Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Jon's Foldover Bookmark. And More Maille

Well, again, I didn't get as much tatting as I would have liked. I focused on chainmaille again. I will try to make this post somewhat short. I do plan on posting again in a few days.

As the title indicates, most of the tatting I accomplished was Jon's Foldover Bookmark, found here.

This is a really cool pattern. And pretty easy to do. I decided to use some of my Silk HDT (HDST) from LadyShuttleMaker. I used sized 20 HDST in the Pensacola Beach colourway. I love this colorway. And the silk thread was a pleasure to work with. I haven't worked with silk thread until now because my hands always seem to be too rough, and I didn't want to have the thread snag constantly. But lately my hands have been fairly smooth, so I decided to give the thread a try. I'll have to use the silk thread more often, before my hands get rough again. This will be Motif #24 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

As I mentioned, I did a lot of chainmaille over the past week. One of the first projects I did was to remake my wallet chain. Again. I guess the Stainless steel rings I used were just a bit too big, and the chain started to come undone in a few places. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, that wouldn't do. I decided to make the chain in three different metals, since the Jen Pind Linkage weave that I used has three different planes in it. I chose to make the new chain in stainless steel, brass, and bronze. I thought they would look really cool together.

Unfortunately, in this gauge brass and bronze look quite similar so I didn't get the contrast I was hoping for. Since brass and bronze both tarnish and darken with age, my only hope now is that one darkens more than the other. I am NOT remaking this. My hands were killing me for a few days after I finished the chain.

I also made two bracelets in Sterling Silver.

I have to say, they both look gorgeous in real life. Though, I will admit, I don't expect them to sell. They are kinda expensive; about three times the cost of my other bracelets. But we'll see. Just for kicks, I also took a photo comparing the colour of stainless steel and sterling silver:

I had planned on posting yesterday, however I was so involved in my lastest chainmaille creation that I didn't want to stop. I'm not going to show you the finished piece though. I will post a teaser photo instead. You guys can guess what it will be, although I think it is kinda obvious.


So, any guesses?? I will post again in a few days with a photo of the completed item. That's all for now; my short post is getting pretty long. Till next time.

7 comments:

  1. Oh, pretty bookmark! I like it! :)

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  2. looks like an arm to me.looks like alot of hard work.

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  3. Beautiful tatting, Jeff. That pattern is on my 'to do' list and your colours have inspired me.
    truly
    Great looking metal work as well.
    Fox : )

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  4. Nice bookmark! Have no idea what you are up to with the chainmail project. Guessing at some bag or container.
    I still am proudly wearing my stainless steel necklace and bracelet. LOVE the sterling silver. Too much for my pocketbook ;) Good thing I got stainless steel. These other metals would corrode fastly with my active life. I wear them all the time, even running. Sweat and certain metals don't work well ;) Nice to see these projects from you!

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  5. The bracelets are just beautiful, they would suit be just fine!!!

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  6. Opps I meant me not be, its late in the evening!!!!

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  7. Could this be the beginning of your chainmaille shirt?
    I think the mixed metal chain looks cool, I hope it ages as you suggest.

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