A Wee Bit of Tatting, Digital Tatting, and More Maille

I'll begin this post by saying that I didn't get the crocheted sock done. I know, I thought I'd be done by now, but something else came up. But we'll get to that later. Hopefully I'll get to the other sock soon.

I may have missed St. Patrick's Day by a few days (OK, four days), but I did manage to tat a shamrock:

The is the shamrock that Betsy Evans shared on Here-Be-Tatters. I think it is really pretty, and very generous of Betsy for sharing the pattern. Of course, I think any and every tatter who shares their patterns with the rest of us are very generous. Someday I hope to be one of them. Thread stats: Flora size 20 in colour #230. This will be motif #22 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge. As you can see, I made the stem by encapsulating the thread ends, however, I'm not sure how to finish it. Can the ends be hidden somehow? Any suggestions?

Speaking of sharing patterns, I have been working on diagramming some of my own designs. Back in December, I bought a newer copy of the DrawPlus software that we were using for the Design-Tat course that Sharon was running. I hadn't really done much with it until now. The first design I am currently working on is my Male Betta. If you are new to my blog, you can see the Betta here. While I like (well, really, really like) the way it looks with the block tatted fins, I had an idea that I could simplify the pattern a bit. I figure that I could replace the block tatting with small rings and chains and make the pattern easier to tat for advanced beginners, and still look good. This will take time to accomplish. I have a few of the new style fins diagramed, but I will need to tat it and work out the stitch count. Hopefully I will make progress on this.

Finally, I have been working on some more chainmaille. This is the reason I haven't been working on my socks. I finally figured out a weave that I have been wanting to try this one for a while, but I couldn't get the hang of it till recently.

May I introduce Jens Pind Linkage or Jens Pind. The Jens is pronounced as Yens, in case your wondering. It is a type of spiral chain, and if you look you can kinda see the spiral. I'm not sure why I had so much difficulty with this weave. It's not that difficult once learned, but it needs a very specific range of ring sizes in order to keep its shape. Outside that range, and the spiral falls apart, so to speak. As you can see, I created two bracelets once I learned the weave. The silver one on the left is Bright Aluminum, and the one on the right is Nickel Silver. The aluminum bracelet will be going into my shop in the near future. I haven't used Nickel Silver much, but I decided to try it here. Nickel Silver is another copper alloy, and as it's name suggests, it contains a fairly large percentage (about 20%, give or take) of nickel. It doesn't contain any silver however. I'm not sure if it has the same problems as the other copper alloys I've tried, so I'm going to test on my self (I'm my own guinea pig!) for a few days to see. After the bracelets, I wanted to try something bigger with the new weave. This is the result:

It's a wallet chain for myself. I used Bright Aluminum here since its the only metal I have (besides the Nickel Silver) that works for Jens Pind Linkage. Once I got going, I was able to complete the chain in a single evening, and wore it to work the next day. I really like the way it looks, however, I would prefer it in stainless steel since that is what I have used for all the stuff I make for myself. I hope to get some rings in the right size in stainless steel, but it will probably be a couple of weeks before I will order. I have been thinking of buying some Sterling Silver rings and offering a few of my bracelets and earrings in this material. But we'll see. I also have an idea for a pendant with yet another weave and a Swarovski crystal button. Though I haven't gone past the initial idea with that one. I'm also considering making a necklace out of Jens Pind as well. So many ideas, so little time, and only one pair of hands.

That about wraps up another week. Hopefully I can get a few of the ideas and projects done and can get back to tatting full time. I am really looking forward to see the new and improved Male Betta. Till next time.