Bridge City Tatting

Remembering Gina

2012-02-17T21:37:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be honest, I never thought I'd have to do a post like this. I was shocked to learn of Gina's passing this week. I didn't find out until Wednesday afternoon as I didn't have an internet connection for the previous few days due to an upgrade gone awry*. I hadn't met Gina in person, but she was someone I wanted to meet. Like many of you, I considered her a friend even though I hadn't met her. She will be missed. My condolences to Gina's family.

I've only tatted one of her motifs that I can think of. That motif would be her Gingerbread Boy:

As I mentioned in the post about the Gingerbread boy, I first contacted Gina about this pattern in November 2007 to get some clarification with the wording of the pattern. Three attempts and two years later I managed to tat him. I haven't tatted any of her other patterns, but I think I will soon.

I've also been fortunate to have received some of Gina's tatting. In this case a bookmark and a trio of fish:

As I mentioned in the post about these, the red fish is my pattern tatted by me, but the other three were tatted by Gina. These gifts (and a whole bunch of other stuff) came about through a year of giveaways Gina did a few years ago. I will treasure them always. And everything else she sent me.

I don't know what else to say. I'm not good with this sort of thing. As others have mentioned, the tatting community has lost a treasure. There won't be anyone quite like her. Rest in peace Gina.

*In case you are wondering, I decided to upgrade my internet speed which was supposed to happen early Monday morning. I woke up with no internet and no TV (I have an IPTV service which comes through the phoneline). Eventually got a technician out early Wednesday afternoon. The DSL modem was at fault as it wasn't connecting to my ISP. I guess it was too old and didn't like the higher speed. The TV came on but Internet wasn't fully functional. Another phone call to Sasktel was required to fix another issue. Everything is working now.

The End of TIAS 2012, a Double Fuchsia, and a Few Orchid Photos

2012-02-12T21:32:00.000-06:00

I see that I am still posting rather infrequently. Oh well. I don't really have much to share anyway. Besides the TIAS, I have done hardly any tatting. Sales in my shop have slowed to a crawl. I had thought I could offer free shipping, but forgot about it until yesterday. So it won't be much good to attract some Valentine's Day sales. With the lack of sales, I don't feel like working on chainmaille. I have been crocheting quite a bit lately however. I'll get some photos of that once it's/they're complete.

As I am sure most of you are aware, Jane's TIAS 2012 is complete. Here is my completed goat:

As I told Jane, he doesn't look as demonic here as he did without his front legs. I rather like him. Actually I think I just like the pattern in general. I think it's the beard. I'll have to make another one soon.

Here are finally the photos of Linda's Double Fuchsia that I tatted from the pattern she shared:

I can't really comment on it, as I don't remember much about tatting/putting it together. I guess that's what I get for waiting so long to post the photos. I do remember that I used a thicker gauge wire than what was called for. That did make it difficult to get the calyx on. It definitely looks realistic. I will have to make a full branch of leaves and flowers. Thanks again Linda for sharing the pattern. And sorry for taking so long to post the completed flower.

I will finish this post with a few orchid photos. I think these have been posted previously, but this will help me keep track of what is flowering when. Enjoy!

This is Doritaenopsis Minho Princess 'Flying'. This is one of my few named Phalaenopsis orchids. I really like this one. It's not pure white (I already have one of those). And it's not completely pink or purple. This is the first Phal. hybrid that flowered for me this year.

The next orchid that flowered is one I know many of you have seen:

It's the Mutant! For those of you who are new to my blog, this Phalaenopsis No Identification (NOID) hybrid has a genetic mutation that causes the plant to produce what looks like three lips instead of one. Two of these lips are not fully formed (these are supposed to be the petals, or sepals), but closely resemble the true lip at the bottom. This is called a Peloric Mutation. Hopefully you can see the differences in the photo. For anyone who hasn't noticed yet, I disabled the "Lightbox" display of photos. You should be able to click photos again and get the full version.

Last orchid photo of the day:

I bought this Phal as a NOID, however it looks strikingly similar to Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Pearl. A Google Image search shows this quite well. I am tempted to label the plant as such or that it resembles Yu Pin Pearl so I know which plant it is when it's not flowering. Looking at some of the other photos, there may be different versions or clones of Yu Pin Pearl so it very well could be one of them.

That's it for now. I will probably be crocheting some more this week. I'll try to get some more tatting done. I got my Palmetto Tat Day CD in the mail recently so there are a few things I'd like to tat. There will be more orchid photos in the upcoming weeks-I noticed another Phal that is producing a flower spike. That's now eight Phals either in spike or flowering. Awesome! I think I may need a few more. That's the one good thing about Valentine's Day: Lots of plants available for sale. Till next time.

TIAS 2012, Day 9

2012-02-04T12:46:00.000-06:00

I managed to tat Day 9 last night, though I joined the last ring to the wrong set of rings. Twice! I had to fix it this morning before emailing Jane.

That is why you may see some fluffy ends near the eye. Speaking of the eye, it appears that I am tatting a Demon Goat. Since I didn't know what the beads would be used for, I though the red bead, which is Red Bamboo Coral, would work. Oh well, I'll have to tat him again with more appropriate colours once we are done. It looks like it definitely will be a goat. Can't wait to see it when it is finished. Till next time; I have to get ready for work.

More TIAS 2012

2012-02-02T21:48:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post. I'll do a proper one soon; I've got a lot of stuff that I want to share, but no time.

Here are my Days 7 and 8 of Jane's TIAS 2012:

Like many people, I definitely thought it was going to be a dog by the end of day 7. But after day 8, it looks rather goat like. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be something completely different. In any case, our options are being narrowed down.

That's it for now. I will hopefully write up a proper post later this weekend. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Continues

2012-01-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay. I've been meaning to post more regularly lately, but that hasn't happened, obviously. While I'm not complaining, I've have quite a few sales lately. A couple have been custom orders from the same repeat customer, many have been from new customers. While I have been hoping some of the newer items would sell, it is nice to see the sales. Anyway, besides the TIAS (and some tatting I can't tell you about), I haven't done much tatting lately. Hopefully I will get some tatting done this weekend. Apart from a little shopping tomorrow, I don't plan on doing much tomorrow. Tomorrow is my 29th birthday. It occurred to me today that this will be my last year in my 20's, which kinda scares me for reasons I'm not going to go into here. Anyway, I'll move on to my progress on the TIAS 2012.

Here are days, 4, 5, and 6 in (hopefully) the order they were made:

I've got nothing really to say about this. I still haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I don't know if anyone has correctly guessed what we are making yet, but Jane is certainly keeping us guessing. This is great!

That's it for now. I should mention that this is my 200th post. I know many of you have probably post more than that in a year, it's pretty good for me. I had hoped to have a more substantial post, but I'll make up for it soon. I put Linda's Double Fuschia together several days ago and told her I'll post about it. I've also got some orchid photos to share. Seven of my Phalaenopsis orchids are producing flower spikes. Two of which have open flowers on them, the Mutant being one of them. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Day 3

2012-01-18T21:02:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post. I'll do a regular long post either later this week or early next week. I forgot to mention in the previous post but I'll try to blog my progress within a day or two of Jane releasing a pattern part.

Here is my day 3 progress (ready for harvesting!!):

As other people have observed, it's a square with a circle in it. I haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I guess we'll have to see what Jane has us do for the next day. Maybe it will give us a hint.

Nothing else to report. It's been bitterly cold for the past few days. We've been close to -40 C a few times now. Yesterday we had a windchill of nearly -50. It's supposed to warm up but then we'll probably get more snow. I'm kinda liking snow right now. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Parts 1 and 2

2012-01-15T21:01:00.000-06:00

As the title suggests, I started the TIAS this weekend. I'll get to it soon-it won't take long, I don't have much else to share. Haven't done any more tatting or chainmaille this weekend. I did manage to get some of the new chainmaille pieces photographed early Saturday afternoon. Which was good; it started snowing around suppertime or so. Over the course of the evening and I guess overnight we got at least four inches (10 cm) of snow. It may be closer to six inches (15 cm) but I'm not sure since it blowing a lot as well. Obviously this means I got to shovel snow probably for the first time all winter. Really. No photos, I'm afraid. I kept forgetting the camera inside every time I went out. I am a little disappointed that it snowed (and it's freezing out!), and I hope the streets aren't too bad tomorrow. One upside is that I don't have to buy any distilled water for my carnivorous plants for a while. I brought in two large Rubbermaid tubs full of packed snow that I'll let melt over the next few days. The water can then be stored until needed.

I'll move on to the tatting. Like I said, I haven't done much. I did sit down last night and worked through the first two days of Jane's TIAS 2012. Here is the first day:

And here is the second day:

I used Lizbeth size 20 colour #658 Light Ocean Turquoise. I have no guesses as to what it could be. We'll see what the next part shall bring. Oh, and Jane, feel free to copy my photos. I'm sure I'll forget to email them to you.

That's it for now. I might try and tat something tonight. I'm doing laundry as we speak, so I gotta remember to check that regularly. It's no fun waking up in the morning and realizing the laundry is still in the washing machine. Mind you, waking up and realizing the laundry is still in the dryer when it's 30 below out isn't fun either. Trust me. Till next time.

Double Fuschia, Almost

2012-01-13T21:35:00.003-06:00

I'm back. Nothing really new, again. I did some tatting, and I've also been working on some chainmaille. The chainmaille was another custom piece which you may see on another blog soon, so I won't get into that today. Of course, my printer has decided that it needs new cartridges. That will have to be dealt with on Thursday (Payday!!!!!), so I hope (???) that this will be a slow sales weekend. I hate having to hand write everything. Weatherwise, it's colder, but it hasn't snowed significantly since my last post. It tried on Thursday, but it didn't really amount to much. It's supposed to snow this weekend, then again early next week so we will see.

Before I get to anything else, does anyone know what happened to Miranda's (Tatting Fool) blog? I'm getting a "that blog has been removed" error message. I hope everything is OK.

Alright, I'm going to get to my little bit of tatting that I have managed to tat this week (so far). Linda Davies was kind to post another 3D flower for all of us to enjoy. I enjoy her patterns and the realistic flowers that always result from them. I've got the basic parts of one flower tatted:

It'll look much better once it's assembled. Whenever that is. I'd love to get it assembled, but I can't find most of the supplies needed. I'm hoping to find them this weekend-I have the whole weekend off. If I can't find them, I'll have to buy more. The tatting was quick and easy, no really advanced techniques needed. Four SCMRs were needed for the calyx (the red thing), and I'm sure they could be replaced with rings thrown off chains if a second shuttle (or shoe lace trick) is used. I'll post a photo as soon as the fuchsia is completed. The red thread is Flora 20 #221 and the Purple is Lizbeth 20, #633. I'm hoping to start Jane's TIAS tonight. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to have to start soon. I know I can start whenever I want, but I find that once it becomes obvious what the thing you are tatting is, the thrill is lost. Maybe it's just me, but since I am very selective (usually) at what I tat, I may not actually want to tat the item. Makes sense? Hmm. For example, I don't usually tat hearts, so if it becomes apparent that the TIAS is turning into a heart, I may choose not to tat it. Since it's still early in the game, and I don't have any idea what Jane's up to, I still have a desire to tat the TIAS.

That's it for now. I don't really have any plans for this weekend. I may do some chainmaille. If it happens to be sunny I may try to rephotograph the pieces I mentioned last time. I do hope to get some tatting done, TIAS or not. Or both. Laundry perhaps. Housecleaning???? Till next time.

Sharks!!!!!!!

2012-01-09T20:45:00.001-06:00

Howdy. Nothing really new to report since my last post. The weather here has been awesome. It was above zero today, again. We had rain last week. Yeah, rain. In January. In Saskatchewan. I'm not complaining, but it is kinda weird. We still have hardly any snow, though I'm sure that will change. Here is a quick view of the front yard, taken today:

We just need some palm trees here and there and I could pretend I'm somewhere warm and tropical that is experiencing some snow. This is actually how I prefer winter, but I'm sure all the farmers and other people won't agree. Anyway, I have been working on some chainmaille pieces that I hope to get listed soon. Soon being when I can get the chance to rephotograph the ones that didn't turn out today. I really need to get some sort of setup to take decent shots indoors. I have also been tatting lately too.

I was going through my "Tatting Folder" on my computer. I wanted to tat and wanted a pattern that was new. I picked one of Jane Eborall's that I found some time ago, but hadn't gotten around to tatting yet. And here it is:

This is Nathan's Shark. I made the white one first, tatted with Lizbeth size 20 in, uh, white #601. The bottom shark was my second attempt at the pattern. I didn't really have any major problems with the pattern. I made the white shark's teeth too small. The grey shark is made with Lizbeth size 20, colour #605. It was pretty quick to tat; I made the white one and started the grey one in a single evening. The white one was mostly done during the course of an average length movie.

That's about it for now. I will be starting a new pattern from Linda Davies tonight. You may have seen it already. That's the plan anyway. Before I forget, I bought a new Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle this weekend. I'm hoping it will get here in time for my birthday near the end of the month. We'll see how the tatting goes over the next few evenings. I may try and post again later this week. Till next time.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

2012-01-01T21:48:00.000-06:00

Happy New Years!!!! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I did. I didn't get much tatting done, but I enjoyed myself regardless. I particularly enjoyed not working for four days. Since I have no tatting to share, this will probably be pretty short.

As I have done for the last few years, I didn't make any resolutions for this year. I would like to (rather proudly, I might add) mention that for the first time in a loooooong time (maybe not that long), I don't need to lose any weight! As of the end of November, early December, I reached my goal. It feels great, and I like the way I look now. I didn't before.

You've seen the photo on the left.The one on the right was taken today. My still not done Hauberk fits much better compared to when I wore it in May. Hopefully I will get around to finishing my Hauberk. Oh, I know someone asked what I planned on doing with it once it's done. The answer is I don't know. I mainly am making it just as something different from all the jewelry I have been working on. I will probably wear it in public somewhere, sometime.

I have done some other chainmaille over the last few days. A few are custom orders that have come in. The rest are mainly just to add something new to my shop. Here's a quick photo of these new items:

One of the custom items was a pair of Celtic Star earrings. I had to make them smaller and lighter than the Celtic Star pendants in order to make them work. I do plan on getting these listed soon, but in case anyone is wondering, they are a bit over an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. These are probably best done in aluminum (colours are possible!) or mixed metals to keep the weight down. The customer initially wanted them to be solid copper but they each weighed about 12 grams (0.4 ounces or so) with the ear wires. Speaking of ear wire I have added a pair of earrings with clip on earring findings for those who don't have pierced ears. Any of my earrings can be made with clip on findings, just ask. The fish pendant is pretty cool. At least I think so. It's also one on those designs that could work for both men and women. I have one on my keychain:

The gemstone is reconstituted turquoise, but I have recently gotten some stabilized turquoise for use in these as it is actual turquoise. The reconstituted stuff may or may not contain actual turquoise. It depends on the what website you choose to believe. Anyway, I am gong to make a pair of fish earrings in some smaller rings as well. I have a list of other chainmaille items I want/need to make.

That's about it for now. I'm not going to promise to post or tat more this year. I'll blog when I can, and I'll tat when I can. The only thing I will promise myself this year is to do something about this balding thing that is happening. Or at least try, genes be damned. Rogaine, here I come! I should go now. I must get some tatting done before this gorgeous first day of 2012 is over. Till next time.

Quick Post: Windmills Snowflakes and a Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T23:40:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post, hopefully. Nothing to really report since my last post. I have four days off starting tomorrow, and will be going to my parents tomorrow morning. We don't have much snow right now, and the weather is supposed to be good for the weekend, so hopefully the trip both ways will be good. I have my Etsy shop in Vacation Mode until I get back, so if anyone wants anything, you'll have to wait until the 28th.

As I mentioned in the last post, I had an idea for a tatting project. I think they turned out pretty well:

Yes, you are not seeing things. These are both snowflakes based of off Mary Konior's Windmills motif. The blue one was made first. Basically, I threw a ring of 7-7 off of the first picot on the final round. Beads were added to the picot of the rings. I also added beads to the remaining picots on the final round. The white snowflake, tatted second, has a trefoil thrown off of the first picot of the final round. The trefoil consists of R1:7-4-3 R2: 3+6-6-3 R3: 3+4-7. Beads were also added to the nonjoining picots of the rings. I did not make the second picot on the final round. The remaining picots also have beads added to them. Since I can't share the full pattern, you'll need Mary's Tatting With Visual Patterns book to make the snowflake. Again, if you don't already own this book, please buy it from one of the many tatting and lacemaking suppliers, and not Amazon and eBay. Both snowflakes were tatted with Lizbeth size 20 thread. I don't feel like looking up colour numbers, but if anyone wants to know, feel free to ask in the comments.

Before I go, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I do plan on getting some tatting done while away. I'll try to post again before the year is out. Till next time.

Another Snowflake and Pretty Flower Photos

2011-12-16T21:17:00.004-06:00

Sorry. I had hoped to post earlier this week but I either forgot (really!!), had to work, or just didn't feel like it. I haven't tatted since I finished the snowflake I mentioned earlier. I had several welcome sales in the shop (Thank You!!). I have to remake a few of the sold items, although I will take this opportunity to change colours, metals, and/or beads used. Naturally I need/will need to photograph the new items, so I am hoping the weather will be nice this weekend. I had a small chainmaille project this evening to work on. I was approached at work about modifying a chainmaille glove for one of our butchers who is, um, missing part of a finger (I don't know the backstory in case you're wondering). In the end we decided I could probably repair the old one; it has (well had) a small hole in one finger. It's all fixed now, so I will have to return it tomorrow and get paid for it. I do plan on tatting tonight if I can get this post written quickly.

So, I finally got the latest snowflake scanned. It's been tatted for a few weeks now. It's another one of Jon's snowflakes from her newest book Elegant Tatting Gems.

This is Kencana, done in Lizbeth size 40 thread in colour #164 Blue River Glades. I know it's not snowflakey in colour but I kinda like it. The three snowflakes I've tatted so far and probably those I will tat before Christmas will be given away. I like this pattern. It was pretty quick to tat once I tamed the thread.

Finally a few pretty flower photos to share. I'll try not talk, er, type too much here.

First up, I want to share a Gardenia flower with you. I have to say, it's not the same one I posted about earlier. That one developed/came with a bug problem. Hopefully this one will do better than the last one. It has several developing buds on it, so I hope to see more flowers into the new year.

You've seen this orchid before. It's a Paphiopedilum spicerianum 'St. Alban' x self. I am puzzled over why this plant flowered. You see, the plant has been growing quite well since it last flowered. The pot was packed and unfortunately was developing a scale problem. I decided to split the plant. A few weeks after I divided the plant, I noticed a bud on the baby plant. I didn't see the bud when I was repotting the plant so I may have triggered the plant to flower (trauma, perhaps??). I probably shouldn't have let it flower, but since it's living in a large Ziploc style bag it might be OK. We'll see.

Finally I want to share a new acquisition for my plant collection:

This is an Oncidium 'Sweet Sugar', I think. That's what the label on another plant that looked exactly the same as this one. I really didn't need this plant, but since most of the stores around here only sell Phalaenopsis orchids, I needed it because I don't see these much. The care sounds pretty easy, so hopefully it will be around for a while. Preferably in flower.

That's about it for now. Like I said, I'm ichin' to tat tonight-I have an idea. I wasn't planning on posting until after Christmas, but I might post early next week if my idea works. And, since I'm sure many of you are wondering and I just found a good place to mention it, the t-shirt survived the washing machine! Like there was any doubt........really. Till next time.

T-Shirt Complete!

2011-12-05T21:47:00.001-06:00

I'm going to make this a quick post (hopefully). Nothing really new since my last post. I did get a sale over the weekend, which is awesome, though that pretty much covers my Etsy fees for the month. Anyway, I'll get straight to the point; it's getting late, but if I don't post tonight, I may not for awhile.

As the title suggests, I finished tatting and sewing on the edging to the t-shirt for my mom. Here is the final result:

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. Although I'm not sure I am willing to do it again. The tatting was pleasant to do. The sewing, not so much. I still have to wash the shirt to test it. I'm a little nervous about it. While I'm sure it'll hold, I wanted to get photos first in case of the unthinkable. I deciphered the care tag on the shirt and while it's machine washable (inside out), it's not machine dryable. Which is probably good in regards to the invisible thread. I'll have to type up care instructions to include with it. I really hope my mom wears it and doesn't put it away for fear of damaging it. Hopefully it survives the washing machine.

That's about it for tonight. I have a couple of flower photos I wanted to share, but they will have to wait. Which is probably for the better. Technically, one of the flowers isn't opened yet, but will be in a few days. I am currently working on a couple of crochet projects. I'm going to have to get a hold of a size P crochet hook, as the Q that I have is too big (I don't have a P hook and though a Q will work). I will share these as well. I also finished the snowflake I started before moving on to the t-shirt edging. Till next time.

