Still doing Snowflakes in Bangles

Still doing Jon Yusoff's snowflakes in bangles. These two are "Radiance" and "Spring Blossom" from her Tatted Snowflake Collection. The thread is Oren Bayan silver metallic thread. I think it's bigger than size 80, but a bit smaller than size 40. 

When I put "Radiance" in the bangle, I found it was a bit too small, so I added rings as I covered the bangle. That was awkward; the bangle kept getting in the way. The holder-rings are obvious and a little twisted. I applied a person-using-thread-that-frays-horribly-when-you-try-to-unpick-it standard: a man on a galloping horse will never notice, so I left 'em. As the thread is fine, instead of the lock chain I usually make for hanging loops, I wrapped a second thread around the bangle at the end and made a pearle-tatted loop. 

These are the latest, but I've got another on the shuttles. I think the stack is about a dozen high now.  It's rather like being stuck in third gear! There are another 40 or 50 bangles in my supply box. Maybe I should save some for another year.

Radiance

Spring Blossom

Starting Over

This blog has been sorely neglected, so has my tatting. The doctor decided I needed exercise more than I needed to sit on my butt and tat. She's right, but it really didn't need to be an either or proposition.

Recently, I took up a Facebook challenge offered by a friend. She will send something to the first five people to comment, sometime during the year -- however, these people have to agree to post, and do the same. So, I'll be getting something from her and will be sending something to three other people (only 3 brave people signed up with me -- either I know people with no inclination to share or nobody wants anything I make). I decided it would be a good time to get out my shuttles and threads and make new things to send. The problem I've been having is that none of my tatting supplies are where I thought they were. Since I haven't finished anything for about a year, I put stuff away safely, and have forgotten the location of "safely." Yes, they should be in the hobby cabinet, or the four dedicated drawers, or the fabric bin, or on the bookshelf, or in the boxes under the bed, or in my tatting tote. Some things are there, some have run off. I can't find my rubber needle pullers anywhere. Trying to sew in the ends and use a rubber band to pull on the needle results in a bent needle. *sigh*

Since it's cold and generally nasty, I'm working on Winter stuff. These are snowflakes inside wrist bangles. Both are designs by Jon Yusoff from her snowflake pattern books. I did have to make the top rings on each point on the red one a bit larger to fit into my bangle. For the green one, I left off the decorative picots on the arching chains. It just worked better for me (it's a counting problem). The bangles are completely covered with tatting, using Jon's method for covering rings.

Yes, the picture appears blurry. It's really just the bad shadows from poor lighting (not that the excuse makes the picture better). 

County Fair

The County Fair was different this year -- like it was only half there. Fewer entries, fewer vendors, fewer animals...you get the idea. The database with previous exhibitor names and addresses was either lost or ignored, so nobody got a postcard reminder of the fair dates and entry times. The Fair was also held earlier than usual, by about a week. Apparently, the people in charge of the exhibitor areas (not animal exhibits) are not the people who have been in charge for the last fifteen years. Those people decided to retire. They apparently either didn't train the new bunch, or the newbies decided they had better ideas. (Nah, I don't think they were really better ideas.) There were no comment cards this year, either. I miss those! It's always good to know where someone thinks your work needs improvement.

Anyway, I entered ten items and received three second place red ribbons:

Konoir edging, Original pattern ornament, Morgan Mouse Bookmarks

and seven first place blue ribbons. 

Renulek's Spring Doily, Original Pattern Doily, Halloween Card, Flowergirl Headband, Time & Again Earrings

Baby Afghan

The little crocheted stuffed animals I made from  the book Edward's Menagerie (#edwardsmenagerie) also got a Judge's Choice ribbon.

Edward's Menagerie Elephant, Zebra, Rhino, and Hippo

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):

Trees and some more trees

Trees from Jane Eborall's patterns: Christmas Tree on a Button and Christmas Tree - No Button.  The two green trees and the white one are all size 20 with nice big shirt buttons and decorative top buttons (I like the star buttons, but had a hard time finding any.)  The metallic trees are all made from Oren Bayan gold thread.  The red buttonless tree suffers from inattention to the pattern, but it still looks okay.  
The size 20 trees will probably join a few others as gifts for friends next year.  The smaller metallic trees are for my dad's little Christmas tree.  It's only about 2.5 feet tall so it needs little ornaments.  This is part of what I was doing during December.  
The rest of December's tatting is done and gone with no photos!  I made three pair of earrings for my bosses, one pair of earrings for my great aunt; two pair of earrings for my sister's co-workers and one pendant for my sister's co-worker who doesn't have pierced ears.  I didn't get a picture of any of those -- they were all too quickly wrapped and gone.
I also made a bunch of little hearts and butterflies to add to my give-away box.  One of these days I should dump some on the scanner and show off what a nice collection I have for the next fair.

