Joyful Bell Earrings

My Lace Guild Christmas party is scheduled to be Saturday at noon...although right now it looks like it we may be iced in and it may be cancelled, but ... 

The theme of the anticipated event is bells.  I have been very lax at participating in "theme" events that my guild holds.  I am usually too busy tatting for my personal interests.  Right now I am very behind in my Christmas tatting.  But, I saw this lovely pattern of Marilee Rockley online, and thought they would make lovely quick earrings.  I will have something made of lace to put into the "bell" competition and can say I participated this year!

Here is the pattern:  http://yarnplayertats.blogspot.com/2008/12/bell-pattern-for-you.html  I changed the stitch count slightly to add some of the beads.  My bells are made out of Lizbeth size 20, color 603, Ecru.  I used Bead Treasure beads from Hobby Lobby size 11/0, color Pearl.  Each of the earrings is an inch and three-quarters long by an inch and a half wide.

TIAS--The Little Engine that Could!

      

     Thank you Sherry Pence!  She designed an autumn TIAS.  TIAS stands for "Tat it and See", it is a mystery tatting pattern that is revealed a little bit at a time until the entire thing can be seen.  This little engine came to us in eleven little parts, and I had NO clue what it was until the last piece!  I loved the way that Sherry really made us sharpen our tatting techniques, as we worked our way around the ouside.  As a bonus for finishing the TIAS, Sherry gave us two more patterns, a coal car and box car!  Thank you Sherry!
     My "Little Engine That Could" is done in Lizbeth, size 20, color #112, "Carousel."  Sherry was counting, and she had people from over 100 countries/states doing the TIAS!  Thank you to all those who participated in the TIAS and a big big thank you especially to Sherry for this cute cute design and the hard work getting out on the internet for us.

    

Celtic Motifs--Emptying Bobbins

Just like the title says...that's what I've been doing this week--I've been emptying bobbins, and I'm far from finished.  I have three major things that I usually have done with thread on bobbins:   a) make butterflies and snails on paperclips to give away to people who comment on my tatting when I'm out in public, b) make beaded butterflies (it needs slightly less thread) for the same reason, c) make flowers to decorate stationary.   I hate to waste thread...If I have ten inches of thread, I make a flower!  This time I had some almost full bobbins so I made some larger motifs before I started the butterflies, snails, and flowers.  I'm not sure which is the front or the back on these  celtic motifs, I think they look great both directions, and I didn't work them frontside/backside... so they'll hang on my little tree any-which way!  The square one, I think, I bought off of a Russian site a while back (correct me if I'm wrong please).  The circle motif came from 
http://free-tatting.com/?p=38

Senior Graduation Gifts

My Dear Husband just finished his thirty-first year of teaching higher math and computers at the local high school.  He interned there the year before he was hired--and that year saw the very first graduating class.

As we will celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary in a few weeks, I ought to know by now, that he will wait until the week or week before graduation to ask me for tatted gifts for all of his "special" graduating seniors.  Bless his heart, he was true to form this year...but at least he knew exactly what he wanted.

He requested figure #58 from Patti Duff's Mini-Tat's book made into a small bookmark.  The bookmarks were made out of Lizbeth size 20, color 671--Christmas Red.  The crosses were an inch and a half long, the bare cord was three inches, and the tassel was an inch and a half long.  After a week and a half of tatting my fingers to the bone, they are all ready for graduation tonight.

Finger Lakes 2013 Part 4

Unfortunately, Karey Solomon's Lodi Star has joined my ever growing UFO drawer... (that's UnFinished Objects for my novice readers out there.)  I did not want to quit blogging about Finger Lakes until I had mentioned some of the wonderful people who make this weekend possible, and who made this weekend wonderful.

Karey Solomon does everything but stand on her head (and maybe she did that while I wasn't looking) to make this weekend a success....she teaches, sells, cooks, cleans and organizes and the list goes on... I don't know how the seminar would go on without her and would hate to find out!

But she did not do it alone!! She had many helpers in the kitchen who managed to feed everyone (working around some very restrictive diets and allergies) and providing delicious and delightful dishes.  She also had helpers who helped with registration and the auction and raffle and many other thankless jobs.  I wish I could thank them all by name.

