Spinning Wheels Glass Mat, Part 1

This took longer than I expected, but better late than never. I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was getting some weird shifts at work. I think I'm on week three of these shifts, and they are screwing me up. And then, I had today off which I planned to spend tatting, International Tatting Day and all, but instead spent the morning troubleshooting my computer. I traced the problem to the video card. Fortunately I still had my old one, but it didn't like Windows 7's fancy desktop environment, Aero, I believe. Disabled that, and so far so good. However, now it looks ugly and is sluggish. So I'll have to pick up a new video card. Anyway, I should get to the tatting.

As I said before I was going to tat one or more of Mary Konior's Spinning Wheels Glass Mats. I finished one a few days ago and started another one. Here is the completed one:

This was tatted using Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #167 Jungle Greens. I can see why Diane likes tatting this. The stitch count is easy to remember, and once you make one repeat it was easy to remember where all the joins are. I did mess up once, er, twice at the beginning. One error is still visible, but it still works. I'm working on another one. This time in a solid colour. I'll share it as soon as I finish it. I hope to get a fair bit of tatting done tonight.

I'm still working on the Betta patterns. I just haven't felt like working on it. One of these days I'll get them finished. Anyway till next time. And

Happy International Tatting Day!!

Tatting Break

Wow! Has it really been nearly a month since I last posted? Sorry. I haven't really felt like tatting lately. I think I overdid it a bit trying to get my Male Betta pattern finished I burned myself. I did get the Female Betta tested, and apart from a few minor errors, the testers had no problems with it. I did manage to tat a couple of Betta bodies, but I just haven't felt like tatting the fins. I don't want to post the pattern without a final testing by me-especially if I plan to sell the pattern. I will get it done, don't worry. It just may take another couple weeks. I doubt I'll get much done on it this coming week, my work schedule is terrible. I hope it doesn't stay that way either. I did manage to get a little bit of tatting done since my last post. I did a couple of Mary Konior's motifs which I'll share today. I have done a bit of chainmaille lately too.

I mentioned it on Facebook that I got a septum piercing about three weeks ago. I posted a photo on Facebook, so I won't post it here. You can go there if you want to see. Before anyone asks, I got it because I have always wanted to get one. My parents saw it a few days ago and took it surprisingly well.

The first motif I tatted was Mary Konior's Chain Reaction edging. I have to admit, I like the way it looks, but I didn't really like tatting it.

As you can see, it is all chains. I don't know if I was supposed to or not, but I found I had to constantly SLT after most of the chains. I found I couldn't memorize the pattern as I often do either. I'm not sure why, it could just be part of my burnout. Like I said, I do like the pattern, just not tatting it. The pattern is from Mary's Tatting With Visual Patterns book. I should point out, I think the books is out of print now. The online tatting stores are now selling the book for $60. If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to before it's too late. Oh, I used Lizbeth 20 thread in colour #149, Peacock Blues.

The second motif that I tatted is also Mary Konior's, also from Tatting with Visual Patterns.

This is Dress Trim. I really enjoyed tatting this motif. It was fairly quick to tat too. I also used Lizbeth 20 colour #149, Peacock Blues to tat this motif. Nothing really to say about the motif. I might tat it again. I could make a doily or something using a solid coloured thread. Since I wrote this post this afternoon, I'm hoping I'll get to some tatting this evening. Perhaps I'll try to work some Windmills motifs for the large doily I'm working on. I've been wanting to tat a Spinning Wheels mat too. I haven't done one for a while. We'll see.

I think that's about it for now. I'll try to get back into posting a bit more often, though we'll see how that goes. I'm sure many of you are aware that Jane had more Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles in her shop on Thursday. Sadly, there will be no new shuttles for me this time. I, uh, forgot about it until later that evening. I did buy a couple of Hooks with Hats as well as a Bobbin Holder. Maybe I'll get a new shuttle from the next batch. Till next time.

