Spring, Please!

Pink and green! Shouldn't that inspire a bit of Spring weather instead of snow -- in May?? Perhaps, because the last couple of days have been very pleasant, even with the rain. This is "Betula" from Iris Neibach's Tatting Fantasia. I couldn't face the dreaded yellow DMC size 30 Cébélia, so I scrabbled around in my bin for something more cheerful. (Yes, I know other people think yellow is cheerful. I think it looks jaundiced, and makes me look that way. Go ahead, tat with yellow claw-like hands...) This little motif is so elegantly simple, that it made me figure it must be snowing outside again when the "magic thread" broke instead of sliding the ends inside. Fiddle, had to stitch the ends in. Still, I liked the motif and so did my 6-year-old niece. I borrowed the main motif to make this necklace for her...hence the button closure. She can do it herself! I still had some of that springy green and pink on the shuttles, so I opened up Sharon Briggs' Transitions in Tatting and scanned over the first few beginner pieces. Lovely, just what I needed, a new bookmark. This one is the Daisy, but I added a couple of little rings as pretend leaves and a little clover end instead of a tassel. Everything needs to be pressed or blocked, but I haven't bothered with that little detail yet.
I've still got pink and green on the shuttles and am working on another piece from Fantasia 2. Meanwhile I'm contemplating beads and whether or not I can get away with using size 30 thread for Jane's new TIAS. I don't own any 20, and won't be able to get to the store to get any -- certainly not three different colors. Hmpf. Maybe I'll just cheat and use the 30 and pretend I couldn't read the numbers on the label. I'll have an MTIAS (misshapen tat it and see). :)

Dreaming of Christmas?

The other day my sister discovered her Christmas jingle-bell necklace had ...um... mysteriously disintegrated. She had all the bells, but nothing else. Ooooo, golden opportunity! I had been wanting to make Yarnplayer's "Dream" necklace and earring set, but didn't have any drop beads, and couldn't decide on colors, or threads or anything else. For Christmas, it was easy -- my sister's favorite color is green and the bells were red and gold. I had to use size 30 DMC Cébélia thread instead of size 20 (because I don't own anything larger than 30). The bells look somewhat oversized for the thread, but it's lots prettier than the string on which they used to hang! The cord gave me some fits because I have a great deal of trouble counting clear to five -- or remembering if I'm on first half of ds or second half of ds. Still, it works, and she likes it. :) I just wish the photograph did it justice. I have to be braggy and say my tatting is better than my picture taking.

Oh -- for anyone that wanted to see my sister's dragon on Anemone Blanda, this is the picture that turned out best. I made her put a bunch of different dragons on it then choose the one she liked. This one represents her two daughters.

More Fantasia 2

The yellow stuff stood me in good stead as a test working. This is "Anemone Blanda," the little oval doily from Iris Niebach's Tatting Fantasia 2. It is made by joining two of the triangles from the beginning of the book and surrounding them with two additional rows of tatting.
Although this piece measures just 6 by 3.25 inches (15 x 8.5 cm), based on its intended use as a resting place for one of my sisters collection of dragons, this is, indeed, a doily. I suppose to some folks it would be a coaster, but I'm not letting my sister put a clammy glass on it -- just a dragon.
This is my first piece done with hand dyed thread ("HDT"). After hoarding my HDT stash for so long I started to wonder what I was hoarding it for? What use is beautiful thread if it never gets used? This one is Yarnplayer's size 80 "Forest" with so many subtle shades of restful green. There wasn't enough to do any more on the little doily, but not wanting to waste any of it, I also made this "Primula" motif from Iris's book. It's an interesting little triangle made in one continuous round, with the aid of a split ring. It measures 2.25 inches (6 cm) on a side. It would make an interesting doily if joined together. I didn't have enough thread to do that. Still, there was more thread and I couldn't imagine just leaving it sit or (heaven forbid) throwing it out. I used the last of it to make this little next piece. (Of course, because Blogger is more technologically advanced than I am -- it looks larger than the triangle). This is actually the "Hiding Thread ends" exercise at the end of Tatting Fantasia 2. (Only Iris could make an exercise in "magic threads" this beautiful!) I just did it twice and joined them together. My sister thought it would make an interesting brooch, if I could figure out how to hide the fittings. I think it would need some beads, too. Maybe lots of beads would hide the fittings. It's something to think about.

Creating UFOs

UFOs -- alien invasion! No, just bits and pieces, bits and pieces -- me not quite getting there on a bunch of things. I'm determined to use up that horrid yellow DMC Cébélia size 30 thread, so I use it to test things. These are two tests of Iris Niebach's "Anemone Apennina" from her book Fantasia 2. The first time I didn't have the book with me when I got around to the second side of the triangle, and totally went the wrong direction. In attempting to undo it, I discovered that I'd gotten myself tangled up so far back I'd be unpicking until doomsday. I started over, but this isn't quite right either -- too many repeats of one set of 11 ds. At least I matched the error on the other side. Weasels. Now I know how it works and have a better feel for it. I'm very nearly ready to pick something other than yellow to get started on this again. Maybe.