Happy Holidays!

We did our inside decorations today. We always wait until after my niece's birthday before we decorate -- one celebration at a time! This year we have a new fake tree. It's tall and slim so we put it in front of the fireplace so we didn't have to move any furniture. I love that! The chair in which I usually tat (the large overstuffed rocker you can see in the picture) is one of the pieces that gets moved and I get all discombobulated. We have a lot of ornaments that are sentimental and lots from trips (we buy fridge magnets and ornaments when we travel!). The rest are tatted. The earliest ones are from sometime in the late 1970s. They are really plain little gray stars. I don't think one is visible in the picture. In fact, I think there might be only one still around. Don't ask whatever possessed me to make gray stars. Maybe I thought they looked silver. If I was going to make them now I'd use metallic thread and make them silver. The thread choices were much more limited in "the olden days."
Tomorrow we are going to tackle the outside lights. We are not supposed to have snow, and the temperature is predicted to be 21ºF (-6ºC).  That's better than the 9ºF (-12ºC) it was last week, so I hope we don't freeze getting it done.

County Fair 2013

The County Fair was held at the end of August.  I didn't have very many things to enter because I was busy with other not so fun stuff.  Just to heighten the tension (okay, pretend you were feeling some), here's the crochet first:  First place blue ribbons on a ripple afghan and a small white pineapple doily (which if you look closely you can see they mislabeled.  We entered at the same time and they put my sister's name on it -- she let me keep it anyway).

The other piece of crochet is an 18" (45.75 cm) diameter white pineapple doily.  It not only got a first place blue ribbon, it got a "considered for sweepstakes" high-blue ribbon.  Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with it.

I only entered three tatted items in the County Fair.  The categories are more limited than the State Fair.  I got a first place blue ribbon on the blue doily of my own design. (Well, okay, it was the shuttle's design.  I just loaded the thread and let it take me where it would.)

I entered these snowflakes as "wedding accessories" by claiming they were bride favors. Really, they need to add more categories!  The snowflakes were originally done for the IOLI convention in Salt Lake this year.  Bonneville Tatters (of which I am a member) donated them to the convention attendees.  I turned in somewhere around 40, but got sidetracked with all this other stuff and didn't attend any of the meetings in time to turn in the others.  So...what else?...I entered them in the fair.

The blue Christmas ornaments, which I entered as a set, also got a blue ribbon and considered for sweepstakes.  I know I designed the one on the right, but I'm not too sure about the one on the left.  I've made so many of the one on the right that I'm certain about it, but if anyone recognizes the one on the left as being someone's pattern, I hope you'll say so.  I want to give proper credit -- and I want to make more!  

The rest of the family did well at the County Fair too.  We brought home lots of ribbons. 

More Fair

All these things I entered in the County Fair have been blog-posted during the past year, so I'm sticking them all together here.
The Utahraptor and Fantasy Tree are those I made for the Shuttlebirds convention.  Both got first place blue ribbons, but the Utahraptor also got a "high blue" (considered for sweepstakes) ribbon and a Judge's Choice ribbon.  I'm so vain -- I love getting the big ribbons!

 

The butterfly I made from Anne Bruvold's Christmas hearts got a blue ribbon, too.  These are such perfect little hearts (not bragging on my tatting -- bragging on Anne's pattern!) .  Depending on the categories at the State Fair (have to remember to look!), I might have to put a tail on it and call it a bookmark.  Since I can only enter one thing in each category in the State Fair, I can't put the dinosaur and the butterfly in unless one of them fits somewhere besides "other".

These are seven of the Christmas ornaments I made using Jon Yusoff's snowflake patterns, and some little bits of fillers of one kind or another (one went to the marvelous Jeff).  I entered them as a set and ended up with a sweepstakes ribbon!  It made me laugh, though:  the comment card said "Nice even loops, nice way to display" -- so I got a ribbon for display, or for tatting?  Which ever, I have to thank Jon for such lovely patterns.

Challenge 18 to 25 Plus One

Happy International Tatting Day.  I did my tatting for the day between midnight and 2:30 in the morning -- I've actually got some, but I don't have pictures yet.  So far during the waking hours today, I've cleaned up a lot of tatting stuff and rearranged my closet, thrown out a bunch of junk and moved things from the closet to the donation box.  Once I finish this post I'm going to go back to tatting.  But for now...

