Crystal Star

Wow, where is the time go? I can't believe November is almost over, already. I did plan to post earlier but I never seem to have the time. I am still working in the department I transferred to at work. Generally all my shifts start around 5 am. I've gotten used to for the most part, but I'm still having some time management issues. Hopefully I will get them worked out soon. Anyway, I've been working on a number of projects, I'm just not sure I'm going to get around to posting everything.

I was working on The Monsterpiece Doily, but I keep putting it aside to work on other stuff. When I saw Frivole's Crystal Star, I knew I had to tat it.

I think it turned out pretty well. I used some DMC Cordonnet size 20 thread with Swarovski 4mm bicone crystal beads. I like the star in white, but I think it would look even better in a yellow thread with yellow crystals. I may have to try that sometime. I'll definitely be tatting this pattern again soon. I am currently working on another one of Frivole's designs, so I might be able to post that in a few days.

I've been doing a lot of crocheting lately. Mostly things that will probably be used for gifts this Christmas. I still have a few more to make. I'll try to take some photos of the finished items, but no promises. I still have a pair of socks to finish knitting. I have picked them up and knitted a few rounds just to prove to myself that I still remember what I am doing. I have also done some chainmaille as well, a few surprise sales. If anyone is interested, I am planning a Black Friday Weekend sale, starting tonight at midnight and going until midnight Tuesday morning. I have been thinking about closing my shop in the new year. I haven't decided yet, but I feel like I spend more on Etsy fees than I earn from sales. We'll see.

That's about it for now. I'll try to post again soon-I really mean that. I think I should be able to spend some time this evening tatting, so I should finish my current small project and perhaps start another one. 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.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

Football related tatting that is. I am kinda nervous and excited to be part of The Football Blog Hop, organized by Catherine of Ancora Crafts. This is the first time I've been involved with a blog hop. For anyone not familiar with a blog hop, each participant creates a tutorial that they share on their blog. At the bottom of this post (and the posts of each participant) are links to the other participants. Make sure you check out their tutorials as well.

OK. My project is a tatted motif. Obviously, you'll need to know how to tat in order to make the motif. YouTube has a growing selection of tatting tutorials if you wish to learn. Alright, we got that out of the way, so now we can begin.

You will need:

• 1 or 2 tatting shuttles or tatting needles
• 1 ball of size 20 thread in the colour you want your football, I used Lizbeth #692 (Brown) and Flora #230 (Green)
• 1 ball of size 20 thread in white, I used DMC Cordonnet
• fine crochet hook (optional if your shuttle has a hook or pick)
• a safety pin (coil less preferred), or a paperclip
• scissors

 
At this point I should mention that I haven't tested the pattern using needles. It should work though.

Abbreviations

R       Ring
SR     Split Ring
CH    Chain
vsp    Very Small Picot
LJ      Lock Join (AKA Shuttle Join)
-        Picot
---     Large Picot
J, +    Join (a normal join)
SLT    Shoe Lace Trick

Let's begin!

Wind a couple yards/metres of brown (or colour you want) thread continuously onto each shuttle. You can use just one shuttle and the ball if you are not comfortable with making split rings and split chains. I have noted the changes needed when necessary. Don't wind more than one yard/metre if you take this route.

Tatted Football ©2013 Jeff Hamilton

Round 1

R1: 3-3---(10mm)3-3 RW
Ch: 4-4-4 RW
R2: 3+3+3-3 RW
Ch: 4-4-4 RW
R3: 3+3+3-3 RW
Ch: 6-6 RW
R4: 3+3+3-3 RW
Ch: 4-4-4 RW
R5: 3+3+3-3 RW
Ch: 4-4-4 RW 
R6: 3+3+3+3 RW
Sch: 6/6 Flip work. Do not cut thread

If you don't know how/don't like to make Split Chains, you can make the last chain 6-6, join to base of first ring. Cut, tie, hide ends.

