Angeline Has Gone Astray!

I have still not heard from Dale Marie!  It would be a pity if the Angeline's Travelling Book Adventure went off the boards now.  Suggestions anyone?  Let's get this thing rolling again. C'mon Dale Marie!  Give me a sign!

By Jove, I Think She's Got It!

 Jane's Flurry Snowflake

Tatskool's HDT

The tatting is not pretty; lest you forget, this is my PRACTICE piece.

Now, I shall forge ahead with... BEADS!

You think The Boss likes her new socks?    : )

Partial "Flurry" Success

I sat "partial," because I have completed only a few repeats.  But, Jane promised that the pattern was not difficult, and we all know she is a woman of her word!  It is not hard.  You just have to pay attention and follow correctly.

I am getting smart: practice first!   Here is what I have done so far:

In preparation for the "real" motif, I am scheming...  Of course, when I saw these beads today - at bargain basement price - how could I resist!

FLURRY SNOWFLAKE, they screeched at me from their little stand in the shop where I had gone to get thread winders (had a hard time finding these little devils!).  Into my bag they went, and here they are in all their splendour:

Lastly, I have Diane to blame for this new purchase of an old tatting goody:

I always see motifs I want to do on her site and inevitably, I do not have THAT book!  Thanks again, Diane!

Angels, Fightin' Words & The Boss's Socks

Miranda's Angels in the Snow 

Threads are:

Variegated:  Lady Shuttlemaker's Enchantment
Solid: Tatskool's Forget-me-not 

Tatted in itty-bitty #50 and #60! 

Okay, Jane.  I am armed and ready and will not surface 

for air till I have wrestled 'er to the ground!

My corporate knitting gig is a blast!  How much fun is this? I have twelve students in all, over the morning, and most could not even hold a needle three weeks ago!  Look at them go!  Such a fun job! 

Now, if only I could interest them in a shuttle and some thread!

When the frustration was overpowering this week, I took to my hook and crocheted these soft wash-cloths to  give to the grands in December.  I hope their moms will let them use them in the bath.  Some folks do not like these cloths, but I think they are great;  they launder well and lather up beautifully! 

New socks for The Boss. 

Her family has had a difficult time these days, with ill relatives and  their old dog who is faring very badly.  I think Abby deserves a warm pair of new socks.  She is the one of the grands who likes them, and her mom has no aversion to "scratchy" wool!

From Canada to USA Tatting Buddies...

Miranda's Angels Restore Tatting Mojo

Yes, thanks to the Miranda, I have broken free of the lethargic weekend!  Lily's comment yesterday scared me; I did not want the tatting blahs to last too long!!!

  Threads are:

Variegated:  Lady Shuttlemaker's Enchantment 

Solid: Tatskool's Forget-me-not

So, I printed out Miranda's pattern - Angels in the Snow - which she is selling here,  for a mere $3.00.  All the profits go to a great cause: the Brain Injury Association of New Mexico.

The pattern is so pretty, and challenging enough to lift me out of that dreadful funk.  Bonus: I love the beads I have added!  Yes!

#15 Motif Challenge

Here is the finished Maple Leaf. No beads.  Sigh....(Karey Solomon's pattern)

Re: Angeline's Travelling Book Adventure

I am trying to get in touch with Dale Marie, who now has the book.  Ideally, it should move along to sewmuchfun next, hopefully before December. Anyone know how to get in touch with her?

Failed Flurry, Floundering Focus

Not pretty.  Bit of a tantrum.  I have been bleating about tatting Jane's'  lovely Flurry Snowflake for a while now, and I did give it my best, but I cannot get through this pattern.  Sorry Jane!  I shall try another time when I am not so stressed. ( I cracked a tooth last night!)  (I re-read this, and it seems as if the tatting caused the crack!  Not so - it was a soft sandwich in fact!  Not even toasted!  The old filling flaw had nothing to do with stress or tatting.  Thought I'd clear that up!)

Instead I turned to this Maple Leaf pattern of Karey's, that I have wanted to do again, as I had trouble with it  the first time, and have been meaning to plot it out.on a magnified diagram:

It makes all the difference.  I had no trouble this time except for another unrelated problem - nothing to do with the pattern.

It was the beads.

You know how I love to play with beads.  Well, some patterns just are not suited for them - at least not in the way I was using them.  This was such a pattern.  I found that there was too much distortion of the shape  with the roll tatting.  I gave up and started again sans bling.  It was pretty... but just did not work.

The finished leaf is being pressed under my Criminal Code as I write and should be sufficiently smooshed by the morning!  I will post it sometime tomorrow.