Finally!  These have been done for a while, but it took me forever to get a picture.  This is actually three views of the same nine ornaments.  All the red and green ones are made with the snowflakes from Jon Yusoff's book Elegant Tatting Gems shown here, here, and here.  The final one is "Ice Crystal" from Tatting Patterns and Designs by Blomqvist and Persson that I made and posted here.  It's the "plus one" since it's so old.  Of course, so's my challenge!  I didn't manage 25 motifs in a year, I managed 25 ornaments in about three years.  It's a sad thing! 

Challenge 17

Yeah, yeah, I know -- it was supposed to be DONE in one year not two or even ...ahem... three.  Finally made it to Seventeen though.

Last May (yes, May), I made these green snowflakes from the Ariel pattern in The Tatter's Treasure Chest.  They've been waiting until this week for the center bit and for getting stuck onto the Styrofoam ornament.  My dad's been visiting us so it was a golden opportunity to tat and chat -- I tatted and chatted; dad just chatted.  I made up the middle, and it didn't work quite like I envisioned, but I like it well enough not to take it off and start over!

What? August!

It's hart to believe it's the end of November already -- I've been AWOL for 3 months!  I don't even have a really stellar reason.  It would be nice to say I won the lottery and have been on a world cruise and just too busy playing to blog.  Nope.  I didn't win anything; I've been right here at home; and I've been too busy working to blog.  Borrrrrrring!  On the good side of that my assignment at work has changed so that I just get to do the part I like -- all the rest of the stuff I used to do someone else is now doing.  Lovely.  Now I have to step into the Wayback Machine and show you what I've been doing for three months -- because I have done some tatting.  :)

How about the Fair, for starters?  I got some blue ribbons (1st), some red ribbons (2nd) and some pink ribbons (4th).  In ascending order then, I got a 4th place ribbon on my ankle bracelet and my hat (which for some reason shows as a pillowcase on my "premium statement" from the fair).  The ankle bracelet is the same one I entered in the county fair.  The hat is all new.  I made the initial just for the hat, but the top is decorated with one of Jon Yusoff's snowflakes.  Both are made in size 80 thread hand-dyed "Oh, Baby" by my sister.  The judges comments -- that I was hoping would be helpful -- just said "nice" and "precise tatting" for these.  *sigh*

The Heart's Desire bookmark is also the same one entered in the County Fair.  It got a second place ribbon at the State Fair.  I also entered my little crocheted Cthulhu toy which got a red ribbon.  The funny little guy has wings, arms and legs, but he's buried here in someone's quilt, so it looks like he's only a head.  He's being shipped off to the far reaches of the world, as soon as I find a spare minute to stand in line at the post office.







I got nice first place blue ribbons on the button doily, and the Easter and Christmas ornaments I also entered in the state fair.  The coaster I entered got a blue ribbon as well.  It's the square I designed in Sharon Briggs' Design Tat Class.  She teaches well!  I made it again in purple size 30 DMC Cebelia.  I've made four now so I have a small set of coasters, but I only entered one.

 

I was very pleased to have gotten a first place ribbon on the large centerpiece I adapted from a Jan Stawasz pattern.  I left out all the picots except the joining ones.  What made me so happy is that entry morning when I took it's picture, I noticed that I had missed a couple of joins -- there were the picots just hanging out there.  It's such a large piece that either the judges didn't see them or figured they'd cut me a little slack!  It's the same doily on which I reported not much progress last June. 

The first two pictures are those I took the morning we were taking things to the fair.  It did turn out really pretty, I think.  I was just upset that I had missed the joins.  I still haven't decided whether or not to try to fix it, or just figure, nobody's perfect and a man on a galloping horse won't notice anyway.  The second pictures are the ones I took at the fair,  after  I convinced the fair people to move it .  It was originally displayed draped over a white knitted something, and it completely disappeared -- not to mention I spent hours getting it blocked just right and they rumpled it all up.  I have no idea how the owner of the afghan they finally placed it on felt about having her work covered up.  *sigh*  I wish they had a bigger building!

The last thing I entered in the fair was over in the Creative Arts area.  It's a bit of Calligraphy in the Celtic style.  It got a blue ribbon, too. 

All together, it cost me $11.00 to enter this stuff in the fair, but I came home with $22.00.  Not too bad -- it bought me a nice lunch one day!

Challenge No. 16

Wondering what happened to the little butterflies from a few posts before?  They got made into this Easter Egg Ornament.  I used those three and a bunch of smaller butterflies (some of which are adapted from Jane Eborall's great butterfly pattern).  I pinned them to the satin egg with little gold applique pins stuck through powder blue seed beads.  I'm counting this one as number 16 for the 25 Motif Challenge.  It's destined for a long trip half-way around the world as a gift for a good friend.

