I ♥ Goats

Have you all been participating in Jane's TIAS?  Again this year, she fooled me.  Of course, that's not too difficult.  I was convinced at one point that I was making a blue kiwi.  Funny thing, mine looks like a goat -- just like everyone else's!  Between the pieces of the TIAS I made hearts.  After all, it is getting close to Valentine's day.  I could send some old goat a heart, couldn't I?
All but one of these items are made with Lizbeth size 20 thread.  The one exception is the little pink and red heart in the upper right, which is made with size 50 Omega thread.  That was torture, let me tell you.  I don't like this Omega thread:  it twists, it's fuzzy, it's got bumps and slubs, it doesn't slide, and it breaks very easily.  I can crochet with it, but this is the third time I've tried it for tatting and it just makes me grumpy.
The goat pattern is, of course, Jane Eborall's latest TIAS.  The whole pattern, with the nanny goat as well, it available on her website.
The six hearts that are the same pattern as the blue heart came from somewhere on the web.  I know I must have seen a picture somewhere while I was a work, because the only pattern I have is a scribbled pencil drawing on the back of my business card.  I wish I knew where it came from so I could give somebody credit!
The spiky-looking heart with glass beads is an adaptation of Iris Niebach's doily Cornelia.  I adapted that one two years ago, but didn't write down the stitch counts or anything.  I was going to put it into a bangle, but using size 20 thread, it's just too big. I've made another one in size 40 Lizbeth Red Burst which I am going to put into a bangle.  I didn't scan it with these because I've left the woven in ends long until I've got it stretched into the bangle.  I wouldn't want them pulling out and coming apart.  I'll trim the ends when it's done.
The other heart is an unblocked version of Irene Woo's Butterfly Heart.  I got the pattern from Le Blog de Frivole and didn't have enough integrity to throw it out after she removed it from her blog as a possible copyright violation.  I've only made this one, though.

Fairly Coasting

A couple of years ago I made a tiny doily from Iris Niebach's "Stella Alpina" pattern in her book Fantasia.  It sat around in my drawer until I got a wedding invitation this year.  It looked like at least a start on a set of coasters.  I still had some of the Sulky machine embroidery thread and white quilting cotton I used for that one, so I made a set of four.  I entered this one in the doily category at the fair (fortunately the wedding's not for a couple of weeks).

It has a nice second place red ribbon (I forgot to take a picture before I entered it).

The competition in the doily category was pretty stiff this year.  One large doily made in cream and brown of a bazillion little motifs won the sweepstakes ribbon.  The variegated brown looks very striking with the cream used for most of the doily.

We picked up all out fair entries today and I read through all the judge's comments attached.  Both judges disliked the thread color.  They said it detracted from the pattern and my "nice, even stitches," which it why it got a red ribbon.  One also said that the addition of the white thread caused it to look fuzzy and out of focus. Rats.  I liked the effect -- it looked tweedy to me.  Now I wonder if I should get something else for a wedding present!

Ribbons from the Fair - part 16

One last entry -- this is my mini-doily. It's made with YLI machine quilting thread in a very subtle variegated blue/green/purple called "Alaskan Twilight". It measures just 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) across. I've posted this one before -- sometime in June. It was intended originally as an ornament cover -- but I took it traveling without the ornament and made too many repeats. It's Iris Niebach's "Beatrice" from Tatted Doilies. They have a category in the fair for "coasters" so I entered it there. It impressed someone because it also got a nice sweepstakes Big Ribbon.
The stuff that gets sweepstakes goes into the running for "Best of Show." You want to see what got best of show in the lace area? Of course you do! It's this beautiful piece of bobbin lace made in what looks like size zillion thread -- it's also framed by etched mirror with a clear center so the lace can show through. It's so covered with ribbons it's hard to see -- there's a blue, high blue, sweepstakes, judge's choice and best of show -- and the prize of a pottery casserole dish. Pretty nice, eh?
(Oh, that swirl on the tag is my doing -- I didn't think it was nice to show someone else's name without her permission -- even if I did show her work.)

