I Need Your Opinion

I started working on the third (and final) round of the Lucky Clover doily (a Blomquist and Persson pattern). For this round, I am using Accent thread in colour 04, Mediterranean Blues. Except for the slightly lighter blue, I don't know where the name comes from. It has purple and what appears to be black along with the blue in the colourway. It looks alright to me, but I want your opinion. Here is the doily with 1/4 of the third round complete:

Please, give me your honest opinions. Love it, let me know. Don't like how the variegated thread looks, let me know as well. I can remove what I have done so far if you all think it doesn't look right. I know this pattern looks great when done completely with variegated thread. I would like to remake the doily in King Tut thread later on. Not for a while probably as I have waaaaaaaaay too many other things I want to make first. So, to recap, post your honest opinions about how the doily looks with the variegated thread. You, my fellow tatters, can make a difference. You can choose the fate of the final round. I will wait for a day or two to give time for you to get your opinions posted.

BTW, has anyone else noticed that the negative space between rounds one and two look kinda like the head of a teddy bear? Maybe it's just me. Bye for now.

Doily Update & An Obvious Decision

You know, I shouldn't say when I plan on posting. That way I won't be late. Anyway, I have finished the second round of Lucky Clover. Here it is:

It's looking very nice, if I do say so myself. For the third round, I have decided to use a variegated thread: it is called Mediterranean Blues. The solid is Mediterranean Blue (no 's'). It's not an exact match, but its fairly close. I'll do a couple points and post again in a few days (famous last words...). If you guys don't think it looks good, I can still remove the variegated section and continue with the solid colour.

Now, my decision. I have made the obvious decision of making this doily (once finished, of course) my final motif in the 25 Motif Challenge. This has nothing to do the fact that I can't find the completed parts of the motif that was going to be #25. Honest, it doesn't! Once they are found, I'll finish the item and post a picture of it. That's all for now.

Some Cool Things To Show You

Well, I guess I didn't post three days in a row after all. I had a migraine yesterday and didn't feel like posting. I'm better now. Now, as the title says, I have some cool things to show you. They are tatting related.

First up, is my new tatting bag and shuttle pouch, made by our own Jane Eborall:

Isn't it cool? I'm sure you've seen this pattern before. I really like both of them. The bag will be much better than my current tatting container, which is a plastic food storage container. The pouch is nice in that it not only holds two of my Aero's, but it also holds the shuttle I got from Sherry (AKA Ladyshuttlemaker):

Here you can see my Agateware "Sherry Shuttle", as Jane called it, peeking out of the pouch. It fits nicely, but since the pouch isn't padded, I'm not going to keep it in there. Maybe Jane can make padded ones specifically for "Sherry Shuttles". Maybe not. Jane is way too busy.

While I was shopping at Herrschners for thread (I've spoiled myself with 6-cord thread and had to get more), I came across a couple really cool things that should be useable with tatting. The first item is a mouse pad. Yeah, you heard me right.

The mouse pad is designed for use with cross stitch, hence the really weird plastic cloth sticking out. Its sticking out because your's truly can't get it back in. The pad consists of a clear acrylic (possibly vinyl) material with a whitish/grayish vinyl material joined on three side. You then insert your item inside. When I saw it, I was sure it could be used with tatting. I was right:

Here you can see my Lucky Clover doily inside the mouse pad. My well used, 5-button, wireless optical mouse is modeling with the pad. I can't wait to make something to go inside the pad. I'll keep you posted when I get around to working on this.

The last thing I wanted to show you is this:

This mug is also designed to have something cross stitched and put inside. I believe the mug is acrylic (the clear part is anyway). Again it comes with the same plastic mesh as the mouse pad. I don't intend on using the mesh in either items. Again, when I start working on this, I'll keep you posted. That's all for now. I'll try to post Sunday. Maybe.

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Now playing: Saskatchewan Express - Saskatchewan: We Love This Place
via FoxyTunes

Gifts From The Tatting Goddess

I have finally photographed / scanned the things I received from Gina AKA The Tatting Goddess. I know what you're thinking (again). I finally found the time to do it. Anyway, here is a group shot of most of what I received.

As you can see, I got a nice selection of really cool things. Not pictured are some patterns Gina sent along. The patterns were of the fish she tatted for me, the bookmark, and the rickrack and tatting motifs she featured on her blog and on The Online Tatting Class website.

