Final Black Magic, and Hardy Orchid Flower

Still tatting. Though I don't have that much to show for it. But we'll get to it soon. As you may (or may not) have heard, Canada Post workers got sent back to work starting Monday. Mail started being delivered Tuesday, though all the mail I have received so far are just bills. Go figure. Anyway this means I can ship orders again. And naturally, I can order stuff again too. I placed an order for more Lizbeth, mostly the new colours that have come out recently, as well as some other stuff. As much as I didn't want to, I ordered from Handy Hands. As I've mentioned before, I do think they over charge for shipping. Well, maybe not over charge, they just choose to ship by Priority mail when it could ship by a cheaper rate-the other tatting suppliers offer cheaper rates. This is just my opinion however. Anyway, I noticed after I placed my order that DS9Designs is now offering the new Lizbeth colours. I could cancel my HH order, but there are some things I wanted that DS9Designs doesn't carry. Oh well. On to the tatting.

As the title suggests, I have tatted Mary Konior's Black Magic pattern in the form of a bookmark:

Personally, I like the way this one turned out. Better than the one I posted about last week. For this bookmark, I used a variegated thread, Lizbeth size 40 colour #147 Red Burst, and a solid, Lizbeth size 40 colour #656 Dark Wedgewood Blue. Now that I have three bookmarks worthy of being given away (and a way to send them!) I will be announcing my giveaway very soon. I am hoping on Friday, but depending on my work schedule, possibly on Monday. I do need to make the tassels and block them, but that shouldn't take too long; I might even get that done tonight yet. I think I'm just about done with Black Magic for now. I am working on one more bookmark, but it's purpose (if needed) will be revealed later.

Finally this evening, I want to share with you another orchid photo. This time, it's a type of hardy orchid:

This is Bletilla striata, the Chinese Ground Orchid, or just Hardy Orchid. I ordered a package of two tubers, but my order arrived at the time the company I ordered from (Veseys) was liquidating all spring bulbs and sent two packages (four tubers) instead. I planted them all in a 6 inch pot, though I may need to repot them into a larger pot if needed. In case you are wondering, these are growing under my florescent lights with some Phalaenopsis orchids and my Nepenthes Pitcher plants. They seem happy. I am hoping all the plants shown produce flowers. 

That's it for now. Hopefully, the next post you read from me is about my giveaway. Now that Canada Post is running again, I am hoping to get back to chainmaille too. Though this tatting break has been great. Till next time.

More Black Magic and an Unexpected Flower

Not one of my most creative titles, but it gets the job done. Nothing spectacular to report since my last post. If you haven't heard (and if you don't live in Canada, you probably haven't), Canada Post is currently on full strike/lockout since last Tuesday. No mail is moving within the country. And nothing is leaving or entering the country either. It really sucks, to put it bluntly. I'm getting mail envy watching some of you show off  what you've received in the mail. Not only do I have a couple packages sitting in some warehouse or something, the order I mentioned last time is also sitting in some warehouse too. I also have an order I can't ship right now, though I might stop at UPS or FedEx tommorow to see what they can do for me (though I'm not hopeful that they will be affordable-I tried their websites and wasn't impressed). I have still been tatting, so we'll move on to that.

As the title suggests, I am continuing with Mary Konior's Black Magic pattern. Again in the form of a bookmark:

I figured I'd try this with different thread types. Since I used solids the last time, I thought I'd try a variegated thread this time. I didn't really like it at first, but it has grown on me by the time it was finished. I do hope one of you like it. That brings me to why I am making them. I am planning on a giveaway, though I'm going to wait until the whole Canada Post thing is resolved before I announce anything. So stay tuned. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 40, Colour #100 Falling Leaves. The next bookmark is going to be tatted using two solids, or maybe a solid and a variegated thread. Well see.

Finally, I thought I show you an unexpected flower that has made an appearance. In my aquarium:

This flower is from one of my Anubias plants; I'm not sure which one. I have had an Anubias flower before (see here), but it is pretty rare though, for me anyway. I am quite pleased though, as it might mean that conditions in the aquarium are better than I think they are (I really need to do some work in the tank, cleaning, etc.). Of course it could mean that the plant is planning on dying and the flower is a last ditch attempt at survival. But we'll pretend that that can't happen, OK?

