Flowers and Flowers and stuffs... Oh My! (Motifs #19&20/25)

So, I just might be the most redundant tatter in all the land... That whole "getting stuck on a pattern" thing got a bit extreme last week.  Well... for a few days. 

See, I was talking to friends and trying to get them to start tatting.  To show them how easy it is, I posted TotusMel's wonderful video on my Facebook page for them.  I watched the video and... BAM!  I start wondering if I can even remember how to tat off the ball.  I've gotten so used to a cut thread AND a ball that, between her video and the lady at the bead sale a few weeks back, I was scared that I might not be able to do it anymore...  Naturally, I grabbed a ball and needle and had it... again... and again... and, well... By flower four or five I'd decided to challenge myself to get 25 flowers done by the end of the week... It didn't take early that long, of course, but I did it!  25 flowers! :-D  All were tatting with LizBeth size 20, different colors and --and different tensions as became very apparent quite quickly.

Two got added to a bookmark for a friend:

 My first time adding a chain, etc...  It actually looks complete!  Did I actually finish something?  Hmmm...

And then there were the others... 

I don't have scans of all 25 and, well, some ended up in a framed present for my mom for her birthday so I used them before I even got the chance.  

End result:  Why, yes, I can -somewhat- still tat off the ball.  I went back and forth between off the ball and my usual way, but I'm still truckin' with the off the ball and going back and forth.  I think it's good for me to continue to do both since some patterns might tat better with one method and another pattern might come out best with the other... Does that make any sense to anyone but me? LOL

Lastly... The two motifs...  

I did a random flower and then decided to add more to it... I'm not completely happy with it, mainly because I should have given more thought to it being added to a necklace BEFORE I finished it, but it's my first go at a pendant-type-thing --and without a pattern at all, so.. yeah... live and learn, trial and error, right?  Tatted in LizBeth, Size 20, Victorian Red.

The final motif is being subbed the "Obnoxious Summertime Bracelet".  No, not because it was a bother to tat or because I had any trouble with tatting it, but just because of the colors, LOL.  I'm not a "bright color" kinda gal...  It's made up of LizBeth size 20 in Juicy Watermelon and Lime Green. 

Well, this is a very long post... Oops.  

Thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers.  It's nice to know that I'm not alone and that there are more prayers going to my family than I could ever manage alone.  THANK YOU!  They're so appreciated --and needed! :-*  Happy, Love, and Prayers to you all!


-Stephanie Grace

Update.

I try to keep this blog purely about tatting, but I wanted to add a quick note from the personal side:  My sister-in-law passed away on Saturday, May 14th.  Please send some prayers to my brother, their children, and our families.  Thank you!  :-*

-Stephanie Grace
P.S. I HAVE been tatting, but I'll save that for a later post...

Bracelet (Motif #18/25)

A few months ago, there was an edging pattern or something that I wanted to try as a bracelet.  I started it, got maybe six rings in and stopped.  Those rings, no longer connected to a ball of thread or anything have been on an end table taunting me... So, I cut some new thread, grabbed a ball of thread and decided it was time to try it again.  I decided to do the starting ring and chain differently and will have to add a few more stitches to the first chain if I do this again, but it's DONE!  

 It's tatted in LizBeth Victorian Red and Black, both size 20.

 As an added touch, it's also got some pearly white size 11 glass seed beads. :-)

 I went with a lobster claw clasp and just a tatted ring for the closure for the bracelet.  (The tattoo is the Virgo symbol, LOL... I needed my right hand to put the bracelet on, so it had to go on my left wrist which meant the tattoo creeping into the picture... LOL).  

 And, finally, there's the bracelet with my tatting buddy --EEYORE!  :-D  He's a little mini-purse so there's a knitted, stuffed ball inside the zipper (I could never stab a stuffed Eeyore!) which holds my needle while I pull thread --much better than the days when I'd just stab the needle into my couch! LOL.  As an added note:  There's also some sand in him from the shore since he wasn't heavy enough to stay put in the breeze when I went to the beach last year, LOL... For some reason, I've let him keep the weight. :-)

Well, now all that's left is figuring out that whole hiding threads issue... *rolls eyes*

Oh!  An e-mail conversation led me to a question to ask:  Has anyone tried singing (as in singe... nothing with vocal chords, LOL) the ends or knots in tatting?  I saw a contraption at a bead sale and it made me wonder... It also made me wish I'd had one when my shoelaces frayed and I loved my laces! LOL. 

