Marigold motif

I've been thinking about tatting some pieces from New Tatting by Tomato Morimoto for a while now, and this morning I decided it was time to get started! This is Marigold motif. I suppose I should have used a nice bright yellow, but this beautiful blue was a great match for my new Dreamlit shuttle.

I didn't really look at the directions. I just got to work on the center motif. It didn't take me long to realize that I should have looked at the directions and started with the outer round first. Designers have their reasons for doing what they do!

This was my first time using a Dreamlit shuttle. It was a breeze to wind the thread, and since I already like Moonlit shuttles, the transition was easy. The only thing I don't like about the Dreamlit is that the bobbin doesn't have a hole to run the thread through and knot it. I'll have to remember to wind extra thread so that I don't run into the problem of having the thread slip when I get close to the end of the bobbin.

I stuck with my Doodle Ice Drop pattern and Karey Solomon's hand-dyed thread for my travel project today. The center is a glow-in-the-dark gem from Hobby Lobby.

I was determined to finish another motif for my Eightsome Reel doily. I do love this Mary Konior pattern, and I think it looks great in Marilee Rockley's Lantana Citrus!

Hydrangea Doily

It all started with one little motif from New Tatting by Tomoko Morimoto. A nice simple tat was just what I needed to start my day. Then I got distracted.

Yes, I have another new little loom. I just had to play with it! A few weeks ago, I contacted Gene Marino of Hard Maple Looms with some ideas for a mini loom, and Gene came through!

Before warping the loom, I did some more reading and watched some more videos so that I could perfect my weaving. I guess time will tell if I learned anything!

Remember that little flower motif? I could stop at just one, so I tatted the Hydrangea Doily in New Tatting.

Hmmm... I guess I should block it!

Time to relax

I had time to relax this afternoon, and there's no better way to relax than to tat!

While I've had the book New Tatting by Tomoko Morimoto for quite a while, I don't think I've tatted anything from it before.

I started with Marigold Motif in size 20 Lizbeth #629, Azalea Lt.

Since I had Azalea Lt and Green Coral Sea left on shuttles, I decided to combine the two. For this Ice Drop, the Green Coral Sea makes the rings, and the Azalea Lt makes the chains.

Here, I reversed the colors. I think the two go well together!

Late Winter Snowflake

I finished Robin's "Late Winter Snowflake" last night, and gave it a shot of steam this morning. It looks like I should really pin it down properly before sending it off to Mom.

This is a snowflake I will definitely tat again! If I had only looked at a picture of it, I think I would have made it more complicated than it is. The snowflake is tatted in one round... my favorite type of design!

Yesterday's mail brought a new tatting book! I have way more tatting books than any single person could ever use in a lifetime, but I can't help myself. It must be the librarian in me!

There are some beautiful designs in this book. The author, Tomoko Morimoto, is the daughter of the fabulous Teiko Fujito. The pictures are fantastic, and thread yardage is given for each design. The shuttles used are the pastel Clover, which I happen to love using. There is a fabulous silk shawl that I'm tempted to tat. I'll have to do the math to figure out how much silk thread I'll have to buy. I dread doing math!

There was one aspect of the book that surprised me. Tomoko Morimoto doesn't hide her thread ends! She ties a knot, snips the threads close to the knot, and glues the thread down. I've done that in an emergency, but it is not my preferred method of hiding thread ends. If I decide to make the silk shawl, I may have to use a dab of glue to keep the thread from sliding out, but I think I will still sew in my ends for a bit.

There are some interesting threads introduced in this book, ones I'd not heard of before. I didn't do an intense study, but it appears that all of the threads used in the book are available at either Handy Hands or Lacis.

I also managed to start the next round of Renulek's Letnia. I do love Arctic Waters!