That's about it for now. I plan on working on the last Black Magic bookmark, hopefully work won't get in the way this week. We had one guy quit in my department last week, and I've been working extra to help pick up the slack. I'm not complaining; it is extra cash in my pocket which will be helpful once Canada Post is running again. Till next time.

Some Black Magic

Howdy all. Guess what?? I've been tatting all week. No foolin'! I'll get to it soon. As was expected, Canada Post workers are on strike, though it is a rotating strike. That is, every day one or more cities go on strike for a day or two, then go back to work. It's not supposed to disrupt the whole system, but I'm not sure about that. We'll see though. I decided to keep my shop open for now, and even had a sale earlier in the week. So hopefully the package got out of the country. I'm holding back on my own mail orders. I've been eying the new colours of Lizbeth, but I think I'll wait before ordering. But anyway, on to the tatting!

If you're familiar with Mary Konior's patterns, you probably have an idea of what pattern I've been tatting. If you don't, let me show you:

This is Black Magic, from Mary Konior's Tatting With Visual Patterns. As I always mention, this book is readily available from most, if not all the tatting suppliers. Unless you want a hard cover version, I don't advise buying from Amazon, eBay, etc. Anyway, I've always liked this pattern. Actually, the first bookmark I received in an exchange was made using this pattern. This is the first time I've made this pattern. Unfortunately, I didn't do it flawlessly. There is one minor error; you may be able to find it if you looked. It doesn't matter though, this one is mine. I guess. I made another bookmark:

I don't believe I made an error on this one. You may notice the ends haven't been dealt with. I hope to incorporate them into a tassel. We'll see if it works. Thread stats: top bookmark, Lizbeth size 40, colour #688 Dark Seagreen. Bottom bookmark, Lizbeth size 40 colour #660 Light Country Turquoise. In case you're wondering, both bookmarks haven't been blocked yet. I'm hoping to make two more bookmarks. Why, you may ask? You'll have to wait and see.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I can keep tatting, and not get distracted. Till next time.

Trendy Teardrops and a Plant Update

Well, here it is, over a week since my last post and don't have much to show for it. Craft-wise anyway. I have done some tatting; will get to it soon. I did a little chainmaille, but not much. I am offering free shipping in my shop, but from the looks of it, that may be useless right now. Apparently, Canada Post may go on strike Thursday, just before midnight. I may put my shop in vacation mode if there is a strike (just in case), but we'll have to see. I am, however concerned about a shipment of plants I have en route as we speak. The guy shipping them to me has been watching the Canada Post situation closely (as have I) and they should arrive before the deadline, but I'm still concerned.

As I mentioned, I did do some tatting this past week. I think I mentioned working on them in my last post. And here they are:

These are Yarnplayer's Trendy Teardrop earrings. I only made the earrings since I didn't have any matching size 10 thread to make a pendant. It's an interesting pattern (available in Yarnplayer's Etsy shop) that uses a new technique. Well, new to me anyway. That technique would be the Catherine Wheel Join. I tried the CWJ in a "practice" piece-so named a "practice" piece because I broke the thread during the outer round and didn't feel like reattaching the thread (didn't like the colour I used anyway). I decided, however, to not use the CWJ in the above earrings, I found it too, um, time consuming. It took me several minutes per join to do. I opted instead to do a Slope and Roll join. Much faster, albeit not as nice looking. I'll try the Catherine Wheel join again. Thread stats: for these earrings I used Krystledawne's Vineyard at Dusk HDT in size 20 with Amethyst beads. I really love this colourway! As I've mentioned before, I'm not fond of pinks and purples, but this thread is different. The purple is there, but it's not really noticeable (to me, anyway). I do regret only buying one skein. Although, she does have more in her shop........but, I think I'll wait until I know what Canada Post is doing.

