More Chainmaille, and Mystery Plant Revealed

I'm not going to comment on why I'm not posting. I'm going to blame work. It's not that all I'm doing is working, it's just that work is all I think about lately. I've been seriously considering looking for a new job. It's not that I don't like my job, the reasons why I want a new one are just, complicated. On top of that (which I didn't really explain), the store that I work at is shutting down for 36 hours next weekend, starting Sunday, for renovations. This means that I may get thrown on a night shift or two during that time, which I'm just thrilled about. I have worked night shifts before, however, I am an insomniac on occasion and one of these night shifts could throw my sleeping cycle off for months. But anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Before I begin, this will be a tatting light post. I am still working on the full size "Spinning Wheel" doily. It is slowly coming along. I'll post a photo once it is done to keep you all in suspense. I also offered to test tat for Linda Davies again, which she has accepted. I'm looking forward to testing her newest flower designs when they are ready.

Now for the main feature. I have been working on a number of chainmaille projects over the last few weeks. I purchased some rings from The Ring Lord in a variety of metals and got started. A photo would be good here:

Now for some stats on the bracelets. They are made in the Byzantine weave. The bracelet at the top of the photo is made out of Stainless Steel, and is mine. The next two are made out of Aluminum with Anodized (coloured) aluminum. The fourth bracelet down is Aluminum and Jeweler's Brass. The fifth and final bracelet is made out of Bronze. I really like how the Bronze bracelet turned out. I used two different ring sizes for this one. I'll have to make one for myself. The last four bracelets are for my Mom. I promised her I'll make her a few more to add to her Mother's Day gift. It's kinda funny that Gina recently posted about how she considered starting an Etsy store but changed her mind about it. Ever since I started making chainmaille I have been toying with the idea about opening my own Etsy store. Like Gina, my work isn't more special than any of the other chainmailler's that are selling on Etsy. Though if I can get a hold of some fancy rare metal that no one else is using or I create a very unique weave of my own, I may have a chance. Of course if anyone is interested in owning a bracelet made by me, feel free to contact me at jwh4000ATgmailDOTcom. Replace the AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols.

The next project that I have been working on is a chainmaille belt for myself. Here is a photo of the belt in progress:


For this project I initially used Aluminum rings to make a long section of European 4 in 1 chainmaille. I edged the entire belt with Stainless Steel for some added strength. To finish the belt, I connected the chainmaille section to the ends of a leather belt for a more professional touch. Here are a couple of photos of the completed belt:


I'm quite proud of my belt. Though if/when I make another one, I'm going to use larger rings. The ones I used were too small for me. It took forever to make.

Finally, I'll reveal the identity of the mystery plant. The plant is called Tillandsia ionantha. Sometimes called Air Plants or Sky Plants. They are a type of Bromeliad. The plants are normally a grey-green colour. However, they turn a pink colour when they are about to flower. See?

I'm not too fond of the purple flowers but it's pretty anyway. I'm a little nervous about the plant flowering. Let me explain. Many Bromeliads die after flowering. That's a little too negative. Most Bromeliads will produce offsets either during or soon after they flower, so it's not a total loss. However, I seem to have bad luck with the offset production part. Few of the Bromeliads that I have owned have produced offsets after they flower. They usually just die after flowering. But I really like the plants as a group and wanted to give them a chance again.

That's all for now. Now that my chainmaille belt and the bracelets are finished, I'm going to try to get a bunch of tatting done. Until next time.

More Tatted Earrings and a New Book

I've been meaning to post for a few days now, but it has gotten so nice out, I have too busy to post. I guess I was getting a bit impatient last time. I can't confirm it, but I think Saskatoon was the national hot spot yesterday. The mornings aren't as cool as they were a few weeks ago. In fact it, has warmed up enough at night that I kicked out all the outdoor plants. This includes several cannas, calla lilies, and blueberries.

Anyhoo, I promised some tatted earring pictures. Here is the first one:

These are (of course) Marilee's Carnival earrings done in three strands of DMC embroidery floss with gold seed beads and round goldstone beads in the centres. The colours are somewhat washed out in the picture, but the earrings looked awesome (if I do say so myself) in person. The next pair is also a Yarnplayer design:

These are Marilee's Quidrille earrings; the pattern is available from her etsy shop. These were made using Lizbeth thread in size 20, colour #20-113 Jewels, along with some silver lined crystal seed beads for some sparkle. I didn't elaborate on my assessment of Lizbeth thread. It is a firm six cord thread that tats up beautifully. I find it to be similar to Flora, though in much nice colourways. If you love Flora, you will love Lizbeth. I'll add to my review if/when I find something wrong/exceptional to write about. Both these pairs of earring were given to my mom for Mother's Day, along with some other tatted/chain maille items. She loved them. I won't count this in the 25 Motif Challenge. I've made several Carnival earrings that I have counted already.

