Happy New Year, Tat-Land!

The last post of the year and what better way to tie it all up but in a pair of little, beaded socks for the Mini-Boss, whose arrival will seem even closer tomorrow, with the beginning of a new month in a brand spanking new year!

Lady ShuttleMaker's Peach Pandora,#20

and a vintage border pattern from... ?

I scanned it ages ago and now forget!

The border of these socks brings my Motif Challenge number to 13. Not bad!
Anon,

Loving Dr. Von Threadmore's Gorgeous Green

Lucky for me, this time I had enough of Krystledawn's  new HDT on the shuttles to finish the motif, which is much larger than I thought it would be.The finished piece is over four and a half inches across. I seriously fretted towards the end...

But, no worries!

The pattern is The Second Day of December from Lene Bjørn's 24 Snowflakes in Tatting.  I used green and silver beads that appear all silver when tatted.  This was very satisfying to tat, perhaps because of the larger dimensions.

The green and teal tones in the thread are beautiful.  I have not used a lot of green and I would order this colour again, but not this kind of thread! This was a test run for the good Doctor, as she was perfecting her bubbling experiments and this happens to be a soft - maybe #20 Cébélia, which was brutal to un-tat;: it kept splitting. But, the colour...Yum!

The good Doctor had warned us about this;  I am just giving you an update! Her colour rocks!

As usual, it took me hours to figure out the directions and I tatted the whole thing backwards - but how would anyone but me know that!  Oh, I do so love dyslexia!

Anon,

After A Week of Calamitous Tatting...

It may not be beautiful, but it is complete, and there is the miniscule, remaining remnant of Sherry's HDT!
Anon,

As Tiny Tim said, "A Merry Christmas to us all; God bless us, every one!""

I wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season,
whatever holiday you hold dear.

While in NYC, I had a dreadful tatting time.  Everything I touched went wrong.  I did more un-tatting than the good stuff, and I have NOTHING to show for all the hours!

The above was to be the first part of a bauble decoration that I intended to finish in New York.The night before my early a.m. flight, I spilled the bottle of beads all over my apartment floor!

Although only half the container escaped, it felt like I had dropped a milk container of little, red beads; I thought I would never be able to pick them all up!  Took well over an hour to clean up....

Needless to say, I was so disgusted with the project after the midnight mess that I left it behind.

I packed this pattern by Mary Konior, taken from an early book that had only written directions - no diagram.

Can you believe I wasted a whole skein of beautiful HDT - Himalayan Poppy by LadyShuttleMaker, trying with absolutely NO success to tat this?

I haven't the heart to post pictures of the rejected bits and pieces that I have since thrown away.  Sigh.....  I should have put away my shuttles till the dark cloud passed, but no, I stubbornly kept on  trekking - creating one atrocious disaster after another, laying waste to all Sherry's lovely thread.

The only bit of that thread that remains is the centre of one of Jon's snowflakes that I have managed to almost  finish, after much retro-tatting.

Those chains that lead in and out of the cloverleaf had me baffled for ages.  I just cannot ever do the directional thing correctly the first, second or even third time around.  I always have such difficulty with this.

However, it is nearly done and I will tell you I will never use this thread  again: Oren Bayan Salmaz #12. Loathe it!  So soft and floppy and difficult to undo. Yech!

Ohhh, I am so grumpy tonight!
Anon,

Furtively Speaking.....

Big emphasis on 'Fur'.

Both are beautiful, but the fur belongs on and to the one on the left.  Unfortunately, the one on the right hoovers it all right up and will not let go.

I discovered this when I checked out the last motif I posted; the picture, large on my monitor, was COVERED with CAT HAIR!  Gross!

How do you remove animal hair from your work? I mean, short of washing it.  I wave it around, pull out individual hairs with my fingers and have considered using tape...

Currently working on Jon's 'Spring Blossom', with LadyShuttlemaker's  HIMALAYAN POPPY, #50.

There are a lot of stop and go's, as I am living with 2 small children at the moment.

I do not know how tatters with youngsters get anything done - let alone complete some of the gorgeous work posted on so many sites. I have just about given up doing any tatting on this sojourn!  Too many interruptions!

Hoping in a big way that the problems I am encountering with this pattern can ALL be blamed on the small fry and NOT on my tatting abilities!
Anon,

Yummy Yellow - It's Finished!