BettyReeser

Hand Painted Pendant by Betty Reeser

Last year the person who gave me my secret angel gift was Betty Reeser.  She gave me a beautiful hand painted ceramic pendant and told me I could put tatting around the edges of it.  I did, and brought it back to show her this year.  She also donated enough thread last year (which Karey hand-dyed) for everyone to have a hank in their goodie-bag last year.  A challenge was issued to make something and bring it back this year. My doily was one of the more "traditional" designs entered...there were 3D snowflakes, scarves and other things entered....all of the entries were beautiful!!!

My doily made with the Betty/Karey 2012 for 2013 Challenge Thread

This year I made friends at the Friday night pot-luck dinner with Monica Braxton, and Leanne Boyd.  Leanne was the first person when I got home to look me up on facebook!  What a surprise when I drew Monica's name and I was her secret angel!  She surprised me later by gifting me with some of her own hand-dyed-thread!  She has a new Etsy shop NAGStudio where she is selling her thread and her own design of hand made wooden shuttles--my friend Cynthia has two and loves them.  Now what will I make with this beautiful thread in my favorite colors?

Monica Braxton

Monica's gift of HDT

  


 The lady who drew my name this year as my secret angel was Kathy Berndt.  Kathy was from Lake Luzerne, New York.   She gave me the absolute cutest little 4 1/2 inch tall Adirondack chair, ball of Lizbeth thread and a clover shuttle.  The chair now sits on my craft table.  To it, I have secured a tiny pincushion and it has become home to the beaded knot-picker that we received in the needle books that were in our goodie bags this year.

Kathy Berndt

Little Adirondack Chair/Beaded Knot Picker

 
















By the way *she didn't even come to Finger Lakes, so here is a special thank you in print to *Kathy Hodge, who made the *needle books, *bookmarks and *knot-pickers that were in  our goodie-bags.


Thank you to all who made this weekend possible--Cynthia Stevenson, my dear Oklahoma friend who allows me to tag along on this forever long car trip each year... to everyone at Finger Lakes who helps put on the Seminar, and to all of you wonderful tatters who bring your nimble, talented fingers and smiling faces each year back into my life.  Thank you for this year, and I look forward to next year............. now what to do with our challenge thread for next year!

Finger Lakes 2013 Part 3

I have enjoyed Ginny Weather's 12 Ornaments of Christmas (Books 1 & and 2).  I have worked from her designs when making ornaments for all those who receive tatted items from me at Christmas time.  She is a gracious lady who shares her talents with those around her very patiently and willingly.  This fun doily pattern she shared with us at Finger Lakes came complete with cute little jewelry findings.  She had several different kinds...some circles--some flat, copper, gold, mine were square, silver and 3-D.  She explained that her pattern could be adapted to smaller findings by adapting the size of the rings and chains in the pattern.  Ginny even went a step farther by emailing us after class--photos of the doily in different stages of progress, to help us as we completed our work.  What a sweet lady!

My doily is done in Lizbeth, size 20.  The color is # 120- Caribbean.  It is not blocked yet.  I plan on framing it, eventually.

Finger Lakes 2013 Part 2

I love being taught by a teacher who knows her craft!  I have had many teachers start their classes by sharing their credentials--"I have finished this course, and have taught here and here"....  Mary Ellen Davies caught our attention a totally different way that proved she had the authority to teach... she opened a slim box and pulled out block tatted item after block tatted item.  The last thing she pulled out was a doily tatted in size 40 (I think) with block tatting all around the edge!  Her tatting was stunning!!

Ever have one of those days when you can't tat to save your life?  Well Saturday morning and afternoon at Finger Lakes was one of those days--I'm sure those around me thought I was a beginning tatter or a total mess.  I was tired and migraining and literally could not put a ring and a chain together!  I have done block tatting before :
  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8354528998397405150#editor/target=post;postID=1276226168952690113;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=27;src=postname           
 but I was trying to put too many stitches into the chains, and trying to go below instead of above the block!

It wasn't until I finally took a narcotic painkiller in the afternoon that I could finally focus enough to start working on my little block tatted star,  What a fun pattern!  Mine is done in Lizbeth, size 20, color 163, Blue Ice.

