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Definitely planning on starting up a new 25 Motif Challenge but I want it to be more focused (all crosses, maybe?)... Anywho, here's today's tatting.
This is one motif from the "Wild Rose Tray Mat/ Luncheon Set" on pp. 55-56 of The Tatter's Treasure Chest edited by Mary Carolyn Waldrep. It's done (predictably) in Lizbeth size 20. The center is color 644, Boysenberry Dk; the outer round is 131, Vineyard Harvest. I was happy for a while that it had a pretty uniform look, then the last two went completely off of that *rolls eyes* (Look at the chains that connect to the middle... left side.). It measures 5" unblocked.
I'd been looking at this pattern and had a bookmark in it since I got the book, but I don't really like the look of the motifs attached... I wanted to see how just one would look... Ya know, pretty decoration or glass mat. ;-) I think this would also make a lovely snowflake! I'm already thinking about grabbing some white thread and pearly beads and seeing where it leads me. :-)
Sooo... tomorrow (if not tonight), I'll start working on my next 25 ...just need to think of what to do...
Thank you all so much for reading! :-* Love, hugs, and happy tatting to you all!
-Stephanie Grace
Ya know, I started a "large" project and decided not to count the motifs of that toward my count... Now, I'm wishing I had! I'd be at 25! LOL. But, methinks that project will end up taking forever and possible being 25 motifs all on its own!
First, I want to thank everyone for their comments and support! I'm horrible with actually remembering to respond to e-mail which is horrible, I know... but I read every one! *blushes* On top of that, I opted to take a day away from the computer yesterday --which I enjoyed much more than I'd ever imagined I could! :-)
I remembered what I forgot in the last post:
It's another "Heritage Cross" by Dee Powell from Tatted Bookmarks Needle and Shuttle edited by Barbara Foster. This one is done in Lizbeth, Size 20, Color 131, Vineyard Harvest. It's been sitting around for a bit (balled up at some points), so it drastically needs to be pinned, but I wanted to share it. LOL. I'm leaving it without a tassel for now just in case it gets used in a different way...
I went on a little spree of finishing things that I'd left with only a ring or chain to go and then started hiding ends. (Facing fears is a good thing, right?). In the process, I found myself hiding the ends of this doily... Guess what happened next...
I decided to revisit the pattern! :-) It's "Small Round #11" by Kenna Prior from Ultimate Book of Tatted Doilies. It's tatted in Lizbeth Size 20, Color 157. Raspberry Frappe. I was pleasantly surprised that the actually thread gives off a more pink appearance than purple. It didn't scan very well --and I had to put paper behind it. I definitely need to adjust something on my scanner. Blah.
I really can't believe I'm actually hiding ends! LOL. I'm pretty sure everything will fall apart rather easily, but at least I'm finishing, right? LOL.
I had something else to say and it's gone now... I hate when that happens! *rolls eyes*
Hope all is well with you and yours! :-*
-Stephanie Grace
Oh! I remember! I was surprised to see the similar size of today's doily and the older one. There's very little difference even though that one was DMC Cebelia size 30 --which going with my theory that there's not much difference in size between that and Lizbeth 20...
As soon as I opened up the window to create a new post, my brain automatically started screaming that I have more to post than what I'm about to, but I can't think of what it is... Oh well. I'm sure it'll come to me later... (Maybe. LOL).
So, here's the long, boring story: I wore the red and black bracelet that I made on Sunday (and it held up!!!). My cousin saw it and asked me to make one for her. I had some tatting stuff with me so, while I didn't plan to make a whole bracelet sitting in the middle of a park, I figured I'd just show her how it's done. Of course, I go to show her off the ball and the thread knots. So, I cut it and decided I'd just make up a quick ring to show off, LOL. Well, we left before I finished, but I came home, finished half of that ring and decided I wanted to make another one. (Oh! It's the Remembrance Ring from... Yarnplayer? I'll check in a bit).
So, I did... It's done in Lizbeth Size 20, Color 149, Peacock Blues with two colors of size 11 Czech glass seed beads and one li'l Hematite star (I love hematite!). I went with the nine ring that the pattern suggestions ...definitely much too big for my hands... :-/
Yesterday, I sat down and started tatting with the same thread, the same beads (plus one somewhat larger hematite star) and went with the same stitch count... This is what happened:
A bracelet for Kathy! :-) It measures 7 1/2" with Lobster claw clasp included in that. Scans don't show the beauty of hematite, so I had to whip out my phone and take more pictures... I still need to hide the ends, but it's done! :-D
Well, hope all is well in your neck of the woods!
-Stephanie Grace
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
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...
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
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