Ribbons from the Fair - part 6

"Delia" from Tatted Doilies by Iris Niebach. I finished this one back in May and thought it would be perfect for the Fair. I did a little more blocking on it, but I don't think it was enough. The judges didn't love it as much as I did -- they loved it second-place worth, though. That's good, but means I don't think it's going to be making the trip to the State Fair this year.
It doesn't mean I'm going to stop making Iris Niebach patterns -- they're still my favorites (in fact -- my copy of Tatting Fantasia 3 came the other day!)

Mini Beatrice

"Beatrice" is from Iris Niebach's Tatted Doilies. (See? My favorite book!) This tiny little bit is made from YLI machine quilting thread in a very subtle variegated blue/green/purple called "Alaskan Twilight". It measures just 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) across.

It might make a tablecloth for a dollhouse. Originally, I intended to leave out a couple of repeats and put it on a Christmas Ornament (as I am soooooo way behind in my challenge pieces!). It went traveling with me, though -- and the ornament did not. When I got home I discovered that I'd already done too many repeats for the little glass ornament I had intended to use.

*Sigh*

I've started another ornament cover, but it can't travel as I'm using beads on the picots. I don't like hauling beads around with me because I tend to drop them all over everywhere. That wouldn't be so bad, but then I feel compelled to pick them up. That just looks strange -- some old bat crawling around on the floor in airports, restaurants, county recorder's offices, . . .

Jellybean Cornelia

"Cornelia" from Iris Niebach's Tatted Doilies is one of my favorite patterns. I feel about this one they way the Lace-lovin' Librarian, Diane, feels about the Spinning Wheel glass mat from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior. It's like comfort food. :)

This one, however, is rather uncomfortable to me. I made it in Westminster, Colorado while I was at a seminar ...errr... last month. (Blocking has NOT been inspiring me lately.) I picked up the thread at a huge Jo-Ann's store there -- which I happened on quite by accident (some accidents are lucky). All the Lizbeth size 20 was on sale. This Jellybean looked pretty good on the ball, and there was this nice matching green. *sigh*
As it turns out, the green matched too well. The varied colored parts should be the rings, with all the chains solid. That's really how it is but NOT how it looks! The Jellybean thread green so exactly matches the solid spring green that it loses definition by also having some green rings.
Still, it's bright and cheerful and it is a wonderful pattern -- it looks complicated when completed, but is really very easy to do.

Delia

More than two weeks since the last bit of visual mumbling posted here. You might think it's because I've not been tatting -- that would be incorrect. I've been tatting, mostly just bits and pieces, messes, broken things, things I threw away, and little butterflies.

When I reach a point in my tatting where nothing seems to be working or I can't figure out what I want to make my shuttles always "run home to mama". Mama in my case is Iris Niebach's Tatted Doilies. Her designs are always such a pleasure to tat, and they stretch my concentration without stress. It's delightful to fill the shuttles, and work from the outside to the inside and back again until the doily is completed -- one round! If I had used size 80, there would also have been no necessity to add in a new thread.

This one is "Delia" made in Lizbeth size 20 in Light Raspberry Pink. It just about fills my scanner. It's eight inches (about 21 cm) in diameter. It needs some blocking -- some of the chains are rumpled -- but I still think it's a pretty thing.

25 Motif Challenge - Number 2

Would you believe it? Now I've got two done. Amazingly quick, huh? W'azzat?

Oh. You noticed.

Yes, I admit it -- it is exactly the same pattern as the first one. It is the same adaptation of Iris Niebach's "Beatrice" from Tatted Doilies. Well, the top is the same. I had intended to make two identical pieces and fasten them to one ornament. I finished the two pieces but they wouldn't fit on one ornament -- too much overlap. That's when I decided to make two ornaments out of them and just do different bottoms for them.

If you look closely, you can see that the bottom on this one includes some long lock chains and a different arrangement of beads.

