Motif From Japanese Book

I'm still here. I was in pain for most of last weekend, though I was feeling better by Monday. I was also happy (I know, I shouldn't be) to hear that I wasn't the only one who slipped going in to work that day. I guess our store manager slipped and fell too, among others. Anyway, it snowed again Friday night and during Saturday. So we got anther 6-8 inches of snow. It's supposed to warm up again by the end of the week. Anyway I want to make this short.

I managed to tat a motif from the new Japanese book I recently bought. And, I tatted it with the new HDT I got from Jess.

I assume it has a name but I can't read it. I guess it's pattern 7 from page 53 from the book Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige. It's tatted with Jess' Blue Ridge HDT in size 20. It measures about 3.5 inches is diameter. I guess this is more of a glass mat/coaster. This is also the centre of two other doilies in the book. Though I don't know if I'm going to continue in that direction. I'm sure if I could read the book, I could figure out a better way of doing it, but I had to unwind both shuttles in order to overlap the chains in the second round. I did that 12 times. Not fun. I forgot to mention it earlier, but I was using bobbin shuttles to tat this. The bobbins didn't fit through the space.

That's about it for now. I am working on another motif from the same book, which I hope to share soon. It's going MUCH faster than the above motif. I'm also crocheting a shawl for my mom. It'll probably be part of her Christmas gift this year. I also received my Palmetto's Tat Days Pattern CD-I ordered it as soon as they became available. And I've also ordered a few of those new Aerlit shuttles. You'll have to guess which colour(s) I ordered. Till next time.

New Books, HDT, and Even Some Tatting

First of all, I'd like to mention how much I hate snow and ice. Mostly ice. We had some freezing rain Thursday night, followed by a fair amount of snow, 6-8 inches easily. I made it to work alright, however, I had an incident in the parking lot of my workplace. I was walking up to the building when I found a piece of ice. I slipped a bit, but caught myself. I walked a bit when I remembered something I forgot in my truck. I turned around and "found" the same piece of ice. I found myself on my back a second or two later. I'm fine. Just stiff and sore. Made for an interesting day anyway. A few of you commented about the snow on my last post. It isn't uncommon for us to have snow now. The last few years any that we get now melts away, and the snow that stays comes later and later.

I'll move on to the tatting related stuff now. As I mentioned earlier, I recently purchased a couple new tatting books. Both non English. Yeah, I know. I have two more books that I can't read. Both have diagrammed patterns, however. The first book is Japanese:

There's not much to say about the book. It's called Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige. There are a lot of nice patterns so you will probably see some of them. The next book is German:

Again, not much to say here either. This is Spitzen-Kreationen by Suzanne Schwenke. There are a number of nice patterns here too. In a way, some of them remind me of Mary Konior's patterns. There are number of motifs that look simple when by themselves but look much more complex when put together. The large doily on the cover is a good example. The single motifs are triangular. I know you will be seeing some of the patterns from this book

Finally, I'll share the small amount of tatting I've done since my last post.

This is the Ariel Glass Mat from Favorite Crochet & Tatting Designs, Book No. 205. This is the second pattern that I had rewritten. As I'm sure you can see, I made a couple of blatent errors towards the end of the motif. I don't know what happened. I've been working a lot lately, so I'll blame it on working too hard. I had planned on continuing tatting the 2nd and 3rd rounds, but I will have to redo it. I also spilled some Coke Zero all over it too, but I was fortunately using an ecru coloured thread, Lizbeth #603 size 20, so it doesn't really show. I really like the way this looks, though the eight "points" are kinda floppy. This could also work for a snowflake if you only did 6 repeats.

And finally (for reals this time!) I will show you the HDT I recently bought.

These are both from Jess. The top one is Havana, and the bottom one is Blue Ridge, both size 20. I don't really have any plans for them right now. I have Blue Ridge wound onto an Ez Bob, and I do plan on using it soon. Perhaps I'll make something from one of my new books.

