Counting down

 I am busy emptying shuttles and getting ready to drive south for Palmetto Tat Days. Each class project takes 2 shuttles, and then there will be extra shuttles and thread needed for practice.  I am so excited about spending time tattng with friends.  My first class of the weekend is Beginner Cluny tatting with Mimi Dillman. I can hardly wait to meet Mimi and get started.

These little angels are from a pattern by Marie Smith . The owl is the same one I have done with yarn. These are made with size 10 thread. As you can see they are only slightly larger than a US 25 cent coin.

Who Are you?

I cannot believe it has been a month since I last blogged. I read tatting blogs every day. I just haven't tatted much in the last month. I have been crocheting scarves for Operation Gratitude (Extension Homemakers project) and sewing (mostly project bags) and knitting at the bookstore.  I ought to take pictures of some of that stuff, but I am not much of a photographer.

Shown are some of the owls I will be taking with me to Georgia in a few weeks. The tiny owls are size 10 thread. the larger owls are Needle tatted using a size 1 needle and worsted weight cotton yarn . This is what I do with the leftover Kitchen Cotton from knitting or crocheting dishcloths.  The Palmetto Tatters give away hundreds of tatted goodies at the South Carolina State Fair. I wish I had known about the Palmetto Tatters when I lived in Charleston , I'd have been tatting for about 10 more hears than I have been. 

Keeping busy

I have been tatting, just not as much as usual as I have been knitting. I discovered a knit shop in a coffee shop/bookstore in Morehead Kentucky and have been going up there on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings to knit. I've completed a cowl and a scarflet and am about 1/2 way through a shawl. I may be teaching a tatting class this fall. The ladies have been admiring the earrings I wear, so today I took a selection of earrings to show off, and even sold a few pairs.

Patterns used are Sweet Pea and Spanish Dancer from Krystle Pyette, and Floret from Marilee Rockley's Craftsy Class.

Ribbons

Yesterday was judging for the County Fair. I entered 4 items and won 4 ribbons. Rules were one item per category. These are the results:
Doily in Tatting won first Place
Earrings (red barely in photo) First place for Jewelry other that Beading.
Yellow ornament drape,  First place for Ornament Spring.
Snowflake, second place for Ornament Winter.

I will be sending the doily to the Kentucky State Fair this fall.

County Fair

The Fleming County Fair is this week, and I have my tatting entry ready. This is the Dianne Doily Pattern can be found on Craftree.  It is made in ecru DMC cordonet size 30.  I used the darkest sheet of scrapbook paper that I could find for the background.

Distractions

Lately I seem to have project ADD. (Attention Deficit Disorder) I work on one thing then get distracted by something else, work on that for a while, and then see something else grabbing my attention. I need to focus or I won't have anything ready to submit to the county fair. This is the start of the Dianne Doily. Pattern can be found at Craftree.

Mistakes happen

I am going to enter a tatted doily in the county fair. Not knowing how many rounds remain in the 2016 Renulek Tat-Along, and only having another few weeks until fair time, I started a new doily. This is Renulek's 2014 Spring doily.  I am using size 40 Anchor Mercer thread and it  is wonderful to tat with.  I got a good bit done in the car on a recent trip to visit family.  I got over half way around on round 3 and discovered that I was joining the front side chains to the back side of the doily. This would not do. I know my perfectionist self. There was no way I could continue without things bothering me. Scissors had to come out, I HAD to clip off the offending joins.

Round 8

Round 8 of the Renulek spring 2016 doily is completed. I'm still 2 rounds behind, and have no idea how many rounds total there will be. I gave it a light pressing before photographing. It seems a little ruffly, but the next round should pull it back into shape.

Round 7

I have gotten a bit behind on the 2016 Spring Doily Tat along. Round 7 is now complete. Round 10 has been given out, with more to follow.  These 7 rounds measure 8.5 inches across. I wonder how big the finished doily will be. I'm using size 30 thread. In size 20 it would be a little bit bigger. It would be huge in size 10.

Alice

A while back I purchased this pattern from Knot Shire on Etsy. She's given her snowflakes ladies names. This is a quick tat and is great for using partial shuttles of leftover thread. Alice  looks good in one color also. I think I will stick with solid colors for the centers.

Frost in May

This has been a chilly month so far. I am looking forward to warm days to plant veggies. We didn't get snow, but have had several frosty mornings.

I took a short break from the 2016 Spring doily to tat more snowflakes. This is Yakut from Jon Yusoff's book Elegant Tatting Gems. I love patterns that are just one round.

This is number 15 in my 25 Motif challenge.  At the rate I am going, 25 different patterns in a year is not such an unreachable goal.

Spring Doily Progress

Round 6 of the Spring Doily is completed. Now to get busy on round 7. Round 8 will be released at the end of the week so I had best get busy.

Eclipse

What do you do when you find several open balls of size 20  thread in Blue Ice colorway? Make snowflakes. I make snowflakes all year long. This is Eclipse from  a pattern pack purchased  from Robin Perfetti. You can find the info at Tatting by the Bay.