T-Shirt Edging: Part 2, One Side Done

2011-11-30T20:45:00.001-06:00

I guess I'm not updating as much as I should be for this project. I'll get to the details soon; I don't have much to talk about. Sales are practically non-existent in the shop right now. I am offering free and reduced shipping right now. It started as a Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing, but didn't help, so I decided to keep it for now. I keep getting my shifts shuffled around at work lately. This isn't completely bad-I do get tired of the same thing week after week. Though it does mix me up a bit. Came home completely exhausted yesterday and didn't get anything done except sleeping. But anyway, I do have a few things to show you.

I have one sleeve done. I don't know if I did it right, but it looks good to me.

As you may (or hopefully may not) see, I decided to go against the rather overwhelming advice of not using invisible thread, and used invisible thread. It wasn't that difficult to use. It did catch on the tatting during the sewing process, but I'm sure cotton thread would do the same. I was careful to anchor the thread securely in and over a convenient hem. Once finished, I anchored the thread securely inside a convenient hem. I also sewed the ends from the tatting inside a hem as well. Once I have sewed the other edging on, I will wash the shirt once or twice to see how it holds up. BTW, I did wash both the tatting and the shirt before sewing them together.

That's about it really. I hopefully will finish the second edging tonight-it should have been done days ago, but I guess I'm getting tired of it. Combined, the edgings are about 28 inches long; not huge, but this is the longed piece(s) of edging I've ever tatting. I'm getting in the mood to tat some Windmills motifs. Till next time.

Tatting Tea Tuesday: T-Shirt Edging, Part 1

2011-11-15T20:20:00.001-06:00

Yup, you read the title right. It's Tuesday. I've been tatting. And I'm drinking tea. Well, it's iced tea. Iced Earl Grey tea actually. Made using the Tassimo coffee machine I HAD to get. That's what I keep telling myself. Anyway, I wanted to do a quick post about the edging I mentioned in my last post. Due to a thread breaking on the snowflake-not related to damp thread or anything-I stopped working on the snowflake and started my edging. Actually, I think the problem I'm having with thread breaking is that my tension is too tight. This makes the rings hard to close, and I end up breaking the thread. I experimented earlier with careful control of my tension which reduced the problem. I forgot to mention it in my last post. While I can (and will eventually) reattach the thread and continue tatting the snowflake, I have set it aside for now. I really what to start this edging project. I don't expect to run out of thread, but I wanted to allow enough time to order more thread if necessary. And possibly other threads. And a couple of those cool looking thread holders. Perhaps a few more shuttles....

Anyway, I picked a pattern for tat, and started it last night. I picked Mary Konior's Convolvulus edging pattern from her book Tatting in Lace.

And here it is against the T-shirt I selected:

I think it works, but I want your opinion. I still have a few questions about sewing it on the shirt. Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I greatly appreciate it. I understand that I should use a matching colour thread to sew on the tatting, but what am I matching the thread to? The t-shirt or the tatting? I assume the tatting. The general consensus of the people who commented was that I want a pattern that has few decorative picots. This pattern has no decorative picots. While I'm sure it will make sense once I start sewing it on, but how exactly do I sew it on? Hopefully I haven't bitten off more that I can chew!

You might have noticed the shuttle in the first photo. It is my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle. It is made out of Olive wood. I love it! I love how it looks marbled. And surprisingly (or maybe not so much) it smells like olive oil!? Before you ask, I don't normally smell my shuttles, but the odour was noticeable as it was warming up after being in the mailbox for a few hours. It's actually kinda nice. I don't like olives, but I have recently started using olive oil in my cooking so I have grown accustomed to it. I can't wait to see what other woods Sally and Nick get their hands on. I'm already looking forward to the Zebra wood that Sally recently showed off.

That's it for now. I will post again soon. Now that I finally memorized the pattern, I am tatting this pretty quickly. Apparently, I can't follow written patterns anymore-I had to draw it out first. The current length is about doubled what is shown above, and I'm one or two motifs away from completing about half the required length. So, if anyone sees a problem with the pattern or thread colour, please comment ASAP. Till next time.

PS: Diane, please take a number!

Cintamani Snowflake: The Next Snowflake

2011-11-12T20:22:00.001-06:00

Well, I seem to have disappeared again. At least I have some tatting to show. I've got nothing really new to report since my last post. It snowed here last Sunday. I locked myself out of my truck last Sunday as well-don't ask. The snow started to melt later on in the week. We got a bit more snow last night. I can't use four wheel drive right now since I had to change a tire before it snowed and my spare is a little smaller than the other tire. I really have to get my other tire fixed. Sales have slowed down in my Etsy shop, which gives me more tatting time. I don't expect too many sales for the Christmas season; I haven't seen a huge increase in sales during this time in previous years.

Before I get to the tatting, I do want to clarify something that I mentioned a few post ago. This is regarding tatting with damp hands being a cause for the thread to break. I should say that the thread probably won't snap just because it is damp. As others have mentioned, tatting with damp thread is a littler tougher since the thread sticks and just wants to be difficult. I don't know about the rest of you, but when a ring won't close, I pull harder. When I pull harder, the thread will probably break. I have found, lately, that if I can't close a ring I set it aside for 20-30 minutes. I seem to be able to close the ring much easier. I don't know why.

I promised another tatted snowflake, so here it is:

This is Cintamani, the 5th snowflake from Jon's new book. I tatted this in Lizbeth size 40 thread in colour #166 Pink Cocoa. I still don't know why I bought this thread. It looks so feminine. It looks so delicious. So decadent. So ........, um, I don't know why but I suddenly crave chocolate and raspberries.

Finally, due to a recent post by Fox about adding a tatted edging on a jacket, I have decided I want to try tatting an edging onto a t-shirt for my mom. I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but I do have the shirt and what I think will be a good thread to use.

I haven't done this before, so if anyone whats to comment with some hints, I'd greatly appreiciate it. The shirt has a bit of stretch in it; hopefully that won't be an issue. At this time, I only plan on adding an edging to the sleeves, but we'll see how quickly this comes together. I'll definitely provide updates on this project. I may need to change the thread if needed (it's Lizbeth 20 in colour #129, Purple Splendor). I'll start working on this as soon as I'm done the snowflake I'm working on right now.

That's it for now. Hopefully I can post again soon. Till next time.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

2011-10-31T20:41:00.000-06:00

As the title says, I hope everyone is having a Happy Halloween. I had to work today, but my workplace allows us to dress up. There wasn't very many of us who dressed up, but it was fun anyway. At least I didn't have to wear my uniform! Anyway, I do have a small amount of tatting to share.

I decided to tat my own Ripley the Ghost, though not in white:

The thread I used is Lizbeth size 20 in colour #149 Peacock Blues. Who said ghosts have to be white? I had a heck of a time following the pattern. I wonder if there are errors in it that were missed? I know one ring, R8 should be a SR. And the SR9 should be R9. R13 should also be SR13.

Finally, here is a picture of me, wearing my costume:

Happy Halloween!!!

First Snowflake of the Season

2011-10-27T21:05:00.000-06:00

Well, howdy. It's been a while, hasn't it. I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I have been pretty busy with chainmaille lately. A number of orders have trickled in over the past few weeks which have been keeping me busy. I also worked on a birthday gift for my mom; which was mostly chainmaille. I'll show you later; the photos aren't edited yet. I'm also working on my Hallowe'en costume this year; that'll come later as well if it works out. I have done a little tatting, which I will get to soon.

Before I get to the tatting, I want to mention a quick Etsy related thing. Recently, Etsy has allowed shop owners to change the name of their shops if they wished. When I joined Etsy, I didn't plan on selling, so I used a username I use regularly. I have changed my shop name to something a bit better. For anyone who hasn't noticed, my shop is now called Bridge City Maille. I am offering free shipping for a few more days for anyone interested.

As I said, I managed to get a little bit of tatting done. The motif I made is one of Jon Yusoff's newest snowflake patterns from her book Elegant Tatting Gems: A Collection of Snowflake Designs.

This is Baiduri, tatted in Lizbeth size 40 thread colour #163 Blue Ice. The colour isn't really this dark. I should have used a dark background, instead of white. I had to darken the colours in order for it to stand out. This is one of Lizbeth's newest colours. I really like it. Actually, I like several of the new colours, and couldn't resist ordering some no matter how hard I tried. Thanks Isdihara. See what happens when you post pretty pictures of new thread on your blog. Where do I sign up to be an Unrepentant Thread Junkie?

I'll be honest, I don't know why I bought the Pink Cocoa (bottom right). I don't like pink, but I like the combination. Must be the cocoa part. You know, the chocolate connection. Going back to the snowflake, I didn't have problems tatting it. Well, except for the centre rings. I guess I looked at the wrong ring on the diagram. Surprisingly it still worked with some minor blocking. I also had no problems with the thread breaking. I believe it was also Isdihara who mentioned that having slightly damp hands (like right after washing them) while tatting could weaken the thread enough to make it break when closing rings. I made sure my hands were nice and dry before tatting. I also tested this theory with the leftover thread once the snowflake was done and did find the thread snapped quite reliably when my hands were damp. It's something to think about for anyone who's having trouble with thread snapping regularly. Not just Lizbeth.

Finally before I go I wanted to pass on some information I got from a recent comment. Apparently, the tatted filet John and I had tatted is a pattern by Christel Wutzmer and Agnes Focke from Doppelknoten Nr. 7. I can't confirm it until I get a copy, but I thought I'd mention it. I am seriously thinking about getting a copy if possible. Anyway, I hope to do some tatting yet this evening, and perhaps over the weekend. I am planning to do a quick post Monday, but we'll see. Till next time.

Tatted Filet And an Alligator

2011-10-08T20:30:00.000-06:00

I bet you'll never guess what I have been up to lately? Go ahead, guess. Give up? I've been tatting! I know, right. I got into tatting a pattern from one of my new tatted bookmark books. I'll get to it and the other tatting soon. I'm not sure when I'll get back to tatting. I am currently working on a custom chainmaille piece right now. I will probably run out of rings (this was mentioned to the customer) and they won't be in until Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm also planning on redoing my packaging options. Since Christmas is going to be here before we know it, I'd like to offer gift boxes for all items. I discovered several Canadian companies offering packaging options, so I may order from one of them. I'll share more on this later if I go through with it. I am also offering free standard shipping for the next week or two for anyone interested.

As I said I managed to do some tatting since my last post. The first being a bookmark from Animal Bookmarks: A Tatted Zoo by Diane Stevens. Lots of pretty patterns in this book. However, there was one that I really wanted to try. That one is, of course, the alligator. Here she is:

Yes, she. This is Gertrude the 'Gator. See her eyelashes. That's where the pattern starts and ends. I didn't really want to deal with the ends, so I just trimmed them. I do plan on making another one soon. For anyone wondering, I used Lizbeth size 20 in colour # 152 Christmas Green Mix and #684 Medium Leaf Green. I discovered while tatting this that I really need more green thread, in different shades.

The second major tatting project for me was one you may have seen recently. John shared a vintage tatted edging with a really cool tatted filet pattern. I was fascinated with it as well. A commenter, Erin, provided a pattern for the filet section after reviewing the photos. I had to try it. Here is the result:

I decided to turn my piece into a bookmark. It is 6 inches long and about 2 1/4 inches wide. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #663 Bright Turquoise Dark. I really enjoyed tatting this pattern. It was completely relaxing and once the pattern was established after a couple of rows, you really don't need to refer to the pattern again. The starting point needs some work though. I'm curious to know where the original pattern is from. It's NOT the Mary Konior Filet pattern, unless there is more than one and I missed it. That pattern looks like this:

If anyone knows the original source of the top filet pattern, please let me know. It really looks familiar. Whatever the source, I would like to tat another bookmark, maybe slightly narrower, in a different colour.

That's it for now. As you may have heard, it's Thanksgiving this weekend here in Canada. We'll see what happens over next week. I do want to do more tatting, but the chainmaille project comes first. Till next time.

A Little Tatting, New Shuttles, and a New Temari Ball

2011-09-29T22:23:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to do more tatting. I really have. However, I have been preoccupied with something since last Saturday. Something tragic. You see, the set-top box for my IPTV service died. I'll give you a moment to mourn. OK, I realize it may seem weird for me to feel this way. But, I do love TV, even though it's not really good to watch too much. I do a lot of my relaxation activities-tatting, chainmaille, etc, while watching TV. I can't focus on whatever it is I'm doing without having the TV on. I can watch what I'm doing while glancing at the TV regularly. In case you're wondering I got sick of watching movies by Sunday night. I started going to bed early too. Over the air TV wasn't an option, since Canada recently switched to digital TV, and I didn't have a compatible antenna. I do now. Finally on Wednesday, a Sasktel technician/installer was able to come out and replace my box. While we were waiting for the box to upgrade its firmware and reboot, the Sasktel guy got fascinated by my carnivorous plants and I spent the time showing the plants to him. So after all that, I have my TV again, and all is well. And that is why I have little to show.

I did manage a little tatting. However, I don't have the item finished. I had a heck of a time with the pattern. It's not the patterns fault; it was one of Jon's new snowflake patterns. It was me. I kept joining to the wrong picots, and made many other errors. I also had to deal with the thread I used snapping several times. I think it was three times in the small amount of tatting I accomplished. I'm sure some of you are wondering, so I will mention that I was using Lizbeth thread, size 40. I don't blame the thread. All three times, the thread snapped while I was closing a ring. I'm sure the last stitch became unflipped or something. To make myself feel better about it, I'm going with the idea that I'm becoming much stronger.

It occurred to me that I haven't shown you guys my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. So, in an attempt to show both them, and the pitiful amount of tatting I've done, here's a photo:

The front shuttle is made of Purple Heart, and the back shuttle is Mahonia wood. Jane assures me that the colour is natural. The colour of both shuttles is amazing. Now, if only there was a tree that produces naturally blue coloured wood. I might sit down and continue with the snowflake. I started another project, using Lizbeth size 20, so if all goes well, I should have a more substantial amount of tatting to show the next time.

Finally, I finished another Temari ball. This one I started a while ago, but set it aside when I had issues with it not being perfectly round. I did manage to divide it up the best I could. Here it is:

This one is called Buckles and Bands. It's similar to one I did earlier, see here, though I like this one better. If you'd like to try making a Temari ball yourself, the designer, Barbara B. Suess, has several patterns available for purchase (including the one above) here. She is also the author of the book Japanese Temari: A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft, I love this book and it's great for beginners. I used a styrofoam ball for the core again, and that may be why I didn't get the ball perfectly round. I'm going to try to make my own cores, called mari, using dryer lint, and cloth scraps (separately). I'll be sure to share when I get around to doing this.

That's it for now. With any luck, I'll have a significant amount of tatting to show you. Till next time.

Dawg Hoodie, Complete!

2011-09-18T20:55:00.000-06:00

I managed to accomplish something since my last post. Something of my own anyway. I'm watching the 25 Motif Challenge blog for Sharon while she gets better. After two trips in two days to Michaels-though the second trip wasn't exactly planned (let's just say it involves the glass of a newly purchased frame and a chair), I found the shade of grey I wanted for my hoodie. I'm going to try and make this short. I really, really want to do some tatting tonight before I have to go to bed, so I can get up and work in the morning.

As I said, I found the shade of grey that I wanted for my Dawg Hoodie, a pattern from The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys book. The yarn I chose is Patons Classic Wool Merino, a 100% wool yarn. It's not the type of yarn I wanted (and may not be compatible with the acrylic/cotton blend yarn I used) I think the properties of the yarn can work in this case. Wool will shrink and felt if machine washed if care isn't taken. For ribbing, this could work, as I find that the cuffs tend to stretch more than the rest of the garment, so when washed (carefully) they'll shrink back down. If it turns out I'm wrong, I could simply cut off the ribbing and remake with a different yarn. We'll see. Anyway, here are some pictures. First just the hoodie:

Try and ignore my feet seen at the bottom of the photo. I placed the hoodie on my bed, and had to stand on the end of the bed to take the photo.

Here are the required(?????) photos of me wearing the hoodie:

The second photo proves I actually have a pocket on the front of the hoodie. It blends in remarkably well. Which it kinda good, as it's not quite centred, and my sewing isn't the straightest. Finally a photo showing the hood:

I don't like this photo as much as the previous two, the first one is my favorite. As an aside, I am pleased to say that I am a little over 21 pounds lighter in these photos than I was when I posted a photo of me wearing my Hauberk back in May. Please ignore the empty photo frame on the left side of the photo. It may or may not be the one that had the incident with my chair. Also ignore the fact that the above three photos don't show the drawstring of the hood. I was so excited to have the hoodie done, I put it one\ and took a bunch of photos before I remembered I forgot the drawstring. So, what do you guys think? Is that the right shade of grey or what?

That's about it for now. I am going to try and tat this evening. If I do, then I should have something new to post about. Oh, before I forget, what do you guys think of my new header? I've been wanting to make a new one for a while. I found the photo of one of the city's bridges (it's called the University Bridge, if you're wondering) at Wikimedia Commons, and the site says it's in the public domain. That's it for now. Till next time.

Posting for the Sake of It

2011-09-12T20:00:00.000-06:00

I have nothing really to post about. I feel that I should, but that's it. As I said in my last post, I went away last weekend for a few days. It was nice to get away and not to think about work and stuff. However, I really haven't done much since I left (and subsequently returned). I do plan on tatting, but all I've accomplished was to pick out a pattern or two that I want to start. I still have many UFO's and WIPs/WISPs that need to be finished. I did manage to make a couple new pairs of chainmaille earrings, and planned on photographing them this afternoon after work. However, I was asked to stay longer, and I agreed, so I missed the optimum time for photographing. I do all my photos outside. I should probably look into other options. My hoodie is still on hold, however, I'm going to have to get it finished as it is getting a bit cool in the mornings and I'll want to wear it. We may even get frost within the next day or two. Hopefully not, as I don't want to deal with the potted outdoor plants yet. I did bring in two "houseplants" that I had outside- a King Sago and my Ginkgo tree.

Thanks for the comments on the last posts. I'm glad you guys like the bookmark in black. Actually, I really like the way tatting looks in black, but I find it a pain to tat with black thread. Miranda, my split chains are far from great, but thanks for the compliment. And thanks to Marla for the comment about my orchid. Apparently this offsetting behaviour comes from the Doritis parent, so it may be considered normal. I may leave the baby on the parent plant for now. It's kind of incredible that we're almost two weeks into September already. Hopefully I'll get a lot done over the next few weeks. I would like to get some tatting done to show you. I kinda feel bad when I don't have any new motifs to show you. I don't like simply not posting either. We'll see what happens and I'll try and post again soon. Till next time.

Final Black Magic Bookmark and Random Orchid Photos

2011-08-31T21:04:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. Actually, I'm doing this on purpose. I had meant to post over the weekend, but since I am going away for a few days, and won't be posting till I get back, I thought I'd wait a few extra days. I've done a little tatting lately. Mostly finishing on a bookmark I started over a month ago. I started tatting another bookmark, different pattern. And I've been tinkering in designing, but I'm not ready to show anything from that. You're not missing much!

I've got my hoodie on hold for now. I had hoped on more input on colour choice for the ribbing, see previous post for details. I'm going to look for a darker grey colour before deciding for sure.

As I mentioned, I finished a bookmark I started some time ago. It's another one of Mary Konior's Black Magic bookmarks. This time I kept the colour simple, and made the bookmark, black!

I also decided to end the bookmark in a more finished manner. While trying not to, I basically did what Miranda did with her bookmark. It became apparent that I should have started the bookmark with a chain instead of the large central ring as I had to do a split chain (that wasn't split) for the final chain joining to the central ring. I could then tat the end chain as a split chain as normal. I continued with a lock stitch chain with a few split rings that mimicked the central rings. I finished with a round motif based off of the Black Magic pattern. While I liked the fan that Miranda ended with, I felt the round motif was more manly. The bookmark was done with Lizbeth size 20 thread (I didn't have size 40 then, I do now) in black, colour #604.

Finally I'll end this post with a couple of photos of one of my Phalaenopsis orchids. It's doing something funny. Well, maybe not funny, but unexpected. And I don't know why.

The first photo was taken when I first found the plant(s) about a month ago. The second photo was taken a week or so ago. My understanding is that these plants aren't supposed to form offsets in this fashion. The only time, that I have found, that a Phal should do this is in the event the the growth point is damaged, perhaps from rot or something. Phals belong to a family of orchids which are known as Monopodial orchids. That means that they have only one growing point and generally grow as a single upright stem. From what I can tell, the main plant seems healthy and is currently growing a new leaf. The offset is growing roots (you can't see them, but they are there), so once it's big enough I'll separate it off. I don't what it sucking too much energy from the parent plant, and it could break off, fall off by itself. In case you're wondering the plant is called Doritaenopsis Long Pride Fancy 'MP0653' which you can see here.

