Arches

I have been working on a pattern called Arches by Marliee Rockley. So far I am loving the pattern. It is pretty easy to do. I have about two more rows to finish and I can get it together to send to my tatting swap partner in Oregon. I can't wait to send it because it is turning out so pretty.

I am using size 20 Lizbeth thread color 129. The only thing that confused me at first about the pattern was it had 13 p between 2 ds. That kind of threw me for a loop but I was able to figure out what it meant. Sometimes having those palm on face moments can wake your brain up.

Here is what it looks like so far.

I must say since I learned how to hide my ends better I don't mind cutting and tying so much any more. I can remember in the beginning I hated to cut and tie because I had so many problems hiding my ends. I love tatters all over because they can come up with some amazing techniques that help make the process a wonderful learning experience.

I am hoping to have this finished in about a week or so and I am going to work on a dragonfly by Patricia Ann Rizzo from her book called The Gentle Art of Tatting Things We Love. I want to do the dragonfly for a past co-worker who lost a love one. I figured I would do it and put it on a card that I made.

I know I am no where near completing the 25 motif challenge for the year but I am certainly getting my motif counts up. Maybe one of these days I will be able to complete the challenge. That is something to look forward to.

My Carrying Case

I have been using just about anything I could get my hands on to carry my UFO around in and of course I go to Walmart and find the perfect little case. I actually found two but I had to chose which actually caused me to have a bit of a pouty face.

I walked away with a little black pencil case that is the right size. It has a little pocket to keep my shuttle in and a place to hold my scissors. I just love it. I even decorated it to fit my personality. Tehehe. Nothing like having something to call you own.

Computer Crashed

Well just when I was getting back into the swing of things what happens. My computer crashes. I am thankful though because I managed to back up my files on my external hard drive. I just wanted to feel depressed because that was not an expense I was looking forward to.

Now I am back up and running and hopefully I can get back into the groove. I am still working on a few pieces, one of which I am trying to finish up for my tatting swap partner. I did finish some of the things I wanted to send out to her.

I am also having fun making my shuttles more personal. I had bought some stickers that I really liked and decorated them with it and added some of my own flair to them.

This is what I purchased from Nagstudio on Etsy. This will be my first time using hand dyed thread aka HDT and the new shuttle was a little gift to myself.

These shuttles I decorated for my tatting swap partner. I am hoping that she likes them. One is painted and has stickers the other I used fabric to cover it.

Since I am also into jewelry making and the like I decided to tat up some butterflies and put them on this box. I did the tatted heart in the middle as well. I used resin to seal them into place. 

This what I received from my tatting partner. I love everything that was sent to me. I also received some apple butter and jam from her. I can't wait to taste both. 

Bad Mommy!!

I feel like a bad mommy because I have been neglecting my blog. I guess when our computer crashes on you it makes everything go haywire. I have some tatting to share but I want to wait until I send then to my tatting swap partner in Oregon.

What can I say she is absolutely wonderful. She tatted me a seahorse which I fell in love with the minute I saw it. I also received strawberry jam and apple butter from her which made me smile a mile wide. The writer in me loves the information sent about the state in which she lives. I mean I feel so bad I am still working on my things for her but I am determined to mail them out the beginning of the week one way or another.

You the saying about you never know who you may have touched and I must say she has been a blessing. I don't intend to be bad mommy anymore because I love sharing on my blog so I am happy I am back in business.

Until next time. Happy 4th of July!!!

Just Tatting Away

Well I have been trying new things along with working on my Renulek Spring Napkin. I made a few little butterflies and I trying to make a barefoot sandal again. I ordered a couple of books and some more shuttles. I am finding that I like a bit bigger shuttle. I don't know why but I just do. So I now own a couple of Moonlit and a couple more Starlit. I also now have Jon Yusoff's book Tatting with Rings which I was so excited about getting. In addition, I ordered Tatting Hearts by Teri Dusenbury.

I started on of the patterns in Tatting with Rings called Teratai. I love the pattern. It is pretty simple to do. I did make my own little adjustments because I wanted to create the barefoot sandal. I am going to make some earrings that will match it.

This is what the sandal looks like so far.

I just need to add the parts that go around the ankle.. I am loving how it is looking so far.

Here are the butterflies I made using a pattern Handy Hands included on the package of my Moonlit shuttle.

These are just so cute. I am going to make some earrings and a bracelet for my daughter. Since they are so quick I am trying to get a few of these together to make for a group of girls I will be teaching needle tatting to. Just so much fun. I can't get enough of tatting.

Need to get some packing and laundry done. Have a Happy weekend.