Finally, I mentioned a new book. Well, new to me. The book was published in 1946. Here is a photo of the cover:

I bought this booklet a few weeks ago at the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Book Sale. There are a number of interesting patterns inside. As I mentioned, it was published in 1946, so I can't scan it to share yet. But don't worry, many of the doily patterns have been republished in other books, such as Traditional Tatting Patterns editted by Rita Weiss. If you have this book and perhaps some of the other Dover books, you have most of the patterns. I bought the book primarily for the edging patterns. No, really. I don't tat edgings, but I really liked some of them. I hope to turn some of them into bookmarks. When I have time.

That's it for now. I'll post again soon. I've made a few chain maille pieces lately that I would like to show. I'll leave you with a pretty plant picture. I'll tell you about it in the next post.

Spinning Wheel (The Start of)

Again, I haven't felt like posting, but I don't think it is weather related. Actually, I don't even want to talk about the weather. I'm convinced (and I'm not alone here) that we are not going to have spring or summer. It kind of reminds me of fall right now. There are hardly any leaves on the trees right now, the grass has a greenish colour to it, but with brown undertones, and its pretty cool in the mornings still. It snowed last Thursday night, enough to make everything white for a few hours Friday morning. It may snow tonight and it is in the forecast again for Wednesday. It's wacky weather like this that makes me glad that I have many house plants (and outdoor plants masquerading as houseplants) to enjoy until the weather tuns nice permanently (well, till fall anyway).

Speaking of outdoor plants pretending to be houseplants, here is a quick photo of one that I am particularly fond of (I will get to the tatting, I promise!).

This is Ginkgo biloba, the Maidenhair Tree. While its not much to look at yet (I'm hoping it will produce a few branches), I love this tree. I'm also quite proud of the tree; it is starting to follow our seasons. Let me explain. I grew it from seed, that I planted November 2007. One seed germinated in December (same year). It grew (albeit slowly) for several months, then went dormant, only to begin growing again late fall. It lives on a window sill that get pretty cool in the winter, and last fall it went dormant, and began growing this spring. It's adapting to life in Saskatchewan. Now we can move on to the tatting.

You may remember in my last post, I mentioned that along with some Lizbeth thread, I purchased a round cloth doily so I could make the full size Spinning Wheel doily from Mary Konior's Tatting with Visual Patterns. You do? Good. Anyway, I started working on the doily, and thought I'd post a quick update. Here is my progress:

OK. It's not much, but thats not the point. I had planned on making the tatted edging then sewing it on. But, quite honestly, that seems like a lot of extra work. Now, I hope this decision won't come back to haunt me years from now. I know that some people don't like directly tatting edgings on things like hankies so they can save the lace if necessary, but I think this may be different. If anyone wants to provide reasons why this is a bad idea, by all means let me know. Now for a few stats on the doily. I am using Lizbeth thread (which is AWESOME!) in the Countryside colourway. The doily I'm using is 6 inches in diameter. It has 120 holes along the edge (yes, I counted them), there are a total of 24 repeats required for the tatting, which means that each repeat is "allowed" five holes (two for joining, and three unjoined). If anyone has done this pattern before, I'd love to see it and for anyone who hasn't attempted it yet, I urge you to try. It's actually pretty easy; the stitch counts are almost the same as the mat, each repeat is just longer.

That's all for now. I hope you like the tatting part. I might talk about the weather next time! This post ended up much longer than I planned. I'll try to post again soon. I have a few earrings to show that I made for my Mom on Mother's Day. Later.

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Now playing: Chateau Neuf - Hopparen (The Jumper)
via FoxyTunes

Handy Hands Purchases, Tatted Chainmaille, and a Pretty Picture

It must be the warming weather, but I haven't felt like posting lately. In case you are wondering, my thumb has healed up nicely, and I'm able to tat again! I haven't done much tatting though, but I did manage a little.

First, I mentioned that I decided to order some Lizbeth thread from Handy Hands Tatting. I received it about a week ago. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I haven't tried it yet, but I will soon.