That's it for now. I'll be going to bed soon. I have to work tomorrow, so I may miss the latest release of Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles from Jane. I do have the link to her shop on my smartphone so if I remember I'll check them out. I have been working on some chainmaille projects too. I hope to get a few of them listed soon. I am offering free North American shipping from now until Christmas for nearly everything. The Sterling silver jewelry is exempt. Due to my price changes, earrings qualify for free shipping too. Till next time.

Some Tatting, Finally!

Don't get too excited, I don't have much tatting to show. I'm not sure what it is lately, I just can't get into tatting. I want to tat something, I just don't know what. I have been working on my tie; I have 14 rows of 4-Ring squares left to go. I'm over half way there. I might start working on my mom's Windmills doily. I think for now, I will make it oval in shape. I don't want to make it round, but I may try Jane E's method of tricking myself into making the doily larger. Once it's oval, I might be inclined to continue making motifs until it's round. We'll see.

Anyway, here's the one piece of tatting that I managed to tat while away last week:

This is Ruth Perry's Celtic Maple Leaf. I've made it before, but this time I used some of Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple HDT in size 30 to make it. I like it in this colourway. Nothing really else to say about the leaf.

I think that's it for now. I'm kinda distracted right now; I'm catching up on the new season of Doctor Who. I've got a few new chainmaille earrings to share, but I'll make another post later. I may even get some more tatting done. Quick question before I go, any crocheters out there have a favourite (preferably online) shawl pattern? Till next time.

Jon's Foldover Bookmark. And More Maille

Well, again, I didn't get as much tatting as I would have liked. I focused on chainmaille again. I will try to make this post somewhat short. I do plan on posting again in a few days.

As the title indicates, most of the tatting I accomplished was Jon's Foldover Bookmark, found here.

This is a really cool pattern. And pretty easy to do. I decided to use some of my Silk HDT (HDST) from LadyShuttleMaker. I used sized 20 HDST in the Pensacola Beach colourway. I love this colorway. And the silk thread was a pleasure to work with. I haven't worked with silk thread until now because my hands always seem to be too rough, and I didn't want to have the thread snag constantly. But lately my hands have been fairly smooth, so I decided to give the thread a try. I'll have to use the silk thread more often, before my hands get rough again. This will be Motif #24 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

As I mentioned, I did a lot of chainmaille over the past week. One of the first projects I did was to remake my wallet chain. Again. I guess the Stainless steel rings I used were just a bit too big, and the chain started to come undone in a few places. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, that wouldn't do. I decided to make the chain in three different metals, since the Jen Pind Linkage weave that I used has three different planes in it. I chose to make the new chain in stainless steel, brass, and bronze. I thought they would look really cool together.

Unfortunately, in this gauge brass and bronze look quite similar so I didn't get the contrast I was hoping for. Since brass and bronze both tarnish and darken with age, my only hope now is that one darkens more than the other. I am NOT remaking this. My hands were killing me for a few days after I finished the chain.

I also made two bracelets in Sterling Silver.

I have to say, they both look gorgeous in real life. Though, I will admit, I don't expect them to sell. They are kinda expensive; about three times the cost of my other bracelets. But we'll see. Just for kicks, I also took a photo comparing the colour of stainless steel and sterling silver:

I had planned on posting yesterday, however I was so involved in my lastest chainmaille creation that I didn't want to stop. I'm not going to show you the finished piece though. I will post a teaser photo instead. You guys can guess what it will be, although I think it is kinda obvious.


So, any guesses?? I will post again in a few days with a photo of the completed item. That's all for now; my short post is getting pretty long. Till next time.

Mother's Day Pendant

This is going to be a quick post. Sorry for the long delay between posts. Lots going on, just not tatting related.

Some of you may remember the "Rose Garden" motif from Mary Konior's book Tatting in Lace that I made in white thread. If not, here is a refresher photo:

Here it is in all it's colourless glory. I thought it would look good in two (or more) colours. So that's what I tried. Here is the result:

All I can say is, Wow! I think it looks much better done in multiple colours. The purple thread I used for the rose is Purple Punch size 20 HDT by Yarnplayer and the green is Lizbeth size 20 in colour #684. I wanted to use HDT for the green as well, but all the green I had was in size 30 & 50 and most of the colours suitable for the rose were in size 20. The only colourway suitable for the rose in size 50 was still in skein form (I know, the horrors; actually I have quite a bit HDT in skein form since I never seem to have the time to wind it onto floss cards-I am working on it, I swear!). I was going to make this motif into a brooch, but I didn't have any proper brooch backs and I couldn't find any safety pins, so I attached a split ring to it to make a pendant. My mom loved it!

