Late Halloween and new obsession

 I guess it's not going to be a surprise that I am posting this late but it may be a surprise to learn that I actually sent my halloween dodads out for them to at least arrive on time! Considering all the crap that has been happening lately I will say both of these cancel each other out so I won't count either as a win or a loss.

As I have mentioned , several times in the past, I am having massive trouble finding tatting ideas for my holiday doodads. Therefore  I am very happy to announce that this tatting motif is my own creation!  I have done cats, bats, ghosts and spiders so the only thing left I could think of would be a witch. I did find one picture of a tatted witch on the internet but it didn't have a pattern with it so I used the picture as a general idea for mine. 

Here is my first try but I didn't like the hat so I decided to change it a bit. I don't absolutely love the way she turned out but I am not very good at changing counts to make it better so I just rolled with what I had.

I knew I wanted a dark purple to do my witch with but the only dark thread I had was Artiste thread called plum . This particular color thread is not great to work with as it tends to get fuzzy and you can't really get the stitches tight. I am not sure why this particular ball is so bad because normally I like Artiste so I wonder if this roll was mismarked because it also looks different than my other balls. Thankfully I was able to close the rings fairly easily and it wasn't as terrible to work with as I remembered but it just doesnt look as clean as some of my other projects. I did end up having to starch these because the skirt was a bit floppy. I had run out of glitter glue and I wanted to add a bit of pizzaz to my witch because the color was so dark so I tried adding regular glitter to gel glue.  It really didn't work out so well;  partly because the flakes are too big with regular glitter and I used dollar store glue but I just kept using my mixture because I just can't waste things and I have a hard enough time trying to finish up projects so I just kept carrying on so I could get them done and in the mail. I ended up making 13 of these but I only ended up sending out 9 of them. 

So this is also an introduction to my new obsession...die cutting! I kept seeing the original red sizzix machines in goodwill so I finally broke down and brought one home not realizing that was the beginning of my next hoarding issue! I actually just bought it because I needed to create felt numbers for a project I am working on for christmas and it was going to be cheaper to buy the machine and the dies I needed than it would have been to buy already cut ones or spending tons of time cutting them out by hand. Soon after I found the red machine I found a big shot that ended up following me home. It took me quite a while to even try out either machine, I had purchased tons of dies at goodwill before I even tried to use it. Let me tell you it was a bit of a challenge trying to get the dies to cut correctly so I ended up spending quite a bit on accessories ( I bought new)  for the machines just to get them to work ok. It makes me quite sick to my stomach thinking about how much I have spent on dies but I keep seeing them at goodwill and my hoarding nature takes over so I buy them. Not only are they expensive but the old dies take up lots of space. For the amount of money I have spent I am wishing I would have just bought a new cruicut. I am also finding that I may not ever use the dies I bought because the last couple of cards I made I ended up buying new dies to make the cards anyway. 

Below is my first die cut project I made. I did have to buy the die so I could get these done in a timely manner. I made these as thank yous for Mom Pat's funeral guests. You can't really see on either of the pictures of the cards but I used the decorative scissors on the outer edge of each card and colorful gel pens we got from Mom Pat to sign each one. The little tatted heart is the same pattern I used for my Valentines dodads in 2016 and you can find the pattern by onevirtuouswoman here. Pats favorite color was blue and she loved to read so I thought a blue bookmark in a heart shape (to let everyone know that she will always be in our hearts) would be appropriate. 

My second die cut project was the halloween cards. I just now ordered the die I will use for my Thanksgiving cards. I was hoping to find some dies that I really liked but I wasnt able to find any that I liked more than the one I found on Amazon so I just had to spend money on something that I really didnt love. Now wish me luck that my order will get here in a timely fashion and I will be able to get my doodads out in time!

 

Valentine's Day

I am happy to post that the next holiday I am catching up on is Valentines day and I actually get to say that I sent them out. Unfortunately, there is some bad news as well. I didn’t send them out in a very timely manner which is a huge shame because I actually had these doodads done for last years holiday and just didn’t send them out. Part of the reason why they didn’t get sent out last year is because I didn’t love the way they turned out and partly because I couldn’t come up with a card and partly because of the shame of not sending out the Christmas cards.

This is the first time I have tried adding beads into the tatting project itself, it’s also the first time I had attempted split rings. I got the pattern here on Etsy.  I tried tatting the key a couple of different ways but because my picots are out of control since the last couple of projects I did I wanted big floppy picots and the thread I use doesn’t really allow for small picots to look good ( I used size 10 Artiste thread called cloud. ) I decided to omit the picots. I still didn’t love the way these turned out and adding the beads, especially the one that you have to add to the second half of a split ring, really was not fun so I only ended up making 12 of these.  Since I didn’t make enough of these and I wanted to give a few more people valentines I sent out a couple of the doodads that I had left over from previous years.