Finally, I thought I do a plant update. I posted a photo of my (at the time) one and only Tropical Pitcher plant (Nepenthes x Ventrata). Here is a fairly recent photo of the plant:

Well, one of it's pitchers anyway. I wanted to show how much bigger the pitchers are now. If you look at the photo I posted earlier (located here), you'll see that the one pictured was only about 1 cm long (probably about 1.5 cm when opened). Well, the pitcher above is about 3.5 inches long. And I'm hoping they'll get even bigger. I've started feeding it ants that I found around the house (hey, they're entering the house at their own risk!). I've added a few more pitcher plants to my collection:

I'm really glad I finally found the high plastic dome for growing trays. I've had a heck of a time finding them. I could mail order one, but it just seemed like the wrong type of thing to mail order. These ones (I bought a couple of them) are better than the ones I've seen in the seed catalogs, as they have two air vents on top that can be opened to let in fresh air, and reduce the humidity (although most Nepenthes like high humidity). I'm hoping they don't outgrow the dome too fast, but I'll adapt as they grow.

That's about it for now. I started another Windmills motif, in the size 10 Cebelia. Since I do like making the motifs (I just get sick of making them after awhile), I thought it might get me in the mood to do some serious tatting. We'll see. Till next time.

Tatted Earrings, and a Bit of Maille

Sorry for disappearing, again. I just don't know what the problem is lately. Well, actually, I have a few theories. The main one is that I have too many things I want to make in numerous mediums that I can't get started on any of them. I made another wheel of Cheddar cheese yesterday and finished it today; the one I made back in March is just about ready to taste. I've been working on some chainmaille lately. The main piece will be shown later in this post. I'm still getting beads and stuff for several chainmaille jewelry pieces. These are pretty cool; hopefully they sell well. I'm not even gong to say anything about my sales on Etsy. I think I may offer free shipping again for a week or two. I should have done that a few weeks before Mother's Day. Anyway, onward to the tatting!

As the title suggests, I manage to tat a pair of earrings during this past week. It's a pattern I make quite frequently:

These are, of course,  Yarnplayer's Carnival Earrings. These aren't quite finished, obviously. In case you're wondering, I don't usually hide the ends on earrings. A knot and a dab of glue initially, and once dry, they get stiffened with more glue. Since I have to remake the earrings regularly, this works quite well. And since you only see one side of the earrings (usually) the knot isn't noticeable. Thread stats: Lizbeth size 20, colour #149 Peacock Blues. The beads are Reconstituted Turquoise for the large beads, and light blue seed beads.  I am working on another pair of earrings, using a different pattern. And before I forget, have a look at this Temari ball with tatting on it.

Finally, I'll show you the main focus of my creative energy:

I'm not thrilled with the above photo. The camera didn't want to/couldn't focus properly on the metal fabric. The nature of the chainmaille fabric make me look fat. Though that could be the snacks-I think I hear snickering from my tatted seahorse from that comment. Anyway, my chainmaille shirt, more properly called a Hauberk, is almost done. It currently weighs about 21 pounds (9.5 kg). Here is a closeup shot of the overlapping "Horseman Slits" that I put in on the front and back of my Hauberk:

The slits make it easier to walk and ride horses in. I think they look kinda cool too. I still have to make the sleeves, lengthen it some more (I reckon it should come down to about the top of the side pockets on the shorts I am wearing in the photo), and add an edging of bronze rings to the bottom edge, around the neck, and maybe on the sleeves too. I'm probably going to put this aside for awhile. I do want to get some other projects done.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll get more accomplished this week. I prepared a ball for a Temari this afternoon, so hopefully I'll get to stitching that soon. And I really want to get more tatting in; I'm having a hard time finding a pattern I want to tat. There's also more chainmaille I want to make. So we'll see how I make out. Till next time.

Some Tatting, Finally!

Don't get too excited, I don't have much tatting to show. I'm not sure what it is lately, I just can't get into tatting. I want to tat something, I just don't know what. I have been working on my tie; I have 14 rows of 4-Ring squares left to go. I'm over half way there. I might start working on my mom's Windmills doily. I think for now, I will make it oval in shape. I don't want to make it round, but I may try Jane E's method of tricking myself into making the doily larger. Once it's oval, I might be inclined to continue making motifs until it's round. We'll see.