Finally! Female Betta Completed

Well, I finally finished the Female Betta. It's not like it was that difficult, I just haven't had much time. I've been busy at work, and I haven't been feeling like tatting much when I get home or am off. I have been playing games on my iPad and reading books and magazines on it too, which has taken up a fair amount of my time. But anyway, I have finished tatting the Female Betta.

As I said above, it wasn't that difficult to create, as I used the same body as the male. The fins were much easier to make too. Especially the tail fin. Here's a photo of the Female:

See? The fins are smaller and less ornate than the male. The colours can vary like the males, though perhaps not as much. Here's a photo of both Male and Female Bettas together:

Don't they make a lovely couple? Now that the easy part is done. The easy part being the tatting, I am now working on writing up the pattern. I'm almost done, I just have the top fin to write out. I hope to have it finished by the weekend, maybe earlier. I should have enough test tatters from my call last time, if they're still interested. If needed, I'll ask for extra test tatters when I finish the pattern. The Male Betta is just about done. I need to tat it once more, then add some in-progress photos for clarity. A little bit of reformatting would be good too. I am getting tired of this project, so once the Female is done I'll probably combine both designs in one pattern for sale. I haven't done much other tatting, and I need to move on.

Finally, I'll show you my newest shuttles. I got these two Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles the last time Jane offered them for sale. Which is getting to be a while ago now.

The top shuttle is made out of Eucalyptus wood and the bottom one is made out of Sequoia wood. I love them both, though I love all my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. I guess while I'm writing here, I might as well share my newest tatting book too:

The book is in French, as you can probably tell. I'm not sure what it is with foreign language books and me lately. I do have some knowledge of French, so I can understand some of what is written. Not enough though, but I do find it easier to translate than my German and Japanese books. There's quite a few really cool looking designs and patterns. Hopefully I will try some of them soon.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I can get both patterns finished. And some other tatting done to share. Till next time.

I'm Here, Honest!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I've been pretty busy at work, and I seem to have "Designer's Block" with regards to the two other fish patterns I am trying to work on. I figured I should work on the Dwarf Gourami first since it needed modifications to the body in order to work. I'm not happy with the result, and then haven't felt like working on it. I think I'll work on the Female Betta on my next day off, which should be Wednesday. I should try to tat another Betta body so I'm ready then. My Male Betta has been tested by a few other tatters now; I'm waiting for Jane to go over it again. I think what I may do is offer the Male and Female Bettas together in one pattern since they share the same body style. We'll see what happens with the Gourami. I don't have any photos to share right now. I got my iPad last Monday; it's awesome! I took a few photos and copied them onto my computer, but that's as far as I got.  Hopefully I'll have something to share next time.

Oh! I do have a photo to share. It's my two Dwarf Gouramis; Bob on the left, and Joe on the right.

Well, till next time.

Refining a Design, Updated

I'm not off to a good start for blogging regularly this year, am I. I have been busy tatting though. I just don't have much to show right now. I don't have anything new to share, but rather something old that I have been tweaking. I have also been working on writing out the pattern for the design in question. The writing process brought on a few thoughts and questions that I will get to after I'm done sharing.

I'm sure some of you remember my Male Betta? Well, I finally managed to write out the pattern for it. While I was writing the pattern out, I managed to fix a few issues I had with the pattern. So, here is the final version:

For reference, here is the original version:

I think the new version looks much better. And, I actually like the looks of the variegated thread I used in this version too. It's Lizbeth #125 Seascape. It fits the design; go ahead, Google Male Betta and see for yourself. Check out the images. Now, the pattern has been tested by one other person (thanks Jane!!), but I should have one or two other people to test it as well. So, if you are willing to be a Guinea Pi.... er, test tatter, please comment on this post. The first two will get a chance to test the pattern. You would need to know how to make split rings, but everything else is fairly basic. I would expect a needle tatter could tat this too. The pattern will be sent out Friday or Saturday. If there are more than two people who want to test the pattern, do not worry. I have a plan!