I was able to give my mom her Rose Garden pendant, as well as a chainmaille pendant, photo later, and a pair of teal anodized titanium earrings, that I showed earlier, today. My parents had to come to the city today, so I spent most of the day with them. It was nice.

That's all for now. I really, really, hope to post again, maybe mid-week. I do hope to get a substantial amount of tatting done. But, as always, we'll see. Till next time.



Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers out there!

Tatting and Teneriffe Lace, But Not Together

I figured I should post about what I've been tatting lately. I don't want anyone to think that I have given up tatting or something. I know a few of you are eyeing my Mary Konior books. You know who you are. I'll try to keep this short and sweet.

I'll start with the Teneriffe Lace first. I haven't done it in a while and figured I should give it another go. To make things interesting, I decided to use some hand dyed Linen thread (henceforth known as HDLT in this and possible future posts). Probably not the best idea, but linen thread would have been commonly used many years ago. Anyway, as Mica mentioned last year, the book I'm using, The Technique of Teneriffe Lace is now in the public domain with permission of the author Alexandra Stillwell. You can find the book here. Here's the motif:

Yeah, the linen thread wasn't a good idea. It was fine until I got to the final round of knotting. Then, as you can see, the thread snapped regularly. Mind you, I was watching Avatar (good movie, but too long for what it was trying accomplish; just bought the Blu-ray version, so I have to watch it again!!) while I was working on this motif, so I wasn't giving the motif my undivided attention. I'm not sure what to do with all those ends, and I don't like putting glue on the knots like the book suggests. I have some matching cotton HDT so I will probably add some tatting to the edge to give me a place to bury the ends. I'll post an update when I do this. Thread stats: Linen HDT (or HDLT, if you prefer) size 30/2 in the Summer Trail colourway by Yarnplayer.

The next motif is the edging I mentioned in my last post. It is from Mary Konior's A Pattern Book of Tatting.

This is Queen's Garter. It's a really nice pattern. I was thinking it would make a good bookmark, but I would join the chains together to make it a bit more stable. I'll have to try that with a heavier thread. Thread stats: Superior Threads Perfect Quilter thread. It is a 17 weight quilting thread that is equivalent to a size 80 tatting thread. The length of tatting is about 6 1/2 inches long and an inch wide.

The final motif is from the same book as the edging above.


This is No, Nay, Never by Mary Konior. I'll admit it, I made a couple mistakes on this one. I forgot to join a couple picots during the first two repeats, but I was using HDT and wasn't cutting anything out to correct it. I'll make it again sometime. Thread stats: HDT size 30 in Cobalt solid by Yarnplayer. I don't remember which colourway this is from. If anyone remembers, I'd love to know.

That's it for now. I am working on some more tatting. I'll post as soon as I can. You probably noticed a difference in my scans above. That is because I bought a new All-in-One printer recently. There was nothing wrong with my old one, besides the $80+ cost for ink cartridges (one black and one colour). Cartridges for my new printer, a Kodak ESP 5250, cost $25 for both black and colour. My new printer also prints borderless photos, which my old HP didn't do very well. I've read mixed reviews on these printers, but so far I'm having no problems (knock on wood). The only thing I don't like about it is the scanner. The scanning technology (CIS, or contact image sensor) used isn't designed for scanning 3D objects. The sensor can only be a few mm away from the object being scanned. However, I've been wanting a stand alone scanner for awhile, for traveling and such, so I probably be buying one in the near future. Hopefully, anyway. Till next time.

