Keepin' it simple

 

I wasn't in the mood to tat anything fancy today, so I simply added a small picot to each chain. It looks good to me!

I made a little more progress on my collar today. I'm really enjoying this pattern!

Finishes

 

I finished two ornaments today. I love the way this button ornament turned out!

It took me several days to finish this Dorset button and ornament set. Somehow, it just kept getting set to the side!

One more spoke of my collar is finished. This is going to be so pretty!

Playing with clay

 

I had the urge to play with clay again, so I pulled out my cookie stamps and molds to make some ornaments.

Some of the impressions are better than others. It will be interesting to see how they look when they're completely dried.

The clay ornaments took all morning, and then I headed off to school. I did manage to tat one button ornament this afternoon. It sure was a busy day!

Another one button day

 

I spent the morning working on my sweater. I only have three rounds to go before dividing for the sleeves!

Since I spent so much time knitting, I only had time to complete one button ornament. Still, one is better than none!

Cookie day

I need to get back to blogging at night. It's getting too hard to remember what I did yesterday! ;-)

I've started baking cookies for Christmas. I don't know what inspired me to get on a cookie kick. It's probably been ten years since I've baked cookies. I definitely out of practice. There are a lot of burnt edges and uneven thicknesses. Still, I'm determined to have cookies for Christmas!

I love the simplicity of this ornament! I don't remember where the ring came from, and I'm not sure I have any more. This one may have to stay in my collection!

I only managed one Dorset button yesterday, the one on the left. The one on the right is the one I posted about yesterday. That small size difference meant that I couldn't tat 10 rings around yesterday's button. My goal is to make another 13mm Dorset button today so that I can tat the 10 ring ornament, but I first have some household tasks that need attention!

Oops! A loop!

 

I only managed to tat one button ornament today, and it has a mistake that I didn't notice until I was cutting and tying at the end. I'm sure most people wouldn't notice it, but it sticks out like a sore thumb to me! 

Busy weekend

We had a very busy weekend with work around the house and spending time with family. Saturday was very hot and humid, but Sunday was absolutely gorgeous!

Somehow, I can't stop myself from collecting tatting supplies, and I love collecting bags. This weekend I received two of Jane Eborall's Roly Poly tatting bags. These are perfect for carrying around in my purse! I was only going to order one, the one on the left. However, those cute little bugs were calling to me, so I had to have two.

I finished the last of my skein of the pretty blue/green. I didn't quite have enough thread to go around the button. It still makes a cute pendant!

Moving on to another hand-dyed thread, I was in the mood to tat another Curds & Whey bookmark from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. The thread is Just Daffodils by Tatskool. I could not get a good picture of this thread. It is absolutely gorgeous!

I love the way the colors flow on the Workbasket cross pattern. I am so glad I decided to start using my hand-dyed threads. Life's too short to save everything for something special. Sometimes we need to enjoy what we have right now!

This is it!

 

This is the pattern that sparked my interest in tatting! I was given a cross bookmark as a thank you the summer of 1969. Mom knew that it was tatting, but didn't know how to tat. I remember that we went to the five and dime and purchased a shuttle, some thread, and a Coats & Clark book. For 20 years I periodically referred to the book and tried to figure out what to do. It never made sense.

One day, my friend Denise called and said she had found a video by Mildred Clark that would teach us to tat. Denise lent the video to me, and within 20 minutes I was tatting!

It took me years to identify the pattern as one from Workbasket. I have a copy of that Workbasket magazine somewhere. When I find its safe place, I'll let you know what issue it is.

I figured out that the thread is size 40, and I know that it is hand-dyed. It's a beautiful thread, and I'm glad that I had enough for the cross and a button ornament. This is an ornament I will keep. I had a stack of Dad's shirts that I had cut apart for quilt blocks, and I saved the buttons. I plan on making button ornaments with all the buttons I saved from Dad's shirts. When they're finished, I'll let family members choose ornaments for their trees. I hope they think they're special!

Playing with Sugar Maple

 

Sometimes I feel inspired to keep working with a color, and today I felt like playing with Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple. Yes, I've tatted another button ornament, and I played with a couple of flower designs from Tatting Rings of Flowers by Mary Maynard. My flowers look very different from the ones in the book, but I think that's okay!

Feeling better

I've been officially released from quarantine! I still have a bit of a cough, but that cough is consistent with my springtime allergies. 

This is Snowflake #2 from Four Dozen Tatted Snowflakes by Robin Perfetti. It really looks better in person than it does in the picture. My photography skills are very sketchy!

Snowflake #3 is in size 20 hand-dyed Sugar Maple from Yarnplayer. The shuttle is another beauty from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design.

