Purposeful Tatting

I am just starting to learn tatting and I have a question...Off subject I am afraid but..... I see all the pretty things you make and wonder what do you do with them? I understand doilies and jewelry but what about the other things?

I make lots of things just to see if I can. I make things so I have an excuse to buy more thread, extra shuttles, beads, buttons, findings, and do-dads. I make things to create beauty in the world, even if the world doesn't know it.

What happens to all the stuff I make?

I use some of it. I have two lanyards that are used for either my name tag, or with a findings change, as a keeper for my sunglasses when I go on vacation. I like to have them available and I don't like to carry the case around. I have a beaded string (just like the lanyards) attached to my phone which is also attached to a stylus. My ears can be decorated for days and days using just tatted earrings. A couple of edgings and a motif with a button center decorate some of my t-shirts. We decorate our Christmas tree in tatting (and ornaments of sentimental value). I am considering making a bit of tatting in a covered bangle to hang in my car. That's just in the thinking stage, though.

  

Lots of my tatting ends up in a drawer in an antique dresser that belonged to my grandmother. That drawer is full of prototypes and series of pieces which were tweaked, redone, tweaked, done again, and finally ended up as final patterns. It has pieces which ARE my patterns until I can get them diagrammed or written down on paper (some of them probably never will). It also has all the stuff I've made that hasn't been given away -- yet. Some of it might never go anywhere but the drawer until after my time. 

Some of it gets given away as gifts. I'm not interested in selling my stuff because I make it for entertainment. I have a job and I don't want another one. Turning a hobby into a job is a good way to ruin its entertainment value for me. That said, I have, occasionally, sold some of my work -- when I could find someone willing to pay for my time.

I have to laugh because you understand doilies and jewelry. I understand jewelry. However, even though I make them and enjoy them, I don't understand doilies. They are the queens of my tatting drawer.

So -- what do the rest of you do with all that stuff you tat?

Missing Fox?

Have you lost Fox at Tat-ology?  Yesterday all I could get was a 404 error. Her web host apparently was not nice and a BAD company, so she's moved to blogspot. If you follow Fox (and who doesn't?) you'll need to update your bookmarks or clickable lists or whatever you use to:

http://www.tat-ology.blogspot.ca

Unsettling

As in not being able to settle down and figure out what I really want to tat.  I've been doing Jane's Tat-it-and-See, but it only keeps me entertained for little bits of time. Other than that, I've been doing a bit of this and a bit more of this and some of that. Lots of little pieces and lots of hearts and butterflies using left over thread have gone into my heart tin and butterfly box.  I haven't been interested in blocking things either. 

I'd show some of what I've been doing, but Blogger doesn't want to let me post any pictures.  It was okay earlier this month, but now it has decided to not play nice. How good is your imagination?

Imagine this:  Four snowflakes in bangles, some hearts like the ones at the top of the picture in this post; an angel I've never done before, and some really beady earrings.  Oh, and a Rainbow Splash TIAS piece.  *sigh* 

Okay, it apparently IS my computer, not Blogger (sorry!).  There's no problem adding the picture from work (but it doesn't show the earrings):

Holiday Greetings!

Nicole's Fair Entries 2013

My niece, Nicole, is eleven. This year she entered four things in the State Fair and brought home a ribbon for every one of them.  In Creative Arts she entered her woven painting, mini-paintings, and a wreath. The woven painting was made by painting on fabric, tearing the painted fabric in strips, weaving them together and fastening them to a wooden frame, then putting on other bits of fabric and decorative gizmos. That one got a second place ribbon. The mini paintings are 10 small canvas paintings with velcro on the back of each.  They are placed on a larger canvas which has the other side of the velcro -- so the paintings can be arranged to suit the mood.  She calls this one "Seasons of Utah".  It got a nice first place ribbon.