Round 2

Now, if you made the split chain in round 1, leave a short length of thread before starting SR1. You are making a mock picot. If you didn't make a split chain, then make SR1 a regular ring like so: 8+8 RW. Make sure you join to one of the chains with only one picot.

SR1: 8/8 RW
Ch: 8-8 RW
R2: 4+4 RW (The join goes above the next ring on the previous round)
Ch: 2-2 LJ 3-3 LJ 3-3 LJ 3-3 LJ 2-2 LJ RW
R3: 4+4 RW (The join goes above the next ring on the previous round)
CH: 8-8 RW
R4: 8+8 RW
Ch: 8-8 RW
R5: 4+4 RW (The join goes above the next ring on the previous round)
Ch: 2-2 LJ 3-3 LJ 3-3 LJ 3-3 LJ 2-2 LJ RW
R6: 4+4 RW (The join goes above the next ring on the previous round)
Ch: 8-8 LJ to base of SR1. Flip work. Do not cut thread.

Hmmm. Kinda looks like a dog biscuit, doesn't it? Don't worry, it won't stay that way for long.

Round 3

Alright, I have to say pretty much the same thing here as above. If you will make a split ring, leave a short length of thread before starting SR1. You are making a mock picot. If you don't know how/don't like to make split rings, then make SR1 a regular ring like so: 8+8 RW. Make sure you join to the space above the first ring you made in the previous round.

SR1: 8/8 RW
Ch:13 LJ 8 LJ 5 LJ 6 LJ 6 LJ 5 LJ 8 LJ 13 RW
R2: 8+8 RW
Ch:13 LJ 8 LJ 5 LJ 6 LJ 6 LJ 5 LJ 8 LJ 13 Join to base of SR1. Tie, cut, hide.

Still with me? Good. We're almost done.

Stripes (Make 2)

Wind a couple feet of white thread onto a shuttle and leave attached to the ball. Slip a paper clip or safety pin on the thread to begin. It will give you a place to hold onto and a picot. A twofer! You may find it easier later to make the first stitch a lock stitch.

Ch: 8vsp8 SLT, RW
Ch: vsp8LJ8 LJ to p made using paperclip, SLT, RW
Ch: LJ to previous Ch, J(to 1st picot on the football marked with a green dot, don’t make the join too tight )9LJ to space above previous LJ,9 LJ to last vsp on previous Ch, J(to the picot on the football marked with a red dot, don’t make the join too tight). If you have trouble with the joins don't worry. I don't think there is a right way or wrong way here. join as best you can.

Tie the shuttle and ball threads together then cut the threads. Take the threads to the back of the football and tie the threads together again. Hide them as you wish, or cut them close to the knot and leave them. Repeat for second stripe joining the stripe to the football using the second green and red dots.

Awesome! We now have a tatted football to use as you wish. I'm sure someone might mention it, but I didn't add stitches to the football. They would be easy to add if someone wants to. I think a pair of footballs would look pretty cool as earrings for the football loving lady. Strategic picots on the outer round could allow them to join to become something larger. Football doily, anyone?

I hope everyone had fun tatting the football. And of course, if anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I've tested the pattern pretty extensively (I have quite a few tatted footballs now), but if anyone finds an error or doesn't understand something please let me know. I will be releasing the pattern in PDF format soon. I hope to do so over the weekend. And to incorporate my favourite football team, The Saskatchewan Roughriders:

You can buy green footballs for the Roughriders apparently. Hopefully, that's not cheating.

Thanks for playing along. And be sure to check out the other crafters in the blog hop!

CraftyPod

InLinkz.com

Windmills & New Book

Well, I haven't gotten as much tatting done as I'd like since my last post. I did do a little crochet; it's not much kind of a granny square type motif in thread. I have to say Lizbeth is awesome to crochet with! I can't show it yet. I just literally blocked it while I'm writing this. I'll show it next time. Besides the crochet and tatting, I haven't done much else. Sales in the shop have come to a complete standstill, but whatever I guess. I have decided to discontinue the Sterling silver jewelery line as it doesn't sell. I currently have them on sale for 40% off. I'll keep them marked down until they sell. Anyway, onward to the tatting!

