Remembering Gina

 I'm going to be honest, I never thought I'd have to do a post like this. I was shocked to learn of Gina's passing this week. I didn't find out until Wednesday afternoon as I didn't have an internet connection for the previous few days due to an upgrade gone awry*. I hadn't met Gina in person, but she was someone I wanted to meet. Like many of you, I considered her a friend even though I hadn't met her. She will be missed. My condolences to Gina's family.

I've only tatted one of her motifs that I can think of. That motif would be her Gingerbread Boy:

As I mentioned in the post about the Gingerbread boy, I first contacted Gina about this pattern in November 2007 to get some clarification with the wording of the pattern. Three attempts and two years later I managed to tat him. I haven't tatted any of her other patterns, but I think I will soon.
 

I've also been fortunate to have received some of Gina's tatting. In this case a bookmark and a trio of fish:

As I mentioned in the post about these, the red fish is my pattern tatted by me, but the other three were tatted by Gina. These gifts (and a whole bunch of other stuff) came about through a year of giveaways Gina did a few years ago. I will treasure them always. And everything else she sent me.

I don't know what else to say. I'm not good with this sort of thing. As others have mentioned, the tatting community has lost a treasure. There won't be anyone quite like her. Rest in peace Gina.



*In case you are wondering, I decided to upgrade my internet speed which was supposed to happen early Monday morning. I woke up with no internet and no TV (I have an IPTV service which comes through the phoneline). Eventually got a technician out early Wednesday afternoon. The DSL modem was at fault as it wasn't connecting to my ISP. I guess it was too old and didn't like the higher speed. The TV came on but Internet wasn't fully functional. Another phone call to Sasktel was required to fix another issue. Everything is working now. 

The End of TIAS 2012, a Double Fuchsia, and a Few Orchid Photos

I see that I am still posting rather infrequently. Oh well. I don't really have much to share anyway. Besides the TIAS, I have done hardly any tatting. Sales in my shop have slowed to a crawl. I had thought I could offer free shipping, but forgot about it until yesterday. So it won't be much good to attract some Valentine's Day sales. With the lack of sales, I don't feel like working on chainmaille. I have been crocheting quite a bit lately however. I'll get some photos of that once it's/they're complete.

As I am sure most of you are aware, Jane's TIAS 2012 is complete. Here is my completed goat:

As I told Jane, he doesn't look as demonic here as he did without his front legs. I rather like him. Actually I think I just like the pattern in general. I think it's the beard. I'll have to make another one soon.

Here are finally the photos of Linda's Double Fuchsia that I tatted from the pattern she shared:

I can't really comment on it, as I don't remember much about tatting/putting it together. I guess that's what I get for waiting so long to post the photos. I do remember that I used a thicker gauge wire than what was called for. That did make it difficult to get the calyx on. It definitely looks realistic. I will have to make a full branch of leaves and flowers. Thanks again Linda for sharing the pattern. And sorry for taking so long to post the completed flower.

I will finish this post with a few orchid photos. I think these have been posted previously, but this will help me keep track of what is flowering when. Enjoy!

This is Doritaenopsis Minho Princess 'Flying'. This is one of my few named Phalaenopsis orchids. I really like this one. It's not pure white (I already have one of those). And it's not completely pink or purple. This is the first Phal. hybrid that flowered for me this year.

The next orchid that flowered is one I know many of you have seen:

It's the Mutant! For those of you who are new to my blog, this Phalaenopsis No Identification (NOID) hybrid has a genetic mutation that causes the plant to produce what looks like three lips instead of one. Two of these lips are not fully formed (these are supposed to be the petals, or sepals), but closely resemble the true lip at the bottom. This is called a Peloric Mutation. Hopefully you can see the differences in the photo. For anyone who hasn't noticed yet, I disabled the "Lightbox" display of photos. You should be able to click photos again and get the full version.

Last orchid photo of the day:

I bought this Phal as a NOID, however it looks strikingly similar to Phalaenopsis Yu Pin Pearl. A Google Image search shows this quite well. I am tempted to label the plant as such or that it resembles Yu Pin Pearl so I know which plant it is when it's not flowering. Looking at some of the other photos, there may be different versions or clones of Yu Pin Pearl so it very well could be one of them.

