Thinking ahead

My friend Denise and I are going to help the Beecher Public Library by displaying tatting in February. We went to the library to look at the display cases, take measurements, and brainstorm ideas for the display. What could say February better than hearts and snowflakes?

The display cases are in the entryway of the library. Seeing the current display helped spark some ideas.

Denise suggested framing two larger doilies to set on top of the display cases, similar in size to the pictures that are up there now. She also suggested two trees to display snowflakes and possibly ice drops and button ornaments. 

Denise and I talked about a heart shaped box or tin to go in the display. I ordered a Whitman Sampler, but the cardboard box was a mess, so it went into the trash. Of course, Mom and I ate the chocolate first! Mom did some more searching online and found this Dove chocolate tin. I'm not sure if we will use it, but it sure is a handy place to store tatting for the display!

I started search heart patterns, and decided to start with Clover Drop Heart from Nancy Tracy at Be-stitched. This one is tatted with size 20 Lizbeth #644 Boysenberry Dk. Denise loves pastels, and so do I, but I think a few darker pieces will help set off the display.

You can expect to see hearts, ice drops, and snow flakes popping up here for the next several months!

The hurrier I go...

...the behinder I get! That's the feeling these days, yet somehow I manage to get a few things accomplished. The past week has been filled with activity... Dave's birthday, Aidan's soccer game, the middle school boys' regional baseball game, meetings, weaving, and tatting!

I'm almost halfway around the final round of Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy. I know that once I'm two-thirds around there will be no stopping me! In the meantime, it's two or three rings here, two or three rings there. Little by little, I'm getting it done!

Lots of rings!

I started round 6 of Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy on Friday. It has lots of rings!

Ready for another round!

I finished round 5 of Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy last night, and I'm ready to start round 6. I'll be winding my shuttle before I head off to school this morning. I'm really looking forward to the next round!

Psst! Don't look too closely... as I was tatting round 5, I found a mistake in round 4. There was no way I was going to undo all that work for a little mistake. I'll tell you what... I won't point it out if you won't. :-)

Little by little

I didn't spend as much time tatting last night as I could have. My iPad just kind of jumped into my lap, and I wound up surfing for a while! ;-)

Still, I was able to tat enough that I'm a little past the halfway point. Yay!

Movin' along

I'm pleased with the progress I've made on round 5 of Mom's Pink Doily. It's amazing what can be accomplished by just sitting down and tatting!

Determination!

That's all it took to complete round 4 of Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy! Of course I also had to neglect a little housework, but that's okay. It will still be there tomorrow. ;-)

Right now the doily is 8" across, with two more rounds to go. I'm using size 20 Lizbeth, Leafy Greens. I'll start round 5 while I'm watching football this afternoon. Right now, the Bears are down by 10, so I need a little distraction!Mom

Two more medallions!

Although I was bone weary when I returned home from school yesterday, I did manage to find time to tat two more medallions. Seven are finished, nine more to go. At this rate, it will take me at least through the weekend to finish this round, but I don't mind. I tat to relax and make beautiful lace, and that's exactly what I'm doing!

WIP

We all have a few, don't we? This is Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy that I started a few years ago for daughter Joanne. Somehow, when I get requests for things, it takes me longer to complete them. If my memory serves me correctly, I started this about three years ago. I know I've pulled it out at least twice in the past two years. I think it's time to finish this one!

I only managed to tat three medallions this weekend, but I did make progress! I'm using Lizbeth size 20, #138, Leafy Greens. 

for Lily, round 3 ~ finished!

I finished Lily's doily! Isn't it pretty?

As you can see, it's much smaller in size 40 thread than in size 20. It only measures 4 1/4" across.

I think this thread (Lizbeth #137, Berry Burst) should come with a warning label: can be dangerous to your waistline... I had to have a pomegranate popsicle before I could post. ;-)

for Lily, round 2

I wasn't sure I'd like "Mom's Pink Doily" by Nancy Tracy tatted in a multi-colored thread, but I do! Doesn't this Berry Burst make you want a Rocket Pop? 

for Lily, round 1

Granddaughter Lily chose the thread (size 40 Lizbeth, #137, Berry Burst) and the pattern (Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy). Now it's up to Grandma to do the tatting!

I'll only be tatting the first three rounds of the pattern, because that's what Lily saw, liked, and chose. Round 1... finished!

Side by side

Wow! What a difference 10 rings in the center of the doily makes compared to 8 rings! On the left is my "Tat This!" doily for Miranda's challenge. On the right is Nancy Tracy's "Mom's Pink Doily." Both are tatted in size 20 Lizbeth.

If you've been following this saga, it turns out that the doily on the fabric in Miranda's challenge photo is actually Nancy Tracy's "Mom's Pink Doily." When I learned this, I decided to make another using Nancy's directions. Nancy's doily has six rounds, so I still have quite a way to go with this, but I wanted to show the two side by side before sending Mom's doily off to her. The green one will go to daughter Joanne.