Since I still haven't been able to decide what new pattern I'd like to try, I decided to go back to a favourite standby-Mary Konior's Windmills!

I am, of course, working on the large doily I started a while ago. You can see the doily as it is right now here. I've decided I'm gonna continue the doily as I planned, ie: make it oval shaped. I mean, if Wendy of Umintsuru can create a version with multiple colours, I can make an oval one. Wendy's version is here and is pretty awesome, by the way. I will be honest, I don't know if the doily will end up oval in the end. It's less daunting to me to tell myself that I only need to make 7 motifs to make the doily oval. Once I'm there, I'm sure I'll decide to expand the other four sides. I'll keep you guys updated.

Finally, I got a new tatting book. I'm sure many of you also recently got the book too. I am talking about Martha Ess' new book:

I received the book last week, and I must say I have several patterns picked out to tat. I particularly love the large dragon; it's the first pattern in the book. I have always wanted to tat Pam Palmer's dragon pattern but it went out of print before I could buy it and I haven't come across the pattern whenever I go looking for it. I think Martha's version very good replacement. I've never framed any tatting before, but I would love to have a framed tatted dragon hanging on my wall. Anyway, once I'm sick of tatting Windmill motifs, I'll be tatting something from this book.

That's about it for now. I'm still drinking tea and have discovered more local options than I initially thought. I found a couple of brands that offer tea in pyramid shaped tea bags that are either whole leaf tea or contain larger leaf pieces. I'm glad I have new options, and it gives me a chance to try different types of tea. So far, I enjoy black and white teas but I'm not a fan of most green teas, though I do enjoy jasmine green tea. Hopefully I'll update a bit more often now that I'm back on my regular work schedule again. Till next time.

Oh, Canada...

OK, the title may be a couple weeks late, but it seems appropriate for what I made, finally. I'll made this post short as I really can't wait to share.

As I think I mentioned in my last post, I've been wanting to make this for a while, but I never got around to it. Till now. And here it is:

Yup. It's the Canadian Flag. It measures 3 inches by about 6 1/4 inches. Not quite the proper 2:1 proportions, but close enough. Except for the 6 regular rings, the flag part is made solely using split rings. Lots of split rings. The maple leaf was designed by Frivole. It's in her free pattern section. Though, I found in on intatters. I hope she doesn't mind I used it for my flag. I did make a few small changes. She used Josephine knots on the points of the leaf, and since I'm not particularly fond of JKs, I made small regular rings instead. Thread stats: the white thread is DMC Cordonnet size 20, the leaf was made using DMC Perle cotton size 5 and the red part of the flag is DMC Perle cotton size 8-both colour #321. Despite being the same colour, the leaf is a bit brighter in colour.

In order to get the leaf sizing right, I had to make a few leaves.

The top leaf is the first one I tatted. The small red leaf is the second one I made. I experimented a bit with the points and made small rings with a picot instead of the JKs. The large red leaf is the final version. I might remove the maple leaf from the flag and resew it back on. I'm not entirely happy with how I sewed it on. I had thought of joining the leaf to the flag as I tatted it, and I could make another one and try it. Other than that, I've very happy with my Tatted Canadian Flag.

That's it for now. Well, I did have one idea that I thought would be cool:

Hope you like it! Till next time.

Still Tatting

Yeah, I'm still here. I just haven't been inspired to tat anything lately. At least until last week. I am waiting for some yarn and wire for a crochet project I've been wanting to do. This is going to be a fairly short post. I just want to do a quick teaser post. I'm actually almost done, then I have another idea I want to try. Before I forget, my German Triangle Motif Doily was featured in a blog post at Ancora Crafts. The post in question is here.

