Back to Blogland?

Oh, you know me - I flit in and out of "blogland" - lately I can't seem to find the time or motivation to post much.  Most of the reason behind that is I haven't done much tatting at all this entire year.  And even with a long time of resting my hands,  I still find my limit to be about an hour of tatting at a time - then the base of my thumbs start to ache.  If I do much more I pay for it for the next few days.  As I planned, I haven't done any art/craft shows this year, although my patterns sell steadily and I do have some tatted jewelry in a little fiber arts store in Reading - Some Things Looming - so I'm technically still in the tatting business.  At a much reduced level, obviously.

I love this thread color from Handy Hands - Charcoal Medium (607) - and have been working with it off and on for a few weeks (fabulous design here by Yarnplayer as well).

Pattern: Nouveau Earrings by Yarnplayer

Pattern: Flora Earrings (top) by Elizabeth's Lace 

Simple Drop Earrings (bottom) by Elizabeth's Lace

It works really well with contrasting thread and beads.  I tend to be a bit monochromatic in my designing, so it can be challenge for me to put different colors together and be pleased with the results.  With this thread it seems to be easier, perhaps because it is somewhat of a neutral color.

Well, it's back to the laundry for me - enjoy this Sunday and be blessed!

Not Quite the Way I Planned It.

Some ideas just do not turn out like you envisioned them.  This is one of those projects.  Over the weekend I visited the Eagle's Mere, PA Art and Craft Show to contact a particular artist who's work I was interested in combining with my own.  I'll share more about that in a later blog post when I actually get something put together.  Anyway, I bought a pair of her earrings and since I was planning on using only her handmade beads in my work, thought I might experiment a little with the really cool ear wires the beads were originally attached to.

I got out Jon Yusoff's "Tatting with Rings" to remind myself how to tat onto the wire and away I went.  I had a great time designing these and I love the way they look but unfortunately they are not practical.  In order to get them in your ears you have to be really, really careful that you don't squash the tatting as you manipulate the wire into your earlobe and as you are trying to fasten the ear wire as well (you end up having to hold your fingers right on the tatting itself as you put them on). So, while I don't mind and know how to take the kind of care necessary to wear these and enjoy them, the design won't work  for most customers.  For now, I'll just keep going and do some more designing with rings and wire.  These go in my own jewelry box to enjoy (yay)!

I ♥ My Mailman

Today I start a series on why I love my mailman so much.  He brings me presents!  Over the last two weeks or so I have received some lovely things in the mail, which I will share with you over the next few blog posts.  I'll also share some of my favorite tatting vendors with you - some you are probably already familiar with, but perhaps some new?  And hopefully there are beginner tatters reading this blog who will be introduced to some great resources for all things tatting.

First up is a new vendor to me, Krystledawne.  She and her alter ego, Dr. Vonthreadmore (you can read all about the two of them on her blog), create some lovely hand-dyed threads.  As you may know, I am a hand-dyed thread addict.  I have more hand-dyed thread than one person should really be allowed, but when I saw her "Vineyard at Dusk" - well,  I just had to have some.  It is a wonderful combination of earthy tones and a lovely vibrant purple.  

I went looking for a pattern that would look like clusters of grapes to use with the thread and came across this pattern online, designed by Sparrow Kelley, called "Midnight Violets".  I thought it was a perfect fit for this thread, and the bracelet below is the result of the two in combination.

I made earrings to match, based on my long elegant earring pattern but adapted slightly to better match "Midnight Violets."

So, if you have a chance, visit Krystledawne in her etsy shop.  She is a little short on thread at the moment as she is also busy creating her tatted jewelry, but I know I will be keeping my watchful eye peeled for more of her beautiful thread creations.

Thanks, Mr. Mailman (and Krystledawne)!

♥

New Pattern Available

I've managed to get another of my patterns written up and it's available for sale in my etsy shop.  This one teaches you how to do what I call "sewing" on a bead cluster with a focal bead (the sewing is done as you are making the lace with the tatting thread itself, so the bead work is still incorporated right into the lace).  It's one of my favorite ways to add beads, and while it is easier to do on small pieces, I will do it even when I've got a lot of thread to pull through the beads, because I really like the results.

I call this pattern "Flora" because it reminds me of a little flower. 

<-----------Look at this picture!  Another failed attempt at staging!  Why is it so yellow? you may ask.  Well, I told you I just can't seem to get the lighting right.  

Here's another example (below) of "sewing" on beads, but in the middle of a necklace.  As I mentioned, this method of beading on tatting can give you problems if your thread is really long, but the effect is well worth it, in my opinion.  A little bit of patience and steady hands will go a long way.

Anyway, if you're interested, pop on over to etsy and have a look.

Celebrate!

I'm still swamped by life.  Trying to find time to do everything - and not managing very well.  But today I had a little "yay!" moment when I made my 100th sale on etsy, and I thought I'd celebrate and share my  excitement by doing ... a giveaway!  So, for anyone interested, I am going to give away a pair of my Tatted Pumpkin Earrings.  They may look slightly different than this picture, as I use slightly different colors of threads and various ear-wires here and there, but this is a pretty close representation.

So, having never done a giveaway on my blog before, I'm just winging it here.  Ummmm - you'll have to comment to enter, and make sure, if you don't have a blog, that I have a way to contact you.(leave me your e-mail address in your comment). If you mention my giveaway on your blog to help get the word out, leave a comment here saying you did so, and that will get you entered a second time for another chance to win.  I will ship anywhere and everywhere, so please, all feel free to enter.  I'll be announcing the winner this coming weekend, probably on Sunday evening, so check back then.