That's it for now. I will probably be crocheting some more this week. I'll try to get some more tatting done. I got my Palmetto Tat Day CD in the mail recently so there are a few things I'd like to tat. There will be more orchid photos in the upcoming weeks-I noticed another Phal that is producing a flower spike. That's now eight Phals either in spike or flowering. Awesome! I think I may need a few more. That's the one good thing about Valentine's Day: Lots of plants available for sale. Till next time.

TIAS 2012, Day 9

I managed to tat Day 9 last night, though I joined the last ring to the wrong set of rings. Twice! I had to fix it this morning before emailing Jane.

That is why you may see some fluffy ends near the eye. Speaking of the eye, it appears that I am tatting a Demon Goat. Since I didn't know what the beads would be used for, I though the red bead, which is Red Bamboo Coral, would work. Oh well, I'll have to tat him again with more appropriate colours once we are done. It looks like it definitely will be a goat. Can't wait to see it when it is finished. Till next time; I have to get ready for work.

More TIAS 2012

Just a quick post. I'll do a proper one soon; I've got a lot of stuff that I want to share, but no time.

Here are my Days 7 and 8 of Jane's TIAS 2012:

Like many people, I definitely thought it was going to be a dog by the end of day 7. But after day 8, it looks rather goat like. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be something completely different. In any case, our options are being narrowed down.

That's it for now. I will hopefully write up a proper post later this weekend. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Continues

Sorry for the delay. I've been meaning to post more regularly lately, but that hasn't happened, obviously. While I'm not complaining, I've have quite a few sales lately. A couple have been custom orders from the same repeat customer, many have been from new customers. While I have been hoping some of the newer items would sell, it is nice to see the sales. Anyway, besides the TIAS (and some tatting I can't tell you about), I haven't done much tatting lately. Hopefully I will get some tatting done this weekend. Apart from a little shopping tomorrow, I don't plan on doing much tomorrow. Tomorrow is my 29th birthday. It occurred to me today that this will be my last year in my 20's, which kinda scares me for reasons I'm not going to go into here. Anyway, I'll move on to my progress on the TIAS 2012.

Here are days, 4, 5, and 6 in (hopefully) the order they were made:

I've got nothing really to say about this. I still haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I don't know if anyone has correctly guessed what we are making yet, but Jane is certainly keeping us guessing. This is great!

That's it for now. I should mention that this is my 200th post. I know many of you have probably post more than that in a year, it's pretty good for me. I had hoped to have a more substantial post, but I'll make up for it soon. I put Linda's Double Fuschia together several days ago and told her I'll post about it. I've also got some orchid photos to share. Seven of my Phalaenopsis orchids are producing flower spikes. Two of which have open flowers on them, the Mutant being one of them. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Day 3

Just a quick post. I'll do a regular long post either later this week or early next week. I forgot to mention in the previous post but I'll try to blog my progress within a day or two of Jane releasing a pattern part.

Here is my day 3 progress (ready for harvesting!!):

As other people have observed, it's a square with a circle in it. I haven't the faintest idea what this will be. I guess we'll have to see what Jane has us do for the next day. Maybe it will give us a hint.

Nothing else to report. It's been bitterly cold for the past few days. We've been close to -40 C a few times now. Yesterday we had a windchill of nearly -50. It's supposed to warm up but then we'll probably get more snow. I'm kinda liking snow right now. Till next time.

TIAS 2012 Parts 1 and 2

As the title suggests, I started the TIAS this weekend. I'll get to it soon-it won't take long, I don't have much else to share. Haven't done any more tatting or chainmaille this weekend. I did manage to get some of the new chainmaille pieces photographed early Saturday afternoon. Which was good; it started snowing around suppertime or so. Over the course of the evening and I guess overnight we got at least four inches (10 cm) of snow. It may be closer to six inches (15 cm) but I'm not sure since it blowing a lot as well. Obviously this means I got to shovel snow probably for the first time all winter. Really. No photos, I'm afraid. I kept forgetting the camera inside every time I went out. I am a little disappointed that it snowed (and it's freezing out!), and I hope the streets aren't too bad tomorrow. One upside is that I don't have to buy any distilled water for my carnivorous plants for a while. I brought in two large Rubbermaid tubs full of packed snow that I'll let melt over the next few days. The water can then be stored  until needed.