For all the Fathers out there Happy Father's Day.

Minor Norwegian Dragon

Well I decided to try the Minor Norwegian Dragon by Anne Bruvold. I can do a single shuttle split ring with no problem but for some reason I keep having problems trying to get split rings together. I am determined to make it work though.

This pattern is a challenge for me because I seem to be getting confused quite often but I am going to get through this as well. I am trying to build up what I can do. I can follow diagrams so a point but doing the word chart has been difficult for me. I have to read something two or three time to make sure I get it right. I think my brain is just wired to see things one way and reading the chart has been forcing me to look and make sure I am getting it right.

Now with the dragon I have the body done but I am going to have to restart the wings because I messed up but I am okay with that. This way I know where and why I made the mistake and I can move forward. I am going to make this dragon and I was thinking of putting it on a pillow. I haven't decided just yet but whatever I do I know that I will like it in the end.

This is what he looks like so far:

I think he looks pretty good for my first time trying to make it happen with this pattern.


I am also thinking about what can I do for my exchange. I want to really give my partner something that comes from my heart. I have been batting about several ideas but I am not sure which one I will do. We shall see what happens.

Have a good weekend and happy tatting.

I Like It!!

I am still plugging away on Renulek's Spring Napkin. I wanted to post a picture of what round two looks like on the one I am using Lizbeth Springtime size 20 thread on. I was looking at it and I liked how the stitches look so much tighter.

You see how uniform it almost looks. I am still in awe of the fact that I tatted this. It amazes me that I am able to make something that looks this lovely. My one in the size 10 threads looks wonderful as well. 

Hopefully I will be able to get a picture of it after I complete round 7. 

I was out and about today and received so many compliments on it. There are still so many people that have no clue about tatting. It is a shame really because it is such a beautiful art form. Maybe when I can get back on my feet I can teach a class on how to tat. I would teach both needle and shuttle tatting that way no one feels left out.

I am really going to have to think about that and see where I could possibly have a class for it to be done. 

Well Happy Tuesday and happy tatting!!!!

Back to work

Well I haven't worked on my Renulek in a bit because I was beading but I started working on it again. The  colorful one I am working I reached round seven. I can't believe I made it this far. I will have to post a picture of it later. Using size 10 thread has made it huge. I am beginning to wonder what it will be like when I get to round 13. It is at 14 inches so far. I am excited though that I have been able to get through it.

I also have another in which I used Lizbeth thread in size 20. I just finished round 2. I was having trouble remembering which way to turn to get my chains in the right direction. I got it to work and it looks pretty good. I decided to do front and back side tatting and oh my goodness I love how it lays. We shall see what it will look like as I move on to other rows.

Now the one thing I want to do is create a pair of barefoot sandals. I did a pair using beads but I want to try with tatting. I even have some buttons I want to use in creating them. This will be a challenge because this will be my first pattern that I will be creating myself. I am nervous and excited at the same time.

There is just something about seeing a creation come to life. I think that is why I love my three crafts so much. Tatting, beading and writing all bring me such pleasure and joy. I love sharing with others as well.

One other thing that has come up. In the tatting group I am in on Facebook I have a tatting exchange partner. I am looking forward to seeing what we exchange with each other. Just so much fun and it helps me keep my mind off bad things. It is not always easy keeping faith but I know that I must and doing these things help to do so.

One last thing of note, I used a technique by Sue Draney for hiding finished ends and I love it. She uses a needle and goes under the loops that create the double stitches and pulls the thread that way. Oh my goodness! It was such a smooth process. The only downside is using a tapestry needle because I have so many problems threading needles that is one of the reasons why I stopped needle tatting but I think I will purchase a wide eye needle and it should do the trick.

Well back to tatting and seeing what else I can do!! Happy Tatting

Pay it Forward

I was in one of my tatting groups on Facebook and a young lady had received tatting supplies from someone else. She was so excited. I love feeling her excitement. I also love the fact that someone thought about her and how she wanted to learn to tat.

I think that when we pay it forward we help to bring sunshine to someone else's life. That is a blessing. It made me think, how can I pay it forward. In the next month or so I am looking to get several packages together. Each package with have something a bit different but they will be together so that if anyone who wants to learn to tat but doesn't have the resources I can send them a care package. I am thinking about doing with beading supplies as well. I want to do something that will help someone enjoy some of the pleasures I do when it comes to tatting and beading.

I am looking forward to sharing. If you could Pay It Forward how would you?

Plugging away.

