Jon's Foldover Bookmark. And More Maille

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

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

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

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

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

I also made two bracelets in Sterling Silver.

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

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


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

Not Alot of Tatting Goin' On

I had another week where I didn't get much tatting done. I really tried. I did manage some early in the week, but I got sidetracked with other projects.

You may be wondering what I was working on if I wasn't tatting. Well, this:

It's a chainmaille bag, often called a dice bag. I finally decided to make one, and honestly, I'm quite impressed with it. While it was fairly easy to make (bear in mind that I am working my way up to making a chainmaille shirt for myself-maybe; we'll see), I'm not sure if I will be making these for sale. Unless someone wants one; it does make a cute tatting bag, if lined and/or you place small cloth bags inside it. Which is what I did:

You should be able to see a red coloured thing through the chainmaille. That would be the Poke Proof Pouch I bought from Jane Eborall a while ago. Might have to buy a few more. Anyway, the Pouch is in my dice bag for a reason. And here they are:

Yup, I have a couple more Pop-a-Bobbin shuttles in my possession. The light one is made out of Cedar, and the black one is Ebony. I love them!!! Sally has a nice story on her blog about some cedar wood she got from a local church. I've been wondering if my cedar shuttle was made out of it. Maybe Jane or Sally could let me know. I'm still on Jane's list for a Coco bola Rosewood shuttle; hopefully it will still be possible. Anyway, they both work great. And, the hooks seem a little different. A little more refined, perhaps. They're still made by Sally's husband, Nick (you all may know him better as "I'm in the garage", but it seems weird for me to call him that; I mean, if I had a garage, I might have that name too). Mind you, I may have gotten better at using the hooks.

And finally, we come to the small amount of tatting that I managed to make this week.

This edging was made from a pattern that Mark, AKA, Tatman shared on several tatting list a week or so ago. In a way, we were his test tatters. The way the pattern was written caused it the curve severely. Six repeats would make a circular motif. I made a few modifications to make the edging straight. It's very pretty, though the large rings at the bottom were kinda a pain in the butt to close since they are so large. I used Lizbeth size 20 in colour number 663 for the edging.

I haven't done much else in the way of needlecrafts. I have, however, been working on a few projects of the culinary type. I've been making cheese! That's right, every weekend for the past month, I've made a small (~2 pounds in weight) block or wheel of cheese. Nothing fancy; the first three were simply called "basic hard cheese". I also made some Feta cheese (which tastes great by the way). This weekend, I made some "Stirred Curd Cheddar". I've got some photos, if your interested. What's that? You want to see them. Here they are:
















The Feta is in the jar on the left. The cheese on the right is the Cheddar I made this weekend. It has to air dry for a few days, then it needs to be waxed. I then have to age it for at least two months. Fortunately, the other cheeses that I made will be ready before this one. In case you're wondering, the Cheddar recipe is from the book Home Cheesemaking by Ricki Carroll. Ricki has a website where you can buy the book, and other cheesemaking supplies. The basic cheese and feta recipes are from this website.

That's it for now. We'll see what happens on the tatting front. Hopefully I will get a significant amout of tatting done. Till next time.

Mother's Day Pendant

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

Tatting and Teneriffe Lace, But Not Together

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Tatting Books! And Chainmaille.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I think the general consensus was that the purpose of tatting is 1: to add a touch of beauty in our lives, and 2: therapy/pain relief. I also want to send out a virtual hug to Isdihara. Thanks.

Most of my free time has been taken up by chainmaille. Not really a bad thing since I needed another break from tatting. I remade several bracelets that had sold, and the necklace and bracelet from the custom order. I also made a few more pairs of earrings.















These were made using Anodized Titanium and titanium ear wires. I really like the teal ones on the right. I also want to show you the necklace I had made for the custom order:

The necklace was modified slightly to allow the attachment of a pendant. The pendant above is mine. I actually liked making the necklace. I may have to make another one and list it in my shop (link on the right sidebar).

Finally, the reason I am posting tonight. Today was the first day of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra's Annual Book Sale. I went right after work, since it takes place in the mall across the street from my workplace. A previous find can be found here. I found a few tatting books.






































Not too bad, if I do say so myself. I already have the book on the bottom left. I bought it since I thought I might host a giveaway sometime. Not right now, but sometime. Anyway, I need a favour from all you in Tatland. The book on the bottom right was missing its cover, as well as a few other pages. I would love it if someone out there knows what the book is called, if you can tell from the page shown. There are no patterns in the book, just lots of photos. I'm pretty sure one can follow the photos to actually tat the items shown. If anyone can help, let me know. I will probably go back to the sale once or twice more before it ends next Saturday. I will share what else I find, if anything.