That's it for now. I should be getting ready to leave tomorrow, so I gotta go. Hopefully I'll post early next week. Till next time.

Nothing New, Just Some Updates

2011-08-22T23:32:00.000-06:00

I haven't done much, so I don't have anything new. I did get another order last week, so I worked on remaking the sold item. But other than that I haven't done much else. I did finish crocheting the hood on my hoodie. I still need to do the ribbing, and, uh, I have to sew on the pocket. I forgot about it until I posted the photo. I also forgot that the the hood has ribbing on it as well, so I definitely don't have enough yarn to finish it using the same yarn. I stopped at Michaels last week to buy some dark grey cotton/acrylic blend yarn. Big surprise I didn't find much. Actually, I didn't find any. Instead I found some 100 % cotton yarn in black (called Ebony) in the Loops and Threads brand (I believe its a Michaels brand/exclusive) and some grey yarn in a bamboo/wool blend from Stitch Nation. Here's some photos:

I really don't know which one looks better. I was hoping for a darker grey (or lighter black!). I really think the black may be too dark, but the grey may be too light. I do prefer the grey, but that may be because I want to use a bamboo yarn for something, though now that Michaels has this line of yarn I may be able to find another project to satisfy that need. Let me know what you know what you think. I may have to go on another quest for the prefect grey cotton/acrylic blend yarn.

I mentioned in the last post that I had purchased an LED light system for my aquarium. Well, it looks great and produces a fair amount of light. As I said, time will tell if the plants appreciate it. One cool feature of the unit is that it has "Moon Lights". These are blue LEDs that mimic the light of the moon. Makes the tank look pretty cool:

You can't see the fish (I can't anyway) but it still looks kinda cool. Moon lights aren't really for freshwater aquariums, they're more for reef setups, so I won't be using them much. But I had to try them out at least once.

I had a request for an update on my five new Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants) plants. Here is a (fairly) recent photo of them:

Four out of five are doing pretty well. The fifth, the one on the front right, isn't doing so hot. Fortunately, it was also the least expensive of the five (well, if you don't count the one provided as a free gift; it's right behind the dying one). I'm not really that disappointed. It's a fairly common plant so I should be able to replace it easily. I have been opening the cover regularly to let some fresh air in. I'll try and remember to provide another update in a month or two.

Finally, here's an update for another plant that I haven't mentioned for a while. It it, my Tillandsia, or Air Plant:

It (they?) has/have grown since you've seen it last. And, if you look in the second photo, there's going to be another plant in the near photo. I'm surprised on how well it's doing. Since my first one died after flowering, I assumed this one will too. Though the first one did spend a summer, a Canadian summer, in near full sun all day and not watered nearly enough. That is probably why it died. My understanding is that some, if not all, Tillandsias will form clumps or clusters. I think it will be quite spectacular once it gets really large as there may be numerous plants in flower at any given time, or perhaps the whole plant at once. I will try to provide updates on this plant too, but since it grows rather slowly, it won't be very often.

I think that will be all tonight. I do have more plant photos ( I really want to show you what one of my Phalaenopsis orchids is doing) but they will have to wait for another day. I bought a bunch of new findings recently as my main supplier got over a hundred new items. Two of the findings I bought include some hair clips and some solid stainless steel toggle clasps. I will have to get some photos with the toggle clasps and play around with the hair clips so look for that. I have been working on some tatting, so hopefully I will have some tatting to show soon. Till next time. Goodnight!

Almost Done Hoodie, and My New Tatting Books

2011-08-11T22:25:00.000-06:00

Well, I finally get to post. Between work, several welcome sales, not feeling well earlier this week, and other stuff, I never got around to posting. That's not to say I have that much to post about. As I said, I got several sales, which was awesome as they allowed me to purchase a(n) LED light system for my aquarium (without having to wait until payday). Hopefully my aquatic plants like it, though it will compliment my existing fluorescent light system. Anyway, my main focus tonight (or whenever you read this) will be a status update of my Dawg hoodie.

I finished the last sleeve towards the end of last week (I think). I won't bore you with a photo of it since, well, it looks just like the other one. I had hoped to sew everything together Sunday, but a surprise visit by my parents meant the hoodie had to wait until another day. That day was Wednesday.

Nothing special to report here. As expected, all matching pieces were the same size. In case you're wondering, I folded the sleeves down for the picture so more of the hoodie is visible, or rather less background is visible. There's not much left to finish. Basically, the hood part and the waist and sleeve ribbing. There's also some ends to hide, but it's not a big deal on a crochet project. There is one problem. I may run out of yarn (again!!). It's my fault; I had figured out how many skeins I would need, but decided to round the number down since I was making the sleeves shorter. I bought 8 skeins of yarn. I have one left, plus a little of another skein. This really may not be a problem after all. I will finish the hood with the skein I have left. Once that's done, and I know exactly how much yarn is left, I can figure out what to do next. What I have been thinking was that if I think I have enough (probably not) I'll do the ribbing in the remaining yarn. If I don't think I have enough I can either a) try to find a matching skein of yarn with the same dye lot or b) do the ribbing in a different colour (either black or grey). I like option a but it's probably unlikely I can match the dye lots. I'll probably go with option b, with a yarn of similar content if possible. I'll update you once I get this far.

Finally I will finish this post with something tatting related, since I haven't posted anything tatting related for awhile:

These are my newest tatting books. I've been looking through both books and have several bookmarks picked out that I'd like to tat. I do have a few projects in progress that I'd like to finish first. Of course, the finishing of my hoodie has to be done before I can tat.

That's about it for now. We'll see what happens over the next week or so. I have some chainmaille to show you-I played with my camera last week and got some pretty good photos. I think everything I've made is listed now, so feel free to look at my shop to see the new items, if you'd like. Till next time.

Dawg Hoodie Continuation, and a little Chainmaille

2011-07-31T21:33:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. I haven't really felt like blogging lately because I haven't really done anything worth post about. No tatting. Still. I think I over did the tatting with the bookmarks. I'll get back to it eventually. A few weeks ago I ordered a few new tatting books from Bestitched that should hopefully arrive this week. Both books are full of bookmark patterns. I'm still crocheting my Dawg hoodie, which I will get to soon. I've also done a bit of chainmaille. A sale (finally!!) got me back in the mood recently. I have a bunch of stuff that needs to be listed, but I can't seem to get photos I deem decent enough to use. Maybe I'm being too picky, but metal is so hard to photograph. Anyway I'll show a photo of one maille project too.

I finished the front of the hoodie a few days after I last posted. Here it is:

I'm hoping it's the same size as the back. I checked several times while making it and when it was done, but I won't know for sure until I sew them together. I won't go into much detail. The yarn and pattern source are in the previous post. You can use the "yarn" and "crochet dude" tags to find the other post(s) and related ones. I started the first sleeve shortly after the front was done. It took me a good week to make it. Mainly because I spent hardly any time on it until yesterday. Coincidentally, I finished crocheting the sleeve yesterday as well.

Nothing real fancy here. I made the sleeve shorter than what the pattern says. I found the ones on my last Dawg hoodie much too long, and I don't like that. I started the second sleeve early this afternoon. I'm going to pop in a Blu-ray disc in the player soon and watch a movie, so I should be able to get a good chunk done tonight. I'll have to go to bed early tonight since I get to/have to work tomorrow. In case you're not aware tomorrow is a stat holiday. It goes by different names in many provinces, but here in Saskatchewan the holiday is referred to as Civic Holiday. So everyone who gets tomorrow off, enjoy! At least I get to spend most of the day with air conditioning.

Finally, I'll show you the chainmaille piece I was working on yesterday (I had a fairly productive day yesterday, it seems):

This came about from a suggestion I received some time ago. A triagular shaped Dragonscale pendant. It turned out to be narrower than I expected. It's about 2 3/4 inches long by about 1 1/4 inches wide. I might expand the pendant upwards by a few rows, though it'll look more like a upside down house rather than a triangle. What do you think? I used some yellow brass rings for the larger rings; these are a "special edition" ring, so to speak, that my supplier had leftovers of from a custom order. The lavender rings are kinda new. My main supplier is changing anodizing methods of their aluminum that results in shiny coloured rings. Beside the pendant, I also made several Bicubix Blocks earrings. While I have been offering customization of earrings and such, I have been wondering if I should make a bunch of earrings with different colours and offer them for sale too. I'll try it with a few pairs and see.

That's about it for now. I plan on getting the final sleeve done for my hoodie. Then I get to assemble it. I do want to get stuff listed on Etsy to this week. It can't sell if it's not listed. You never know, I might even get some tatting done. It could happen! Till next time.

It Started With a Pocket....

2011-07-20T22:14:00.001-06:00

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Anyway, I had hoped to post earlier this week, but with it being rather hot here, I turned the computer off late in the afternoon and kept it off until the next morning. Anyway, I haven't done much tatting, still. I got my Handy Hands order last Thursday; I'll share more on that later. Except for a little chainmaille, I have been spending most of my time on a crochet project. And that brings me to the pocket.

I mentioned a post or two ago that I had finally received some yarn that I ordered. Instead of putting it away like I should have, I left the yarn out after taking it out of its box. I could almost hear it calling me. I figured I could crochet just the pocket of The Crochet Dude's Dawg Hoodie, from his super awesome Designs for Guys book. That way I could see how the yarn crochets up.

There. I crocheted the pocket. I know how the yarn looks. I like it! In case you are wondering, the yarn I used is Bernat Denim Style, in the colour Jordache. The yarn is a 70% acrylic, 30% cotton blend. And it is soooo soft. And I think that is what started it. I started and finished crocheting the back of the hoodie:

I couldn't help myself. This isn't the worst of it. I, are you ready for this, started working on the front of the hoodie. I know, right?! I'm so bad. I'll be done crocheting the hoodie in no time. I finished shaping the shoulders on the front while waiting for supper to cook, so I could be close to finishing it within the next day or two. You can probably figure out what I will be working on for the next week or so.

That's about it for now. I do plan on working on some tatting soon. I bought Jon's new snowflake book (which contains some very pretty patterns), and hope to tat a few of them. Perhaps with some of the new Lizbeth thread I got from Handy Hands. Till next time.

And the Winners Are.....

2011-07-11T21:26:00.000-06:00

Well, we'll get to that in a minute. Thanks everyone for entering. Everyone who commented was entered, 36 people in total. I placed every name (and bookmark preference) in a spread sheet to keep track. It made it easier since I couldn't figure out how to add numbers to comments. I used the Random Number generator at Random.org to select three winners.

And the winners are......

Tattips who will receive the B bookmark
Robert who will receive the C bookmark
Tattingchic who will receive the A bookmark

Congratulations all three of you! Please email me at: jeffDOThamiltonATsasktelDOTnet with your mailing addresses. Replace the DOTs and AT with the appropriate symbols.

And for everyone else, since this has been fun, I'm sure I'll have another giveaway again. Thanks for participating. And I think I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone!

Quick Reminder

2011-07-10T19:50:00.002-06:00

Not sure if this is necessary, but I thought I'd remind everyone that I have a giveaway in progress. Click here for the giveaway details, and to enter. I hope to do the drawing tomorrow around 9 pm CST. Hopefully I won't be too tired after work tomorrow-I have to go in much earlier than normal. It never occurred to me when I posted last Monday, but feel free to post about the giveaway on your blogs if you wish. The more people entering, the better.

I haven't done much else last week, so I probably won't do a full post later this week. I haven't touched my tatting. I did do a little chainmaille, and may do a little more this evening. I refrained from adding new items to my shop during the postal strike/lock out. I do hope to get the new items properly photographed and listed during my days off. Finally, the last of the packages I was waiting for (mailed before the lockout) have arrived. I am so relieved that my new Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle is safe. I also received some yarn (Bernat Denimstyle) to make another of The Crochet Dude's Dawg hoodie. This project will probably wait for a while, but I now have the yarn to do it.

That's it for now. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow to announce the winners. Don't forget, if you want to enter my giveaway, you have a little over a day to do so. Till next time.

Jeff's Super Awesome Bookmark Give Away Spectacular!!

2011-07-04T21:00:00.005-06:00

It's here! I think I'm organized enough to have my giveaway. Not completely, but enough. As I mentioned on Friday, I had been thinking about a giveaway for awhile now. I had originally planned on one large giveaway, with some tatting, chainmaille, and perhaps some thread and beads. However, recently, I thought it might be more fun to have several smaller items to giveaway. Hence, the three bookmarks I've been showing off lately. Here they are to refresh your memory:

Now that you've seen the bookmarks again, we will get to the rules of the giveaway. Don't worry, there's not many. Simply leave a comment on this post. You don't have to be a follower, or even a tatter to enter. International entries welcome. If you have a preference of which bookmark you'd like, if you win, please mention it (and maybe a second choice), otherwise I'll choose. Please make sure you leave your name too. Don't worry about an email address yet; I'll provide mine for the winners to contact me when I announce the winners. I will draw three winners randomly on Monday, July 11, 2011, around 9 pm CST. Good luck.

Happy 4th of July to my American friends!

Quick Update

2011-07-01T21:34:00.001-06:00

Howdy. I thought I'd stop by and give you all a quick update on my planned giveaway. Due to a scheduling SNAFU at my workplace today, I ended up working a much longer shift than expected. I'm not complaining however (Double time!!!!!) but I didn't get the bookmarks blocked as planned. I do hope to do that yet tonight. I will hopefully be ready for Monday, so watch this place then. I know I haven't mentioned it till recently, but I've been thinking about and kinda planning the giveaway for months. Yeah, months. Now, where's my blocking board??

Oh, Happy Canada Day!!!!

Final Black Magic, and Hardy Orchid Flower

2011-06-29T21:14:00.001-06:00

Still tatting. Though I don't have that much to show for it. But we'll get to it soon. As you may (or may not) have heard, Canada Post workers got sent back to work starting Monday. Mail started being delivered Tuesday, though all the mail I have received so far are just bills. Go figure. Anyway this means I can ship orders again. And naturally, I can order stuff again too. I placed an order for more Lizbeth, mostly the new colours that have come out recently, as well as some other stuff. As much as I didn't want to, I ordered from Handy Hands. As I've mentioned before, I do think they over charge for shipping. Well, maybe not over charge, they just choose to ship by Priority mail when it could ship by a cheaper rate-the other tatting suppliers offer cheaper rates. This is just my opinion however. Anyway, I noticed after I placed my order that DS9Designs is now offering the new Lizbeth colours. I could cancel my HH order, but there are some things I wanted that DS9Designs doesn't carry. Oh well. On to the tatting.

As the title suggests, I have tatted Mary Konior's Black Magic pattern in the form of a bookmark:

Personally, I like the way this one turned out. Better than the one I posted about last week. For this bookmark, I used a variegated thread, Lizbeth size 40 colour #147 Red Burst, and a solid, Lizbeth size 40 colour #656 Dark Wedgewood Blue. Now that I have three bookmarks worthy of being given away (and a way to send them!) I will be announcing my giveaway very soon. I am hoping on Friday, but depending on my work schedule, possibly on Monday. I do need to make the tassels and block them, but that shouldn't take too long; I might even get that done tonight yet. I think I'm just about done with Black Magic for now. I am working on one more bookmark, but it's purpose (if needed) will be revealed later.

Finally this evening, I want to share with you another orchid photo. This time, it's a type of hardy orchid:

This is Bletilla striata, the Chinese Ground Orchid, or just Hardy Orchid. I ordered a package of two tubers, but my order arrived at the time the company I ordered from (Veseys) was liquidating all spring bulbs and sent two packages (four tubers) instead. I planted them all in a 6 inch pot, though I may need to repot them into a larger pot if needed. In case you are wondering, these are growing under my florescent lights with some Phalaenopsis orchids and my Nepenthes Pitcher plants. They seem happy. I am hoping all the plants shown produce flowers.

That's it for now. Hopefully, the next post you read from me is about my giveaway. Now that Canada Post is running again, I am hoping to get back to chainmaille too. Though this tatting break has been great. Till next time.

More Black Magic and an Unexpected Flower

2011-06-20T21:50:00.002-06:00

Not one of my most creative titles, but it gets the job done. Nothing spectacular to report since my last post. If you haven't heard (and if you don't live in Canada, you probably haven't), Canada Post is currently on full strike/lockout since last Tuesday. No mail is moving within the country. And nothing is leaving or entering the country either. It really sucks, to put it bluntly. I'm getting mail envy watching some of you show off what you've received in the mail. Not only do I have a couple packages sitting in some warehouse or something, the order I mentioned last time is also sitting in some warehouse too. I also have an order I can't ship right now, though I might stop at UPS or FedEx tommorow to see what they can do for me (though I'm not hopeful that they will be affordable-I tried their websites and wasn't impressed). I have still been tatting, so we'll move on to that.

As the title suggests, I am continuing with Mary Konior's Black Magic pattern. Again in the form of a bookmark:

I figured I'd try this with different thread types. Since I used solids the last time, I thought I'd try a variegated thread this time. I didn't really like it at first, but it has grown on me by the time it was finished. I do hope one of you like it. That brings me to why I am making them. I am planning on a giveaway, though I'm going to wait until the whole Canada Post thing is resolved before I announce anything. So stay tuned. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 40, Colour #100 Falling Leaves. The next bookmark is going to be tatted using two solids, or maybe a solid and a variegated thread. Well see.

Finally, I thought I show you an unexpected flower that has made an appearance. In my aquarium:

This flower is from one of my Anubias plants; I'm not sure which one. I have had an Anubias flower before (see here), but it is pretty rare though, for me anyway. I am quite pleased though, as it might mean that conditions in the aquarium are better than I think they are (I really need to do some work in the tank, cleaning, etc.). Of course it could mean that the plant is planning on dying and the flower is a last ditch attempt at survival. But we'll pretend that that can't happen, OK?

That's about it for now. I plan on working on the last Black Magic bookmark, hopefully work won't get in the way this week. We had one guy quit in my department last week, and I've been working extra to help pick up the slack. I'm not complaining; it is extra cash in my pocket which will be helpful once Canada Post is running again. Till next time.

Some Black Magic

2011-06-09T22:18:00.000-06:00

Howdy all. Guess what?? I've been tatting all week. No foolin'! I'll get to it soon. As was expected, Canada Post workers are on strike, though it is a rotating strike. That is, every day one or more cities go on strike for a day or two, then go back to work. It's not supposed to disrupt the whole system, but I'm not sure about that. We'll see though. I decided to keep my shop open for now, and even had a sale earlier in the week. So hopefully the package got out of the country. I'm holding back on my own mail orders. I've been eying the new colours of Lizbeth, but I think I'll wait before ordering. But anyway, on to the tatting!

If you're familiar with Mary Konior's patterns, you probably have an idea of what pattern I've been tatting. If you don't, let me show you:

This is Black Magic, from Mary Konior's Tatting With Visual Patterns. As I always mention, this book is readily available from most, if not all the tatting suppliers. Unless you want a hard cover version, I don't advise buying from Amazon, eBay, etc. Anyway, I've always liked this pattern. Actually, the first bookmark I received in an exchange was made using this pattern. This is the first time I've made this pattern. Unfortunately, I didn't do it flawlessly. There is one minor error; you may be able to find it if you looked. It doesn't matter though, this one is mine. I guess. I made another bookmark:

I don't believe I made an error on this one. You may notice the ends haven't been dealt with. I hope to incorporate them into a tassel. We'll see if it works. Thread stats: top bookmark, Lizbeth size 40, colour #688 Dark Seagreen. Bottom bookmark, Lizbeth size 40 colour #660 Light Country Turquoise. In case you're wondering, both bookmarks haven't been blocked yet. I'm hoping to make two more bookmarks. Why, you may ask? You'll have to wait and see.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I can keep tatting, and not get distracted. Till next time.

Trendy Teardrops and a Plant Update

2011-05-31T23:20:00.000-06:00

Well, here it is, over a week since my last post and don't have much to show for it. Craft-wise anyway. I have done some tatting; will get to it soon. I did a little chainmaille, but not much. I am offering free shipping in my shop, but from the looks of it, that may be useless right now. Apparently, Canada Post may go on strike Thursday, just before midnight. I may put my shop in vacation mode if there is a strike (just in case), but we'll have to see. I am, however concerned about a shipment of plants I have en route as we speak. The guy shipping them to me has been watching the Canada Post situation closely (as have I) and they should arrive before the deadline, but I'm still concerned.

