A wonderful weekend!

The weather was absolutely fantastic this weekend! Our granddaughter Eva spent the weekend with us, so I didn't get a lot of tatting done, but I did finish one piece.

This is Maria from Tatted Bookmarks - cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn, with two modifications. I left the picots off the rings, and I changed the rings at the ends of the tassels. I was hoping for a more masculine look. Do you think I succeeded? The thread is size 20 Lizbeth #173, Purple Marble.

When we arrived home, I found two very special packages in the mail. First, some luscious new HDT from Monica! Monica proposed a swap when she saw my rose shuttles... HDT for shuttles. Being an HDT addict, I quickly agreed, and I'm so glad I did! Aren't the colors gorgeous?

My other package contained the most beautiful rose pin I have ever seen! This gorgeous embroidery on felt is by my dear friend Paulette aka Beedeebabee. I just adore her work, and I would recommend her to anyone! Right now, she has two Halloween-themed pins that I am sorely tempted to buy... an adorable witch's hat and a pumpkin. I wonder if she'll be making a black cat as well? I'll have to ask her!

I hope all of you had as wonderful a weekend as I did. My batteries are re-charged, and I'm ready for another fun-filled week at school!

Spinning Wheel, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

1. size 20 thread
2. size 40 thread
3. size 50 thread
4. size 80 thread
5. Sulky Blendables
6. King Tut
7. Oliver Twists
8. and of course...

HDT! In this case, size 20 Aurora from Jess aka Tat-ilicious.

I never tire of this pattern. It seems that I always have at least one in progress. It is my comfort tat, my tat-on-the-go, in other words... my favorite!

Lovin' Lavender

I loved the size 20 Lavender HDT thread from Yarnplayer so much, that I decided to tat every last bit of it with Mary Konior designs. If I could only keep one of my tatting books it would be Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.

Top left is "Dress Trim." Center is "Flower Patch." Top right is "Masquerade." On the bottom is just half of "Anniversary Motif." I will tat the full motif. It just won't be in Lavender. : )

No bills today!

Just two wonderful packages! My two newest Roly Poly bags from Jane arrived, along with my very first Poke Proof Pouch. I know I can sew, but why... Jane has exactly what I want! Besides, if I don't sew, I have more time for tatting! ; )

I also received some wonderful HDT from Jess and Livi. We did a swap, one of my Origami bags for a skein of size 40 HDT. Jess has been trying to come up with the perfect Torch Lily. Although this color combo is very pretty, it just wasn't quite what she's looking for. A bonus for me is that Livi decided to dye some thread for me! See the lovely blues and purples? I feel so honored! The thread is called LLL2, which stands for Livi Loves Lace Too. Thank you, Livi! You made my day! I think I'll tat something really special with this thread!

I'm lovin' it!

I'll take any little bit of tatting time I can get, especially when the results are as pretty as this!

As expected, school was a lot of fun today! Kids gave me hugs and told me how much they missed school. Remember, I work in an elementary school. Daughter Carol said the high school kids were not nearly as excited to be back!

Meeting of the minds...

or at least the like-minded! Sue Anna, Marilee, and I met at an oasis on the Illinois toll road for a fun-filled day of tatting, chatting, and sharing. I think the photos say it all...

A table loaded with tatting supplies,

Marilee designing a new piece,

Sue Anna winding thread for a future project,

threads from Sue Anna and Marilee...

all in all, a wonderful day! Thank you Marilee and Sue Anna!

Inspired by Ann

The other day, Ann posted a picture of edging No. 52 from Old-Fashioned Tatting Patterns Book 1, edited by Barbara Foster. I immediately knew that she had tatted from a book that I had merely skimmed. Have I ever mentioned that my collection of tatting books is greater than my tatting? Anyway, I went and searched through my tatting books, and to my dismay... I couldn't find it! So, I shuffled off to bed.

After a little shopping spree yesterday (unfortunately we shopped for mulch, not tatting supplies), I started thinking about that book again. I was sure it had a lavender cover. I looked in the bookcase again... no luck. I went to the Handy Hands site and looked up the book. Yup... that's the book... back to my sewing room for a more careful look. Guess what? It was right where it was supposed to be! Somehow it was pushed back a little, and the edges of other books had covered it up. You'd think a librarian would remember that these things happen!

I had just a little bit of Confetti Sprinkles from LadyShuttleMaker, so I decided to look for a shuttle only pattern.

There it is, that tiny little piece under the word "Tatting". I just thought I'd show you the cover of the book in case you can't remember where you put your copy! ; )

Isn't it cute? I need to work on my bare thread lengths to keep them uniform, but I still like the way it turned out. This is very similar to the edging Ann tatted, which I didn't realize until I looked at the picture on her blog again. I followed the pattern for Tatted Insertion-Edging No. 20, which has slightly smaller rings, and does not show a crocheted header.

Several other patterns caught my eye. Just what I need... more ideas! Thanks for the inspiration, Ann!

Another snowflake from Jon

I love this design! It's called Adiratna, and it's the first design in Jon's new book, Elegant Tatting Gems. This one's done in LadyShuttleMaker's Confetti Sprinkles, size 50, and it measures 3" across.

I really, really, really like this book!

Pure indulgence!

I"m sure many of you know about LadyShuttleMaker's Mondo Monday Giveaway... well, I was the lucky first winner! Believe it or not, the gorgeous HDTs she sent me are the perfect match for my CQ block. To the left of the shuttle is "Leaf Braid" from Tatting With Visual Patterns by Mary Konior in size 20 silk... yes, silk! If you haven't tatted with silk yet, you are missing out on a very special experience!