I'll move on to the tatting. Like I said, I haven't done much. I did sit down last night and worked through the first two days of Jane's TIAS 2012. Here is the first day:

And here is the second day:

I used Lizbeth size 20 colour #658 Light Ocean Turquoise. I have no guesses as to what it could be. We'll see what the next part shall bring. Oh, and Jane, feel free to copy my photos. I'm sure I'll forget to email them to you.

That's it for now. I might try and tat something tonight. I'm doing laundry as we speak, so I gotta remember to check that regularly. It's no fun waking up in the morning and realizing the laundry is still in the washing machine. Mind you, waking up and realizing the laundry is still in the dryer when it's 30 below out isn't fun either. Trust me. Till next time.

Double Fuschia, Almost

I'm back. Nothing really new, again. I did some tatting, and I've also been working on some chainmaille. The chainmaille was another custom piece which you may see on another blog soon, so I won't get into that today. Of course, my printer has decided that it needs new cartridges. That will have to be dealt with on Thursday (Payday!!!!!), so I hope (???) that this will be a slow sales weekend. I hate having to hand write everything. Weatherwise, it's colder, but it hasn't snowed significantly since my last post. It tried on Thursday, but it didn't really amount to much. It's supposed to snow this weekend, then again early next week so we will see.

Before I get to anything else, does anyone know what happened to Miranda's (Tatting Fool) blog? I'm getting a "that blog has been removed" error message. I hope everything is OK.

Alright, I'm going to get to my little bit of tatting that I have managed to tat this week (so far). Linda Davies was kind to post another 3D flower for all of us to enjoy. I enjoy her patterns and the realistic flowers that always result from them. I've got the basic parts of one flower tatted:

It'll look much better once it's assembled. Whenever that is. I'd love to get it assembled, but I can't find most of the supplies needed. I'm hoping to find them this weekend-I have the whole weekend off. If I can't find them, I'll have to buy more. The tatting was quick and easy, no really advanced techniques needed. Four SCMRs were needed for the calyx (the red thing), and I'm sure they could be replaced with rings thrown off chains if a second shuttle (or shoe lace trick) is used. I'll post a photo as soon as the fuchsia is completed. The red thread is Flora 20 #221 and the Purple is Lizbeth 20, #633. I'm hoping to start Jane's TIAS tonight. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to have to start soon. I know I can start whenever I want, but I find that once it becomes obvious what the thing you are tatting is, the thrill is lost. Maybe it's just me, but since I am very selective (usually) at what I tat, I may not actually want to tat the item. Makes sense? Hmm. For example, I don't usually tat hearts, so if it becomes apparent that the TIAS is turning into a heart, I may choose not to tat it. Since it's still early in the game, and I don't have any idea what Jane's up to, I still have a desire to tat the TIAS.

That's it for now. I don't really have any plans for this weekend. I may do some chainmaille. If it happens to be sunny I may try to rephotograph the pieces I mentioned last time. I do hope to get some tatting done, TIAS or not. Or both. Laundry perhaps. Housecleaning???? Till next time.

Sharks!!!!!!!

Howdy. Nothing really new to report since my last post. The weather here has been awesome. It was above zero today, again. We had rain last week. Yeah, rain. In January. In Saskatchewan. I'm not complaining, but it is kinda weird. We still have hardly any snow, though I'm sure that will change. Here is a quick view of the front yard, taken today:

We just need some palm trees here and there and I could pretend I'm somewhere warm and tropical that is experiencing some snow. This is actually how I prefer winter, but I'm sure all the farmers and other people won't agree. Anyway, I have been working on some chainmaille pieces that I hope to get listed soon. Soon being when I can get the chance to rephotograph the ones that didn't turn out today. I really need to get some sort of setup to take decent shots indoors. I have also been tatting lately too.

I was going through my "Tatting Folder" on my computer. I wanted to tat and wanted a pattern that was new. I picked one of Jane Eborall's that I found some time ago, but hadn't gotten around to tatting yet. And here it is:

This is Nathan's Shark. I made the white one first, tatted with Lizbeth size 20 in, uh, white #601. The bottom shark was my second attempt at the pattern. I didn't really have any major problems with the pattern. I made the white shark's teeth too small. The grey shark is made with Lizbeth size 20, colour #605. It was pretty quick to tat; I made the white one and started the grey one in a single evening. The white one was mostly done during the course of an average length movie.

