a small bit of tatting

I was able to get a bit more tatting done.
These bookmarks will be donated to the Boutique at Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag MN.  A 4 day celebration of steam engines, tractors, and all things big iron.

The last few years I have demo'd tatting there.  This year due to farmguy's health, I was not able to go.

But I did some of my part to help by tatting the bookmarks and sending them with another gal.

The cross bookmark is my own pattern that  I have used for years.  The vining bookmarks are based on an edging pattern that was posted on Facebook. 

The green is a Flora thread in size 20.  The varigated threads are Lizbeth.  The cross bookmark is done in an acrylic lace yarn that should be purple and green but for some reason the scan does not show true. 
This is what the thread looks like

I also did a quick run up to Rollag and picked up my refurbished Circular Sock Machine

Now to get practicing so I can get some socks knitted before the weather gets colder.

Farmguy has 2 surgeries scheduled for this week so we shall see how things go this time. Wednesday he is to have the Nephrostomy tubes in his back replaced ans apparently, good medical practice states they need to be replaced every 90 days. The one on Friday is to reverse the iliostomy.  Thanks be to God that there will be no complications this time around.

I hope you had a wonderful tatting labor day weekend.

Bookworm and a Giraffe

Farmguy was able to finish the combining last week, so we took a few days vacation and went hunting with some good friends.

It took about 10 hrs + driving time to get to SW Nebraska.

I don't bird hunt, my job was to do the cooking for 8 adults and 1 near teen.  I was in charge of the evening meal and helped with getting breakfast done at 4:15 am. Noon meal was eaten out in the field.

While the hunters and the dogs did their thing, I stayed at the campers and tatted. 

A week or so ago, I participated in a riddle game on Facebook.  If I got the answer to the riddle wrong, I was to change my profile picture to a Giraffe.  Well, I got the answer wrong.  The Giraffe picture I used was from Jane Eborall's Tatted Giraffe pattern. 

It is about 4.25" in Lizbeth size 40.  I think the colorway is Mountain Breeze #134.  I did goof a join on the last leg and had to untat 4 split rings.  I could have cut it off, but I am stubborn and like to be able to go from start to finish with out adding in thread unless I run out.

I filled 2 Aerlit bobbins with about 11 yards on each.

Anyway.. once I finished, I decided to see how far the thread left on the bobbins would go so I tatted another Bookworm

I think I twisted the left side of his head when I put him in the scanner.  That is a 6" ruler in the picture so from tip of tail to tip of tongue he is about 6.5" long. I used up the thread on 1 bobbin and added in the 2nd one and when I finished, there is still about 2 yards or so left on the bobbin. I finished the Bookworm on the drive home.

I did some more tatting on the drive home..
I had started this Merriment Doily  by Jon Yusoff a while back, but hadn't taken the time to finish the 8th repeat.

 I was able to tat the outer section of the repeat, but the last clover leaf set I ran out of thread on my shuttle.  The drive wasn't the smoothest as the pickup I was riding in was pulling a very large, long camper.  So I decided not to deal with adding in new thread on the drive.  The thread is Jess! Foster's Kaleidoscope Bright size 40.  I have Kaleidoscope Light as well and will do a coordinating pair.

 I then started the Clover Leaf Doily by Linda Davies. The links to her patterns are in the right hand column.  I was able to get the 1st round and half of the 2nd round before I had to stop.

The thread is possibly an HDT by Zarina called Orchid Garden size 20 however, I have lost the label so don't know for sure.  The solid I am using for the chains is Lizabeth Olive Dk size 20.

Now I have to finish some snowflakes that are promised, I don't carry beads and findings with me on trips.  Too easy to drop them so I only work with them when I am at home. So I didn't take them with me.

Another BookWorm

I tatted another BookWorm Bookmark based on Dianna Stevens pattern.  You can find the pattern in my post below.

The thread is an unlabeled Manuela.  I loved the colorway wish they hadn't quit making it.

The ruler is a 6" so you can see how long the bookmark is.  The thread tail is all that I had left when I finished.
I started with a full Aerlit bobbin, pulled off about 2' or so to use as for the head chains, and finished finger tatting the last couple rings.  I actually skipped 2 rings so that I was able to finish.