Yarnplayer's Dream Pendant

After Yarnplayer (AKA Marilee) posted her variation on her own "Dream" necklace and earring pattern, I just had to try it. And here is my attempt:

The original pattern is pretty easy to make and Marilee's variation doesn't add much complexity to the pattern. For this pendant, I used some of Marilee's "Purple Punch" HDT along with some metallic purple size 8 seed beads, size 6 silver lined crystal seed beads, and some very light purple drop beads. With all this purple, this pendant will obviously be a Christmas gift for my mom. I may be able to make a couple more for gifts before Christmas. I'll have to see. This is motif #16 of my second 25 Motif Challenge. Till next time.

Snowflakes, Turtles, and Snow

As with many other people, I have been busy working on Christmas gifts. I do have a few tatting related items to show. However, I would like to mention something first. Snow! I can't stand it! We didn't have any snow until recently. It started last week, and it seems that it is snowing nearly every day now. And (I'm not sure if this is just local, or if it happens everywhere), but after the first snowfall of the year, most drivers forget how to drive in the stuff. I think I got that out of my system right now. Be prepared to hear this again in January.

The first tatted motif I have to show is the third snowflake for the Snowflake Round Robin:

I should mention that this is not the snowflake I sent to my next partner. I was in a rush to get it mailed and I forgot to scan the thing. I heard that. I prepared this snowflake earlier for just such an emergency. OK, not really, I just really like this pattern. The snowflake is called "October Enchantment" by Lenore English. I used DMC Cordonnet size 30 thread to make the snowflake. This is motif # 12.

The next snowflake is one designed by Nancy Tracy:

I don't even remember seeing this snowflake of Nancy's. I'm not sure how I could have missed it. The snowflake was actually pretty quick to tat. I tatted the snowflake continously instead of cutting and tying each round. I used DMC Cordonnet thread size 30 (I think) for this snowflake. This snowflake was supposed to be used for the Snowflake RR, but at over 4 1/2 inches in diameter, it came out much too big. I'm going to use it for a Christmas gift instead. This is motif # 13.

The third (and final) snowflake is again a Ruth Perry design;

Again, this is Ruth's Celtic Snowflake 2008, this time done in some HDT. I used some of Yarnplayer's "Winter Blend" HDT in size 50. I just love this pattern, and Marilee's HDT. This snowflake is also going to be a Christmas gift. I currently have another one of these snowflakes in progress, but done in a different thread. The Winter Blend Celtic Snowflake is motif # 14 of my Second 25 Motif Challenge.

Finally, I made another one of Teri's turtles. This time, fully, cloth---er, shelled. Be warned Tattingchic, I will show the mermaids that I made from Martha's pattern. And you thought a naked turtle was bad!

This turtle was made using C-lon Micro thread. This is the thread that Teri recommends for her turtle patterns. It is quite nice to tat with, as long as you don't tat too tight. It does handle a little retro-tatting if necessary. And as a bonus, due to it's stiff nature, items made with it shouldn't need stiffening. BTW, this turtle is mine! I hope to make a few more yet before Christmas. This is motif # 15.

I think that is all for now. Besides another snowflake to make for the SRR, I may not get much tatting done. I have two afghans to crochet for Christmas gifts. That isn't as big a feat as you may think. I am using Super Bulky weight yarn and a size S (19mm) hook. Yes, you heard the size right; there is a hook available that is bigger than a Q! Till next time.

Rainbow Snowflakes: What a Difference Colour Makes

You knew it was coming. You had to. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I purchased some of Pamela's Rainbow HDT. Of course, I had to make a Rainbow snowflake. Here it is:

This is called "Kim's Snowflake" designed by Kim Millar. It is probably my favourite snowflake pattern. I have made this pattern in a variety of threads: regular cotton, metallic, glow-in-the-dark. And have used beads in combination with the above threads. Diane probably can make MK's Spinning Wheel in her sleep; I could do Kim's Snowflake in my sleep. As mentioned I used Rainbow HDT in size 60. The snowflake is about 2 inches in diameter. This is motif # 9 in my Second 25 Motif Challenge. I forgot to mention in the last post that the Invisible Tatted Layered Snowflake (ITLS) is motif #8.

I figured I should mention my attempts at blocking the ITLS last night. I tried ironing it. My iron has a "Nylon" setting which I figured should work. It didn't. The temperature seemed too low (I think you know where I'm going with this....). Being a man I turned the temperature up. And............