That's about it for now. I will be starting a new pattern from Linda Davies tonight. You may have seen it already. That's the plan anyway. Before I forget, I bought a new Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle this weekend. I'm hoping it will get here in time for my birthday near the end of the month. We'll see how the tatting goes over the next few evenings. I may try and post again later this week. Till next time.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Happy New Years!!!! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I did. I didn't get much tatting done, but I enjoyed myself regardless. I particularly enjoyed not working for four days. Since I have no tatting to share, this will probably be pretty short.

As I have done for the last few years, I didn't make any resolutions for this year. I would like to (rather proudly, I might add) mention that for the first time in a loooooong time (maybe not that long), I don't need to lose any weight! As of the end of November, early December, I reached my goal. It feels great, and I like the way I look now. I didn't before.

You've seen the photo on the left.The one on the right was taken today. My still not done Hauberk fits much better compared to when I wore it in May. Hopefully I will get around to finishing my Hauberk. Oh, I know someone asked what I planned on doing with it once it's done. The answer is I don't know. I mainly am making it just as something different from all the jewelry I have been working on. I will probably wear it in public somewhere, sometime.

I have done some other chainmaille over the last few days. A few are custom orders that have come in. The rest are mainly just to add something new to my shop. Here's a quick photo of these new items:

One of the custom items was a pair of Celtic Star earrings. I had to make them smaller and lighter than the Celtic Star pendants in order to make them work.  I do plan on getting these listed soon, but in case anyone is wondering, they are a bit over an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. These are probably best done in aluminum (colours are possible!) or mixed metals to keep the weight down. The customer initially wanted them to be solid copper but they each weighed about 12 grams (0.4 ounces or so) with the ear wires. Speaking of ear wire I have added a pair of earrings with clip on earring findings for those who don't have pierced ears. Any of my earrings can be made with clip on findings, just ask. The fish pendant is pretty cool. At least  I think so. It's also one on those designs that could work for both men and women. I have one on my keychain:

The gemstone is reconstituted turquoise, but I have recently gotten some stabilized turquoise for use in these as it is actual turquoise. The reconstituted stuff may or may not contain actual turquoise. It depends on the what website you choose to believe. Anyway, I am gong to make a pair of fish earrings in some smaller rings as well. I have a list of other chainmaille items I want/need to make.

That's about it for now. I'm not going to promise to post or tat more this year. I'll blog when I can, and I'll tat when I can. The only thing I will promise myself this year is to do something about this balding thing that is happening. Or at least try, genes be damned. Rogaine, here I come! I should go now. I must get some tatting done before this gorgeous first day of 2012 is over. Till next time.

Quick Post: Windmills Snowflakes and a Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post, hopefully. Nothing to really report since my last post. I have four days off starting tomorrow, and will be going to my parents tomorrow morning. We don't have much snow right now, and the weather is supposed to be good for the weekend, so hopefully the trip both ways will be good. I have my Etsy shop in Vacation Mode until I get back, so if anyone wants anything, you'll have to wait until the 28th.

As I mentioned in the last post, I had an idea for a tatting project. I think they turned out pretty well:

Yes, you are not seeing things. These are both snowflakes based of off Mary Konior's Windmills motif. The blue one was made first. Basically, I  threw a ring of 7-7 off of the first picot on the final round. Beads were added to the picot of the rings. I also added beads to the remaining picots on the final round. The white snowflake, tatted second, has a trefoil thrown off of the first picot of the final round. The trefoil consists of R1:7-4-3 R2: 3+6-6-3 R3: 3+4-7. Beads were also added to the nonjoining picots of the rings. I did not make the second picot on the final round. The remaining picots also have beads added to them. Since I can't share the full pattern, you'll need Mary's Tatting With Visual Patterns book to make the snowflake. Again, if you don't already own this book, please buy it from one of the many tatting and lacemaking suppliers, and not Amazon and eBay. Both snowflakes were tatted with Lizbeth size 20 thread. I don't feel like looking up colour numbers, but if anyone wants to know, feel free to ask in the comments.

