Holiday Crafting

Hi Everyone,
I know it has been quite a while since I posted on here unfortunately I have been busy busy with holiday crafting and tatting did play a small part. Mostly I have been knitting. So I will ask you are you done with your crafting for the holiday? I can say I am done. I do have some Christmas thread sitting on a shuttle that I am thinking is going to be something but that is about it. My hours have increased at work so I am not sure what if anything else will get done. Oh well I guess that is why so many start there Christmas crafting in the summer.
Now on to what I have done and want to share.

The first one is from the book Mini Tats and I was playing with some size 10 thread in the color Christmas. The thread is there because I was seeing if it could work as an ornament. It seems to work well. The second is the famous stumpy and that thread is Lizabeth in the color of Springtime. I plan on framing it and will give to my cousin for Christmas. I really like the stumpy motif and have not seen any bad ones done.

Now on to some knitting. What you see is thirteen dishcloths. Yep that is right thirteen. I used the pattern called Grandma's favorite. For those who knit, you start with 4 stitches and you increase to a point and then once you get to the point you decrease back to 4 stitches. I plan on giving these to coworkers and my Aunt. My Aunt is also getting that tatted leaf. I have never done so many dishcloths before and likely wont do it again. I can say that they made great tv knitting. Oh I also forgot the yarn I used was sugar and cream as well as Peaches and Cream in various colors. The Peaches and cream yarn seemed softer.

Lastly but not the least is a pair of socks for a dear friend of mine. These are called Diagonal lace socks and the pattern is from the book From the Toe Up by Wendy Knits. I really like how they came out and the yarn which came from Knit Picks is a soft yarn. It can be splitty but I was very careful. So I think that is about it. As you can see, I have been very busy and am hoping that with completing my holiday crafting I can get back to my tatting. I do have several pattern ideas I want to try and as I read everyone's blog I know I will get more. I guess that is it. Have a crafty day and work on your Christmas crafting. 

Motif 4 (A taste of fall)

Hi Everyone,
 I seem to be holding the motivation to tat and this is good. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming we will see how long it lasts. At any rate on to the tatting for the day.
This pattern was one that I had in my files for about a year and as it turns out I checked closely to find that I have 2 patterns that are similar but not the same.

The pattern I did is called the Canadian Sugar Maple leaf and it was designed by Gale Marshal. I also have one called a Maple leaf and that one was designed by Tammy M. Rodgers. Only difference I see is the chain counts are different and the ring counts are also different. I will likely try out the other one soon.
I had wanted to step up the difficulty in the pattern and this pattern with the right thread is so pretty. I saw Fox had done one last week I think it was and it was so pretty. Loved it. So I thought with that pretty lizabeth thread it would be perfect. The color is called Falling leaves. And I know there are mistakes in this motif but I thought I would finish it regardless. I only worked on it at certain times to make sure I didn't make huge mistakes. I think it turned out pretty good. I am not totally sure what I will do it with it. I am considering the idea of framing it and giving it to my Aunt for Christmas. She does not live in the same state as me and she is home sick. Where she lives, the weather stays nice year round they dont really get the falling leaves nor snow. So I thought my motif would remind her of home.
So there ya go. I am not sure what my next motif will be. I do have ideas, between my books and my internet files I know I will come up with something. Also for those of you who have commented on my blog thus far I thank you all. I never realized that the tatting folk on the net were this nice. You are all great people and are good at making people feel welcome. Thank you again

Time for some tatting (motif 2 and 3)

Hello everyone,
Yes I have done some tatting. I wanted to try out my new boye shuttles as well as try out some flowers from my new book called Tatting Rings of Flowers which for some reason I didnt list the title oops.

Now on to the tatting. In trying out the new shuttles I was pleasantly surprised because they work well and unlike the sewmate shuttles I dont get picked with the pick. That was one thing I hated about the sewmate shuttles that silly pick. Now in trying the new boye shuttle I tried out the pick and it just does not do it for me. I must be so used to my shuttles with the hook that anything else just wont cut it. So then I compared the boye shuttle to the sewmate shuttle. The post falls at the same place, they are the same size too. The only difference is the hole in the middle is bigger on the sewmate and the sewmate pick angles up. I will use both because the shuttles are good. I just have way too many shuttles now. Oops

Now on to some tatting. First these little flowers. These are from my new book. I couldnt wait to try out the flowers. For those who the book the top 2 flowers are pattern 9. The bottom 2 are pattern 14 and 16. Yes I know gray is not a good flower color. I was just playing with size on that one. I am classifying these are motif 2. I was really having fun yesterday with these.

This is my 3 motif. I wanted to really test out the new shuttle and that thread was handy. This thread came from my recent trip to Michaels. It is size 10 and the colorway is called LT Pastels. The pattern came from the book Mini Tats. I am really pleased with it and am thinking what I can do with it. I may see if I can turn it into a Christmas Ornament. So there ya have it. I am easing my way into this challenge and while these items are simple, I am atleast tatting. That is a good thing so. Now on to work and I do have ideas for my next motif.

Have a great day and make some time for some tatting.

Tatting goodies in the mail.

Got to love mail days when there are goodies in it, especially if the job drives ya nuts. Today I got some tatting goodies that I am so looking forward to play with.