I have been reworking Dianna's pattern so I can start with the lower side of the head, use double-double stitches to strengthen and straighten the neck area ~ do snakes have necks? ~ then using a split ring to start the body.  That way I only have to hide the chain thread end in the split ring, and then the rings thread in the last ring.  Dianna's pattern makes the body starting at the end behind the head and ends at the tail.  Then attaches the head so you have extra ends to hide.

I can see that I have to do another as I should have done a balance split ring instead which would have put the upper head side attached to the body at the top picot instead of at the side where it is right now.

I went trippin'

Last Thursday my BFF and I went on a trip.  We drove all the way from North Dakota to the East edge of Wisconsin.
I did some tatting during the trip and was able to finish an edging that I have had in as my purse project for the past 2 years up to the last join.  I will have to get it smoothed out and steamed into place so I can do the last join correctly.  I have posted about it before, let me see if I can find it in my Picassa archive....

The thread is Krystle Dawne's Wisteria Lane in size 40.  The pattern is Mary Konior's Beauty Spot
I also tatted a bookmark for one of my grandsons who had a birthday the other day.

The thread is size 40 Lizbeth Jelly Bean (don't know the color number) The pattern is by Diana Stevens and can be found on the wayback machine at http://www.allcrafts.net/crochetsewingcrafts.htm?url=web.archive.org/web/20000824105730/http://www.domesticarts.com/patterns/snake.htm  although as usual I made a few "improvements" to the pattern. I started with the head and ended with the tail so there were no cut and ties except when I finished. Since I was feeling my way abit, I ended up with the head curved off to the side.  I tried using the double double stitch so the chains in the head would be straighter between the body and the eyes.  If I had put the correct number of stitches in the orange side, the head would have been straighter.  I am going to do this again and will correct my stitch count, but this will work very well as is for my grandson.

Now a few pictures from my trip.

 There is an awesome old style chocolate candy shop in Manitowoc Beerntsen's it is amazing the candy is so good. The picture above is from the shop into the booth area as they also serve a simple soup and sandwich lunch.  The woodwork is walnut and the booths each have mirrors with cast iron framing.

 The lunch counter side and some of the candy

The other side of the shop with more of the candy.  All the candy is hand dipped on site.  Check out the link above to see some of it.

We did see some nice fall colors.  Some of the pictures I took as we drove down the highway so the focus isn't as good as I would like.

For some reason it just seems strange to see log buildings in Wisconsin.  The above building is missing it's roof but it just seemed so lonely in the middle of the corn field.

The Silos are different from what I am used to seeing around our neck of the woods ...

... concrete tops.  generally ours have steel tops.

This past Sunday was Fatima Day and we went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help near Green Bay. This is a very reverent place.
We were able to attend the Rosary and Holy Hour while we were there.  Afterwards I was able to take a few pictures

 A grotto of Our Lady of Fatima and the 3 children who saw her. 

 A Statue of Our Lady of Good Help.  The apparitions have been approved by the Catholic Church as authentic, and worthy of belief, but we are not required  to believe in them.

One of the outdoor Stations of the Cross.

This last picture is of a sunrise over Lake Michigan from the window of the bedroom where I stayed.  The trees and grasses that you can see is the edge of the bluff above the shore of the lake.  The bright flare above the cloud layer is a plume from something on the Michigan shore across the lake.  The sunrise the day before had been even more awesome, but I had left my camera in the car so missed that one.

The drive is about 9 hours if you don't stop for gas or to stretch your legs.

Now time for bed.

School colors

I have finished another Cross Bookmark for a high school graduate from our Church.

The threads are size 20.  The blue thread is Lizbeth Royal Blue and the white is DMC Cebelia.  The Cebelia is a slight bit larger then the Lizbeth but they worked out o.k.   I am positive I have a ball of  white Lizbeth in size 20, but do you think I can find it?  Oh, well, the ball of Cebelia has been in the drawer for a loooooonnnnnngggg time and really needs to get used up.



When I held the PIF several weeks ago, there was one gal who left me no way to get  in touch with her.  She finally contacted me just after holding the 2nd chance drawing.  I have decided to send her a set of earrings in her choice of thread. 