Before I go, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I do plan on getting some tatting done while away. I'll try to post again before the year is out. Till next time.

Another Snowflake and Pretty Flower Photos

Sorry. I had hoped to post earlier this week but I either forgot (really!!), had to work, or just didn't feel like it. I haven't tatted since I finished the snowflake I mentioned earlier. I had several welcome sales in the shop (Thank You!!). I have to remake a few of the sold items, although I will take this opportunity to change colours, metals, and/or beads used. Naturally I need/will need to photograph the new items, so I am hoping the weather will be nice this weekend. I had a small chainmaille project this evening to work on. I was approached at work about modifying a chainmaille glove for one of our butchers who is, um, missing part of a finger (I don't know the backstory in case you're wondering). In the end we decided I could probably repair the old one; it has (well had) a small hole in one finger. It's all fixed now, so I will have to return it tomorrow and get paid for it. I do plan on tatting tonight if I can get this post written quickly.

So, I finally got the latest snowflake scanned. It's been tatted for a few weeks now. It's another one of Jon's snowflakes from her newest book Elegant Tatting Gems.

This is Kencana, done in Lizbeth size 40 thread in colour #164 Blue River Glades. I know it's not snowflakey in colour but I kinda like it. The three snowflakes I've tatted so far and probably those I will tat before Christmas will be given away. I like this pattern. It was pretty quick to tat once I tamed the thread.

Finally a few pretty flower photos to share. I'll try not talk, er, type too much here.

First up, I want to share a Gardenia flower with you. I have to say, it's not the same one I posted about earlier. That one developed/came with a bug problem. Hopefully this one will do better than the last one. It has several developing buds on it, so I hope to see more flowers into the new year.

You've seen this orchid before. It's a Paphiopedilum spicerianum 'St. Alban' x self. I am puzzled over why this plant flowered. You see, the plant has been growing quite well since it last flowered. The pot was packed and unfortunately was developing a scale problem. I decided to split the plant. A few weeks after I divided the plant, I noticed a bud on the baby plant. I didn't see the bud when I was repotting the plant so I may have triggered the plant to flower (trauma, perhaps??). I probably shouldn't have let it flower, but since it's living in a large Ziploc style bag it might be OK. We'll see.

Finally I want to share a new acquisition for my plant collection:

This is an Oncidium 'Sweet Sugar', I think. That's what the label on another plant that looked exactly the same as this one. I really didn't need this plant, but since most of the stores around here only sell Phalaenopsis orchids, I needed it because I don't see these much. The care sounds pretty easy, so hopefully it will be around for a while. Preferably in flower.

That's about it for now. Like I said, I'm ichin' to tat tonight-I have an idea. I wasn't planning on posting until after Christmas, but I might post early next week if my idea works. And, since I'm sure many of you are wondering and I just found a good place to mention it, the t-shirt survived the washing machine! Like there was any doubt........really. Till next time.

T-Shirt Complete!

I'm going to make this a quick post (hopefully). Nothing really new since my last post. I did get a sale over the weekend, which is awesome, though that pretty much covers my Etsy fees for the month. Anyway, I'll get straight to the point; it's getting late, but if I don't post tonight, I may not for awhile.

As the title suggests, I finished tatting and sewing on the edging to the t-shirt for my mom. Here is the final result:

Overall, I'm pleased with the result. Although I'm not sure I am willing to do it again. The tatting was pleasant to do. The sewing, not so much. I still have to wash the shirt to test it. I'm a little nervous about it. While I'm sure it'll hold, I wanted to get photos first in case of the unthinkable. I deciphered the care tag on the shirt and while it's machine washable (inside out), it's not machine dryable. Which is probably good in regards to the invisible thread. I'll have to type up care instructions to include with it.  I really hope my mom wears it and doesn't put it away for fear of damaging it. Hopefully it survives the washing machine.

That's about it for tonight. I have a couple of flower photos I wanted to share, but they will have to wait. Which is probably for the better. Technically, one of the flowers isn't opened yet, but will be in a few days. I am currently working on a couple of crochet projects. I'm going to have to get a hold of a size P crochet hook, as the Q that I have is too big (I don't have a P hook and though a Q will work). I will share these as well. I also finished the snowflake I started before moving on to the t-shirt edging. Till next time.

