An Interesting Few Weeks (And Some Tatting!)

I had planned to post near the beginning of the month. I really did. However something funny kinda happened. I ended up in the hospital two weeks ago yesterday. Yeah, wasn't really very funny, or fun for that matter. Went in to the hospital with vertigo, and found out that I had very high blood pressure. I was in the hospital for three and a half days. I had many tests and was put on medication while I was there. Nothing significant was found. I did go back to work for the rest of the week. The doctor told me to take the following week off when I next saw him (ie: last week; I went back to work yesterday). I didn't bring anything with me to do while I was in the hospital- I didn't think I would be hospitalized. And I didn't know how long I would be there; it was kinda one day at a time. However, I have been doing a fair amount since. I did a lot last week while resting.

Since I spent a fair amount of time lying in bed taking it easy, I wanted something easy to work on. I decided to work on the Windmills Doily. If you need to refresh you mind on what it looks like, or are new here, you see what it last looked like here. I continued making it oval shaped.

I'm actually further along than this. I am working on another "row" to make it longer. It looks more like the digitally altered version I made to show how it will look if I made it oval. You can see that version here. I am planning on adding a row to the top and bottom to make it wider. Probably won't get to that point during this tatting session. I am starting getting tired of it again. Thread stats: DMC Cordonnet size 20. I'll provide an update once I'm finished the current row- I have three more motifs to make.

Finally, I'll share another motif from New Tatting. This was the motif I planned on blogging about two weeks ago.

This is the Dahlia motif. It was quick and easy to tat. As with the first motif I shared in the my last post, I jumped from the first round to the second with a split chain and a split ring. This was tatted in Lizbeth size 20. I don't know the colour number right now. I'll update the post if/when I find the ball of thread. I don't remember where I put it two weeks ago.

That's about it for now. I'll try and post again soon. In case anyone is interested, I am also having a sale in my Etsy shop for the rest of the week.  Till next time.

Tatting From New Tatting

It's been a while again, hasn't it? Hopefully everyone is doing alright. Since my last post, spring has finally come. It was almost 30 degrees C today. It's clouded over now, so I wouldn't be surprised if it rained or even stormed tonight. Everything is growing. And I hate having to work inside. I'm so jealous of the people who work in the store's garden centre. I've been somewhat busy with new plants that arrived in the mail recently, as well as the ones that just have to come home with me from the local nurseries that I have to visit. Anyway, I did manage to get a bit of tatting done, which I will share.

The motif I am about to share is from a new tatting book, which, is called New Tatting, written by Tomoko Morimoko. Her mother, Teiko Fuijito, is a tatter as well.

 As I mentioned in a comment on Lace Lovin' Diane's blog, the book seems to be written for beginners. As a result, some more advanced tatters might not agree with some of the methods used. The main one would be using glue to finish the ends. Which, to me is fine as that is often the recommended method for finishing ends for beginning tatters. Many of them will probably learn better methods as their skills advance. Oh, and the book is in English.

This is Christmas Rose. It was quick and easy. It was supposed to be done in two rounds, but I used a split ring and two split chains to you can tat it with no cutting and tying between rounds. In case you're wondering, the second split chain is right at the top in the photo. I wanted the ends to come out in one of the small chains so I didn't have to hide them. I have to say, there are a number of interesting patterns. I'm sure you'll see more from this book. In case you're wondering, I bought the ebook version of the book. The photo of the cover is a screen capture of my iPad. If you're interested, you can buy the ebook and book directly from Interweave (the publisher) here.Thread stats: Lizbeth 20, colour #704.

That's it for now. I did find a snowflake I tatted a few months ago while sorting through my Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles. I'll have to save that for another post. I was wondering how many of them I have-I may have an addiction problem. I also may have bought another one this past Saturday when Jane offered more for sale in her shop. I didn't get the one I really wanted, so I'll be waiting for the new batch too. Till next time.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate!

I was hoping to have posted a while ago, but, unfortunately, an unscheduled tatting hiatus occurred shortly after my last post. I have hardly touched the doily since. I have done some tatting though. I am working on an exchange with Tattingchic, though I think I am running behind on that too. A couple of nice chainmaille order came though a few weeks ago as well, which was nice. So I've done some chainmaille since my last post.

