Tatted Filet And an Alligator

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.