Here is a group shot of my purchases. As you can see I bought numerous balls of Lizbeth thread, as well as a ball of Omega thread (I love that colour!). There's also a "no point" Sew Mate shuttle, some replacement bobbins for Aero type shuttles (can't have enough of them!), a new (to me anyway) tatting book, and a round cotton doily. I bought the doily because I would like to attempt the full Spinning Wheel doily from Tatting with Visual Patterns; it requires a circle of fabric in the centre, and I am not skilled enough in the sewing department to make one myself.

The book that I bought can't be seen very well in the above picture. Here is a photo of the cover:

As you can see, the title of the book is "To Boldly Go Where No Shuttle Has Gone Before or Tatting Definitely Not For Beginners" by Anne Dyer. Despite the fact that the book was published in 1993, I hadn't heard of this book before. A quick Google searched provided only one relevant tatting link, located here. The rest are mainly Star Trek related. The book is full of very interesting tatting techniques including Square Rings (I have to try these!), and a variety of unusual chains. I'll show some samples of tatting that I make from this book once I find the time.

As you may remember, my last post was about my new interest, chainmaille. Well, Connie of I Tat Too mentioned that one of the classes held at the Palmetto Tat Days 2008 was about tatted chainmaille. I have the CD from Tat Days 2008 and I completely forgot about this. I had to give it a try:

This is a tatted Byzantine chain (actually, it's a Byzantine unit). Its a pretty cool technique, however I found it rather slow to make. Actually, the tatting was fast, but the threads have to be knotted and glued after each ring is tatted. I managed to tat six rings, then knot and glue all six to save some time. I'm not sure I would want to make a full size bracelet using this technique, but I think in smaller thread, a pair of earrings would be quite nice. The pattern calls for size 8 pearl cotton. I used Flora size 20 thread for my sample. You'll probably see this form of chainmaille again, as well some standard chainmaille designs.

Finally, I promised a pretty picture.

I think it is pretty anyway. This is a immature pitcher on my Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes x ventrata). I bought the plant about a year ago, and it finally decided to produce pitchers for me (well, for itself actually). The pitcher in the above photo is about a centimeter in length (perhaps a bit bigger, since this photo is a few weeks old). Perhaps once the pitchers are full size, I be able to create a tatted version. We'll see; I don't know how many tatters out there would want a tatted pitcher plant. I'll provide an update if anything comes to fruition with this idea. Till next time.



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Now playing: Karl Wolf - Africa (Radio Edit)
via FoxyTunes

A Mailling We Will Go (Off Topic)

I mentioned in my last post that I "discovered" a new art. When I say discovered, I mean that I discovered its existence, but you knew that. Before I go any further, I'd like to mention that I won't be tatting for a week or two. I cut myself at work, again. This time on my thumb (left hand), which makes tatting very painful. Especially with the size 80 or so thread I was trying to use. The last time I cut myself, the cut healed in about a week, so I'll be back to tatting in no time (hopefully). Anyway, enjoy my new art!

It all started a couple weeks ago when I was browsing Etsy. I had just purchased the book and thread from Marilee and I was just browsing some of the other stores. Well, that's when I found these:

These are stitch markers, made by Etsy seller Faking Sanity. These are made using the technique of chainmaille (or chain maille, chainmail, chain mail, maille, whatever you want to call it). I was fascinated. For those of you who don't know what chainmaille is, chainmaille is the technique of weaving metal rings (jump rings, for the jewelery makers out there), to make sheets or chains of interlocking rings. By the time I received my stitch markers, I had a couple basic weaves (that what chainmaille patterns are called) down pat.

This is the first weave that I learned:

This is called Byzantine (make sure you click on the picture to see the weave better). This is a pretty easy weave to learn, and is the same as the stitch markers. I'm not sure what the metal is that the jump rings are made of. The signs at Michaels listed them as silver, but I think they may be silver plated at best. Probably silver coloured. Not sure how to tell though. I guess I'll be Googling later. Anyway, I plan on making this chain into a bracelet, perhaps for myself (I'm not sure about it yet). I don't think I want to give it away as a gift if I don't know what the metal is.

My next piece of chainmaille is one that is common in making the chainmaille armour that the knights of Medieval times would have worn.

This particular weave is called European 4 by 1 (European 4-1, Euro 4-1). This weave was a little harder to learn, but still one of the easier ones. I would love to make a belt and/or a watchband using this weave. I had been talking to Sharon about making a tatted belt and watchband (for myself) but I think I like the chainmaille approach better. Of course, I may try the tatted versions just for kicks though. I like the idea; I'm not sure about the execution. The belt and watchband aren't the only guy friendly chainmaille options for me. I bought a new wallet in January, which has a metal ring attached to it. I would love to make a chain for it, to clip to my pants' belt loop. There are many other guy friendly chainmaille uses out there.

