New Pattern Available

Thanks everyone for the information about where to get cabone rings (see my last post and comments). It is so wonderful to have a community of tatters who jump in with help and advice. I will be near a JoAnn Fabrics this weekend and will check there to see what I can find. Also, have you seen Dawn Marie's tatting around a metal heart (click here!)...cool, huh? I know I've seen other shapes like that in some of my jewelry supply catalogs - squares, circles, ovals - I just have to find them again. Of course, I have lots of craft wire and could probably make my own if I was so inclined. Maybe I'll try that to start.

For those of you interested, I have a new pattern available on etsy - Tatted Heart Earrings. That makes four patterns I've managed to write down and make into .pdf files. If anyone is really interested in any of them (Cross, Hip to Be Square Earrings, Long Elegant Earrings, Heart Earrings) but don't want to become a member of etsy in order to purchase, shoot me an e-mail and we can work out something through PayPal or snail mail.


I want to add them to the ArtFire site as well, but haven't managed to get around to that yet. I still have other patterns I want to do as well. Someday!

A Book Review and Something New!

I've been wanting to try tatting with cabone rings for a while now. So when Jon Yusoff's book, "Tatting With Rings" came out last month, well, I just had to have it (click here to get yourself a copy!)! Fortunately it came just as I was leaving for a show, so I packed it up, hoping to have some time to play in the hotel room at night.

At the show it rained all day Saturday, so I had a lot more time that I thought I would (customers were scarce, as only ducks belong out in that kind of weather). I was SO glad I had Jon's book with me, I'll tell you. Here's what I did:

Jon explains everything very well and has wonderful diagrams so I caught on to the technique pretty quickly, and found it to be quite enjoyable. I love the little flower in the center of the ring, and the instructions were very clear and easy to follow for this technique as well.

For my second piece I did not add beads, but I did also tat a chain for a complete necklace:

I plan on doing some earrings next and maybe doing a little designing myself. I need to find a supplier for the rings (Jon did include some with the book, but not nearly enough for all the fun I plan on having with them), and I'd like to see if I can find some smaller ones too.

A hearty "thank you" to Jon for this lovely book!

Ooooh - Pretty!

Is this thread gorgeous, or what? This is Yarnplayer's "Garden Afternoon" and just looks fabulous in this vintage pattern. I find this pattern to be extremely time consuming, and I worked this necklace over several weeks, one motif at a time.

PATTERN SOURCE: I should have mentioned this originally. For all of you who are interested in this pattern - I found it in "The Tatters Treasure Chest," page 77, edging #9074.

In other news, I FINALLY got new glasses, and I love them! Actually, I ended up getting two pair, one traditional bifocal pair, and one pair of progressives. I really prefer the progressives for now, although I do sometimes wear the bifocals at night while I'm tatting, especially with the finer threads. Anyway, as usual I find myself wondering why I waited so long. No more cricks in the neck from holding my head at a weird angle to peek out under my glasses so I can see what I'm doing!