Anyway, here's the one piece of tatting that I managed to tat while away last week:

This is Ruth Perry's Celtic Maple Leaf. I've made it before, but this time I used some of Yarnplayer's Sugar Maple HDT in size 30 to make it. I like it in this colourway. Nothing really else to say about the leaf.

I think that's it for now. I'm kinda distracted right now; I'm catching up on the new season of Doctor Who. I've got a few new chainmaille earrings to share, but I'll make another post later. I may even get some more tatting done. Quick question before I go, any crocheters out there have a favourite (preferably online) shawl pattern? Till next time.

Checking In; What I Have Been Working on Part 2

Sorry for the delay in posting. It all started a little over a week ago with a severe migraine at 3 am. I managed to get that under control by the time I had to get up and go to work. However, probably due to the medication, I had an upset stomach for most of the morning. When I got home in the evening, I still felt "off". I just didn't feel right. I woke up the next morning with a full blown cold. I didn't feel like doing anything. So posting, and most other things were put off until I felt better. I also opted to stay in the city this past week. I really didn't want to make the 3-3.5 hour drive to my parents, only to lay around in bed all day. I could do that here. I will be going away this week instead.

So like I said I haven't really done anything new this week. I haven't touched my chainmaille shirt. I don't have any photo of my progress of it either; maybe next time. I did manage a few new jewelry pieces, however:

The earrings are the only items I managed to make this week. I tried to get some decent photos of them so I could list them, but I couldn't get them right. I think I went outside too late. So the photos were taken inside. Not much to tell you about them. The pendant is currently listed. Again not much to tell, except this is the first pendant I am offering with a "proper" chain. Up until now, I've been sending the pendants on adjustable cotton cords. But my main supplier began offering a stainless steel cable chain which is really nice. It's strong, will probably last a lifetime, and adds a very professional touch to the pendant. I'm toying with the idea of offering all my pendants with a proper chain. But I'd have to increase the cost accordingly. Mind you, I've been putting some serious thought in increasing prices store wide; I've been increasing the cost of the Sterling Silver jewelry for months now, but nothing else. The rising value of the Canadian dollar (it's worth more than the US dollar now) means that I am loosing money though currency conversion. Another option would be to change my shop's currency to Canadian dollars; I think that may work, I'll have to look into it. I'll look into this when I get back, so if anyone is interested in anything, you may want to buy it now. Don't forget the coupon code on my left sidebar too.

I also remade the Box chain necklace that I wear:

My original chain is on the left. My new one in in the middle. It's about 1/4 inch (0.6 mm) wide. I made the chain on the right just for kicks. I made that one using some substantially larger rings in a heavier gauge. It's slightly over 1/2 inch (about 1.25 cm) wide. It's heavy! You may be wondering why I remade the chain. As I mentioned when I first made it (almost two years ago), it was never intended to be a necklace/chain. It was the first draft of my belt. I was still pretty new to chainmaille and hadn't quite learned the whole ring size verses strength concept. I learned that with this chain. The rings were waaaaaay to weak for a belt. Anyway, some of the rings weren't closed quite right; whenever I bent down, the chain would roll down and get caught in my beard (we won't discuss the incidents involving chest hair when it was necessary to wear the chain under clothing). I'm happy with my new chain and will probably make another one to go in my shop. It's a nice manly chain, if I do say so myself. You may be wondering what I will do with the third heavy chain. While it might work for a larger guy, I didn't like wearing it. It will be opened up and made into a belt.

I think that's about it. As I mentioned last time, I hope to get some tatting done while away. Spinning is on hold while I wait for some natural wool roving to arrive (there's also some bamboo and cotton roving coming too). I might take some of the rings I am using for my shirt to preclose them. Preclosing rings enables so called "speed weaving", using both closed and open rings, so one can weave faster. Till next time

Happy Easter!!!

A Little of This and A Little of That, 1 of 2

Wow! Where has the time gone. I've been busy at work, and then the expected change in my work schedule occurred, starting this week, which has thrown me off schedule here at home. As the title indicates, I've been busy with a number of things since my last post. Unfortunately, tatting hasn't been one of them. I did pull out my tie, and tatted a few more four ring squares. It hasn't changed enough yet for me to post a new photo. Don't worry, I will be tatting again soon. I am planning on going to my parents house early next week. I have to work Easter weekend  (so does my dad) so this is the best we can do. Tatting will probably be the only thing I can easily take with me and work on. A few of you have asked about how my spinning is coming along. Well, let me show you.