As I said above, I haven't felt like tatting until early last week. An idea came last Monday evening and I just had to start working on it. I managed to tat the following by the end of last Tuesday:

The thread looks kinda creamy in the photo, but I used white. The next part needed red thread. I now I have some, but I couldn't find it. I still can't. I went out, figuring I could easily buy another ball. Boy, was I wrong. Apparently, I forgot how hard it is to find size 20 thread in any colour besides white and ecru, after being able to buy Lizbeth (and Flora) easily online. I ended up buying some size 8 perle cotton that worked out pretty well, as well as some size 5 perle cotton from my Temari thread stash when I found that I needed a thicker thread in a matching red. Sorry, I'm not sharing a photo of the result yet. Feel free to make a guess though. If you dare.

I was going to share the third part of my mystery idea, but I'm pretty sure it will give it away. So that'll have to wait until my next post. If it helps, it involves one of Frivole's patterns. So instead, I'll share a quick photo of my Industrial Piercing. So if you don't want to see it, you may leave now without fear of missing any more tatting.

The photo is from a few weeks ago. As of this Thursday, I'll have had it for almost seven weeks. It hardly hurts now, compared to when I first got it. As to why I got it, well, simply, because. I think it's a phase I'm going through. I don't think I'm finished either.

That's about it. I hope to post again either Friday or Saturday, maybe sooner.

Where Does The Time Go??

Wow. Has it really been over three weeks since I last posted? So much for "this shouldn't take long, I'll post again real soon." I guess I've been busy. Not tatting, but busy. I can honestly say I haven't done a heck of a lot of anything. Well, I have been playing around with a few new things. I was looking around on iTunes, and came across several ebooks with titles such as "Manly Crafts" and "DIY Jewelry for Men" and was intrigued enough to purchase them (they're $0.99 each, I'm not breaking the bank account here; I did read the samples too before buying). The ebooks are essentially compiled tutorials from Instructables, but they're pretty handy to have on my iPod Touch for offline use; I really need an iPad now. Anyway, I've got some materials ordered for a few new crafts. And I did make a leather cuff bracelet after a quick trip to Michaels for some snaps. Here's a quick photo:

Nothing spectacular but kinda cool. It's made from an old belt. My cutting also needs some work, but that will come with practice. There's instructions for a really cool watch band too. I'm sure one could put tatting on the bracelet if they really wanted too. I don't have much tatting to share tonight. I did finish my Windmills doily. The edging seemed to drag on forever. Here's a photo of it:

The tatting is finished, but the doily isn't "finished". I still need to hide the ends and block it. I like the edging, but it needs some tweaking before I use it on the big doily. The stitch counts need work, and where the edging jumps from one motif to the next needs some work. That will be dealt with later. I will continue the big doily to make it oval. I know I mentioned it in the comments, but the doily will (hopefully!) go on a rectangular table, so an oval doily should look better. Now that this done is done (I'll get around to finishing it soon), I need to find something else to tat. I don't really feel inspired to tat anything right now, but I'll look through my patterns and books to find something to tat while I watch a movie tonight. That is, if I can decide on a movie.

Before I go, I can't help wonder what new Blogger interface is everyone talking/complaining about? This is my interface:

 I've had it for a while now, I can't remember how long. Did most people simply not switch to it or is there an actual new interface?

That's about it for now. I also received a copy of Ginny's new tatting book for test tatting a few of her patterns. I still need to retat one of them. Hopefully, I can get something tatted so I can post again in the near future. Till next time.

Windmills Doily, Take Two

I'm still here. I've just been quiet. I have been tatting, in case you are wondering. I just haven't had anything to show you until now. And it's not technically finished yet, but I couldn't wait any longer. You also may have noticed that I haven't posted any chainmaille in a while too. That's because sales have come to a standstill. I think there are just too many people selling chainmaille on Etsy now. I have thought about moving to another site, but I don't think that will help. Some people are selling their jewelry way too cheaply-some are slightly over my calculated materials costs. So as items expire, I am removing items that have never sold before. I won't shut down the shop entirely, it doesn't take much effort if nothing sells. No pity sales, please. I've been working a lot of extra hours at my real job lately, so I'm not really losing anything here.

