Swirl Bookmark

The thread Marie sent for the shuttle exchange was completely used up making this swirl square bookmark. The Swirl is a pattern I made up more than a year ago. It has more rounds than this one, but I didn't want to use up all the thread before I got the tail made, so I only did three rounds. The tail is pearle tatted. I like doing that because it's a chance to just fiddle with the thread. No rules, and any pattern or non-pattern will do.  OH -- I forgot to say this was also made with my new hand-carved shuttle from Marie.  It really holds a LOT of thread!  It's just the right size for my hand and even though it's smooth, it doesn't slip out of my fingers.  It's lovely!

This one might go to my niece's teacher for Christmas. I offered her one of the Christmas mouse bookmarks, but she's pretty certain her teacher doesn't like mice.

This is also the same motif I used for Diane's doodad challenge. I said then I'd post the pattern. Uh-huh. It's been more than a year, but I do have a .pdf of the file. I've put it in Keep & Share but I only have a trial account, so I hope it works.  If anyone is interested better get it soon.  ☺

*sigh*  It has been pointed out to me that I uploaded the .psp file instead of the .pdf file.  I fixed that, so it should be okay now. Ooookaaayyy--apparently I'm doing something wrong.  I think it's fixed so anyone can download it now.  If someone would try it and leave me a comment if it works, I'd appreciate it.

Blocking is Magic

Okay, it's not magic, but sometimes it's really necessary! Margaret suggested blocking the rumpled mess I posted earlier. I didn't think even blocking would help, and ordinary blocking wouldn't. So...I did not do ordinary blocking. If blocked wet, most of the time cotton thread will stretch without breaking and enough pins will hold chains in unnaturally arched positions to shrink the size of some elements. Yeah, this thing had pins everywhere! I should have taken a picture of the blocking process. I started in the center, and as it stretched, I moved the pins out -- but there were still two boxes of pins in the outer round waiting for this thing to dry. It would not stretch enough in the center to accommodate the too-much-thread elements in the last couple of rounds. I'm wondering if a bit of a steam press will help, but probably won't bother finding out. After seeing it spread out, I don't think it's worth trying to figure out a pattern for the whole thing. I still think the center out to about the five ring arch is worth keeping, so maybe a pattern for that bit would be worth writing down.

TIAS Bonus!

Purple Picadilly Express.  Thanks Sherry!  If you didn't tat Sherry's TIAS you really missed out on a lot of fun ... and on this cute little train. Now I think it needs coal for the tender and a little guy waving from the caboose (which we don't have any more on trains around here -- very sad). Oh, if it needs a guy in the caboose, then it also needs an engineer in a cap! Hmmm....perhaps I shall keep it as a ghost train with ectoplasm energy. That's appropriate for the season.
Drat.  I just now realized I hooked my coal tender to the wrong place on the engine.  Mine isn't the Picadilly Express, it's the Oopsadaisy Express.  *sigh*  

Shuttle Exchange

Exchanges are so much fun. First you get to figure out what you want to share with someone else. That means you get to pick through your stash and discover all the things you'd forgotten you have in there. Then you get to pick out about eleventy-million things and sort through those making little piles of nope-have-to-use-that-right-now, maybe, and no-way-why-did-I-buy-that. After that there's the refining of the maybe pile: "Ummmm...what are we exchanging?" I just participated in a shuttle exchange hosted by Alieen (also known as Wickedtats) of Wicked Nothings.

I got the most wonderful shuttle from Marie McCarty! It's hand carved and so smooth! Look:

Isn't it pretty? That's a thread sample she also sent. I'm going to wind it on that shuttle and make something. What should I make? Picking a pattern is a whole 'nother problem.

I just did send off a package to my exchange partner. I'm not telling who it is, because my partner should get to see it live before seeing it here, but this is what I sent: 

I'm not trying to overdo it, but those two little Clover shuttles are ones that I decorated, and they are negative images of each other -- how could I break up a set? The thread is Lizbeth size 40 that my sister sprinkle-dyed. It's an interesting process using wet thread, dry dye, and a salt shaker.  I hope my partner likes pink!

