No time for tatting

Well, there wasn't much time for tatting today. I did find time to finish this bookmark, but that was it. I'll be helping daughter Carol with the play for the next couple of weeks, so I'm guessing my tatting time will be minimal. I'll still be having fun!

Befuddled by beads

"Mary" from Twenty to Make Tatted Snowflakes by Jennifer Williams is a beautiful beaded snowflake.  I was really looking forward to tatting it, but I kept making mistakes, forgetting to add beads in the appropriate places.

The pattern is really very simple, so I decided to tat it without the beads to see how the pattern flows.

Now that I have the pattern down pat, I think I can successfully add the beads. I think it makes a great Ice Drop, too!

The shuttle is one of my favorites from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

Poppy Red Spinning Wheel

When I started tatting this pretty shade of red, I didn't think of the significance of finishing it in time for Veterans' Day. I do like my Poppy Red Spinning Wheel!

As I was catching up with blog posts today, I realized that Frivole has already used the name Snowdrop for one of her pretty snowflake patterns. So, I think I need to come up with another name.

If you haven't tried this method of bezel setting piece:s with tatting, I highly recommend Edda Guastalla's directions! These pieces have been finished using her basic directions, but Edda goes in to many more possibilities. There are 15 pages in this download, and I think it is well worth the price.

Here's the next drawer in my newest shuttle display cabinet. As of the last shuttle post, the count was at 600. I'm amazed!

Update: Thanks for the suggestion, ladies! I've gone through and relabeled all of my Snowdrops as Ice Drops so that the name won't be confused with Frivole's beautiful snowflake.

Tatting time at last!

I'm starting to settle into a routine at school, if not at home, so I decided to take some time to finish my latest Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. The thread is Omega, and I like the way this turned out, even though it's not exactly what I envisioned.

I'm usually pretty good about winding off the correct amount of thread to finish a Spinning Wheel, but this time I goofed! I wound up using the shoelace trick after every ring and chain for the last two spokes. It looks okay, but I am tempted to rewind my shuttles and make another one with this thread so that I can get the effect that I think I would get... or maybe I'll work on something else. :-)