You may remember that I started another doily using Mary Konior's Windmills motif (from the NOT out of print book Tatting With Visual Patterns), made out of size 10 DMC Cebelia thread. Yeah, I don't remember either-I mentioned it here. Well a year plus later here is the result:

Currently it is about 9 inches (22.8 cm) in diameter. Since this is the one for me I am going to make it oval shaped. I am also going to add the edging that most of you didn't think it needed. Hopefully this won't take that long. I started working on this after my last post and made five of the seven motifs pictured. I haven't done as much tatting this week as I would have liked. I was preparing supper last Saturday, and was a little careless and ended up cutting one of my fingers. I didn't think it would affect my tatting as much as it did-it was my left middle finger. But since I hold my tatting a little different, it made a big difference. It is healing quite nicely and I have been tatting over the past couple days. Not a lot, but still, I was tatting. I have to finish tatting the seventh motif, then I have three more to go. I will post again when I have completed them.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I will post again sooner rather than later. I am hoping to get this done fairly quickly. Then I can decide if I will make the other Windmills doily oval too or leave it round. I can also determine if the edging round is the way to go too. Till next time.

Digital Tatting: Oval Windmills Doily

Me again. Thanks everyone for your kind comments about the doily. And don't worry, it will be given to my mom as a gift as intended. I've never had this problem with any other tatting before. It's probably due to how long it's taken me to make it. Anyway, Miranda mentioned that making the doily into an oval shape may ruin the effect of the pattern. Well, I isolated two motifs (one on each side) from the doily (it wasn't easy; I kept going cross-eyed!) and duplicated them. The individual motifs were skewed and resized into the proper alignment. It's not perfect, but it shows the effect quite well.

Well, what do you think? Please be honest. Personally, I still like it. However, if looks odd to everyone else, I'll reconsider. I don't want to make it larger by adding another full round. I still have to add a final round of chains to finish it off as well.

That's if for now. I haven't done any tatting since I finished the doily, but I still hope to tonight yet. Tomorrow will be another cheese making day. I plan on making some Colby cheese. I'm also working on a chainmaille project, but it has become a major PITA. Till next time.

Windmills Doily and some Wool Roving

I finally got the Windmills done. Well, done for now. I'm still deciding if I will make it into an oval shape yet. Anyway, since I only had two motifs left to finish after the last post, I figured I'd have it done sooner. However, I didn't feel like working on it until Sunday. I ended up making some cheese on Sunday. I bought some proper cheese cultures, a new mold, and some cheese colouring (which I forgot to add!) and decided that Sunday was cheese making day. Though some tatting was done too.

I'm sure you probably want to see the doily by now. So without any further ado, here it is:

For anyone who recently came across my blog (and for others who may have forgot) here are a few stats about the doily. I am using Mary Konior's Windmills motif from her book Tatting With Visual Patterns, an awesome book, and one that is readily available from many online tatting stores (don't go to Amazon or eBay, and others for the book unless you want an out of print hardcover version). I am using DMC Cordonnet thread in size 20 in white. Right now the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) when measured across the diagonal. This is the largest tatted piece I have made to date. I am also ashamed to admit that I have become rather attached to the doily. I had wanted to give it to my mom as a gift of some kind when it is done, but now I don't want to part with it. Is that bad? I think I will have to make another doily for my mom. Same pattern (I love this pattern!) but using the size 10 DMC Cebelia I have. We'll see. The new one could be for me.

About a week and a half ago, I felt compelled to buy some wool roving from Etsy seller slimchicken. Here it is:

This one is called "Jewel Colonial".

