My New Shuttles, And Some Tatting!

Sorry. I've been meaning to post earlier, but it just didn't happen. I was dealing with some work issues last weekend, so posting wasn't going to happen then. Some tatting did happen, however, but we'll get to that later. Nothing really new to share otherwise. It's hot here right now. I'm hoping for a thunderstorm, but I'm not being too hopeful; we didn't get one yesterday either. I'll move on, it's too hot to write out a long post.

I teased you last time with the pair of unfinished Pear wood Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. Well, they're finished now. Or as finished as they are going to get.

They didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them, but whatever. They're blue!!!! In case you're wondering, I used a water-based stain to colour them. The front one, is lighter than the back one as I had added some white stain to the blue (the bottle says "Azure") stain. The darker one is the straight Azure stain. I guess if I wanted the colour different, I should have painted them. However, I wanted the grain to show through, so painting was out. What do you think?

As I said, I have been tatting a fair bit lately. Mainly to keep my mind off of the work issues. I didn't really know what I wanted to tat, so I eventually settled on a WIP from a loooooog time ago. You can see it here. If you follow the link, you'll see that I started the doily over two years ago. I'm not done yet, but here is a photo to show my progress:

For those of you who didn't follow the link to the original post this is Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel doily from Tatting With Visual Patterns. I'm using Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour # 117 Country Side. I should point out, I was about half done the tatting when I picked it up again. Since the end is near, I'm going to keep working on the doily. I will post again once I'm done. I'm really hoping that the doily centre I used is the right size. Once finished the doily should measure about 10 1/2 inches in diameter.

That's it for now. Like I said above, I'll post again once I'm done the doily. I'm hoping the new tatting book I ordered will  have arrived by then. And I'll be inspired to tat something new. Till next time.

Paracord Bracelets, Tatting Shuttles, and a Tatted Bookmark

I'm back. I guess it took me longer to decide what to tat than I thought it would. And surprisingly, most of the tatting was done today. I'm sure some of you are aware that a journalist was looking to talk to young tatters, 30 or younger. My name and email address was forwarded to her and she made contact this morning. While hesitant, I gave her my phone number and began waiting. I worked on a bookmark I started over a week ago. She called and we had a really nice chat. I was quite refreshed to hear that she didn't think tatting was just for women. I won't go into much detail. It will probably be 2-3 weeks before the article is published. After talking to the journalist, I continued working on the bookmark. I guess talking about tatting inspired me to tat.

Before I get to the tatting (you knew this was coming), I'm going quickly show you what else I've been working on. As I mentioned in my last post, I found a couple of ebooks on iTunes that were about "Manly" crafts. One of the crafts that inspired me were bracelets made out of paracord, which is a shortened name for parachute cord or 550 cord.

I've only made two of them right now. The two-toned blue one is a little too small for me while the camo patterned one fits about right. Due to the way they are made, sizing is a bit difficult. I only purchased a few colours of cord, though I do plan of purchasing a few more. I had thought of putting a few up for sale in my Etsy shop, but I'm not sure if they'd sell. I haven't been brave enough to see how many other paracord bracelets are currently for sale, and I'm not sure I want to. I would like to make a belt for myself using a double wide version of the pattern used for the bracelets. If anyone is interested by all means leave a comment, I may be persuaded to list some in my shop. Or we could work something out privately. I'm not sure how much paracord related things you will see from me. Although, the cord can be tatted with, in case you're wondering. I had to try.

Several weeks ago, I purchased a pair of Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles "direct from the source", ie: from Sally. I bought them unfinished as I had a plan. Here is the before shot:

They're both pear wood, as you can see. I'm about half done with them right now. I have to pick up some supplies tomorrow that I forgot to get earlier. You'll have to wait until they're done to see them. I'm not telling you exactly what I did to them yet. I will say that Diane may be interested. Oops! I may have said too much.

Finally, what you all are waiting for: the bit of tatting I managed to do. Here it is:

This is "Jane's Bookmark" designed by Jane from South Africa. I'm not sure if the pattern has a name, so I named it. It was pretty quick to tat. As I'm not a big fan of tassels (though I don't mind them on bookmarks), I chose to end it with a lock stitch chain followed by a short section of the pattern. The thread is Lizbeth size 20, colour #606 Charcoal. I will have to tat this pattern again. Now that I'm done the bookmark, I'm back to not knowing what I will tat next. I have several WIPs that I should work on and a "WannaTat" list as long as my arm and then some. I probably won't start anything tonight as bedtime is nearing.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get the shuttles finished and have something else tatted by next weekend. I will try and post again once the shuttles are done. I do hope they turn out as awesome as I envision them. Till next time.