I received the new spindle on Tuesday. Of course, I had to start playing with it that evening (new toy and all). One problem though, I couldn't remember how. The spindle I bought is also a top whorl, and the one I made was a bottom whorl. Relearning how to spindle spin wasn't very difficult to do. As is turns out, I have an invaluable resource now that I didn't have years ago when I first learned spinning. YouTube. A few videos later, here was the result:

Not too bad. Could be better, but I'm not complaining. I made several small balls of yarn yesterday afternoon. I plied them in the evening. Here is the result of that experiment:

And a better look here:

Again, not too bad. It is uneven, and thicker than I'd like, but I'll get better. I've been wishing after I started spinning that I had purchased some undyed roving to practice with. Unlike some of you, I hate practicing with the pretty stuff (thread, yarn, roving). I've also decided that I'll have to find a project or two to use the yarn. No point making the yarn if I won't use it. In case you're wondering the skein of yarn above contains about 25 feet of two ply yarn, equivalent to a bulky weight or so. I have two skeins of approximately the same size, plus enough roving left for another single strand of yarn.

As it turns out the spindle I bought is pretty small. So I either have to make lots of short lengths of yarn, get my yarn thinner, or buy/make a larger spindle. Browsing though Etsy, I noticed a lot of the wooden spindles, not all but a fair number, were simply wooden toy wheels attached to a dowel with a hook on one end. I figured that since I'd be in the area today that I could pick up what I needed from Michaels. Unfortunately, they didn't have any wooden toy wheels larger than one inch in diameter. I needed a 3-4 four inch wide wheel. Oh well, I'll keep it in mind and keep using the one I have. Probably a good idea to practice with the smaller one anyway. As always, I'll keep you guys updated.

That's about it for now. I've been working on my chainmaille shirt, and have the front section about three quarters done. I'm going to start on the back section probably tomorrow. I did some other chainmaille as well, but I'll post about it in a couple days. Till next time.

Doily Thoughts, Rosace Thread, and Some Chainmaille

Yup, I did it again. I really meant to post again last week, but I guess something came up. I have to admit, I haven't done much tatting since my last post. I did tat another Windmills motif. Though, this time in DMC Cebelia size 10. I wanted to see how big it would be. In case you're wondering, it measures 3 1/4 inches (8.25 cm) across. Done in size 20 thread, the motif is about 2 1/4 inches (5.7 cm) in diameter. Based on my Cebelia motif, I figured that my Windmills doily would be around 21 inches in diameter, if I had done it in size 10 thread. I won't bother showing you a photo. I'm sure you won't mind. And before I forget, thanks to all of you for leaving your comments on my last post. I'm glad that some of you liked the oval doily. It would have been a good idea for me to mention that the doily is being made for a rectangular table. I still intend on making the doily oval, though it will have to be put on hold again. Honestly, I have gotten tired of making the motifs, again. Since I haven't done much tatting, you're probably wondering what I've been up to then. You'll see.

However I want to show you what I got in the mail earlier this week. Some of you may remember that Gina, and Susan both mentioned that Rosace Embroidery Threads were offering three free skeins of embroidery thread. I couldn't pass that up. Here they are:

I hope to tat with these, sometime. Embroidery thread isn't the best for tatting, IMHO, but it was free. I'll share if/when I get around to tatting with it.

As I recall, I mentioned a PITA chainmaille project that I was working on during my last post. Well, here it is:

The chainmaille part was easy, it was getting the thing attached to the ring that was a PITA. And yeah, I know it's a bit Christmasy, but I wanted to wanted to make one of the included patterns. I don't know if I'll offer these for sale, or if I will just give them as gifts.

