Feelin' flaky!

I really thought I'd finish at least six snowflakes this weekend, but somehow time got away from me!

This is an extended version of my first snowflake. The first one had three Josephine knots on each chain. This one has five. I don't think it looks much like a snowflake, but it's still pretty!

I didn't feel like looking back at my patterns, so I just doodled again. I'm really not sure if this is one of the flakes I made in Christmas Delight or not. I think it looks nice in the Blue Ice.

I don't really like the way this one turned out. I think I need to have longer chains. So, back to the drawing board! Or maybe I should say back to the tatting shuttles!

A fabulous day for the Tollway Tatters!

We had a beautiful day for our Tollway Tatters meeting! Tatters came from far and wide, some die-hards, some newbies... we had so much fun!

My daughter Alison worked on her first doodad snowflake.

Cheryl is a newbie... she's only been tatting six weeks, and her work is beautiful! She worked on the Amusement Doily in size 10. I really find it hard to believe that she's been tatting for such a short time!

Cheryl's mentor is Sue aka God's Kid. Sue brought along some beautiful examples of her tatting, including her doodad snowflakes! These two ladies drove in from Michigan... made me feel like a rock star! ;-)

Barbara, always so cheerful and full of wonderful stories, makes all of us feel so good about what we're working on. She's quite a talented lady. Her tatting is lovely, and she also makes beautiful bobbin lace! She wasn't able to join us last time. I sure am glad she was able to make it today!

Granddaughter Eva is the youngest in our group. She makes beautiful chains, and she thinks she might be ready to learn how to make rings... makes a grandma proud!

Carol is amazing! She tats, she blogs, she embroiders... she inspires us to try new things. Today she brought along matchbook style needle holders for us to decorate. She's such a generous lady!

The oh-so-talented Marilee brought along her latest pendants for us to admire. She also brought along some of her gorgeous HDT. Of course I had to buy some! ;-)

Marilee showed us some of her goodies from Palmetto Tat Days. Boy, I sure wish I could have gone!

The ever-vivacious Sue Anna had us all enthralled! I think she brought along everything she had from Palmetto Tat Days, plus she showed us tons of pictures and videos. She had shuttles, threads, patterns, lessons... if it was at Tat Days, Sue Anna had it! I am going to attend Palmetto Tat Days, probably when I retire in four years. I sure hope Sue Anna will go with me!

Denise worked on an angel for her Doodad Double Dare, and it is adorable! She wants to tweak it some, and then she's going to try writing up the pattern. Who knows... maybe she'll share it with us!

Yes, I managed to do some tatting also. I worked on a Spinning Wheel glass mat in Navy Greens from Jess. I also tatted a doodad snowflake in 4-Eva, another of Jess's color ways, but I forgot to take a picture of it before giving it to my granddaughter. Oops!

I am one proud mama... this is daughter Alison's first doodad snowflake!

Who knows, maybe we'll be able to meet some more tatters at our next meeting. I sure hope so!

Doodad Double Dare #17!

Well, sort of...

Irma Luna tatted a beautiful snowflake and sent me the link to her blog today. I love the color she chose! The doodad that she used in the middle is very pretty... just not one of mine! I'll have to do a search to see if I can find one for it. It's just calling to me... snowflake! snowflake! snowflake!

Blue Ice ~ Doodad Snowflake #2

I meant to start this set of six in Blue Ice with Doodad Snowflake #1, but I added the wrong size jump ring, and I didn't want to start all over. So, I'll be tatting this set out of order. Does it really matter? No! I'm letting it go. It's difficult, but I'm letting it go. I am not going to obsess over tatting my snowflakes in a specific order.

Tomorrow I'll start Snowflake #1. The next day I'll start Snowflake #3, then #4, #5, #6... but I will not obsess!

Eileen Stafford's Snowflake

I decided to take a break from my doodling to tat Eileen Stafford's Snowflake. Since I added a doodad to the middle, I did have to change the stitch count for the center ring. My chains on the first round aren't as U-shaped as the original pattern, but I think it works well.

I think I'll get back to doodling now! 

And the doodads keep on coming!

Doodad Double Dare #4 was from Michelle, and she has finished tatting another gorgeous bookmark with her second doodad. I'm very flattered... she chose to tat my revised version of Toshti by Jon... the one where I joined in the wrong places! Please pop on over and leave a comment about her beautiful tatting!

In the meantime, I worked on another doodad snowflake...

Each of my doodad snowflakes has just been doodling with shuttles and thread. I haven't looked at any snowflake patterns, although I have tons of them. I guess I wanted to see what I could accomplish on my own. I started this one before re-tatting my first six snowflakes without doodads. When I picked it up to work on it again, I realized something very interesting...

It's almost the first round of Norma Benporath's Lace Mat that Jon is using for her tat-along! Honest... this was just a doodle! Still, I'm considering it to be my Norma Benporath inspired snowflake!

Here it is, beautiful little decorative hook included, ready for fund-raising! With that pretty hook, I think I should call them Santaflakes!

Snowflake #6 without the doodad ~ Pattern included

Now that I've completed my six snowflakes both with and without doodads, I can state with confidence that I much prefer the ones with the doodads. Those little metal links add just enough weight to the snowflakes to let them hang nicely. I also think that the findings help the snowflakes hold their shapes better.

So, pattern #6...

size 20 Lizbeth, Christmas Delight #116

2 shuttles wound CTM

Pewter Flower from Fire Mountain Gems, stock #H20-9117FY

*Ring: 4 - 4 + 4 - 4 (if tatting without doodad, make the join a picot); do not reverse work; switch shuttles

Chain 8; reverse work

Ring: 4 - 4 - 4 - 4

Ring: 4 + 4 - 2 - 2 - 4 - 4 

Ring: 4 + 4 - 4 - 4; reverse work

Chain 8; do not reverse work; switch shuttles

Repeat from * 5 times.

Remember that on the last center ring, the final picot should be a join to the first picot of the first ring.