Oh yes, another thing: I realized after the fact that the light green beginning circle looks weird.  It should have been dark green  -  bad planning, design-wise.  Live and learn...

That green thread is #40 Mercer  from TypsTatting and the green is #40 Coron,  from Umintsuru.

♥Thanks, you two♥!

I seem to be at a tatting crossroad.  I am so uninspired.  I have even set up an Etsy account, but am not really turned on about that venture at all.  I do not know what is next in this tatting adventure, but I do know I have not thought of the next thing yet.  

I am bored, but not by tatting, but by the process of tatting something and then putting it on the ever-growing pile of stuff I have done, work that I have accomplished.  There seems to be no meaning to any of it... Such ennui...  Maybe this too shall pass....

Muscle Memory

 $13 Motif Challenge 

A bit more practice is making all the difference. I am still struggling with the final wrap of the hand loom.  Muscle memory has taken care of most of the process, but there is one part of the wrap that is not tight enough.  If I could get a good grip on that thread, the loom would be nice and taut and the whole thing would be postioned well for the weaving.  Not quite there yet!

And Then There Were None

 #12 Motif Challenge

All the Valdani has been sampled.  This blue and yellow one is my least favourite as these two colours do not appeal to me.  Also, this thread was so much softer than than the others; I feel that Sis made a mistake in the brand, but there is no label to be certain.  It is made in Romania however, as is Valdani thread.  Anyone want a sample of this?  I have that huge spool that I do not think I will use very often. Send me an emial if you want some.

What next?  I am off to Tim Hortons for a coffee, as I am off work today and I have to retrieve a crochet hook I left there a few days ago,  Luckily I called and an eagle-eyed employee spotted the errant hook under a table.  It is the little beading tool, so I am relieved I did not lose it as the 05's are hard to come by, except by mail, and postage  is always very expensive to Canada.

Who out there in Tat-land has thought about doing the Etsy-thing?  About selling tatting for profit?  About having enough design sense to give it a go?  Well, I do not wear jewellery, do not make jewellery and in fact have little interest in it other than in the shapes and colours, so why, I ask you, do I keep thinking about starting an Etsy account?  Is this a phase we all go through after a few years of tatting history?  Will this pass?

Valdani Trilogy

(#11 Motif Challenge)

Now there are three:

There is one more still on the shuttles.  

I feel like Diane with the Spinning Wheel mat!

Valdani Encore

 #10 Motif Challenge

Iris 's Free Pattern 

tatted with Valdani thread doubled 

I gotta tell you - I am really happy with not only the thread, which amazingly I am loving, but also the fact that after a whole year and a half I really GET this pattern, and am having so much fun with it, now that I see which direction to go and why!  This makes all the difference in tatting pleasure.

Still, I have to untat far more than you could ever imagine!  But now this is done because I am displeased with a stitch or I get a knot.  Wow...  Never thought it would come to this, with this perplexing pattern!

 I am looking forward to testing this unanticipated success on another pattern by Iris.  We shall see if this  learning development has taken effect only on this one little motif, or if I have truly made some kind of quantum tatting leap!

Irresistibly Iris

I LOVE IRIS!

#9 Motif Challenge

My Dirty Little Secret

  #8 Motif Challenge

After all the dragons, the fancy motifs, Clunies, onion rings, the beads and  the fine threads, there is one pattern that has forever stumped me: a little Iris Niebach freebie.  I have tatted it several times before and it looked fine.  I have posted it and given it away as a gift. Only I knew that I did not really know HOW to tat the pattern!

That is correct.  I just followed the directions, and in my own head pretended I really knew what I was doing, knowing deep down I did not!

There are some different directions to do in the pattern and as you all know by now, directions kill me.  Dyslexia Rules!  Also, I do FS/BS tatting and added to the directional challenges, I really was at a loss with this one.

This weekend, because I am practising with the Valdani thread, which I love, by the way, in spite of its thinness, I decided it was time to really understand that pattern as I want to do it with beads and in the red and green Valdani.

I have begun it five times.  I have sweated,  groaned, stomped my feet and used highly unladylike - okay, trucker - talk.  I have yelled at the walls, the ceiling and The Cat, who prayed fervently for a different human and stayed out of my way.  I persevered.  I now totally get the pattern!  I am happy.  The Cat is happy. Peace has returned to my humble abode.



I think this will be fantastic with beads in the red Valdani ( double-stranded, of course).  Stay tuned...