Oh, and the indulgence... I bought one of the Shuttle Brothers engraved silver shuttles as an anniversary present to me! Dave told me years ago that if I wanted jewelry, I had to buy it for myself because it just didn't do anything for him. Well, I count this beautiful shuttle as a luxurious piece of jewelry for my hands! I guess I must like me! I wonder what my next indulgence will be? ; )

Just one skein...

was all it took to make these three pieces!


The thread is Bell Peppers, size 20 HDT from Sherry Pence aka LadyShuttleMaker. The patterns from top to bottom are "Honesty" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior, "Stumpy" from Kersti Anear, and "Spinning Wheel Glass Mat" from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior.

This is the first time I've worked with a skein of HDT until it was all used up! I have little bits and pieces wound around bobbins in little boxes and bags around my sewing room. Maybe I'll start using up some of them now!

Tantalizing tootsies

After seeing Fox's latest post, I just had to dust off my totally out-of-character shoe purchase from a couple of years ago. These are without a doubt, the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I own, but I just can't part with them! I wore them to school one time, and the kids thought they were wonderful... too bad they kill my feet! Yes, my skin really is that pale... I think I need to spend a little time in the sun! Anyone else out there have some funky shoes to show off?


On the tatting front, I just had to start another Spinning Wheel Glass Mat. I can't help myself... I LOVE this pattern! The thread is one I've been holding in my stash for the perfect project. What could be more perfect than Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel? The thread is Bell Peppers from Sherry Pence aka LadyShuttleMaker. In my humble opinion, HDT is the best thread to use, and I have plenty to play with!

Great stuff!

This is not my week for working with computers! My scanner died at the beginning of the week. I haven't been able to connect from the Internet at home for the past three days. And to top it all off, I've been trying to upload these pictures to Blogger for over an hour!

Enough complaining already! With Dave's help I finished this pretty little box for a birthday present. I love little boxes! I found this one at Michael's (I know they don't use an apostrophe, but the English teacher in me just won't let me leave it out) thanks to Tattycat... I was looking for her wonderful thread winders! Dave sanded and stained the box for me. It's just the right size for Lyn Morton's Judith in size 20 HDT. This one's Tie Dye Blue from LadyShuttleMaker. I told Dave that I'd like to give little treasure boxes like these to our grandchildren for Christmas, and he liked the idea. Now all I have to do is find the time to get to Michael's and do the tatting... somehow my Christmas list keeps growing!


Dave Stanbrough at Grizzly Mountain Arts had a beautiful nostepinde listed in his Etsy shop. I e-mailed him and asked if he could make a smaller version for thread, and he did! It's perfect for winding my HDT into little balls!


For me, the big advantage to having balls of thread is that I can pull the thread either from the center or the outside... much easier when using a ball and shuttle pattern!


I found this ball holder a few years ago (I can't remember where). It's perfect for holding my little balls of thread... I don't have to worry about them getting lost in the dust bunnies!

Terra Cotta Spinning Wheel

I love the way this one turned out! This is one of the threads that Sherry Pence custom dyed for me. The whole time I was working on this, I kept thinking of Necco Wafers... anyone remember them?

Judith

I was looking for an oval motif for a present I'm working on, and I found "Judith" in Tatting Patterns by Lyn Morton.


I tatted both motifs out of size 20 HDT from Sherry Pence... Rainbow Sherbet and Tie Dye Blue. I tatted the Rainbow Sherbet first, but I was disappointed for two reasons: 1) I made my joins incorrectly, so the finished piece doesn't lie flat, and 2) it's too pale for the background it will be on. Sigh! I knew before I started that I was making the wrong color choice.

Luckily, this is a very simple piece to tat (as long as you join correctly), so I tatted the Tie Dye Blue while we watched the Bears/Vikings game this afternoon. I think the blue will be perfect for the setting... I'll post a picture when Dave has finished with his part of the project.

Spinning Wheel Display

Pamela asked me if I would take a picture of all my Spinning Wheels together, so here they are! I made two others last year, but I obviously put them some place very safe... I can't find them!

How long does it take YOU to tat the Spinning Wheel pattern? I'd love to hear from all of you who have tatted this design. It takes me about an hour for each spoke or arm of the pattern. There are 9 spokes, so approximately 9 hours... if I don't have to retro-tat!

I think I'm a very slow tatter, especially after watching videos of others tatting. I don't care how long it takes, though... it's my way of relaxing!

Sugar Maple Spinning Wheel

Yes folks, I am still tatting Spinning Wheel glass mats... I LOVE this pattern! I think it looks especially nice in Marilee's "Sugar Maple", size 40. This one's 4 1/2" in diameter, about an inch smaller than the ones tatted in size 20. I still have one more that I must tat for a Christmas present. I'll have to see if I want to keep tatting Spinning Wheels, or if I want to move on to a different project.

Tatting these little doilies gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I like tatting motifs, and I'm usually very pleased with the final product, but the glass mats seem a little more useful to me. Besides, I love doilies!

I may have to put tatting aside for a little while... I hope not! I have several knitting projects in the works, a couple of crochet projects, a birthday gift, tooth fairy pillows for grandchildren, and weaving bookmarks for the Santa's Secret Shop at school. My "to do" list just keeps growing!

Progress

I'm making progress with Stella Alpina, and I haven't had to undo too many mistakes. I'm paying much closer attention!

I decided to make another bookmark today to give myself a little mental break. This hand-dyed thread is from Sherry Pence aka LadyShuttleMaker. I've lost the tag and can't remember what the color is called, but it sure is pretty!

If you click on the picture to make it larger, you get a much better idea of the true color of these two pieces.