Good luck to everyone!

Oh, My Eyes

As a tatter, this is when you know your eyesight is failing.

1. You find yourself strangely drawn to thicker and thicker threads. Currently I am fascinated by size 10 - when I started I would never have touched anything thicker than a size 30. Of course, I still like size 80-100 but when I tat with it I have to...

2. Depend on a magnifying glass, bifocals, or develop ways to see up close like pushing your glasses so far up on your nose that you can actually look out from under your glasses and see the thread. Yes, I need bifocals. But it's been tax season, you know, and I haven't had any time to get a new prescription. So instead, I either use my magnifying glass or do the peeking under the bottom of my glasses thing (it really does work!).

I am still really annoyed that I am having this problem at my age - I'm only 40! Isn't that too young??

Here's a little spring earring pattern for you. It's nice for using up leftover thread on a shuttle (these are in Yarnplayer's gorgeous "Roses" thread and some DMC Cebelia in olive green.) You will need two shuttles and some seed beads. Thread 1 bead on Sh #1 and 8 beads on Sh #2.

R = ring
Ch = chain
- or p = picot
vsp = very small picot
bp = beaded picot

Sh #1. R 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 vsp 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1. RW. Ch 14. Do not RW.
Sh #2. Bring 3 beads off the shuttle and keep them on the thread you wrap around your fingers to make the ring. R 8 bp (place the three beads in the picot and pull a 4th bead from the shuttle, place it next to the last ds made, and finish the picot) 8. Again, bring 3 beads off the shuttle and keep them on the thread you wrap around your fingers to make the next ring. Duplicate the ring you just did, but make this one 6 bp 6. Do not RW.
Sh #1. Pull the bead off the shuttle and place it next to the last ds of the first half of this chain. Ch 14.
Cut and tie ends to vsp. Finish off by hiding ends. Add earwires!

My next post will be about how I achieve flat, even rings in my tatting - if you are interested, check back in next week.

This is harder than it looks

I had a request for the Coral Reef earring pattern. I thought about just sending you all to the webpage where I found the antique book - but then it occurred to me that I'd like to write my own book of patterns someday...and just the other day I was reading on e-tatters about programs to diagram your own tatting patterns...the freeware program Inkscape was mentioned. Having never heard of this one - I've tried others and given up in frustration - I thought I'd download it (it's free) and give it a whirl. Good grief. There are so many different buttons and things and windows opening up all over the place and I didn't even know where to start.

At some point I figured out enough to open up a scan of the Coral Reef earrings and then open another layer over it. I started to draw objects on top of the picture itself, tracing the picture as I went - using freehand lines, ovals, dots for beads. The stitch count numbers came next. Finally I deleted the underlayer (the initial scan of the earrings), grouped all my drawings together and exported it as a bitmap file so it could be uploaded here. Voila! You see it there - and it only took me like 8 hours! No, I'm just kidding. It took me about 2 hours of trial and error, and I'm sure the next time will be easier (as long as I don't wait 6 months before opening the program again).

I hate typing up instructions longhand - and actually I much prefer diagrams when reading and tatting a pattern as well. But, for those of you who DON'T like diagrams, or if you don't use beads often and are unsure how those get added - here's the pattern for you (I hope you can read it as I'm also not so good at writing them longhand!):

Two Shuttles.
R = ring
Ch = chain
- or p = picot
vsp = very small picot
+ = joining picot

Load 6 beads on shuttle #1 and 4 beads on shuttle #2.

With shuttle #1: Pull up 6 beads into the ring you are going to make. In other words, the beads should be on the part of the thread that is wrapped around your fingers.
R 4 - (place two beads in the picot) 4 - (pull a bead up from shuttle #1, put it next to the last ds, made and make a picot around it) 4 - (place two beads in the picot) - 9 - (place two beads in the picot) 9. Close ring. RW.
Ch 7 - 3 - 3 - 3. Lock join to 5th p of last R. Do not RW.
With shuttle #2. Pull up 3 beads into the ring you are going to make.
R 3 + (to last p of previous Ch) 4 - (place three beads in the picot and pull the 4th bead from the shuttle, place it next to the last ds made, finish the picot) 4 - 3. Close R. Do not RW.
With shuttle #1: Ch 3 + (to last p of previous R) 3 - 3 - 7. Cut threads and tie off to vsp of the 1st R. Make another and you're done with your earrings!

And for those of you who could not read either the diagram or my version of the longhand pattern - here's the link to the book it came from. The .pdf file is down near the bottom of the page, under "mongraphs". The stitch count is slightly different than mine, and of course, it doesn't have the beads added. Have fun with whichever pattern you use.

Coincidence

I was cruising around the tatting blogs tonight and came across the exact same doily as the one I just fixed for my friend, except this one was tatted very recently, while the one I worked on was probably tatted about fifty years ago. It was tatted by Kelly Dunn and is posted as Motif #16 on her blog. I was so surprised to see it! She mentions it is from "The Tatter's Treasure Chest," which is of course a compilation of older tatting books from the 40's. I guess the doily I fixed was probably tatted from the original tatting book. :-)

Small piece of eye candy! This was a special order and is my own pattern, which I call "snowflake". I love these two colors together - sage & lavender.