It didn't help. I didn't crank the temperature too high (just to be safe). You know, I think I would rather have a wavy snowflake than a melted one. Now I just have to find it ............

Oh, before I forget, the ITLS was featured today (Nov 4) on the Needlework News blog. You'll have to scroll down to find it. Pretty cool. That's all for now.

Tatting, Canning, Ebook Reader, and Orchid Photos

Well, the title says it all. This is going to be a long post. I've been meaning to post but just haven't had time (heck, I barely managed to update the Challenge page yesterday). I'll start with the tatting since that is what my blog is mainly about.

Motif number 5 for me is a pair of earrings for my mom's birthday.

These earrings are Yarnplayer's (Marilee) Carnival Earrings. Pattern available on her website. For the earrings, I used some of Yarnplayer Purple Punch HDT, a couple light purple crystals, and metallic purple size 8 (I think) seed beads. Gee, I wonder what colour my mom's favourite is? Actually, that may be too much purple for me. Getting weak.......must see blue ..........

That's better. As you can see, I am retatting my Male Betta (in the thread from Sylvia). This time trying to write out the instructions. I wrote out the pattern for the body shortly after posting the finished motif, but the fins have been rather daunting to write out. I'm not 100% sure how to write out block tatting, so it is going to take time. Knowing me, it'll be 6-8 months. OK, maybe not that much time. Hopefully I can get back to working on him soon. I've also been working on the Lucky Clover doily, but won't post an update picture until it is done. I have been working on TIAS4 too, but I haven't scanned it yet. One of these days.

Now, the main reason I haven't been tatting is because I have been doing some canning this year. Since several grocery stores have apples on sale right now I have been focusing on them right now. So far I have made half a dozen pints of Apple Butter (and will probably make some more), half a dozen half-pints of Apple Jelly (the recipe said it will make 3 half-pints & I only made one batch; go figure), and I hope to make some applesauce after work tomorrow. I'm not going to mention the Mint Jelly; something didn't work out, and think it was me! This jelly has a consistency somewhere between rubber cement and regular cement. From what I've read, I'm pretty sure I overcooked it. Maybe it was for the best, since my mint must have been too old and the jelly had no mint taste; the plant has been flowering/trying to flower for the past month or so. I hope to make some pickled carrots as well; I just have to find some dill.

Now, next on my list is my new ebook reader. As I mentioned previously, I was saving up for one of Sony's Portable Reader System (PRS-505) ebook readers and I finally got it. Diane mentioned that her mom got one of Amazon's Kindles, but since the Kindle isn't available in Canada (or anywhere else except the USA) it wasn't an option. Since many fellow tatters are offering their books in PDF format (and due to the fact that I tend to print web pages and the like to PDF files) an ebook reader was quite logical for me. Here is a photo of the device displaying one of my newest ebook purchases:

Hopefully Linda won't mind me showing the cover of her new book. The photo show the text as being a bit blurry, but in reality, it isn't. If anyone is interested, ebooks available from Toni Storer, Nina Libin, and Linda Davies are readable on the Sony PRS-505 after being formatted for the reader's screen size. Some of the large diagrams in Toni's books may difficult to read by some people. But that is what the computer and/or a printed copy is for.

Finally, I'll finish this post with three orchids photos from the three orchids I purchased over the last couple months. All three are NOID Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchids), but they are still very pretty.


Not really much to say about these. Not like I needed anymore orchids, but I couldn't resist. I haven't purchased any orchids since. If you don't count the two Phalaenopsis species seedlings that I got off eBay. No, we won't count them since they are still small and won't flower for a couple years. I guess I should finish the Betta pattern, and the Venus Fly Tat so I can work on the tatted Phalaenopsis I have drawn out. Well, kinda drawn out; I created outlines of each flower part and just have to fill in. Something tells me that they would be great block tatting candidates.

I have more plant photos, but I'll leave them for another day. Since my mom's birthday is coming up and the possibility that my workplace may go on strike (which may give me more time), I will probably have other tatted items to show within a week or so. Stay tuned. That's all for now.