And this one is called "Northern Lights Colonial". Probably 6-7 years ago, I gave spindle spinning a try with less than stellar results. Well, I guess it depends on your point of view; the resulting yarn was uneven and lumpy. I know you can buy novelty yarns that look like that, but it wasn't what I wanted. I'm not sure where my spindle is anymore. I made it at my parent's house since my dad has the woodworking tools to cut out the wooden disks. I ordered another one from a different Etsy seller. It was pretty inexpensive, and much prettier than the one I made. I'll provide updates once I find the time to do some spinning.

That's about it for now. I'm probably going to go ahead and order the rings required to make a chainmaille shirt next week. I've been looking through instructions for the past few days, and feel confident that I can make this. I'll provide updates for this project as well. Unless I change my mind. But that probably won't happen. Till next time.

Another Snowflake, Sharon's Skates and an Angel

I know. I've been kinda lacking in the posting department. I guess I've been busy. I am also going away Friday, so I wanted to post before leaving. I should be back next Monday. I have had a few more orders since the last time I posted which I have been working on. I still haven't listed the coloured Bicubix Blocks earrings, though I'll try tonight. I'm not sure if I'll keep the shop open while I'm gone, though I don't expect many (if any) orders this weekend.

Here is probably the last Angels in the Snow Snowflake for this year:

This one is tatted with one strand of DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread and one strand of Güttermann metallic filament thread in colour #143. I found this snowflake took forever to tat. I have the pattern memorized, and it's not difficult. The metallic filament broke a few times. I had to carefully retro-tat several times. I also had to do some cutting and retatting. But I finally got it done. I do like the way this one looks like. It has that hint of blue that snow sometimes has, though the ice crystals are clear.

I'm sure you've seen Sharon's skate pattern by now. Well, here is my tatted version:

I haven't made it into a pin yet. I still have to do that. This is going to be part of my mom's Christmas present this year. I'll have to get photos of the rest of it. I making the pin pretty much the same way Sharon did, except for the jingle bells. I'll have to lace them up yet, then assemble the whole thing. I made the holly leaves a little larger by using 3 ds instead of 2. Quite an interesting little pattern. I'll try to get a photo of the completed pin. I'll try anyway.

You may remember the crocheted dress I showed a few weeks ago.  A few of you easily guessed what I am making.

It is a clothespin angel. This is the only one I have made. Yeah, I know. I said I wanted to make five or six, but that never happened. Maybe another time.

That's about it for now. I don't know how many of you were aware, but there was a lunar eclipse last night. I took a quick photo before going to bed.

It's not the best photo, but it does show the beginning of the eclipse. If I didn't have to work today, I would have stayed up to see totality, which would have occurred shortly after 3 am (CST). It's actually kinda funny I didn't stay up to see the total eclipse. Some of you may be aware that Jane listed a number of shuttles on her Etsy shop. I actually set an alarm for 3 am (CST, of course) to be able to purchase a Holly wood Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle. Of course, I stayed in bed while purchasing the shuttle, and I didn't have to go outside in the -20 degrees C (-4 F) cold. I wonder if NATA (Nuts About Tatting Association) is still running. Getting up in the middle of the night to purchase tatting supplies must qualify. Anyone else see the eclipse?

That's it for now. I probably won't be posting until next week sometime. Till next time.

Another Angels In The Snow Snowflake. Plus Some Crochet

I have to admit, I haven't accomplished much tatting wise this week. Probably because I've been dealing with truck problems since last Wednesday. That would be the truck I'm currently driving. The one I rolled (still feels like a dream here, though I'm not dreaming about the accident anymore), has been declared a write off, though my dad needs/wants to show some documentation to see if he can increase the amount we can get back. We are currently looking into our options for a replacement truck for me- in all honesty, I've outgrown this truck. It's a Chevrolet S10, if you are familiar with this truck, you may be able to see why. If you haven't, the roof of the truck comes up to my chest; I'm 5' 8". I've seen cars that were bigger-OK, that might be a bit of a stretch. Oh, and if you're wondering, a dead/dying battery was the cause of my problems. Good thing I still had a month left on the 2 year free replacement warranty- thank you Canadian Tire, though it took what seemed like forever for them to give me the replacement. Anyway, I have a bit of tatting and crochet to show you. Enjoy!