Finger Lakes 2013 Part 1

Finger Lakes was a Blast this year!  I have so much to tell and so much to share....

I hate to show the last thing first, but it is the thing that I have finished.... The last class I took at Finger Lakes this year was Sandra Eichelberger's Starry Night Earrings.  They are a rings only pattern.  I learned something new doing this pattern.  I had never before hidden a single thread in a single ring... something new that I had to twist my brain around.  Thank you Sandra for showing me, and to Dani Rotach for breaking it down into "steps that I could see."   I made the butterfly charm earrings with Lizbeth, size 20 thread, color 652.  I liked this pattern so much that I played with it a little...changing the order of the rings so that I could hide my ends where I wanted to hide them.  I then made another pair of earrings with Lizbeth, size 20, color 644, using Swarovski crystals (bought 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby.) 

more to come....

mo

Onion Ring Doily

I'm working on a rather "big" project right now, and won't be finished with it for awhile, so I thought I might show some things that I completed during the time when I wasn't "blogging" regularly.  

This is the Tatted Clover Flower Edging by Nancy Tracy.  The pattern can be found at www.bestitched.com/pattern0703edging.asp      The thread is Lizbeth, size 20, colors #684, Leaf Green Medium and #129, Purple Splendor.

When I first started this edging, I intended to do a large handkerchief...but the three layer onion rings were such a lesson in patience and perseverance that I found the smallest doily in my stash, attached the edging to it and said "I'm finished" with a great big smile on my face!

Tri-Color Bookmark

My blog has been sadly neglected...   I decided I'd just jump in blogging again with what I finished tonight.

I saw a picture of this bookmark and the apparently original pattern that someone had drawn on a sheet of paper on Pinterest--unfortunately there was no author's name.  There were very few details on the pattern--just simply rings drawn on paper.... I had to figure out which were regular rings and which were split rings, it was about half and half...  I also decided on the stitch count.
If anyone knows the original designer--please let me know so I can give them credit.


I'm not real happy with the way it looks.  I did not try to "frontside/backside" tat--as a matter of fact I never even kept track of which shuttle was "shuttle #1"!  Many of the rings ended up misshapen, especially if they ended up being a ring that was the result of being a ring that had thread ends added into it.  However, it will be a neat little bookmark to stick in my little purse Bible which was what I wanted it for to begin with.

The thread used was Lizbeth, size 20, colors #612 Golden Yellow Lt., #619 Baby Pink, and #649 Baby Blue.

Mom's Birthday "Linen Piece"

New Years Day of 1984, my Father married Alberta Smith.  No one could replace my late mother, and luckily, Alberta didn't try.  But in the last 30 years she has become my mother, as well as my children's grandmother, and my grandchild's great-grandmother in every sense of the word.  My Mother understood handmade gifts, and I'm pretty sure Alberta (Mom) does too.  Well, Her birthday was way back in November, but I'm just now posting pictures of the linen piece that I tatted as a gift for her ... we are calling it a "linen piece" because of the way it turned out, I'm not sure she would want to use it for a handkerchief.  I thought she might use it to line a bread basket, but when I mentioned it last, she wanted to use it behind some items in a shadow box... so it is a "linen piece" right now.  Anyway...it was done in Lizbeth size 20, colors 129 Purple Splendor and 633 Dark Purple.  The pattern was from the Old-Time Crochet Magazine Autumn 1993 edition and was called "Tatted Handkerchief Edging" by Mary McCarthy.  I love the lacy look on the wavy hanky!

Christmas Exchange--Suzie Steiner

I entered another Christmas exchange through one of the yahoo groups which was hosted by Karey Solomon.  Suzie Steiner drew my name for this challenge which was to fill a 6X9 envelope--and  she did it with zest!  She filled the envelope with two Workbasket magazines, a lovely padded black bag which contained four lovely colored balls of thread (one of which I didn't even recognize the brand stamped on it!),  a lovely tube of blue metallic beads, a clover shuttle, a tatted candy cane and blue hankerchief for me to tat around.  Last, but not least, there was a little pin that said "Tatter" on it.  I love Christmas exchanges....thank you Suzie Steiner you were a great exchange partner!