a lot this weekend, because my Internet was down Friday night through Saturday. Since I had no access to my blog buddies, I was able to achieve my goal of finishing this round. 

The last round is going to take a bit of time, because it weaves in and out. The doily is going to be larger than I anticipated. It's already 10"  and as I started working on the last round, I realized that my doily will probably be close to 18" when it's finished. Why? The directions called for size 50 thread, and I'm using size 20. Dang!

and then there were 12...

...pattern repeats that is!

I know I only progressed a little bit, but I'm happy with what I have. I hope to finish this round this weekend, and then it will be on to the final round! Who knows? I could be finished by next weekend... just in time to start some Christmas snowflakes! :-)

Lovin' this round!

I only have seven pattern repeats done, but I love the way this round is looking! Only 25 repeats to go!

Two more rounds!

Doily 4 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito is now 9" with two rounds to go. I'm thrilled that I was able to get so much tatting time in yesterday, but I have a feeling the next two rounds will not go so quickly. I'm really interested in the next round because of the way it looks in the picture.

Should I post my daily progress, or wait until I have the next round finished? Decisions, decisions...

I won't grow up!

Peter Pan was a huge success!

Madame Director and the students had a wonderful time, and the audience thoroughly enjoyed their shenanigans. Now that there are no more practices to help supervise, no more repairs to props and costumes, perhaps I can truly get back to my first love... tatting!

Despite all the activity of the past few weeks, I have managed to fit in a little tatting time. I'm very grateful to have the day off today. This morning I was able to finish round 6 of Doily 4 from Tatted Fashion by Teiko Fujito. It's now 8" across, and I'm very pleased with the way it looks.

My shuttles are full, so it's time to move on to round 7!