TIAS Day 11

Whoa! Would you look at that? That's the most little-steam-engine-looking bicycle I've ever seen! There. Didn't I say it was a transformer? At least it transformed into something incredibly, delightfully charming and not a finger-biting monster. I downloaded Sherry's bonus -- and now my niece wants me to finish the whole thing. That sounds like a great idea to me!

Wasted Time

During the time I completely ignored this blog, I was tatting.  I just wasn't accomplishing much.  To start with, here's a blue doily I worked on for quite a while.  It's Lizbeth size 40 thread, and made without cut and tie rounds.  It's all split rings and chains to move from one round to the next.  It's also never been blocked (big surprise, that).  It overlaps itself in several places and I don't think blocking is going to cure it.  After all the time I spent on it, I got it to this point and just cut it off the shuttles and chucked it in the drawer with all the other stuff I don't know what to do with.  I like the center -- most of the stuff I started during the last year has the same center.  All these "oooo better idea" to move on weren't really such better ideas. I think some have potential.  I think is one has potential -- but it might need a few cut and tie places to spread out the work and give the edge room to breathe.  For now, it's going back in the drawer.  ☺  I'm making mice!

Mice!

HA! That got you all worried and stuff, right? No? Oh, well, not everyone is that concerned about mice. These are really too cute to be concerned about, anyway. They are Wanda Salmans' "Morgan Mouse" pattern. I added some little round ears (because my niece insisted!) but I don't know that they improve the look of the mouse. Morgan Mouse is made around an eight petaled flower doodad, but I did them on a button because I wanted to add color. I'm giving these to someone who's doing a fundraiser and wanted them to be Christmas mice. 

The first one is a bit of a stretch as a mouse -- it's green. How many green mice have you seen? I accidentally picked up the ball of size 40 thread to make this one, and it's a bit wimpy around that big button. Besides that, the eyes want to slide down over the stitches. It was only after I was about halfway around thinking, "what is wrong with this thread?" that I realized it was not the size 20. The tail is made of double double-stitches (or balanced double stitches), then tied in a knot with a little frayed end.  That avoids having to sew in any ends (always a plus).

The next two mice are little white mice. The thread is size 20 and works better with both the buttons and the beads. I changed where I joined the rings in the button on these two. They look more balanced and the tails join in the right place for Morgan Mouse. Their tails are pearl tatted very tightly without making long side loops. The no-ends-to-sew in was too attractive, so these also end with little frayed brushes. I took the option of cutting open the whisker picots because I didn't use a gauge and they were so terribly uneven. The one on the green button has blue eyes because I couldn't find two more of those big black beads. There are in the house somewhere, but at 1:30 in the morning, who wants to hunt for beads?  {update: Now I've realized that so late at night I'm much less clever than I think I am. The pattern numbers the rings. The nose is ring 8. Yup. I used 8 as the stitch count instead of 3. I guess this is Morgan Mouse's cousin Reginald Rat.}

TIAS Day 10

The bicycle crash was more serious than first imagined. As you can see I not only bent the frame and the wheel spokes, the poor thing is completely mangled. It's amazing I don't have a broken leg or something. I am beginning to suspect it is a transformer instead of a regular bicycle. I hope it doesn't transform into a monster that bites my fingers while I tat!

TIAS Day 9

What can I say -- you can see this is a special bicycle, right? Perhaps a bicycle built for two, because there are two onion-ring pedals and that other little thing might be a chain guard or a mud flap. Hmmmm...maybe it's an alien bicycle.

TIAS Day 8

Here's my still a bicycle after day 8. I can see I had it turned all wrong before. Interesting handlebars, and now we've added a onion-ring pedal. Of course, I don't think I did a real onion ring. I did a ring with a chain around it. That seems to stay flat better for me. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a big mistake. Getting this last piece on seems to have misaligned some of my wheel picots.
OH NO! I have bent my spokes!