As I mentioned, I did do some tatting this past week. I think I mentioned working on them in my last post. And here they are:

These are Yarnplayer's Trendy Teardrop earrings. I only made the earrings since I didn't have any matching size 10 thread to make a pendant. It's an interesting pattern (available in Yarnplayer's Etsy shop) that uses a new technique. Well, new to me anyway. That technique would be the Catherine Wheel Join. I tried the CWJ in a "practice" piece-so named a "practice" piece because I broke the thread during the outer round and didn't feel like reattaching the thread (didn't like the colour I used anyway). I decided, however, to not use the CWJ in the above earrings, I found it too, um, time consuming. It took me several minutes per join to do. I opted instead to do a Slope and Roll join. Much faster, albeit not as nice looking. I'll try the Catherine Wheel join again. Thread stats: for these earrings I used Krystledawne's Vineyard at Dusk HDT in size 20 with Amethyst beads. I really love this colourway! As I've mentioned before, I'm not fond of pinks and purples, but this thread is different. The purple is there, but it's not really noticeable (to me, anyway). I do regret only buying one skein. Although, she does have more in her shop........but, I think I'll wait until I know what Canada Post is doing.

Finally, I thought I do a plant update. I posted a photo of my (at the time) one and only Tropical Pitcher plant (Nepenthes x Ventrata). Here is a fairly recent photo of the plant:

Well, one of it's pitchers anyway. I wanted to show how much bigger the pitchers are now. If you look at the photo I posted earlier (located here), you'll see that the one pictured was only about 1 cm long (probably about 1.5 cm when opened). Well, the pitcher above is about 3.5 inches long. And I'm hoping they'll get even bigger. I've started feeding it ants that I found around the house (hey, they're entering the house at their own risk!). I've added a few more pitcher plants to my collection:

I'm really glad I finally found the high plastic dome for growing trays. I've had a heck of a time finding them. I could mail order one, but it just seemed like the wrong type of thing to mail order. These ones (I bought a couple of them) are better than the ones I've seen in the seed catalogs, as they have two air vents on top that can be opened to let in fresh air, and reduce the humidity (although most Nepenthes like high humidity). I'm hoping they don't outgrow the dome too fast, but I'll adapt as they grow.

That's about it for now. I started another Windmills motif, in the size 10 Cebelia. Since I do like making the motifs (I just get sick of making them after awhile), I thought it might get me in the mood to do some serious tatting. We'll see. Till next time.

Tatted Earrings, and a Bit of Maille

2011-05-19T23:12:00.001-06:00

Sorry for disappearing, again. I just don't know what the problem is lately. Well, actually, I have a few theories. The main one is that I have too many things I want to make in numerous mediums that I can't get started on any of them. I made another wheel of Cheddar cheese yesterday and finished it today; the one I made back in March is just about ready to taste. I've been working on some chainmaille lately. The main piece will be shown later in this post. I'm still getting beads and stuff for several chainmaille jewelry pieces. These are pretty cool; hopefully they sell well. I'm not even gong to say anything about my sales on Etsy. I think I may offer free shipping again for a week or two. I should have done that a few weeks before Mother's Day. Anyway, onward to the tatting!

As the title suggests, I manage to tat a pair of earrings during this past week. It's a pattern I make quite frequently:

These are, of course, Yarnplayer's Carnival Earrings. These aren't quite finished, obviously. In case you're wondering, I don't usually hide the ends on earrings. A knot and a dab of glue initially, and once dry, they get stiffened with more glue. Since I have to remake the earrings regularly, this works quite well. And since you only see one side of the earrings (usually) the knot isn't noticeable. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20, colour #149 Peacock Blues. The beads are Reconstituted Turquoise for the large beads, and light blue seed beads. I am working on another pair of earrings, using a different pattern. And before I forget, have a look at this Temari ball with tatting on it.

Finally, I'll show you the main focus of my creative energy:

I'm not thrilled with the above photo. The camera didn't want to/couldn't focus properly on the metal fabric. The nature of the chainmaille fabric make me look fat. Though that could be the snacks-I think I hear snickering from my tatted seahorse from that comment. Anyway, my chainmaille shirt, more properly called a Hauberk, is almost done. It currently weighs about 21 pounds (9.5 kg). Here is a closeup shot of the overlapping "Horseman Slits" that I put in on the front and back of my Hauberk:

The slits make it easier to walk and ride horses in. I think they look kinda cool too. I still have to make the sleeves, lengthen it some more (I reckon it should come down to about the top of the side pockets on the shorts I am wearing in the photo), and add an edging of bronze rings to the bottom edge, around the neck, and maybe on the sleeves too. I'm probably going to put this aside for awhile. I do want to get some other projects done.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll get more accomplished this week. I prepared a ball for a Temari this afternoon, so hopefully I'll get to stitching that soon. And I really want to get more tatting in; I'm having a hard time finding a pattern I want to tat. There's also more chainmaille I want to make. So we'll see how I make out. Till next time.

Some Tatting, Finally!

2011-05-05T23:04:00.000-06:00

Don't get too excited, I don't have much tatting to show. I'm not sure what it is lately, I just can't get into tatting. I want to tat something, I just don't know what. I have been working on my tie; I have 14 rows of 4-Ring squares left to go. I'm over half way there. I might start working on my mom's Windmills doily. I think for now, I will make it oval in shape. I don't want to make it round, but I may try Jane E's method of tricking myself into making the doily larger. Once it's oval, I might be inclined to continue making motifs until it's round. We'll see.

Anyway, here's the one piece of tatting that I managed to tat while away last week:

This is Ruth Perry's Celtic Maple Leaf. I've made it before, but this time I used some of Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple HDT in size 30 to make it. I like it in this colourway. Nothing really else to say about the leaf.

I think that's it for now. I'm kinda distracted right now; I'm catching up on the new season of Doctor Who. I've got a few new chainmaille earrings to share, but I'll make another post later. I may even get some more tatting done. Quick question before I go, any crocheters out there have a favourite (preferably online) shawl pattern? Till next time.

Checking In; What I Have Been Working on Part 2

2011-04-24T00:17:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. It all started a little over a week ago with a severe migraine at 3 am. I managed to get that under control by the time I had to get up and go to work. However, probably due to the medication, I had an upset stomach for most of the morning. When I got home in the evening, I still felt "off". I just didn't feel right. I woke up the next morning with a full blown cold. I didn't feel like doing anything. So posting, and most other things were put off until I felt better. I also opted to stay in the city this past week. I really didn't want to make the 3-3.5 hour drive to my parents, only to lay around in bed all day. I could do that here. I will be going away this week instead.

So like I said I haven't really done anything new this week. I haven't touched my chainmaille shirt. I don't have any photo of my progress of it either; maybe next time. I did manage a few new jewelry pieces, however:

The earrings are the only items I managed to make this week. I tried to get some decent photos of them so I could list them, but I couldn't get them right. I think I went outside too late. So the photos were taken inside. Not much to tell you about them. The pendant is currently listed. Again not much to tell, except this is the first pendant I am offering with a "proper" chain. Up until now, I've been sending the pendants on adjustable cotton cords. But my main supplier began offering a stainless steel cable chain which is really nice. It's strong, will probably last a lifetime, and adds a very professional touch to the pendant. I'm toying with the idea of offering all my pendants with a proper chain. But I'd have to increase the cost accordingly. Mind you, I've been putting some serious thought in increasing prices store wide; I've been increasing the cost of the Sterling Silver jewelry for months now, but nothing else. The rising value of the Canadian dollar (it's worth more than the US dollar now) means that I am loosing money though currency conversion. Another option would be to change my shop's currency to Canadian dollars; I think that may work, I'll have to look into it. I'll look into this when I get back, so if anyone is interested in anything, you may want to buy it now. Don't forget the coupon code on my left sidebar too.

I also remade the Box chain necklace that I wear:

My original chain is on the left. My new one in in the middle. It's about 1/4 inch (0.6 mm) wide. I made the chain on the right just for kicks. I made that one using some substantially larger rings in a heavier gauge. It's slightly over 1/2 inch (about 1.25 cm) wide. It's heavy! You may be wondering why I remade the chain. As I mentioned when I first made it (almost two years ago), it was never intended to be a necklace/chain. It was the first draft of my belt. I was still pretty new to chainmaille and hadn't quite learned the whole ring size verses strength concept. I learned that with this chain. The rings were waaaaaay to weak for a belt. Anyway, some of the rings weren't closed quite right; whenever I bent down, the chain would roll down and get caught in my beard (we won't discuss the incidents involving chest hair when it was necessary to wear the chain under clothing). I'm happy with my new chain and will probably make another one to go in my shop. It's a nice manly chain, if I do say so myself. You may be wondering what I will do with the third heavy chain. While it might work for a larger guy, I didn't like wearing it. It will be opened up and made into a belt.

I think that's about it. As I mentioned last time, I hope to get some tatting done while away. Spinning is on hold while I wait for some natural wool roving to arrive (there's also some bamboo and cotton roving coming too). I might take some of the rings I am using for my shirt to preclose them. Preclosing rings enables so called "speed weaving", using both closed and open rings, so one can weave faster. Till next time

Happy Easter!!!

A Little of This and A Little of That, 1 of 2

2011-04-14T21:59:00.000-06:00

Wow! Where has the time gone. I've been busy at work, and then the expected change in my work schedule occurred, starting this week, which has thrown me off schedule here at home. As the title indicates, I've been busy with a number of things since my last post. Unfortunately, tatting hasn't been one of them. I did pull out my tie, and tatted a few more four ring squares. It hasn't changed enough yet for me to post a new photo. Don't worry, I will be tatting again soon. I am planning on going to my parents house early next week. I have to work Easter weekend (so does my dad) so this is the best we can do. Tatting will probably be the only thing I can easily take with me and work on. A few of you have asked about how my spinning is coming along. Well, let me show you.

I received the new spindle on Tuesday. Of course, I had to start playing with it that evening (new toy and all). One problem though, I couldn't remember how. The spindle I bought is also a top whorl, and the one I made was a bottom whorl. Relearning how to spindle spin wasn't very difficult to do. As is turns out, I have an invaluable resource now that I didn't have years ago when I first learned spinning. YouTube. A few videos later, here was the result:

Not too bad. Could be better, but I'm not complaining. I made several small balls of yarn yesterday afternoon. I plied them in the evening. Here is the result of that experiment:

And a better look here:

Again, not too bad. It is uneven, and thicker than I'd like, but I'll get better. I've been wishing after I started spinning that I had purchased some undyed roving to practice with. Unlike some of you, I hate practicing with the pretty stuff (thread, yarn, roving). I've also decided that I'll have to find a project or two to use the yarn. No point making the yarn if I won't use it. In case you're wondering the skein of yarn above contains about 25 feet of two ply yarn, equivalent to a bulky weight or so. I have two skeins of approximately the same size, plus enough roving left for another single strand of yarn.

As it turns out the spindle I bought is pretty small. So I either have to make lots of short lengths of yarn, get my yarn thinner, or buy/make a larger spindle. Browsing though Etsy, I noticed a lot of the wooden spindles, not all but a fair number, were simply wooden toy wheels attached to a dowel with a hook on one end. I figured that since I'd be in the area today that I could pick up what I needed from Michaels. Unfortunately, they didn't have any wooden toy wheels larger than one inch in diameter. I needed a 3-4 four inch wide wheel. Oh well, I'll keep it in mind and keep using the one I have. Probably a good idea to practice with the smaller one anyway. As always, I'll keep you guys updated.

That's about it for now. I've been working on my chainmaille shirt, and have the front section about three quarters done. I'm going to start on the back section probably tomorrow. I did some other chainmaille as well, but I'll post about it in a couple days. Till next time.

Doily Thoughts, Rosace Thread, and Some Chainmaille

2011-04-05T22:11:00.001-06:00

Yup, I did it again. I really meant to post again last week, but I guess something came up. I have to admit, I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I did tat another Windmills motif. Though, this time in DMC Cebelia size 10. I wanted to see how big it would be. In case you're wondering, it measures 3 1/4 inches (8.25 cm) across. Done in size 20 thread, the motif is about 2 1/4 inches (5.7 cm) in diameter. Based on my Cebelia motif, I figured that my Windmills doily would be around 21 inches in diameter, if I had done it in size 10 thread. I won't bother showing you a photo. I'm sure you won't mind. And before I forget, thanks to all of you for leaving your comments on my last post. I'm glad that some of you liked the oval doily. It would have been a good idea for me to mention that the doily is being made for a rectangular table. I still intend on making the doily oval, though it will have to be put on hold again. Honestly, I have gotten tired of making the motifs, again. Since I haven't done much tatting, you're probably wondering what I've been up to then. You'll see.

However I want to show you what I got in the mail earlier this week. Some of you may remember that Gina, and Susan both mentioned that Rosace Embroidery Threads were offering three free skeins of embroidery thread. I couldn't pass that up. Here they are:

I hope to tat with these, sometime. Embroidery thread isn't the best for tatting, IMHO, but it was free. I'll share if/when I get around to tatting with it.

As I recall, I mentioned a PITA chainmaille project that I was working on during my last post. Well, here it is:

The chainmaille part was easy, it was getting the thing attached to the ring that was a PITA. And yeah, I know it's a bit Christmasy, but I wanted to wanted to make one of the included patterns. I don't know if I'll offer these for sale, or if I will just give them as gifts.

Finally, I'll show you what I've been working on lately instead of tatting. I ordered the rings necessary to make a chainmaille shirt on Tuesday. They were ready for pickup on Thursday. I went and got them Friday before work. I've been working on it ever since, making small sections each day. I currently have the top of the shirt completed. And here it is:

Above is the result of four days work, where I spent about 1 1/2 hours per day working on it. And in case you are wondering (and so I can keep track), the top section measures about 20.5 inches by 17.5 inches (52 cm by 44.5 cm) when relaxed (ie: when it is lying flat on the floor, not on me). It currently weighs 4.6 pounds (2.09 kg). I started working on the front, which is going to take some time to make. As always, I'll provide updates as I go.

I think that's about it for tonight. I still need to shave and trim my goatee tonight as I won't have time in the morning. And I should make a grocery list too. I normally go grocery shopping on Thursdays, but since the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra's Book sale starts on Thursday, I want to go there after work instead. As I've done for the past few years, I'll be keeping my eyes out for tatting books. But as always, I'm going with the expectation that I won't find any. It's less disappointing and way more fun that way. Till next time.

Digital Tatting: Oval Windmills Doily

2011-03-27T21:40:00.001-06:00

Me again. Thanks everyone for your kind comments about the doily. And don't worry, it will be given to my mom as a gift as intended. I've never had this problem with any other tatting before. It's probably due to how long it's taken me to make it. Anyway, Miranda mentioned that making the doily into an oval shape may ruin the effect of the pattern. Well, I isolated two motifs (one on each side) from the doily (it wasn't easy; I kept going cross-eyed!) and duplicated them. The individual motifs were skewed and resized into the proper alignment. It's not perfect, but it shows the effect quite well.

Well, what do you think? Please be honest. Personally, I still like it. However, if looks odd to everyone else, I'll reconsider. I don't want to make it larger by adding another full round. I still have to add a final round of chains to finish it off as well.

That's if for now. I haven't done any tatting since I finished the doily, but I still hope to tonight yet. Tomorrow will be another cheese making day. I plan on making some Colby cheese. I'm also working on a chainmaille project, but it has become a major PITA. Till next time.

Windmills Doily and some Wool Roving

2011-03-24T21:06:00.001-06:00

I finally got the Windmills done. Well, done for now. I'm still deciding if I will make it into an oval shape yet. Anyway, since I only had two motifs left to finish after the last post, I figured I'd have it done sooner. However, I didn't feel like working on it until Sunday. I ended up making some cheese on Sunday. I bought some proper cheese cultures, a new mold, and some cheese colouring (which I forgot to add!) and decided that Sunday was cheese making day. Though some tatting was done too.

I'm sure you probably want to see the doily by now. So without any further ado, here it is:

For anyone who recently came across my blog (and for others who may have forgot) here are a few stats about the doily. I am using Mary Konior's Windmills motif from her book Tatting With Visual Patterns, an awesome book, and one that is readily available from many online tatting stores (don't go to Amazon or eBay, and others for the book unless you want an out of print hardcover version). I am using DMC Cordonnet thread in size 20 in white. Right now the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) when measured across the diagonal. This is the largest tatted piece I have made to date. I am also ashamed to admit that I have become rather attached to the doily. I had wanted to give it to my mom as a gift of some kind when it is done, but now I don't want to part with it. Is that bad? I think I will have to make another doily for my mom. Same pattern (I love this pattern!) but using the size 10 DMC Cebelia I have. We'll see. The new one could be for me.

About a week and a half ago, I felt compelled to buy some wool roving from Etsy seller slimchicken. Here it is:

This one is called "Jewel Colonial".

And this one is called "Northern Lights Colonial". Probably 6-7 years ago, I gave spindle spinning a try with less than stellar results. Well, I guess it depends on your point of view; the resulting yarn was uneven and lumpy. I know you can buy novelty yarns that look like that, but it wasn't what I wanted. I'm not sure where my spindle is anymore. I made it at my parent's house since my dad has the woodworking tools to cut out the wooden disks. I ordered another one from a different Etsy seller. It was pretty inexpensive, and much prettier than the one I made. I'll provide updates once I find the time to do some spinning.

That's about it for now. I'm probably going to go ahead and order the rings required to make a chainmaille shirt next week. I've been looking through instructions for the past few days, and feel confident that I can make this. I'll provide updates for this project as well. Unless I change my mind. But that probably won't happen. Till next time.

What I did While On My Break

2011-03-16T21:13:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to post again later last week, but kept coming home each evening tired from work. Mind you, I didn't get much done until my days off anyway. My thread from DS9Designs arrived early this week so I can soon resume work on my tie. I have been working on my Windmills doily. I am two motifs away from finishing the round.

I mentioned that I did a little bit of crocheting. Here is what I made:

This is the second pair of slippers that I made. I wasn't happy with the first pair; they were much too big. As I made the above pair, I adjusted the size of them. Since I used a wool yarn, I also felted this pair in the washing machine to shrink them enough for a nice fit. The pattern is called "Paw Warmers" from The Crochet Dude's book Designs for Guys. I like the pattern even though the slippers take longer to make than my other slipper pattern. I do plan on making anther pair soon.

Here's a collage of the bracelets that I have made over the last few weeks.

The top left bracelet is Box Chain, the same weave as the chain/necklace that I wear. The top right bracelet is called X-Lock Byzantine. It's actually byzantine just with dramatically different sized rings than usual, which makes it flat. The bottom left bracelet is made using the Full Persian weave in titanium. I think I've already showed you the Spiral Chain bracelet. The black and silver chain on the bottom right is called Helm's Chain. I made that one around the time I made Dragonscale since they used the same size rings. This one is actually going to be the base of a necklace that I am working on . I'll show you more when it's done. I also made a pair of earrings to match the X-Lock Byzantine bracelet and refined the ring size used for the Beaded Byzantine earrings.

While I'm still on the topic of chainmaille, I have been seriously considering buying the rings and beginning work on a chainmaille shirt. Since my sales have been slow for the past few months, this may be a good time to begin this large project. I did some playing around with some rings in the gauge that seems to be common for the shirts and feel confident I can do this. I'll let you know if/when I go ahead with this. I will have to wait at least two weeks until my next payday before I can buy the rings. Unless I get lots of sales in the next few weeks.

I will leave you tonight with a few more orchid photos. These were both purchased over a month ago.

These are both Phalaenopsis NOIDs. I love the bottom one in particular; it is similar to one I already own. That's actually why I bought it. While most orchids are seen as difficult to grow, Moth orchids, or Phals, are actually pretty easy to grow. A bright window where it can get several hours bright light-they don't like full sun, though a little is fine. Most of mine are under fluorescent lights. Water them every 10 to 14 days or so. Most orchids do require a special bark based soil to thrive in, and Phals do grow best in it. Some diluted fertilizer once in a while will benefit the plant too. That's about it.

That's it for now. Once I'm finished the third round of my Windmills doily I'll get a photo of it posted. Till next time.

Checking In

2011-03-08T21:22:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm back to posting. I'm not sure what happened there a few weeks ago, but I feel better. I wish I could have gone somewhere, preferably warm, for at least part of the time. I think I worked on a little bit of everything these past two weeks. I don't have photos ready for most things yet, so this will be a short post. Despite my claims otherwise, I did work on chainmaille once I got my order of rings. I made three new bracelets and a fourth that is the same as one I already have listed but made out of titanium. I also made a couple pairs of earrings to match the bracelets. I also got some coloured scales and started making coloured scalemaille flowers.