The thread is HDT size 40 RainForest, the beads and doodads are from FireMountainGems and the hooks are from eebeads

A neat trick I discovered tonight while trying to scan the earrings,  There is often a focus problem when scanning an item that includes beads, but there is no good light tonight, so inspiration struck and I dug out a piece of fake fur. It cushioned the scanner lid and filled in the spaces around the beads and I think it worked pretty well.  I will have to remember this.

The garden is all planted, Yeah, in between all the rain.  We have had a lot of rain the past 10 days or so.  And the crops are all in except a very wet spot or 2 where the tractor would have gotten stuck if farmguy had tried it.

Finished Tatting and some more Catch up

I have some tatting to show that I just finished.  Last night in fact.

This is Jane MacTats edging turned into a Cross by Grace Tan.  Jane details the pattern on her blog.
The link to the pattern is on the right side of her blog.

The colors are Yellow and light Blue, the colors worn by the sports teams at a high school near here.  The organist for our Church is graduating this Sunday.  She attends this school.

The threads are Flora Size 20

I want to show you a neat item that I ran across a couple weeks ago.

 This is a collapsible light box.  It comes with 4 backgrounds, white, black, red and navy.  This one only has a front opening, but you can get them with both a front and a top opening. 

Here I have attached the removable front.  The slit is so you can insert your camera I think.

Here it is folded flat

Here twisted into a small circle

And finally in it's little pouch with the backgrounds.
I purchased mine from here http://www.obnphoto.com/light_tents.html  I got the 17" one.


Now for some Catch up

I promised to post the contents of the little tin boxes that I included in my PIF give away a few weeks ago.  The tins have all been received by their winners and so I can now show you what I had put in them.

Inside the tin was a new Aerlit Shuttle with extra bobbin, some doodads, 4 brass earring findings, but they have no way to attached earrings to them but they work really great as picot bead holders, or stitch markers. And 2 unused balls of antique size 70 or 80 Tatting Thread.  All the balls were brands that are no longer being made.  Also the earrings that I made.  I hope the recipients were pleased when they opened their boxes.

A friend lost a family member and I wanted to make something in rememberance.

 

These are the pieces that I made  And put together they are an Angel

 The thread is Lizbeth size 40 with a silver blending filament.  The halo is made from just the blending filament. The head is crocheted using the same white thread and a pattern I found online for an amigurami ball.  I had to take my glasses off to see what I was doing, but I think it turned quite well.

This is the back view.  The wings are made using the Hope Butterfly pattern from Lady Shuttle Maker.  You will find the pattern on the right side of her blog, way down toward the bottom of the page, along with other patterns she has for free.

Well, this is long enough.  I think I might be caught up on the tatting I can show.  I am still working on 3 projects.  2 I can't show you until they are finished.  The other one I can show progress, maybe this weekend. We will see.  Just realized that I am not caught up.  I have a dragon or 2 to show. 

Aerlit Shuttles & Sneak Peek revealed

The Aerlit Shuttles are in and ready for you to order at Handy Hands. 

Several days ago I posted a sneak peek here.

The gift has now been received, so I can show you the whole thing.

The recipient is a published author whose book I have read.  I have her blog listed in the right hand column Green Girl in Wisconsin.  

This is her book

It involves a young gal looking to spice up her life and add to her income by becoming a home party hostess.  A very different concept then any other book I have read.  It was a fun read.  I recommend it.  You can buy a copy from the University of Wisconsin Press

I enjoyed her book and decided to make her a bookmark. 
This is what I came up with

The variegated thread  is Manuela size 20 color 204.  The green is Lizbeth size 20 color 684. 

The pattern is Jane Eborall's Flowery SCMR Bookmark. Click  here to download the pattern pdf.   Here is the link to Jane's pattern pages with so many, many patterns

Since this pattern reminds me of a flowering vine, I had originally thought to do some of the vine in spiral stitch, but that proved not be look very good, so I cut that all off and did the pattern the way Jane wrote it, except for the tail.  That I did do in spiral stitch and added some occasional small rings to simulate leaves. 

Now back to the Christmas Snowflakes and maybe if I am lucky, some more on the Tat-A-Long Lace Mat from Jon's Blog.  Have you looked at the Lace Mats that have been finished?  Jon has a page of all the Lace Mats that have been finished, and at the end of the year she is going to hold a poll of the best.  There is still time to get a Lace Mat started and finished ( I hope).

