Against The Grain Once In A While....

That... while plodding with this:

I usually only work on one thing.  

Big step for the stubborn.

Snail's Pace...

Knotting Good About It

In spite of the twisting, the knotting, the swearing and the gnashing of teeth...

#3 Motif Challenge

This is the second galoon of this pattern that I have done, taken from  D.M.C. Tatting by Therese de Dillmont (free from The Antique Pattern Library.) This one, if you look closely, has squared pink beads in the centre of each ring.

This little piece took forever to tat - very fiddly, and the fiddliness was exacerbated by the poor quality of the Lizbeth.  Ah - if it were not for the gorgeous colour, I would have tossed this ball ages ago.  But, I love this pink.

 

I remembered my mom's hankies that I have stashed away and I thought one of them in white had an " A"  on it.  Found it.  The embroidery is almost a silver colour and I am doing the Iris's   "Gardenia" border - in white, as every other shade seems wrong. 

The "A" is for my sister, who is making a quilt for me.  She tolerates tatting quite well, but it is the sentimentality of the very old hankie, plus the tatting done by me that will be most appreciated.  She is sentimental.  Also, she never reads my blog!  

I am using #20 Cebelia; even went to the craft store especially to buy a ball, as I do not have enough white for the whole border.  

The hankie is so fine, I should probably use a finer thread, but I love this border in the heavier stuff, and the store had no #30, so #20 it is!

I could not resist a few - just a few - clear, small beads.  I think they will be lovely...   There are three in each repeat ... only three!

I love the flower work,  the colour and the delicate feel of the whole thing. I am pleased.

Thanks to Lily...

 #2 Motif Challenge

Glass Mat Adapted by Kendra Goodnow from Semco Book

Lily tatted a lovely glass mat ( that phrase again!) and I asked her about it.
She encouraged me to subscribe to the Handy Hands newsletter, for the current one has this pattern in it.  Lily is a clever woman and a terrific tatter, so I had to follow her excellent advice!  I received my first edition last week.

However, I will not be ordering any Lizbeth in the foreseeable future, as all the balls I have of it are shredding, twisting, splitting and generally  driving me batty.

Jeff and a few others have no problem with the thread , but all the balls I received from HH, even after the new thread arrangement, are  dreadful. The newsletter, however, rocks.

 One other thing to report:

A few days ago, I received an e-mail:

My name is Tabatha and I just learned how to tat and I wanted to share my very first attempt at a pattern after my first tatting lesson 3 weeks ago.  Yes it's your "Abigail". I still have a lot to learn and much to improve on.

I'd say this is absolutely amazing -  her first attempt at a pattern after her first tatting lesson! WOW!

Thank you, Tabatha, for doing  such an amazing job at tatting "Abigail!" Keep up your excellent work!