I still have three more colours of scales to make flowers with. If you are wondering the remaining colours are green, goldy-silver, and bronze/black (these are bronze on the inside and black on the back). I want to get these listed and I'll have to add the remaining flowers later. I'll show you what other chainmaille items I've made once I have photos ready

I've also been working on tatting as well. But not on my tie. I decided I should stop working on it until I got another ball of thread. I contacted DS9Designs to see if they still had any balls of thread in the same lot as the one I purchased. Lucky for me, they had three left. So I placed a small order early last week. Naturally, I also ordered a few other balls of Lizbeth. I think they are all new colours. Hopefully they will arrive sometime this week. Unlike Handy Hands, DS9Designs, and Be-stitched for that matter, are more than happy to send my order using cheaper options. I find that the Priority mail that Handy Hands insists on using arrives in about the same time as the slower methods, so its not worth (for me anyway) to have to pay for faster methods. Anyway, instead of my tie, I have been working on my Windmills doily. You can see where it was back in October here. Then I had six motifs completed on the third round. I now have twelve motifs completed and am working on the thirteenth. With any luck I should have it joined to the doily this evening. I am hoping I can finish this round soon. I do enjoy tatting Mary Konior's Windmills motif, but I fear I will soon tire of tatting it soon. I still plan on making the doily oval shaped, but it is getting large. Measured across the diagonal, which is 7 motifs wide, the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) across.

I also did some crocheting, but nothing spectacular. Two pairs of slippers are all I've managed. I'll post more about them next time. I'll leave you with a photo of one of my orchids that started blooming a few days ago:

I'm not sure if I've shown this flower before but here it is. It's a Phalaenopsis NOID (No IDentification).

That's it for now. We'll see how the week goes; I'll try and post again later this week. Till next time.

I Think I Need a Break ......

2011-02-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is, but I haven't felt like doing anything for the past week or so. I haven't tatted in over a week, and while I did some chainmaille this weekend, I had no desire to get photos of the completed pieces. So they aren't going in the shop this week. I did place a small order for new rings last week, but I don't know if I'll get anything made out of them right now. There's also been work issues on my mind again, or rather about some changes being implemented. Though these affect everyone and not just me. It's related to a new scheduling system that our head office feels will benefit us. I've heard the opposite as well as plenty of other rumors, though I'm trying to ignore the rumors right now.

Anyway, I think I'm going to lay low for a week or two. I've been wanting to do some crocheting if I can decide on a project. We'll see what happens. I'll still be around, and I'll try and keep up with everyone. Oh, and I hope those of you who got Monday off enjoyed yourselves. And my apologies if you didn't get the day off (I did!). Till next time.

Atomic Tatting and more Chainmaille

2011-02-15T23:09:00.000-06:00

Look! I'm posting again, and it hasn't been a week since my last post. I actually planned on posting on Sunday, but it was late when I finished tatting, and didn't deal with the ends in time to get a decent photo. I've also been working on my tie, and am just about ready to start the next page of diagrams. I also realized I am getting close to running out of thread. I am close to running out of thread on one of the shuttles, so I divided up the remaining thread on the ball between two Ez-bobs (for any Canadians wanting Ez-bobs, BeadFX carries them though they call them "No Tangle Bobbins") and counted 28 yards left. I may need to order another ball, though I'll have to try and remember who I bought the thread from. There is a Lot # on the back of the circular card from the ball and I should see if I can get it matched. I knew I should have bought two balls. C'est la vie. On to the tatting!

Hopefully from the title you can tell what I've been tatting. If you can't, then a picture should help:

This is the Tatted Atom from Yarnplayer's book Up and Tat 'Em. This pattern is the reason I wanted the book. There are plenty of other pretty patterns in the book, but this was the one I knew about. It also has some guy friendly potential, if the beads used were plain, which is plus for me. This one was made with my mom in mind so I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #633 Dark Purple with a clear faceted Swarovski crystal bead in the centre (the nucleus) and simple silver toned beads for the electrons. The actual tatting was pretty easy. What made it a bit difficult was that at the midpoint of the pattern, six shuttles were in use, and they all tangle. You also have to weave the chains (the "orbits") over and under each other in a certain way, which I hope I did right. All in all, it was a pretty quick motif to tat, and it kept my attention (another plus). I do plan on tatting it again.

Now I have a few chainmaille pieces I want to show you. I showed you the sample of dragonscale in my last post, and Gina mentioned how the sample would look as a pendant. I've been thinking about that all weekend, and yesterday I sat down and made another sample. A sample with a purpose; I give you my Dragonscale pendant:

As you can see, I've added some smaller rings to the sides to help the weave hold together. I found during my testing-I wore the pendant for a while instead of my regular chain-that the large rings at the top and bottom tended to separate enough for the smaller rings come out of alignment. But the rings I added to the sides seem to help, at least my further testing shows they stay in place. In case you are wondering, the pendant is made out of bright aluminum and bronze. Hopefully I'll get it in my shop soon, but no promises.

I think that's going to be it for tonight. I do have another chainmaille piece to show, but it's getting late, and I'm tired. Even if I don't get any tatting done for the rest of the week, I can still write another post. Till next time.

Tatted Earrings and Dragonscale

2011-02-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

I'll try and make this a short post. I did a little tatting this past week. I made a little bit of progress on my tie. On the Etsy front, I've had several sales since my last post. Which is good as I've been holding off ordering more rings until some sales have come. And, I've been included in two Etsy Treasuries, which is pretty cool too. I've never been in a Treasury before. The first one (which actually happened more than a week ago) can be seen here, and the other (which is from today) can be seen here. I don't know how long the Treasuries last, so if you'd like to take a look, sooner is probably better than later. Anyway here is the tatting.

I wanted to tat something fairly quick so I took a look at Yarnplayer's newest book Up and Tat 'Em to see what I can find. Here is what I chose:

These are the earrings from the "Beguile Set". These were made using Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #611 Gold. Yeah. It's the same thread from the previous motif. It wasn't just because I hadn't put it away. It matched the antiqued brass rings I used for the centre. There are also size 11 gold coloured beads. It's a nice pattern, and quick to tat. I did find I had to add an extra ring and chain to go completely around. I didn't know why, since the rings I used were only 1 mm bigger than what was called for, until I noticed that Yarnplayer made her chains a little bit longer in the photo than what was written in the pattern. It's not a big deal and I'll have to remember this when I make them again.

Finally I will finish this post by showing a recently learned chainmaille weave. It's called Dragonscale:

I wonder why. The photo above shows the weave stretched out. Here it is when scrunched up:

You can see where the weave gets its name. It bears a striking resemblance to rows of scales. I assume the dragon part comes from chainmaille's medieval history. It's a cool weave and looks awesome in two colours. You can't tell that here since I should have used two colours that contrasted better. I used bright aluminum and white anodized aluminum. The white rings are new from my supplier. I don't know if I'll actually make anything using this weave. It is pretty dense and has a high rings per inch count. The sample above is about two inches (5 cm) long when fully stretched.

That's about it for now. I'm not sure what I will work on this week. Hopefully I will make some significant progress on my tie. I also got my Palmetto's 2010 Tat Day CD this week, so I've got lots more patterns to drool over. Till next time.

Tatted Motif, New Shuttle, and Some Thoughts About Lizbeth

2011-02-02T22:41:00.000-06:00

I did it again, didn't I. I can't seem to focus on anything lately. On top of that, I think my sleeping cycle has become misaligned, again. I fall asleep later, and later and wake up later and later. Which sucks when you have to get up in the morning to go to work. So more than once last week I had a nap attack after supper, which means I lose an hour or two of tatting time. However I did manage to finish one motif I've been working on. I also got to proof read Linda Davies newest book. If it's not on her website yet, it will be soon. And I must say the finished designs look awesome. The tie is still on hold, but I WILL get back to it. I have to before I lose interest in it completely.

I'm sure one tatter (and new designer) will recognize the following motif:

This is Maeve by Fox. There should be a link to the pattern on Fox's blog. It's a very pretty motif, and pretty quick to tat. I only made one small change to the pattern. Since I used one colour of thread, I made one of the large rings on the third round a split ring so I could continue without cutting and tying. I'll have to try tatting the motif using three colours next time. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #611 Gold (nonmetallic). Thanks Fox, for sharing the pattern with the rest of us. I wonder what else you'll come up with.

I think it's about time I show off my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle. I don't even remember when I bought it. Here it is:

And here it is with it's new mate (it goes really well with my ebony shuttle):

The shuttle is almost pure white. Not quite but close, a light cream colour perhaps. As I said above, it goes well with ebony. Which isn't surprising since both woods are traditionally used in making chess pieces. As you can see, it doesn't have a hook, but it's not a big problem. Now, I need another shuttle. A dark coloured one. What?! I like them in pairs.

I'll end with some thoughts about Lizbeth. I don't think any other thread has divided the tatting community as much as Lizbeth. Some love it, and some hate it. I fall in the former group. I love the thread. I haven't had any major problems with thread. A knot in the thread in a pain, but easy to fix if caught early enough. I know that doesn't happen all the time-I've tried closing a ring only to find a knot it it. Besides knots, I know some people were having problems with the thread splitting, though I haven't seen that in any of the balls I have. I think the problem with the thread being twisty was solved. Again, I haven't seen this; since I bought mine after the problem was fixed I didn't expect to see this. By now, I've used a fair amount of thread, and from quite a few balls. I figure I should have come across a bad ball by now, but I haven't. Maybe I'm just too accepting. Lucky perhaps? I don't know. Anyway, I'll keep buying it.

That's it for now. I'll try and post again soon. I think I'll try and alternate between tatting and chainmaille posts just so I can post something. I bought a new chainmaille book and discovered a new chainmaille supply company here in the city, so you'll probably be seeing new things on the chainmaille front. Till next time.

Not A Lot Goin' On, Tatting Wise, Anyway.

2011-01-23T21:10:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know. I disappeared from the face of the Earth again. I came down with a cold last weekend, and just haven't felt like tatting lately. I did manage another row, and a bit on my tie since my last post. I do hope to find time to work on my tie over the next two days. But we'll see. As you can probably see, my poll has finished. The "No's" have majority, though barely. So, I'm going to focus on my other tatting patterns for now. Perhaps I will release the pattern at another time, maybe once the tie is complete. I'll continue to take notes as I go, and keep track of what I am doing until that time. I haven't started on Jane's newest TIAS, and I don't know if I'll get to it now. It won't be fun if I rush to catch up. So I'll move on here to the non-tatting that I managed to do this past week and a bit.

I'm not sure why, but I got inspired to work on chainmaille this week. Sales have come to a standstill, so I've been working on some new weaves, trying to come up with some new products. A few items are promising, another few need some work (and by work, I mean I have no idea what I'm going to do with them).

The first item is a fairly simple bracelet:

This bracelet is made using a weave called Double Spiral. Like I said it is pretty easy to make, and I'm not sure why I haven't tried it yet. I need to get some proper photos of it (something I was supposed to do today) and get it listed. It is made out of stainless steel, though it should work in most metals.

The next item I made is just a quick sample of a new weave:

This one is called Captive Zen. It is one of those weaves that relies heavily on very specific rings sizes to work. There are four different sizes of rings used here. Since this photo was taken, I have made a bracelet using this weave. I haven't photographed it yet (again, one of today's tasks that didn't get done). Both the above sample and the unphotographed bracelet were made using bright aluminum rings. This is a pretty stiff weave (it has to be), and doesn't work well for really small wrists, though it apparently relaxes and loosens up over time. I really like the way this weave looks. I'm hoping to make a pair of earrings using this weave too.

Finally, we come to the weave in which I'm not sure how it will be used.

This is a scalemaille flower. The flower is pretty quick to make. The one above has been modified to use as a pendant; the additional rings needed aren't shown in the above photo. I had thought they could be used as earrings, but at 1.75 inches across, they may be a bit large. Since I don't wear earrings, I really don't know. This could be easily wired to a brooch pin too. And one could add a length of wire to back and display it in a vase. I could go on; there are many possibilities. I might just sell them unfinished, so to speak, and let people use them as they please. Both the scales and rings are bright aluminum.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get some tatting time in this week. I'm probably going to work some more chainmaille too. Since my birthday is next Friday, I don't know what my posting schedule will be like. I'll aim for mid week, but it will depend on what I get done that's worth posting. Till next time.

My Tatted Tie, Part 3 - Slowly Making Progress

2011-01-13T18:25:00.000-06:00

I had hoped to post earlier, but I lost my groove late last week and haven't done much tatting. I also wasn't feeling well towards the end of the week which didn't help. But I have been working on the tie. Before I show the tie, I want to make sure everyone knows I have set up a poll. You can find in on the top of my left sidebar. Please vote (if you wish). I really want your opinion. My feelings won't be hurt or anything if there is little to no interest in a tatted tie pattern. That just means I can move on to diagram and write out some of my other patterns.

Anyway, here is the tie as of this evening:

Currently, the tie measures about 8.75 inches (22.2 cm) long. This is just about the half way point. Here is another photo of the tie, this time against a patterned (t)shirt:

Its kinda a crappy photo, but it gives you the idea. There were several good comments on my last post regarding the tie. One that I really liked was to attach the top of the tie to a narrow strip of fabric to make the tying of the tie easier. I like the idea (thanks Maureen!), except for one small problem. My sewing skills are rather lacking. Actually lacking is being generous. My sewing skills are almost non-existent. I mean, I've sewn the bottoms of my pant legs shut (on several occasions!!) while trying to hem them (don't ask). I have been thinking about this since the suggestion was made and may have a possible solution. I was thinking I could get a "real" tie that is similar in colour (this shouldn't be difficult: the real tie I am using as a guide is very close in colour) and use the narrow part of it for my tatted tie. Now, you may think that's wasteful, but I've got that covered too. I could use the leftover scraps of fabric to make the centre of a temari ball.This is more authentic than using styrofoam(and better for the environment). Another suggestion was to have a fabric backing. It's a good suggestion (thanks Gina!) but I'm not sure about it yet. As I mentioned, sewing is an issue for me. This one will have to wait until the tie is basically finished. I'll perhaps photograph it against a number of shirts to see how it looks. I don't own any shirts that are heavily patterned so it may not be as big of an issue. But again, we shall see. If anyone else has anymore good ideas, feel free to share them.

I'll leave you with a photo of my Christmas cactus which began to flower late last week:

I noticed what I thought were the beginnings of numerous tiny buds late in December, so its not that far off in its timing. And I haven't killed it yet which is good. I got it last Christmas so I must be doing something right. I've been wanting a few more in different colours, so I really need to see if I can still get them.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I make some more progress on the tie. Jane is also starting another TIAS (tommorow, I believe) which I'd like to participate in. So I need to prepare for that. Till next time.

My Tatted Tie, Part 2 - It's Really Happening

2011-01-04T22:18:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why, but I began tatting my tatted tie. I know, right? I started winding one shuttle a while ago (I can't even remember, I'd have to check to see when I bought the Lizbeth), and it sat in the LCU for a while. Saturday night, after my last post, I wound the second shuttle and began tatting. The tatting went by pretty quickly. Here is the tie as of last night:

I have done more since this was taken, I just don't want to take a new photo right now. As you can see, I'm using two Tatsy shuttles to tat my tie. These things are HUGE! I don't think I have actually used them before now. They were a bit cumbersome to use at first, but they're not bad now. One advantage to using these shuttles is that the size 10 thread I'm using seems really, really small. For those of you not familiar with Tatsy shuttles, they are 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) long. The tie is about 5.5 inches long in the photo. It's also about 1.75 inches wide at narrow end. In case you're wondering (and so I have an online record of it) the tie should be about 18.5 inches long, and 4 inches wide at the widest part when finished. This is based on my calculations that each "four-ring square" (I think that is the common name for motif I am using) is about 0.5 inches square. In reality they are a little bigger, so the tie should be bigger. This is a good thing, since based on the "real" tie I am using a pattern/guideline the tie should be 20 inches long.

Speaking of a "real" tie, I have been thinking of making my tatted tie into a "real" tie. You know, one that you have to, um, tie. I diagrammed the full tie Sunday, and realized that I could easily extend the tie from the top to make a full sized, have to tie, tie. In case you were wondering, I was planning on making a fake knot and putting on the tie with a chain, just like my chainmaille tie. I think it should work, but I'm not sure how well the tatting will hold up. I mean, I don't want it to stretch substantially. I think I could outline that section with chains to add strength and reduce stretching. I'm not going to dwell on this issue right now. I will have to tat a test section to see.

I'll leave you with a final thought. Is anyone out there interested in a tatted tie pattern? I have the pattern all diagrammed out-all five (count 'em, five) pages of it. Four pages are 80-90% diagram. If there is interest, I would be willing neaten up the diagrams and perhaps a bit of guiding text (I am NOT going to write out the whole pattern; it'll be a book!). It's not a hard pattern, just lots (and lots) of rings, and lots (and lots!) of split rings. Some chains may be needed (see above paragraph) and lots (and lots-you get the idea) of joins, both regular and shuttle/lock joins. A fair amount of work went in to diagramming the pattern. I have mapped out the entire split ring pathway to tat the tie continuously. Realistically, I'm sure you'd have to add thread at least once maybe twice during the actual tatting. I will say it upfront, this won't be a free pattern, and I don't know what I would charge for it (advice is welcome on this too). Maybe I'll put up a poll.

That's all for now. Hopefully my progress on the tie continues at my current pace (I haven't touched the second Birdcage motif-my first UFO/WIP for 2011!). Till next time.

Happy New Years and Some Thoughts For 2011

2011-01-01T21:13:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year's!!!!!!!

I hope 2011 started well for everyone. I had to work today (and yesterday) but that's alright. It wasn't busy, and we closed early. It was still very cold this morning, though we are currently warming up, and snowing (apparently, its too dark to see). I have nothing tatting related to report. I should mention, that the Birdcage motif I posted about a few days ago is from Mary Konior's book Tatting In Lace. I will/have change(d) the post to include this omission.

I'm going to end this post with a list of things I'd like to accomplish for 2011, tatting/craft related anyway. I don't make resolutions and the common ones, weight loss, healthy living/eating are things I've been working on for a while now, so I don't need to promise myself that I'm going to do it. Anyway, here is what I've come up with so far (this list is not conclusive):

1. I am going to finish some of my UFOs and WIPs.

2. I am going to write out and diagram some of my other patterns (I know I said that last year). As much as I'd like to offer them for free, a few may be for sale (my male Betta, for one), though this isn't set in stone.

3. Use up some of my HDTs, even though they are too pretty to use. I know. I know. They're thread and they're supposed to be used. But still.

4. Get more tatting time in. I don't seem to have the time to tat lately.

5. Blog more often. I don't like to write posts just for the sake of posting something. This one will be affected by #4 above. More tatting = more posting.

6. I'd love to learn something new. Though since I don't seem to have the time for the arts/crafts I do now, this goal is going to be optional.

7. Well, actually the above six is all I can think of right now. I'll amend this list if/when I think of other goals.

That's all for now. Here's hoping for an awesome year for everyone! Till next time.

Tatted Birdcage, Skate Pin, and Some Chainmaille

2010-12-30T22:38:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I did. It was nice to get away from work for a several days and spend them with family. I had a good trip both ways in case you are wondering. I love my newish truck (though I could use a remote starter for these cold winter days). Anyway, I figured I should make a quick post before 2010 ends.

I didn't get much tatting done. But I did manage to tat this:

This is Mary Konior's Birdcage motif, from her book Tatting in Lace. I know, my post title is a bit misleading. I'm sure you were expecting something else. The motif was tatted with Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour number 109 Wild Flower. It's about 2 1/4 inches across. For the record, I don't know how often I will use this thread-I find it very girly. Sorry. Anyway, I found this motif very interesting and I don't honestly remember seeing it tatted before. My apologies if you have tatted and showed it off. I think the thing I like about it most is how the bare threads in the centre, from the four separate motifs, appear to be part of the design. My rendition doesn't count-the length and position of the thread, not to mention how my threads passed from from to back somehow (???). I did however make it in one round thanks to two split rings. I had to mentally shift the pattern around since my starting points were different than Mary's. I like the motif and am currently tatting another one. This time, I am using two solid colours (one for rings and one for chains: I believe numerous SLTs will be needed). And I am doing the centre using many split rings to eliminate the bare threads. I am thinking maybe I could add the bare threads after if I wanted-we'll see.

I also finished Sharon's Skate pin that I showed a few posts ago. Here is the finished pin:

I gave the finished pin to my mom as part of her Christmas gift. I think she liked it. Not much else to say that hasn't been said before, so, moving on.

Since I haven't done it for a while, I thought I'd show some chainmaille I'm working on/finished. The first one may be a bit late for the season but, meh, I'm going to show it anyway.

It's a snowflake! I'm sure you could have figured it out. It is made out of Bright Aluminum using a weave called Japanese 2 in 12. Like the European 4 in 1 (and others) I have showed, this weave was used in armour for the Japanese. It leads itself well to jewelry. The pendant above is ready to be listed, as soon as I can find the time, probably over the weekend. I still need to figure out a price for it. I should be able to make the pendant out of Stainless Steel as well. It's about 1 3/8 inches across, and I can make a larger version as well. That one would be about 2 1/2 inches across.

