Blue Moon

 

Today I had fun tatting with Tatskool's Blue Moon. I started with another "Christina" cross bookmark from Tatted Bookmarks ~ cross-shaped by Lene Bjorn. Did you notice my new blue shuttle? Its from Alexy Romanov, who can be reached on Facebook. It's a great shuttle!

I had to tat some more donut pendants today. This one has a plastic donut.

This one has a rose quartz donut. I'm keeping one for myself, and I'm leaning toward the rose quartz.

To finish the day I tatted Laura Blanton's Coronavirus Button Cross. Oh, yes... I also tatted a little flower motif from Mary Maynard's Tatting Rings of Flowers. There was just enough thread left on the shuttle!

Oops!

Fortunately, I started my day right with a Coronavirus Button Cross, pattern by Laura Blanton. It's nice to start the day feeling good about your tatting!

With confidence, I decided to tat Snowflake #2 from Robin Perfetti's new book, Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes. I guess I was a little too confident, because I missed one of the center rings. Oops! I guess I'll have to tat this one again!

Running out of green?

I'm always amazed at how much thread is left on a ball when I think I'm running low! I hoped I would have enough for a cross and an Ice Drop.

I did! In fact, I had enough for two Ice Drops.

It looks like I'll be able to get quite a bit more out of this ball of thread!

 

Tatting with white

I spent today tatting with white. Of course there was a Doodle Ice Drop in the mix!

I tatted Pink Anchor (obviously not in pin) by Lily Qualls Morales for a friend. Shhh... don't tell anyone I missed a ring and chain. It does look slightly shorter, but I don't think it looks bad.

I ended my day with another Coronavirus Button Cross by Laura Blanton. The button I used is slightly smaller than the recommended size. I just made an easy adjustment between arms with a stitch count of 2-2 rather than 3-3. I think it worked out pretty well!

 

High hopes

I had high hopes of accomplishing a lot today. I didn't quite meet my goals, but I had fun!

While supervising the kids at school, I finished tatting another Coronavirus Button Cross by Laura Blanton. I had a little bit of thread left on my shuttle, so I decided to see how much I could tat of Mary Konior's Curds & Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns. I thought I'd only get one pattern repeat, so I was pleased to get two. The shuttle is one of my favorites, a present from my cousin Trish. The shuttle was made and decorated by Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

I now have eight pattern repeats finished on the first border of my Orenburg warm shawl.

Mom is zipping along with her second border. She's well into her eighth pattern repeat. I'm pretty sure she will finish her second border before I finish my first!

Sticking with a theme

 

Yes, I tatted another Coronavirus Button Cross by Laura Blanton today. I did change to a darker green.

I also tatted another Ice Drop. I know there's not much variety in my tatting, but I'm happy knowing that I'm building my stash for Christmas gift giving!

One more

Today was testing day at school, PSAT and SAT. I really expected to get more tatting done, but I'm still happy with what I accomplished. Today's Coronavirus Button Cross brings me up to six. I'd like to have at least a dozen ready for Christmas presents, which is certainly a goal that can be achieved!

I still had quite a bit of thread on my shuttle, and I could have completed an Ice Drop. Instead, I chose to tat Mary Konior's Curds & Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns. I really think that if I had to choose just one tatting book to keep, it would be this one. What's your favorite tatting book?

2 + 2 = loads of tatting fun!

Today was a total tatting day. I haven't had one of those in quite a while!

I'm on a roll with Laura Blanton's Coronavirus Button Cross.

And, it feels good to be tatting Ice Drops again.

I enjoyed the first cross so much, I decided to tat another.

The same thing happened with the Ice Drop. Mom asked what I'll be doing with these. I have a feeling they'll end up as Christmas presents!

Monday, Monday

Mom and I had a busy day. We started off with a little housework and some crafting. I sorted through one of my jars of buttons, deciding which ones I realistically might use and baggings up the rest to give away. 

My main reason for sorting through buttons was so that I'd have easy access to the size needed for tatting these crosses. I do like this pattern, Coronavirus Button Cross by Laura Blanton. It takes me about two hours to tat one of these crosses, which is pretty good time.

