Doodad Snowflake #3 in Azalea Med

I think this is my favorite of my Doodad Snowflakes. I just love those Josephine rings!

A little more pink...

I moved on to Motif #2 in Minitats by Patti Duff. I really like this shade of pink! Maybe it's because my mother had azalea bushes in the front yard when we were growing up in Philadelphia. I loved those azaleas! My husband tells me azaleas won't survive here south of Chicago. I may have to retire further east and/or south! ;-)

This is motif #2 as shown in the book. I think I should have made the first picot slightly larger, and I prefer slightly larger picots around the edges.

This is my second attempt with a doodad in the middle and a jump ring attached to one of the outer picots so that it can be worn as a pendant. I thought it was a little too loose, so I decided to add picots to the rings.

I like the look of the one without the joining picots better, but the pendant with the joining picots is much firmer.

Isn't it amazing how much can be accomplished with one more hour of sleep? 

One more snowflake...

I just had to see what a pink snowflake would look like. I think it's kind of cute!

Pretty Pink!

I've been following Lelia's 25 Motif Challenge using Patti Duff's Minitats with great interest. I've tatted quite a few of the motifs from this book, but I've never looked at it as a starting place for a challenge before.

Today, I decided to see which motifs might be adapted to work with doodads. This is motif #1, and the doodad I used worked perfectly... no adaptations necessary! I did practice frontside/backside tatting on the motif with the doodad. I only messed up once, and I was able to fix it before moving on to the next ring.

When I purchased these doodads (stock #H20-9029MB) from Fire Mountain Gems, I didn't realize that there was an indentation in the center. Luckily, I had a pink crystal that fit the indentation perfectly. I just hope I used the right glue! ;-)

The thread is size 20 Lizbeth, Azalea Med. The finished size is 1 3/4". Don't you think the motif with the doodad would make a pretty pendant?

Presies in the post

Alright, maybe I have been watching a little too much Australian t.v. (McCleod's Daughters), but the title of this post seemed especially appropriate since I received this lovely parcel from Maureen in Australia. Maureen sent this as a thank you for sending her doodads. How sweet of her! I never ever expect anything in return when I share some of my stash. I just enjoy sharing! However, I was especially pleased to receive this little packet of goodies.

Do you recognize the bookmark? It's Karen Bickerton's "Rosy Ironwood." I purchased the pattern when it was first released, but I've never actually tatted it. The pattern was published as a fund raiser for flood relief. Isn't the thread gorgeous? It's hand dyed perle cotton, and the color is Delphinium... I love it! Those of you who have been reading Jon's blog, may recognize the name Norma Benporath, the author of Heritage Patterns. This is a lovely little publication, and I am pleased to own it!

Thank you very much, Maureen!

I'm finally feeling myself this morning... no fever! I think all the yuck is working its way out of my system. Yippee! Daylight Savings Time is over, so I know I had an extra hour of sleep last night. I was still up at 5:30, but that's 6:30 yesterday's time. I may even feel like cooking and eating a real meal today! ;-)

I started this snowflake on Friday. They usually take me two to two and a half hours to complete, so I had high hopes of tatting six or seven snowflakes this weekend. I can tell that's not to be! Still, I do have another red snowflake to send to Mom. This is my Doodad Snowflake #5 in size 20 Lizbeth, Victorian Red.

Margaret's Fluffy Angel

 I was thrilled when Margaret asked me to test tat her Fluffy Angel! The only perle cotton I could find was DMC No. 8 in navy blue. The pattern is very simple to follow, but I now know two things to differently next time... make much longer picots, and find a perle cotton that fluffs better! I'll do some more picot teasing to fluff this out some more, but I think the type of thread really does make a big difference.

Thanks for the opportunity, Margaret!

Feverishly tatting

...or maybe I should say tatting with a fever. I've been running a low grade fever on and off for the past three days, and it's really put a damper on my tatting time. I did manage to finish another snowflake, but I fully expected to have one-a-day tatted this week. Oh, well... the best laid plans of mice and men...