More Dragons! I'm Surrounded!

more animals, picture courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com

I couldn't resist this picture, being a dedicated Firefox user. Now back to my regularly scheduled blog post.

I have been working on the second dragon for my mug. Here's a picture of it. The colour is very vivid in the scan.

As I mentioned earlier, I used Omega thread, in size 30. This is the first time I have used Omega thread. I am quite pleased with the thread. Handy Hands says its a 6-cord thread, but I haven't dissected a sample yet to know for sure. I am going to have to buy more Omega thread next time I place an order from Handy Hands.

After making the Omega dragon, I began to arrange the two dragons on the canvas. Of course, after a few minutes, I realized there was too much space left on the canvas. What to do? Naturally, I HAD to make another dragon!

As you can see, this dragon isn't very happy. He seems to resent being made last. I haven't seen anyone make the fire-breathing dragon variation of Anne's dragon, so I had to. This dragon is made with Pamela's HDT called "Coral Reef". I love this colourway! Pamela is fairly new in the HDT trade, but she certainly has a way with colour. I look forward to her future colourways. Back to the dragons.... These are Motifs 3 & 4 in my 2nd 25 Motif Challenge. I hope to sew the dragons onto the canvas tonight. I'll show my progress soon. Then I'd better get back to my doily. That's all for now.

Almost:


more animals

Some Tatting, Some Photos, and Did I mention I'm a Winner

As usual, it's been a while since I last posted. I finished the "Colonial Afghan". Here is a picture of it:

Thanks to my new camera (see post below), I have gotten a better photo of the afghan. It must the nature of the yarn that is making this afghan so hard to photograph. You should see the zig-zag pattern more clearly now. I think I may have to make another one for my mom. Of course, hers will have to be purple (oh the humanity, purple!).

I have also done some tatting as well. Here is my motif # 22 in the 25 Motif Challenge:

This pattern is called "English Ivy" and was designed by own very own Sharon Briggs. The pattern is in Sharon's book "Transitions in Tatting: From Flat to Floral". I used Yarnplayer's "Celery" HDT in size 30 and DMC Cebelia size 30 in colour number 699. I really like this pattern. I plan on making several more stem of different lengths to make a 3D plant. Due to carelessness of my part, this stem has a mutated leaf. I, um, forgot the short chain between the first and second ring, and didn't notice till I had to make the chain between the last two rings. I didn't want to cut off what I had made, so I left it the way it was. I actually like the "unintentional design variation" that occurred. Nature isn't perfect after all.

As I mentioned in the title of this post, I am a winner. Not once, but twice. First I won Gina B's monthly drawing. I can't wait to see what she makes for me. If you haven't entered her drawing, just go to her blog to find her email address and relevant posts about the drawing. Secondly, I won a $25 gift certificate from my favorite Canadian bead store, BeadFX. I'm very happy with this store, and you can't beat $4.95 ExpressPost shipping for all order under $100 (over $100 are shipped free if you're wondering). Now that I have the endorsement out of the way.....

Finally, last post I showed a picture of a closeup of a plant I have. Here is the plant that it came from:

This plant is called the Cape Sundew (Drosera capensis). This is another one of my carnivorous plants. I also plan of immortalizing this plant in tatting. I'm just not sure when. I have to finish the Venus Fly Tat (I made another leaf type, but still have to write out the pattern) and the Betta. Oh, and by the way, I have also been tagged in the latest round of tagging. If I can think of six unimportant things about myself, I'll post them tomorrow (or maybe later tonight). Until next time.

I Meant To Post Earlier, I Really Did

I think the title says it all. I have been kinda quiet lately. I have also not been tatting very much. Why? I was crocheting. I mentioned that I purchased some Lion Homespun yarn for an afghan, and I decided to begin work on it. This was decided so I didn't have to work on the afghan during the heat of the summer (which feels like a long way away). We, in parts of Saskatchewan (as well as in British Columbia and Alberta), got hit with snow, rain, freezing rain, snow and rain, and any other combinations of the three possible last weekend. This bad weather continued (to a lesser extent) during the week. A snowfall warning was issued for the city today. We had rain. Anyway, I am about half done the afghan, but I can't show you yet. You see, I can't seem to get a decent picture of it. If the flash on my camera goes off, it washes out the texture of the yarn and the pretty cool zig-zags that the pattern produces. If I turn the flash off, the colour is really bad, and often blurry. So, IF the sun comes out this weekend, I'll try to photograph it in natural sunlight.