The next piece is one I started a while ago. I must have got bored or busy, not sure which.

This is about half of a bracelet called Hodo or Sidewalk (Hodo apparently is Japanese for sidewalk). This is also a variation of Japanese 2 in 12. This one is made using Stainless Steel. And I should be able to make it in Bright Aluminum too. Hopefully I will finish this one so it too can be listed. And it also needs to be priced out. A quick shop note (shameless self promotion). I will be ending free shipping probably Saturday sometime. So, um, feel free to stop by. And don't forget about the coupon code on my right sidebar. Shameless self promotion over.

That's about it for now. I hope to post again on January 1st, not promises. I'll leave you with a quick photo of the Monster (don't let her cuteness fool you):

Why a monster you say? Apparently balls of thread with tatting attached are fun to play with. I didn't think so. Really? You try winding a ball of thread that's been unwound all over the house. It's a good thing tatting doesn't unravel. Next trip on, I will be bringing the "Lizbeth Containment Unit", LCU for short:

Till next time.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T15:30:00.019-06:00

Merry

Christmas

To One and All!

I hope everyone is having a very good Christmas this year. See you next week. This is a recording.

The poinsettias pictured are from last year. The one I bought this year decided it doesn't like me. It's been shedding since I got it.

Another Snowflake, Sharon's Skates and an Angel

2010-12-21T22:23:00.000-06:00

I know. I've been kinda lacking in the posting department. I guess I've been busy. I am also going away Friday, so I wanted to post before leaving. I should be back next Monday. I have had a few more orders since the last time I posted which I have been working on. I still haven't listed the coloured Bicubix Blocks earrings, though I'll try tonight. I'm not sure if I'll keep the shop open while I'm gone, though I don't expect many (if any) orders this weekend.

Here is probably the last Angels in the Snow Snowflake for this year:

This one is tatted with one strand of DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread and one strand of Güttermann metallic filament thread in colour #143. I found this snowflake took forever to tat. I have the pattern memorized, and it's not difficult. The metallic filament broke a few times. I had to carefully retro-tat several times. I also had to do some cutting and retatting. But I finally got it done. I do like the way this one looks like. It has that hint of blue that snow sometimes has, though the ice crystals are clear.

I'm sure you've seen Sharon's skate pattern by now. Well, here is my tatted version:

I haven't made it into a pin yet. I still have to do that. This is going to be part of my mom's Christmas present this year. I'll have to get photos of the rest of it. I making the pin pretty much the same way Sharon did, except for the jingle bells. I'll have to lace them up yet, then assemble the whole thing. I made the holly leaves a little larger by using 3 ds instead of 2. Quite an interesting little pattern. I'll try to get a photo of the completed pin. I'll try anyway.

You may remember the crocheted dress I showed a few weeks ago. A few of you easily guessed what I am making.

It is a clothespin angel. This is the only one I have made. Yeah, I know. I said I wanted to make five or six, but that never happened. Maybe another time.

That's about it for now. I don't know how many of you were aware, but there was a lunar eclipse last night. I took a quick photo before going to bed.

It's not the best photo, but it does show the beginning of the eclipse. If I didn't have to work today, I would have stayed up to see totality, which would have occurred shortly after 3 am (CST). It's actually kinda funny I didn't stay up to see the total eclipse. Some of you may be aware that Jane listed a number of shuttles on her Etsy shop. I actually set an alarm for 3 am (CST, of course) to be able to purchase a Holly wood Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle. Of course, I stayed in bed while purchasing the shuttle, and I didn't have to go outside in the -20 degrees C (-4 F) cold. I wonder if NATA (Nuts About Tatting Association) is still running. Getting up in the middle of the night to purchase tatting supplies must qualify. Anyone else see the eclipse?

That's it for now. I probably won't be posting until next week sometime. Till next time.

Quick Update

2010-12-09T22:55:00.000-06:00

I figured I should do a small update. I made it to and from my parents house safely. I picked up my new(ish) truck, which is a 2006 GMC Sierra. It is similar to the Silverado that I used to have, which is nice 'cause I really liked that truck. On the tatting front, I still haven't done much. Hopefully I will have a few things to show in a few days. I've had a few sales through Etsy this week, so I've been busy remaking the sold items. I also hope to make a pendant using the Bicubix Blocks as well. I still need to photograph the earrings I showed you last week. I forgot to mention last week as well, that my supplier has also started anodizing their gold coloured aluminum rings with their new process which makes them nice and shiny like brass or gold. Which is nice because you get the rich gold colour without the problem of turning green like with brass. Anyway, I have to get ready for bed. I'll leave you with a photo of my mom's new kitten, Grace. Till next time.

I Got Nothin'

2010-12-02T21:47:00.000-06:00

Pretty much, anyway. I'm still working on the Angels In The Snow snowflake that I started before the last post. I had a couple of sales last weekend, and worked at remaking the items that sold. I ended up playing with the Bicubix Blocks earrings, seen below:

I played around with using some then all coloured rings, with some very pretty results. Though due to my work schedule, I can't get some decent photos (I prefer to photograph my items outside, temperatures permitting). I did get a few indoor photos, but they don't do the earrings justice.

They look waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better in person. The purple rings in the bottom pair are much darker. The blue rings in the top photo are absolutely gorgeous. See here (hopefully). And that still doesn't do them justice. My supplier started using a new anodizing technique to make these, and other ring colours. Unfortunately, it will be at least another week before I can get these listed, but we'll see.

On the truck front, my dad found me a new(ish) truck. It's a 2006 GMC something or other. He won't tell me exactly what it is. I will be going back to their place Saturday after work. I have to admit, I'm not really looking forward to the trip. I'll be careful. Promise. Till next time.

Another Angels In The Snow Snowflake. Plus Some Crochet

2010-11-24T23:48:00.000-06:00

I have to admit, I haven't accomplished much tatting wise this week. Probably because I've been dealing with truck problems since last Wednesday. That would be the truck I'm currently driving. The one I rolled (still feels like a dream here, though I'm not dreaming about the accident anymore), has been declared a write off, though my dad needs/wants to show some documentation to see if he can increase the amount we can get back. We are currently looking into our options for a replacement truck for me- in all honesty, I've outgrown this truck. It's a Chevrolet S10, if you are familiar with this truck, you may be able to see why. If you haven't, the roof of the truck comes up to my chest; I'm 5' 8". I've seen cars that were bigger-OK, that might be a bit of a stretch. Oh, and if you're wondering, a dead/dying battery was the cause of my problems. Good thing I still had a month left on the 2 year free replacement warranty- thank you Canadian Tire, though it took what seemed like forever for them to give me the replacement. Anyway, I have a bit of tatting and crochet to show you. Enjoy!

As I mentioned during my last post, I was working on another of Miranda's Angles in The Snow snowflake.

For this snowflake, I used one strand of DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread and one strand of Güttermann metallic filament thread in colour #36. I love using this combination of threads, using different colours of Güttermann thread. Though, the two threads equal about a size 20-30 thread. It measures 3 3/8 inches in diameter verses the 3 1/8 inches in diameter that the snowflakes in size 40 thread measure. I started another snowflake using the same threads in a different Güttermann colour. I'll show it the next time I post. I love this snowflake pattern! Thanks again Miranda.

Finally, I did manage a little bit of crochet this week. Here it is:

Hmmmmm. I wonder what it'll be. I had hoped to have photographed the dress before I crocheted the wings, but I didn't. This was among some stuff of my late grandmother's. I was one of the few that could and probably would make this kit. Yes, it is part of a kit, and it should make 12 of these (there are 5 different variations). I hope to make 5 or 6 of these at the very least. We'll see about the others.

That's it for now. Oh. I almost forgot. Some of you may be aware that Etsy has recently launched coupon codes for at least some shops right now. I get to try coupons so I have decided to give all of my tatting friends (and to those non-tatter followers of my blog) a coupon code for my shop. Just enter "JUSTFORTATTERS" (without the quotation marks) in the coupon field during checkout to receive 10% off everything in my shop. I'm also offering free North American shipping and reduced international shipping for the rest of the year. Just a note for anyone reading this now and those who may find this post months from now. While the coupon codes don't have expiry dates (right now, I'll update if needed) they can be deactivated by me at anytime. I'll keep it active for a while, but it won't last forever. Till next time.

Tatted Snowflakes, Mostly

2010-11-16T21:49:00.001-06:00

First of all, I want to thank all of you who commented on my last post. Your comments were just what I needed to hear. And for those of you who mentioned it, don't worry. If I get up one morning in the next few weeks and something doesn't feel right, I will definitely go see a doctor. Now I just have to wait to see what will happen to the truck. I hope its fixable, but I'm not expecting it. But enough of this. I've got some tatting to show!

The first is three sets of earrings I was working on before going away.

These were made using Yarnplayer's Carnival Earring pattern, found here. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in Red Burst #147, Black #604, and Silver #605, coordinating size 11 seed beads, and natural coloured glass pearls. I have been toying with the idea of purchasing some other colours of glass pearls.

Next, I finished the unfinished Ring A Ring O' Roses snowflake from an earlier post. Here it is:

I was able to get more thread from Umintsuru to complete this snowflake. In case you forgot, the snowflake was made using Coron size 40 variegated blues. I like the way this snowflake came out. Though it's still boring to tat.

The next two snowflakes were tatted using a fairly recent pattern. Miranda should recognize it.

It is her Angels In The Snow snowflake that she is offering for sale with the proceeds going to a charity. I love that idea, and was more than happy to purchase the pattern. For this snowflake I used Lizbeth size 40 thread in Denim Whisper #120. I love this colourway but still don't know why there is pink in it. I love this snowflake as well, so I tatted it again this past Saturday and Sunday:

This time, I used my favourite Lizbeth colourway (for this time of year, anyway). That would be Lizbeth size 40 Christmas Delight #116. I started another snowflake this afternoon. You'll have to wait to see that one; it's not done yet.

That's about it for now. Hopefully this week will be less interesting than the last. Till next time.

What a Week....And I'm Glad It's Over

2010-11-14T19:58:00.000-06:00

You know, I think the scientists of the world should seriously look into making teleportation a reality. I mean, traveling would be much less of a hassle. And for those of us with winters with snow and ice, we would no longer have to worry about, oh I don't know, say hitting said ice and ultimately rolling our trucks. Yeah. You heard me right, unfortunately. It happened when I was coming back to the city on Tuesday. I'm fine physically, hardly a scratch on me. Mentally, I'm a wreck. Still in disbelief, numb (still mentally), upset, mad, a little scared, dreaming of the accident at night, I could go on. I'm currently playing phone tag with our insurance company (its a government agency, and they don't work weekends, apparently), and hoping this will be behind me soon. I keep wishing that this is some horrible dream and anytime now I'll wake up. Everyday that passes makes me think that's not going to happen.

I've been wanting to post for a few days now, and I have been unsure if I should even mention this whole thing. I'm hoping it will help. In the mean time, I managed to get caught up on reading blogs. I haven't felt like commenting, but I did read many of your blogs. I finally sat down last night and picked up my tatting shuttles for the first time since Monday (I packed Tuesday morning, so no tatting before leaving). I finished the motif in question this afternoon. I'll post again in a day or two to show what I tatted while away, and what I have done since. Till next time.

This Weekend For Sure . . .

2010-11-05T20:30:00.000-06:00

This weekend, I will finally get away. I had planned on going away last week, but a phone call early Sunday morning ruined my plans. Work called and I was asked to come in later in the afternoon (I couldn't say no, I already agreed to work), and my shift ended near midnight. I wouldn't be able to leave until morning, and that wasn't enough time for me. Since my plans were ruined already, I agreed to work a shift on Monday as well. I have a three day weekend this weekend. I will be going away. And a lot of tatting will be done. Hopefully.

Till next time.

Ripley The Ghost Pattern

2010-10-31T00:28:00.001-06:00

I finally got the pattern done for Ripley the Ghost. The test tatters were very helpful, and they did find a few mistakes in the pattern. However, Marty not only tested the pattern, but found a better way of tatting him without cutting and tying between rounds. Her way also eliminates a rather tricky join and two alligator joins. Other than the six split rings, the pattern isn't as difficult as I initially thought. The link to download the pattern is on the left top sidebar of my blog in the "My Patterns" section. Hopefully there are no errors. I tatted it several times this evening after reworking it according to Marty's improvements. Let me know if you find any errors, and if you need some help feel free to email me. My email address is jwh4000ATgmailDOTcom. Remove the AT and the DOT and replace with the appropriate symbols. Enjoy!

That's all for now. If all goes well, I should be going away for a few days starting tomorrow after work. I hope to get lots of tatting done. I'll try to post when I get back. And before I forget, thanks to all of you who commented on my last post about the contacts. I really appreciate it. I am getting faster at putting them in, and they don't feel that bad now. Though I am pretty sure that I put them in inside out the first few days. My lenses are a soft type of lens, so it's pretty easy to do-especially if you can't see what you are doing without glasses on. I did buy a new pair of glasses though (as an employee, I get 50% off everything in Optical, well almost everything) since I can only wear the contacts for 12 hour maximum. Though 8-10 hours has been my limit right now.They have to come out when I get home from work.

Till next time.

Another Week Gone, Plus a Pretty Flower Photo

2010-10-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

I think the title pretty much sums it up. I haven't really accomplished much over the past week. I did get my ghost pattern written up and diagrammed. It is in the hands of my test tatters (hopefully, there seems to be a few people who don't get my emails). I should have the pattern posted in a few days if there are no major errors, and the pattern is understandable. I mean, I don't consider the pattern a "beginner" pattern by no means, but if I am the only one who can tat it successfully, something may be wrong with my pattern writing/diagramming skills. I also finished the vest I started several months ago. Well, technically it is finished. I'm not 100% happy with the final result. It seems a bit "boxy". I might have made it a size too big, but I'll have to see if I can round off the arm holes, or sleeves, or something. I'll show a photo once complete.

Besides that, I haven't done much else. I kinda got into a bad mood Tuesday. It was like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and then stayed that way for several days. Friday seemed a bit better. After work I went to our new Optical Centre (we got it when we did the major renovations earlier in the year- and no I don't work a Wal*Mart if anyone is wondering) to pick up and learn how to put in my new contact lenses. I've never had contacts before and have wanted to try them for a while. I finally got around to it recently, and got a trial pair to give them a go. I did have some trouble getting them in Friday, but did manage it Saturday after work, and (so far) every day since. It takes me a while to get them in, but I do like them so far. Obviously I am still getting used to them. Any other tatters out there with contacts? How do you like them?

Finally, I'm going to show you a photo of a recent plant acquisition. It is a Gardenia:

From what I've read, I may regret buying this plant, but it was only $10 (it's in a four inch pot). It came with one bud on it, and surprisingly it didn't drop the bud after I brought it home. Hopefully I can keep it alive, at least until spring so I can put it outside. If it doesn't die, I'll perhaps provide an update on it.

That's it for now. I wasn't able to go away as I had planned. So I plan on going away this coming weekend. I will be posting the pattern for Ripley sometime this week, so watch for that. I think I'm going to try to get some tatting done, and try not to look out the windows-it's snowing. Till next time.

New Design in The Works

2010-10-18T21:00:00.001-06:00

Let me say one thing before I begin. I better not get sick again till, well, for awhile anyway. I was feeling better last Sunday. However I work up early (and I mean early) Monday morning with one heck of a sore back. I guess I must have done something to it while at work the previous week. So I haven't done much until a few days ago. My back is feeling better, its a little stiff right now. Anyway, I started work on a new tatted design.

But first, I wanted to provide a little information about the conductive thread I used last week. The thread is in fact thread. Specifically, it is silver plated nylon thread (apparently; I don't know how you plate nylon). It is about the same weight as sewing thread, maybe about a size 100. I used two threads together to tat the sample in the video. I also used four strands as a test, but I haven't compared it to see what size it is yet. Being a thread, it tatted quite well, not stiff like wire. More info can be found here. This project will probably be put on the back burner for a while; I've got Hallowe'en and then Christmas tatting to start thinking about. This brings me to my newest design.

With Hallowe'en just around the corner, I figured I'd better get my next design finished. Without any further ado, here is (tentatively) Ripley the Ghost:

I say tentatively since I may change his name in the final draft. He began as a variant of my Sine Wave bookmark. However, I didn't like how the Sine Wave pattern worked with Ripley-so I really can't call him Sine Wave Ghost. I'm almost happy with how the design has turned out. I'm not happy with his ectoplasmic trail (not sure what else to call it; its the bottom thingy). I'll be refining the pattern over the next day or two. Then I have to write out the pattern. A few people volunteered to test tat my pattern on inTatters, so I should take them up on the offer, if they still want to. With any luck I'll have the pattern available for download early next week.

That's it for now. I plan on going to my parents house this weekend. So I probably won't post until I get back. Till next time.

Windmills Doily Progress and Special Thread

2010-10-10T21:57:00.001-06:00

I had hoped to post earlier, but obviously that didn't happen. I ended up with a cold this week, and didn't feel like doing anything. I hardly touched my tatting this week. And I spent part of today working on a couple of bracelets that sold this weekend. Which is nice; sales have slowed right down lately. Anyway, I'll make this a short post. I'm still feeling kinda sick, and want to take it easy tonight.

This is the doily as of today. I am working on the seventh motif right now. Or rather, I've been working on the seventh motif for most of the past week. As you can see, the doily has become oval in shape (if you ignore the topmost motif). This is the same way I'll make the doily oval after this round in complete. Since I haven't received my order of thread yet, I'll have to move on to something else once I've finished the ball of thread. I probably won't show the doily again until the round in complete, but we'll see.
Speaking of moving on to something else, I want to mention my special thread. Actually, I'm not going to say much about it at all. Instead here is a video (assuming it works) showing what is special about the thread. By the way, this is actually tatted, no foolin':

Pretty cool, right? This is going to be a work in progress. I was playing with the thread. Due to the nature of the thread, I'll have to carefully plan out a motif to use the thread properly, and will have to use some cotton (or some other thread) to isolate different sections. And I'll need more LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes - a special kind of diode that emits light when electricity flows through it).

Before I go, I want to mention something. I was playing around with Blogger's settings, and discovered that I have the new editor after all. My blog was set to use the old one. So anyone who is using the new editor and wants to go back, check the Settings tab of your blog (it's visible in the new post and list of posts screens, and probably elsewhere) and see if you have an option to switch between the two editors. I've got my blog set to use the new editor so I can see what it's like.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get something accomplished this week. Before I go, I want to wish all my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Due to my cold, I have opted to stay in the city until next weekend or the weekend after to go see family. Till next time.

Something Different

2010-10-02T22:54:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. I haven't been feeling well all week. Then I haven't felt like tatting for the last few days. I am still tatting Windmills motifs, and should finish the ball of thread over the next few days, if I get back to tatting. According to my estimates, I should get at least seven, and possibly eight, motifs per ball of thread, so I ordered enough DMC Cordonnet thread to complete the doily. I'll post an update on the doily once I have finished the ball of thread. On to the non-tatting portion of the blog post.

Since I have nothing new tatting-wise to show, I thought I'd show you some of the paintings I have done. All of these are from 9-11 years ago when I was in Grades 10, 11, and 12.

The first three are from the "Art History" portion of my high school art classes. For Art History, we had to reproduce a famous artist's painting from a photo in a book, then write a paper about the artist and the painting. All paintings pictured were painted with acrylic paint on a heavy weight paper.

This painting was done when I was in Grade 10. The original was done by Paul Cezanne. I don't remember what the name of the painting is. Couldn't find it through Google Images either.

This painting was also originally done by Paul Cezanne. I don't remember the name of this one either. Found a similar painting through Google, but there was more pictured than what I painted. Not sure if it is the same painting. Painted during my Grade 11 art class.

This painting was originally done by Vincent van Gogh. The painting is called The Trinquetaille Bridge. I painted this one when I was in Grade 12. Personally, I think this painting is the best one out of the three.

Here is a painting I did in Grade 11, I believe:

I painted this from a photo I found in a magazine. Unfortunately, I didn't write down where the photo was taken. I didn't do too bad of a job on this one, though my teacher felt the water could have been done differently. I love this painting.

Finally, another painting from a photo:

The photo I used was from a family vacation to Banff, Alberta or somewhere near it (I was pretty young at the time). In some weird coincidence, my sister used the same photo for a painting in her art class well; I didn't realize it until after I brought my painting home. And, understandably, her painting has several noticeable differences to mine. I don't have a photo, so you'll have to take my word on it.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief view of a different artistic talent of mine. My next post should be tatting related. I ordered some "special" thread to maybe outdo Jane. Think tatting with invisible thread is crazy? I have something more "electric" in mind. Till next time.