I'm also fortunate that just a few kilometers out side of Saskatoon's city limits there is a major chainmaille supply company called The Ring Lord. I haven't ordered from them yet, since I wanted to see if I liked making chainmaille before order a bunch of rings. I should note, the TRL has the best prices among the various chainmaille suppliers out there. And I can arrange to pick up any orders I place with them, which is nice. I don't really want to pay $10-$20 for shipping within the same city. Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading about my new art. Hopefully I haven't bored any of my tatting (and non-tatting) friends out there. I'm gonna try to make the next post tatting related, but we'll see how my thumb is. Till next time.

Spinning Wheel Mat Complete (It's about time!)

I finally finished the Spinning Wheel Mat that I showed towards the beginning of April. I finished it last week, but I just haven't felt like posting. I did make one mistake on it, but it isn't important enough to say anything else.

This is a much better scan than the preview one I did earlier. I'm not sure if I mentioned it earlier but the thread I used is Valdani pearl cotton, size 12, colour #M13 (Americana). Like I said before, there a few intermediate colours in addition to the three main colours that are visible in this scan. I'm going to have to make more of these; I really want to make the pattern again in size 80 thread. Probably won't be HDT since the only HDT I have is Yarnplayer's Fern (I think), and I'm not a big fan of green unless it is on (or is it in?) a plant. Perhaps I will try some King Tut thread. Out of curiosity, does anyone know how big a Spinning Wheel mat would be made in size 80 thread?

I finally purchased Marilee's (AKA Yarnplayer) book, "Boutique Tatting". The designs are pretty awesome. I will have to make a few of them once I get a few other things finished. I also purchased a skein of her "Cobalt" thread from Marilee at the same time, and she sent a sample skein of "Soft Blues" thread. How did you know that I would like that thread! Thanks Marilee. Oh, and I finally bit the bullet and ordered some of that Lizbeth thread that everyone seems to be using lately. It had better be good thread; I ordered nine balls of it. To make the order worth while, I HAD to order other stuff! I'll maybe show what I got once it gets here, which hopefully will be at the end of the week. And finally, I "discovered" a new art that I just had to try, which has eaten up some of my tatting time. I tell you about it next time (and I'll show some photos as well). Till next time.

The Orchid Post (Very OT)

I have finally gotten around to writing up "The Orchid Post". These are mainly orchids that either are currently in bloom, or in a few cases, just finished blooming. I will hopefully have some tatting content in my next post (but I'm not promising anything). Work has been pretty busy, due to Easter, and I went to my parents for a few days as well. Don't tell Sharon, but I also have my homework for Design-tat to finish (it is about diagramming tatting patterns, which is what I have been waiting for). So, it shouldn't take too long. I'll post the diagram here as well when I have it finished.

The first specimen in the list is my newest orchid.

This grand plant is a Cymbidium orchid. While it is difficult to tell in the picture, the plant is nearly three (3) feet tall. This is by far my largest orchid. Here is a closeup of a flower:

As usual, blogger did its random picture rotation thing with this picture. Each flower is large, about 5 inches in diameter. The care of the orchid sounds pretty easy, so I hope I don't kill it.

The next orchid is one I have shown before, though there is a difference with the flower that I didn't notice before. The is Phalaenopsis 'Salu Princess', one of my first orchids.


This flower looks pretty much like any white Moth orchid flower. However, this time the flowers were blushing. See:

The flower has a pink stripe on the uppermost petal. I am very pleased that the plant did this as it now makes it different from the other white Phalaenopsis that I own. I like different.

Here is another Phal (it's a NOID unfortunately), but it is still pretty.

This next Phal is, again, a NOID, but nonetheless it is my favourite. I have shown this orchid previously, but I love it so much it deserves another mention. The flowers on this orchid are thick and wax-like. Because of this, the flowers last a very long time.

This is another NOID Phal that is currently flowering. It is another new addition to my orchid collection.
Finally, here is Phalaenopsis 'Lemon Tree', or at least that's what it's supposed to be. The picture of the plant that I saw shows the flowers as being all yellow, with just the lip being white. But, it's still pretty.
As I mentioned earlier, my Hibiscus has started flowering again. The flower's are huge on this thing. I love it. I think I need a few more of these plants.