I have done a little tatting as well. I signed up for the May Tatting Exchange run by Rachel Jackson (formerly run by Mary Donohue). The exchange is for a tatted bookmark. I am almost finished them but I can't show you them yet. Trust me, I really, really, really (you get the idea!) want to. I am using HDT matched with a solid colour to make them. One of my partners wanted many colours. Well, many colours she shall have; can anyone say "Tutti Frutti" by LadyShuttleMaker! I am matching the HDT with an appropriate solid, which will not be revealed. The pattern I have chosen is one I have made before, and I must say even I am impressed. The way the colour repeated in just the right way was unexpected, and welcomed.

While trying to find a nice pattern to make the exchange, I decided to try Mary Konior's Tatted Filet in Tatting With Visual Patterns. I tried it with HDT. I think I found another pattern where HDT may not work.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Please let me know what you think. I still have the shuttle and ball, er bobbin, attached to the piece. I plan on making this pattern again, but in a solid colour instead. Maybe if the rings were in HDT and the background was a solid, it might work.

And finally tonight, I thought I will share a picture of the orchid I bought a few weeks ago.

I really like this orchid. And not just for the colour and pattern on the flower. The flowers are scented. I couldn't believe it. While Phalaenopsis orchids do not normally have a scent, some phals, (often yellow ones) do (apparently). This particular plant, which, unfortunately is a NOID Phalaenopsis, has a fragrance that reminds me of lilac. The funny thing is, I notice the scent most often after my computer turns off the plant lights for the night. I wonder, though, if I am imagining that part. I guess that's all for now. If I can get a decent photo of my afghan in progress, I'll post again soon.

A Hat and a Bookmark, plus a preview

Well, I finished the tatted hat for my miniature crochet thread bear. Here it is:


And here is the hat on the bear:

The hat (called Tatted Red Hat) was designed by Gina Butler and is available from her website. I used white Coats crochet cotton in size 10. This is supposed to be red, but that colour would be so wrong with this bear. While it is a really nice pattern, for my purpose, the brim of the hat is too wide. I need to try to fix it. I had originally used size 20 thread, but it turned out too small to fit. I am going to call this motif #11.

For motif #12, I have made a bookmark:

This is actually an edging or insertion pattern called Interlocking Clovers from Mary Konior's book "Tatting Patterns". I haven't heard much about this book, though I don't know why. It is a very nice book full of an assortment of patterns. I bought my copy about a year ago, at a book sale/fundraiser for the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. I don't think I should tell you what I paid for the book. Let's just say, I'm not complaining. For the bookmark, I used some of LadyShuttleMaker's (Sherry Pence) HDT called "Shades of Gray". This would make a good gift for a guy if the excess picots from the rings and chains are eliminated.

Finally, here is a preview of what I have been working on in between the other projects I have been working on.

Two Coasters & a Ladybug (AKA Motifs 5,6, & 7)

I have been tatting quite a bit lately. I have three motifs to show right now. There is another one in progress, and a couple that just need finishing. First up, a small coaster by Ben Fikkert. It is called "Romance", from his book "A Tatting Adventure", and is done in DMC Cordonnet size 40.

I liked this pattern, so I made it again. This time, I used Marilee's "Tiger Eye" (the second dye lot) in size 50.

My next motif is Nancy Tracy's Ladybug. It is done in Coats thread in a size 20 in black, and Flora size 20, in colour number 221. This is the latest Be-stitched pattern.















The pattern called for beads to make the spots on the wings. I used magnetic Hematite beads, which caused the wings to close up like a real lady bug. The picture on the left (er, above, apparently) shows how the pattern should look. I had to make the chains a little larger to accommodate the slightly larger-than-called-for beads.