Well, maybe not. I did Diane Saunders' TIAS next, so I still had a lot of peach thread wound on my shuttle, but not enough to complete something so large. From the same Fantasia 2 I picked a small motif named "Lunaria" (pretty name, right?). I'd just gotten it started when my sister and I got the wild idea to spend Easter in Las Vegas (also known as Lost Wages). Not wanting to haul my precious, personally signed, book with me. I left this behind, and started on something else -- something I wouldn't care if I lost. I made a paper copy of my own Bonnie's Butterfly and folded it into a plastic baggie to travel in my purse on the plane. Of course, I had to take my niece's little round-nosed scissors and leave my own stork scissors and size 16 crochet hook in their leather case in my suitcase. I didn't want the airlines thinking I might take over the plane with a crochet hook and a pair of embroidery scissors -- oh, and my shoes. I am a rather dangerous looking character, you know.















So much for that -- I didn't finish those either. It turned into "those" because I couldn't follow my own directions! I missed a join on the blue butterfly and, in disgust pulled it off the shuttles (Aero-style with that nice indignant sounding zzzzing!). "Crap," I thought (not being in a particularly elegant frame of mind). I wound on some nice pinkish thread and started over. Well, double crap. I didn't bring my paperclip. I managed to make a thick thread place-holder with some of the blue, but when I removed it to do the first join, I couldn't find the opening -- not thick enough. I had to put it away until the plane landed and we were checked into our hotel. I really needed that size 16 hook! Everything was working along fine, and I got asked what in the world I was making a few times in Las Vegas (because I took it around in my hip-pack for waiting times). However, I didn't make a lot of progress until we got back on the plane. Weezilbix -- I forgot the wretched paperclip again! I made the thread holder thicker. It worked the first time, but at the point you see it now, it somehow became entangled in the working threads. More putting things away in disgust. Between these false starts and way to much work at work my tatting has fizzled to a halt. Sigh.

Diane M. Saunders TIAS

There, see? I did do it. It just took me forever and a week to get it scanned.
At the beginning, I couldn't imagine what it was going to be, after all, round could be the start of so many things. After the first point, I was thinking, "Maybe a cat?" That second point didn't discourage me too much, but no cat I know has three ears! Maybe a Queen. Oh, wait -- we're done. So much for my clairvoyance -- or possibly even brain. But -- how perfect for spring, a nice tulip! I need a whole garden of these to counter-act the effects of the snow we've had in the last week. That's not very Spring-like of Mother Nature!
I worked the pattern in DMC size 80 tatting cotton in a subtle peach, then used up a bit of green ombre I happened to have to make the split-ring stem. It turned out larger than I expected, at it's widest points it's about 1.5 x 1.25 inches (3.8 x 3.2 cm) not counting the stem, of course.
I was thinking maybe I needed to figure out how to add a couple of leaves, but -- ratsmiceandchickenfeet -- I can't find my round tuit!

Bonnie's Butterfly - Version 2

Another one. This is the water-skeeter looking butterfly, and I like it anyway. As before, I'll post a .pdf version of this .jpg at Here-Be-Tatters and ETatters.

Bonnie's Butterfly - Version 1

This really is just a diagram for version 1 of Bonnie's Butterfly. It works the way my brain works (so those of you with working brains might have trouble actually following it's ...um... logic). The "paperclip" notations are where I put a paperclip between stitches on the chain to leave a space to pull down a bit of thread for joining the later-made ring. As with the other diagrams, I'll post a .pdf version of this one on Here-Be-Tatters and ETatters.

Instead of tatting...

This is what I've been doing lately...knitting. I make do, but am not a pro by any means. My mom gave me 14 ounces of knitting worsted (7 of each color) and asked if I could make a hat for her great-granddaughter (who is turning one this month). Yeah, I could do that -- after all, the kid made me a great aunt (not that I wasn't already pretty darn good, you know).
I made the hat on the right from a pattern book called "For All My Children." (I think someone in the publishing house must have been hooked on 1970s soap-opera.) There was so much yarn left I made the hat on the left. There was still a bunch left, so I made the little poncho (from the same book). STILL more yarn! I was talking to my dad who said maybe I could just make a pair of mittens. Right. I made up the pattern for those. Thank goodness really little kids don't need thumbs in their mittens. You know -- I've still got some yarn left. Maybe I could...nah...I think I'll just give it back...

Allix's Butterfly, version 2

The second version requires a knowledge of crochet chains (fortunately, those are not difficult) to make the antennae. The lovely thing about that is there are NO threads to hide -- they're right there in plain sight with a little knot in the end. See, I think all antennae should have knotty-looking ends. The only real difference is the starting point at the body ring and those crocheted antennae at the end. I still like this one.

Butterfly Pattern Three

The first version of Allix's Butterfly starts with the antennae and makes a leap of faith across the head to work the second wing. The magic threads didn't work so well in the sample and it appears somewhat pulled apart between body and head. I managed to sneak this one past my youngest niece, as it does NOT comply with her rule: "head, thorax abdomen...insects have three body parts." Even so, it's one of my favorites.

Like the others, I'll post a .pdf version of this .jpg at ETatters and in the pattern files of Here-Be-Tatters.

Oops. I've been informed that when the pattern prints the sequence numbers, stitch counts and instructional notes are too tiny to read. I've redone the pattern, and hope the crowded numbers are not too confusing.