Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas Tatting & Other Stuff

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate). My Christmas was really great. I went to my parents, where we had a pretty quiet Christmas. I did get some tatting done, which I will now show you.

The first motif is the one I told you about in my last post that needed some stiffening and shaping before I could show you.

This is the Bell Ornament from Heirloom Treasures in Tatting, an Annie's Attic Publication. This is a really nice pattern to tat. It is made in 11 rounds, and thus has 11 cut and ties. Utilizing split rings and chains, I reduced the number of cut & ties down to four. I could have done it in three, but I need to add some thread before beginning the eighth round. For this motif, I used Lizbeth size 20 in silver, #605. The last round has some silver beads, and I added some ribbon. And a little jingle bell inside. This is motif #10 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

My next piece is from Lene Bjørn's book 24 Snowflakes in Tatting.

This is The Third Day of Christmas snowflake. This is a nice snowflake to make. It isn't hard, and tats up pretty rapidly. I think I tatted the centre a little too tightly. I noticed after I made it that the centre chains are supposed to lie above the previous row, not behind them as I tatted it. I still think it is a really nice snowflake. One of these days I will have to tat the snowflake in Pamela's Rainbow Brite HDT. Thread stats: I used Lizbeth size 20, #663 (Dark Turquoise) for the centre and Lizbeth size 20 in colour #142, Turquoise Twist for the outer round. This will be motif #11.

The next snowflake is another snowflake from Lene Bjørn's book.

This is The Second Day of Christmas snowflake. This is a really nice snowflake, however it needed A Lot of blocking in order to make it look presentable. If lace could scream, I'm sure the neighbours would have called the police. OK, I may be exaggerating a bit. Thread stats: for this snowflake, I used Lizbeth size 20 in colour # 611, Gold. This will be motif #12 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

I did tat another motif, but I haven't scanned it yet. I'll have it ready for the next post. That's all for now. I'm hoping to get a little bit of tatting done tonight yet. I bought myself a copy of The Complete Fourth Series of Doctor Who, which I am currently watching (though, when you read this, I probably won't be). This is probably my favourite series/season of the new Doctor Who, however I don't like the way this series ends. I found it very unfortunate that the Doctor has to wipe Donna's mind. But that's just my opinion. I'll stop talking now, and will get to my tatting. Oh, before I forget, Be-Stitched is currently having a sale right now. Use the coupon code SALE2009 to get 20% off your entire order until Midnight Dec. 31. And yeah, I ordered more Lizbeth thread. VBG! Later.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Jeff! I was just looking at that Bell pattern in Heirloom Treasures in Tatting just yesterday! I am starting an online "Alphabetized Index of my personal Tatting Library and I'm all the way to the H's (well, G's) from the back of the alphabet...gotta go backwards with a blog if you want the A's to be first! LOL! Anyway...I probably should've been posting about my bookmark from you...it's so pretty. I have to get just the right light to get just the right photo. I thought I would do it today because I came home from work today early because I wasn't feeling well, but I ended up falling asleep! Sigh! I need to do this before the year is over! LOL!
    Your snowflakes are lovely, too! Those are both some awesome tatting books. They both have a lot of good tatting patterns for such small booklets! You did such a nice job on all of those Christmas motifs!

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  2. Beautiful pieces, Jeff! You tatted my two favorite snowflakes from that book. My Third Day of December also has the stitches lying behind each other. I like the 3D effect... the snowflake might be too boring if the stitches sat nicely above each other... just my opinion! I hope you have a happy new year!

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  3. Hi Jeff the bell is wonderful, is the thread really silvery?
    Your snowflake are great, I don't understand what you say about the center chains. They do lie one behind the other and they look the same as her photo as far as I can see. If you do get them lying incorrectly it is easy to flip them behind.
    I love the tensioned 3D effect.
    Why did your second snowflake need so much blocking?
    Happy New Year to you.

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  4. Wow, the bell is very pretty and delicate looking. I will have to get this book out, if I can find it. I don't have Lene Bjørn's book 24 Snowflakes in Tatting, but watching Pamela and now you tat these snowflakes, makes me want to get this book. The third day of Christmas snowflake has to be my favorite so far from this book. Thank you for posting them.

    Happy New Year!

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  5. Wow! This is your 3rd time at the 25 Motif Challenge! I'm doing my first time. LOL! Beautiful snowflakes! The bell is sweet!

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  6. Thanks for all the kind comments ladies.

    Take all the time you need Chiclet. I know you will post about our exchange, eventually.

    No Pamela, the thread is just a grey colour. I want to include a metallic filament thread sometime. I probably worded that sentence wrong. The centre of the day three snowflake was dome-shaped after I tatted it. Like half of a sphere. I had to block this snowflake pretty heavily to make the centre flatter. As for the second day flake, each "point" ruffled, and need extensive blocking to make it flat.

    The Challenge can be addicting Katie. You may find that after finishing, you want to do it again.
    I really like the bell too. I will have to tat it again.

    Happy New Years to all, in case I don't post again for a few days.

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  7. Mine are always dome shaped, they do flatten a little when blocked if you pin only the starting ring, I like them that way.

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  8. Maybe that is the way the snowflake is supposed to be?? This is the first one I have made; I should probably tat it again to be sure.

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  9. Your ornaments are beautiful! I especially love the blue snowflake. I am still learning the basics of tatting and really enjoy it.

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