Finally, I'll show you what I've been working on lately instead of tatting. I ordered the rings necessary to make a chainmaille shirt on Tuesday. They were ready for pickup on Thursday. I went and got them Friday before work. I've been working on it ever since, making small sections each day. I currently have the top of the shirt completed. And here it is:

Above is the result of four days work, where I spent about 1 1/2 hours per day working on it. And in case you are wondering (and so I can keep track), the top section measures about 20.5 inches by 17.5 inches (52 cm by 44.5 cm) when relaxed (ie: when it is lying flat on the floor, not on me). It currently weighs 4.6 pounds (2.09 kg). I started working on the front, which is going to take some time to make. As always, I'll provide updates as I go.

I think that's about it for tonight. I still need to shave and trim my goatee tonight as I won't have time in the morning. And I should make a grocery list too. I normally go grocery shopping on Thursdays, but since the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra's Book sale starts on Thursday, I want to go there after work instead. As I've done for the past few years, I'll be keeping my eyes out for tatting books. But as always, I'm going with the expectation that I won't find any. It's less disappointing and way more fun that way. Till next time.

Digital Tatting: Oval Windmills Doily

Me again. Thanks everyone for your kind comments about the doily. And don't worry, it will be given to my mom as a gift as intended. I've never had this problem with any other tatting before. It's probably due to how long it's taken me to make it. Anyway, Miranda mentioned that making the doily into an oval shape may ruin the effect of the pattern. Well, I isolated two motifs (one on each side) from the doily (it wasn't easy; I kept going cross-eyed!) and duplicated them. The individual motifs were skewed and resized into the proper alignment. It's not perfect, but it shows the effect quite well.

Well, what do you think? Please be honest. Personally, I still like it. However, if looks odd to everyone else, I'll reconsider. I don't want to make it larger by adding another full round. I still have to add a final round of chains to finish it off as well.

That's if for now. I haven't done any tatting since I finished the doily, but I still hope to tonight yet. Tomorrow will be another cheese making day. I plan on making some Colby cheese. I'm also working on a chainmaille project, but it has become a major PITA. Till next time.

Windmills Doily and some Wool Roving

I finally got the Windmills done. Well, done for now. I'm still deciding if I will make it into an oval shape yet. Anyway, since I only had two motifs left to finish after the last post, I figured I'd have it done sooner. However, I didn't feel like working on it until Sunday. I ended up making some cheese on Sunday. I bought some proper cheese cultures, a new mold, and some cheese colouring (which I forgot to add!) and decided that Sunday was cheese making day. Though some tatting was done too.

I'm sure you probably want to see the doily by now. So without any further ado, here it is:

For anyone who recently came across my blog (and for others who may have forgot) here are a few stats about the doily. I am using Mary Konior's Windmills motif from her book Tatting With Visual Patterns, an awesome book, and one that is readily available from many online tatting stores (don't go to Amazon or eBay, and others for the book unless you want an out of print hardcover version). I am using DMC Cordonnet thread in size 20 in white. Right now the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) when measured across the diagonal. This is the largest tatted piece I have made to date. I am also ashamed to admit that I have become rather attached to the doily. I had wanted to give it to my mom as a gift of some kind when it is done, but now I don't want to part with it. Is that bad? I think I will have to make another doily for my mom. Same pattern (I love this pattern!) but using the size 10 DMC Cebelia I have. We'll see. The new one could be for me.

About a week and a half ago, I felt compelled to buy some wool roving from Etsy seller slimchicken. Here it is:

This one is called "Jewel Colonial".

And this one is called "Northern Lights Colonial". Probably 6-7 years ago, I gave spindle spinning a try with less than stellar results. Well, I guess it depends on your point of view; the resulting yarn was uneven and lumpy. I know you can buy novelty yarns that look like that, but it wasn't what I wanted. I'm not sure where my spindle is anymore. I made it at my parent's house since my dad has the woodworking tools to cut out the wooden disks. I ordered another one from a different Etsy seller. It was pretty inexpensive, and much prettier than the one I made. I'll provide updates once I find the time to do some spinning.

That's about it for now. I'm probably going to go ahead and order the rings required to make a chainmaille shirt next week. I've been looking through instructions for the past few days, and feel confident that I can make this. I'll provide updates for this project as well. Unless I change my mind. But that probably won't happen. Till next time.