The last picture of the evening (er, night) is, well, unrecognizable. This is Cypripedium reginae, a North American native orchid. I found an article online about growing Cypripediums in pots, and wanted to give it a try.

I'll provide updates on this plant as it grows, and perhaps, flowers. I think I should mention, that I acquired this plant legally. I was assured when I purchased it that the plant was lab-grown. That's all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get some tatting done. Later.

International Tatting Day Tatting (Yeah, I know...)

I probably should have posted this on International Tatting Day, but I didn't. I'm glad to see that so many tatting bloggers posted about how they spent International Tatting Day. I, of course, was one of the poor tatters who had to spend ITD working. However, I did get some tatting done. Of course, chocolate was involved. I decided to use some of the Valdani pearl cotton I purchased on my birthday, to make, of all things, one of Diane's favourite patterns. At least, I think it's one of her favourites; she's only made, like, a million* of them.


Do I really need to tell you what this will become? I'm sure Diane knows. OK, in this state it may not be obvious. This is the start of Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel Glass Mat. The thread is Valdani Pearl cotton size 12, colour #M13. I wasn't sure about this colour at first, but I noticed while working with it that the colours blend together forming intermediate colours, which I like the effect of. I'll show the final result once I'm done. I just wanted to show that I have been tatting.

I also received my final thread sample from the thread exchange I blogged about a few posted ago. This is from Beverly E, of WA, USA. She sent two samples of a very nice looking rayon thread called Lola.

I can't wait to try this thread. It is a thicker thread, but I'm sure it will tat up beautifully. Thank you Beverly.

And finally, I still plan on posting a bunch of photos of my currently in bloom orchids. I have been waiting for another one of my Ladyslipper orchids to open its flower, but it wasn't meant to be. I come home yesterday to find that it had dropped its unopened bud. The wake will be held tomorrow. On a positive side, my hibiscus started flowering, and I awoke to an absolutely gorgeous flower this morning. So, I guess it's not a total loss. Until next time.

* number exaggerated. I lost count on how many Spinning Wheels she has made.

Homework Motif Pattern

Wow. I didn't expect anyone to actually like the motif I made for the Design-Tat homework. At least, I hope you're all being honest. Anyway, a few commenters mentioned that the motif would look good as a table runner, or perhaps a doily. I played around with the image on the computer last night, and I have to agree with those of you who mentioned it.

You know, maybe it is pretty after all. Seeing many of them together, I actually like the motif more than I initially did. So, for those of you who asked, I will post the pattern for this motif. I have to write the pattern out in both short and long hand for our next homework assignment. I have the short hand done and will share it with everyone. If you have any problems with the pattern, please leave a comment, or email me at: jwh4000ATgmailDOTcom , replacing the AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols.

Abbreviations

R - Ring
C - Chain
- - picot
+ - join
SS - Switch Shuttles

Centre

R 4-4-4-4 RW
C4-4 RW
R4+4-4-4 RW
C4-4 RW. Repeat 6 times for a total of 8 rings and chains, joining the last chain to the first R. Cut, tie, and hide ends. If desired, the last chain can be a split chain consisting of 4/4.

Round 1

R 4-4+4-4 RW (can be a split ring of 4-4/4-4 if a split chain was used in the centre)
[C 6 RW
R 6+4-6 RW]
Repeat between [ ] two more times
C 6 SS, R 6-2-8 SS, C 6 RW
R 6+4-6 RW
C 6 SS, R 8+2-6 SS, C 6 RW
[R 6+4-6 RW
C 6 RW]
Repeat between [ ] two more times
*R 4+4+4-4
[C 6 RW
R 6+4-6 RW]
Repeat between [ ] two more times
C 6 SS, R 4-4-8 SS, C 6 RW
R 6+4-6 RW
C 6 SS, R 8+4-4 SS, C 6 RW
[R 6+4-6 RW
C 6 RW]
Repeat between [ ] two more times*
R 4+4+4-4 RW
Repeat between * * two more times, joining the last chain of the second repeat to the first R.

I hope you can follow this pattern. And if anyone knows of a good name for this motif, please post in the comments. I, quite honestly, can't think of a good name. Homework Motif 3 isn't a good name IMHO. Goodnight. I have to go power down for Earth Hour.

Thread from Exchange and Homework

I finally have gotten around to posting. Still haven't done much tatting, but I am making progress on my next crocheted piece. I did get my homework done for Sharon's Design-Tat group, which I'll show at the end of this post. I'm not sure when I'll get back to tatting. I cut one of my fingers at work a few days ago (nothing serious, but the bandage interferes with the tatting; crochet is easier, but not being able to feel through the bandage slows things down a bit). Typing is slow, but possible, though this post took two days to write.