Once again, I've reaffirmed my opinion that satin covered styrofoam ornaments are the way to go. Pinning the tatting on with decorative pins makes it much easier to get it centered and even. Quite frankly, this lacing it on with beaded thread is an exercise in frustration for me. I'm not going to tell you about that blindingly brilliant idea I had for fastening on the bottom after doing the first one -- because it didn't work. Turns out I'm no so brilliant as I thought. How very lowering.

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.

Adaptable Cornelia

There! See how adaptable "Cornelia" is! It's just the most amazing pattern. I was playing around with the size 40 red thread after I made the size 20 ornament strap adaptation. It came out as a really nice little heart, so I put it in a ring. I dropped it on the table and it landed upside down. Oh -- wow! A tree, I could see a tree.

The green size 40 and some silver beads made a nice little tree. It needed a trunk, but as I just had a bag of necessities (I was visiting), I didn't have any brown. (Just kidding -- I don't actually own any brown. It's so brown!) I did have a shuttle with some ecru thread on it. Ta-da, a tree with an anemic trunk -- inside a ring of course, I'm making ornaments! And more ornaments. I did two more with little changes, like different bead colors and some different stitch counts.

Guess what happened when I turned the tree upside down? Yup -- an even better heart. I doctored this one so you can see it, too -- but I've not made a nice red one yet.

I think a combination of the second and third one will work out best if I decide to make more (and how can I resist?). Wouldn't these make great presents to fit inside a card? Of course, the post office would probably mangle 'em unless I use a padded envelope. (People who need padded cells ought to have lots of padded envelopes -- but they are sadly lacking in this household).

Making Ornaments

Cornelia by Iris Niebach (from Tatted Doilies) is one of my favorite patterns.
When the Bonneville Tatters Guild asked me to make another ornament or two for the guild submission to the Festival of Trees I was a little worried that I wouldn't have time to get something made. I've made other ornaments by adapting Cornelia, but that adaptation required quite a bit of tatting. This is what I finally came up with:
It's made of size 20 Lizbeth ecru. I wrapped it over the top and down the sides of a burgundy satin ornament. I had intended to make a couple of little motifs to put on the sides below the center of the strap, but there wasn't enough time. I didn't even get a picture of it. So I made two more. :) One is a nice Christmas Green and the other is Christmas Red both are size 40 Lizbeth thread. I had time to make the extra little motif for the sides for these.

Annalisa

Annalisa from Tatted Doilies by Iris Niebach, made with size 30 purple Cébélia.

I have had this book for about five years, and have made some of the patterns (notably Beatrice and Cornelia) a number of times. This Annalisa always looked way to scary. I got brave late in October and tackled it. I did a lot of retro-tatting, grumbling when I couldn't find my paperclip, and fussing, but got the whole thing done. I like it, and it wasn't really as difficult as I had expected.

It's been done for about two weeks, but I could not get myself to block it. It's still not blocked -- this is as it came off the shuttles. I know it will look better when I can finally bestir myself to block it!

Now I have to do the variations: Annamaria and Annarita. What fun, eh? (^_^)

Tat's Fair, too

Three tatted doily entries -- two of which have been on the blog before. The pair of "Anemone Sylvestris" from Iris Niebach's book Fantasia 2 were entered as a dresser set/table runner. "Milena" is from Iris's Tatted Doilies made in Yarnplayer's "Rhubarb Crisp" hand-dyed-thread. All of the comment cards mentioned the beautiful color (thanks Marilee!). The last one is "Lucky Clover" from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Blomqvist and Persson. It was made within the last two months just for the Fair. It's made of one strand of white sewing cotton and one strand of Signature machine embroidery thread. None of the pictures I took manage to show the subtle color changes though (one even looked a nasty yellow) -- so here's a partial image I scanned.