What I did While On My Break

I had hoped to post again later last week, but kept coming home each evening tired from work. Mind you, I didn't get much done until my days off anyway. My thread from DS9Designs arrived early this week so I can soon resume work on my tie. I have been working on my Windmills doily. I am two motifs away from finishing the round.

I mentioned that I did a little bit of crocheting. Here is what I made:

This is the second pair of slippers that I made. I wasn't happy with the first pair; they were much too big. As I made the above pair, I adjusted the size of them. Since I used a wool yarn, I also felted this pair in the washing machine to shrink them enough for a nice fit. The pattern is called "Paw Warmers" from The Crochet Dude's book Designs for Guys. I like the pattern even though the slippers take longer to make than my other slipper pattern. I do plan on making anther pair soon.

Here's a collage of the bracelets that I have made over the last few weeks.

The top left bracelet is Box Chain, the same weave as the chain/necklace that I wear. The top right bracelet is called X-Lock Byzantine. It's actually byzantine just with dramatically different sized rings than usual, which makes it flat. The bottom left bracelet is made using the Full Persian weave in titanium. I think I've already showed you the Spiral Chain bracelet. The black and silver chain on the bottom right is called Helm's Chain. I made that one around the time I made Dragonscale since they used the same size rings. This one is actually going to be the base of a necklace that I am working on . I'll show you more when it's done. I also made a pair of earrings to match the X-Lock Byzantine bracelet and refined the ring size used for the Beaded Byzantine earrings.

While I'm still on the topic of chainmaille, I have been seriously considering buying the rings and beginning work on a chainmaille shirt. Since my sales have been slow for the past few months, this may be a good time to begin this large project. I did some playing around with some rings in the gauge that seems to be common for the shirts and feel confident I can do this. I'll let you know if/when I go ahead with this. I will have to wait at least two weeks until my next payday before I can buy the rings. Unless I get lots of sales in the next few weeks.

I will leave you tonight with a few more orchid photos. These were both purchased over a month ago.

These are both Phalaenopsis NOIDs. I love the bottom one in particular; it is similar to one I already own. That's actually why I bought it. While most orchids are seen as difficult to grow, Moth orchids, or Phals, are actually pretty easy to grow. A bright window where it can get several hours bright light-they don't like full sun, though a little is fine. Most of mine are under fluorescent lights. Water them every 10 to 14 days or so. Most orchids do require a special bark based soil to thrive in, and Phals do grow best in it. Some diluted fertilizer once in a while will benefit the plant too. That's about it.

That's it for now. Once I'm finished the third round of my Windmills doily I'll get a photo of it posted. Till next time.

Checking In

Well, I'm back to posting. I'm not sure what happened there a few weeks ago, but I feel better. I wish I could have gone somewhere, preferably warm, for at least part of the time. I think I worked on a little bit of everything these past two weeks. I don't have photos ready for most things yet, so this will be a short post. Despite my claims otherwise, I did work on chainmaille once I got my order of rings. I made three new bracelets and a fourth that is the same as one I already have listed but made out of titanium. I also made a couple pairs of earrings to match the bracelets. I also got some coloured scales and started making coloured scalemaille flowers.

I still have three more colours of scales to make flowers with. If you are wondering the remaining colours are green, goldy-silver, and bronze/black (these are bronze on the inside and black on the back). I want to get these listed and I'll have to add the remaining flowers later. I'll show you what other chainmaille items I've made once I have photos ready

I've also been working on tatting as well. But not on my tie. I decided I should stop working on it until I got another ball of thread. I contacted DS9Designs to see if they still had any balls of thread in the same lot as the one I purchased. Lucky for me, they had three left. So I placed a small order early last week. Naturally, I also ordered a few other balls of Lizbeth. I think they are all new colours. Hopefully they will arrive sometime this week. Unlike Handy Hands, DS9Designs, and Be-stitched for that matter, are more than happy to send my order using cheaper options. I find that the Priority mail that Handy Hands insists on using arrives in about the same time as the slower methods, so its not worth (for me anyway) to have to pay for faster methods. Anyway, instead of my tie, I have been working on my Windmills doily. You can see where it was back in October here. Then I had six motifs completed on the third round. I now have twelve motifs completed and am working on the thirteenth. With any luck I should have it joined to the doily this evening. I am hoping I can finish this round soon. I do enjoy tatting Mary Konior's Windmills motif, but I fear I will soon tire of tatting it soon. I still plan on making the doily oval shaped, but it is getting large. Measured across the diagonal, which is 7 motifs wide, the doily measures 15 inches (38.1 cm) across.