As you can see, Gina tatted me some fish. The patterns were created by Christel Weidmann and are really realistic. I tried to scan them, but every time I ended up with something red in the scan:

As it turns out, it was Big Red checking out his new fishy friends. I guess he really likes them. I think they are great. Gina sent the fish in a small photo album to keep them safe. Big Red moved in with them.

Gina sent some thread samples for me to try. A few of them I have tried, most are new to me.

I think it should be possible to see the names and sizes of the thread from the photo. I'm going to enjoy trying these. Gina also sent a package of rickrack for me to try the rickrack and tatting motifs.

You may have noticed the Harry Potter tin in the first photo. That is full of treasures. I'll show you:


In the tin was some really good mints (the container is good for storing a shuttle or two), some buttons, a little marker, some more bangles (again, something I have wanted), a little retractable crochet hook that can clip onto a shirt or what have you, some lip balm in a really neat little container, and a little leather and suede treasure pouch kit. I put together the pouch kit the day I got the package.

As you can see in the first photo, the little black box contains a blue painted shuttle.

Gina painted some of the blue on the shuttle, but Snoopy is a decal. It doesn't matter, it is still very pretty. Not sure if I will use it; it's too nice to.

Finally, I get to the bookmark Gina made me.

The bookmark is similar to one Gina got in an exchange. It is based off of an edging pattern. It is really cool. I'm going to have to try this one as well. Gina sent me a Workbasket magazine as well, but I won't scan it. It is my first one. Now I know why everyone who has them likes them so much.

Hopefully I got everything scanned or photographed. Thank you again Gina! I never expected to be a winner in your drawing.

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I have one more post to do. This is probably going to be a record for me - posting three days in a row. Later.
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Now playing: Corb Lund - I Wanna Be In the Cavalry
via FoxyTunes

Christmas in July, Doily Update, and a Deformed Flower

Howdy all. As most of you on Here-Be-Tatters know, we opened our packages on July 31st. My partner was Sylvia Free from Wales. Here is a group shot of what I received.


As you can see, I received lots of really cool things. I'll insert close up pictures as needed. First up is a really nice tatted doily done in peach thread and beads. Also tatted, is a little candle frill done in red thread with clear beads.

Also included was a really neat copper shuttle winder made by Sylvia's husband. I think it should work well for some of the post shuttles I have. Not the wooden or ceramic ones however.

Sylvia also sent a bunch of beads, buttons, bells, and holographic sequins for me to play with. There was also a floss bobbin as well as a few hair clips to manage thread from a ball. Really handy.

And bangles. Sylvia also sent some bangles for me to attach tatting to. I am glad she did. I can't imagine myself going shopping for these. I feel awkward sometimes while wandering through the craft department at Wal*Mart as it is, let alone who knows where in order find them.

Sylvia sent me a ball of the most absolutely, most beautiful, everyone must have shade of blue thread that you have ever seen. Unfortunately, I can't capture the true colour of this blue.

As you can see, the thread is Altin Basak. Since I can't get the true colour of this thread, I'll let you seek out a better picture. It is colour number 344. I HAVE to buy more of this thread. Period. I will try scanning a completed item made with this thread when I get to using it. Sylvia mentioned that the thread colour is one that appeared in the Siamese Fighting Fish that her husband used to breed. So, the first project made with this thread has to be one of my bettas.

There was also a round coaster made of real slate from North Wales. It is really cool.

According to Sylvia, the coaster depicts one of the miners at Llechwedd Slate museum in North Wales splitting slate by hand.

Finally, Sylvia sent a package of some really nice hard candies called "Lossin Dant". The name loosely translates to "sweet tooth", and are made near where Sylvia lives. They are really good. Sylvia sent four postcards depicting her home of Penarth, the Welsh flag, and Cardiff (the capital of Wales). I'll scan and post them later.

Thank you again Sylvia. You're an awesome partner and an awesome tatter. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! And thank you Sue for giving me such an awesome partner. Of course, judging from the pictures posted on HBT, there were many, many awesome partners.

Now, new business. I have been working on my doily. Here is a recent progress pic.

It's slowly coming. I am hoping to complete the second round in the next few days. I'll keep you posted.