And don't forget to vote in the Tatting Corner Show and Tell contest

Day 5 and other TIASs

 Here is my day 5
if we had added a bead in or near the large center ring, then this would resemble an elephant's trunk, however since we didn't, I am nonplussed.

Sherry over at Tatting Tales ~ All thing Tatting  mentioned that she had previously hosted a TIAS. 
I thought I would show you what her pattern turned out to be.

Lighthouse Bookmark

There was another TIAS hosted by Dani in the spring around Easter. this is what we tatted. 

Dani had 2 options for her TIAS, you could stop when what you had looked like an Easter Egg, or continue on to see what you tatted in the end.  I have a granddaughter who loves this little chick.

we ended up with 70lbs of venison sausage rings, that go to the smoker tomorrow, 8 lbs of bulk sausage in the freezer and 18lbs of ground venison for jerky.  6lbs of which are busy marinating in the fridge and will be set to dry later this afternoon.  the rest will be done in the next couple of days.

2 football games this afternoon.  time for lots of tatting.,  but not with beads,  to many chances for getting involved with the game, and no way do I want to try to get beads out of the carpet. even with a stocking over the vacuum cleaner. not good. 

Pattern posted

Yeah, Keep and Share came to the rescue,
of course if I would just read the directions, things wouldn't be so complicated.  the log in on the site clearly says "account name"  so of course, i used my email address.  sheesh!!!!!

Any way,  the Daisy & Butterfly Bookmark pattern is available in pdf form through the Patterns tab at the top of this page.  All of my patterns will soon be moved there, and my patterns blog will be discontinued.

I forgot to take a picture of this before sending it to Fox, so she kindly allowed me to borrow the picture she took..

picture of a finished project

in my last post, I mentioned that I had finished a test tat for Martha Ess, she is putting together a new book, Playing with Picots .

I was honored that she chose me to test tat 2 of her new patterns,  the first was a bookmark,

I took this before adding the tail, it worked up fast and easy.  Martha does very good directions.  the thread is size 20 Manuela, but I don't have the color numbers.

the second pattern she asked me to test for her is shown in this post, and  is called Elgiva in honor of Elgiva Nicholls and her graduated picots.

and here is my test tat of her pattern.

I didn't have any size 20 in red, so decided to play up the flower motif in the center by using different colors .  this isn't blocked, simply finger pressed.  Martha's patterns are so well written, they need very little blocking despite being very lacy.
I used a black background because I think the colors show better.

goodness gracious

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted any tatting.

I have been tatting, but didn't want to post some things before they had been received by the person I was giving it too.

So,  while I don't have pictures of all that I have done,  here is some of my tatting.

I test tatted Fox's Abigail motif,  she did a great job on the designing.  this is unblocked, and it lays very nicely.  she also did a very nice job on her written pattern.  there were only a couple minor spots where a join symbol was missing.  I believe that she has a diagram available for this now. 

I made these for a friend of mine with a birthday in December.  The threads were some I had laying around, so no labels.
unfortunately, I have lost my notes, so am not sure of the patterns,  the angel is one of Martha Ess'.

 Here is a project that I have been working on fort quite a while.  I started it late last summer.  This is the front of a reticule.  I is tatted in size 10 White Lizbeth with both pink and green blending filaments added.













Here is the back of this reticule.
I have the joining round and the beading round at the top. and I think I am going to use my Lucet to make the drawstring.    I am finally seeing the end of the tunnel with this,  it has taken me much longer then I thought it would.

The pattern is from Old Time Crochet magazine August 1992.







here is the definition of reticule from Dictionary.com

ret·i·cule

[ret-i-kyool] Show IPA

–noun

1.

a small purse or bag, originally of network but later of silk, rayon, etc.

This is Day 1 & 2 of Jane's TIAS.   If you don't know what  a TIAS is, it stands for .....
Tat
It
And
See
Jane releases only a small part of the pattern every day or so, and doesn't tell us what the final result will look like,  you are "tatting blind".
you can join at any time, and catch up as you go or just to see our progress go to the  TIAS blog

Here is day3

and Here is Day 4.  I have no guesses, I will have to wait and see what the next steps are.  I have participated before, and sometimes have been able to figure it out early on, but not yet this time.








Well, it is time to head for church, so will post this now.