As I mentioned in my last post, I participated in Kathy's Thread Exchange this year. So far I have received 4 out of the 5 threads I was to get. I do believe the fifth thread is on the way (I got an email today that one of my partners received her fifth thread, so I should be getting mine.) Any way here are the threads that I have received so far. First up, is from Trayna F., from Scotland. She sent me two lovely threads.

The first is Coats #20, colour # 4148, the second is Manuela #20. Trayna believes that both are discontinued. That fact alone makes these very special. Since I can't get anymore, they will have to be used for something special. Giving us (I think everyone got the same threads) these threads was very generous of Trayna. She also sent a postcard.

The next thread is from Patty B, of TN, USA. She sent a very colourful sample.

This is DMC size 80 thread, I'm not sure what the colour number is. I have a ball of this thread, but I can't find it. As I mentioned earlier, I have started to like size 80 thread, and intend on using it more.

The next sample is from Karen F. from OR, USA. She sent a very lovely sample of silk thread.

This is LadyShuttleMaker's Karen's Halo Silk HDT, size 20. A really cool fact is that I got this thread from the Karen that the thread was named after. This little fact make the thread a little more special. She also sent a really cool card:


Pretty cool, huh? Karen herself rides a motorcycle.

My final sample of thread comes from Libby H. from SC, USA. She sent two samples as well.

The pink is a sample of Cebelia #223. The second sample is Sulky #40 in colour #942-523. I haven't tried this thread before and I am looking forward to using it. It is 100% rayon.

I would like to express my thanks to all of you generous ladies that I exchanged threads with. As I mentioned, the fifth sample has been received by a few of the other ladies now, so once I receive my thread, I'll post about it.

Finally, I have a picture of my homework for Design-Tat. It's not pretty, but I think it will do for now.
I kinda like it. It reminds me of a butterfly. I might rework it some other time. I have to write out the pattern for our next homework assignment. I would like to get back to my other tatting projects. I'll post again with pictures of my orchids that are currently in bloom. Later.

Quick Update

I'm still here. I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I joined Sharon's Design-Tat Yahoo! group and have been working on the homework that Sharon is posting. I'll have to post pictures. Why am I not tatting? I am working on another design from the Crochet Dude's book. I purchased new yarn in solid colours, with matching dye lots to make this design. I'll post a picture or two when I have it completed.

I also participated in a thread exchange recently and have been meaning to post pictures of the thread I received. And finally, I have a few orchids in bloom and I bought a new orchid yesterday (yeah, like I needed another one; and this one is nearly 3 feet tall), so I have some pictures of them to share. I really need to get my butt in gear and work on the tatted versions of these plants. Hopefully, I'll get organized and will do a proper post (or two; I may have too much to post in one shot) in a couple days. Later

Renegade Dawg, and a Tatted Motif

Quick update from my last post: as it turns out, everyone agreed (not with me) that the Tatting and Teneriffe Lace Hexagon doily should be left as it is. I still think it needs something to tie the motifs together. I have decided that I will leave the doily alone for a week or two to see if my opinion changes. In the meantime, I will make another hexagon using my last Teneriffe medallion (I'm going to have to make some more), and try my edging idea on that one. Maybe I'll be right; maybe I'll realize my idea won't work.

I mentioned in my last post that I had completed my Dawg hoodie by the Crochet Dude, hereby known as Renegade Dawg (thanks Sherry). I took a few pictures of myself wearing it. These are probably the best pictures I have taken of Renegade Dawg (though not of me, but then I hate having my picture taken, so I'm biased). You can see the colour variation really well is these pictures; I actually like the way it come out. Onwards to the pictures.

Out of all the pictures I took, this was the best (and I still don't like it). I would like to mention, that I usually wear glasses, but I took them off due to the funky ways the camera flash kept glaring off them. Anyway, here is another picture, one from the side.


This one is better. And, again, shows the colour variation really well here. Finally, here is one more picture of me wearing Renegade Dawg. The photo has a bonus in it.

Yup. I'm tatting in this one. This is probably my favourite of the three photos. I'll discuss the tatting later. I would like to thank all of you who commented with suggestions on how I could lessen the mismatched look of the different dye lots. I used each and every one to finish the hoodie.