Coasters from Catalog

The 2016 Handy Hands Catalog contained this coaster pattern. I first worked it in size 20 (Honey Drizzle colorway) and found it to be a little small. Worked in size 10 (Karey Solomon Hand paint) it is the perfect size. The original pattern called for making the center ring, then cut and tie. That is not how I roll. I avoid hiding ends whenever possible.  I loaded 2 shuttles, climbed out with a split ring and kept going.

Spring Doily Round 5

Round 5 of Renulek's Spring 2016 Doily is completed. I have started round 6. Hopefully I will have that done before round 7 is released. I am happy with my choice of Ecru size 30 DMC cordonnet thread. It is tatting nicely and looks quite delicate.

Button Doily Finished

Meagan posted the final round a few days ago, and after a false start (lets just say that fringe beads are not my friend) I tatted the final round. I sewed the tails in, and gave it a quick press before photographing. Looking at the picture, I could have done a better job with the blocking/pressing.  I made an adjustment on the final round. I joined the single rings to a chain without a picot. It seemed too unstable to have the ring just hanging out there. If I was to do this little doily again, I would have a picot on the short chain. This was an interesting doily/learning experience. I think Meagan has a future as a tatting designer and I look forward to seeing more of her work.

Spring Doily progress

I completed round 4 of the Spring 2016 doily. It has gotten too large for the scanner. Round 5 is available and I hope to finish that before Renata posts round 6.

The final round of the button doily is now available, so that is my project for today. It is going to feel awkward working with size 10 thread after tatting so much with size 30.

Spring doily

I finished round 3 of the 2016 Spring Doily last night. Round 4 looks like it may take a while. Hopefully by Monday I will have it done. Depends on how busy the weekend gets. Round 5 is up on Renulek's web page. I wonder how many rounds this doily will have.

Resisting no longer

I tried. I held back. I told myself that I had to many other things on my in-progress and want to tat lists. I just could not help myself. I found several full balls of DMC 30 Coronet in ecru. I have joined the 2016 Spring doily /tat-along by Renulek.

Dye Experiment

Upon arriving early to the Finger Lakes tatting event, participants often gather at Karey Solomon's shop.  Graceful Arts Fiber Studio is on Highway 414 between Watkins Glen and Lodi. This year Karey asked that anyone interested could bring a skein of thread to dye. I had some size 20 that I had wound on my Niddy Noddy planning to get brave and try dying my own thread.  Karey had the dye mixed up and the above skein is my result. My camera washed out the colors a bit, but I am pleased with the result. 

While making the Jennifer Williams coaster pattern, I've decided that size 5 thread gives me the desired size. I have a few colors of Karey's hand painted size 5. I found a ball of size 5 Cebelia in my stash, skeined it with the Niddy-noddy and mixed up a tye dye kit. I am pleased with the colors, and will be doing more dye experiments in the future. Sadly the size 5 Cebelia tatted up to  be the same as the Lizbeth 3.

 Coaster on the right is from the dyed hank at the top in the above photo. It's the same size as the coaster made with the Lizbeth 3 Carribean. Much larger than the one on the top left done in Karey's size 5 hand paint.

Button doily continues

I finished round 4 of the button doily. Now I wait for Meagan to post the next round. It was to be posted today, but so far, nothing is there. I can understand. Life gets in the way of tatting. Meanwhile I have other projects to do. So far I have resisted the urge to begin Renulek's spring 2016 doily. I think I will work on more coasters, or jewelry, anything to resist starting another large project.

Coasters

I have been playing with coaster patterns. I think they would make nice gifts. This is a pattern from Jennifer Williams and can be found on her webpage. The pattern suggests size 20 thread.

 I made the coaster on the  bottom with a Karey Solomon hand painted size 10 thread.  It measures 2 1/2 inches (7 cm) in diameter. The drinking glasses in my cabinet barely fit on it.

The upper coaster is done in Lizbeth size 3, Carribean Colorway. It measures 3 3/4 inches (10 cm) across. The size is better, but I don't like shuttle tatting with size 3 thread.  Somewhere in  my thread stash is some size 5.  I could  I could needle tat with the size 3 thread. Where have my tatting needles disappeared to??

Button Doily continues

Over the weekend I completed round 3 of Megan's Button doily. Round 4 is available and I will work on that today. Round 5 should be available at the end of the week. Will round 6 be the final round?  I guess only the designer knows.

Button Tatting

I was able to complete the second round of Megan's Tat-along before going to bed last night. I am using Lizbeth size 10 in the Peacock Blues colorway. Pattern can be found here. Round 3 has no buttons and should go quickly.

Button Doily

I have joined a Tat-along for a doily with buttons at Threads of Life Creations. This is the first round. It is done in size 10 thread and the next round has 20 buttons.  I spent some serious time yesterday digging in my button collection and choosing thread.

