Merry Christmas!

Well, I had hoped to post at least once before Christmas, but I ran out of time. I did get some tatting done though. I will have to blog about it after Christmas. It should be much quieter then. I've been pretty busy with work for the last month or so being in retail and all. I'm heading down to my parent's early tomorrow morning for several days. We'll see if I get anything accomplished. Till next time.

Merry Christmas!!!

Just a Few Snowflakes

I haven't really accomplished much since my last post. I did manage a few snowflakes, and have been playing a bit with needle tatting over the last few days. Mainly just practicing split rings and lock stitch chains; I've never done either one before in needle tatting. I think I've got the hang of both techniques, but I don't care for the constant un-threading and re-threading the needle in order to do a split ring. And needle tatted lock stitch chains take forever. In case you're wondering, I'm not switching to needle tatting. I've purchased a few of Totusmel's patterns over the past few months and while they seem very doable with a shuttle they should be much easier with a needle. The patterns I'm planning on tatting have interwoven rings/Celtic style tatting. I am thinking that I might try doing shuttle tatting for part of the motifs and needle tatting for the rest. I'll share the results once I'm done. I had to order some more thread today (yeah, I'm sure I really needed it; I needed other stuff too!) so once I get it, I can tat the patterns.

Anyway, as I said earlier, I manage to tat three snowflakes lately. All are from Jon Yusoff's book Tatted Snowflakes Collection.

This is Circle of Crowns, tatting with Lizbeth Twirlz size 20 colour #403. I have to say, I really like this thread. I had no issues with it. I know I read that some people found it twisty, but it didn't seem anymore twisty than any other thread I've used. Mind you I do drop my shuttle(s) periodically while tatting; I don't know if that made a difference or not.

This snowflake is called Oasis. This was tatted with the same thread as above. Fairly quick to tat. Its not block yet, as you might be able to see. I made the picots on the centre ring to long because I didn't read the pattern before tatting, and I thought they needed to be large because of the three rings that seemingly join to it. I might remake it if I have time/remember. I don't think anyone will notice, however.

This is The Twirly. It was fairly quick to tat. However it was a very bad thread colour choice on my part. This was tatted with Lizbeth Twirlz size 20 colour # 407. I thought it might work. Didn't think that choice through. It's looks like a muddy snowflake. I'll definitely have to remake this one.

That's it for now. I do plan on tatting more snowflakes and hopefully a few other motifs. I can't believe it's going to be December 1 tomorrow. I've got a few chainmaille items to make this week for gifts. Speaking of chainmaille, everything in my shop is 25% off for anyone interested. I've got items suitable for both men and women. The sale will end midnight Monday. Till next time.

The Windmills Doily and a Mouse

Finally, I can show you guys the Windmills doily as it is currently. I did hope to post this earlier in the week, but posting during the week just doesn't seem to work for me. I really haven't done as much tatting as I'd like, but I am hoping that will change soon. The temperatures have dropped quite a bit lately, and we've even gotten a little bit of snow. I do feel like tatting some snowflakes right now. I picked out a few designs to make and I bought a couple balls of the Lizbeth Twirlz thread to try. With some luck and free time, I'll have something to share regularly.

I think I'm done with the Windmills doily for now. I do plan on making it larger, just not right now.

Before I do any more tatting on it, I probably should block it. Because it has taken me so long to get to this point, my tension varies a bit with each tatting session. I'm not sure what I'll do with it when I start working on it again. I'll probably add more motifs to make it more round again, but we'll see. I forgot to measure it, but it is getting pretty big. DMC Cordonnet size 20 thread in white.