'Roses', with lots of YELLOW

I have no idea where I got this pattern, called "Beaded Wreath".  It wasn't from a book, so it must be something I saw on the Internet. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know, so I can credit the designer!  Thanks.

Isn't it  wonderful?  I just love the yellow beads with this thread and it was a great pattern to tat.
Anon,

Mellow Yellow

 This one is such fun.  I deserve it!  The shopping is done, my bags are packed - going to see my daughter in The Big Apple this week.  She will be spending Christmas with her hubby's family in New Jersey. So, I will hop a plane later this week!

Also, #4 TAT exercise: DONE!  Yay!

~*~

Yellow. I thought I would play with this colour that has been eluding me all my life.  Yellow.

I have never worn it, as it always makes me appear too sallow.  I have not decorated with it because I am a white with blue or green kind of palette in decorating and design.

There is a single yellow, ceramic pot on the floor of my place, because I feel it is very French and a lovely accent for all my white and bits of French Provincial blue.  But, that's it.

I have never appreciated its warmth and radiance till I became so enamoured with this ENDLESS skein of Yarnplayer's  'Roses'!

The dollar store yellow - and they are very YELLOW - beads that I thought I would NEVER use, but they came with the other options, are PERFECT with this thread.

Look, how pretty!

Anon,

Disgruntled, or perhaps, Not Gruntled

If you are not inept, are you ept? Am I going to be gruntled, if I can figure out this Celtic Knot Tatting SOMETIME in the near future?

The first is the second attempt.  I thought I had it figured out last week, but I really did not get it.  Not quite.  I now know exactly how to do it , but the execution of such knowledge is in a completely different skills category. (and why does gory and cat together mean a class of things? Is this a veterinary derivation?)

The second is the final try.

Bear in mind, if you will, that I used #10 thread to do these as I thought it would be easier to see the stitches. It felt like tatting in stiff porridge.

Maybe, to cheer myself up, (LOL) I will begin #4 of TAT this evening.
Anon,

Loving the Snowflakes!

 

Kind Hearts and Coronets, by Karey Solomon in Karey's 's HDT

This thread is so pretty....

These were such fun to make.  I have never used a jump ring before, so I though I'd try it on these.

Anon,
P.S. By my count, the little snowflakes are #10 of the Motif Challenge!  That was quick!

Today, It's All About Karey!

 Karey Solomon , that is.  I couldn't wait to do my new favourite pattern, as I thought this thread and the pattern are so absolutely perfect for someone I am seeing next week and to whom I want to give  'a little something'.  This is a person who will appreciate a tatted gift. Yay!

Kind Hearts and Coronets,

from Karey Solomon's booklet Tatting for the Tree,

Karey's 's gorgeous HDT in size #30.

I LOVE this!

Anon,

Over the Edge and Done with Hankies

Here it is. Done.  Actually prettier than it appears here, but I couldn't wait for the daylight, which is so much softer than this drab, night light, It is ironed and packed away, and I could not wait to complete the process! Posted.  Over and out!

Anon,
 

Half Way Hanky

 Almost done.... A couple more hours should do it.....

Anon,

Taking a New Tack!

 Well, the crocheting is done, including the coming-home sweater, which will not be displayed on a tatting blog!  Yes, now I am tatting for me!

The above, the circle with the orange circle and the split ring red outer ring, is something I have not done before.  I picked up two shuttles that had some old thread from work - much too soft for tatting - and just started to try to produce something of a pleasing shape and design.

This isn't it, but I learned a bit about how to use space and also about how long or short chains should be so that there is no cupping or bunching.  This was a useful, albeit ugly, project.

Next,  the Celtic ring I am having SO much trouble with.  In the second  try, on the right, I GOT IT! That simple little pattern finally made a pattern of its own along the neuron and nerve ends in my simple brain!

All of this is not pretty but is going a long way to helping me be able to tat something pretty in the future!
Anon,

Removing the Self - Imposed Restraints!

Well, the second hat for Mini-Boss is complete. I finished the edging tonight - phew!  Now all that is left is the *** hanky edging.   I haven't touched it in days.  It is soooo, well, .....beige.

I have to admit that I try very hard to appreciate ecru;  I  purchased a few lovely balls of it in different sizes, trying for some reason that now eludes me to enjoy it,  but I gotta tell you: I really dislike it - A LOT!

You really do learn the oddest things when you hang around shuttles....

Anyway,  creative freedom is tantalizingly just around the next corner - quite literally! After the border is done, I will be free to work away on the TAT programme and do little fun projects between the  exercises.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Anon.