So, hugs to you all!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

-Stephanie Grace

Happy Anniversary! (Motif #17/25)

Okay, so maybe it's no one's anniversary [that I know of], but that doesn't make this post any less happy!  :-P  

The set-up:  Me, returning home, well after 11pm last night.  Tired.  Feeling blah.  Hubby goes to bed.  Of course, I need some unwind time and I'd start tatting earlier in the day, so why not finish what I started before bed, right?

Yup.. Anniversary Motif from page 80 of Mary Konoir's Tatting with Visual Patterns.

Honestly, this thing terrified me ...or maybe it was just the chain after chain thing that I was afraid of... Either way, after tatting, un-tatting, and tatting the last chain about ten times, I finally got it done!  It's not perfect, but I really don't care. LOL.  If you haven't noticed, the mission is to just show myself that I'm capable.  We can work on that perfection thing later ...right?

I want to try this pattern again.  I think it would make a wonderful element to frame a picture and many other things.  :-)  this also gave me a better idea of how the pattern would look in two colors.  From the given picture in the book, I really wasn't sure how I'd like it without it being solid, but I think I do! :-D

Ohh!  It's done using LizBeth size 20 in #127 (Butterfly Breeze --which I surprisingly bought at a bead sale last week --I never liked this thread in the catalog!) and #614 (Lemon Lt.). 

What d'ya think?  I'm gettin' there, right?  (Wherever "there" is...) ;-)

(((Hugs)))

-Stephanie Grace

Sea Horse (Motif 16/25)

Last night, I started tatting a motif that has scared me for months.  It just looked like something that would be far beyond my tatting capabilities.  I, however, am me.  Bowing down like that wouldn't exactly fit with my beliefs and life. ;-)  I ended up distracted and messed up ear the end, but that's okay since I didn't think I had enough thread cut to do it anyway.  :-D  It made me realize that even though a pattern may seem scary, I'll never learn if I hide from it (or hide it from me...).  The pattern, as it turns out, is quite simple!  I'll definitely be giving it another go ...or two ...or three. 

Anywho, with my new found ...um... bravery ;-)  I decided today to tackle a pattern that, though it looked pretty simple, I was sure I'd mess up.  It didn't come out perfectly (I hate the way the long part sticking out of the muzzle (Hmmm... is it called that when it's a seahorse?) but I finished anyway.  A few months ago, that would have made me stop and cut my thread losses.).  

The pattern is written by Debbie Arnold.  I did it in Lizbeth silver and gold (my favorite fashion faux pas! LOL), size 20.  As always, it still has it's threads hanging on and it's not blocked.  I really must get the ....bravery to do that. LOL.  I just know that I'll mess things up if I start trying to hide ends and block them... One day...


Okay, I'm off to... Tat some more?  Maybe.  :-D


Hope all is well with you and yours!  (((Hugs)))


-Stephanie Grace

Candle Bookmark (Motif #15/25)

My sister told me she wanted a bookmark.  She chose "Candle" by Dee Powell from "Tatted Bookmarks Needle & Shuttle" edited by Barbara Foster.  For thread, she picked Country Side (117) and the corresponding Blue Med (651), bot LizBeth size 20. 

It needs some serious blocking, LOL.  It's been done for days... not sure why I didn't post it before now. 

So, my notes on this bookmark:

-This isn't my least favorite pattern from the book, but I did scrunch my nose at it... It just doesn't appeal to me.
-It tats up easily enough.  This is also the first time I've managed to be successful with chain after chain --something that just seems like it would be so much easier with shuttle.
-At least the pretty colors made me like it a little bit more! LOL.


Well, hope all it tatting up well for all of you out their in TatLand! :-*

-Stephanie Grace