T-Shirt Edging: Part 2, One Side Done

I guess I'm not updating as much as I should be for this project. I'll get to the details soon; I don't have much to talk about. Sales are practically non-existent in the shop right now. I am offering free and reduced shipping right now. It started as a Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing, but didn't help, so I decided to keep it for now.  I keep getting my shifts shuffled around at work lately. This isn't completely bad-I do get tired of the same thing week after week. Though it does mix me up a bit. Came home completely exhausted yesterday and didn't get anything done except sleeping. But anyway, I do have a few things to show you.

I have one sleeve done. I don't know if I did it right, but it looks good to me.

As you may (or hopefully may not) see, I decided to go against the rather overwhelming advice of not using invisible thread, and used invisible thread. It wasn't that difficult to use. It did catch on the tatting during the sewing process, but I'm sure cotton thread would do the same.  I was careful to anchor the thread securely in and over a convenient hem. Once finished, I anchored the thread securely inside a convenient hem. I also sewed the ends from the tatting inside a hem as well. Once I have sewed the other edging on, I will wash the shirt once or twice to see how it holds up. BTW, I did wash both the tatting and the shirt before sewing them together.

That's about it really. I hopefully will finish the second edging tonight-it should have been done days ago, but I guess I'm getting tired of it. Combined, the edgings are about 28 inches long; not huge, but this is the longed piece(s) of edging I've ever tatting. I'm getting in the mood to tat some Windmills motifs. Till next time.

Tatting Tea Tuesday: T-Shirt Edging, Part 1

Yup, you read the title right. It's Tuesday. I've been tatting. And I'm drinking tea. Well, it's iced tea. Iced Earl Grey tea actually.  Made using the Tassimo coffee machine I HAD to get. That's what I keep telling myself. Anyway, I wanted to do a quick post about the edging I mentioned in my last post. Due to a thread breaking on the snowflake-not related to damp thread or anything-I stopped working on the snowflake and started my edging. Actually, I think the problem I'm having with thread breaking is that my tension is too tight. This makes the rings hard to close, and I end up breaking the thread. I experimented earlier with careful control of my tension which reduced the problem. I forgot to mention it in my last post. While I can (and will eventually) reattach the thread and continue tatting the snowflake, I have set it aside for now. I really what to start this edging project. I don't expect to run out of thread, but I wanted to allow enough time to order more thread if necessary. And possibly other threads. And a couple of those cool looking thread holders. Perhaps a few more shuttles....

Anyway, I picked a pattern for tat, and started it last night. I picked Mary Konior's Convolvulus edging pattern from her book Tatting in Lace.

And here it is against the T-shirt I selected:

I think it works, but I want your opinion. I still have a few questions about sewing it on the shirt. Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I greatly appreciate it. I understand that I should use a matching colour thread to sew on the tatting, but what am I matching the thread to? The t-shirt or the tatting? I assume the tatting. The general consensus of the people who commented was that I want a pattern that has few decorative picots. This pattern has no decorative picots. While I'm sure it will make sense once I start sewing it on, but how exactly do I sew it on? Hopefully I haven't bitten off more that I can chew!

You might have noticed the shuttle in the first photo. It is my newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle. It is made out of Olive wood. I love it! I love how it looks marbled. And surprisingly (or maybe not so much) it smells like olive oil!? Before you ask, I don't normally smell my shuttles, but the odour was noticeable as it was warming up after being in the mailbox for a few hours. It's actually kinda nice. I don't like olives, but I have recently started using olive oil in my cooking so I have grown accustomed to it. I can't wait to see what other woods Sally and Nick get their hands on. I'm already looking forward to the Zebra wood that Sally recently showed off.

That's it for now. I will post again soon. Now that I finally memorized the pattern, I am tatting this pretty quickly. Apparently, I can't follow written patterns anymore-I had to draw it out first. The current length is about doubled what is shown above, and I'm one or two motifs away from completing about half the required length. So, if anyone sees a problem with the pattern or thread colour, please comment ASAP. Till next time.



PS: Diane, please take a number!