The Waiting .........

2010-09-25T20:45:00.002-06:00

The waiting is killing me. I still haven't met with anyone yet. However, both people I'm supposed to meet with have been away for the last three day. So, hopefully next week. Thanks for all the kind words, by the way. They definitely help.

Anyway I'm still tatting Windmills motifs for my doily. I have two days off now, so I hope to keep working on the doily. I want to see how many motifs I can make with a ball of thread. I need to buy more thread (I think I said that back in March, but I recently found another ball of thread). I don't want to buy too much of the thread. I know some of you will disagree, but I far prefer Lizbeth to DMC Cordonnet now. I hope to switch all my white thread to Lizbeth as soon as all the DMC stuff is gone. Well, the sizes that Lizbeth comes in. Depending on how far I get, I may post a progress picture sometime next week.

Before I go, I've been noticing a lot of people mentioning a new editor in Blogger. What new editor? The one I have looks exactly the same as the one I had when I first started my blog. I have noticed that lately it starts in "Edit HTML" but it's easy to switch back to "Compose". Is it something they are still rolling out?

That's it for now. Not sure when I'll post again; I am aiming for Tuesday or Wednesday, but anything can happen to delay posting. Till next time.

Not Much Goin' On

2010-09-22T22:32:00.000-06:00

Really. I haven't felt like doing much of anything lately. I guess I've been lost in thought since my last post. Unfortunately, it's work related again. Though, this time it's different. An opportunity within my department has become available. I spent the weekend thinking about whether or not I wanted to apply for it. I did apply for the position yesterday. Now, I'm a nervous wreck waiting to meet with Human Resources and a manager. So, I haven't managed to tat much. Though I did get a little done.

I started working on the third round of my Windmills doily, see here. I made one motif Sunday and Monday evening. I started a second one yesterday. With any luck, I'll have the second one done tonight. I'll then have only 16 more to go. Actually, more than 16. I have decided (time allowing, of course) to expand the doily into an oval once the third round is complete. I'm not sure how many motifs will be needed, and quite honestly, I don't want to think about it right now; I've got enough on my mind right now. Before I go, here's a tatting action shot:

This is the second Windmills motif that I was working on earlier this evening.

That's it for now. We'll see if I get anything else done. I'll keep you updated on the work thing, too, if anyone is interested. Till next time.

Ring A Ring O' Roses

2010-09-15T22:00:00.004-06:00

I was hoping to post yesterday, but I ended up having freezer issues last night. This cut into my tatting time, and subsequent motif blocking time. I was really looking forward to the first Tatting Beer Tuesday. I did have a Guinness while tatting yesterday evening. Maybe next week. Anyway, here is what I had hoped to show you last night.

I'm sure by now you have seen Fox's two renditions of Mary Konior's Ring A Ring O' Roses snowflake, from Tatting With Visual Patterns. Check out her blog if you haven't. I was inspired to try the snowflake again. I started tatting one using some thread I got from the Thread Exchange. Here it is, in all its glory:

Kinda. Apparently, this snowflake require more than 12 yards/metres of thread. The thread is Coron size 40, #156-7B, from Umintsuru. This is a really nice thread to tat with. I too wonder if there is a North American supplier of the thread. Probably not, since Google wasn't much help. Anyway, I decided to leave the snowflake unfinished until I am able to get more to finish it. Not satisfied with leaving the snowflake as a UFO, I started again with some good ol' Lizbeth. Here is the result:

This is Lizbeth 20, colour # 147 Red Burst. It may just be me, but I like how the variegated threads work with this pattern. I have to admit, I didn't find the pattern to be particularly difficult to tat. It just takes a while. There are really no fancy techniques. The difficult looking 'triple ring' is a single ring with two chains surrounding them. There are a lot of thrown off rings, but they aren't difficult either. While its not mentioned in the pattern, I found it necessary to switch shuttles regularly to get the thread in the proper position. This isn't a problem, it just slows the tatting process down. It is still a nice snowflake, and one I'd definitely tat again.

That's it for now. I picked up my ring order Monday and have worked on a few projects. My Etsy Showcase on Monday wasn't as successful as I'd hoped, but the increased exposure may help. A number of items got favorited, which could become sales later on. I'm going to leave the free shipping active until the end of the week. Till next time.

Tatted Seahorse

2010-09-09T21:19:00.001-06:00

Just a quick post here. I figured that since I managed to tat something, I might as well show it instead of waiting till later.

When I first saw the pattern for the motif I am going to show you, I fell in love with it right away.

It's a really cool pattern, and was pretty easy to tat. And no ends to hide! They all end up as part of the fringe on the back. The pattern is by Susan Cuss and can be found here. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #688 Dark Seagreen. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him. He wants to go into a coaster. I said he won't fit. He insists he's pregnant. I don't think that's the problem. He retorted back that I shouldn't talk. What I meant was he's too long, but before I could tell him, he ran off with the mermaid, who herself still isn't sure she wants to go in a coaster yet. Anyhow, I plan on tatting another seahorse again soon. In a smaller thread size. So it's shorter. Nothing else!

That's it for now. My order of jump rings isn't ready to be picked up yet, so it'll be next week before I get them. So I will try to get a bunch of tatting done this weekend. And if anyone's interested (and in case I don't post Sunday), I will be in Etsy's Jewelry showcase starting midnight Monday Sept. 13, and running all day until 11:59 PM Monday. I will probably offer free shipping (Canada, US, & reduced International) again, probably Sunday, Monday and maybe Tuesday. Till next time.

Dragon Wing Doily and New Books

2010-09-05T22:05:00.000-06:00

Yeah. I know I said I'd post again in a few days, but, um, yeah. I guess I haven't felt like tatting. Again. I decided last weekend to purchase another Showcase spot on Etsy. Because of that, I then decided I should add some new items to my shop. Which is what I have been working on instead of tatting. You can see a few of the new items in my shop. More items will be added over the next week. A few of the new items even incorporate beads as part of the chainmaille. Anyway, let's move on to the tatting.

I started working on Anne B's Dragon Wing Doily last Saturday (or maybe Friday). Managed to get about halfway through when an idea hit (see above). So, the doily has been set aside throughout the week. I finally sat down last night and didn't stop tatting till it was done. It's not blocked yet, and there are a couple ends to hide, but it is done. And here it is:

It would look better if I had blocked it. Despite my slowness at tatting it, I really like this design. I was able to memorize the pattern pretty quickly (still remembered it after a week!) so I could almost go into autopilot while tatting it. I will do it again. Thanks Anne! Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20 in colour #656 Dark Wedgewood blue. Love this colour! And it's still all mine!

Finally, since I don't have much else tatting related to show, I'll show you a couple of books that I recently got. The first is one you have probably seen a lot of lately. It is, of course, Martha Ess' new book More Critters on the Block.

I can't wait to try some of these designs. This is my first book from Martha. I like what I see; I may have to get her other books. And thanks Martha for signing the book.

The second book is one that is pretty hard to find, I guess. It is, Patti Duff's Minitats: 60 Petite Motifs.

While looking for the book, I found that DS9Designs had a few copies of the book. I also learned through InTatters that Gale of Tat's All also had a few copies of the book. I ended up going through DS9Designs since I wanted, nay, needed more Lizbeth thread. Of course as luck would have it, the size 80 Lizbeth came out less than a week after my order shipped. Mind you I haven't heard of anyone mention that they got some of the size 80 Lizbeth yet. I believe a few people got a sneak peek at the thread, but I still want to wait. Then again, how often do I use size 80 thread? Anyway, I can see why so many tatters like Patti's book. There are plenty of quick patterns that could easily empty partial shuttles. Hopefully I'll try a few motifs from this book also.

That's it for now. I'm going to watch a movie, drink some nice cold Kokanee, and get some tatting done. I have an order of rings coming, and I'm sure once I get them, I won't be tatting. Till next time.

PS: I want to mention again that a couple of errors were found in my Sine Wave Bookmark pattern. Please redownload the file to get the corrections. See link at the top to the left sidebar.

Quick Post: Sine Wave Bookmark Pattern Corrections

2010-08-30T18:22:00.003-06:00

As I said in the title, this will be a quick post. I hope to do a longer post in a day or two, depending on when I finish the tatting I am working on.

I shared the Sine Wave Bookmark on InTatters as well as on my blog here and for some reason, it took a while for the post to show up in InTatters. When it did, a couple of errors in the written pattern were brought to my attention. The diagram is correct though. I have corrected the pattern, and changed the usage terms while I was at it. I do apologize if the errors confused anyone. I have replaced the file I have on Keep & Share, so I highly recommend everyone downloading a new copy of the pattern.

Till next time.

Sine Wave Star Pattern

2010-08-24T21:32:00.000-06:00

Since it's Tuesday and was tatting, I thought about calling this post Tatting Beer Tuesday since I don't really like tea and happened to be drinking a beer while tatting, but a) it doesn't have the same ring as Tatting Tea Tuesday and b) might be a bit disrespectful to the people who participate in TTT (??) so I won't. I haven't done much this past week, so I will get to the point of this post.

I have finally finished the pattern for the star in my previous post. I am glad so many people liked it. You can find the pattern here. I also have the link posted on the top of the right sidebar. I've changed my usage policies starting with this star (it also applies to the bookmark, but I can't change the files everyone has downloaded). You can tat as many stars (or bookmarks) as you want for gifts or to sell. If you choose to sell the tatted items, please credit me as the designer. You may not, however, sell or reproduce the pattern I am providing to you. Email me if you want to use the pattern for teaching or classroom purposes. Hopefully this is fair for everyone. If you have any problems with the PDF files, or with the pattern itself, feel free to contact me at jwh4000ATgmailDOTcom. Remove the AT and the DOT and replace with the appropriate symbols. And as always, I'd love to see any completed stars, so feel free to blog about them.

That's it for now. I am working on another design that came about due to the bookmark. But, it's morphed quite a bit from my original diagram. In a good way. I may put this one aside and tat something else. I am getting a bit tired with the sine wave pattern. But don't worry, I won't abandon the ideas I still have. I think they will be pretty cool once done. Till next time.

I'm Seeing Stars (But in a Good Way)

2010-08-16T21:39:00.001-06:00

I spent another week not tatting as much as I wanted. While two of the custom requests through Etsy still haven't gone anywhere, I did get another one that I spent working on most of the week. I also finished the other custom request that I was waiting for colour choices. So the week wasn't a total loss. And I made a little cash that will go towards some tatting supplies. I have been wanting to order some of the new Lizbeth colours as well as some size 10 Lizbeth (still unsure of the colour-probably black, will have to spend a few minutes deciding). A book or two may be in my future as well. I have been wanting a few of Martha Ess' block tatting books; especially the new on that just came out.

I did manage a little bit of tatting this week. I was working on one of three little motifs that kinda happened while designing my Sine Wave Bookmark (if you haven't downloaded it yet, there is a link to the pattern in the top right sidebar). May I present the Star motif:

So, what do you think? Both stars were tatted with size 20 thread, Lizbeth in colour #113 Jewels on the left and Flora in colour #743 Yellow on the right. Each measures about 1 3/4 inches (about 4 cm, give or take a few mm) wide. I need to retat the star so I can write out the pattern. I will hopefully have the pattern available to download by my next post. I hope to have one of the other two motifs at least tatted, if not written up. I have both motifs diagrammed. I just need to tat them and figure out the stitch count. And to see if they actually can be tatted the way I envision.

That's all for now. I am hoping to make this a tatting week. I would also like to try another motif or two from Marilee's new book. Till next time.

A Tatted Pendant and Some Chainmaille Too

2010-08-09T23:25:00.000-06:00

This will be a short post. I haven't done much tatting over the last week. I've been making chainmaille related stuff lately. My Showcase spot on Etsy last week brought in a few sales, which was nice (one of which was a Sterling Silver bracelet). I also had a couple custom requests through Etsy as well that I'm waiting on. I think only one could be considered guaranteed, since I'm just waiting on a colour choice. The second one was probably scared off by the price (I think, and I was being generous too; it's happened before). I've been waiting on a third custom request for over two weeks now; I don't know if it will happen either. I was actually looking forward to this one; the item requested was intriguing (at least to me). C'est la vie!

Anyway, here is the only tatting that I managed to get finished this past week:

This is the Five Petal Pendant from Marilee's new book Up and Tat 'em. I have to say, I love this book! It's full of cool and mostly smallish items suitable for gifts. I have to admit, I did learn something while working on this motif. What did I learn? Bead sizes don't change as much as I thought when changing thread sizes. The pattern called for size 20 thread and 4 mm beads. I used size 10 thread and figured 6 mm beads would be suitable. 5 mm beads might have worked. However, I made the 6 mm beads work; I added an extra stitch here and there as needed. I bet you're wondering about the thread. This is Lizbeth size 10 colour #129 Purple Splendor that I got from Typstatting in the Thread Exchange. I have to say, I didn't know what to expect with this thread. I know a number of people didn't like the size 10 Lizbeth. But I, um, LOVE it! No, really, I do. It tats beautifully and it is strong (a big plus for me, I regularly snap threads when closing rings, and ending off). I'm, of course, now not sure what thread I want to use for my tie. I think it will come down to what colour I will use. I am thinking black may be the way to go, but I'll have to have a better look in my closet some time (soon).

Finally, I will show you a chainmaille pendant I finished yesterday.

I took three of my stainless steel Celtic Star pendants, and joined them together. I have them on a cotton cord, but I think I will look into a matching metal chain to make it more complete. And adjustable. I can make adjustable necklaces using a single strand of cord, but I'm not sure about double strands. I'll have to look into this. Hopefully I'll get this in my Etsy shop in the next day or two.

That's about it for now. If some of these custom request go through, I'll be busy with chainmaille for most of the week. If not, I'll try to get some more tatting done. Including those little motifs I mentioned last week, but haven't worked on since. Till next time.

Temari Balls and Saskatchewan Day

2010-08-02T23:19:00.003-06:00

First of all, Happy Saskatchewan Day!!!!! Or Civic Holiday. Or, well, whatever you want to call it. Yup, we have another stat holiday here; we can't agree what to call it, however. It's called something different in nearly every province or territory. Or at least in those that observe it. I ended up cleaning most of the day. I know, the horror! But it had to be done, plus I wanted to rearrange some furniture. I get that from my mom; she used to rearrange the furniture on a regular basis. It would drive my dad nuts! Not sure if I like the result, but I can always change it again in a week or two. Besides that I haven't done much. I spent the weekend relaxing (which was needed). I did some digital tatting yesterday. I worked on diagramming another pattern of mine, and created another two. Still have to tat the two new ones to see if they work. More about them another time.

I don't want to mention my etsy shop more that I need to, but I decided to try the Showcase feature again (I was in the Jewelry section). Seemed to work. Mind you, offering free shipping (two days only, ending tomorrow midnight CST, buy now before it's gone!!!!) probably didn't hurt. This gives me a chance to get accurate shipping rates to other countries, so shipping rates overseas could change. That is all. We will now return to our regularly scheduled blog post.

Since I don't have any tatting to show you tonight, I will show you the new art form I'm learning. A few of you correctly identified it, and a few of you weren't as correct(fortunately, I can't stand clowns; I don't know why). Anyway, what I am working on are Temari Balls, or Japanese Thread Balls. Which are pretty much exactly that. A ball of some sort, traditionally from scraps of silk fabric leftover from making kimonos, though other materials can be used including Styrofoam balls which I'm using. The ball is then wrapping in fine yarn, and finally sewing thread. The thread forms a cloth like surface to do the decorative embroidery on. I won't go in much more detail. Here are a few photos of my first Temari balls:

This Temari is called Fireworks, for obvious reasons. I hope. They kinda look like fireworks. Technically, I don't know how traditional this one is, but it looks kinda cool. You need to see it in real life to appreciate it. The next one looks better, well I think so, anyway:

This one is called "Autumn Moon". This one is more traditional since it is divided up and the embroidery is stitched symmetrically. I think I did a pretty good job with this one. The only thing I'm not happy with is that the metallic gold thread that I used to divide the ball, and used for some decorative embroidery blends in pretty well with the gold sewing thread. Oh well.

That's all for now. Hopefully the next post will be tatting related. I got Marilee's new book in the mail (last week, I think). Finally, the secret to the tatted atom is mine!!!! Sorry, I don't know where that came from. Till next time.

Sine Wave Bookmark Pattern

2010-07-29T20:58:00.003-06:00

I was hoping to post this yesterday, but I've had a rough couple three days at work. Early Monday morning my department (and a couple related departments) started doing inventory (which I forgot about). Even though we had a third party company come in to do the actual counting, we have to help. Specifically, I had to help. For the lack of a better term, I had to babysit three inventory guys all three days. It wasn't hard work, just very, very boring. I mean, essentially, all I did was bring pallets of stock down from storage racking, moved pallets around, went through pallets with the inventory people, made sure they counted everything, and acted as a go-between between them and either my supervisor (who wasn't there on Wednesday) or a manager/assistant manager. So, even though I didn't feel like I did much, I was exhausted. Thus the delay.

I was hoping to have a few photos of my newest interest, but it will have to wait another couple of days. So I guess I will go on to the posting of the pattern for my Sine Wave Bookmark. So, without any further delay, you can find the pattern here. As I mentioned in the pattern, feel free to tat many bookmarks as you like for gifts, etc. However, I ask that you do not sell the bookmark, or pattern for that matter, for profit without asking permission. As I mentioned earlier, there is no definite front or back side. If you practice frontside/backside tatting, you will have to modify the stitch order yourself. I don't practice fs/bs tatting so I'm not going to write my patterns as such. Sorry, but I assume if you practice fs/bs tatting, you probably can modify the patterns yourself. I hope you understand. If you have any problems with the pattern, feel free to contact me at jwh4000ATgmailDOTcom. Remove the AT and the DOT and replace with the appropriate symbols. And if you do tat the bookmark, I'd love to see it (this isn't a requirement).

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll post again in a few days. That is if I don't melt first. It's been pretty hot here for the last several days (I'm sure I won't get any sympathy from anyone), though on the plus side, it hasn't rained for a few days as well. Till next time.

Bookmark Update, and What Else I'm Working On

2010-07-25T21:03:00.001-06:00

First of all, sorry. I had hoped to have the bookmark pattern all ready to go for today, but it isn't. I had put the bookmark aside for a few days and planned on getting back to it. But my few days turned into a whole week. I decided to fully tat the bookmark, following my written instructions, so I could include a photo of it in said instructions. Apparently, I can't follow my own instructions, and on top of that I have a couple errors in the instructions (that I didn't notice until I tatted them), and now I have to cut out a small section and retat it. I can't include a photo with an error in it. I do have a diagram almost done. It needs a little tweaking, and it's not as good as some out there, but I think it will do. I hope to have the pattern posted by Wednesday. I have opted to use the free Keep & Share service to host a PDF file.

I don't have much else tatting related. It was suggested in the comments that some of my modifications of the bookmark ends could make some interesting motifs themselves. I plan on seeing what I can come up with, since I can definitely see the shapes that were suggested. I have received some more thread, thanks to the Thread Exchange. You really need to try it, if you haven't already. Here is a quick photo:

I don't know if you can read the labels on the cards, but there is some Perlovka Perle cotton, Anchor crochet cotton size 40, some Lizbeth in size 40 (turquoise) and 20 (green and white variegate) and some Coron size 40 in two different blue variegates. Thanks ladies! I'll have fun with these. I'm actually using the turquoise Lizbeth right now. I'll have to get a ball (or two) of the colour.

Finally, I'm going to show you a teaser of what I'm working on right now. It's something I've been wanting to try for a while, but keep putting it off. Here's a mosaic of the materials I require to make them:

And here is a photo showing the next step, taking one of the Styrofoam balls (wrapped in fine yarn, not shown) and finally wrapping it in sewing thread:

Any ideas? Don't worry if you don't know what I'm making. I'll reveal all later. I am hoping to spend this afternoon (which is probably over by the time this posts) working on the black ball. I hope it looks like the one pictured in the book I'm using.

That's all for know. Keep watching my blog for the bookmark pattern. Hopefully I will be motivated to start getting my other designs (which are adding up) written up, diagrammed and shared. Till next time.

New Bookmark Design, Continued

2010-07-18T23:11:00.000-06:00

I've pretty much worked on nothing else but my new bookmark design since the last post. It does seem like it may be a new design, since no one has said otherwise. I have the pattern written out, but it will have to wait a little longer before I post it. I want to include a nice diagram as well; it can be confusing to work at times. And again, please let me know if you have seen something like this before.