Finally, I want to share my first Bauble Tatted creature. The mouse:

He is from the Shuttle Brothers' book Tatting GR-8 Baubles, Bugs and Blossoms. This was fun to tat. I see why Jane E. likes to make them. Making the mouse means I am now a full member of Jane's Exclusive Tatting Club. Once you are familiar with the bauble tatting technique, the mouse wasn't too difficult to tat. I did mess up the first time, I think I got my stabilizer/rib threads mixed up near the beginning or it went inside out or something. My mouse looks smaller and rounder than the one in the book. Mine is about 1 1/4 inches long without the tail and about 3 inches long with the tail. The mouse is one of a couple in the book that do not include measurements so I'm not sure what size it should be. I'm pretty sure that I snugged all the stabilizer/rib threads too much compacting the mouse's body, that's why mine isn't as long as it should be. I do plan on making more bauble creatures (plant and animal) but I think I'll give them a rest for a while.

That's it for now. Hopefully I will get around to tatting some snowflakes this week. It is a short week because of Remembrance Day on Tuesday. Until next time.

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Just a quick update, I'll try to do a proper post later this weekend/early next week. Anyway, I dressed up for work again this year. I'm sure I mentioned it before but, I've never really cared for Hallowe'en. But dressing up for work, does seem to make it better. The leftover chocolate helps too. Anyway, here's a photo for those of you who haven't seen it yet on Facebook.

I am a little disappointed that there were only a handful of people who knew who I was dressed up as. I even wore a name tag with the characters name on it. I really got annoyed with the Smurf guesses very quickly. Towards the end of my shift, some of the more older kids were stopping at the store after school and there was some recognition from them. For those who don't know who I am, I'm Finn the Human from the TV show Adventure Time. I made Finn an adult, thus the beard. It think it looks better if Finn had a proper blond beard rather than my dark brown/black beard. It also hides most of my piercings, including one I never shared when I got it; that would be a labret. The eyebrow piercing which is normally hidden, I were a hat at work, is very prominent.

I am currently working on a bauble tatted project. I hope to finish it this weekend, if I can focus on it long enough. My book on bauble tatting arrived, and wow is it awesome. I'll share the Windmills doily at its current status at the same time. Till next time.

Has It Really Been That Long?

I didn't really plan to be away from blogging this long. I don't really know what happened. I guess I lost interest in the motif I was working on, like, almost instantly after my last post. As least it seems like it. I hadn't done much tatting since my last post. Actually I haven't done much of anything craft/art related since my last post. I partially blame in on the fact that I have to make nearly every I eat in order to keep my sodium intake down. In case anyone is wondering, my blood pressure seems to be under control. I had a few medication changes and one dosage change since this all started. I don't need to see the doctor till November, which is nice. The weekly visits really didn't help; it was always high when I went. He said I might be able to go off the medication one day. I did have to repeat one of the test I did in the hospital because of an "anomaly" but the doctor there doesn't think it will be an issue, so we'll see what happens there. Anyway, I did get inspired to finish the final motif I was working and getting it joined this past weekend. I haven't taken a picture yet, but I will soon. I do a have a few things I did this weekend as well.

I'm sure many of you have seen Jane's posts about bauble tatting and the book about them by the Shuttle Brothers (see here: http://www.gr-8shuttles.com/tatting_gr8_baubles.shtml). They looked so complicated that I convinced myself I probably couldn't tat them and didn't need the book. Of course Jane launched an Exclusive Club for people who make them and that made more people make them and more of the items from the book. I wanted the book then. When I saw that Bestitched added the book to their shop, I ordered it right away. While I'm waiting for the book to arrive (and all the other stuff I "needed" too), I figured I should practice. Here's my first attempt:

Apart from the beginning, I didn't do too bad. It took a few rounds for me to figure out how the bauble worked. It's basically a continuous spiral that is held in place by guy wires-they're thread but they do the same thing. Each round lays literally on of the previous round, and what is the outside of the bauble is the top of the row. Once I discovered this, they're pretty easy to do. I'm going to practice them for awhile and I might start experimenting with them on my own. I don't think there are many patterns using them yet. Feel free to post the comments if you know of any that aren't in the book. Oh, and I'm now an Associate Member of the Exclusive Tatting Club. I'll be a full member once I send in a bauble mouse from the book. Besides available directly from the Shuttle Brothers, many of the popular tatting stores online have the book as well.