Inspired by the beautiful color, I decided to tat a button ornament. I love the stability that comes with using a button, glass gem, or doo-dad in the center of small tatted motifs. Speaking of doo-dads... I wonder where I put my stash?

I missed a day!

I thought I blogged yesterday, so I was a bit surprised when I logged on tonight and saw that I didn't post anything yesterday. I guess I need to make up for lost time!

My friend Pamela Myers set a challenge for herself to match hand-dyed threads to donuts. I decided to join in the fun!

I think the thread colors show up better in my hand. I've lost the tag, so I don't know the name of this hand-dyed thread.

I'm pretty sure it's size 40 thread. The one on the right is definitely size 20.

Today I decided to work with size 20 Sugar Maple from Marilee Rockley aka Yarnplayer. I met Marilee online about 14 years ago when she first started blogging about hand-dyed threads. I even stalked her at a craft show in Wisconsin so that I could meet her!

Again, I think the colors show up better in my hand.

I didn't want to stop with a donut, so I also tatted a button ornament and a flower. If you haven't tatted with hand-dyed thread, I highly recommend it!

Small projects

 

I pulled out one of my boxes of hand-dyed threads today and wound the skein onto this thread winder. The back is dated '08. I guess I've had it a while! The thread is a beautiful navy blue and lime green, colors that do not show up well on the red bow. I've lost the tag to it, so I don't know for sure what size it is or the color name. I'm pretty sure it's size 40. Now I have to decide what I want to tat!

Two new shuttles arrived from Australia today. They are made by Elizabeth Lacey of happens2behandmade on Etsy. I haven't tried them out yet, but they are lovely!

I decided to take a break from the doily. I've just been making too many mistakes. Maybe a little time away from it will do me good. Instead, I worked on small projects today. The flower is short one ring. I ran out of thread on the shuttle, and rather than join more thread, I decided to leave it as it is. It's still pretty!

Last of the Island Breeze

 I had enough Island Breeze left for one button ornament. I love the way it turned out!

Just one

I was too busy reading today, so I finished just one piece of tatting. I wonder if I'll ever tire of tatting button ornaments, ice drops, or bookmarks? I hope not!

Distractions

 

I allowed myself to get distracted again! Shelby, the high school girl who found a tatted bookmark at Barnes and Noble, is reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. When I saw how excited she was, I decided I should read it. The book arrived this afternoon, and I've already read 1/4 of it. It's one that I would definitely purchase for the school library... if I were still the librarian!

I baked another loaf of triple cheddar and pepper bread this afternoon. This one will go to daughter Carol tomorrow. Lucky for her, I still have half a loaf left or I'd be tempted to keep it for myself!

Because I was so distracted, I only managed to tat one button ornament today. I've probably said this before, but I think this one might be my favorite!

Progress

 

I'm making all sorts of progress. Today I managed to tat a bookmark and a button ornament, something I haven't managed to do in several days!

I also finished round 9 of Renulek's Spring 2021 doily. I took the time to pin this round before giving it a shot of steam. I wanted to make sure I had everything just right for starting round 10!

Bread

I am having way too much fun baking bread, and it's showing up on the scale! I'm going to continue baking bread, because I really enjoy it. However, starting tomorrow I'm going to be much more careful about how much I consume!

Yesterday was a tatting disaster. Can you imagine that happening twice in one week? So, today I went back to bookmark and ornament tatting, sort of a tatting reset!

 

Day off

 

I had the day off from school, so my sister Janet came to visit today. Mom had finished a quilt top for her, and we went to the quilt shop to choose a backing and to have it machine quilted. We stopped at daughter Carol's house for lunch, and then headed home for a leisurely afternoon. While we visited, I worked on my latest Granny Rectangle. I do love how quickly this pattern works up!

Before Janet arrived, I managed to tat one button ornament with one of my newest shuttles from Rita Richmond of Shuttle by Design. I also started Button Love Heart from Button Jar Tatting by Martha Ess. However, I messed it up, snipped it off, and resolved to try again tomorrow!

Still in the pink

 

I'm still playing with pink! A Doodle Ice Drop was a great way to start the day.

Of course a doodle button was in order as well!

And one more Doodle finished my tatting day!

Pink

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that my favorite color is blue. I also love green, purple, and red, but I've never really been drawn to pink. Still, pink shows up in so many of my projects. I like it as an accent, and with four daughters and five granddaughters it's inevitable that pink is going to be the requested color at some point!

I've lost the tag for this particular pink, so I don't know the color number or name. I suppose I could look it up, but I'm a little too lazy to do that! It does look pretty as an ice drop and a button ornament. I don't mind small projects like this, but it would take a great deal of effort for me to tat a large piece in pink!