While writing out the pattern, it occurred to me that I can modify the pattern to create other fish. That is what I am working on right now. I've got two other designs in the works. The two other designs are Female Betta, and Dwarf Gourami. I will need test tatters for these patterns too.  I am planning on selling the Male Betta pattern, and since the other designs are based off of the Male Betta, they'd be for sale too. I was thinking of offering all three patterns together, kinda as a book. Or pattern collection. Though, I don't know if that is what people would want. I could offer them for sale individually. Any thoughts? I don't have a price in mind yet, but it would be cheaper to offer all three (perhaps more?) patterns together.

Update: Between this post and Facebook, I've got enough test tatters. The first 2-3 will get to test the Male Betta. As I said above, I will send the pattern to the testers either tomorrow or Saturday. The other two patterns will be sent out as they are completed. That will hopefully be by next weekend. Don't worry if you don't here from me till then. Thanks!

That's about it for now. I'll try to post again this weekend. No promises. It's my birthday next Monday. That's also when the iPad I bought myself (for my Birthday) is supposed to arrive. I'll probably be busy playing with that for a while. I have a new tatting book coming tomorrow too. I've got a lot of tatting to do before the weekend is over. Till next time.

I'm Still Here!

Sorry. I guess I didn't get around to posting yet. I had a great Christmas, and New Year. The world didn't end, big surprise there. Nothing really new has happened since my last major post. As I think I mention every year, I didn't make any resolutions for this year. I do have a few things I'd like to accomplish, but if I don't, it's no big deal. The main one (and I'm sure I said it last year!) is that I really want to get a few of my tatting designs written up and diagrammed and released. Two of which I'd like to offer for sale, but we'll see; I'll probably do a separate post about them later on. I have a little tatting to share, so I'll get to that.

I, unfortunately, didn't get much tatting done while away for Christmas. I almost finished the third gecko for my shirt. I say almost 'cause I broke one thread while tying off, so I will have to redo the final chain. Shouldn't take long, I just need to do it. The one other thing I did tat was another one of Yarnplayer's Marian snowflakes.

This one came about due to a request from a commenter. Yes! I do requests if I have time/it's not too difficult. This snowflake was tatted using Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #116 Christmas Delight. I don't think it looks too bad. I think it works.

As I said at the beginning, I haven't done much tatting, or any other art/craft thing. I did crochet a new pair of slippers while away, but that was easy and only took an hour or so. I am, however working with my aquarium a lot lately. I decided to upgrade my tank recently, and bought a larger one. I was able to get it set up for the most part yesterday. I will have to buy more plants as I don't have enough. And while I can reuse much of my equipment, I did order a new filter, which got back ordered. I have to make due with the one I currently have plus the one that came with the tank till the new one gets here. I will probably have to upgrade the carbon dioxide fertilization system as well as I don't think the one I have now is sufficient. I'll try to post a photo once I am happy with it. That's it for now. I will try to resume what I was doing before Christmas and post less, more often. We'll see if I succeed. Till next time.

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, I obviously didn't get around to another post before Christmas. So, I guess I'll have to do an extra post when I get back. So I want to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hopefully this post works; I forgot to schedule it before I left so I'm writing it using my iPod Touch. Till next time.

Jeff

Yarnplayer's Marian Snowflake

Just a quick post; I was more productive tatting wise than I expected. I'll still probably do one more post before I leave.

I saw on Yarnplayer's blog that she had designed a new snowflake and had the pattern available in her shop. I just had to buy it. And it's actually a fairly quick tat. I made two Friday evening/Saturday morning.

Both snowflake used size 20 Lizbeth thread. The first one is in # 601 White and #116 Christmas Delight. The second snowflake used #163 Blue Ice. This is a quick and fun to tat pattern. My only problem is that my picots are a bit uneven. More obvious in the left one. I don't usually use gauges, but it probably would be a good idea for this pattern. I might give them away, I'm not sure yet.

That's it for now. I need to get ready for bed. Work tomorrow. Till next time.

Frivole's Snow Crystal Snowflakes

I think I mentioned in my previous post that I did some test tatting for Frivole. I've finally gotten around to posting about them. Not really much else going on here. It's been cold. It snowed once or twice since my last post. I've been working like a dog at work, and I absolutely hate working in a retail store at Christmas time. Which sucks, 'cause I like Christmas, but it gets to a point when I can't stand hearing the music anymore. But it'll be all over soon. Well, you know, unless the world ends, again. Then it'll be over sooner.