Finally, I decided to participate in Sharon's design challenge (this sounds familiar). I had planned on using the rose, along with a few rounds of additional tatting to replace the Teneriffe in my hexagon pattern. The outer rounds were supposed to be the same as said hexagon. It didn't work that way:

This is my Tatted Rose Hexagon - Mark 1. While working the design, I came across a few modifications that need to be done. So you will probably see a Mark 2, and perhaps a Mark 3 before I am fully satisfied. This will be motif #21 of my Second 25 Motif Challenge. All future motifs based on this motif will not be counted. Later.

Return of the Tatting & Teneriffe Lace Hexagon

Tatting and Teneriffe Lace Hexagon? Some of you may not have any idea what I am talking about. Using a small round motif I made using Teneriffe Lace (brief definition from Wikipedia here), and surrounding it with tatting, I created a hexagon shaped motif that became motif #2 of my 1st 25 Motif Challenge. You can read that post right here. I originally decided to continue making and joining a total of 7 hexagons to create a doily. However, after only four, I liked how it looked, and quite frankly felt it would be too large for my purposes.

At it present size, the doily measures 10 3/4 inches long and about 8 inches wide. Its not done, as evident by the two long threads coming off of the split chain in the upper left quadrant of the picture. Funny story here. You remember Roomba, right? If not, click here for some background on my Roomba. I really don't know how, but somehow Roomba got a hold of the thread between the fourth motif and the shuttle (this was before I joined it to the rest of the doily). You could probably imagine what happened next. I spent several minutes carefully unwinding the thread out of Roomba's brushes. A picture would probably be good right here, but I never thought to take one. I was shocked by this behavior. And to think that I had purchased Roomba the Scheduler Upgrade with the charging Home Base that its been begging me for. Anyway, I had place a Magic Thread in the first chain of the second round. Had was the key word here. Somehow, Roomba pulled out the MT. Fortunately that was the only damage to the motif. Maybe Roomba's AI (artificial intelligence) was trying to express it's creative side. I'll never know. With the MT gone, I realized I like how it looked, and didn't need the MT, since I could split chain into an edging. Which brings me to a design problem. Roomba hasn't told me how I should finish the doily.

In its current state, I'm not happy with the triangular space between the four motifs. The following picture illustrates these spaces better.

My problem could be solved with at least two solutions. The first one involves making an edging consisting of two rounds. The first round would be simple, perhaps just chains until I get to one of the triangular spaces (like the one above), where I could hopefully use rings and chains (or perhaps chains and mock rings) to fill in the space. A second round would tie the whole design together. The second solution would involve making four small filler motifs separately, joined as I made them. Followed by the second round, again tying the whole thing together. I am going to have to think about this one; though I prefer the first solution. Suggestions are welcome, as always.

I've also decided to take Sharon's design challenge #4. The rose is almost done. My ultimate design is similar to the above hexagon. That's all I'm saying right now.

For all of you wondering, the "Renegade Dawg" hoodie is done. I'm not ready to show it just yet. I just dyed my mustache and goatee right before I started this post, so I'm not ready to model the hoodie yet. And no, I didn't use blue dye. I don't think I would be allowed to have blue hair/facial hair at work.......but it would be so cool. Later.

Tatted Micro Dragon and Hoodie Update

Just a quick update: I don't want anyone thinking I disappeared. I took a short break from crocheting to tat this little dragon from Anne Bruvold:


This is Ringtrim, a Norwegian Micro Dragon. For this dragon, I used DMC Perle Cotton size 12 in colour numbers 932 and 503. This is a cute and fairly quick pattern to tat. Instead of using Single Shuttle Split Rings (SSSR) for the first five rings, I used regular SR, then cut off shuttle 2 and added the second colour. I then continued on with the instructions. I won't count this as a motif in the challenge.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am working on a crocheted hoodie design by the Crochet Dude. I have the back, front, pocket, and both sleeves done. So, I am ready to begin assembly, then can work on the ribbing and hood. Now, I mentioned briefly about having some colour differences between the old and new version of the colour I am using. As it turns out, the new yarn varies dramatically in dye lots as well. I didn't notice that when I purchased more yarn. Here is a photo to (hopefully) illustrate my point:

The sleeves are both in the new Bernat Camouflage 'Renegade' and the front and back are in the old. I had been trying to match the colours, but at this point I don't think I can. I have decided that I will finish the hoodie, trying to be consistent and will remake this again in a new, consistent colour. This one will be worn at home, unless it turns out really cool. Once this project is done, I return to tatting for a little while. Cheers.

It Finally Happened for Crochet, What About Tatting?