In case you missed in, I was mentioned in an article by Georgia Seitz on BellaOnline. You can read it here. It's about tatting with Teneriffe lace. Gee, Teneriffe Lace is something I haven't done in a while either. I should try and make a few motifs when I have some time.

Since I don't have any tatting related photos to share, I guess it's time for an orchid photo! Here is a photo of an orchid I bought a few years ago that finally flowered:

This is Phalaenopsis parishii. It's one of my miniature Phalaenopsis orchids. The whole plant is aproxximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from leaf tip to leaf tip. The flower is about 1/2 inch (1.8 cm) wide. It's mounted on a piece of bark and lives in a terrarium like environment.  A few other Phals bought at the same time are or have flowered recently. I don't have photos ready for them. It's always nice to see the plants flower. It's a good sign that they are being cared for properly.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll get back to work on the Japanese doily soon. I'm still waiting for spring to stay here. The weather's been all over the place. It was nice for a while, then it got rather cold for a while. Then it'll try to snow, then get nice again. This weekend was pretty awful weatherwise. We had snow, then freezing rain, followed by more snow, then rain. When it's not snowing or raining it's just cloudy and cool. The forecast for tomorrow is plus 15 and sunny. Let's hope that's what it does. Till next time.

Japanese Doily, Take Two

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working on a motif/doily from Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige. I made this motif earlier, back in November, 2012. You can see the post here.When I made it then, I was having trouble with the overlapping chains. I think I figured out how to make it, without unwinding bobbins and/or shuttles. Here's the centre or glass mat if you will:

It's not blocked yet, so it's a bit ruffly. This is the first two rounds of the doily. In order to get the shuttle to go through the interwoven chains, I used a narrower shuttle. Specifically, a Celtic shuttle. It works much better, apart from winding the thing seemingly all the time. The one I bought, a Lacis metal one, only holds about half as much as an Aero/Aerlit. I'm faily pleased with the result, and decided to continue tatting and make the next size doily. Oh, the thread is Lizbeth 20, colour #602 Natural.

And, like magic (and procrastination from blogging!) we have the third round finished:

It's still ruffled somewhat, but I think it will flatten out once blocked. This round was quick to tat. Probably because I was using a Pop-a-Bobbin shuttle for it. I am currently working the fourth round. It's an interwoven chain round, like the second round. It's slow going because I have to add thread every four or five clovers. Hopefully, I'll have it done by next weekend and I could do a quick post. I plan on making the largest version on the doily since rounds five and six are similar to three and four.

That's it for now. I have been making steady progress on round four, so I hope it won't take long to share it. I hope the weather is cooperating for everyone. We started warming up since my last post, and have had many days above freezing. Our high was 6 C today.  The snow is definitely melting, which is awesome to see. I just hope it keeps melting and doesn't snow anymore. It's been a long and cold winter. I'm looking forward to spring and summer. I have a lemon tree inside that has been flowering for the past few weeks. I've been pollinating the flowers as they open, so I'm hoping I may get a few lemons this year. Till next time.

Quick Update

I'm still here. I just haven't been tatting much apart from the TIAS. I have done a little more chainmaille, but not much, mainly my own stuff. There are a few crochet projects I'd like to make, but we'll see if they happen before spring.

Since I was managing to remember to send progress pics to Jane, I think I will skip to the final motif:

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Jane's TIAS this year turned out to be a Pirate Ship. OK, I think technically it's a "sailing ship" but that mine's a Pirate Ship. What's that? Who says a pirate ship can't have pink sails. Yeah, probably not the best choice, but if you did meet some pirates with a ship that had pink sails, you might not argue with them. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20 #s 701 and 704 (the blue one). Thanks Jane for hosting the TIAS. It was lots of fun.

That's it for now. I am currently working a doily as my main tatting project right now. It is one I have partially done before, but found a more efficient way of working parts of it. I hope to do a proper post in a couple days. I hope to get a fain amount of tatting done as it supposed to be really, really, really cold this weekend. We're supposed to be in the minus 50's with the wind chill tomorrow. Which is better than the -60 something Environment Canada was forecasting yesterday. Till next time.

