Olympic tatting

Last night I sat and tatted as I watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games. I think I've only ever watched the opening ceremonies once before, and the only reason I watched last night was the hope of catching a glimpse of Jane's daughter... very silly, really... until I saw Jane's post this morning, I had no idea what her daughter looked like or her name!

I went to bed with three rings left to tat and this morning my troubles began...

I finished the three rings, looked at the tatting, and realized I'd missed a join. I carefully untatted five rings and one length of chain, and then I retatted.

I looked at my finished piece, and realized I'd joined in the wrong place. I carefully untatted five rings and one length of chain, and then I retatted.


I looked at my finished piece, and realized that once again I'd joined in the wrong place. I examined my tatting carefully to make sure I knew what needed to be done and realized that I had tatted it correctly before untatting the first time! This time I did not carefully untat... I pulled out the scissors and snipped... with a vengeance!


I retatted one last time, and then I blocked my new doily. Despite the fact that I could have been finished by 8 a.m. instead of 3:30 p.m., I'm very happy with the finished product! 


"Flowerpiece" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior is in size 40 Lizbeth, color #155, Ocean Sunset.. It's 7 1/2" in diameter.


Oh, and the Olympic tatting title for this post... I had the Olympics on all day as I worked on this doily. I watched cycling, swimming, women's volleyball, and beach volleyball. That's more Olympics than I've watched in my entire life!

Where has the week gone?

I knew that I hadn't blogged in a while, but I was completely surprised to see that it's been a week! I guess I've been busy...

I re-started Mary Konior's Flowerpiece doily from Tatting with Visual Patterns. The last time I picked this up to work on it, I discovered that I had left out one section of chain on the very first motif. So, I did the only logical thing... I started over!

This is the first section of chain trails. I've finished the second section of chain trails, but forgot to take a picture of it. I'm working on the last round now, and I hope to finish it this weekend.

I dropped my favorite tatting tool one time too many this week. When I tried to fix it, I only made it worse. I've had this crochet hook from Grizzly Mountain Arts for about two and a half years, so I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it. Still, I'm sad to have damaged it so badly.

I made Alison and Eva Origami pouches with matching shuttles. They chose the fabric the last time they were down visiting. I figured that since the bags are out of the same fabric, they needed a little bling to keep them from getting mixed up!

This pretty green fabric was calling out to me, so I made more Origami pouches. I do get carried away when I find something I enjoy making!

In and out Internet

We had a terrific storm that lasted about three minutes last night. Short, but not so sweet. Apparently, our local radio station had its transmitter knocked out, so we aren't able to get any local news. Our tv is out, and our Internet has been spotty. I'll post when I can!

Babylace is crawling along.

I think I've only finished one more pattern repeat of Chain Reaction since the last time I posted about it.

Flowerpiece needs one more pattern repeat to finish the center.

I finished an Origami pouch with shuttles for myself. I LOVE this fabric, and I couldn't resist making a set to match Allison's!

Last, but not least, I have started another Spinning Wheel glass mat in Yarnplayer's Tourmaline. Why? Because I can! ; )

I've started using Word Verification again. I find it very annoying and sometimes hard to read, but I've gotten so much spam since I took it off! Plus, I've accidentally deleted a few comments that I was trying to publish. So, I'm choosing the lesser of the two evils. I hope you don't find the Word Verification too frustrating!

2, 3, 4... tell the people what she wore!

Oops! This post is not about an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini! It's about my trials and tribulations with measuring thread...

Apparently my estimation skills are lacking. Really? What was I thinking? How could I possibly believe that two yards of thread wound on to the shuttle would be enough for one of these "Flowerpiece" fragments? Surely three yards would be enough... wrong! Okay, make that four... wrong again! I really think I must have measured incorrectly somewhere along the line.

I must have jinxed "Tropical Fruit," so I switched to "Ocean Sunset" in size 40. No measuring here. I just loaded up the shuttle and started tatting. I'm not worrying about where the color change takes place. I'm just enjoying the pattern and the thread!

Inspired by Allison

I was looking at Allison's Facebook page recently, and I thought I recognized a Mary Konior pattern. Allsion confirmed that the piece I saw was indeed a Mary Konior pattern. I felt so proud of myself! I did, however, guess the wrong color of thread. ; )

Anyway, I decided to look up the pattern, "Flowerpiece" from Tatting with Visual Patterns. My first practice piece was with some Sulky thread left on the shuttles. I probably will tat this piece in tiny thread eventually, but for right now I want to make it in size 20, so I decided to practice with the thread that was closest to me, Lizbeth #107, Tropical Fruit. The center piece was my first attempt. I realized as I was sewing in the ends that I had forgotten one section of the last chain. Can you see where the 7 ds are missing where the chain joins the flower? This one will go in my box of tatting for crazy quilting, something I plan on doing in retirement!

The fragment on the right (I love that Mary called individual elements fragments) is done correctly. My next step will be to determine how much thread to wind on the shuttle for each fragment. I'm guessing that two yards will be sufficient. I'll save that experiment for tonight. I know from when I tatted a similar piece a year or two ago, that I will want each flower fragment to start in about the same spot in the thread color. I'll have to look in my thread stash to see if I have one of the solid colors from Tropical Fruit. I know that I won't like the color changes in what Mary calls the chain trails. So, multi-color for the fragments, solid color for the chain trails, and I'll have a beautiful doily in no time!

Thanks for the inspiration, Allison! Maybe we could arrange for The Tollway Tatters to meet up your way sometime this summer. It would be great fun to meet you in person!