I also did some crocheting, but nothing spectacular. Two pairs of slippers are all I've managed. I'll post more about them next time. I'll leave you with a photo of one of my orchids that started blooming a few days ago:

I'm not sure if I've shown this flower before but here it is. It's a Phalaenopsis NOID (No IDentification).

That's it for now. We'll see how the week goes; I'll try and post again later this week. Till next time.

I Think I Need a Break ......

I don't know what it is, but I haven't felt like doing anything for the past week or so. I haven't tatted in over a week, and while I did some chainmaille this weekend, I had no desire to get photos of the completed pieces. So they aren't going in the shop this week. I did place a small order for new rings last week, but I don't know if I'll get anything made out of them right now. There's also been work issues on my mind again, or rather about some changes being implemented. Though these affect everyone and not just me. It's related to a new scheduling system that our head office feels will benefit us. I've heard the opposite as well as plenty of other rumors, though I'm trying to ignore the rumors right now.

Anyway, I think I'm going to lay low for a week or two. I've been wanting to do some crocheting if I can decide on a project.  We'll see what happens. I'll still be around, and I'll try and keep up with everyone. Oh, and I hope those of you who got Monday off enjoyed yourselves. And my apologies if you didn't get the day off (I did!). Till next time.

Atomic Tatting and more Chainmaille

Look! I'm posting again, and it hasn't been a week since my last post. I actually planned on posting on Sunday, but it was late when I finished tatting, and didn't deal with the ends in time to get a decent photo. I've also been working on my tie, and am just about ready to start the next page of diagrams. I also realized I am getting close to running out of thread. I am close to running out of thread on one of the shuttles, so I divided up the remaining thread on the ball between two Ez-bobs (for any Canadians wanting Ez-bobs, BeadFX carries them though they call them "No Tangle Bobbins") and counted 28 yards left. I may need to order another ball, though I'll have to try and remember who I bought the thread from. There is a Lot # on the back of the circular card from the ball and I should see if I can get it matched. I knew I should have bought two balls. C'est la vie. On to the tatting!

Hopefully from the title you can tell what I've been tatting. If you can't, then a picture should help:

This is the Tatted Atom from Yarnplayer's book Up and Tat 'Em. This pattern is the reason I wanted the book. There are plenty of other pretty patterns in the book, but this was the one I knew about. It also has some guy friendly potential, if the beads used were plain, which is plus for me. This one was made with my mom in mind so I used Lizbeth size 20 thread in colour #633 Dark Purple with a clear faceted Swarovski crystal bead in the centre (the nucleus) and simple silver toned beads for the electrons. The actual tatting was pretty easy. What made it a bit difficult was that at the midpoint of the pattern, six shuttles were in use, and they all tangle. You also have to weave the chains (the "orbits") over and under each other in a certain way, which I hope I did right. All in all, it was a pretty quick motif to tat, and it kept my attention (another plus). I do plan on tatting it again.

Now I have a few chainmaille pieces I want to show you. I showed you the sample of dragonscale in my last post, and Gina mentioned how the sample would look as a pendant. I've been thinking about that all weekend, and yesterday I sat down and made another sample. A sample with a purpose; I give you my Dragonscale pendant:

As you can see, I've added some smaller rings to the sides to help the weave hold together. I found during my testing-I wore the pendant for a while instead of my regular chain-that the large rings at the top and bottom tended to separate enough for the smaller rings come out of alignment. But the rings I added to the sides seem to help, at least my further testing shows they stay in place. In case you are wondering, the pendant is made out of bright aluminum and bronze. Hopefully I'll get it in my shop soon, but no promises.

I think that's going to be it for tonight. I do have another chainmaille piece to show, but it's getting late, and I'm tired. Even if I don't get any tatting done for the rest of the week, I can still write another post. Till next time.