We had a very busy weekend here. Daughter Carol played Matron "Mama" Morgan in Chicago the Musical, and she did a fantastic job! The other cast members were pretty good too! Of course I attended all three performances. Daughter Andrea was able to drive down from Minnesota, and she attended Friday and Saturday. Daughter Alison and son-in-law Dan drove down for Saturday's performance. My sister-in-law and her husband went on Sunday. It was a great fundraiser for the middle school/high school drama clubs; Carol directs for both groups. Admission to the play was free, and a variety of individuals, businesses, and groups donated items for silent auction.

On Saturday, I had all four grandchildren at my house. I loved every moment, but I was especially thrilled that my granddaughters showed that they love my lace! Lily and Ella went through my stash Saturday morning. Eva will be going through my stash this Friday. Aidan wasn't interested in lace, but he had fun building model planes with his dad and Grandpa.

Ella chose these pieces from Grandma's lace box.

Lily chose these. To top it off, they both chose thread from my apothecary jar and each requested a doily, a heart, and a star. I guess I have my tatting list set! These two aren't quite ready to learn to tat... yet!

Each of the girls went home with a new Origami pouch and four sun dresses for their American Girl dolls. I sure wish I had thought to take pictures of them. Making doll dresses is not my favorite thing to do, but I'm sure I'll make more after seeing how much all three girls loved their new doll clothes!

for Joanne, round 2

I do love Nancy Tracy's directions! They are so easy to follow. The pattern is Mom's Pink Doily, but mine is obviously green, and since my mom fell in love with the blue doily, this one is for daughter Joanne.

I still like my interpretation for Miranda's "Tat This!" challenge. Looking at my progress so far, I think mine is different enough that I'll just enjoy the fact that I was able to tat something with absolutely no directions... quite an accomplishment for me!

Starting over...

One of Miranda's readers, Frances, noticed that the doily print on the "Flee Market Doily" fabric from JoAnn's is actually the first three rounds of "Mom's Pink Doily" by Nancy Tracy. I didn't have to do all that thinking after all!

I went to Nancy's site (be-stitched.com) and decided to follow her free pattern. In the first round, my rings were the same stitch count, but I had two extra stitches on each chain. So, I decided to start over. I'm really interested to see how the first three rounds compare to the pattern I tatted!

By the way, since I am obviously not tatting in pink, and this is for my daughter Joanne, my doily will be called Joanne's Green Doily (my interpretation of Mom's Pink Doily by Nancy Tracy). I'll try to come up with a simpler moniker for future posts. ; )

Remember Corinne's game?

I finished the second round a few minutes ago!

It's been a busy day... starting with a 5K walk, part of our town's Oktoberfest. I met my goal... finished in less than an hour this year. Now I'm pooped, so I think I'll head off to bed early.

I'm sure I'll be tatting some more tomorrow!

Note: Thank you to Jeff, who let me know that the original source for this pattern is the wonderfully talented Nancy Tracy!

Corinne's game

Corinne posted a challenge or game the other day. Tat this motif in colors of your choice and post the picture. Last night, I decided to play the game while Dave and I watched a movie. I used size 20 Lizbeth, colors #628 and #684. It was a very easy piece to tat, and I really like the color combination I chose. Thanks for the bit of fun, Corinne!

For me, one of the joys of tatting is using beautiful shuttles. My all-time favorites are my wood post shuttles, but I do enjoy working with these little beauties from La Cossette. She has a mocha paisley shuttle in her shop that I adore, but I've gone a little crazy with my spending this summer, and it's time to stop spending and start using what I have! Sometimes being a tatting shuttle addict can be so burdensome. ; )

One down...

I finally finished decorating my first ornament! I bought a package of 24 shatterproof ornaments about a week and a half ago. This decoration just sits on the ball... I don't think shatterproof means unbreakable. I want to be able to transfer the tatting to another ornament if I choose! I was inspired by a beautiful beaded ornament by Nancy Tracy at be-stitched.com, but I didn't want to put as much work into it as she did... I'm running out of time! Nancy used the Hen and Chicks pattern for the top part of her decoration because of its natural curve. I really like Nancy's pattern, and I may add to this after the holidays.

Autumn Leaves

This pretty little leaf is from Nancy Tracy's Tat's Where I Stopped (p. 32, November - Autumn Leaves). I used Yarnplayer's "Summer Trail" size 50.

Believe it or not, this little leaf took me hours! The directions are wonderful... I just couldn't make a lock join to save my soul! I worked on this beauty for the entire Chicago Bears football game, about a half hour this morning, and about another half hour when I got home from school. I think I need to find where I put my tatting videos and take a refresher course! I'm much better when I can watch an expert demonstrate techniques... words and still pictures just don't help me get the message processed correctly so that my hands can function!