Woven painting

Mini-paintings

Wreath

Her final Creative Arts entry is a wreath.  Each wreath was required to have a theme.  So, here's her first place winning "Forever in Blue Jeans" wreath:

Challenge Qult - Cowboy's Closet

The piece we were most pleased with was her "Challenge Quilt".  Every year at the fair a small piece of fabric is available for purchase for $2.00.  This is the challenge fabric and a small wall-hanging quilt of a specific size must be made to suit either the theme or traditional quilting patterns, and having at least 50% of the fabric showing of the front side.  This year's theme was "Best of the West" and the challenge fabric is the red bandana fabric. Each quilt must be completed by only one person, and the quilt must be sewn without help. Nicole thought up this "Cowboy Closet" idea, which I thought was really clever.  My sister, the mathematician, helped her plan the actual size of everything once Nicole had drawn out her basic plan.  I helped her find the Shirt, pants, boots and hat images on the 'net and she did the rest.  The front of the shelf is made from a strip from some fabric my sister had in her fabric cupboard -- it says "What happens on my tractor, stays on my tractor". This is the first sewing Nicole has done. She got a little sewing machine for Christmas and has made some practice seams and started a bag, but this is her first completed project -- and she got a second place ribbon.  Nice, eh?

Happy Holidays!

No matter what you're celebrating -- even if it's just being off work for a bit (I'd like to celebrate that every day!) -- I hope you thoroughly enjoy this time of year.
Yes, where I am it's dreary looking (actually raining!), it's damp, and cold. BUT...I don't have to work after today until it's a whole new year; my sister and her family are flying in from Maryland today; we're all healthy; and the year was good enough that Santa Claus is coming to our house. Lots of things to celebrate.

There are tatting things to celebrate too. I won a drawing at the Lace-Lovin' Librarian's website and received the most wonderful little packet of goodies. I was wondering if the "Royal Fail*" had invaded our USPS, but they did manage to deliver a very pretty yellow satin pouch with a shuttle, some thread, and other goodies. I'll have to post a picture after the holidays. (I'd like to claim I'm having technical difficulties, but it's really that I'm having organizational difficulties.) I got a beautiful tin tied in a silver ribbon from my exchange partner at The TattingForums. I'll get a picture of what's inside on Christmas day and post that later, too! I'm certain it's good stuff, though!
Finally, I've got pretty shuttles to use now -- that should make all my tatting prettier, right? I'm anticipating some good days of tatting and chatting with family. I wish you all the same.

*Check out the continuing mis-adventures of the English post at Jane Eborall's website!

Dangerous!

No, no -- not the beach or the sand or the sun or the wind. Cancun, Mexico is a lovely place. Those Caribbean blues in the water were perfect -- I understand some of the thread dyes now!
The hotel was marvelous -- the only places with four walls, doors, and windows were the individual rooms and a couple of the restaurants. Everything else was open, on patios or under palapas. The people were marvelous and so patient with my very poor Spanish. I can count, say hello and goodbye, and know a smattering of other useless words (like sombrero, and burro -- fortunately "Coca-Cola" and "Fanta Orange" appear to be Spanish.)
Chichen-Itza was a wonder, truly. I never realized how large the area is and how many buildings there were. The building precision was amazing to see, and the carvings equally so.
Cancun was a lovely place for a wedding! (Nope, not mine -- my niece's, which made it even better.)


So...what's dangerous you ask? I'll show you:

Yes. It's the dreaded Aero Shuttle in all it's drab grayness. I flew down to Mexico with six of these weapons in my carry on bag and happily tatted in the plane all the way down. I came home without six of these dangerous items. I do hope you all feel safer in your homes and in the skies.



However, just so you know, these are NOT dangerous:

Go figure.


Let this just serve as a reminder (which I didn't even think about) that just because you can travel through the airports in your own country with your tatting shuttles, knitting needles (my sister's are gracing some airport security lockup in Cancun), and crochet hooks, it doesn't follow that you can travel with them in some other country. Perhaps on my next trip my nice wooden lucet will have to come along for the ride.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Dad and Akari!



















Iris Niebach "Cactus" - color photo-manipulated.

Success!