Anyway, here are the snowflakes that I test tatted for Frivole:

The snowflakes in the top row are Crystal 1 and the ones in the bottom row are Crystal 2. Unless Frivole changed the names since I test tatted them. These are all done in size 10 thread. I found the size 10 the easiest to practice her 1 stitch SCMR. Now that I can get the chains nice and pointy, I'm sure I could easily make the snowflake in size 20 or finer. The Crystal 2 snowflakes are a bit easier, but they do require the use of a picot gauge in order to make it look nice. That makes them a little slower to make, for me, anyway. They're both really nice patterns and are available in Frivole's shop. You get both patterns in one PDF file. The white snowflakes used Cebelia size 10 (which I hated using!) and the other two are Lizbeth 10, #149 Peacock Blues and #611 Gold. They are about 2 3/8 inches (6 cm) across.

That's it for now. I'll probably only manage one more post before Christmas. I'll leaving to go to my parents either next Friday or Saturday. If I can get a shift at work Friday, then I'll definitely leave Saturday. I don't have much tatting to share, but I got my two newest Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles in the mail this week which I have to share. I've also gotten some more HDT from Jesse during her Thanksgiving sale. That's it for now.

Jelly Bean Earrings

Nothing new to report since my last post. It snowed again. But that's not really new here. So, I guess we'll get on to the tatting.

After I got my Aerlit shuttles, I tatted three pairs of earrings for my mom. Some of you may have seen these, but I haven't heard anyone mention them before.

These are Jill Hanna's Jelly Bean Earrings. Anyone who has purchased an Aerlit shuttle will have the pattern. It's printed on the back of the package. The bobbins have a different pattern on the back of their packages. I don't think anyone has mentioned the fact that there is a patten on the back of the packages. I don't know why, I just find it surprising. Anyway, the pair on the left was tatted according to the pattern, with lots of picots. I used Lizbeth 20 colour #122 Caribbean for this pair. For the blue pair, I got a bit adventurous and added some beads to the outer picots, which added some weight to the earrings. For these, I used Lizbeth 20 colour #658 Lt Ocean Turquoise. For the black pair, I went a bit bead crazy, and added beads between the rings as well as to the chains. I used Lizbeth 20 #604 thread. I will probably stiffen them then add the findings. I will probably make another pair of a different design.

That's it for now. As I mentioned last time, I test tatted a couple of snowflakes for Frivole. Once I got one of her techniques down pat, I find the snowflakes kinda addictive. It probably doesn't help that I can manage to tat a snowflake in a single evening. That usually doesn't happen. I'm currently on a crochet kick right now making a couple quick scarves to use as Christmas gifts. Till next time.

The Next Japanese Motif and New Shuttles

No, I haven't disappeared, again. I don't know how some of you can post daily. Nothing really interesting happening. I have been tatting. I've done a little bit of chainmaille. It snowed, again. Yeah, we'll move on to the tatting.

I actually finished the following motif at least a week ago, but hadn't got around to posting it till now.

This is from the same Japanese book as the last motif. That book would be of course, Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige. Again since I don't know if it has a name, it's on page 55. I like the way this motif looks. However, despite my best attempts I realized that I missed a join about halfway through, and didn't notice it until the final repeat. I only noticed it 'cause something didn't seem right. To finish the motif (I wasn't cutting out over half the round) I had to repeat the mistake and skip a join. So I am missing one repeat, and I think it makes the motif a bit oval shaped instead of round. I'm definitely redoing this pattern soon. Also, the centre two rounds are used in other patterns, so I may have to try them too. The above motif is about 4.75 inches in diameter and tatted using Lizbeth size 20 thread, colour #163 Blue Ice.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I ordered several of those new Aerlit tatting shuttles. But not from Handy Hands. As much as I'd like to spend $100+ on tatting stuff to make their shipping charges worthwhile and trust me, I'd like to (maybe after Christmas), I opted to purchase from one of the other tatting suppliers. I believe all the major online suppliers have the new shuttles for anyone interested. Anyway, I bought 4 of them, in three colours:

I'm sure you guys knew I would have to get a couple of blue ones. These were the colours that appealed to me the most. And among the least, um, feminine. I also bought some additional bobbins to go with these:

You had to know that was coming, right?? So far, I'm quite impressed with them, the shuttles, of course. I've been using one since they arrived. It started off somewhat stiff, but it loosened a bit and work great now. Though time will tell about how long the ratcheting action will last and we have a loose bobbin. I have to admit, I'm not used to how thin they are. I use mostly my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles which are rather thick. I should (perhaps again) mention that I almost never use post style shuttles. I almost always use bobbin shuttles. I know this came up a couple posts ago about the Japanese motif with the overlapping (Celtic style?) chain. The bobbins wouldn't fit through the space. I had to unwind the bobbins.

I think that's all for now. I have other stuff to share, but I'm going try to split my posts up and post less, more often. I commented on Jane's blog this morning on her post about the Blogger/Picasa image storage issue that some people are having. I'm using a whopping 4% of my storage limits. Instead of resizing my images, I probably should post more often. So, I'll try. I've been working on some tatted earrings for my mom and I've been test tatting for Frivole, so I'm going to make them each a separate post, probably scheduling them to post every few days. Anyway, till next time.

Black Friday Sale

I try to avoid doing posts like this but, I think it's been a while. For anyone interested, I will be having a Black Friday sale. Everything will be 20% off. I'm not sure, but the coupon code on my blog should also work too. So, a possible 30% discount(or so) for followers of my blog. I'm not the only one having a sale, but you'll have to visit Jess' blog for the coupon code. My sale should happen automatically. I'm using an Etsy App to manage my sale. It should start at midnight (my time CST, I think).

That's it for now. I'm still working on the second motif from the Japanese book. I'll share once I'm done. Till next time.

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.

Happy Hallowe'en!

I hope everyone has had a Happy Hallowe'en. I had to work today, but I did get dressed up.

Arrrrrr mateys! Technically I was a generic pirate, but most people assumed I was Captain Jack Sparrows from the Pirates of the Caribbean, so I went with it. I've been meaning to post, but life (and work!) keeps getting in the way. I do plan to post on Saturday, as I know I won't be working. So I'll share what little tatting I've gotten done, and my new books, and even the HDT I bought from Jess. It's been snowing a bit here, not much and I'm hoping it melts away for a while. With it being cooler out, I actually feel inspired to start tatting snowflakes. I think this year I'm going to go through all my HDT and use up the "snowflake coloured" ones.

Till next time. Happy Hallowe'en all ye land lubbers!



PS: For anyone interested, I will be offering free shipping in my Etsy shop starting over the next few days. The coupon code on the right side bar still applies. I've also made some, um, price changes.

Karen Bickerton's Patterns

This will be just a quick post. Karen Bickerton, from KB Design Originals, has a special offer for anyone following my blog. When you purchase any of her patterns from her shop, mention me and/or my geckos, and she'll include a bonus pattern. She didn't say if/when the offer will expire, so if interested, don't hesitate. She has her Frilled Lizard pattern listed now, for anyone interested.

I'll hopefully do a regular post soon. I have been tatting, mainly on the Pineapple doily. A couple new books arrived in the mail too, which I'd like to share. Till next time.

Purple Pineapple Heaven

I decided to take a bit of a break from tatting geckos. I really like the look of the tatted pineapple doily that Umintsuru has been tatting lately. Any of them. In case you are wondering, I haven't really been working on much else lately, except the doily. Apart from some "issues", I'm enjoying tatting this. It's been a while since I've tatted something I don't have to think about. Before I move on, I would like to mention that the motif that I had rewrote the pattern for from the previous post, can be found in the book The Tatters Treasure Chest edited by Mary Carolyn Waldrep. Here the motif is called Wild Rose. The second motif I rewrote (but haven't tatted yet) is there as well. All patterns are still in long notation. Thanks Stephanie!