TIAS 2014, Days 4-8

Yeah. I haven't been posting these as often as I hoped. With the exception of a special tatting experiment (still in progress-will share when ready), I haven't done much tatting except for the TIAS tatting. I have been somewhat inspired to do some chainmaille lately. I learned two new weaves and made a few bracelets using them. I will share once I get some decent photos. 

Anyway, here are my TIAS 2014 progress pictures, these are days 4,5,6,7 and 8:

Jane is definitely making this TIAS difficult! I'm not sure if anyone has guessed it right yet, and  she won't tell us. I am having fun with this though.

That's it for today. I hope to spend the rest of today tatting. It's my birthday today, for anyone not on Facebook. My copy of Jan Stawasz's first book arrived today. I definitely hope to tat something from it today. Till next time.

TIAS 2014, Days 1 to 3

I'm still here. I didn't get as much tatted over Christmas as I would have liked. I had meant to post earlier, but I have been down with a cold for over a week now. I am feeling somewhat better, though, I'm not operating at peak efficiency yet. Actually, I haven't felt like doing much at all lately. I did some crochet last weekend. Nothing special. Just a new pair of slippers using a pattern I've used before. It may be my cold, but I just haven't felt like tatting much. I've been flipping though pattern books and I have a number of motifs picked out, but I just haven't picked up my shuttles yet. And speaking of cold, it was freaking cold out last weekend. With the wind chill, it was -50 outside! -34 or -35 without the wind. And I still had to go to work. Granted, it wasn't snowing or anything; I think the sun was out all day, but still. It did warm up by the end of the week, and we had single digit negative temperatures this weekend.

Anyway, as you can guess from the title, I am participating in Jane's latest TIAS (Tat It And See). Since I'm not busy with other stuff like the last TIAS (or two, I can't remember), I decided to participate. Here is my progress for the last three days:

Day 2 looks like a leg to me, but Day 3 kinda changed that. I have no idea what it could be right now. I'm sure Jane will keep us guessing right till the end. I'm using Lizbeth 20 #701 Dark English Rose. I have no idea why I bought this thread. It's not one of the colours I usually buy, but felt drawn to it for some reason. None of the photos above capture the colour correctly-even the colour of the smart cover on my iPad is wrong. The top photo is probably the closest. I'm not sure if I'll post after each days progress, we'll see.

I think that's it for now. I'll have to post again soon. I do have a few motifs that I tatted over Christmas that I remembered to photograph before giving away to share. I also found out some good news for some of us who were waiting for the reprint of Jan Stawasz's first book. It is currently available from Handy Hands. Or you can order it from the publisher here: https://www.gecom.pl/index.php/en/create_order . This is probably what I'll be doing. I don't really need anything else from Handy Hands to justify their shipping charges and I haven't noticed any of the other tatting suppliers offering the book yet. Handy Hands does have a number of new foreign language books I kinda want, but I am planning on purchasing some other books so they will have to wait. That's it for now. Till next time.

Jan Stawasz Doily, Almost Finished

The tatting of the doily is finished. I just haven't blocked it or dealt with the ends yet. I actually finished tatting the doily a few weeks ago; it was actually pretty quick to tat once I got the stitch counts memorized. I haven't gotten around to posting it till now because I have been busy with work. You gotta love working retail at Christmas. Today was my last day before I go on four days off for Christmas. Let me tell you, I couldn't wait to leave work today! Granted it was freaking cold when I left the building; temperature didn't move much between -28 and -31 C today. It's supposed to get to -35 C tonight then warm up for several days. Which is nice as long as it doesn't snow. Anyway, I really need to make this post short, I still need to pack and do a million other things tonight so I can go to my parents house tomorrow.

Like I said above, the Jan Stawasz doily I tatted, Doily V, was fairly quick to tat. Lots of split rings for much of it. The outer scallops add interest to the pattern, though that's where I found some errors in the stitch counts. Anyway, here's the unblocked doily:

I'll post another picture once it's blocked. I had a few things to talk about as I was tatting the doily but I don't remember them right now. As a reminder, I used Lizbeth 20, #601 White thread. As I said, if anyone else wants to tat this doily, just be aware that there are a few errors in the stitch counts. It's not difficult to figure out the correct stitch counts. I am looking forward to tatting another one of Jan's designs.

