25 Motif Challenge - Number 1

At this after-Christmas sale I bought 24 unbreakable (uh-huh, it means plastic) ornaments for $2.50. About two weeks after that I bought 6 bigger ones for $1.00. Now, with a total of 3o ornaments (12 gold, 12 red, and 6 blue) sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor, I thought I'd better get busy and use them. That's when I got this really bright idea. (Rather, more like the Grinch's idea -- a wonderful, awful idea.)

In January I re-joined the 25 Motif Challenge. I challenged myself to cover 25 ornaments in the next year. That would mean I'd have to do two ornaments a month. Rrrrriiiiiiight, as if! So far I have done a grand total of (hmmm....let me count) -- it looks like ...and it is!... a total of one. This one. That means I'm two behind already. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. (But really, who eats plastic ornaments anyway?)

Be that as it may, this is an adaptation of Iris Niebach's "Beatrice" from Tatted Doilies. It is worked in size 20 Häkelgarn in a very dark green. The bottom is very loosely based on the center of the same doily. I fastened it together with strings of beads. After it was done, I thought of a better way to do it. But it's done, and I'm not taking it apart. I'll save that great thought for another time.

Sharing Valentines

These are the hearts Martha Ess received from me for the Tattinggoddess Valentine Exchange. The Butterfly Heart bookmark is from Dianna Stevens' Animal Bookmarks: A Tatted Zoo. The ornament is an adaptation of Iris Niebach's Cornelia from Tatted Doilies. The last heart is the one I created for Sharon Briggs' Design-Tat course. Martha didn't get the one shown (it's got an oops in one pair of rings -- they are mismatched!), but I didn't get a picture of the one I did send. This was a really fun exchange. I never know what to put in a package for an exchange and always feel like I reap more than I sow.

Ladyshuttlemaker Random Monday Mondo Giveaway

She's at it again! You'll want to hop on over there and make a nice comment. She's got a lovely tin of violet mints (with the tin, you know), and some beautiful size 50 Himalayan Poppy hand-dyed thread.

Happy Valentine's Day to Me!

Look at this wonderful collection of goodies Karey Solomon sent my way! The Valentine Exchange (through the group Tattinggoddessupdates) was a fun one.
I've got two skeins of hand dyed thread -- one in shades of blue (my favorite color) and other in lotsacolors. I need to think up something special for the multi-colored one. It looks like a spring flower garden to me.
The little heart-shaped maze game I have to leave at home. I was so tempted to take it to work, but then I wouldn't get anything done because I enjoy playing with little things like that.
The paper in the heart-shaped notepad has little pale roses on the pages. It's the perfect thing to put little notes in Nicole's school lunch box.
Then I've got a beautifully pink cotton bandanna -- these are great things. If you tie 'em around your neck, they're warmer than a scarf, because the wind can't blow through 'em -- no holes! They work really well to keep hair tamed under a helmet. I've got a little collection of them in my snowmobile bag but they are getting a bit worn. Nobody will lose me if I wear this hot pink!


I saved the best for last. This is a beautiful heart Karey tatted in a dusty rose color (my scanner can't do justice to the color). Not only did she send the heart, she sent the pattern for this "Y-Knot Heart." Isn't it a pretty one? It has the most wonderful outline: not too pointy, not too tomato-shaped.

Pretty good for Valentine's Day, eh?

Thanks, Karey!

Thread Exchange

Way back in December (you know, last year) I participated in a thread exchange in one of the tatting groups. I had five partners, but only showed off the lovely thread I got from Dorcas. I made that into a bookmark for a friend. But just look at what else I got from Leah, Maria, Jeanne, and Lily:

These are generous women! I have not made anything with these threads yet -- they are just a bit like my HDT stash. Ooooo, if I use it then I won't have it any more. Talk about cake and eating and that sort of thing.

Rooster Booster

Ah-ha! Not an alien after all. I finished him last week, and then had to decide whether or not those over-long neck feathers and that mutant color made him an alien chicken. Probably not. OH, NO -- Maybe he's a naked chicken, all that pink... A pair of pants before scanning might have been in order.