I've always liked the many crocheted pineapple designs that are out there. I am pleased that there are a number of designs for tatting. The doily, called Pineapple Heaven is by Doretha Albee. Before I go any further, I should mention that I'm not done yet.

See. This is the first 10 rounds of the doily. I'm actually further along than shown here. I scanned it a few days ago, and I've been working on it since. Like I said, I'm really enjoying tatting the doily except for one little problem. It started to cup. Not severely, but enough that it was a problem. I'm pretty sure it's because I am a rather tight tatter. At least compared to Umintsuru and Ms. Albee. I think if/when I tat this doily again, I'll add a ds or two to the chains that are before and after the "shells" to try to prevent the cupping. I blocked what I had done before posting, and it did help. I think my long picots are a tad too long, but I don't know if that would cause a problem. I'm tatting this doily for my mom, so I used some purple thread. This is Lizbeth size 20 #633.

That's about it for now. I probably going to keep working on the doily until I'm done before going back the finished the last gecko-it's about 1/4 done. My shop's been quiet lately, so unless the sales come flying in, I probably won't work on chainmaille this week. I made up a list a few weeks ago of items I'd like to make (more bracelets, some wallet chains, other things for the guys), but I haven't really looked at it. Till next time.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Tatting Friends!

Rewriting Old Patterns and Another Gecko

Wow. I can't believe how long it's taking me to post lately. I had some new tatting to show two or three days after I last posted. However one thing or another seems to have prevented me from posting. Work. Chainmaille. Simply not feeling like it. Forgetting (it happens!). But here I am. I won't be long. You've seen one thing I'm going to share already.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I'll mention it again. I'm not a big fan of vintage tatting patterns. It's not that they don't appeal to me, some are quite nice, but usually it's because of the way they are written. Unless the motif in question is small, I can't be bothered to try to follow the pattern. While housecleaning several weeks ago, I came across a tatting booklet that had some patterns that I liked. So, while watching a movie one evening, I rewrote one of the patterns in short hand that's easier to follow. I then tatted the motif from my version of the pattern. Here is the result:

The motif above is a motif from Tray Mat No. 7354 from Favorite Crochet & Tatting Designs, Book No. 205. The booklet was published in 1944 by The Canadian Spool Cotton Company. As far as I can tell, the booklet is still under copyright. I may be wrong, but I don't for sure. I don't think I can share the rewritten pattern either. Again, I could be wrong. Does anyone know if this pattern, or the booklet in general, has been republished more recently? I haven't looked yet to see if the booklet is posted online already. The motif is used in a couple patterns in the booklet to make a doily as well as placemats. I'm not sure what I'll use it for, but I like it. I rewrote another pattern that I hope to tat soon. I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in white.

Finally, here is the second gecko for my t-shirt:

I used the same thread as before, the only difference is that I added a couple of beads for the eyes (in the eyes?). The pattern called for two smaller beads per eye but I thought that one size 8/0 bead would work. I think it did. I have to admit, I kinda like the beads in the eyes. I'm now thinking I should remake the other large gecko and add beads to that one too. Mind you, I don't think I have matching beads for the small gecko now. I'll have to see. I really need to get back to tatting geckos. The tray mat motif and a fair amount of chainmaille lately has severely limited my work on this project.

That's about it for now. I'm going to try to get more tatting done. I do have numerous chainmaille related projects queued up. We'll see what happens. Till next time.

Tatted Gecko #1, and Crocheted Tie Update

Well, I'm only a few weeks late on posting. I came down with a summer cold a few weeks ago, during which time I didn't really feel like doing much. I think I'm over it now, and I've been working on a few projects this past week. I have been tatting, which I'll share in a minute or two. I almost finished the crocheted tie. I have also been working on some chainmaille, remaking sold items and I even learned a new weave and made a bracelet using it. I'll share the new weave with you later. If the weather cooperates, I hope to get some decent photos for the shop.