That's about it for now. I do hope to get a fair bit of tatting done while I'm away. I'll share what I tat when I get back. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Till next time.

Tatting a Jan Stawasz Design: Doily V

Wow! It's over a month since I last posted. I really hadn't planned on that. I guess between work and life, I never got around to posting till now. I still haven't made a PDF file of the football pattern I posted in my last post yet. You did see it right? You can find the pattern here. You may have noticed that my pattern links are gone from the top left sidebar. Keep & Share closed my account for some reason, and didn't tell me. I'm assuming the account was closed because I hadn't logged in for quite a while. I made a new account, but, um, forgot the password and just haven't dealt with it yet. Don't worry, I'll get them back up soon. Onward to the tatting! I have been tatting, honest!

I'm sure many of you may have heard that Jan Stawasz recently passed away. I only have his second book, though I have wanted his first book for a while. I do hope his publisher continues with the re-release of the first book. I started one of his designs a few weeks ago when I went out of town for the weekend. I chose Doily V, on page 35, as it didn't seem to use "Jan's Method" much.

I had to start the centre square over as I neglected to make the joining picots really small as Jan suggests. It cupped because of the larger picots. It still cups a bit, due to the joining picots on the corners, but I didn't really want to start over. I am hoping blocking it when it's finished will help it. I am currently working on the final round, or Part III as it is written in the book. Unfortunately, this round has some inconsistencies with the stitch counts. I'll talk about them when I'm done the round. I did try Jan's Method on a few rings, and it is pretty easy to do once you start doing it. It's basically a form of frontside/backside tatting. I had to cut off the round shortly after I started as I got mixed up with the stitch count inconsistencies. I didn't use Jan's Method, but I do see the difference now and am looking forward to tatting some of his other designs. I'm using Lizbeth 20, #601 White.

That's about it for now. I bought a couple more Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles from the latest batch that Jane posted last Saturday. I had to; I haven't bought one for a while. I also placed a small order from Bestitched as I wanted one of the new Aerlit shuttle colours, and matching bobbins. There was also a few new Lizbeth colours I wanted. Of course, I ordered a week early, and will miss the Black Friday sale they are having all weekend. Which reminds me, I'm having a sale too!

Starting at midnight (my time) everything is 25% off. This includes the already deeply discounted Sterling Silver. And that's not all! The coupon code located on the right sidebar can be used too. The sale will last all weekend, including Monday.

I had to buy a new battery for my truck a week ago so I would love to get some sales this weekend. Sales have been slow, though I know it's not just me. I'm not trying to guilt anyone by the way. Feel free to pass this on to other people who may be interested. I hope all my US tatting friends are having/had a great Thanksgiving. Till next time.

Are You Ready For Some Football!

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

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

You will need:

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

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

Abbreviations

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

Let's begin!

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

Tatted Football ©2013 Jeff Hamilton

Round 1

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

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

Round 2

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

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

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

Round 3

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

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

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

Stripes (Make 2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CraftyPod

InLinkz.com

I'm Still Tatting!

Honest! Just not Windmills right now. I'm working on something else right now, and I'm pretty excited about it. I just can't share yet. Bummer, I know. Not much else new otherwise. I have to wait until next week to see if my workplace goes on strike or not. There's a strike going on in Alberta that's related to my workplace. I've never faced a strike before so I'm a little concerned. I'm sure it will turn out fine. Anyway, onwards to the tatting. Kinda.

Yeah, I still can't share. I can share the small pile of rejects from the design process however; the finished item changed dramatically from these, so I don't think anyone can guess what it might be. Oh, and I won't confirm or deny any guesses either.

I'm happy to say, that it only took about a week for me to get a working pattern created. Yup, I designed and properly tatted a new design in about a week! I'm very excited about it. Granted, I think having a deadline really helped, I am such a procrastinator. I only have three weeks or so to work on the special project. I did the final tweaks and tatted the in-colour, proper item Sunday while watching a Doctor Who marathon on TV. I still have a ton of photos to take and edit, and I do need to tat a green version of the item too. I gotta incorporate the item into the theme of the project you know. You guys only have to wait a couple weeks.

That's about it for now. Next Monday is Thanksgiving here so hopefully I can get some other tatting done too. Till next time.