When I went to put these together I found that when I made the beaded hearts I didn’t account for a way to attach them to the tatting.  Usually I add extra beads or a bigger bead on top to attach them but for some reason I didn’t this time. The beads were so small that I couldn’t find a split ring with small enough wire to go through them, so I ended up making my own rings. They don’t look very good but at least I got them attached.

Here's to hoping that I will post again real soon!

Valentines Day catch up

I am not having such good luck playing the catch up game, it is taking much longer than I anticipated but next up we have Valentines Day. I didn’t have much time to work on my Valentines  and St Patricks motifs because they are both so close to Christmas and Thanksgiving so I had to pick something fairly smallish. I ended up finding  a pattern by Anne Bruvold called Christmas Hearts and I used an artiste thread called dawn rose.  I found the idea for the beaded do-dad  from a picture I found on pintrest and I just changed it to fit the heart. I remember the heart taking a bit longer to tat than I anticipated but they were so cute I just kept doing them. Thankfully I only had to iron these to make them lay flat.   I ended up making 19 of these but only 13 of them made it to the intended recipients.

Thanks Muskaan and magic loops

I had been been working on row 5 of my doily which are the little flower motifs when I happened to read a post from Muskaan on my previous post. WOW and past WOW!! I have literally spent hours being lost in her blog. The information on her site is invaluable and it literally shouts out her love and dedication to tatting! A huge giant shout out from the roof tops at the top of my lungs goes out to her for the amazingness of her site and willingness to share her talents and learning's!
She has shared lots of info about this exact doily. I wish I would have read the info before I started row 4 because she make the flowers before and then joins them during the construction of row 4. Way too late for that but I will be making use of that tip the next time I make this pattern.  I was however able to make use of the tiny joining picots she does when making the flowers unfortunately I had already gotten through the majority of doing them. So now I am at a dilemma as to whether or not to cut off the wiltey, tweaked looking flowers and re-due them.

I needed a big shuttle to start the next row on my doily and I couldn't find one that didn't have thread on it already.  The hoarder in me took over and wouldn't let me just unwind the thread and throw it away (even though I normally use cheaper thread) so I decided to tat a little motif to use the thread.  I decided to return to where it all began...my first tatting project.  My first project was a little heart done with a needle that I had found the tutorial on youtube. The tutorial and pattern can be found here.
Can I just say I am very thankful for magic loops! I am fairly certain I wouldn't have been able to complete this motif without them. I am going to call this motif #9 because the last time I did this pattern I used a needle and this time I used a shuttle.

Heres to hoping its a good weekend! I know it is going to be an extremely busy one for us...more on that later because I need to buckle in and get it started!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day....and today is even February 14th.  I know, I know that doesn't happen very often that I post my holiday pictures on the exact holiday but for some reason I was able to get the projects done and in the mail by the day.   I am afraid not all of them will be received by today but at least it will be close.

I actually made 18 of these ornaments and I am going to call these 5 in the motif challenge.  I found the pattern for these fun little hearts on pintrest but you can find the pattern directly on this bloggers site here.  The pattern is very repetitive and they work up fairly quickly.  I used a size 10 thread from Artiste and the color is tropical pink.  You can find the pattern for the little beaded do-dad at threadabead.

I actually tried 4 other hearts before I finally settled on the one I did.  Below are motifs 6,7 and 8. I used a skein of thread that I had gotten from Goodwill so I am not sure what it is.

The heart on the left is a pattern from Bergit Phelps called Sweetheart and it can be found here.  I really like the way this one turned out but the pattern wasn't super repetitive and I needed a patter that would be easy to remember in my head because I knew I would be taking this project with me to California. I would imagine I will be trying this one again.
The heart in the right is a pattern by Betsy Evans and she calls it small tatted heart.  I didn't love the way this one turned out and the pattern was quite difficult to remember so I took a pass on this one as well.

I knew before I started this heart that it was probably going to be quite large but I tried it anyway.  This pattern is very repetitive but it would require tons of stiffening and after the fiasco with the Christmas trees I did I decided to steer clear of this one as well. The name of this heart is Tat Chat heart and I found it in the web archive.  Its a pattern by LaRae Mikulecky and you can find it here.

I really like this little heart by Irene Woo called Butterfly Heart. I found the pattern in the web archives and it can be found here.  The rings in the butterfly are fairly large with lots of stitches making it very difficult to close so I knew I didn't want to fight it with every ornament so this wasn't it either.  I will probably be trying this one again with a better, stronger thread.
In case you were wondering why I didnt trim any of my ends off on these, well the answer is simple...I use the ends to attach a tag to the project listing the name of the pattern and where to find it.  My memory is not the best...old age is creeping in on lots of levels, and this seems to be the best method for me.

I hope you all had a really good day, at least surrounded by people you love!

