More with blue

I"m becoming more comfortable working with beads, although I'm still having trouble keeping my stitches even. I'm sure that will come with time!

I'm not sure why Blogger decided to post this Christmas tree picture first, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

This is my Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal done in size 20 Lizbeth, Snow White. The beads are from Michelle and Theresa... love the color! Thanks, girls!

Ending the year on a positive note!

I finished tatting Doodad Snowflake #1 in Snow White last night...

placed it on the tree this morning...

and then started a Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal!

I do like this color, Lizbeth Snow White #601.

I'm thinking of keeping this little tree up for the month of January so that I can fill it with beautiful snowflakes!

We did get a dusting of snow today, but not enough to make me think it's winter in the midwest!

I had to go to the post office to pick up the mail that collected while we were away, and I was thrilled to see what arrived in my absence!

The shuttle on the left is one that I purchased from eBay. The back says Christmas 2012. Can you guess who made the bobbin shuttle? If you guessed La Cossette, you're correct! She also sent me the beautiful blue snowflake... lucky me!

I re-subscribed to Ring of Tatters, something I had neglected to do for a couple of years. I decided to treat myself to three new books.

What's really great is that the patterns in each book are different!

Now that I'm all set with patterns and shuttles, I guess I'm ready for the new year to begin!

I forgot!

...to post my Sunday snowflake! I took the pictures, saved them to my computer, turned on Brigadoon, wrapped Christmas presents, made dinner, watched t.v., and then went to bed. Yup... I forgot to post my Sunday snowflake!

Oh, did you want to see it? Well, sure...

Sue Anna gave me some size 10 Lizbeth on Saturday, and I started tatting another Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal right away. I was ready to start the second inner ring, when I realized my first ring had a count of 4 - 4 + 4 - 4 instead of 7 - 5 + 5 - 7 as I had used in the lavender.

My first thought was to cut off the thread and start over, but I wanted to see if the stitch count would work. It doesn't, at least not to my satisfaction. I really had to stretch those center rings to make the crystal lie flat. I don't think the 9 ds work for the smaller chain either. There's not the same size definition that I achieved with the original pattern, and I really liked that.

So, even though the changes don't quite suit my taste, I do have two more lovely ornaments!

Dear Jane (part 2)...

As promised, the Tollway Tatters plunged into the problem of making the larger doodad work with my triangular pattern. We were a small group today, only four of us, but thanks to Sue Anna, we found success!

Sue Anna suggested changing the thread size from 20 to 10, and it worked! The inner rings are 7 - 5 + 5 - 7. I did change the stitch count on the chains, although I think the original stitch count for the long chains worked better. On this one, the long chain is 4 - 3 - 3 - 4. The stitch count on the short chains is 9 before and after the small ring.

Barbara was busy working on a bell pattern, and she was very pleased with herself because she managed to tat more today than at any other Tollway Tatters meeting. Go, Barbara!

Carol was working on a Myra Piper motif in size 40. She was inspired by one that was a gift to her in size 20... very pretty, but too large for her mom's tree. She was using Lizbeth Blue Ice, one of my favorite colors!

I took a close-up of Sue Anna, but it turned out blurry. Here she's busy taking a picture of us, even though it looks as if she's singing Christmas carols. ;-)

So, here's a picture of the Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal in size 10 Lizbeth, all cleaned up and ready for the tree! Sue Anna promised to send me a picture of hers when she finishes it.

So, what do you think, Jane? Will you be trying it in size 10? It's awful pretty!

Hugs, Diane

P.S. ~ It's 4" tall!

The Accidental Crystal

Snow Crystal, that is. I was tatting and chatting on the phone with Denise... a recipe for tatting mistakes... we have too much fun talking about what is going on in our lives and laughing at some of the things that happen to us. But I digress...

I was tatting my Doodad Snowflake #3 while we were talking, and I realized that I had reversed my work and tatted a ring to the doodad instead of switching shuttles and tatting an outer ring. It's kind of difficult to untat a ring while holding a phone between ear and shoulder, so I decided that my mistake was really a new design element, and I tatted on!

Not too bad for a mistake... or should I say new design?

Thread ~ size 20 HDT, Country Christmas by LadyShuttleMaker
Doodad ~ stock #H20 9117FY from Fire Mountain Gems
S hook ~ www.wirestormcreations.com

Dear Jane...

I couldn't wait until the weekend to try and figure out a solution for tatting the Triangular Doodad Snow Crystal using a larger doodad, so here's my initial attempt...

Don't look too closely. It's really not very good. I only changed the inner rings: 7 - 5 + 5 - 7. You can see that some of the rings are really stretched. The chains are really stretched too. I managed to get it to lie fairly flat by using a little steam. I've tried some other stitch counts, but have quickly snipped off the ring and started over.

I think I may take this with me to Tollway Tatters on Saturday. Maybe we can figure something out together. When I/we figure something out, I'll be sure to post the solution!

Because people have been asking...

thread ~ size 20 Lizbeth, Boysenberry Dk #644
doodad ~ from Hobby Lobby (thanks Sue and Carol!)
S hook ~ www.wirestormcreations.com