Finally, my hibiscus recently quit flowering. The last flower it produced, however, was one, um, less than desirable. It was lighter in colour, and looks as if it was two flowers merged together. I think a picture will be good here.

You really can't see the twin flower here, but trust me, that is what it looked like. The plant aborted the flower a few days before it should have opened. I guess the plant knew something was wrong. Pretty weird anyway.

I should mention, that I intend to post tomorrow and Wednesday. I really mean it. I really do. I have a lot to post about. That's all for now.

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Now playing: Great Big Sea - Concerning Charlie Horse
via FoxyTunes

Quick Doily Update

I have finished the centre of the doily I have been working on. Here is a progress pic:

I just finished the centre round a little while ago. The doily measures about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. All the ends you see in the upper left side are all hidden. I prefer to cut them short but not completely until I am done. You may notice that there are four ends that I had to hide. Well, after I had finished the round and had joined to the beginning, a thread broke. Yup, and it broke close to the join so there was no way to salvage it. I had to undo the final chain, add a two new threads (continuously so I didn't have two more ends to hide), and remake the chain, hiding the two ends from the broken chain. I can now continue on with round two, while I watch an episode of Star Trek: Voyager I previously recorded.

I'm Procrastinating Again (AKA What Else Is New?)

I seem to be going through a period of procrastination. Of course, some may say I never leave this period, but I digress. I haven't touched my final motif, again. I also haven't scanned or photographed the things I got from Gina. I think this is similar to what I do when a favourite TV show comes to an end (or has ended for shows that were before my time). I almost never watch the final show. I've seen nearly every episode of M*A*S*H multiple times, but not the finale. This way, the show never ends for me. I guess, if I don't work on Motif # 25, the challenge won't come to an end either.

However, I have been tatting. I started a doily. Yes, you heard me right. Instead of finishing the challenge, I started a (fairly) large project. Here is an (early) progress pic:

This is "Lucky Clover" from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. The thread is one I got from Gale at Tat's All. It is called Accent , I'm using colour #148, Mediterranean Blue. It is a 2 ply rayon thread that is about the same size as a size 50 thread. It is absolutely awesome to tat with. This is the first major project that I am using this thread for. Nearly every time I order from Gale, I buy a couple bobbins of this thread. Currently, Gale is selling the thread by the bobbin, but she has started selling a variegated version of Accent by the spool, so she may be selling the solids by the spool now. I will have to ask as I really like this thread. Well, so far anyway.

That's all I have right now. Hopefully, and I mean hopefully, I will get back to the final motif soon. Here is another pic of the doily. I couldn't decide which one looked better.

A Little Tatting, Lunar Photos, and a New Love of My Life

I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I got my package from Gina recently, but I will need a few days to scan and photograph everything I got from her. I finished the tatting for my Christmas in July partner. I found out today that my partner got her package already. I'm impressed. That lady at Canada Post told me it will take 6-8 business days. It only took 3 business days. Here is a preview of what I tatted for my partner.

For this motif I used DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread paired with Oren Bayan Metallic thread. I'm not sure what size equivalent this combination works out to, probably between a size 10 to 20. That is only a guess. I will have to make a sample one of these days. I have not touched my final motif since I last posted. I may try to complete another petal or two tonight. Of course, this is weather permitting. We could get a thunderstorm, which could knock out the power. I love the forecast that Forecastfox is displaying for today: Not as warm with a t-storm, 27 C. Can't say I have ever seen a rhyming forecast before.

It has been really hot here the last few days; the temperature has been in the 27-29 degrees C range lately. And, if thats not hot enough, my house seems to get a few degrees hotter than it is outside. I don't have air conditioning, but I do have several fans that kinda help. To be a complete geek, I have the fans connected to X-10 home automation controllers that react to an X-10 compatible temperature sensor. All of which interact with my PC. Depending on the reading the sensor sends to the computer, the fans turn on or off in response to the inside temperature. It works quite well. It's even better when the computer announces that the fans (or plant or aquarium lights) are going on or off, and plays sound effects from the computer of Star Trek Voyager.

Now, last night, I took some picture of the moon with my new camera. I'm actually quite impressed with the images I got.