20 motif

It has been a very emotional and stressful last couple of weeks. The trip back home to Idaho was great but as always  it was way too short.  As always the first couple of days after our visit are extremely difficult. It is very difficult to leave and it is so very lonely for weeks afterwards. 
I ended up taking only my new black Lizbeth thread in size 20 plus lots of shuttles. My thought was I could buy more thread there if I found I needed more. This was my first try with Lizbeth thread and my first try at anything smaller than a size 10.  It was certainly not the best idea to start with black! The darker the color the more difficult it is to see the knots so tatting with black requires really good lighting and the right eye wear.  If I have my contacts in I need really good cheater readers, it is better if I have my glasses on and I can slide them down off my nose to get my work close enough to see.  I am legally blind without lenses so crafting while doing anything else (like visiting or watching tv) can be a big challenge.  It ended up that I didn't really have much time to tat while we were there so it wasn't a huge issue.
Once we got home I was able to finish the choker I had started. This is motif 20 in the 25 motif challenge.

  I used the same pattern I used before which I found in the book Tatted Bookmark edited by Barbara Foster.  I decided I liked the way it looked by stopping after the first row.  They look like little hearts  so I am going to try wearing it to see if it is stiff enough without blocking it. I used one of my new shuttles and this thing fought me the entire time.  It is a moonlit shuttle by handy hands that has a crochet hook on one end.  The hook seems to be longer than the one on the Aerlit so I could not find a way to hold it that it didn't try to hook on everything. I wont completely give up on this shuttle until I try it with different thread and with a different mind set but for now I don't love it!

I think I let the combination of the hard to see black thread, the new smaller size and the shuttle that fought me, get to me so I haven't tatted since I finished the choker. I decided to start a cross stitch that has limited colors so that I didn't have to make any decisions. I am just about done with it so now I am in panic mode because I have to make more decision on what project to do next. Once again we are between holidays so I cant base my decision on holiday.  For my mental state I would like to find something that is easy, very repetitive and one color.  I have been looking for a doily to make but so far I haven't ran across one yet. A few weeks ago I scored several tatting books at Goodwill so I have been pouring over those as well as the ones I ordered off amazon. I am finding I don't understand the patterns and most of the pictures are not clear enough to figure them out.  I spent most of yesterday on the internet looking at doilies and catching up on some of my favorite tatting blogs but all it did was overwhelm me.  It is so easy to loose track of time when on the internet so I try not to do it too often.  Since I  didn't find a pattern I feel like it was a bit of wasted time.  I really need to find another craft project so I can keep my mind busy.  I am sure hoping I find something soon!

2, 3 and 4 of 25 Motif Challenge

Well it has been a few days since I have posted anything. I have been battling camera issues so I am really late at posting these picture but I guess "better late than never".  These are 2, 3, and 4 of the 25 Motif Challenge.

 These are hearts made from a free project sheet I got at a craft store. The project sheet is advertising Lizbeth thread. This is the first project I made by just reading a pattern and not by following a video. The left one is made with Bernat handicrafter thread and the green one is made from J&P Coats vintage thread. Purple and green are my favorite colors so I will probably be using the Bernat thread a lot. I really like working with the J&P thread, it doesn't pull through as easily as the shiny threads but I seem to be able to keep tension better.

 This bracelet is made from a free pattern I got off of the blog by totusmel ,  it has a link to an awesome instructables page that has lots of pictures to help along the way. She has lots of fun patterns, I am looking forward to trying them all.  I am not positive that the instructions for the end pieces are correct because I couldn't figure them out with the instructions and pictures so I had to use common cents to figure them out. Unfortunately I finished the end pieces after I had already started the main part of the bracelet so I used a different ball of thread so the 2 blacks don't match but I still like the way it turned out. The little rose on the bottom was a mess-up that I didn't know was a mess up till I got to almost the end of the pattern so it went a bit wonky. The red thread is Red Heart size 5 but the pictures really don't do justice to the nice maroon color, I am not sure what the black thread is as I got both rolls from a thrift store.

I found the pattern for these little hearts at

http://web.archive.org/web/20051026022707/http://www.frontiernet.net/~TammyRodgers/rainbow_heart_bookmark.html

They made up much bigger than I thought they would be. The red ones are the same thread as the roses above and there is more of my favorite colors. I didn't realize the heart at the bottom was laid out so wonky until I went to post it. These are not stiffened yet so I will be able to straighten it out when I get that done.

Valentines Day #1 25 Motif Challange

 I know I am super late in posting these pictures but here we go!! This is #1 of the 25 Motif Challange and it also happens to be my very first try at tatting! I live out of state from the rest of my family so I try to send them a lil something on holidays. For this valentines day I wanted to come up with something that I could attach to my first craft obsession... beading. I found a great video on youtube from onevirtuouswoman   that taught how to tat a heart and it had a link to the pattern on her facebook page. I used some vintage J&P Coats knit-cro-sheen that I inherited from my grandma so it sure made it extra special knowing that I was using my grandmas thread and learning something that my mom always wished I had learned. These ended up being so much fun to make that I made 10 of them!!