As I mentioned during my last post,  I was working on another of Miranda's Angles in The Snow snowflake.

For this snowflake, I used one strand of DMC Cordonnet size 50 thread and one strand of Güttermann metallic filament thread in colour #36. I love using this combination of threads, using different colours of Güttermann thread. Though, the two threads equal about a size 20-30 thread. It measures 3 3/8 inches in diameter verses the 3 1/8 inches in diameter that the snowflakes in size 40 thread measure. I started another snowflake using the same threads in a different Güttermann colour. I'll show it the next time I post. I love this snowflake pattern! Thanks again Miranda.

Finally, I did manage a little bit of crochet this week. Here it is:

Hmmmmm. I wonder what it'll be. I had hoped to have photographed the dress before I crocheted the wings, but I didn't. This was among some stuff of my late grandmother's. I was one of the few that could and probably would make this kit. Yes, it is part of a kit, and it should make 12 of these (there are 5 different variations). I hope to make 5 or 6 of these at the very least. We'll see about the others.

That's it for now. Oh. I almost forgot. Some of you may be aware that Etsy has recently launched coupon codes for at least some shops right now. I get to try coupons so I have decided to give all of my tatting friends (and to those non-tatter followers of my blog) a coupon code for my shop. Just enter "JUSTFORTATTERS" (without the quotation marks) in the coupon field during checkout to receive 10% off everything in my shop. I'm also offering free North American shipping and reduced international shipping for the rest of the year. Just a note for anyone reading this now and those who may find this post months from now. While the coupon codes don't have expiry dates (right now, I'll update if needed) they can be deactivated by me at anytime. I'll keep it active for a while, but it won't last forever. Till next time.

New Design in The Works

Let me say one thing before I begin. I better not get sick again till, well, for awhile anyway. I was feeling better last Sunday. However I work up early (and I mean early) Monday morning with one heck of a sore back. I guess I must have done something to it while at work the previous week. So I haven't done much until a few days ago. My back is feeling better, its a little stiff right now. Anyway, I started work on a new tatted design.

But first, I wanted to provide a little information about the conductive thread I used last week. The thread is in fact thread. Specifically, it is silver plated nylon thread (apparently; I don't know how you plate nylon). It is about the same weight as sewing thread, maybe about a size 100. I used two threads together to tat the sample in the video. I also used four strands as a test, but I haven't compared it to see what size it is yet. Being a thread, it tatted quite well, not stiff like wire. More info can be found here. This project will probably be put on the back burner for a while;  I've got Hallowe'en and then Christmas tatting to start thinking about. This brings me to my newest design.

With Hallowe'en just around the corner, I figured I'd better get my next design finished. Without any further ado, here is (tentatively) Ripley the Ghost:

I say tentatively since I may change his name in the final draft. He began as a variant of my Sine Wave bookmark. However, I didn't like how the Sine Wave pattern worked with Ripley-so I really can't call him Sine Wave Ghost. I'm almost happy with how the design has turned out. I'm not happy with his ectoplasmic trail (not sure what else to call it; its the bottom thingy). I'll be refining the pattern over the next day or two. Then I have to write out the pattern. A few people volunteered to test tat my pattern on inTatters, so I should take them up on the offer, if they still want to. With any luck I'll have the pattern available for download early next week.

That's it for now. I plan on going to my parents house this weekend. So I probably won't post until I get back. Till next time.