I shared a preview of what I was tatting in my last post. I finished the motif in question a few days later. Here is the finished motif:

This is Karen Bickerton's Gecko, available from her shop here. I really enjoyed tatting him. I like Karen's design style of her patterns. I'm sure those of you who have seen Ginny's blog recently have seen Karen Frilled Dragons. I can't wait for the pattern to be made available in Karen's shop. I am currently tatting another Gecko using the same thread. I am planning on sewing several Geckos, at least three, on to a dark green t-shirt. Two are going to me made with size 20 thread, the third in size 40-if I can manage it. I seem to be out of practice using finer thread. I tat too tightly and constantly snapped the thread the last time I used size 40 thread. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20, colour #167 Jungle Greens.

Here is a quick update on the crocheted tie:

As you can see, the basic tie has been crocheted. And it can even be tied like a real tie. Just to clarify the type of cord I used, the company I purchased the cord from calls it "Bugtail". The label on the spool calls it 1mm Rattail. I have a few ends to deal with (easy since it's crochet) then it's technically done. While tying the tie, it did find it did stretch a fair bit. I think it needs a round of crochet on the outer edge to reduce the stretch. I'm thinking that I'll use a heavy cotton thread instead of nylon, for the outer round. Once that's done, I'll have to block and possible iron it. I'll share once it's done.

That's about it for now. I'm going to focus on tatting Gecko's for the rest of the week. Since it's a short work week with Labour day on Monday, I do hope to get a fair bit done on my days off. Regrettably, some housecleaning will have to be done too. The horrors! Till next time.

Some Tatting, and The Beginnings of The Crocheted Tie

I have to admit. I really don't feel like posting. I guess I've got some work stuff on my mind, again. Hopefully I'll get them resolved soon. I don't want to bore anyone with them; though I spent a good chunk of last night lying awake, thinking. Anyway, I have been up to some tatting. A few sales in the shop meant some chainmaille was made too. And an impromptu idea yesterday meant I spent the better part of an hour crocheting. So, let's keep moving!

A few week back, I saw the cool looking interconected rings that a number of tatters were working on. I had to try them too. I saw the video for tatting them with a single shuttle. After many, many failed attempts, I think I got it:

You wanna know how I managed it? This next photo should help:

It may be cheating a bit, but I got it! First time. I tried it twice and got it both times. I see many interesting patterns using this technique. Though I think I will put it on the back burner for a bit. I would like to try and get the shuttle version down pat. I am using one of these motifs as the centre of an idea I have, and I don't like the combination of shuttle and needle tatting. The differences are too great for me. Though I'm not good at needle tatting, so that is probably a factor. I may have to buy some more tatting needles; I only have one. I know I will get better results if I match the needle with the thread diameter.

I am currently working on another motif right now. Here's a sneak peek:

A hint could be found in Ginny's recent post. That's all I'm saying right now. I have an idea for this too.

I bought some thread online a week or so ago, as I thought it might work for tatting. I tried one of the two that I bought. Here is a sample of "Bugtail" thread:

Bugtail is a thinner version of "Rat Tail" thread if that helps. Both are a nylon Satin cord. The bright shiny thing is a quarter for size comparison. The thread is incredibly shiny and smooth and feel really nice to the touch. As you can see, it does tat fairly well. The smoothness works to it's advantage. The main issue is size. The cord is about 1 mm in diameter. You would need some pretty big shuttles or needles to use. Coincidentally, it crochets really well:

This is the result of about 45 minutes of crocheting. I had a few restarts but I got the sizing about right. The above section is about 8 inches long. I am going to finish this, I just ran out of cord. It's much easier to make than my tatted tie. I'm not sure why I'm into making ties lately. Perhaps it's a sign that I need to find a new job and move on. Whatever it is, I could write up the pattern when it's done if anyone wants it. Compared to the tatted version, it shouldn't take long. I'm not sure if it will be a "real" tie or if I'll have to fake it like I'll do with the tatted one.

That's about it for now. We'll see what happens with posting. This is a nice distraction, but I have to get stuff done in order to share it. The tatting I'm working on should busy for a few days, depending on how things go at work. Till next time.