Valdani Blunders & Heartfelt Hats

 

That Valdani thread is THIN!  But I am very drawn to it and like it with the two strands togeter.  Here is the last motif I gave to Sis, also with BIG blunders, as it was tatted so very late at night and also because it was for my sister the Master Quilter.  Of course.  All that sibling stuff....

Remember the hats for the Boys? They love them!!!
They will not take them off!  Liam sleeps in his and Grahamy will not take his off in Nursery School!  Love it!  And I thought they would find them too "wooly" and they would not not like the dragonflies. Yay!

And one for Maeve...

Miniscule But Mighty Midnight Gifties

 

Pattern: Onion Ring by Wally Sosa    Thread: Coron #40 thanks to ♥Suneeti♥

Just look at the ROLL TATTING!  I had my doubts before tackling this, which I completed at work yesterday at lunchtime.  Surprisingly I tatted it in two short sittings, and must say, enjoyed it immensely!  Thanks Wally!

The Chinese Characters mean "Double Happiness".

The Cat's Expression is translated as "Mine."

Sis flew into town yesterday and we have already had an in-depth "projects" show and tell. She is a  noted quilter from Calgary and of course very knowledgeable about thread. She brought me some Vivaldi #35, (That would be VALDANI - THANKS MAUREEN! I am an old flutist.... what can I say!))whatever that means.  It is like a thin #80 so I doubled it in matching sections to be sure the variegated parts were not too uneven. I tatted till two o'clock last night.

Because Sis is interested in how the thread would look,  I have to give her these simple,  little samples (even though I missed a bead in one!) But, I will also give her one of my bigger, more finished pieces...  pride demands it!)

I mean, she gave me a quilt - and actually said to me she expected a tatted gifty in the Valdani by the morning.  A joke to be sure, but I have to reciprocate as tatting is small but mighty!  So, this is what I came up with:

It is still fairly early and I have no work today.  Sis and I are meeting up for dinner and I plan to have another little tatted goody in my new BLUE beads (Sis LOVES beads too!) and the new Vivaldi...

The Cat has issues with today's post?

Poppies; Pilots; My Dad

Pattern is adapted from Jon's "August Poppy"

Mail For The Millwright

 

Design by Judith Connors 

I have tatted this heart a lot as I like the simplicity of it. ( I did take the liberty of making a little change in this pattern with the number of picots)  The beads are metal!  And there is a crystal at the tip which is pretty in the sun.  I hope this cheers the patient.

Glad I figured out a way to hang  motifs.  I shall become a real bore with these carbone rings.  Love them.

 Design by elisadusud. HDT  is Peace by Yarnplayer

It held such promise... sigh.... I messed up the pattern in two critical places - sorry Elisa!  But, I am still happy I got the thing tatted.  

The colour combo is  yuchy!  That is what happens when I am so intent on the design, I forget to check what I have loaded in the shuttles! The HDT would be so much better with another colour or shade.

It is a lovely design and I shall tat it again.  Off to the Post Office.

Tags for Tots

I used to have such trouble twisting those little cords - don't know why as they are dead simple...NOW!  I didn't want to tat cords, so I twisted these as hangers for the tags for the dragon wrapping.  This things are now put away till December when I shall wrap them and attach these little tags.  Cute, huh!  I thought even the tags reflect the different personalities of the kids.

Thanks, Krystle,  for the HDT sample!

 

A friend of the family just had emergency heart surgery and is doing well today.  I will tat him a heart using the pewter-coloured, metal beads ( he is a millwright!) to send in lieu of a store-bought card. Judith Connors's pattern is perfect for this.

 

These will have to wait till I have done the heart.  Aren't they a great colour?  I have been eyeing them and wondering what I will do ...

Lastly, I am almost finished this elisadusud  heart and I am really pleased.  The colour?  I just grabbed two shuttles and began it; unfortunately not paying attention to what the thread looked like.  Not crazy about the colours.  Maybe a blue beaded one next? 

My Fancy Dancy Design

  

Design by Fox,  Thread by Karey Solomon

Wow, that felt really cool to type!  Well, enough of overweening pride...Hubris will out!  I forgot to add a bead, and in fact forgot to join two picots!  There you are,  Confessions of a tatting designer --- whoops!  Did it again!

"So obnoxious," says Maebh, who has been disgusted with me for days.

"You have forgotten  D-I-G-N-I-T-Y," she spelled out to me this morning, very, very slowly.   Then she turned her back and gave The Cat a tweak on the ear.

Just to keep the tatting in perspective, (says the OCD tatter)
I noticed this this morning:

Boo Hoo!