Before I go, I wanted to share the new pair of slippers I crocheted Saturday. I know I've shown other slippers I made before but the particular fuzzy yarn I used gave them a kinda cool effect.

I'm pretty sure the fur is longer on this brand of yarn (Loops & Threads Fabulous Fur) and it spreads out a bit when my feet are on the floor. It kinda looks like I have wolf paws. Which is fitting because the colour is called "Wolf". Sorry, I thought is was cool and I've never seen any of the other slippers I've made do this.

That's it for now. I'm going to really try to post again more frequently. Hopefully the tatting bugs bite lasts for awhile with the bauble tatting inspiration. I'll share the updated photo of the Windmills doily once I get photo of it. Till next time.

An Interesting Few Weeks (And Some Tatting!)

I had planned to post near the beginning of the month. I really did. However something funny kinda happened. I ended up in the hospital two weeks ago yesterday. Yeah, wasn't really very funny, or fun for that matter. Went in to the hospital with vertigo, and found out that I had very high blood pressure. I was in the hospital for three and a half days. I had many tests and was put on medication while I was there. Nothing significant was found. I did go back to work for the rest of the week. The doctor told me to take the following week off when I next saw him (ie: last week; I went back to work yesterday). I didn't bring anything with me to do while I was in the hospital- I didn't think I would be hospitalized. And I didn't know how long I would be there; it was kinda one day at a time. However, I have been doing a fair amount since. I did a lot last week while resting.

Since I spent a fair amount of time lying in bed taking it easy, I wanted something easy to work on. I decided to work on the Windmills Doily. If you need to refresh you mind on what it looks like, or are new here, you see what it last looked like here. I continued making it oval shaped.

I'm actually further along than this. I am working on another "row" to make it longer. It looks more like the digitally altered version I made to show how it will look if I made it oval. You can see that version here. I am planning on adding a row to the top and bottom to make it wider. Probably won't get to that point during this tatting session. I am starting getting tired of it again. Thread stats: DMC Cordonnet size 20. I'll provide an update once I'm finished the current row- I have three more motifs to make.

Finally, I'll share another motif from New Tatting. This was the motif I planned on blogging about two weeks ago.

This is the Dahlia motif. It was quick and easy to tat. As with the first motif I shared in the my last post, I jumped from the first round to the second with a split chain and a split ring. This was tatted in Lizbeth size 20. I don't know the colour number right now. I'll update the post if/when I find the ball of thread. I don't remember where I put it two weeks ago.

That's about it for now. I'll try and post again soon. In case anyone is interested, I am also having a sale in my Etsy shop for the rest of the week.  Till next time.

Tatting From New Tatting

It's been a while again, hasn't it? Hopefully everyone is doing alright. Since my last post, spring has finally come. It was almost 30 degrees C today. It's clouded over now, so I wouldn't be surprised if it rained or even stormed tonight. Everything is growing. And I hate having to work inside. I'm so jealous of the people who work in the store's garden centre. I've been somewhat busy with new plants that arrived in the mail recently, as well as the ones that just have to come home with me from the local nurseries that I have to visit. Anyway, I did manage to get a bit of tatting done, which I will share.

The motif I am about to share is from a new tatting book, which, is called New Tatting, written by Tomoko Morimoko. Her mother, Teiko Fuijito, is a tatter as well.

 As I mentioned in a comment on Lace Lovin' Diane's blog, the book seems to be written for beginners. As a result, some more advanced tatters might not agree with some of the methods used. The main one would be using glue to finish the ends. Which, to me is fine as that is often the recommended method for finishing ends for beginning tatters. Many of them will probably learn better methods as their skills advance. Oh, and the book is in English.

This is Christmas Rose. It was quick and easy. It was supposed to be done in two rounds, but I used a split ring and two split chains to you can tat it with no cutting and tying between rounds. In case you're wondering, the second split chain is right at the top in the photo. I wanted the ends to come out in one of the small chains so I didn't have to hide them. I have to say, there are a number of interesting patterns. I'm sure you'll see more from this book. In case you're wondering, I bought the ebook version of the book. The photo of the cover is a screen capture of my iPad. If you're interested, you can buy the ebook and book directly from Interweave (the publisher) here.Thread stats: Lizbeth 20, colour #704.