It's been a while since I've tatted an Ice Drop. It felt good to get back into the Ice Drop groove!

I finished my sixth pattern repeat today. Mom is quickly catching up to me, the difference being that she's on her second border and I'm still on my first. I am enjoying knitting this Orenburg warm shawl!

Relaxing

We had a very relaxing day today. Dave worked on some outdoor projects, while Mom and I enjoyed indoor activities. 

Mom and I both worked on our Orenburg warm shawls today. I finished another pattern repeat, and Mom is zipping along with her second border panel. After making mistakes on three rows, I decided it was time to take a break from knitting.

It's been a long time since I've worked with doodads aka jewelry findings, and I decided today was as good a day as any to get to work. I didn't find the ones I was looking for, but I did find these acrylic flower findings that I had completely forgotten about.

After playing with the flower design, I decided to try the acrylic flower as the center for Laura Blanton's Coronavirus Button Cross. It worked pretty well!

Mom and I finished watching the seven seasons of Endeavour that are available and decided to watch Inspector Morse. I had watched the series a long time ago, so long ago that I really can't remember the plot lines. I've been working on my Granny Stripe afghan while watching the show. The pattern is so simple, I can follow the show and not mess up my project. Tonight I was able to crochet four rows while watching an episode. 

Today was far more productive than I could have imagined!

Keepin' busy

I've been having great fun going through all the goodies in my sewing room. They're being warehoused upstairs for now so that the room can be remodeled. I'm very excited... Mom is moving in with us! Dave and I are making plans for repurposing spaces in the house, and I think I'm going to be very happy with the changes we will be making!

Yes, I did manage to take time for tatting during the week. I test tatted Lynne Urwin's Ankars Away. I just love all those rings!

I also test tatted Laura Blanton's Coronavirus Button Cross Number One. This pattern was so easy to follow! Laura will be posting it on her Christmas in Tatting Facebook page. Laura is hoping to share free patterns with everyone. If you're on Facebook, why not check it out?

I tatted the red cross according to Laura's directions. The green cross has a slightly larger button, 1/2" instead of 3/8". I thought I would need to change the stitch count for the four corners around the button. I should have just left the original stitch count.

The pink cross is according to Laura's directions, except for the button size. This is another 1/2" button. So, Laura's stitch count works for both 3/8" and 1/2" buttons... good to know!

This is a super simple pattern to follow! For the green and pink crosses, I practiced frontside/backside tatting. It's not necessary, but I think it does give a cleaner look. I have lots of buttons and lots of thread!

Laura's Victorian Heart

I'm pretty sure Laura never envisioned her beautiful Victorian Heart in size 3 thread, but here it is! It was wonderful therapy, both mentally and physically! Laura's clear directions made this an easy pattern to follow. I look forward to creating it in finer thread some day, but for now I'm happy to have completed a tatting project!

When life hands you lemons...

Life didn't exactly hand me this lemon... it was of my own making! I was trying to tat Laura's Victorian Heart in size 10 Flora, color #133, with my new Grizzly Mountain Arts signature shuttle. About half way through the second round, I realized I was tatting the wrong number of stitches. I wasn't in the mood to retro-tat, so I finished up the round and added the final ring.

I didn't want my tatting to go to waste, or even sit in a basket waiting for me to be inspired. So, I decided to start a crazy quilt block. Of course, I needed colors that would compliment the heart, so I looked at my fabric stash and chose fabrics that were left from previous projects... a rather simple task, considering my stash! My fabric choices don't always thrill me when I'm piecing a quilt block, but somehow I'm always pleased when the block is finished. We'll see if that holds true for this one!

I've crazy quilted Christmas stockings before, but they've been completely machine embellished using stitches on my sewing machine. This will be my first attempt at hand-stitching embellishments. I've pinned the tatted heart in the spot where I think I want it to be, but I'm not ready to sew it on yet. I think I'll try some embroidery work first to see if the heart still fits in this spot.

Thank you, Melissa, for all your CQ encouragement and inspiration!