That's all for now. I have been doing a little tatting lately. I started a simple edging pattern from my newest Mary Konior book. I'll show it when I run out of thread on the shuttle. It's a size 80 thread; it may take awhile. Till next time.

The Purpose of Tatting

There's been some talk of the purpose of tatting. I, for one, wonder why it needs a purpose. I'd like to think of tatting (as well as other laces, that may also lack a purpose) as the candy of the needlework universe. I'm sure you're all aware that candy doesn't fit into any of the four food groups. However, it still exists. Why? Because it tastes good, and (for the most part) looks good too. That is the purpose of tatting. It looks good. It makes other things look good. And, like candy, can make us feel good. And, the act of doing it (um, tatting) can even help ease pain. That was a big one for me when my older sister passed away three and a half years ago; she was 30. It kept me focused during that hard time. I tatted a bunch of small angels; blue in colour (it was her favourite colour), a plastic rhinestone in the colour of her birthstone, and a white ribbon. These were given to my aunts, mother, and grandmother. This is the first time I've mentioned my late sister, and it will probably be the last until such time that I have designed something worthy enough to have her name attached to it.

I just wanted to voice my opinions about this topic. As a community, I believe we are modernizing the art of tatting. New techniques and patterns are continually being created. And we can't forget the new threads we have access to. That includes the HDTs that are being created as well. I'm not sure why some people think that tatting needs to have a purpose. That need seems a bit old fashioned to me. We have lots of stuff in our world that only have a single purpose. What's wrong with that??



PS: I was going to include this rant/opinion voicing in a regular post. It seems better on its own.

Much Ado About Nothing, or My Lack of Progress

I got nothing. I'd love to show you guys something, but I haven't done much. I did some crocheting while I was away. I'm currently working on a chainmaille necklace/chain and matching bracelet right now, which should be done by the end of the week. I don't really feel like tatting right now. I'll pause while you all gasp and scream in horror .......

All done? I've got plenty of thread (well, an adequate supply, at least), lots of patterns/books/etc, and some time, but I just don't feel like tatting. Maybe I need to break out some HDT to spice up my tatting. I dunno. It could be the spring-like weather we're having here. It's been pretty nice for the past few weeks (if you forget the blizzard-like conditions that the city and other parts of the province experienced last week). It's been raining most of the day, so that should help induce plant growth. Stores are starting to sell seeds, bulbs and other garden related stuff. Then again, maybe it was the paper cut I got at work Sunday.....

I won't end this post without having a little tatting content. When I got back from my short break, I found this waiting for me:

Yup, I got the final book needed to complete my collection of Mary Konior books. As with all of Mary's books, this one is full of really pretty patterns. Hopefully, I will get around to tatting something from this book soon.

That's all for now. With any luck, something will be tatted by the time I post again. Till next time.

Easter Tatting, New Maille Earrings

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. I didn't get as much tatting done as I would have liked. I ended up working on some chainmaille projects for a majority of the weekend. I did, however, manage to make something with tatting on it for Easter.

What I managed to tat is this, a tatted Easter egg:

Or rather, a satin covered Styrofoam egg (purchased from Handy Hands several years ago), with a couple of tatted snowflakes pinned to it. Here is a top view:

This is Snowflake 2 from Festive Snowflakes & Ornaments. And now a bottom view:

This is Snowflake 1, also from Festive Snowflakes & Ornaments. Both snowflakes were tatted using Lizbeth size 20 thread, in colour #129 Purple Splendor. I was hoping to get a second egg done, but I haven't finished it yet. I am going to count this as Motif #23 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge.

Most of my weekend was spent working on some chainmaille projects. I remade my wallet chain using stainless steel. I also remade a few bracelets that had sold. Though, the highlight of my weekend of mailleing are these:

The earrings on the left and bottom right were made using a new anodized (coloured) aluminum colour called "Black Ice". Black Ice is a dark grey colour with a purple tinge to it. It has a very shiny luster. One pair of earrings has a Sterling Silver ring at the base of each earring, and Sterling Silver earwires. The other pair has a Gold Filled ring at the base of each earring with gold plated earwires. The earrings on top right are made of Sterling silver with a Gold filled ring on the base. They also have Sterling silver earwires. All three pairs of earrings are in my Shop, along with the Jens Pind bright aluminum bracelet.