Bordering on boredom....

The  second hankie is driving me crazy and I have figured out something important!  I think when I am finished with the hats, the hankies and the baby socks, I am going to do tatting a  bit differently.  I am going to tat for myself.  Ah, so selfish! I can't wait!

I have learned because of the T.A.T. process, the more I am challenged with either the pattern or a design challenge, the happier and more satisfied I am.

It has taken over a year to be able to zero in on what it is I want to learn or perfect. It has taken time and a lot of  perusing the books I have managed to acquire. I never would have thought that I would have become so curious about the design aspect of tatting, for no other reason than to better understand the different stages of a process and then to execute it - just for me!

This is not to say I am never going to tat baby socks or decorate a blanket, but I do want to tackle a few projects for no other reason than just because I want to do them.  I tend to get bogged down making things for other reasons.  That scenario repeated itself when I was a knitter and a crocheter, and, eventually, I got to dislike and resent both of those activities. I still do.

So, now that I have become so enlightened, I took advantage of the moment, pulled out Patti Duff's Mini Tats and happily tatted this, pondering negative space! Ain't life grand!

 P.S. This Mini Tat brings my 25 Motif Challenge complement to 5!  I counted the motifs and was surprised that I have this many already!
P.P.S.  How could I have forgotten!  That gorgeous HDT is Yarnplayer's Roses, #30 - one of my all time favourite threads!
Anon,

Needle in a Haystack

 ...or crochet hooks in the garbage!  Yup.  In the garbage.  That's where I found this little baby at 2:00 a.m. last night!

My poor cat had to hide from the trucker-talk spewing forth from his demented owner, as she tore the place apart looking for the hook.

I had stayed up trying - in vain - to finish exercise # 3 of T.A.T. Not successful, I was grumpy to begin with, and then the hook was nowhere to be seen.

No kids to blame, I had to just tough it out, re-do my steps and hunt.

In the end, I gave up and had the ironic thought that I must have thrown it in the trash.  Bingo!

Better than my paycheck; I have been know to do that too.

Absentmindedness is such a joy.
Anon,

Dr. Threadmore Rocks!

This looks yummy! And it is even better in real life! Terrific colour, Krystle.  I am going to enjoy this! Eventually.

Too bad I am STUCK on the third exercise of T.A.T.  I had to trash the first attempt after I realized I had read the instructions wrongly,  giving them my own peculiar twist!  No wonder the thing looked - well - not to attractive!

I did take a break to play with an insert from Priscilla.....

That beautiful, variegated green HDT is Sherry's TreeBark,#20.

Back to the books!
Anon,

Cute

Thank you, The Redhead  Riter, who sent me an award ! 

The Redhead Riter explains:

"Cute is when a person's personality
shines through their looks.
Like in the way they walk,
every time you see them
you just want to run up and hug them." 

Cute is not a word that usually springs to one's lips when my name is mentioned!  I'll take this award as a compliment and a nice change from the usual fare!  : )

My hat, however is super cute!  The Star thread rosette is finished and I have learned about "cupping"!  This thing did just that as I made up the leaf part and it obviously is not big enough for the rosette.  But, I sewed it onto the hat and the flower is now in 3-D!  Now for the pink and green beaded border...

Anon,

No Guilt Here!

If you mention my stash of books, I pretend I do not hear, but behold my HDT - every bit of it.

After using up some four or five skeins, this is what is left.  I have not ordered any in a while as I really want to work through this first. It looks manageable!

Right.  I forgot about the mail I am expecting from the dear Doctor.....  After all, she is just learning and I have to do my bit..... 

Hanky Update

I managed to find the perfect thread, and am just about to tat the second corner. It seems to be moving along very quickly,  unlike that first mint-coloured one that took MONTHS to finish!

Anon,

Only When It's Over...

 ...is it really finished!  NOW, I am happy with the hat.  Up at 2 a.m. last night cutting out the old pink border.  It was the wrong pink and I could not get it out of my mind, so up I got, found the scissors and snipped  away.  Then, I crocheted the new last two rows, sewed on the basted motif for real and FINALLY, went to sleep! Nothing like not letting it go till it's cooked!  Love the mixed metaphors today!

Update on IsDihara's 'Star"!

 This is a really lovely, old thread - smooth and shiny and a six cord thread.  I am enjoying tatting with it a lot!
Anon,