Windmills Doily Progress and Special Thread

I had hoped to post earlier, but obviously that didn't happen. I ended up with a cold this week, and didn't feel like doing anything. I hardly touched my tatting this week. And I spent part of today working on a couple of bracelets that sold this weekend. Which is nice; sales have slowed right down lately. Anyway, I'll make this a short post. I'm still feeling kinda sick, and want to take it easy tonight.

This is the doily as of today. I am working on the seventh motif right now. Or rather, I've been working on the seventh motif for most of the past week. As you can see, the doily has become oval in shape (if you ignore the topmost motif). This is the same way I'll make the doily oval after this round in complete. Since I haven't received my order of thread yet, I'll have to move on to something else once I've finished the ball of thread. I probably won't show the doily again until the round in complete, but we'll see.
Speaking of moving on to something else, I want to mention my special thread. Actually, I'm not going to say much about it at all. Instead here is a video (assuming it works) showing what is special about the thread. By the way, this is actually tatted, no foolin':


Pretty cool, right? This is going to be a work in progress. I was playing with the thread. Due to the nature of the thread, I'll have to carefully plan out a motif to use the thread properly, and will have to use some cotton (or some other thread) to isolate different sections. And I'll need more LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes - a special kind of diode that emits light when electricity flows through it).

Before I go, I want to mention something. I was playing around with Blogger's settings, and discovered that I have the new editor after all. My blog was set to use the old one. So anyone who is using the new editor and wants to go back, check the Settings tab of your blog (it's visible in the new post and list of posts screens, and probably elsewhere) and see if you have an option to switch between the two editors. I've got my blog set to use the new editor so I can see what it's like.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get something accomplished this week. Before I go, I want to wish all my fellow Canadians a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Due to my cold, I have opted to stay in the city until next weekend or the weekend after to go see family. Till next time.

Not Much Goin' On

Really. I haven't felt like doing much of anything lately. I guess I've been lost in thought since my last post. Unfortunately, it's work related again. Though, this time it's different. An opportunity within my department has become available. I spent the weekend thinking about whether or not I wanted to apply for it. I did apply for the position yesterday. Now, I'm a nervous wreck waiting to meet with Human Resources and a manager. So, I haven't managed to tat much. Though I did get a little done.

I started working on the third round of my Windmills doily, see here. I made one motif Sunday and Monday evening. I started a second one yesterday. With any luck, I'll have the second one done tonight. I'll then have only 16 more to go. Actually, more than 16. I have decided (time allowing, of course) to expand the doily into an oval once the third round is complete. I'm not sure how many motifs will be needed, and quite honestly, I don't want to think about it right now; I've got enough on my mind right now. Before I go, here's a tatting action shot:

This is the second Windmills motif that I was working on earlier this evening.

That's it for now. We'll see if I get anything else done. I'll keep you updated on the work thing, too, if anyone is interested. Till next time.

Windmills Doily, Round 2

I was hoping to post this yesterday, but I felt really bad when I came home from work. I ended up sleeping for the rest of the day; had a heck of a time falling asleep last night though....

Anyway, here is the Windmills doily, with it's completed second round:

A quick note: I am assembling the motifs into a round doily, they could be arranged in a variety of other shapes. The doily is not finished; ie: a few ends need to be sewn in, others need to be clipped, and it's not washed/blocked. In case you're wondering, there are now 19 motifs making up this doily. It currently measures about 10 1/2 inches in diameter (measured on the diagonal, that's five motifs wide). I think this is the largest tatted item I have made so far. And I don't think I'm done. I really want to make one more round. I'm going to put it aside for a while; next time I'm at my parent's, I'm going to have to do a test fit. Mind you, there is another reason I put aside for a while. I'm almost out of thread. Let me rephrase that. I'm almost out of the DMC Cordonnet size 20 thread that I used. I've got enough other thread to last me a lifetime or two (but who doesn't). I'll do an update on the doily if/when I decide to tat a third round. If I don't make the third round, I still need to do the edging, and to block it. And I show it again.

That's it for now. Hopefully, I'll have something to show for the next post. Till next time.