It's a little blurry around the edges, but I assume that is because of the digital zoom. This photo was taken with out a telescope of any kind. I used all available zoom settings that my camera has. That is, 6x optical zoom multiplied by 4x digital zoom for a total of 24x zoom. I'll have to play around with the settings some more to see if I can eliminate some of the blurriness. Ironically, I was trying to photograph the moon during an eclipse this past February that made me want a new camera. Here is a photo from that attempt:

Quite a difference, isn't it? This was as close as I could get. My old camera has only 2x digital zoom.

Finally, I have a new love of my life. I don't know how I lived without her. I can't decide what I like more. Her sleek, feminine, disk-shaped body or her awesome cleaning abilities. May I introduce you all to................




iRobot Roomba 400!

I don't know how I lived without Roomba. It is a pretty good vacuum. I have wanted one, ever since iRobot first released them . I was at Wal*Mart one day and as soon as I saw Roomba, I knew I had to have one. The particular model I have, Roomba 400, is an entry level model, but it can be upgraded to have scheduling capabilities and a base station Roomba will seek out when it is done cleaning. I know what you all are thinking. I promise to leave home more often and have more human contact.

Canadian Maple Leaf and a Few Other Pictures

As many of you may know, Canada Day was last Tuesday. I meant to post this sooner, but I had to work a lot last week. On top of that I went away for a five day holiday (nothing special); more on that later. Last year I created a simplistic tatted maple leaf for a project I have been meaning to do.

I wrote up the pattern earlier this evening in case anyone wants to make it. For the record, I have not seen anything like this, but, as always, someone else may have a similar design. If so let me know.

Start CTM (Continuous thread method) with red, or desired colour thread.

R: 6---3-3 Cl RW
CH: 3-3 RW
R: 5+7---1----1---3-5 Cl
R: 5+6---1----1---6-5 Cl
R: 5+3---1----1---7-5 Cl RW
Ch: 3+3 RW
R: 3+3---6 Cl

While holding both threads to the back of the work, join to the same

picot that the second chain joins to.

Ch: 8 or until desired length. Cut, tie and hide.

Abbreviations

R -> Ring
Ch -> Chain
- -> regular size picot
--- -> long picot
---- -> extra long picot
RW -> reverse work

If there is something that isn't clear, just leave me a comment, and I'll fix it.

I have been working on my final motif for the 25 Motif Challenge. It is one I made before but forgot to photograph. I'm not sure when I'll be done, I have four out of six yellow petals complete, and then I have a couple blue petals and a calyx to make. As with many other people, I am participating in the Here Be Tatters yahoo! group summer exchange. I'll show what I made when my partner gets it.

As I mentioned earlier, I went on a five day holiday this past weekend. It wasn't anything special, I just went to my parents house. I can report that my mom loved the bracelets I made. I also made her a pair of Yarnplayer's Carnival earrings. I didn't get a picture of the completed earrings (surprise, surprise) but here is a progress pic;

I used some Altin Basak thread (colour 3005 I believe) and some blue Czech seed beads. Instead of a pearl in the centre, I used a bead made of Turquoise Howlite (AKA Faux Turquoise). If I do say so myself, they looked good. I made a slight modification to the pattern. Because my mom prefers earrings that are shorter in length, I eliminated the spiral chain and shortened the beads that dangle from the centre picot. The shuttle, is, of course, one of LadyShuttlemaker's ceramic shuttles.

While at my parent's house, I took some pictures of the Prairie Lilies that grow wild throughout Saskatchewan (and probably elsewhere as well).

The Prairie Lily AKA Western Red Lily (Lilium philadelphicum) is the provincial flower of Saskatchewan. They can be seen growing alongside roads and in forests throughout the province. There are also over twenty species of native orchids that grow in Saskatchewan as well, but I haven't seen them in person. Well, I don't think I have seen them, I'm sure I may have but didn't know it.

Finally, I had a surprise when I got home on Monday. I had purchased a Hibiscus over a month ago. I have always wanted one and finally found one. I researched the proper care for them and gave it a quick prune to make it look nice. The plant started growing well, and produced several buds. Yes, buds. I guess that means I'm doing something right. One of the buds opened while I was gone.

My hand is right behind the flower. I couldn't believe how big the flower is. It's a good thing I took some pictures of the flower, as it was closed when I got home this afternoon. Not a problem though; there are another half a dozen or so buds just waiting to open. Here is another picture from a different perspective.

That's all for now. I'll try to post again soon (now where have I heard that before?).