Tatted Edging and Square Wire Bracelets

As it turns out I did manage to get some tatting done since my last post. The temperatures weren't to bad for the most part, though we did get a few thunderstorms. I came to the conclusion that I prefer to wake up to a thunderstorm, but not fall asleep to one. Or be woken up by one. I also managed to get some chainmaille done. Hopefully I can sell the items I made-three bracelets and three pairs of earrings. There's also a necklace that's currently half done; hopefully I can finish it soon. In can anyone is interested I have a page on Facebook for Bridge City Maille. You can find it here. New items will be posted here, and perhaps a coupon code once in a while.

Like I said above, I did manage a small amount of tatting. I picked a fairly simple one shuttle pattern from my new German tatting book. Once I learned the pattern it was pretty easy.

I don't know if the patten has a name. It's from page 42 from the Peacock book. As you can see, I didn't quite get a grasp on the length of bare thread at the beginning. That's the left side. The diagram showed the space to be much larger than necessary. Now that I know how much space to leave (not much, in case you are wondering), I think I may try it again. The above length of edging is about five inches long. I believe the bobbin was pretty full when I started. The thread I used is Lizbeth size 20 colour #149 Peacock Blues. This pattern works very well when done in variegated thread.

Finally a quick peek at the chainmaille I did last weekend.

My main supplier started offering Anodized Aluminum square wire rings. The rings resemble washers, but are much more colourful. I have only been able to get square wire rings in stainless steel and sterling silver, so I really like these rings. Being aluminum, they are very lightweight for their size. I made the pink one first and liked making the bracelet so much I make the other two. I only have three colour right now, since I don't know how popular they will be. I also made matching earrings, one set in each colour as well. They all are listed in my shop.

I'm going to try to get more tatting done. I may try to get the chainmaille necklace done, but I probably won't do any more chainmaille for a bit-I would like to get as much tatting done as I can while I feel like it. That's it for now. Till next time.

Spinning Wheel Doily Complete and New Book

Oy, is it hot out. Actually, compared to some of you, the temperatures we've been experiencing are that bad-we've been in the low 30s so far this week. We did have a Humidex warning of about 45 yesterday. I haven't felt like tatting this week. I finished the doily Sunday afternoon, but I haven't done any tatting since.

Like I said, I finished tatting the Spinning Wheels doily. I haven't blocked it yet.

I still need to hide the remaining ends-there's only two! I tatted over the ends whenever I had to add thread or reattach thread, and they need to be clipped. It'll look a heck of a lot better once it's blocked, but I think I'll wait until I give it away. I am thinking of giving it to my mom for her birthday, but that's in the fall and it may need to be blocked again by then. And again, this pattern is from Mary Konior's Tatting With Visual Patterns (a Mary K. book that's still readily available, but seems to have gone up in price). I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #117 Country Side. It measures about 10 1/2 inches in diameter and was made using a 6 inch doily centre. And while there is no photo evidence (I wouldn't allow it!), I screwed up when joining the final repeat to the first repeat-don't ask. Just something to keep in mind if anyone else attempts the pattern.

Finally, my new book arrived. I'm sure many of you can guess what book that may be-I think many of you already have the book.

Like a lot of people, I bought the book for the peacock pattern on the cover. There's actually a lot of really cool patterns. I didn't know that there were two peacock patterns. I hope to try them both. However, I think I'll start with simpler patterns until I learn the writing style and notation. This is actually my first foreign language tatting book. I'm kinda disappointed that I don't understand most of what is written in the book. I've tried using an app on my smartphone to do some translation; it's tedious when it works, and it often doesn't work. Hopefully, when (and if!) it cools down, and I feel like tatting, I'll have something to show soon.

That's about it for now. Like I said above, hopefully some tatting will materialize if the weather cools down. Thanks to a few recent sales, I ordered some more rings, so I may do some chainmaille instead. Till next time.