Today was a tatting day

 

I decided that today was as good a day as any to start tatting bookmarks. I turned to my favorite bookmark pattern, Curds and Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. If I could only keep one of my tatting books, this would be the one. I get so much inspiration from it.

While reorganizing upstairs, I decided it was time to pull out my Great-grandma Morris's quilts. I think she must have made this as a bedspread, because it pretty well covers my queen. I know that our family's biggest beds were full size back then. Grandma Morris passed when I was 10 years old. I'm 71 now. So, I know this quilt is at least 61 years old.

I did a lot of crocheting over the past three months. I wanted to use up the leftover yarn from last years hats. My sister Janet claimed this lapghan.

Daughter Alison claimed the full size afghan. I sure did get a lot out of those skeins of yarn!

Snowed in

Well, it was self-imposed. We did get quite a bit of snow over the weekend, and there were times when it was nasty. However, it was never so bad that we couldn't have gotten out if we had wanted to. Yes, the roads were bad over the weekend, but it was anywhere near the monster storm that was predicted.

Still, I chose to take the long weekend to focus on decorating quilt squares for Palmetto Tat Days. I tried to stay off the computer, because it's easy for me to get lost in space and I really wanted to finish these pieces so that I can mail them off this week.

I chose Mary Konior's Curds and Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns for this piece of sashing.

At first I wanted to tat something that resembled beer foam for this beer stein fabric. However, my imagination wouldn't work to give me what I wanted, so I looked through Tatting with Visual Patterns again. The pattern is called "Skipping Ropes." It doesn't look at all like beer foam, but I like it!

I'm not fond of skulls, and I wasn't sure what to do with this fabric. I decided to pick up on the flower motif on the skulls. One of the motifs is from one of my Japanese tatting books. The other two just kind of fell off my shuttles.

The butterfly edging is from another of my Japanese tatting books, and the tiny butterfly on the pink is simply rings. I'm sure someone else has tatted this one before. Basic butterflies really don't take much thought!

While looking through my Japanese books, I found this butterfly pattern. I took the shuttle closest to my chair, which happened to have Purple Marble wound on it. I really like this butterfly, but the size and color were completely wrong for the quilt block project.

The pieces have all been packaged for mailing, and I'll send them off when I'm in town tomorrow. I think I may tat an Ice Drop tonight. I'm suffering from Ice Drop withdrawal!

If you haven't guessed by now, I love collecting tatting shuttles! I also love using them! This little beauty is from my long-time friend, Dave Stanbrough of Grizzly Mountain Arts. Dave doesn't make many shuttles any more, so I was thrilled to be able to purchase this one! I would love to travel west and meet Dave and Jo in person. I'm not sure that's in the cards, though!

I try to avoid eBay, because I'm always tempted to bid on items I really don't need. However, when I saw this American flag shuttle, I knew it had to be part of my collection. I can be so bad! ;-)

Tollway Tatters!

Save the date... October 21 Tollway Tatters will be meeting at the Hinsdale Oasis on 294 at 10 a.m. If you are in the Chicago area, we would love to have you join us! Look for tie-dyed t-shirts and tatting supplies. We try to sit between Starbucks and Panera Bread. Sue Anna said she's bringing a carful with her!

At the local level, yesterday was a snoozer! Thursday night I stayed up to watch the Cubs/Nationals game, which didn't end until 11:45. I usually hit the hay around 9, so I was up way past my bedtime. I managed to sleep in until almost 5:30 yesterday morning, and I did complete all my normal chores. However, I found myself taking several cat naps throughout the day. I guess I'm not the party animal I thought I was! ;-)

In between laundry loads, I managed to tat one more Ice Drop in size 20 Lizbeth Ocean Turquoise Dk. Have I told you that I love this color?

I made a little progress with my Curds and Whey piece (Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior). I have about 3" to go for my project. I hope to reveal it next week!

More turquoise...

I decided to stick with Ocean Turquoise Dk today. The frosted glass gem is slightly larger than the ones I usually use, so I increased my stitch count on the top rings to 7-7-7. I also increased the chain count to 9. It worked out perfectly!

I didn't work for a long time on my Curds and Whey piece, but it is getting longer. I'm starting to develop a rhythm with this pattern. It seems that once I really get a pattern, I can come back to it months later and remember what worked for me. I think this is going to work perfectly for...

Ha ha ha! I'll reveal what it's for later! 😊

Ocean Turquoise Dk

Cleaning and reorganizing in the bedroom is pretty much done. There are a couple of drawers I need to go through, but that won't take long. 

As before, I made sure I took time for tatting breaks. Today my thread choice was Lizbeth #657, Ocean Turquoise Dk. I love this color!

I've attempted Curds and Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior many times, but this was the first time I've managed to tat more than two pattern motifs. I did make a couple of joins in the wrong place that needed to be corrected, but that was pretty easy to do. Now I wonder why I had so much trouble with this pattern in the past!

Tatting Some "Curds and Whey"

I've been leaving bits of Oliver Twists thread on my shuttle as I've finished each Stumpy motif, and my shuttle was getting a little full! I decided to try "Curds and Whey" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. As simple as this pattern is, I manage to make mistakes every time I try it.

One advantage to tatting with thread as fine as the Oliver Twists, is that it's very difficult to see my mistakes! ; )

Bre-Aly Thread

Zarina asked me how I liked the Bre-Aly thread I purchased, and honestly, I hadn't tried it yet! So, my task this weekend was to try my new hand-dyed thread.

I don't really care to work with size 10 thread for tatting, and I really purchased it to make a Patricia Kristoffersen doily (#52 from 99 Little Doilies, published by Leisure Arts). I'm really happy with this thread as a crochet cotton. It was easy to work with and blocked very nicely. I also like the way the color flows, especially in this little doily.

It's really not bad as a tatting thread either! I tried tatting Mary Konior's "Curds & Whey" from Tatting with Visual Patterns. I had a terrible time with the pattern. It's charted beautifully, but I kept counting incorrectly and reversing my work at the wrong time. I literally retro-tatted each ring! After the last mistake, I just gave up and cut the thread. This thread was surprisingly easy to undo, and I think it held up very well considering all I put it through. I never felt like the thread was going to break, and although it did become fuzzy from unpicking the knots, I think it still looks pretty nice in the rings I finished. I then tatted a little clover... no unpicking necessary... so maybe you can click for a close-up and see how the thread held up.

I will definitely buy more of Brenda and Alyssa's thread. I love the feel of the thread and the color (which is definitely pastel in person... the colors show up much better in Brenda's Etsy shop), and it's packaged in neat little cakes that don't roll away!