Well I made it to round 6 of Renulek's Spring napkin. For some reason my mind was drawing a blank on this round. It seemed like my mind could not remember how to make it look like floating rings. Thank goodness for the help of all those wonderful tatters on Facebook. I managed to make it happen.

Here is what it looks like with round 5 completed.

Then I was having color decisions. I guess since I like to be different I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and even though I had some wonderful suggestions it just didn't feel right. I ended up using the pink again and decided to work backwards with the colors. 

I am going to continue working on this and see how far I get. I also started working on Renulek's Summer napkin. Boy it is going to be a busy happy tatting fest for me. I want to work out a pair of earrings using beads. Having some issues figuring out what I want but I know that I will work it out and see how things go.

I did mike something quick though using Jon Yusoff's dragonfly pattern. I think I am going to use it as a striver. I have been wanting to make some ever since someone posted theirs. 

I love what I do and I am so looking forward to making more creations and maybe one day designing something of my own. 

Well happy tatting!!

Size Difference

I started another Renulek Spring Napkin. This time I decided to use size 20 thread. I didn't realize how much of a difference there would be in the sizes. The bright and colorful Renulek I did in Omega size 10 thread using various colors is pretty big and I am only on round 4 of the 13 rounds. The more recent one I started is Lizbeth size 20 Springtime is so much smaller and I am on round 2.

I like each one of them because there is something different about them but this is becoming a learning experience for me. I can only imagine if I was using finer thread like size 80 what it would look like. I am going to keep plugging away though because I want to see how the final sizing will compare.

Here is what they look like now.

Renulek's Napkin

I decided to work on Renulek's Napkin and so far this is what I have. It has been a challenge but a good one.

www.renulek.blogspot.com - Spring Napkin

Ready to Go

I am feeling really upbeat today, which for me is a positive. I have so many days where I feel like everything is dragging on the ground that it feels good to be able to get rolling. Along with my Renulek Napkin I started working on a Tatted Doily by Nancy Tracy of Be-Stitched.

This Tatted Doily I am doing in Altin Basak size 50 thread color number 381. So far so good. It was a bit strange no reversing my work and keeping my shuttles straight but I managed to make it happen. I am so proud of myself. So I am going to continue plugging away at both the Renulek Napkin and the Tatted Doily and see how things turn out.

I am also happy that I found a video on how to untat a ring. I so needed that because having to cut and then hide ends was driving me insane. We will see how that goes.

Picture of the Tatted Doily Row:

Here is the link to the website: 

http://www.be-stitched.com/pattern1307doily1.php

Signing up for Nancy Tracy's newsletter gives you access to her patterns that she creates and has been willing to share.

I love learning and growing with this beautiful art.

Oh one other thing to share. I just love my wood shuttle that I ordered from NAGStudio on Etsy.com. I think I am becoming a shuttle junkie but this one is so personal and so me. Just love it.

My next shopping order will be to get some hand dyed thread. 

Renulek's Spring Napkin

Well I have been trying to tat away on the spring napkin by Renulek. I finally finished round 3 and I will say that is was definitely challenging. I made so many errors. I had to cut and start again. Kept having to hide ends. I was almost ready to give up but I wanted to see this round through. In the end, I persevered. I am actually proud of the outcome.

One thing for sure I do not like using size 10 thread. I don't know why but it seems like I have more trouble now with size 10 then any other thread size. I know it seems crazy because that is not a really thick size. What can I say, I have my preference for thread size and the finer thread seems to work so much better for me.

Well I am going to continue with the next round but here is what I have so far. It is truly a bright and cheerful looking napkin. Tat away. :-)

The web address for the pattern is www.renulek.blogspot.com anyone interested in following along.

Almost a year now!!

About a year ago, I wanted to learn how to tat. I wasn't sure really what it was but I started looking to find all the information I could about it. I love to bead but I wanted something that I could take with me on the bus to work besides reading a book.

I started out trying to use a shuttle and became frustrated. It seemed no matter how hard I tried it just would not work for me. I went to using a needle and that was fine for a while.

You see I am a bit of a perfectionist so it just didn't seem like my double stitches (ds) were flowing the way I had seen them in different patterns. Well it was back to trying the shuttle again.

Now the expression your way may not be my way is the truth. I just couldn't get the flip going using the traditional pinch method. I changed how I held the thread for the pinch and as the saying goes "the rest is history.

This way works better for me. I am still not the faster tatter but I make do and I am to get through a project on my own terms.

Tatting is not a lost art form it just needed individuals who love it. People like me. I am almost finished one doily I have been working on and I have started Renulek's Government Napkin. I will post my progress. For now here is my version of the pinch. :)