Anybody who's just stumbled onto this blog might wonder why in the world I made a naked pink chicken. He's the result of doing Jane Eborall's latest TIAS (tat it and see). Pick the colors, work the pattern a piece at a time over the course of a few weeks. Et voila! It's Norman the Rooster, but not very rooster colored!

Eye, Eye, Captain!

Nicole is really happy with her eye-decorated eye patch -- it's the only one she's worn since I finished the eye. She says it scares the boys (at her age, that's a good thing).
I didn't end up using Jane's eye pattern. I started it, using size 40 thread so it would be small enough for the patch. It's a wonderful eye, but it's made with rings. Because it was going on this yellow patch, I thought it needed to be more solid (didn't want her looking like she had jaundice).
This one is made with a Lizbeth size 40 thread. The center rose is black (for the pupil) and green (for the iris), and surrounded by sort of modified block tatting in white with a long connecting chain in black for the outline and lashes. I think it's too round and am trying to think up a better way to do it. Since it's glued to the eyepatch, thread ends don't really matter. That would make it easier to figure out an eye shaped more like her own. I don't know that she'd want it changed, though. Like I said -- this one scares the boys!
P.S. I suggested to Nicole the other night that I thought could make an eye that looked more like her own and we could change it. She said, "No Way! This one scares the boys!" I guess she'll be keeping that one.

It's Superman, it's a plane, it's a Bird...

This seems to be rather in the line of: "I never saw a Purple Cow...I never hope to see one." Before you ask whatever possessed me to create such an oddly colored being, let me quickly say it's Jane Eborall's fault. Yup, hers.

This is my rendition of the latest "Tat it and See," (and the first of 2010 -- may there be more!), through Day 10. When doing a TIAS there's not much color direction -- just pick some stuff that goes together pretty well and pick three colors of it. Then, bits of the pattern are released every few days. That gives everyone plenty of time to ponder what in the world they might be making, and to catch up if life gets in the way.

At first, I thought we might be making aliens. But, then -- I always think we're making aliens. ;) There's just one more day to finish this lovely creature, which I now suspect is a rooster (unless Jane is going to throw us a curve ball right at the last minute and it really is an alien), because that variegated bit has to connect to the rest of the gizmo and it doesn't look like a hat!

In Honor of Mary Konior

Mary Konior passed away last week, leaving a hole in the tatting world. Her books were an inspiration to those of us lucky enough to own them. Imagine how lucky are those who knew her personally!

In honor of Mary Konior, I am posting these earrings I made for my mother years ago. The pattern is Mary's rose doodle from "Tatting with Visual Patterns." I've got other earrings made from other doodles, but these mean the most to me.

Not tatting -- but Important

A month ago my 8-year-0ld niece, Nicole, was diagnosed with Amblyopia. She is required to patch her right eye for six out of seven days -- every waking hour. Turns out she's allergic to the adhesive they use for stick-on occlusion eye-patches, and paper tape, and every other adhesive (though I admit we didn't try cellophane tape, it was a near-run thing).

My sister, Bonnie, made her a Pirate Patch with felt and polar fleece and a narrow elastic strap. That was cool for about 10 minutes -- then she peeked.

Bonnie found some felt patches that fit around and over her glasses, but they allowed light in around the edges. Then she cut a foam cosmetic applicator pad to put in the felt patch which kept Nicole's eye shut, but it was bulky and uncomfortable because it got too warm. She kept peeking or sticking her fingers under the patch.

These are her new patches. I am in no way related to or affiliated with
Anissa’s Fun Eye Patches
but, I do think anyone who has a child needing an occlusive eye patch should invest in these! Anissa's Fun Eye Patches have a lot of other patterns available, good for boys or girls. She likes these patches, and was excited to wear them. That was such a relief after the earlier patch problems. Nicole chose a pink and purple leopard print, a rainbow, some ladybugs, the flip-flops she's wearing in the picture, and a yellow blank one she can decorate. She's asked me to make a tatted eye for it. Fortunately, Jane Eborall has the perfect pattern. When it's done, I'll get Nicole to pose for you again.