Disneyland is still there -- so are large portions of my feet. I'm certain I came home with barely-there soles and at least one charming blister. My feet pieces are not all that got left behind, somewhere in the world are at least a dozen butterflies that have found new homes via the lines at Disneyland. Hey, if someone asked what I was doing, in addition to explaining it, I snipped 'em off a butterfly. A lot more people looked, whispered (not too quietly -- Disneyland is noisy!) or talked behind my back. My shuttle and a selection of bobbins with left-over thread went into the park everyday. I came home with 19 empty bobbins and this collection of butterflies and a few flowers (Well, I didn't tat every minute, you know!):

As for my teaching my sister -- that's another reason I'm claiming success. :) I took two colors of size ten thread, plain cream and rainbow (that Bonnie dyed for me). I asked her how she wanted to learn -- right hand holding the shuttle or left hand. She chose right hand, because she tried to learn to crochet doing the mirror-image thing and just couldn't figure it out. She did very well -- she knits right handed, too. She says it's because both hands are doing something, they just have to be trained to do the correct thing. She started with a BUK (big ugly knot) and made a chain, then a ring, then a chain and a joined ring, then a chain and a couple of joined rings and a chain, and ... Well, you get the idea. Then she used just the cream color and made butterflies. She only had enough thread for two and 3/4, though. I think she did just peachy wonderful for a first-timer -- especially for someone that learned to tat standing in line. What do you think?

VACATION!!

Yup, I'm taking one. I know it looks like I've been on vacation for a while, but I've just been busy getting things done at work so I could leave. I'm off to Disneyland with my sister and my two nieces. :) I'm taking a nice little supply of tatting threads, shuttles, and lots and lots of patterns. The patterns are all stored in my Nook, so that's how I can have lots and lots. I'm also taking two colors of size 10 thread because Bonnie said teaching her would give us something to do while waiting in lines. I hope it works, because she's a lefty and I'm a righty. I'm not much of a teacher either...we'll see. I'll report on our success (or lack thereof) when I come back. Maybe I need to learn left-handed (I did that to teach her to crochet many year ago -- and I can't do it anymore).
As for tatting -- I've been doing some! I've got some UFO's (one of which I'm taking with me) and I've been emptying shuttle bobbins by making lots of little butterflies. Some of the bobbins have quite a bit of thread on them, so I tried making something a bit bigger. This is Jane Eborall's newest butterfly bookmark -- with some oops things. I didn't load any beads first, and miscounted the ones I did add. Duh. It's made of one strand of variegated quilting thread and one strand of yellow Cebelia wound together. I also didn't have enough thread to make much of a tail...it's for marking tiny books, maybe.

Two Hundred!?

I'm not such a blabbermouth as I thought I was. It's taken me over three years to reach two hundred posts. I was going to claim that I promote quality over quantity. That might work until y'all read some of this stuff. Then somebody's going to wonder about the quality of the stuff I've been drinking (only the best tea, thanks).

It would be really fun to give away one thing for each post! Oh, yeah -- dream on. I don't have that much extraneous tatting stuff. I do have lots and lots of extraneous stuff, but I don't think anybody reading this wants my old shoes or the treasures in my ragbag.

There is a little something somebody might like, though. Oh, not my phone, but the charm. Well, not the charm that's attached to my phone (because it's attached to my phone). This nice dark green charm. It's made of size 20 Haklegarn worked over a plastic ring with a whole pile of clear seed beads built right in.

If you think you might like to have it, leave me a comment on this post, and a way to contact you. On Monday next (that would be the 22nd of March) I'll either get a random number generated, or have one of my nieces draw a name out of a box or a bag. Not only will I send you this spiffy charm, but I'll include a really nifty beading-threader-thread-weaver-inner-all-around-useful big-eye needle.

Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a year that sparkles, shines, flips and doesn't tangle!

Happy Holidays!

Holloversary Mystery Giveaway -- Aileen's Wicked Tats is de-stashing! Another place to make a comment and maybe get a goodie. Isn't this fun? She's got all the requirements right there, but be sure you make your comment by October 29 (maybe you turn in to a pumpkin if you don't??).

Fair Results -- Yes!