Since my last post I worked on refining the pattern, taking some of the awesome suggestions that were made in the comments. Here are the results of three different refinements:
I personally like the one on the left, so I may make that one into a variation of the pattern. I don't like the other two, but it may be just me. Made using Lizbeth size 20 thread in #684.

I did try the option to "continue the wave" as suggested in the comments. Here is my first attempt:

As you can probably tell, I modified the right side a little after tatting the left. I like the right side better. The bookmark still pinches a bit at the ends, so I still need to correct that. Maybe. As you can see, I opted to make a "stubby" version of the bookmark with this attempt. I didn't want to waste more thread than necessary, and it was faster to tat. I also added a tassel (another excellent suggestion) to this one. I like the way it looks. Made using Lizbeth size 20 thread in #611.

Finally, I did a couple more refinements of the stitch counts of the ends. Here is the result of these modifications:
I'm not sure you can tell but the two chains on the right end are a couple stitches longer than those on the left side. I was experimenting. So what do you think? I like it this way but I want other opinions. Made using Flora 20 in #221. Oh, I know she hasn't mentioned it on her blog, but Martha took a stab at redesigning the ends of the bookmark as well. Her result was very similar to my own. I was impressed how we each came up with nearly the same modifications. I hope she doesn't mind that I mentioned this. Oh, before I forget, doesn't this stubby bookmark look like it could make a fantastic rectangular motif to make a doily or tablecloth? I may need to pursue that idea too.

That's it for now. With any luck, I will have the pattern available very soon. I'm still not sure exactly how I will share the pattern. I know many tatters have shared patterns on their blogs, but I don't know if that is how I will. I like the option of an easy to print PDF file, but I would need a place to host it. Any suggestions? Till next time.

New Bookmark Design

2010-07-14T21:50:00.005-06:00

Well, I finished tatting my bookmark last night. I haven't worked on anything else, so this will a short post. So without any further delay, I present, The Sine Wave Bookmark!

It's nothing special, but I like it. Kinda. I still don't like how I made the top and bottom of the bookmark. I tried two different ways to do these. I prefer the clover on the left, but it needs some work. I used Lizbeth size 40 in colour #656 Dark Wedgewood. Now, and I may regret this, but I want your honest opinions of my bookmark. I also want to know if anyone has seen anything like this. I know I haven't seen anything like this, but maybe someone else has. Oh, and if you are wondering where the name of the bookmark comes from, it's because while I was tatting the sides of the bookmark, they reminded me of a Sine Wave.

That's it for now. I will be remaking the bookmark again, so I can perfect the ends. I also want to finish my crochet project, since it's almost done. We'll see if the weather cooperates. I tend not to crochet when it's really hot out. It's been rainy and cool here for the past few days. Till next time.

Catching Up, Or What I Still Haven't Done

2010-07-12T21:45:00.006-06:00

I know, I didn't post before I left for the weekend. I think I have a good excuse; I didn't really do anything since my last post. Really. I hardly touched my crochet project. My tie is at a standstill due to thread testing that is underway-kinda. However, I think I accidentally designed a new bookmark while testing a thread. More on that soon. I have also been busy exchanging threads, thanks to Fox's Thread Exchange. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend it. I don't believe you have to be an author on the blog to swap threads (correct me if I'm wrong Fox). Just comment on a post that has the thread that you want to try, and let the person know what you have to offer. A way of contacting you is also a good idea.

Now I mentioned that I accidentally designed a new bookmark. It started late last week, before I went away for the weekend. I picked up a ball of Cebelia size 10 thread (in white) from Michaels either early in the week, or late in the previous week. I wound a couple shuttles, and began tatting. It wasn't anything special, just rings and chains. I got bored with that really quickly, and tried something different. Here is the result:

I think it looks pretty cool. Though there is a lot of switching shuttles in order to get it to work. Practitioners of frontside/backside tatting will probably be horrified to look at it. I can't say I've seen anything like this before, but could be wrong. I know, it does happen. Though, it may not matter, since I joined two strips of this together, well actually one strip joined onto itself. I experimented with a couple of ways of working the top and bottom of the bookmark-to-be. I quickly diagrammed it last night, and came up with another way to work the top and bottom that I like better. I am currently tatting a second prototype and will post about it later. I've actually done a lot of the bookmark already, so I may be able to post about it again soon.

I like tatting with the Cebelia size 10 thread, so it may be the thread I will use for my tie. But, I've been using Fox's Thread Exchange to get samples of other size 10 threads. So my choice might change. Of course, not all the thread I'm getting is size 10. Here is a couple of photos of my recent thread acquisitions:

I don't know if you can read the writing on the cards, but there is some Lizbeth size 10, Cebelia size 20, Sulky Blendables 30 wt (~ size 80-100), Omega size 30 (I've used Omega before, but I liked the colour), some silk thread (pretty fine thread), and some Flora size 10. The second photo shows an unknown Cordonnet thread. You may also notice that I wrote who I got the thread from on the card. I'm trying not to mix them up, but it may still be futile.

Finally, I will show you a photo of my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle from Sally and Nick:

This one is Cocobolo Rosewood. It is much darker in real life. It's absolutely gorgeous, and well worth the wait to get. Of course, I love all my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. All four of them. That number could change if Nick and Sally get a hold of some more really cool woods. I wonder if there is a tree that produces a blue coloured wood ...... . A guy can dream.

That's it for now. Hopefully, I'll have the bookmark done in the next day or so. I'll share the pattern too, unless it is too similar to one already done. Please let me know if you've seen something like it before (I know, I haven't posted the full bookmark, but I still want to know). Thanks. Till next time, which I hope will be sooner rather than later.

Test Tatting for Linda, & The Return of The Naked Mermaid!!

2010-07-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

Again, I haven't done much this past week. Besides the tatting I will show you soon, I did work on my crochet project. Until I ran out of yarn. I couldn't find the same yarn I used, but I did find a similar one from the same manufacturer. Both yarns don't have dye lots, so they match pretty well. I hope to have it done in the next few days. I hope to post again on Wednesday, since I will be going away Thursday after work, and will probably not be back until late Sunday. Onward to the tatting!

I will start with the test tatting. I'm sure many of you have seen Linda Davies' Iris that she has been working on. Well, I got to test tat it. Here are a few photos:

I forgot to take a picture of one of the petals. As you can see, I also began to put the flower together in the last photo. However, I only made one of each petal size (there are three), so I need to make the remaining petals and finish the flower. I'll try to get them done soon, maybe while I'm away. The pattern was pretty easy to tat, and that's one of the reasons I love Linda's designs. They get the job done without being over complicated. The pattern will be available in Linda's new book. I can't wait for the book to come out.

Finally, I made another naked mermaid (see pattern here, and more mermaids here). I won't keep you waiting. Here she is, in all her naked glory:

Well, maybe not. I guess I tatted a rather shy mermaid. She simply refused to have a nude photo of herself posted on the internet. I had hoped to cover her up with a couple of tatted shells. I'm sure I've seen a pattern or two somewhere, but I couldn't find them. So, I quickly drew up a pattern. I haven't tried tatting it yet. Instead of shells, I had to use a black bar on the photo. I am hoping to place here inside a coaster (that's why there are still ends present), at least as soon as I get another one. She has agreed to this. However, we still haven't come to an agreement on whether or not she will be nude inside the coaster. Thread stats: Fox should recognize the thread I used for the tail. It's some Cebelia size 20 thread I got from her in the Thread Exchange. The thread was nice to work with. Though I have used the size 30 size, which I like. I also used some Lizbeth size 20 in colour number 630 Peach. For the mermaids hair I used some Flora size 20 #205 (yellow). I did want to make the hair red, but I thought there might be a strong resemblance to a copyrighted Disney character, so I went with blond.

That's all for now. As I said I hope to post again on Wednesday, since I probably won't post until next Monday at the earliest. Till next time.

Tatted Coaster & Random Thoughts

2010-06-27T23:18:00.002-06:00

Before I get in trouble for not posting in a while let me explain. I haven't really done anything. OK, that's not really true. I guess I just got really busy. Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. While I haven't decided on the colour (dark blue may be out since I already have a "normal" tie in dark blue, and I still don't want to use a variegated thread), I am considering using size 10 Cebelia (Thanks Fox!!!) for the tie, though I do want to test it first. I want to mention that I don't normally tat with size 10 thread, it feels like I'm tatting with rope. Size 20 would simply take too long, I'll post the sample I made to show you... if I can find it. I think the Michaels here sells Cebelia size 10 (only white and maybe ecru) so I might stop in and pick up a ball sometime. Even if I don't like the thread, I can crochet with it so it wouldn't be a big loss. I am taking advantage of Fox's Thread Exchange to obtain samples of size 10 thread that I want to use for the tie. Of course, I'm finding other threads I want to trade for as well. If you want to see what I am offering, please see this post.

I haven't done much tatting over the past week or so. However, I can't post to a blog with tatting in the name and not post any tatting so I pulled out a couple shuttles (Pop-a-Bobbins, of course, one is new, but I don't have a photo yet; next time, promise) and whipped up the following:

This motif is called Interlaced Medallion and is from Judith Conners book Creative Tatting with beads, shuttle, and needle. The book also goes by the name Tatting Adventures with Beads, Shuttle, and Needle, at least in the US, anyway. This was a nice motif to tat, however it needed my undivided attention to keep track of which chain to overlap where. I also need four arms to keep track of the two shuttle threads and two ball threads. However, I could not grow two more arms so I ended up placing the unused shuttle and ball in either my lap or on my desk. I also goofed (as usual, it seems) and didn't/couldn't overlap the final chain (top of the photo) correctly. I guess that proves it truly was handmade, right Eliz? For this motif I used Lizbeth size 20 in colour numbers 656 Wedgewood Dark and 603 Ecru. As you can see, the completed motif is partially prepared to be mounted in an acrylic coaster. I didn't hide any ends; I just poked a few small holes in the adhesive cardboard disk you see above, and pulled the ends through. You can see the finished coaster here:

I really like the looks of tatting inside one of these coasters. I had planned on making one of Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel coaster in King Tut to place inside, but I haven't made it that far. I'm not sure if it will be small enough in King Tut, so it's been on the back burner. I probably should buy another coaster, though I don't know if I can get them locally anymore. I had bought this one from Wal*Mart, however, the one I bought it from moved a few kilometers to the city's outskirts and became a Supercentre (which wouldn't normally bother me, except they are now my store's main competitor; ironically, they were less of a competitor when they used to be across the street from us). Anyhoo, I need to buy more of the coasters.

That's about it for now. I am working on another crochet project from the Crochet Dude's book (click on the "Crochet Dude" label on my left sidebar for previous posts about him). I'll post when it's done. I've also been working on some more chainmaille. I made a few more bracelets today. I finished a copper Byzantine bracelet and a tri-metal Jens Pind Linkage bracelet. I used aluminum, copper, and brass for the JPL bracelet. Hopefully I'll be able to take photos for them tomorrow. I also hope to redo my Etsy shop header and avatar tomorrow. My current ones looks like I spent 5 minutes making them (I think it was actually 10 minutes, but who's counting). Hopefully those changes will take effect tomorrow, so feel free to stop by in the next day or so if you want (the link is in my right sidebar).

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get around to posting again in a few days. Till next time .... assuming the mosquitoes don't carry me away!**

** In case you're wondering what I meant by that, apparently we have something like 10 times our normal amount of mosquitoes here in the Bridge City due to the large amount of rain we've been having over the past month or so.

My Tatted Tie, Part 1-The Need For Advice

2010-06-16T21:35:00.002-06:00

This will be the first of several posts related to my Tatted Tie. As I mentioned in my last post, I had to modify my original idea in order to make the idea work. Here is the first attempt:

As you can see, the basic idea was for me to tat four groups of four rings. The bottom four rings on each group of 16 could be made a little larger than the others to allow me to widen the tie. The next group of four motifs, I'm calling a "Tie Unit" could then be made larger (using the same stitch count as the last four rings on the previous tie unit, with the exception of the bottom four rings). This could be continued until the tie was the length I wanted. I'm sure some of you might notice an obvious flaw with this idea. By the time I got to the bottom of the tie, the rings are going to be huge. Another problem is the thread itself. I used a size 3 "fashion crochet" thread to make this sample. I didn't like tatting with it. It is a 2-ply thread from what I can tell, and it is soft. It's also too thick for my tatting tastes. What you see above was made with two Aero bobbins worth of thread, which I think was about 4 yards between the two shuttles. This version was scraped and I modified the drawing I made.

The result of the redesign was this, Tatted Tie, Mark 2:

The Mark 2 is similar to the Mark 1 with a few exceptions. Each Tie Unit now varies in size as work progresses, and the rings stay the same size. The tie is widened by simply adding the equavalent of one motif to each row of the Tie Unit. I'm not sure how often I will need to widen the Tie Units in order to make the tie the correct width. I have a hunch some math will need to get involved. Depending on how many increases will be needed, I may be able to increase the width every 6 or 8 rows. We'll see. I used some size 10 crochet thread for the Mark 2 tie. I used about 8 yards of thread between the two shuttles. And no, I don't plan on using a variegated thread for the tie. In case you're wondering, both versions of the Tatted Tie were completed tatted using regular and split rings and each was tatted continously. Oh, and when the tie is finished, I plan on outlining the tie with chains to finish it off.

Now for my need of advice. I need help with the choice of thread. I think I'm going to stick with size 10 thread. It is the best compromise. Anything larger than 10 and I don't like tatting with it, and size 20 and smaller would take forever to tat. I know that 6-cord thread is generally the best choice for most tatting. Would it be good here? I was thinking buying a few balls of Lizbeth size 10 for the tie, but I have heard that some people don't like how stiff the thread is in this size. I haven't used a 6-cord size 10 thread before so I can't comment. Another thing I'd like your opinion on is colour choices. I really don't think I'm going to take more than one (or two) ties. I would like the tie work with as many other colours as possible. What would you recommend? Black? White? Dark Blue??? I'm open to two colour ideas as well.

That's all for now. I am going to have to get ready for bed soon. I have training tomorrow at 8 am at our chain's second location. Which is located on the other side of the city. Which is going to be fun getting there since Construction Season is in full swing here, and I know there are detours galore over there. Wish me luck. Till next time.

PS: I changed my blog layout today. I hope you like it. If there are any problems, or you don't like something, please let me know.

A Little Bit Country, And a Little More Tatting

2010-06-13T21:09:00.004-06:00

I see I'm getting back in the habit of not posting regularly. I'll have to try to post more often, again. Though, I do have enough stuff for another post later on in the week. I have a few things to show you today, but I want to do a quick update on the work "issue". I guess my letter had an effect. I have been assured that the issue(s) will be fixed. Apparently, management doesn't want me to leave, and they appreciated my hard work and dedication. Too bad they didn't mention that until I threatened to leave. I'll try not to mention work during my posts for a while.

I'm sure many of you are aware of the knitting/crochet site Ravelry. I joined about a year ago, but haven't done much with the site since. However, I have started using the site more recently. I added a few projects to my profile (there's a link to my profile on my sidebar as well, if you want to visit). One project was the Renegade Dawg hoodie I posted about earlier. The Crochet Dude himself saw the hoodie and liked how it turned out. I was also browsing patterns and found a cowboy hat I really liked. Of course the pattern was in a book, so I went looking on the Saskatoon Library's website to see if the book was available. It was, but in a different library. Last fall all the library systems in the province began to merge into one large province wide library system. Which is nice, since there are a lot more books available to us now. Anyway, the book arrived mid week, and I picked up some yarn on Friday.

So last night, with the book, yarn, and a hook in hand, as well as a few beers (hey, if Jane can have her wine, I can have my beer) I started working on the hat. With some finishing this morning, this is the result:

This is Felted Yeehaw Gentleman (my manly version of Yeehaw Lady by Dot Matthews) from Debbie Stoller's book Stitch'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. That's the actual name of the book. Well, actually, I think it's a series of books, websites, etc, mostly for women. Though there is supposed to be a book for men too. I'll have to look in to it. Anyway, I like the way it turned out, though it is heavy, and pretty hot too. The hat needs a band or something though as well; I'll have to see what I can do. Since I wanted to felt the hat, I used some wool yarn, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool to be exact. It may not be noticeable to you, but the hat needs a shave and trim (well, so do I, but not till I have to go back to work; I hate shaving) since the felting process made the surface kinda fuzzy. My beard trimmer works surprisingly well for this (and for me!). I should mention, for anyone wanting to try this pattern, the book has a number of errors in it. The designer has posted corrections on her website that do help. But I still had some stitch count issues (as did others). I wouldn't recommend the pattern for beginners, despite the encouragement from the author of the book. You should have the ability to alter patterns on the fly just in case you run into problems. Now that it's made, I'm not sure how much I'll actually wear it. I have wanted a real felt cowboy hat for a while now, and plan on buying one, once I have enough money. I want to get a good, high quality hat.

Now for the tatting part of the program, er, blog post. You may remember Jon's Fold Over bookmark I posted a couple posts back. I remade it after posting last week. Here it is:
I used Lizbeth size 20 in Black for this one. I was feeling kinda dark after my last post. If you look at my first attempt and this latest one, you'll see that there's something not quite right about it. I goofed on several chains. The four large chains in the main body of the bookmark are all four double stiches and one picot too short. fortunately the error works. I also goofed on the smaller fold over part. I made four chains too long. Strangely enough, it too still works. So, I guess I made a variation of Jon's bookmark. I forgot to remove unneeded picots on this one. I'll have to make another one sometime.

I've also been working on my Tatted Tie idea. I'm currently on Version 2, since my original idea didn't quite work. I'll post about it mid week or so. That's all for now. Till next time.

A Little Bit of Tatting

2010-06-05T21:30:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. Life kinda got in the way. I wasn't feeling good for a few days, and then I had an "issue" at work yesterday that has me questioning if I want to continue working at that store. I had planned on posting yesterday but instead opted to write a letter to the store manager and my supervisors. But it not worth talking about here. Onward to the tatting!

I didn't get as much tatting as I had hoped, though the motif was quite large. Anyway here it is:

This is Fan Coaster from Rosemarie Peel's book Tatting With Colour. I bought this book off of eBay a couple of years ago, but haven't tatted anything from it till now. There are a number of cool looking motifs in the book that I will have to get around to tat. For this motif, I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #s 656 Dark Wedgewood and 611 Gold. The finished mat is about 4 3/4 inches in diameter. I really like this pattern and I think I did a pretty good job tatting it. Until the end. It was going good. I had to open three rings due to me joining to the wrong picot, and I did so successfully. I have opened rings in the past, but not three successfully in a row. However, when I got to the last ring, I missed making one picot and three double stitches. I probably should have opened it and fixed my error, but I wanted it done and decided to leave it. It's not that noticable, the ring in particular is just a little smaller than the others. This motif is #25 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge. I don't think I'm going to do the challenge again. At least not right now. I really want to work on some of my WIPs (or rather (WISPs). And I want to work on my tatted tie idea. Thanks to some inspiration from Sharon, I have an idea on how it may work. I'll share later. I need to try it out first. The idea is currently just theory.

I'm not sure how much tatting I'll get done this weekend. I probably will work on some chainmaille. I decided to try Etsy's Showcase feature to promote my shop. I'll be in the Jewelry - Bracelets section beginning midnight June 11. I don't know if it will help, but Etsy claims that all shops that use the feature get more traffic and have more people favoriteing them. That could mean more sales in the long term. I guess we'll see. Till next time.

My Mystery Chainmaille Project

2010-05-28T21:55:00.001-06:00

I promised to post about my Mystery project, so here I am. Several people guessed what I had made. While no one got it, there were some really good guesses.

I won't keep you in suspense. May I present, my chainmaille ............ Tie!

That's right. A chainmaille tie. It is made out of bright aluminum and is quite light, it weighs about 5 ounces (about 139 grams). This is also my first design done in chainmaille. There are a few tutorials available for chainmaille ties, but I didn't like the way they looked. So, I made up the pattern as I went. I have to say, that while like the way it turned out, it is very over-engineered. I really wanted the tie to look like, a tie. A real cloth tie, so that's what it's modeled after. I'm not sure how long it took to make. I know I watched three movies while making it and then some. So I'm guessing that I spent about 6 hours or so working on it. Hopefully I'll be able to wear it sometime. This will probably be another item I won't be making to sell.

While making my chainmaille tie, I had another great idea. A tatted tie! I haven't worked out any of the details yet, but I have it pictured in my mind. It would have fairly solid-ie: little negative space, though I'm not ruling out simple rings and chains. And it would have to be quite manly, of course. No excess picots, or other frilly things. I'm not sure if this has been done before, but it's still going to be fun to try. And, as an added bonus, this will give tatting a purpose! I know, we've been there before, but still.

That's all for now. It's supposed to be cool and rainy here all weekend, and I have the weekend off. I plan to spend most of it tatting. Till next time.