It's making a stop at the County Fair before being shipped away, though.  It's got a first place blue ribbon, a high blue (considered for Sweepstakes) and a Judge's Choice ribbon.  A big ribbon...greedy me, I like big ribbons.

Challenge No. 15

Number 15 for my 25 Motif Challenge (which I've missed by, oh...a good 9 or 10 months, and which I miscounted, but I still don't think I'm going to get 25 before the end of this year either *sigh*).

This one is a top and bottom copied from one of my old ornaments, so I have no idea of its origin.  I made the top and bottom to try lacing them together after a discussion with to MSquared.  This was not what I had in mind so I just dropped in my finished tatting drawer and moved on.  When it came time to enter the fair I scrabbled around in the drawer looking for something I've made within the last year (fair years run from August to August) and re-discovered this one.  I decided that the fastening thread made an interesting zig-zag after all then dropped it in with the stuff to go to the Fair.  Apparently, the judges liked the zig-zag lacing it together, as well, because it's got a blue first place ribbon, too.

I do wish I'd taken a picture of it before hauling it out to the fair -- because what ever that is on the shelf below the ornament looks ...um... somewhat inappropriate for a G rated blog.

25 Motif Challenge Numbers 12 and 13

Halfway through my ornament challenge...any the year is almost up. Ah, well, I may not make it -- fortunately there is no penalty. :)

These two are adaptations of Mary Konior's Spinning Wheel Glass Mat. One ornament is 2.5 inches and the other is about 1.75 inches in diameter. Both are made with white perle cotton and lots of little green glass beads. Just to be different, I pinned them to the ornament with sequins under the pins. I'm still deciding if I like that or not. I do think the pattern looks really good wrapped around an ornament. I might have to make more.

Ribbons from the Fair - part 12

I've shown this one before too -- it's Number 4 in my 25 Motif Challenge (this time around). It's modified from "Ice Crystal" from Blomqvist and Persson's Tatting Patterns and Designs. The blue ribbon on this one was a surprise -- a pleasant surprise. You see, I thought the other ornament would do better. Although I do like the red plastic ornaments better than the gold ones -- it's still a plastic ornament! It has to be the way the white really stands out on the red -- that and so many people have the idea that tatting should be white! I've decided it really IS pretty!

Ribbons from the Fair - part 8

Okay, I'll admit it -- this was a disappointment. *sigh* This is my original Lock Chain ornament cover pattern. It's made in DMC size 80 red and green threads with red, green, and white beads. I made a completely different bottom for it, too. I like it very much. I think my tatting was very nice as well. The comment I got on this one was that it was not spaced evenly on the ball. Oh. Well, darn. Next time I'll get out my protractor, ruler and calipers! (Yeah, that was a really mature comment.)
Just like Nicole (my 8-year-old niece) I wanted one of the BIG ribbons for this one. Humility, indeed! (I dunno where to find any of that).


Oh, I haven't posted this one before, so it's number 12 for my 25 Motif Challenge.

25 Motif Challenge - Number 11

This is one of those .75 inch ornaments that I thought would allow me to get through 25 for the challenge very quickly. Well...that didn't work! These tiny ornament covers take just as long because to make them look good I have to use smaller thread. This one is my Lock Chain Ornament Cover using only 3 repeats with DMC size 80. I did use the single ring with sufficient picots to fasten it on -- that worked a treat.
I've stalled on these again. I'm working on a few things for the fair and I've only got a bit over a week to get them ready!

25 Motif Challenge - Numbers 9 and 10

Two more bring my total to 10 -- still behind, but gaining! Again, made from Lizbeth 40 on 1.5 inch glass ornaments, these two are a pair in different colors. The pattern is Ruth Perry's Celtic Snowflake 2008. I had to use just five pattern repeats instead six so it would fit the ornament. The bottom is the first round of the snowflake with that lovely Celtic twist Ms. Perry does so well. These are laced together with a single strand of the colored thread to hold them on the ornament.

25 Motif Challenge - Numbers 7 and 8

See? I might actually get 25 done if I can keep up this momentum! Another pair made from the same pattern, but in different colors. This one is also my own pattern, but uses only four repeats. Both are made with size 40 Lizbeth (the size of the thread also dictates how many repeats are feasible. These were actually made before Mike gave me his suggestions for fastening onto the ball. The beads at the joining point of the top and bottom are being used as a knotting point. The thread runs in and out of the bead as it joins the picots, and there is a BUK (big ugly knot -- don't like to say that too loud) tied, tucked and hidden by the bead. I thought about tatting them together -- but having tried that once, I'm not anxious to try it again!