That's it for now. I did find a snowflake I tatted a few months ago while sorting through my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. I'll have to save that for another post. I was wondering how many of them I have-I may have an addiction problem. I also may have bought another one this past Saturday when Jane offered more for sale in her shop. I didn't get the one I really wanted, so I'll be waiting for the new batch too. Till next time.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate!

I was hoping to have posted a while ago, but, unfortunately, an unscheduled tatting hiatus occurred shortly after my last post. I have hardly touched the doily since. I have done some tatting though. I am working on an exchange with Tattingchic, though I think I am running behind on that too. A couple of nice chainmaille order came though a few weeks ago as well, which was nice. So I've done some chainmaille since my last post.

In case you missed in, I was mentioned in an article by Georgia Seitz on BellaOnline. You can read it here. It's about tatting with Teneriffe lace. Gee, Teneriffe Lace is something I haven't done in a while either. I should try and make a few motifs when I have some time.

Since I don't have any tatting related photos to share, I guess it's time for an orchid photo! Here is a photo of an orchid I bought a few years ago that finally flowered:

This is Phalaenopsis parishii. It's one of my miniature Phalaenopsis orchids. The whole plant is aproxximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from leaf tip to leaf tip. The flower is about 1/2 inch (1.8 cm) wide. It's mounted on a piece of bark and lives in a terrarium like environment.  A few other Phals bought at the same time are or have flowered recently. I don't have photos ready for them. It's always nice to see the plants flower. It's a good sign that they are being cared for properly.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get back to work on the Japanese doily soon. I'm still waiting for spring to stay here. The weather's been all over the place. It was nice for a while, then it got rather cold for a while. Then it'll try to snow, then get nice again. This weekend was pretty awful weatherwise. We had snow, then freezing rain, followed by more snow, then rain. When it's not snowing or raining it's just cloudy and cool. The forecast for tomorrow is plus 15 and sunny. Let's hope that's what it does. Till next time.

Japanese Doily, Take Two

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working on a motif/doily from Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige. I made this motif earlier, back in November, 2012. You can see the post here.When I made it then, I was having trouble with the overlapping chains. I think I figured out how to make it, without unwinding bobbins and/or shuttles. Here's the centre or glass mat if you will:

It's not blocked yet, so it's a bit ruffly. This is the first two rounds of the doily. In order to get the shuttle to go through the interwoven chains, I used a narrower shuttle. Specifically, a Celtic shuttle. It works much better, apart from winding the thing seemingly all the time. The one I bought, a Lacis metal one, only holds about half as much as an Aero/Aerlit. I'm faily pleased with the result, and decided to continue tatting and make the next size doily. Oh, the thread is Lizbeth 20, colour #602 Natural.

And, like magic (and procrastination from blogging!) we have the third round finished:

It's still ruffled somewhat, but I think it will flatten out once blocked. This round was quick to tat. Probably because I was using a Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle for it. I am currently working the fourth round. It's an interwoven chain round, like the second round. It's slow going because I have to add thread every four or five clovers. Hopefully, I'll have it done by next weekend and I could do a quick post. I plan on making the largest version on the doily since rounds five and six are similar to three and four.

That's it for now. I have been making steady progress on round four, so I hope it won't take long to share it. I hope the weather is cooperating for everyone. We started warming up since my last post, and have had many days above freezing. Our high was 6 C today.  The snow is definitely melting, which is awesome to see. I just hope it keeps melting and doesn't snow anymore. It's been a long and cold winter. I'm looking forward to spring and summer. I have a lemon tree inside that has been flowering for the past few weeks. I've been pollinating the flowers as they open, so I'm hoping I may get a few lemons this year. Till next time.