That's all for now. I will be going away for a few days, starting on Wednesday afternoon. There may be a regular post Sunday or Monday, but that will depend on how much tatting I manage to complete while away. Till next time.

International Tatting Day

Happy International Tatting Day!!!!!!

I hope everyone out there managed to get some tatting done today. And had some chocolate while doing their tatting. I've done some tatting today, but not very much. Same with the chocolate.

I am not quite done with my current tatting project to show you yet. However, due to a scheduling error at work (my fault, I didn't get my time off request in early enough) I will be spending the weekend in the city. I plan on tatting all weekend, after work. I do have three days off next week, towards the end, and plan on going away during that time. I hope to have a number of things to show you all either Sunday or Monday.

I will be going back to get a bit more tatting done before bed. Till next time.

Crocheted Socks Complete ..... Hiatus Over! Plus Some Tatting

I finally finished the socks this weekend. I'm actually quite pleased with how they turned out.

Well, almost. I really don't like the crocheted ribbing that is used in the pattern. What I'm thinking I might do the next time (there WILL be a next time; I still have three more balls of this sock yarn, not all in blue, however) is to knit the ribbing and then crochet the rest. That's not a lot of knitting, so I think I can manage it. I'll provide an update if/when I decide to try this. You can also see what is left of the ball of yarn I was using. The pattern said I'd need a second ball to complete a pair of socks in the size I was making. I am also announcing that my hiatus from tatting is now over. I have a number of things that I want to tat, and I can't wait any longer.

I wanted to make something for Easter this year. I picked out a few motifs to make and have begun tatting them. Here is the first one, tatted in two different colourways:

These are Motif 2 from Festive Snowflakes & Ornaments For Needle and Shuttle Tatters edited by Barbara Foster. I'm not sure why, but I expected more from this book. Don't get me wrong, there are several pretty motifs in the book, as seen on the cover:

I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that many of the patterns were written for needle tatter with modifications in brackets for shuttle tatters. And no, I'm not picking on needle tatters. Some really amazing work is coming from the needles of needle tatters. And in all honesty, if I had heard of needle tatting when I was learning to shuttle tat, I may have gone the needle tatting route first. I'm just saying that the book is a bit biased. But since Ms. Foster and Handy Hands promote needle tatting, I'm not surprised. What does this have to do with the above motifs? Each pattern in the book has a specified technique to use, ie: needle and thread, shuttle and ball, etc. A shuttle and ball was recommended for this pattern (the needle tatting technique is irrelevant here). There are twelve (12!) SLTs (shoe lace tricks) used in the motif. Two shuttles would have worked better, and the results would look better too. I want to make at least one more motif from this book, so my opinion might change about the book. I also need at least three more of the above motifs as well. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #105 (on the left) and #122 (on the left).

You may be wondering what I need these motifs for. It's a secret. I'll show you on Thursday. As a side note, I have ordered a few ounces of sterling silver rings and will offer a few pieces of jewelry in this metal. I have also ordered some rings suitable for making a chainmaille bag. I think it would make a cool tatting bag, if only for myself. I'm pretty sure they would need to be lined, and I don't know how long it would take to make one. So, I may not be able to offer them for sale, but we'll see.

That's all for now. I'll see you Thursday. Till next time.

A Wee Bit of Tatting, Digital Tatting, and More Maille

I'll begin this post by saying that I didn't get the crocheted sock done. I know, I thought I'd be done by now, but something else came up. But we'll get to that later. Hopefully I'll get to the other sock soon.

I may have missed St. Patrick's Day by a few days (OK, four days), but I did manage to tat a shamrock:

The is the shamrock that Betsy Evans shared on Here-Be-Tatters. I think it is really pretty, and very generous of Betsy for sharing the pattern. Of course, I think any and every tatter who shares their patterns with the rest of us are very generous. Someday I hope to be one of them. Thread stats: Flora size 20 in colour #230. This will be motif #22 of my Third 25 Motif Challenge. As you can see, I made the stem by encapsulating the thread ends, however, I'm not sure how to finish it. Can the ends be hidden somehow? Any suggestions?

Speaking of sharing patterns, I have been working on diagramming some of my own designs. Back in December, I bought a newer copy of the DrawPlus software that we were using for the Design-Tat course that Sharon was running. I hadn't really done much with it until now. The first design I am currently working on is my Male Betta. If you are new to my blog, you can see the Betta here. While I like (well, really, really like) the way it looks with the block tatted fins, I had an idea that I could simplify the pattern a bit. I figure that I could replace the block tatting with small rings and chains and make the pattern easier to tat for advanced beginners, and still look good. This will take time to accomplish. I have a few of the new style fins diagramed, but I will need to tat it and work out the stitch count. Hopefully I will make progress on this.