I have to take the car for an oil change and do a bit of grocery shopping this afternoon. I think I will crochet during my wait time. Tatting is very portable, but not when I risk dropping and loosing buttons. I am not sure if I will get round 2 done in time to post tomorrow, but you never know.

Travel Report

I had a wonderful trip to New York for the Finger Lakes Tatting Event. The long drive (I drove a total of 1418 miles) was well worth it. I had 2 classes with Ruth Perry (aka Rozella Linden)  I made one earring, and learned a new (to me) way of adding a bead to the center of a split ring. Ruth has a jewelry book coming out soon and I am excited about adding it to my collection.  The second class with Ruth was a Celtic Teddy Bear. After the class, I am confident that I will be able to weave the   Knots needed to do more Celtic tatting.

I had a class with Karey Solomon and almost finished a little bear with balloons. I managed to get an extra repeat on the head, so he is not quite right. I plan to start over and get it right as the little bear will be so cute on a greeting card. 

My last class was a Nina Libin earring pattern taught by Lorena Kinnet. I was the only student in the class but managed to get one earring almost finished.

Above is the tatted lanyard that I made for the scholarship auction.  It will keep a crochet hook and picot gauge (this one is Gloria Nelson's Bare Thread Space/Picot gauge) handy. The necklace design was taught at Palmetto Tat Days last September by Karey Solomon. It's on the 2015 Tat Days CD and has appeared in a recent edition of Tatting Times.

I did not get to take a class with Randy Houtz  this time. Randy is one of the Shuttle Brothers. I spent time with Randy at the Sunshine State Tatting event back in January and he didn't say a word about a new book.   Randy kept this book a complete surprise.  He had to cancel his travel to NY in 2015 (didn't want to share his flu ) He said making available the brand  new book at Finger Lakes was his apology for the last minute cancellation. Now that I am back home, I'll be studying the book as there is LOTS of interesting designs in it.  

I am not much of a photographer, and took only a handful of photos at Finger Lakes. I had so much fun visiting with old friends and meeting new people. It is wonderful to spend time with people who understand my love for tatting.  

Road Trip

I am packing the car tonight and leaving early tomorrow for New York. No, I am not going anyplace near New York City. I'm going to wine country. I'm attending the Finger Lakes Tatting Group's annual Tatting event. I'm taking classes with Ruth Perry, and Karey Solomon and also a Nina Libin pattern being taught by Lorena Finnerty. There are so many talented teachers (Randy Houtz, Marilee Rockley, Kay Boniface to name a few) it was hard to choose my classes.  It is sure to be a fun weekend.

Shown is Jon Yusoff's Merriment coaster/doily. I challenged myself to make it in two colors. I am pleased at how it turned out.

Spinning Wheel

This is the Spinning Wheel glass Mat . Pattern is by Mary Konior, from Tatting with Visual Patterns. It was an easy tat and I can see myself making it again. Mine needs a bit of blocking.

International Tatting Day

Today is International Tatting Day. This is the Merriment Coaster/Doily designed by Jon Yusoff. Pattern can be found here. This lovely thread was hand dyed by my friend Monica Braxton. Monica and husband Shawn make lovely wood shuttles too. Their work can be found at NAG Studio on Etsy.

Two weeks from today I will be in New York for the Finger Lakes Tatting Group Workshop. I can hardly wait to see my knotty friends.

Alison

Here is another quick to tat small snowflake. Alison is from the Jennifer Williams book. The white snowflake is needle tatted in size 20 Cebelia thread with size 7 needle. Lower right is shuttle tatted in size 10 Lizbeth  Blue Ice colorway. Lower left is shuttle tatted in size 20 Lizbeth.  These need to be blocked.

Twirly

This little snowflake is another quick tat. Two shuttles are required as it contains split rings. I made some in size 10 and some with size 20 thread. I love the Lizbeth Blue Ice colorway for snowflakes. The pattern is Twirly and is from Jon Yusoff's Tatted Snowflakes Collection.

Gillian

These lovely little snowflakes were tatted with  size 20 thread and size 11 beads..  As you can see they are only slightly larger than a 25 cent (US) coin. Lizbeth Blue Ice is my favorite colorways for snowflakes. Just for fun, one of the snowflakes was needle tatted. It's the one on the lower right.  Pattern is from Jennifer Williams book Tatted Snowflakes.

March Snowflakes

This time of year the weather in Kentucky varies quite a bit from one day to the next. We'll have a gorgeous day that tricks you into thinking spring is here. Then heavy frost or snow flurries the very next day. I could tat snowflakes all year long. Actually I do tat snowflakes all year long. They are lovely on the Christmas tree and are great to tuck in with a card. This is Eileen from the book  Tatted Snowflakes by Jennifer Williams.

Welcome to my new blog. Now that I am a retired nurse, I am able to spend more time with my needle crafts. Primarily tatting. I hope to attend more tatting workshops and share lots of eye candy.

This is the Fandango Star Flake. Pattern is by Jane Eborall. You can find the pattern by following the link from Jane's Blog her pattern pages.