Windmills & New Book

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

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

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

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

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

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

Progress, or Rather The Lack Thereof

Yeah. It's been a while since I last posted. Unfortunately, I haven't done much over the last month or so. Most of July was fairly cool, so I can't blame the heat. Towards the end of July, I was experiencing GI cramps a few hours after eating. After concluding that I wasn't coming down with the flu or something, I figured something I was eating was bothering me. I tried cutting out dairy and gluten from my diet with no luck. I came across a gluten free blog where the author mentioned having a really bad reaction to aspartame. Since I do drink a fair amount of diet pop and use many other sugar free foods, I figured I had nothing to lose if I stopped using aspartame. I began to feel better a few days later, and once I got past the caffeine withdrawal (I didn't realize how much caffeine I consumed), I felt great. Without diet pop to drink, I had to find an alternative. I'm not a big fan of plain water so I turned to tea. I read that loose leaf tea was waaaaaaaay better than the stuff in the tea bags, so I ordered a fair amount from Adagio Teas. Anybody buy from here?? In case you're wondering, I had a heck of a time trying to find loose leaf tea locally; Safeway had three varieties, and it wasn't cheap. I ordered a variety of different kinds and flavours. They offer sample size packages for most of their teas so it's easy to buy a bunch to try. I bought a selection of samples and several larger packages to make the shipping more worthwhile. Once I try all the samples I'll have to order a larger amount of my favourites. If it's not obvious, I actually enjoy tea now.

Anyway, to keep this post somewhat tatting related, I'll share some of my recent purchases. I bought a new book. And it's not written in a foreign language!

It's of course, Jan Stawasz's new book Tatted Treasures. This is the first Jan Stawasz book that I own. I love many of the designs, I hope to make many of them too. You'd think that would encourage me to get out my shuttles and get tatting, but there's a problem. I really don't understand his method. That's not true, I understand the concept, it just seems like more work. I may just have to bite the bullet and try a motif his way, and see how it goes. Even if I don't get anything tatted from it, it is an awesome addition to my ever growing tatting library.

After I couldn't find my size 20 red thread when I went to make my Canadian flag, I felt it was absolutely necessary to order more thread. I ordered from Handy Hands first, and then Bestitched a few weeks later to pick up the thread I forgot.

You should be able to see, most of the solid colours are size 10 (one of the reds being the exception). Most of the size 10 was bought to crochet with. The two variegated colours are size 20; they're both newer colours.  Not pictured is the ball of  size 20, colour #135 Lollipop that I received in the red thread holder I also bought and a ball of size 3 black I bought for my tatted tattoo project. I also bought a package of those new flat Celtic shuttles. I'll take a photo when I get around using them.

I also purchased some Omega brand yarn and thread. I needed the yarn for a crochet project I'm working on, and bought some thread just because. I noticed after I ordered the thread and yarn that the cotton Omega thread was the same that Handy Hands carries/use to carry.

For anyone interested I bought the thread from a company called Creative Yarn Source. I notice that Handy Hands only has size 30 and 50 in two colours. Creative Yarn Source has six sizes of this thread, size 10, 20, and 30 are available in 61 colours, and sizes 40,50 and 60 are available in 4 colours. It's also significantly cheaper than HH. Anyway, I have a couple balls of size 30 from Handy Hands, but I don't remember if I used it. And for anyone interested, unless I'm the last tatter to buy them, Creative Yarn Source carries the coiless safety pins that everyone (except me!) uses.

Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll get something tatted soon. I would like to get back to my tatted tattoo idea. I have a few new ideas that I need to try. The last couple of weeks have been pretty hot, we hit 34 C yesterday. Next Monday is Labour Day here, so that means it will be a short work week! Hopefully I may get a chance next week to get some tatting done. Perhaps I'll make progress on and be able to share more of my tatted tattoo. Anyway, till next time.

Interview On Ancora Crafts

Just a quick post today. I haven't had much to show since my last post. I took about a week break from tatting. But I am working on a project or two right now. I'll try to have a proper post soon. In the meantime, you might want to check out the interview I did for Ancora Crafts. You can find it here. It was really fun, and I'm sure I mentioned some things there that I haven't posted here before. Till next time.

Oh, Canada...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you like it! Till next time.