[Blogger is playing tricks on me. If your comment didn't appear, it's not because I didn't appreciate it! I selected the comments and said publish -- but not all of them showed up. Hmpf. Thanks, Blogger]

Francesca, Finally

"Francesca" from Tatted Doilies by Iris Niebach has been a real challenge for me. I've been trying to work this pattern for very nearly five years. Ummmm...not constantly, mind. Every time I've started it I've gotten hopelessly lost somewhere before completing the second repeat. I've unpicked and re-tatted and decided that was wrong, too. I've unpicked and broken the threads. Finally, I've cut the bit off and chucked it out in disgust at my absolute inability to follow instructions. This time, I decided to outsmart myself. I scanned the pattern diagram then, using my PaintShop program layered the bit of the diagram over and over until I had a larger diagram showing the progression through three repeats. That seemed to work (not that this doily didn't undergo an ample share of retro-tatting) I managed to get clear around and actually finish! I used some of my new Lizbeth size 20 to work this pattern. The color is "Caribbean" and is actually much more defined purple, navy, and turquoise than I can get my scanner (or my limited ability with color brightening) to show. I probably should have dampened this one and stretched it out on the starch board before showing it -- but I just trundled it off to the ironing board for a quick press. It can go on the starch board later.

Iris TIAS Doily

I finally finished the whole doily. It's an amazingly gorgeous design. We're so lucky to have Iris share it with us! I have to make another one of these (one? maybe two or three or more; it's addictive).
I didn't complete it in the original pink and maroon that I started with. The center picots weren't joined and I didn't want to do some kind of retro-stitching at the end. That piece will be a decoration instead. Ha. The whole truth is that I got all this new Lizbeth thread and had to try it out. It's so much smoother and more crisp to work with than the Cebelia. Really. Now I have lots of size 20 thread! These two are Leaf Green (the variegate) and Christmas Green.
It seemed appropriate to post this bit 'o green for St. Patrick's Day.

Another Ornamental Cornelia

Yes, "Cornelia" by Iris Niebach from Tatted Doilies, again. This is such a beautiful pattern! This one is made with one strand of green ombre cotton quilting thread and one strand of dark green rayon embroidery thread on one shuttle, and corresponding threads of red of the other shuttle. There are red or green beads matching the threads at each picot. Because of the size of the threads, this one has only five pattern repeats, and I changed the number of small rings at the tip of each repeat from five to four. It curves around the ornament better that way. The bottom is just simple rings and chains, but that's what fit best. I'm working on a companion ornament with the colors reversed. They'd make a nice gift as a pair.

Iris TIAS 5

Isn't it pretty? Iris Niebach's designs are always so complex to look at. Having her break this one down in small pieces made it seem easy. Not that I didn't do some unpicking and redoing, mind!
This is complete to the end of the "tat it and see", but I do believe I will finish it up to the 8-point doily. I might even see how it will look with fewer points wrapped around one of my satin-covered styrofoam ornaments. Not only that, but those little hearts are very pretty. I've been wondering what they would look like all by themselves. Wow, another thing to try!

Ornamental Cornelia

Here it is: "Cornelia" from Iris Niebach's Tatted Doilies as a Christmas ornament in King Tut quilting thread. The original doily has eight repeats of the pattern. It curves pretty well around the ornament with only six repeats. The bottom motif is simply the inner portion of the doily with some chains to move from one repeat to the next without having to complete the whole doily twice. Two six-repeat doilies wouldn't fit on the ornament, you see. Beads would be good, don't you think? Still, even without beads, the pictures really don't do it justice. It's a pretty thing. (click on the picture for a larger view)

Stella Alpina and TIAS Day 2

"Stella Alpina" from Fantasia by Iris Niebach. Made from one strand of Sulky machine embroidery thread and one strand of white quilting cotton, it measures 5.25 inches (13 cm) at it's widest part.
Working Iris's patterns is rather like having comfort food for me. When I'm feeling fussled, unsettled, worried, or grumpy -- there's nothing like a nice doily from Tatted Doilies, Fantasia, or Fantasia 2 to make me feel much, much better.
That's why working on Iris' TIAS is such a wonderful thing -- a little dose of reason every couple of days. That's gotta be a good thing! This is what I have so far. It looks like a good match for what others have done, so I think I'm on the right track. I made my picot gauges just a tad smaller, because I have to use size 30 thread (I don't seem to own any size 20), and it looks just a little crowded. Maybe at the end a bit of blocking will not come amiss. As for a guess about what it is -- I have no idea, but isn't it going to be pretty?