A slow day...

I feel very lazy today, and I though I hadn't accomplished much However...

It talked to my Mom and caught up on craft and family activities.

I talked to daughter Alison about recipes and lots of nothing.

I helped Dave empty our closed and move everything upstairs so that he could work on our bathroom.

I made breakfast and lunch.

...and I tatted! Not much, but I did tat. This is one pattern repeat of Edging 5 from Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath. I like the way the pattern flows, but I need to work on picot sizes to determine which size picots are need where in order to make it work as an edging. I think I will be revisiting this pattern!

I managed to fit in another Ice Drop. This one is based on #37 of Patti Duff's Minitats. I'm really lovin' the red and white!

I pulled another one of my little books off the shelf, Nice and Easy Tatted Edgings by Diane DiRosa Biswas. The edging is "Itsy, Bitsy, Baby" and it is super simple! I played around with picot size and spacing a little bit, but I guess I wasn't in the mood to do much experimenting.

I wasn't able to find this book at Handy Hands, Tatting Corner, or Lacis, but I did find 5 copies at DS9 Designs under Catchpin Goods. It's a nice little book for beginners, or someone looking for super simple designs.

Oh, dear! I'm feeling the urge to start another Ice Drop! ;-)

Time to clean up

I've been enjoying tatting today, but it's time to start the Christmas clean-up. Once I start, Dave will be more inclined to take over and get it all done quickly! ;-)

I finished up an Ice Drop based on #32 in Patti Duff's Minitats.

I think the back is just as pretty as the front!

I started off my day with another Ice Drop.

I can't really tell you why I have this sudden affinity for pink!

After breakfast, I decided to play with sequins.

Daughters Carol and Joanne should really love this one. Carol's favorite color was always purple when she was little, and Joanne's was pink.

After lunch, I played with Jelly Beans... the thread!

It looks good enough to eat!

I also tried out another Norma Benporath edging, #4.

Playing with color

I do love my Ice Drops in white, but I'm determined to play with color!

This is size 20 Flora #62.

The more I tat with pink, the more I like it!

Here I used size 20 Lizbeth #112, Carousel.

I think the purple ribbon is perfect!

This one is in size 20 Lizbeth #124, Spring Garden.

I'm not sure I chose the right ribbon for this one, but I like it.

I worked some more with Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath. This is Edging 3, a two shuttle pattern. The suggested size is 40, but since I'm just experimenting, I used the size 20 that was close by. I really like this one!

Back and forth

I did a little back and forth today... reading, tatting, reading, tatting... you get the idea.

I like to check my email first thing in the morning, and my friend Denise sent me a picture of her latest Ice Drop, adapted from Vida Sunderman's Tatted Snowflakes.  I know the book is still available from Handy Hands. I do own it, but it's somewhere very safe, and I can't find it right now!

I also spent time looking at the patterns in Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath. This is Edging 2. My sample is in size 20 thread, mainly because that's what was next to my chair. I love the pattern, but the rings are too large for my liking in size 20. Some day soon, I'll probably try it in size 80 thread, which I think will be much more appealing. The recommend size is 50, but my size 50 is all the way upstairs!

I also spent time with Patti Duff's Minitats, looking for patterns that I thought would work with Ice Drops.

This is an adaptation of #5. I'm starting to grow fond of pink!

If you have a copy of this book, treasure it! It's no longer available.

This is an adaptation of #7 from Minitats.

I got myself into a bit of a muddle with the last join. I managed to get the picots caught in the ring, and the more I tried to fix it, the more tangled it got. Luckily, I remained calm and untangled my mess!

This one is an adaptation of #11 from Minitats. The gem is a bit smaller than the ones I've been using, a mere 1/2". So I reduced the number of rings to 5.

On the Patti Duff side, I also reduced the size of the small rings. I think I could have left them as written, though.

If you're on Facebook and have any interest in Ice Drops, we'd love to have you join us on the Ice Drop Addicts page. We truly are a group addicted to tatting these little ornaments!

Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath

I really thought I'd spend time looking through tatting books today, but I spent the whole day working with just one, Heritage Patterns by Norma Benporath.

I love this little book! It was a present from Maureen in Australia several years ago. I'm not sure if it's still available or not.

My focus was on the first pattern in the book, Edging 1. I really struggled with this pattern! First, I didn't look at the pattern carefully, so I missed the daisy center for the five ring motif. Not a big deal, right? Since I was just experimenting, I just continued with the pattern and continued, successfully tatting the daisy center, or so I thought. After closing the ring, I read the instructions and realized I was not supposed to reverse my work before tatting the daisy center. Snip!

I started again, and everything seemed to be going fine, but I ran out of thread. Snip!

I rewound my shuttle and proceeded confidently! However, this does not look right at all! I'm sure I'll get back to this pattern and figure it out, but not today. If anyone has tried this pattern and can give me some hints, I'll be happy to try again!

I am not ready to give up on Ice Drops yet! I am having too much fun playing with colors and seeing how everything works together.

I will probably make these all year long!