Last week I got email from Handy Hands that the boye shuttles have come in. I had heard they were coming out and so I just watched. I really  wanted some of these because these lovely shuttles are the ones I learned how to tat with. My Grandma gave an original red boye shuttle and some I think it was knit cro sheen thread. Then she showed me how to do the double stitch. I swear I kept making rings and at the end of the week I was tatting. So these shuttles have a special place in my heart. I have to try them out and will let you know what I think. I know I still have the original boye shuttle so I will see if I can find it and compare.

 

Next thing I got is some more Lizabeth thread in size 40. I am starting to really like this thread and am finally getting used to it. Seems more twisty then what I have worked with but that could be just me. At any rate, these colors are Autumn Spice and Falling Leaves. I do have these in size 20 too but I am thinking of a few ideas that a smaller size would work better.  Besides these 2 colors have to be some of my favorites.

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Lastly but not the least is a book I have wanted for a while. I have hesitated because I kinda thought it was kinda high in price but I thought ok get it and if it really does not do it for me I can always sell it on ebay or something. Wow is all I can say so many flowers in this book plus leaf patterns and other ideas. I was hoping this would be a good book and if I can do these patterns which looking at the patterns they don't really look hard I am thinking of potential Christmas gifts for 2 dear friends.  

I think that is all for now. I am going to go play with my new stuff now and be on the look out for more postings soon. :)

Have a tatty day. 

Tatting failures

Well I thought I would post something today. I had thought it would be something I created but unfortunately I have had several tatting failures. I am not showing ya the pictures either. The latest was a cross pattern that was in my files. I made it before and I thought it might be something to work on but I missed a chain and the gauge was all wrong. So the question you are likely asking why dont you just redo it. Well the answer to that is I am not crazy about the color I had chosen for it. Lizabeth in silver colorway almost reminds me of a gray color. So now I am sitting with a partial bobbin mostly full in this silver and I don't know what I am going to tat with it. I am off tomorrow so I am thinking and wondering maybe a chain pattern of some kind. I figured that if nothing else it would be a good practice plus the right one could be a bookmark. What do you do with a color like that?
Now I do have some tatting to show you all. I am going to show you my go to tatting that if I have little bits of thread left or I want to tat but I dont know what to tat I do this.

Now these flowers are not from any particular book I change the double stitch count sometimes but those are what I do. I have a sandwich baggie sitting by my computer that I fill. I took a bunch of them and turned them into a greeting card for my Mom for Mothers Day one year. She loved it. So my second question is what do you do when you have bits of thread you just dont want to throw out or you want to tat but you dont know what to tat. I welcome all answers and may try out this pattern.
I guess that is it. Time to get ready for work but after that I will likely start going through my books.

Motif 1 is done.

Hi Everyone,
My first motif is one that I am thinking gone viral. I did the motif called stumpy. I read the 25 motif challenge blog everyday and stubby seemed to have come up in several blogs all of which I do so loved all of them. I saw stubby and thought I could do that. Unfortunately I did make a mistake on the one clover in that I added extra stitches oops. I went ahead and finished it but was not pleased with it. So this week I redid it and the 2nd stubby is the right.
The thread used was lizabeth unfortunately I dont remember what color I used. The 2nd one was DMC mercerized crochet cotton. The only thing on the label that says color is 5109 and it does not list size but I am thinking it is size 10.

So there ya go. 1 down 24 to go. I am thinking and considering what my next motif will be. Between books and patterns I have saved I am not worried. Also did you all know that Michaels sells shuttles and size 80 thread? I was there this afternoon and saw it. The thread is basic colors which I do have and the shuttles are metal with a little hook. Both my DMC. Makes me think that tatting is more popular then I thought. :)

Thank you for the warm welcome and kind words from some of you. I am most grateful.

New Challenges

Well if you are reading this I am a part of the 25 motif challenge. I was not sure I wanted to join it but a little birdie by the name of Sharon sent me an email with this in the email "All it takes is the will to tat and a blog to show it on. So what are you waiting for?" I then tried to give her reasons why I have not taken the plunge. The reason just didn't seem valid. So thank you to Sharon for kicking my behind. I am thinking that this posting is going to be more of a background of me. I say that because I have no tatting ready to go. I have to work on a motif that I tried to do and made a mistake on it. So I want to redo it.
So who am I you are asking? My name is Yvonne and I work fulltime in a store. I know how to tat, knit and a little bit of crochet. My Mom taught me how to knit and my Grandma taught me to tat when I was a little girl. I wont say how long but I am thinking it has been at least 30 years. Little did I know that a year after she taught me she would be gone. And I can say that even after all these years when I do tat I feel especially close to her. I sometimes think her spirit is around. Call it crazy, call it what you want but there is something there.

My tatting skills are limited. I have been called a traditional tatter so that means I do not know how to do split ring or split chain etc. So this challenge will be a learning challenge. I hope to by October of 2011 to learn more about tatting and be a better person as the result. I have patterns saved up from online plus a few books I can use. I am not going to limit myself because my interest in tatting patterns is wide range. So I guess that is it.  The tatting you see in this post is not new. It was done a few years ago from the book Mini Tats I think. This motif is my favorite and I have used it on ravelry as my icon and other network sites. Have a tatty day and thanks Sharon I owe ya one ;)

Yvonne