Weekend fun

 

I tried something new this weekend. I made donuts for the first time. They were delicious. I did learn a few things. First, don't overfill the pan. The hole disappears, and they look kind of funny. Solution... I ordered another pan and pastry bags to fill the pans. Second lesson learned: spooning the batter into the pan is very messy! Third lesson learned: reading donut recipes can be lots of fun!

Remember the bejeweled trees I've been making? I've used tons of pearl head pins making them, and my favorite ones come on these little plastic disks. My sister Janet and I have gone through a tremendous number of these pins. We were just tossing the little plastic disks. One day, Janet said there must be something we could do with them. That got me thinking about what I've learned from making Dorset buttons and Teneriffe lace.

Daughter Alison is finishing up her master's degree in counseling, and we were talking about art therapy. I suggested warping these little plastic disks that her clients could use for weaving. Alison is giving a presentation to a group of counselors this week and asked if I would help her prep for the presentation. It only takes a few minutes to warp these little disks with crochet cotton.

A counseling session is typically scheduled for an hour. I needed to make sure that the activity wouldn't go too quickly. It also needs to be something that can be picked up during a later session.

I started weaving with embroidery floss, and then I switched to worsted weight yarn. The first side took me an hour and a half to weave.

For the second side, I used only worsted weight yarn. The process of weaving with a needle and yarn was very soothing, and I love the end result. 

I hope Alison's presentation goes well. Now that I know what can be done with these little pin disks, I may have to start collecting them. Does that mean more bejeweled trees are in my future? I think so!

Having fun

 

I really am enjoying making donut necklaces! I don't need any more for gift giving right now, but they're easy enough to keep on hand for future use. This donut is a bit thicker than the ones I've been using. It's 3/4" across, and I used size 20 Lizbeth Rainbow Splash.

This donut is thin, but slightly larger at 1". The thread is size 20 Lizbeth Springtime. I guess I'm on a roll for tatting with donuts!

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!

Donut doodles

I am really enjoying tatting with donuts! I love that my Doodle Ice Drop pattern adapts so easily to these pretty little rings.

 It doesn't seem to matter what size donut I use, the pattern works!

Doodling

I can't help myself. I love playing with my Doodle Ice Drop pattern. Today I tatted with a donut.

Then, I moved on to a green button. I think it's a pretty good color match!

Finally, I finished with a cream colored button. That's the end of that ball of green. I truly have way too much thread. I think using it to tat ornaments is a great way of using up partial balls. I don't have to worry about dye lots, and I have something pretty to show for my efforts. Besides, I need to work through my stash of buttons, glass gems, and donuts!

Look what arrived in the mail today! I've been eagerly awaiting this book. No, I don't speak a word of Italian, but I am thrilled to have Edda Guastalla's new book to browse through. I'm a big fan of visual patterns, so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to work on these designs. Let the fun begin!

Ecru

 We headed back to school today! It was great to see students and staff members after the holiday break.

Ecru is not my favorite color, but I have been enjoying using it to tat around donuts! Today's tatting was inspired by my Doodle Ice Drop.

Speaking of Ice Drops, I decided it was time to get back into tatting Ice Drops. These glass gems are a little larger than I like working with, but I was able to use my original basic pattern by increasing my stitch count from 4-4-4-4 to 5-5-5-5. 

My Christmas tree for next year's fund raiser arrived today. I'm going to have great fun decorating it with tatted ornaments!

More donuts

 

Today was another busy one. I spent time this morning preparing for getting back to school tomorrow. Then Mom and I headed out for a doctor's appointment. Somehow, I still managed to tat around three donuts! 2021 is off to a great start!

Donuts

My donuts from Fire Mountain Gems arrived last week. Honestly, I had kind of forgotten about them, but they caught my eye this morning, and I decided to play!

I started with a simple ring and chain pattern. Everything is in 5s, my favorite number!

Then I decided it would be fun to add some Swarovski crystals. I love Swarovski crystals, so this one has been tucked away in the box of ornaments I'm keeping for our tree.

While tatting with the crystals, I got to thinking that the donut would look nice with rings, chains, and no picots. It's very simple, but I think it will be eye-catching on a tree.

Next, I decided to try three seed beads at the base of the ring. I'm not sure I like this one.

However, I do really like one seed bead at the base of each ring!

I also like one seed bead on the chain. The possibilities seem endless!

I wasn't sure I'd like tatting around donuts, but now that I've played with them, I've found that it's much easier that tatting with a button or a glass gem. I may play with different ring sizes next, or I may continue playing with this base pattern. Either way, I think I'm going to have plenty of ornaments for the drama club fund raiser next year!