I hinted about a new crochet book that I purchased in my last post. Here is a bit more detail. First, a picture of the cover:

Hopefully I can post a picture of the cover. Anyway, the book is called The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys: 30 Projects Men Will Love by Drew Emborsky AKA The Crochet Dude (blog) (Amazon.com link). The book lives up to its name. Out of the 30 projects, which range from an assortment of sweaters to hats and even a belt and tie pattern, there are only a couple I don't like, and a couple I could like with a few slight modifications. This book is apparently the first book to be completely oriented for men's crocheted clothing. Though some of the patterns could work for women as well.

Not being able to wait to try one of the patterns in the book, I began one of the sweater patterns. Actually, the pattern is a hoodie, and the patterns name is "Dawg". All of the patterns have cool names like this one. I bought some yarn several years ago that I was saving for a cool pattern. The yarn I had is called Bernat Camouflage in colour "Renegade". Of course I didn't have enough yarn to make it. After making the back of the hoodie, I figured I had enough for the front and the pocket that goes on the front. No problem, I thought, I could go buy more. Since the yarn was a camouflage colour, it wouldn't matter if there was a slight colour variation. What I didn't know was that Bernat seems to have redid the colours of Renegade (and perhaps the other Camouflage colours). Instead of a slight variation, I got this:

The new colour is on the left, and the old on the right. I had initially thought I could use the two different colours, as long I did not mix the old and new colours in the same section. I am currently working on a sleeve in the new Renegade. And as the sleeve nears completion, it becomes apparent that using both versions of Renegade will not work. Or will it? I'll post a picture of the completed pieces soon, in better light, and seek your opinion. Now, back to crocheting. Tatting will have to wait.

Here Be Dragons, er, Dragon (Overrun again...)

You would think that since Canada has such a cold climate during this time of year, dragons would shy away from us. I was wrong. Again I am being overrun by dragons (er, dragon). Here is my latest dragon visitor:

This is Karey Solomon's Dragonet from her book Here Be Dragons. Karey's dragons are really cool. The large quantity of beads can make them a pain in the butt to tat, but they are definitely worth it. Laura posted her attempt at the pattern, which inspired me to give the pattern a go. I purchased the book several months earlier. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I didn't have any problems with the pattern. OK, the head and the wings don't look quite right (to me anyway) because I think I made a join between the wrong beads. As you can tell, I made a slight variation to the head. I had a thread break and it was necessary to reattach the thread. It just so happened that the break was in the right spot. Partly because I didn't want to hide the ends, I left those two at the lower jaw to give a dragon a beard, thing. I found the pattern relatively quick to make. This is probably due to all the beads in the centre of the body. I did most of the dragonet in a single evening; finishing it the next day or so. Unfortunately, this is the only bit of tatting I have accomplished since my last post. Karey's Dragonet is motif #20 of my Second 25 Motif Challenge. I used Flora size 20 thread in colour #219.

Since I have reached #20 on my Second 25 Motif Challenge, I have decided to work on some UFOs for my final motifs. I am starting to get several piling up, and I want to get them finished.

This past Wednesday (January 28) was my Birthday. I decided I was going to take a trip to a local knitting and needlework store after work (yes, I had to work on my Birthday). The store is called Prairie Lily Knitting and Needlework Shop. For such a small store, there is a lot of stuff packed into it. While I didn't have a lot of time to spend their, I did find a few threads that are suitable for tatting. And here they are:


These are, of course, pearl cotton. The top two are Valdani Pearl Cotton, size 12. I love the colours that the Valdani threads are available in. The bottom three are DMC Pearl Cotton. The first two are different shades of blue, and the third is a minty green colour. The two balls of DMC blue cotton were a given; the other three just spoke to me. I'm not sure what I will make with them, but I will find the perfect project.

These are DMC Pearlescent Effects embroidery floss. I really like using floss for small projects since they are available in a wide range of colours, textures, and fibers. The picture makes it hard to tell but the one on the right is a minty green while the one on the left is white.

My final purchase is a thread that I haven't used before. And here it is:

As you can see in the photo, this is Wildflowers thread by Caron. I haven't used this thread before, though I know some tatters just love this thread. This thread was not calling out to me; it was shouting. Very loudly, I might add. In case you're wondering, the thread colour is called "Nefertiti" (#008).

That's about it for now. I'm hoping to get some tatting done over the next week or so, but I somehow doubt that will happen. I recently bought a new crochet pattern book, and have been drooling over many of the designs. But I will post about it separately. Until next time.