O is for October

and beautiful foliage that inspired this work yesterday:

A new Fox design!

Can you believe it?  

This one took me almost an entire 12 hours to tat. I started it about four times and used three different coolour choices for thread and beads before I decided this was what I wanted.

The brooch is silver-plated; I think can also be worn as a pendant. Do you think so?

I found it in a funky, little, inner-city store, famous for its vintage wares.

It started out like this; I used Lizbeth #40 and added the linen-coloured 

Czech beads in the corners.  I love the colours in this.

I think I shall list this in my Etsy shop.

Pigheadedness Pays

Why do I get suckered into tatting a border around a hankie?  What motivates me to begin this? I get SO bored and yet continue to find ridiculously inexpensive hankies to tat endlessly around - plus all the time I spend figuring out colour, pattern and beads!

Here we go again:

Can you see the pink beads?

This is Milford yellow, #40, 

tatted in  Karey Solomon's 'Laurel' pattern, 

found in her border booklet.  

I like it.

More pink...

PINKY PROGRESS

Remember my experiment with hand positions? Wrapping the thread around my hand, over the whole hand or stopping at the fourth finger? Well, I have a success story tell you. : )

Muscle memory has kicked in for the most part. What did that take - maybe a couple of weeks at most of constant vigilance to my hand position? 

It is working now, as I seldom have to re-wrap the thread and it is automatically positioning itself around my entire hand.  I think my tatting is looking better and stitches seem tighter, more consistent.  Also, having the hook of the shuttle facing the right way has definitely helped immeasurably. Thanks, Frivole!

Born a Taurean, I seem to have that Pit-Bullean nature that will just will not let go.  

Recognition To Rachel

I am so very impressed with Rachel Colvin Jackson's work, here, that I have even been trying to teach myself how to tat with the needle.  It is NOT going to happen. After weeks of practice, I can see I just do not have the knack.

I was trying to learn it to be able to tat an edging on this piece I found a while ago, in a small neighbourhood shop. Then I realized that of course I could tat the edging on with my trusty shuttles! For some reason, I was stuck thinking I would have to use a needle.

If I were going to make this a habit, I would never pay the kind of price I did for the broach, as I would not be able to afford materials!

However, I liked the colours; the shape was what I wanted and the woman seated in the picture, at first glance, looked to me as if she were tatting - I interpreted this as a sign. How's that for rationalization!

Well, what do you think?

Do you recognize the pearls I found last weekend?  The other beads are Delicas, whose hue match the green of the background coat and the collar of the girl on the lower left. I used #40 Lizbeth thread.

MAIL TODAY FROM GREAT BRITAIN!

I also thank you, Margaret, for this lovely package!  The bookmark is a beauty; I love Altin Basak thread and these colours are ones I always enjoy. The card from Rhodes is fun and the hologram magnet is already up on the fridge, holding photos of the kids! I shall enjoy tatting on the silver butterflies  - you know I will.  Thank you my tatting friend for the lovely goodies!

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

DEFEAT

( and I am NOT referring to my broken toe!)

Again, this is as far as I got on the Small Coronet Doily by Linda Davies.  I realized there is an error in the pattern in the 4th row where there is an extra bit at the SR - I tatted this wrongly every time and did not realize why there were too many spaces when I got to the next row and everything looked askew!

So, this time the thing is correct to this point, but that edging with the points?  Too much stress!  I am finished.  It is pretty as it is - about 41/2 inches in diameter, tatted in silk hand-dyed thread by Karey Solomon.

Something else that I could not figure out was why the thread felt so odd and squeaky Silk.  : ))

♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢♢

This week, while tatting in the coffee-shop, I lost my Tat-Pic!  Horrors! I do not know what I would do without it. David Reed Smith came to the rescue - once again and sent me a new one right away!  Whew!

Captivating "Cloud"

Another of Diane's famous doodads here in Karey Solomon's "Cloud" pattern. Thanks, Diane! I just love the doodads you sent to me - it is lovely to have such choice.

This great little pattern, from one of Karey's booklets - Let It Snow -  is tatted in Lizbeth #40 - with difficulty. NOT the pattern, you understand, but the thread. Why? Not again!

Then there is this problem:

I have begun the Small Coronet Daily at LEAST 10 times.  No fooling! I am on Round 5 now, in Karey's hand-dyed silk thread and it is FINALLY looking all right.

Perhaps I shall finish it tonight... oh, right!

A little trick for beading in Tim Horton's
The beads are stuck to some duck! duct tape,
which is sturdier and more sticky than masking tape.

A New Hanky - Dollar Store Variety -  $1.00!

This is another of Karey Solomon's patterns.
I quite like it.

But it was not what I had in mind, at the time.  I tried it after I started this one, Jon's Sweetheart Pattern, after I remembered seeing it on Tatting Fool's blog here, but found it very difficult for the dyslexic tatter's brain!  The corner made me crazy!

Also, I realized I do not like so much yellow, so I have chosen another colour. But, I might go with the yellow, after all.  What think you?

I have not begun the new one, as I got busy with the Vintage Pendant.

♥

Thank you Tat-Land, for all the comments and support, as I ventured uneasily into the Etsy- Zone of Tatting Design!

The second bracelet-link Victorian Pendant is in the mail to its purchaser this morning and I am beyond pleased.

I only wish I had more links to use. Sadly, many were injured beyond repair, so there are none left to play with.

But I did find something in a funky, little shop over the weekend.... ahem....  : )

I leave you with a message The Boss

 concerning our day out:

Life is sweet.