Quick Post: Windmills Snowflakes and a Merry Christmas!

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

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!

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.