Finally, I have been working on some more chainmaille. This is the reason I haven't been working on my socks. I finally figured out a weave that I have been wanting to try this one for a while, but I couldn't get the hang of it till recently.

May I introduce Jens Pind Linkage or Jens Pind. The Jens is pronounced as Yens, in case your wondering. It is a type of spiral chain, and if you look you can kinda see the spiral. I'm not sure why I had so much difficulty with this weave. It's not that difficult once learned, but it needs a very specific range of ring sizes in order to keep its shape. Outside that range, and the spiral falls apart, so to speak. As you can see, I created two bracelets once I learned the weave. The silver one on the left is Bright Aluminum, and the one on the right is Nickel Silver. The aluminum bracelet will be going into my shop in the near future. I haven't used Nickel Silver much, but I decided to try it here. Nickel Silver is another copper alloy, and as it's name suggests, it contains a fairly large percentage (about 20%, give or take) of nickel. It doesn't contain any silver however. I'm not sure if it has the same problems as the other copper alloys I've tried, so I'm going to test on my self (I'm my own guinea pig!) for a few days to see. After the bracelets, I wanted to try something bigger with the new weave. This is the result:

It's a wallet chain for myself. I used Bright Aluminum here since its the only metal I have (besides the Nickel Silver) that works for Jens Pind Linkage. Once I got going, I was able to complete the chain in a single evening, and wore it to work the next day. I really like the way it looks, however, I would prefer it in stainless steel since that is what I have used for all the stuff I make for myself. I hope to get some rings in the right size in stainless steel, but it will probably be a couple of weeks before I will order. I have been thinking of buying some Sterling Silver rings and offering a few of my bracelets and earrings in this material. But we'll see. I also have an idea for a pendant with yet another weave and a Swarovski crystal button. Though I haven't gone past the initial idea with that one. I'm also considering making a necklace out of Jens Pind as well. So many ideas, so little time, and only one pair of hands.

That about wraps up another week. Hopefully I can get a few of the ideas and projects done and can get back to tatting full time. I am really looking forward to see the new and improved Male Betta. Till next time.

Tatting Hiatus, Crochet Resurgence

It was bound to happen. I think I may have overdone the tatting lately. If I do too much of one thing, I tend to get sick of it and need a break. So, for the next two, maybe three weeks, I will be working on some crochet projects instead. But, don't go away. I will try to do a little tatting during this time; St. Patrick's Day is only a few days away. I do plan on blogging during this time, but it may only be once a week instead of twice a week, but we'll see.

The first crochet item on my todo list is a new pair of slippers. My old pair was getting pretty worn.

The pattern I used has become a favorite of mine, both for the ease of making them, but also for how nice they feel. The pattern is from Jane Davis' book Felted Crochet. The slippers are made using two strand of worsted weight (or one strand of bulky weight) wool yarn with one strand of eyelash/fur yarn. After they are crocheted, the back is sewed up, and the ends are hidden. The slippers are then tossed in the washing machine with a little soap (and possibly some baking soda) and run on a cycle or two of hot wash, cold rinse. They are then dried. Once dry, the slippers have shrunk and are now felted. As I said, I love this pattern, and since I really don't like wearing socks (when I'm at home, I have to wear socks to work), I go through at least three pairs a year. It's nice that I can make a pair in a couple of hours (usually closer to an hour and a half). I also generally keep some compatible yarn in my stash at all times.

The next item on my to do list, is, actually kind of surprising, based upon my last paragraph. It is, a pair of sox, er, socks.


Well, one sock anyway. As you can see, I'm working on the second one. I'm using a sock yarn, called Bernat Sox (no kidding!) and following a basic crochet sock pattern from the Bernat pattern book called Socks to Live In. This is the first sock I have made (crocheted or otherwise), and I think I did a pretty good job of it. I know that socks are generally knitted, but I chose to crochet these instead since I really, really, really, don't like knitting. I think that has been mentioned before. Anyway, as I mentioned, I am working on the second sock, which I think will be a bit more challenging, since I have to make it match the first one. Hopefully, I will be able to show the matched (I hope!) pair of socks in a few days.

That's it for now. I hope everyone in North America who had to change to DST has gotten used to the change. This is one of those times that I am glad that Saskatchewan doesn't switch to DST. Though we're not immune to the change; all TV shows on non-Saskatchewan channels come on an hour earlier. Don't worry about me-somehow I'll cope. Till next time.