Quick Update

I'm still here. I just haven't been tatting much apart from the TIAS. I have done a little more chainmaille, but not much, mainly my own stuff. There are a few crochet projects I'd like to make, but we'll see if they happen before spring.

Since I was managing to remember to send progress pics to Jane, I think I will skip to the final motif:

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Jane's TIAS this year turned out to be a Pirate Ship. OK, I think technically it's a "sailing ship" but that mine's a Pirate Ship. What's that? Who says a pirate ship can't have pink sails. Yeah, probably not the best choice, but if you did meet some pirates with a ship that had pink sails, you might not argue with them. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20 #s 701 and 704 (the blue one). Thanks Jane for hosting the TIAS. It was lots of fun.

That's it for now. I am currently working a doily as my main tatting project right now. It is one I have partially done before, but found a more efficient way of working parts of it. I hope to do a proper post in a couple days. I hope to get a fain amount of tatting done as it supposed to be really, really, really cold this weekend. We're supposed to be in the minus 50's with the wind chill tomorrow. Which is better than the -60 something Environment Canada was forecasting yesterday. Till next time.

TIAS 2014, Days 4-8

Yeah. I haven't been posting these as often as I hoped. With the exception of a special tatting experiment (still in progress-will share when ready), I haven't done much tatting except for the TIAS tatting. I have been somewhat inspired to do some chainmaille lately. I learned two new weaves and made a few bracelets using them. I will share once I get some decent photos. 

Anyway, here are my TIAS 2014 progress pictures, these are days 4,5,6,7 and 8:

Jane is definitely making this TIAS difficult! I'm not sure if anyone has guessed it right yet, and  she won't tell us. I am having fun with this though.

That's it for today. I hope to spend the rest of today tatting. It's my birthday today, for anyone not on Facebook. My copy of Jan Stawasz's first book arrived today. I definitely hope to tat something from it today. Till next time.

TIAS 2014, Days 1 to 3

I'm still here. I didn't get as much tatted over Christmas as I would have liked. I had meant to post earlier, but I have been down with a cold for over a week now. I am feeling somewhat better, though, I'm not operating at peak efficiency yet. Actually, I haven't felt like doing much at all lately. I did some crochet last weekend. Nothing special. Just a new pair of slippers using a pattern I've used before. It may be my cold, but I just haven't felt like tatting much. I've been flipping though pattern books and I have a number of motifs picked out, but I just haven't picked up my shuttles yet. And speaking of cold, it was freaking cold out last weekend. With the wind chill, it was -50 outside! -34 or -35 without the wind. And I still had to go to work. Granted, it wasn't snowing or anything; I think the sun was out all day, but still. It did warm up by the end of the week, and we had single digit negative temperatures this weekend.

Anyway, as you can guess from the title, I am participating in Jane's latest TIAS (Tat It And See). Since I'm not busy with other stuff like the last TIAS (or two, I can't remember), I decided to participate. Here is my progress for the last three days:

Day 2 looks like a leg to me, but Day 3 kinda changed that. I have no idea what it could be right now. I'm sure Jane will keep us guessing right till the end. I'm using Lizbeth 20 #701 Dark English Rose. I have no idea why I bought this thread. It's not one of the colours I usually buy, but felt drawn to it for some reason. None of the photos above capture the colour correctly-even the colour of the smart cover on my iPad is wrong. The top photo is probably the closest. I'm not sure if I'll post after each days progress, we'll see.

I think that's it for now. I'll have to post again soon. I do have a few motifs that I tatted over Christmas that I remembered to photograph before giving away to share. I also found out some good news for some of us who were waiting for the reprint of Jan Stawasz's first book. It is currently available from Handy Hands. Or you can order it from the publisher here: https://www.gecom.pl/index.php/en/create_order . This is probably what I'll be doing. I don't really need anything else from Handy Hands to justify their shipping charges and I haven't noticed any of the other tatting suppliers offering the book yet. Handy Hands does have a number of new foreign language books I kinda want, but I am planning on purchasing some other books so they will have to wait. That's it for now. Till next time.