We went to the fair yesterday. Talk about pleasant surprises! The County Fair doesn't charge an entry fee, and allows a person to enter two things in each category. Between the four of us we entered 31 things, and we won 46 ribbons. Conspicuous consumption in a rather ostentatious way, eh?
The seven-year-old entered two tiny clay pots and a little sponge-painted canvas bag. She got blue ribbons for the pots and a red ribbon for the bag.
The fourteen-year-old entered a very tiny penguin and a little turtle made of baked clay, an interesting representation of xeriscaping, and a bag she made from a pair of jeans. She won a third place for the xeriscape stone, a second on the bag (but they forgot to put her age on the card, so she was competing with the adults), a first on the pengin, and a first and "high blue" on the turtle. High blue means it was considered in the sweepstakes round.
My sister entered a dress she made, crocheted slippers, blankets and dishtowel sets, and tie-dyed scarves, a baby onsie with hat, long-john jammies, and a sheet set. She got a second place for her slippers, firsts for her other crocheted items and her dress, and a "high blue" for her blue and green baby blanket. She got seconds on her long-john jamies and one of her scarves (the one that's my favorite!), and firsts on everything else. In addition, she got a high blue and a creative arts sweepstakes ribbon for her sheet set. They're so loud, I don't think she's going to be able to sleep if she puts them on the bed!

I'm so proud of them all -- aren't they clever?

Is it Fair?

I won't know until next week. Yesterday we packed our oxygen tanks and headed out to the Equestrian Center and County Fair Grounds to enter lots of things. (We have to pack the oxygen because the place is soooooo far out in the valley the air is thin [thus speaketh an east-bench snob].) I entered two things in every tatting category available, and one in "bags". My sister entered her crocheted baby blankets, shawl, and kitchen sets. They had a difficult time with her tie-dyed items. We thought they belonged in decoration on a pre-made item, but they thought she should enter them as wearable art over in the creative arts section. They finally let her enter her sheets in home arts but sent her to creative arts with her union-suit jammies and baby onsie. The girls entered things too. I think I should win all the marbles -- but then, I lost my marbles years ago and am always hoping to replace them. We shall see. I'm not worrying about it, though. There was no entrance fee, and I don't think there are monetary prizes either. This is just practice for the state fair. These are the earrings I entered (of course, I displayed them differently for the fair:

Weekend Tatting...

We had a 3-day weekend due to a state holiday. Wow! I tatted all weekend -- look what I made:

I've tatted a shed! Okay -- it was a large project so I had a lot of help.

Huh? What do you mean?

Oh, yeah. I guess it's not tatted after all. How sad, and I worked so hard on it.

Actually, it was one of those no time for tatting weekends, but we have a new non-leaky, non-rusty home for the lawn mower and snow blower, the bicycles and wiggle cars, and the snowshovels and gardening implements. Now all we have to do it get the girls to paint the boards around the outside and put in the little brick entrance way (made from the bricks that came off the old chimney when we remodeled the house). That can wait for a bit -- I'm not doing any more manual labor in 102 F weather!

Betsee Annie and Brenna Annie

Betsee Annie and Brenna Annie are looking for new homes. Cyndi's Distinctive Creations is having a give-away, and the winner will get to choose one of these adorable hand-made dolls. I don't do a lot of give-away entering, but my niece would dearly love one of these. Aren't they cute?

Split Chain

Split chains are a new technique for me. As a matter of fact, I've been scared to even try 'em. (Yes, all these years tatting, cutting, and hiding threads before moving on to a new round -- pitiful, eh?)
A couple of weeks ago I went to the monthly meeting of the Bonneville Tatters and learned along with a whole bunch of other people. That was fun. So, here's my split chain. Don't look too close, though, because I think I worked from the wrong side and my stitches are frontside and backside on the same chain!
I'll be practicing this again with the "fast and easy" way of Marie Smith, courtesy Jane Eborall's techniques pages.
The motif is something I tatted up the night before the meeting so I had a piece on which to practice. I used the size 10 thread my sister dyed for me so that it would be large enough to see what I was doing (then did it backward anyway). I rather liked the motif, and think I might try to develop it into something larger -- after all I've got that split chain just waiting there...

Scribble

Anxiety does odd things to tatting shuttles -- or the hands that wield them. This really is a scribble using left over thread ends from two different projects. It goes around and back-and-forth, then up and down and around again. It hasn't been blocked in any way, nor have the ends been hidden. It doesn't look like anything much. I would have just kept going, but finally ran out of thread on the red shuttle.
My sister makes knitted felted purses. She said if I gave it to her she could put it on a purse. I think I might do that. If I don't, it will just end up in my dresser drawer with all the other odds and ends -- though this might be the very oddest of the ends.